I am getting use to the look and wish they would fix the Skip to New function but I know they are working on it. Must be very difficult for the programmers to work so hard on the new format and get nothing but complaints on their work. But I must say that I haven't seen anyone jumping up and down saying they like it. Guess I am just old and don't like my stuff messed with. I haven't gone and check my Plant Journal yet.
Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Your Neck of the Woods 2015 Part 7
I can still "open thread, skip to new, scroll up"
But I don't think my home page is seeing all new thread posts made since the change. Seems like some thread are updating but not all. And "preview post, then post" two clicks seems pointless and therefore annoying.
I don't think there would be such a negative reaction to changes if there weren't so many bugs when the techs release it to the end users. Hard to look past the distractions and frustrations of what isn't working anymore to even see and be open minded about the new look and new features. Unfortunately, this has been the norm vs the exception for every update to DG for at least two years now.
This message was edited Dec 10, 2015 9:37 AM
Yeah the Home page isn't up dating either. There are a lot of bugs. I don't think you can click on someones name to send them and Email either right now and the last post I answered on this thread is gone. Wonder where it went.
oops, ignore my last post, most of it seems to be wrong. LOL. Except where I really wish I did NOT have to preview my post.
Oh this really is very confusing. I used the Skip to New and ended up with an open message box at the bottom of the first page. Didn't even notice that there was a second page that I should be on. There really shouldn't be an open message box in the middle of the thread. Really what was wrong with giving you the choice if you wanted to preview or "not".
I think they have divided it up into "pages" to make for fast loading on the many short threads. We have the option now of ignoring when threads get over 200 posts, say. IF we can get used to this new format with pages. By the way, this tiny new message box is not good either. Sigh. But really, with what I see at the library, technology is not going to wait and see what we want,. Adapt or die is pretty much the reality with digital.
Yeah, I'll adapt. Next time my subscription is due will be the last. This sucks!
Yes, I do agree with Sally, nothing will go back they will fix the glitches and this will be what we have. I only use my laptop to access DG I find it too difficult to read on my phone so I don't really know about that part but you very well might be right Sally. Previewing is much more important when posting from your phone, too. LOL
Everyone is welcome to join some of us already in All Things Plants. It's free, it's easy, and is a great site. There already is a MA forum and our own Catmint is the moderator.
Yes Gita, it is user friendly and contains all the same files and such.So just go here to sign up: http://allthingsplants.com/
This message was edited Dec 10, 2015 11:58 AM
I cannot even begin to tell you how non-functional all this new stuff is.
I have not had time to even examine it closer....
For one--there are no dates on the posts. I have NO idea how to post a picture now too..
Last night--as i was going to check out some "watched" posts--all this new screen just hit me. There were some posts of mine from 2008 showing--and someone bitching about some seeds I had/had not? mailed... Ancient stuff?????????
I was just bewildered--I HATE changes!!!! Then, somewhere, there was this: "Start a new Thread"--so I did--I did not "Figure it out", sally--I just did it...
Sadly--this new way will only decrease the amount of Posts we send
Another demise of DG.
I better hone my skills on navigating ATP. I go there off and on--but do not
know my way around it....I used to go to JB's posts on the Houseplant Forum there--
and I posted a bunch of [pictures of Spider Plants--which was the topic.
OK--I will post A picture--just so I know it works.....Bear with me.... Gita
OK--I wrote a lengthy post--added a picture and previewed it...
Then (????)--I clicked on "post your ....)
DSO? where is my Post and picture? GRRRRRRRRRRRR.... G.
Gita, I see your post and picture. You have to click on page 2.
Using my phone here. The message typing box is much bigger like normal. Here is yellow Oncidium blooming just starting. This works easy on my phone. I hope when I reopen this on my phone that it will come up to new posts like it did before.
My post on the DG Site Update forum:
"Admin - I think you have really done it this time.
- So many glitches and bugs
- No warning to the members other than those who lurk on this forum
- uniform dissatisfaction among the members I interact with
Someone on staff must be in the pay of All Things Plants, and is doing an excellent job of recruitment.
The concept of beta testing is not new. If you say that such was performed, you are either misleading us, or the personnel allegedly responsible are blowing smoke or incompetent. As I have pointed out before, paying subscribers decline every time you spring poorly vetted changes on your customers. You have since obfuscated that problem by no longer posting subscriber counts in the weekly newsletter. Loss of subscribers has produced declining forum participation, necessitating combining forums. What was once a rich source of gardening expertise is being gutted by the loss of subscribing members who are the only people who can post on most forums. By alienating subscribers you are driving this site to becoming a rather prosaic collection of databases and ID forums. You really don't get it, or don't care."
I don't see that any of the issues have cleared up. By now I would have expected some of these glitches to be fixed. I am sure that they must have fixed some of them but not the ones I am having issues with.
GT Thumbs up on that posting.
Sadly--I may not be posting a lot--as I do not understand the NEW DG.
I will check in and see if anything has happened--but i will dearly miss
the old and familiar.
Will try once more to post a picture and see if it sends. G.
Gita, Everybody is upset with the changes now, too. Give it a few days for them to get the glitches out. It will be a bit better then and not so confusing.
OK! Seems I had to, manually, go to Page #2 of this Thread --to see if it posted. Seems it did. One small victory...
G.
Things need to get updated from time to time. Not all changes are welcome, but that is life. As far as all the bugs go, I certainly cannot remember when I was perfect so maybe we can give them all a little grace while they work out the bugs.
I am very frustrated with this format. I must be dim witted, cuz I have a hard time ATP also.
You're not dim witted Jan, I have a hard time with ATP too.
This may be my last post. Terry (DG Admin) posted an ominous response to my (above) post on the DG Update forum, and I called him on it. Apparently taking the powers that be to task for poor management is intolerable.
Oh no, please don't go ; - )
I just looked at the DG update forum and didn't see it; it must have been deleted.
I looked through the ATP photos too; Holly and Ric, you did take nice photos!
Please be aware, non-subscribers are now able to view posts that had been previously locked and reserved for subscribers. Keep in mind, we had this same exact issue during the last major site update.
Btw, I agree with everything GT said. Beta testing should be routine. I'm thinking that the techs were given an arbitrary deadline and the changes were published without enough beta testing.
I think DG is great because of the people, and *despite* of the admins. I really don't want to give them any more of my money.
Muddy, you can only see 40 comments per page now. It doesn't seem practical to have to set up a new thread after only 80 comments, just to avoid clicking on page 3, page 4, etc. We're a chatty bunch!
Also, it seems the changes were made to allow for easier mobile viewing, because the pages look better on mobile than on my laptop. And that's the reason I'm convinced the changes are here to stay, no matter how much we protest.
I didn't even look at the names of the posts on the photo contests. Holly and Ric, I need to go back and check out your pictures!
I think we got a 2nd, 3rd and a couple of 5th places. We were very pleased other than the pic of the egret preening I was sure that was a winner and it didn't even place.
today brings some changes back towards the previous. That helps.
Yes, it looked good on my phone yesterday. Pardon me if I repeat myself.
The library also had to revamp its site, to adapt to mobile devices.
It's like telling the Gutenburg guys. Hey, we want this in different sizes every time we open the cover. But make all the letters fit nicely anyway.
The people that deserve to be yelled at are not responding to the threads. Just like the people at HQ are not at my library listening to complaints about the new copier and sign up system, nor were they even thinking about what would happen when they forced all functions to go to one station, and mix people with a ten second task into a line of people who would take five minutes each at least for printing. So yeah, it took one staff member to figuratively scream bloody murder and get an extra station.
So I see Terry somewhat stuck in the middle as a staff member like me. Maybe she theoretically has more power than that but I doubt it. And I can't criticize her or Melody. But I agree that paid subscribers shouldn't have to be the beta testers. And I have seen how people don't like change. And how they adapt to it when it happens.
If adapting here means some people leave, I'll be very sorry to see them go. Or I may follow them. I don't know what I'll do yet.
Oh no, this is giving me anxiety pains. There was this kind of conflict the last time there was a major DG update that was released with a lot of bugs. At that time, there was discussion about jumping over to ATP and a new Mid Atlantic forum was set up. I love the whole idea of an online gardening community, but honestly, it doesn't matter to me which one it is - the major factor for me is to be where the people are that I have come to know and consider as my best friends. I was so torn last time when some of our group split off and some stayed. At first I tried to participate in both places, but with working full time and all the other obligations on time, I couldn't keep up in both. The bugs on DG were worked out, as bugs usually are, and we all fell back in to our IT comfort zone. Deja vu and to quote Sally "If adapting here means some people leave, I'll be very sorry to see them go. Or I may follow them. I don't know what I'll do yet." As far as IT changes go, changes in and of themselves don't bother me - I can pretty much adapt easily to that kind of thing. If only there weren't so many bugs when DG first releases them, I think the attitude of the whole DG community would be different. And David, you are a favorite member of our group and I truly hope the group itself stays intact with you in it :-)
Sally have you seen some fixes? So far the problems I see aren't fixed. I think things will settle down once they make some progress.
Holly, your egret photo is stunning. BUT another bug -- when I went to look at it and then returned to the thread, I was back at the top of page 1 and needed a few steps to get back to where I had been.
This is such a great group, and it would be a shame to lose members, but DG does not seem to care what it throws our way. Having been a software trainer and beta tester, I don't know how some of these bugs could not have been noticed before their release. Sally makes a good point that those ladies who are replying to our complaints are pretty much caught in the middle, but these bugs and extra keystrokes really are frustrating. Off to preview my post. :-(
And a Happy Birthday to you, Holly. Good wishes for a wonderful year.
Holly, you 'ol lady - JUST KIDDING!!! Happy, happy birthday. Hope it is a good one. What has Ric got up his sleeve? I'm sure it is some kind of fantastic dinner that he is cooking up. Maybe some new garden feature? You already have a potting shed, greenhouse, bathtub, blue egg bubbler,... we gardeners can always make room for something else though LOL.
Thanks guys, Ric is not good today so I don't expect anything today. I will say that there is something new and green here. LOL Josh came this morning and dug out all the Christmas boxes and is going to put up the Christmas Tree for us.
I am going to take DDJules shopping later for her Christmas presents. Don't really feel like doing it today but it is the best day for it. Who knows I might just cancel I have started a new med for my Diabetes and my body might take a few days to get use to it. Everyone is going to come on Sunday and help decorate the tree, that is going to be a lot of fun.
Dear Holly! I wish you a most wonderful Birthday!!!
Mother Nature has also treated you to spring-like weather.
She knew..... Hugs, Gita
Dearest Holly! Wishing you a good day today and good years to come, as always!!!!
Today we have thread posts in alternating background hue. This was active on my phone yesterday. I find it a big help in seeing which post is where. And this reply box is much bigger. Bear ing mind, I do not know if my Chromebook settings change any of that. I am on a Mac laptop at the moment.
I think It's most disappointing to those members who offer considerable expertise here, for free, for anyone who asks nicely. And to pay to be here, and then give freely of your know how, and wake up to these problems, well that does stink.
Hope Ric feels better !
I went to A Jungle Mills bright and early for my favorite store Clarks Shoes. BOGO 50% off the second pair. I found exactly what I went for...and two more and a pr of sandals....that I know I will use and love for years!! And came home and threw out two crappy prs of boots, a pair of dress shoes I have NEVER worn, two pairs of nasty flip flops, and some other stuff. Semi-Random acts of drawer clearing and tossing. Moms lambskin jacket, hung in her closet unworn for decades, hung in my basement unworn for five years now, dry rotted, oops, has to go.
I have a REE DIC YOO lous amount of vinyl blinds slats for plant labeling.
I found some thin string to hang from kitchen shelves and lights and will then hang some antique ornaments from them. stopped for lunch, I think pm will have to be spent in the yard.
Happy Birthday Holly! Hope you have a good one and feel great. Sorry that Ric is feeling poorly.
Gita, Thanks for the Orchids they are beautiful.
Happy happy birthday, sweet Holly! Ric, you have to improve asap, so you can pass along all the big hugs we want Holly to have on her day. :-)
Clowns doing a Dance of Joy on your Birthday
