this site is so badly laid out

The only thing I have a hard time with is just figuring what section to put a post in... other than that I am very happy with the new design of ATS. Much better than that OTHER message board.. ahem.

reply to post by rikmono

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You've got to be kidding me. Oh no you di'iint

Have you just created this thread in hopes to encite some sort of ATS based e-riot?

This site has been painstakingly modified since its inception with nothing but improvement in mind. It would have been nice if you could have taken a look at all of the buttons and layout of the pages fully before starting a thread blindly accusing the mods of being childish, as well as complaining about the work of the admins. There arent that many animated avatars on the site are there?

I regret to inform you that ATS is not a complaint submittal forum. While there are numerous outlets for you to seek help and guidance on nearly ever topic imaginable with regard to the site and its function, you are not likely to gain too many friends by complaining about the best darn conspiracy and alternative news discussion site this side of the Mississippi.

Like it or love it brother rikmono. If you dont, then I'm afraid there is not a whole lot that I can do for you at this point.

It really is the best site. I dont lie



[edit on 10/15/07 by Don Wahn]

"Yawn" doesn't count! So that's a one-line post! Calls for a beer, what? Where do you live?

And yours is the best avatar? Jeez! Then you haven't noticed mine! That's actually me after I got zapped due to an electrical short circuit on the last Mars shuttle. Dunno if John, Ron and Matt have got that darn tin-can rewired as yet!!

Cheers!

[edit on 15-10-2007 by mikesingh]

If this gif was smaller than 75K it would have been the best avatar on ATS, imo Unfortunately, it's slightly too big in file size...

Any avatar that doesn't have Rakka in it can't possibly be the best.

And even with this silly disclaimer, this still counts as a one-line post,* but we usually don't sweat that in BB&Q.





*Well actually not always. If a post adds something meaningful to the discussion, even if it only consists of one line, then it's not necessarily a "one-liner". However, that's up to moderator discretion, so make it good.

**A row of smileys (or even multiple rows), a single "thumbs up" smiley or short variations of "me too!", on the other hand, are classic one-liners.

***Or this post. Hellmutt you are SO busted.

[edit on 10/15/2007 by Majic]

I agree there, certain members I will feel more inclined to read their posts/threads, not really a good thing.

But yes, sensationalized titles do seem to get more views, and certain keywords seem to get more views than others, such as "Yellowstone", "Vaporize half of america" "mega tsunami will hit New York", or any topic with the word "alien" or "ufo". "Clearly debunked" is a good pair of words (or a variation on those two) for getting a lot of replies in the 9/11 forum.

reply to post by rikmono

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Not sure if I'd sign on to every specific assertion . . . but from my earliest days here, I've . . . had trouble . . . to be polite . . . with the layout etc. of the site.

I think it has improved some. The buttons at the top are workable and clear enough.

But I'm used to a much more text based

HTTP:/WWW.FREEREPUBLIC.COM

which is super easy to navigate; super easy to leave unlimited personal emails at; super easy to post articles and comments at etc.

Here there seem to be 101 rather restrictive constraints of one sort or another . . . all plausible on a case by case basis but added together really seem to gum up the works, to me.

And the layout and functionality seem to be reallly, reallllllyl kludgy . . . like tromping through deep swamp mud to get around and function quickly and smoothly.

I think FREEREPUBLIC has A LOT LARGER database than ATS and it seems much faster and easier to navigate. And, the FR database has tons of full articles as well. I think that FR could automatically weed out a lot of the few word to one line posts that ATS does without--but the FR database seems to accommodate them quite well.

I don't know. I like ATS a lot and respect the 3 founders and what they've achieved and are trying to grow the thing into.

But it is still such a chore to do most anything here. I find that I go long gaps of days without feeling like bothering--it's just too much of a chore for the perceived benefit. Throw in the hostility my particular personal values typically trigger here . . . and the net negatives easily outweigh the net positives far too often for my comfort or far to often to attract me here more than occasionally for long stretches of weeks.

I used to come here and enjoy tagging old threads. I don't know why I enjoyed tagging old threads so much. I guess the librarian part of my past kicked in or something. But I enjoyed it--particularly earning points and feeling that I was doing the site some good. Then for some reason, that option was trashed. So, another attrativeness was removed.

Part of me wonders if there would be merit in having a mostly text based version along side this one. It seems to me it would be a lot faster and have all the essentials without a lot of the slowing-things-down overhead. Most of the avatars are offensive to me. They certainly don't add greatly to my ATS experience. I'd be happy enough to do without them or at least to have a toggle switch to turn them off. Or, perhaps have an option for a much smaller image as part of a signature vs a whole column taking up so much screen realestate.

I think the 3 Amigos have worked hard in recent months to clean up the moderator . . . problems . . . but some of the abuses by the mods have been dreadful. But with volunteer mods . . . it's hard to slap their hands and have them bother to hang around vigorously doing their jobs much at all. A real catch-22, it seems to me. I don't know how that could be solved but I think it is likely to need more attention for some time to come.

I think the abiding . . . hesitation . . . that keeps me from bothering with ATS so much of the time . . . remains the cluggishness of the format, layout, software . . . whatever it all is. And, along with that--seemingly the limited ability to choose options regarding colors and layout etc. Perhaps I'm behind the times and more is possible now than I think. But in the past, my efforts to change such options have resulted in worse layout, formatting situations. So I've given up on that score.

Certainly the site--as the biggest of it's kind with a wealth of material--is still quite worth checking in on from time to time. But, IF IT WERE EASIER TO NAVIGATE AND ACCOMPLISH BASIC TASKS ON, I think a lot more people would spend more time here every day.

Cheeres.

reply to post by GradyPhilpott

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Not in my experience.

WWW.FREEREPUBLIC.COM...

is MUCH easier to navigate. Is significantly larger in it's database and in it's membership, as well, last I checked--in it's average usage, IIRC.

However, it's essentially mostly text based--though it's relatively easy to post pics and full articles etc. The founders are programmers and do all their own programming of the site. And, it's totally contributions supported--but not as a non-profit.

I just know that within a few easy clicks there, I can accomplish a lot more than I can with a few clicks here. I love both sites. And from time to time have even spent more time per day some weeks on ATS. But most of the time, the ease of use of FR makes it much more attractive to me for spending more time there. And, for long stretches of days, I don't check into ATS at all. I think that's basically an ease of use issue, with me.

And I'm no greenhorn when it comes to computers and online use. I've had a terminal or computer in my home since 1976. I was a major participant in one of the more active early interest groups on Compuserve ages ago--did a lot of freebie counseling in that group way back when. I suspect that's in a very small and select minority even hereon.

ATS is wonderful for a lot of reasons. I don't think it's ideal as much as it could be.

Well it is a bit cluttered, could be streamlined a bit...

But I only just figured out where all the important stuff is and I don't want to have to go looking for it all again.

reply to post by JimmyBlonde

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That's only because it's SO BIG and covers a BROAD range of subjects. Use the MyATS customization to focus on only the sub-forums that matter to you

Good point, Beachcoma. The first thing I do after I log in is go straight to MyATS Favorites, where everything is laid out exactly as I like it - not confusing at all for me.

A major bug in the software is there is no way to reply to a particular poster in a thread without quoting, and the moderator dings you if you quote.

I stayed off the site for about two weeks due to that alpha hotel, and ATS missed some good material not yet posted. [My stuff is original, not rehash of some other website.]

It's a two way street. Piss of the contributors and they take their material elsewhere. I was nice enough to post the results of a FOIA I just received, but another nasty email from the moderator will keep my next Area 51 panorama off ATS.

reply to post by gariac

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If you look in the top right hand corner in each individual post there is a "reply-to" button that does just what you asked about. It replies to an individual post and all any user has to do is click the hyper link and you can see what you're replying too.

Like in my post here, I'm replying to yours without having to quote your post.

Hope that helps.

i have so many gripes with the ATS forums, I hardly know where to start...

but one major thing is the fact that you cant just click the "quote" button to wrap content in quotes.. you have to hit it, then hit ok, then scroll to the bottom (since it doesnt place it at the cursor position) and paste text between the tags.

may seem like a small problem, but that's how problems all seem in a microcosm.

I find the search function not as specialized and other forums such
than giving us Google sends us outside ATS.. good for picking up
a lot of outside hits but not the search within the boundaries of ATS.


I'm still looking for the list of government ips actually found on ATS.
There was a list at one time in response to a discussion.

The best I get is the official listing of government addressed, not what was
found on ATS during some specified length of time.

There are web site performance monitor programs and sites, but I thought
is was nice of ATS to respond with that list.

Anyone recall the thread please pass me, u2u me, a link. Thanks.

reply to post by Hellmutt

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Here you go, I fixed it for you Hellmutt...



Semper

and since we are on the topic - the file space for image uploads on this site is just stupid.

I mean i spent close to an hour just spending points to get enough space to upload 10 images, which were requested by many members..

then the other day I wanted to upload another image, which I didnt have space for. So I deleted the other 10 images I had uploaded previously, which basically an entire thread revolved around - so anyone going to that thread now (Occult symbols on pepsi can) will just see broken images instead.

That seems to be something that would degrade the quality of ATS content. but oh well.

reply to post by scientist

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Why don't you just get a hosting site to host images on. Photobucket or Imageshack. You won't need anymore than that. It's what I use.

Edit to add: They're free.


[edit on 15-10-2007 by intrepid]

but then dont the images show up as "external image..." instead of showing the image?

Methinks he's referring to Mr. Lear's avatar.