A pity for the new format

I find that it is totally user UNFRIENDLY.... also, it appears that PN sold out to 500px, same format, only less efficient. When one tries to fix an excellent thing, it so happens that one ends up turning back to a lower stage of evolution. I find it cumbersome to find comments to my photos, ..... I could go on and on.....I just cannot cope with this new format.... what a pity... I constantly get messages that "seem" to be regarding a comment on "my" photo, only to find out that it refers to someone else's photo where I had previously posted a comment. A waste of time, no feedback whatsoever.....I am about to give up altogether from PN.... The saying goes "if you do not undersatand it, you don't like it" - well.,....I do not UNDERSTAND it, thus, I DON'T LIKE IT.

I find that it is totally user UNFRIENDLY.... also, it appears that PN sold out to 500px, same format, only less efficient. When one tries to fix an excellent thing, it so happens that one ends up turning back to a lower stage of evolution. I find it cumbersome to find comments to my photos, ..... I could go on and on.....I just cannot cope with this new format.... what a pity... I constantly get messages that "seem" to be regarding a comment on "my" photo, only to find out that it refers to someone else's photo where I had previously posted a comment. A waste of time, no feedback whatsoever.....I am about to give up altogether from PN.... The saying goes "if you do not undersatand it, you don't like it" - well.,....I do not UNDERSTAND it, thus, I DON'T LIKE IT.

 

I agree the new photo-display format is similar to that of other sites, for which I have the same complaint as the changed photo.net: Scrolling to reveal more pictures is less efficient than clicking one button to go to the next set of photos within a gallery. Scrolling takes more effort than a button click. Scrolling is not as intuitive as a button indicating “click to go to the next page”.

 

The argument that photo.net needed to get away from the TCL programming language, whose last release was July 27, 2016, is not justification for throwing the baby out with the bath water.

 

I'm certain that there was a way to use a more common programming language to keep the best of the old photo.net, update desirable features that needed improvement, and replace the parts that required cumbersome navigation. It wasn’t necessary to dump the legacy system’s distinctive look and feel to accommodate the use of a language spoken, so to speak, by a larger set of developers.

For a photo site to have the Gallery section so poorly implemented - is a crime.

 

For example, how do I send a link to someone to view a specific gallery?

 

Beyond that, photos still load slowly (I have FIOS - and 100mb/sec download speed); the thumbnails are poorly displayed (horizontal thumbnails of vertical photos? really...); navigating through a particular gallery is tedious, slow...poorly implemented!

 

I could go on...but several weeks after the fact, the gallery section remains a disaster.

I hate to be one of those folks saying the good ol' days were better. But it *was* easier to read threads, and navigate the site, under the old setup--let alone the issues with the galleries and other things that I didn't use quite so often, but which have affected other users badly.

 

This format seems so *sterile*, too. The previous one just felt a bit more warm and analogue--and more important, user friendly: from the default font, to the display of actual human user names, to the way that replies only took up as much space on the page as required. Reading PN now is really more of a chore than a pleasure, all in all. It's certainly not very fun.

I hate to be one of those folks saying the good ol' days were better. But it *was* easier to read threads, and navigate the site, under the old setup--let alone the issues with the galleries and other things that I didn't use quite so often, but which have affected other users badly.

 

This format seems so *sterile*, too. The previous one just felt a bit more warm and analogue--and more important, user friendly: from the default font, to the display of actual human user names, to the way that replies only took up as much space on the page as required. Reading PN now is really more of a chore than a pleasure, all in all. It's certainly not very fun.

Well, go ahead and say 'they were better before'.

It just doesn't matter. Reversion ain't gonna happen.

What we *CAN* do, is: keep abreast of current changes as they happen by the group-source site help forum(s) modified by Leslie; and note and report specific, detailed problems to keep the powers that be aware of them so they can fix them.

And keep 'reminders' alive so they don't forget them.

Having said that, I agree the implementation of the change has been "less than optimal?", and particularly frustrating for some who have had more problems (lost photos and albums!) than others, and we have had fits and starts (eg: 'my library' coming and going and coming back with no info from management), but I think things are better than they were at rollout, and hopefully will continue with a gradual elimination of bugs.

Well, I wasn't asking for reversion, actually. If the new site is supposed to be an "improvement," I think I could expect it to work at least as well as it did before. If it doesn't, and in fact works and looks *worse* than it did previously, then what the heck was the point of changing? Seems a bit stupid to me, really. Sure, if you need to improve things under the hood, that's fine--but it might be worth actually thinking about which bits of the old site actually worked well *as-is*.

 

Is there something wrong with wanting the site to be genuinely conveniently *navigable and readable*, and to look like it actually had some thought about the experience of using it put into it? Aren't those things actually considered kind of important in competent Web design, *particularly* a website devoted to visual representation and art?

For a photo site to have the Gallery section so poorly implemented - is a crime.

what was your phd in, melodrama?

For a photo site to have the Gallery section so poorly implemented - is a crime.

what was your phd in, melodrama?

so good they named it thrice :)

Just an observation. PN launched V1 and V2. Now I'm old enough to remember from my London school days that a V1 was a bomb that flew for a while and then blew itself up taking taking out some people. V2 was a bigger, faster bomb that you couldn't hear coming. It also blew itself up and took out even more people. History repeats? ;)

I have not come onto the site for awhile because I also detest this interface change. There seems to be a detachment from community. It's harder to use and see and follow the images of your friends. I was looking for a word document describe the new site. "Unfriendly" comeso to mind. I also am missing the ratings system as flawed as it was.

This site is no longer fun. I will be using flickr since I get more feedback there as of late I get almost zero on this new format.

I have not come onto the site for awhile because I also detest this interface change. There seems to be a detachment from community. It's harder to use and see and follow the images of your friends. I was looking for a word document describe the new site. "Unfriendly" comes to mind. I also am missing the ratings system as flawed as it was.

This site is no longer fun. I will be using flickr since I get more feedback there as of late I get almost zero on this new format.

I have to agree Marie, I spend only a fraction of the time here for the reasons mentioned. Time will tell if P.N continues to capture the community interaction it once had. I don't mind change, it keeps the place fresh but if we sacrifice interaction and learning, that is too much to lose.

So sorry to hear that, Marie. You're one of the photographers whose work I like and whose back and forth critiquing and commenting has been so valuable. If you stay, I promise I'll get back to interacting in the galleries at some point soon. I've been waiting for things to settle down and more fixes to come in before spending my time over there, but I do plan to re-enter the gallery side of the site once I get the feeling it's more usable. So I hope you'll stop back after a while and see if things are working better. But best of luck whatever you decide!

true Edited March 13, 2017 by marmol

This new layout looks like a 7th grade graphic arts dropout created it.

WHY the change from something that worked well, was easy to work in and enjoyable to use?

 

This new format is dumber than a mormon...

Now that Laura is no longer doing the MiN weekly thread as of this week I'll likely stop signing in to PN altogether. The sense of community is gone and so are most of the photographers that I followed.

It will take some getting used to but I think this version is better than the previous new format.

"This site is no longer fun." --MarieH

 

That pretty much sums it up.

It's pretty kludgy, for sure, but there does seem to be an effort by Glenn to dial it in better. I'll chill for a bit to see if they can improve this interface. Why couldn't this have been done BEFORE launch, maybe manpower/money issues. It's wait and see time.

In this and several other similar threads, I have seen a few constructive criticisms--but very few. Most comments are insulting, deprecating and unhelpful. They betray the attitude of whiners, carpers and insensitive, impatient people. Such an outpouring of gall and venom makes me think of something the renowned orchestra conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein wrote:

 

 

These threads contain many examples of ultracrepidarianism (the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge) and the Dunning–Kruger effect (a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is).

 

Or perhaps they are just another example of the cesspool that now floods so many Internet forums with abusive comments.

Let me just point out once again, Dr. Ben, you are criticizing people for expressing their opinions on the photo side of the site which remains pretty much a mess after nearly 5 weeks. Having looked at your homepage I see you have still posted no pictures and made no comments in 5 years on this site. Your experience seems limited strictly to the forum side of things, the side which is working reasonably well. You absolutely fail to grasp the frustration of the people who are the backbone of this site, the community that actually posts pictures and comments on the offerings of others.

Hi Fred. It's people like you and Daniel that make me stay on. So nice to be well thought of. I guess time will tell. ;) we have smilies...lol:eek:

In this and several other similar threads, I have seen a few constructive criticisms--but very few. Most comments are insulting, deprecating and unhelpful. They betray the attitude of whiners, carpers and insensitive, impatient people. Such an outpouring of gall and venom makes me think of something the renowned orchestra conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein wrote:

 

“I've been all over the world and I've never seen a statue of a critic.”

 

These threads contain many examples of ultracrepidarianism (the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge) and the Dunning–Kruger effect (a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is).

 

Or perhaps they are just another example of the cesspool that now floods so many Internet forums with abusive comments.

 

 

 

Well, DrBen, I have read many comments that are positive--or which do at least show a lot of thought and even more patience. As to your own characterization of these criticisms, I can only say, "Physician, heal thyself." Most of the people whose criticisms I am reading are quite well-acquainted with the old site--and are trying hard to navigate the new site. They do at least know what they are talking about, for the most part.

 

From the eminence of 97 posts (and 0 photos), I wonder if you ever really got to know the old Photo.net, the one we miss--the one that began as a hand-built labor of love by a Ph.D. from MIT, not the present prefab that does absolutely nothing well--a rather shabby structure which doesn't seem to please anyone.

 

I am truly sorry to finally have to say that. I have held my tongue for weeks, and I have posted a lot of pictures and a very few comments during that time. I can only hope that, if the site does start going down in terms of number of hits, whoever has the ultimate authority for calling the shots will not be afraid to change course.

 

--Lannie

Let me just point out once again, Dr. Ben, you are criticizing people for expressing their opinions on the photo side of the site which remains pretty much a mess after nearly 5 weeks. Having looked at your homepage I see you have still posted no pictures and made no comments in 5 years on this site. Your experience seems limited strictly to the forum side of things, the side which is working reasonably well. You absolutely fail to grasp the frustration of the people who are the backbone of this site, the community that actually posts pictures and comments on the offerings of others.

 

I agree that members have a right, indeed should be encouraged, to express their opinions, to voice their frustrations and to make constructive suggestions. What bothers me is the unrestrained and often hyperbolic language of some people. Moreover, some of those people seem to have little or no patience.

 

When the navy commissions a new ship, the first thing the new owner does is send the vessel on a "shakedown cruise" to discover and correct any problems. This must be done because of the complexity of a modern warship and the impossibility of getting everything right in the shipyard. PN has left the shipyard and is now on its shakedown cruise.

 

Sometimes the shakedown goes very well and somtimes there are a lot of unexpected problems. The captain, the officers and technical people may be working long hours with little or no sleep. Everyone on board may be frustrated, impatient, unhappy or even angry, Those feelings are normal but they are not justification for non-constructive criticism and personal insults.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is responsible for the quote:

 

 

If you've never heard Sibelius's Swan of Tuonela or Fifth Symphony, do yourself a favor. You can even find recordings of both conducted by the aforementioned Leonard Bernstein!

 

As to statues of critics . . .

 

HERE'S ONE of beloved film critic Roger Ebert, by Rick Harney.

 

And HERE'S ONE of literary critic Charles Augustin Saint-Beuve, by Denys Puech.

 

And finally, HERE'S ONE of Russian culture and art critic Vladimir Stasov.

 

;-)