OK folks, I'm going to start letting a few of you onto our new demo site.
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
None of the data (reviews, comments, profiles, etc.) that you post on the demo site will be saved, or linked to your regular rateitall account. This is only for testing purposes.
You will not be able to login to your real RIA account on the demo site. Please create a new test user.
Also, there is still some important functionality missing. Specifically, "quizzes" and some aspects of "sharing" are not yet live. Some of the pages still need to be optimized for speed as well.
Here are some things I suggest checking out:
Try posting a review from both the item page and the list page.
Try commenting on a review
Try making a list
Try configuring your home page by clicking on the gear icon.
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BigJackAss here, noticed a couple of non working links: write a testimonial, and subscribe via RSS. Everything else seems to be working OK so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm ManuteMugsy on the demo RIA. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet, but I do have a couple of comments. The edit profile page seems a bit clunky. I had the show more profile fields selected, and when I put my zipcode in, it automatically went to find my city, and reopened the default page without the additional profile fields available. A minor complain, but just somewhat annoying.(Although the city find from the zipcode is kind of cool.)
ReplyDeleteThe other comments deal with leaving a rating. Rating an item from the list page works very well. I really like the way the review field just opens up on the page without a new window popping up.
When rating from the item page, I miss the review field being there at the top of the page. I'm not a big fan of the way it now takes you to a separate review field page.
This weekend is pretty busy for me, as I still have another thanksgiving gathering to go to (and my parents don't have internet), but I'll probably play around with the demo a little more tomorrow morning.
Wiseguy, thanks for checking out. We have rss and testimonials in our queue. I have high hopes for you doing well in our "most controversial" hall of fame.
ReplyDeleteTwansalem, thanks for checking it out. I also love the in line list rating. The item rating feature is more for folks who have been asking for more space. Make sure to try configuring your main feed with the keyword tool... it's cool.
ReplyDeleteLawrence...I'm up for checking out the demo.
ReplyDeleteNevermind...you already sent the link. Thats what I get for not checking my RIA messages first.
ReplyDeleteSo can you change your testimonials on other user pages or change it to "No Comment." I'm just curious.
ReplyDeleteDefinetely like the color scheme and profile page. The profile page looks sharper and loads easily, looks more professional. Reviewing was easy, making lists were easy, similar ease of use to current site. I like how your sent messages are saved. I like the top story.
ReplyDeleteA couple questions I have. When posting a comment, why is there an option to "save" instead of "post"? What is fave/unfave, and when unfave is checked why can't I turn it back to fave? Also, why does clicking on home bring me to a page of my recent reviews instead of RIA's homepage?
A couple tweaks. I created a list one list item I was unable to post. I believe it was "Gets the bottoms of your jeans dirty, and your boots". Could this have been too long? Another: when clicking "follow me" on a user, instead of an affirmation a red bar will appear.
Minkey, great feedback. I'll post detailed responses tomorrow. HKK, that's a good point. You should be able to delete testimonials you leave for other peoople.
ReplyDeleteA couple questions I have. When posting a comment, why is there an option to "save" instead of "post"?
ReplyDeleteThere is no difference between "Save" and "Post."
What is fave/unfave, and when unfave is checked why can't I turn it back to fave?
"Fave" is a way to add reviews from a certain item, list, or category to your personalized home page of reviews. "Unfave" is a way to remove it. For example, if I Fave the list "beer," I will see every review and rating that comes in on the Beer list in my home page (which is in the recent reviews format). I expect this to be useful for following reviews on things that I am interested in, or on activity on my own weblists.
Also, why does clicking on home bring me to a page of my recent reviews instead of RIA's homepage?
The home page looks very much like the recent reviews page now. You will notice three controls - "me" "my friends" and "everyone." The "my friends" tab represents your filtered view of all reviews in the site. You can customize this by following other reviewers, "faving" things on the site, or even by keyword (click the gear icon on the home page to customize).
A couple tweaks. I created a list one list item I was unable to post. I believe it was "Gets the bottoms of your jeans dirty, and your boots". Could this have been too long? Another: when clicking "follow me" on a user, instead of an affirmation a red bar will appear.
Still working out the kinks!
Very cool. I like to customize. Thanks for the quick reply.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple more comments/questions. Are the hottest lists and featured lists from the old home page going to be in the new version at some point? Those lists tended to be my most common starting points when logging on.
ReplyDeleteWould I be correct in guessing that RIA local is not yet up and running? Because right now all RIA local related links (location at the top of the page, my city at the bottom) are broken.
The next thing I'm going to do is try customizing my settings.
I like the ability to add an item, and then basically search for a list to add it to. At first it looked like anyone could just add any item to any list, but at the last step I noticed that there was a 48 hour appproval process. Good thing for that, because I thought it might actually let me add Jackie Moon of the Flint Michigan Tropics to the "NBA Players (All Time)" list.
ReplyDeleteList creation looks pretty good. The ability to add descriptions, links, pictures, etc. while creating the list is a nice feature. The only suggestion would be to condense the multi-page list creation process a little. It doesn't matter much to me, but for people with slower internet connections, this newer method could cause a lot of time consuming page loading.
ReplyDeleteI wish Blogger had threaded discussions so that I could respond to each of these comments.
ReplyDelete"Are the hottest lists and featured lists from the old home page going to be in the new version at some point?"
Yes, these will be worked into the site in both the sidebar, and eventually as items in the Home river / feed.
"Would I be correct in guessing that RIA local is not yet up and running?"
You got it. Quizzes and Local are the two big pieces still under development.
"The next thing I'm going to do is try customizing my settings."
This is probably the feature I'm most proud of. Try the keyword tool... it's pretty badass.
"I like the ability to add an item, and then basically search for a list to add it to."
Nice catch. This is one of three features that we think are most innovative with the new site. We will be adding "miscellaneous" topics for every sub-category, so there will ALWAYS be a place to drop in a new item / new review. The implication is the ability to easily post and review anything that's on your mind.
"At first it looked like anyone could just add any item to any list, but at the last step I noticed that there was a 48 hour appproval process."
This is another subtle point. Any new item submission will be instantly live on the site, meaning that you can get instant gratification when adding items to other people's lists. However, these new items will not show up in search or on the list itself until they are approved. So once the items slide down the home river, they are gone unless you know the url.
"List creation looks pretty good. The ability to add descriptions, links, pictures, etc. while creating the list is a nice feature."
We have more good stuff on the way in regards to pulling in content for list creation - unfortunately I don't think it will be in the initial release however.
Thanks for the feedback Twansalem.