110 comments on “Site Feedback”

  3. If Dave is talking about the database connection errors/messages, it’s all been working for me since you fixed it Ken. Thanks.

  4. I for one think the presence of avatars/gravatars adjacent to commenters’ names detracts from the look of the blogs. Would you consider disabling this feature, or at least assessing site users’ views on this? Thanks.

  7. me@5 Forget my query Admin. I’ve just researched and found out about Gravatar. Probably one thing too many for me to bother with.

  8. Think of our ancestors in the Rift Valley , struggling to survive against all the odds , competition , no food , climate change , predators . Undertaking great migrations all over the world on foot so that our species could survive . Looking at these stupid pictures I bet they wish they had never bothered , makes me sad to be human .

  9. I don’t mind the personalised avatars, as, for example, appear in some of today’s independent posts but the generic one is boring. Like crossbar @5, I don’t see how to create my own.

  10. I find the avatars, and especially the avatars when you don’t have an avatar, are a huge visual distraction, to the point that the blog just turns me off. I already had a problem with reading the text as it appears feint to me.. Now the contrast is even greater, the text just fades into the background. Ask an expert in readability.

    As far as avatars go, I don’t think any form of them enhance the experience of 15 squared. Commenters express their personality through their words. I thought that is what this site is about. I think it’s very sad if people feel they’re being coerced to use avatars in any form, and especially if they don’t want to be just another annoying big blue blob. (like me)

  11. Hovis@9 Having done some research, it seems you have to set up an account on Gravatar. This is linked to your email address, and you can attach a profile picture to it. This will then appear on any site which has your email address and uses the Gravatar facility. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

    Btw I hate the big blue Gs on their side

  12. I came here to say that I think the avatars are really jarring. The default avatar colour does not go well with the general site colour scheme and it is far too prominent/bold compared to the surrounding text. It is also too high, spilling over the height of the post header itself.

    I would suggest at least changing the default avatar to something more fitting and reducing the size.

    I’d also be very happy for these to simply be removed. I’m not at all convinced that fifteensquared is the sort of space where many would want or set up avatars.

  13. PS Does the use of gravatar and the implied tracking of users across sites by their email address not raise privacy issues. This sounds very like third party cookies.

  14. Hi Ken/Admin

    If you are seeking to use this page as a test ground for the avatars, is it worth putting up a notice to that effect? We know there are plenty of site users who do not regularly visit this page or GD (and plenty of users who are unaware of either page).

    For what it’s worth, I loathe them. I do not think the appearance of the site is enhanced and, whilst some who embrace social media will take the opportunity to load up something appropriate, I feel I have got to know posters here by their pseudonyms and a funny photo adds nothing. I suspect, had you given us the opportunity to opt in, many would not have bothered. Please don’t force this upon us. Already a couple of regular and respected commenters have suggested they are disinclined to continue on the site. Maybe they won’t follow through but why fix something that is not broken and risk upsetting users in the process?

    So that’s a vote against for me.

    ATB

    PM

  15. I agree with PM@14. I’m not against avatars in principle, but not if you have to go through another site to set one up and then they’re not restricted to just 225. That’s not on.
    The default avatars are dreadful.

  16. I really appreciate this site, regularly visit but rarely comment. I find the avatars very jarring, and extremely off-putting – so much so they’re prompting a comment. Could there be a user option to not display them?

  17. I’m another who doesn’t like the avatars. I don’t have one for my Google account or anywhere else on my tablet. Can anyone explain what is the point of them? What are they meant to add to the enjoyment or practicality of this site? Whatever it is it doesn’t work for me.

  19. Since my original post @18 most of the avatars have disappeared leaving, I assume, only those who have actually chosen to have one. I wish they hadn’t.

  21. I don’t mind them, but I think not having a default option is the correct choice. I agree with Max that they’re a bit too large – should be about the same height as the post header, IMO. Also, perhaps it would be less jarring to those who aren’t fond of them, if they were on the right, not the left, of the post header. Either immediately to the right, or even fully at the RHS of the post’s width.

  22. Reading and posting on this site is the closest I come to using social media. Making it more like other sites is a step in the wrong direction, imo. What’s next? Rewards?

  23. Just to add my tuppence – we don’t need no ….ing avatars to discourse – what could they possible add? We are word people.

    I appreciate the play – both with this and the Guardian crossword site changes (now unfortunately removed) – but this is just so unnecessary.

  24. I’m not about to bail over the issue, this place is far too enriching and will remain so despite any unwanted tinkering.

    But agree, they’re inappropriate and intrusive. Not to mention tacky.

  26. I don’t mind them but they are a bit large on mobile devices. Also given that only about 2.75% of site users seem to have one is there much point?

    Roz I’d always assumed you were some kind of advanced being from another dimension. Good to know you’re human 🙂

  28. The avatars are ugly, infantile and totally unnecessary. As polyphone says, we are word people – we don’t need silly pictures

  29. It looks like the default avatar for those that don’t have them is now a blank square. This is a definite improvement, but the square still takes the space an avatar would occupy and so messes up the layout by forcing the text to the right to make room.

    As Mev@21 says, putting the avatars on the RHS would fix this but some careful design would still be needed to keep things looking clean.

  30. Could I also suggest that there should be a discoverable way to set an avatar. Without this I think they are unlikely to be used. Clicking an avatar should take you to a page with information about avatars.

  33. Shane@31. Thanks for the information. As it happens I already know this, but I suggest most won’t and the feature can’t rely on people having to ask. This is what I mean by making the feature discoverable – users should be able to easily find out how by themselves. Making the avatar a link to information is an easy way to do this. However this is not compatible with the current empty square default avatars.

    If avatars stay, I think the default needs to be something subtle but visible and the avatars need to be smaller (on mobile at least). A subtle silhouette of a head and shoulders in a light colour based on the site’s colour scheme would work. This would fix the current empty indent problem and allow the default to be a link.

  34. I’d never heard of gravatar so I looked it up on wikipedia. It seems like it has serious security problems in allowing an email address to be discovered given the avatar and username.

  35. Several people have mentioned that avatars are too big on mobile devices. That is not my experience. Can someone take a screenshot and send it to me?

  37. kenmac@35 I’ve emailed you a screenshot.

    I’ve noted that they are not massively overlarge but they are taller than the rest of the header which makes the layout and general tidyiness of the UI a bit off.

  40. So far, the majority here don’t want the avatars, while a few don’t mind them. Nobody, it seems, actively wants them! Resolution seems obvious.

  41. I don’t mind avatars so long as they are unobtrusive and I think things are heading well in that direction with kenmac’s changes since their introduction yesterday.

    I do question the use of Gravatar to add this functionality due to the non-obvious reliance on a 3rd party and the data-sharing and privacy concerns that this introduces. I’d much rather have local user profiles with optional avatars if such a feature is to be provided.

  42. I was quite surprised to see my avatar here – I only have one as I’m a contributor (under a different pseudonym) to the idothei site where every user has an avatar generated at random, unless they change it for one of their own design. But with my avatar appearing here it won’t take much detective work to discover my other pseudonym; not that I mind anyone knowing that but I like to keep my personae separate.

  43. Please add my vote for no avatars. We paint our pictures with words.

    ( And I share the privacy concerns associated with Gravatar.)

  44. I would strongly prefer not to have to see the avatars if they can be removed without causing you too much trouble Ken. Thanks again for everything you do for us. Pauline

  45. Interesting. I’ve not signed up to gravatar but I have an avatar appearing next to my name. It’s a pic associated with another account on another platform and I don’t know why it has connected to my account here. Hmmmm!

    I wouldn’t have chosen to use an avatar here, but if I did I probably would have chosen a different one. (If anyone is interested, which I doubt, it’s a pic of me taking part in the Brompton World Championships in 2010.)

  46. From comments here the insecurity of avatars across multiple platforms is very concerning., and many have said they prefer 15sq without avatars for a number of reasons.

    Ken, could you let us know where this initiative has come from and why you think it’s something worth all this trouble pursuing?

  47. PDM@46 please do not leave the site over this, the pictures may be removed , made smaller , change position etc . If they stay you could learn to ignore them , I certainly intend to .
    Widdersbel@45 , I may regret asking this , but – Brompton World Championship ?

  48. From what I have learned about gravatar, I would hesitate to use it, and I don’t think avatars are a useful addition to this site.

  49. Roz – a bicycle race, with Bromptons! Held in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. I finished well inside the top 100, out of a field of around 650.

  50. I’m hanging in here Roz@47. But I’m genuinely interested as to why this has been introduced. It may be something good that I’ve never thought of, eg attracting a younger tech savvy solving community.

    Please Ken , talk to us.

  51. I’m not sure if I have an Avatar as yet – guess I’ll find out when this post goes up. I would have liked to have been given the option especially if the avatar is picked up from some other account that I’ve not used for long as appears to be the case for e.g. Widdersbel.

  53. PDM@50 I am dead against them , never seen them before and I reaaly do not see the point but I accept that I am extreme case in terms of using computers . I can ignore them .

    Widdersbel@49 I can see it now , your picture is very small . I see a lot of these on the train , wonderful engineering but not built for speed . Top 100 is impressive or is it like the “World” Series ?

  58. I hope that the colour scheme currently in use is temporary, or at least can be amended in one aspect. I often read the number of comments on each blog from the home page or specific pages, mostly in my case the FT page. I do this to see if any new comments have been added since I last looked. Trying to read small print in orange on a white background is really putting a strain on my eyes. Can something be done about this please?

  59. The leprechauns have heard your request and once the money they got from the pot of gold they found at the end of the rainbow this morning has run out and they sober up they will put things back.
    ☘️ 🇮🇪🌈⚱️🍺
    Current estimate for completion is midnight.

    Happy (what’s left of) St Patrick’s Day.

  61. Ed @51 – I’ve ascertained that my avatar is linked to another WordPress site that I own and is appearing here because, as a regular blogger, I have a user account here, registered to the same email address. I set up the other site over 12 years ago and have no recollection of the details but I’m happy to assume I must have signed up to Gravatar at the time. My fears are allayed.

  62. Question: when using the search function is it possible to limit the search results to threads where the search term is a SOLUTION to a clue as opposed to a word appearing in the thread title, a clue or elsewhere in the thread.
    More generally, out of interest, how are the search results ordered?
    Apologies if this has been asked before.

  67. Funny Ken Mac/Admin. So now those of us who didn’t have an avatar now have a crossword avatar? Is that a nudge for us to choose one of our own? Can’t see it well enough. Is that the one from Ludwig? 🙂

  68. I see that all people commenting – even those who had said they didn’t want an avatar or, at the very least, would like the decision to be optional – now have an avatar anyway.
    Of a crossword.
    Well I suppose it’ll help make it clear this isn’t a cookery website

  69. I’d quite like that grey anonymous head and shoulders avatar back as the default. A whole bunch of these crossword avatars all together on the same page makes me feel like I’m getting the visual disturbances associated with a migraine. Sorry Admin.😣

  70. Although I have no wish to discourage crossword-related events I do not think it is appropropriate for references to them to be inserted in the blogs relating to specific puzzles. In today’s blogs see entry 10 for the Indy, entry 8 for the FT and entry 65 for the Guardian. In the case of the event in question, which very few users of this site will have an opportunity to attend, there is already a dedicated separate entry under the heading of “announcements”.

  71. Have to agree with Crossbar, I think. Usually when you see the same avatar multiple times the mind registers it as several posts by the same person, so this very eye-catching default is counterintuitive for me in a way the greyed out one wouldn’t be. But thanks of course to admin for keeping the site up and running for us all.

  72. Rudolf @70: I have no idea what you are on about. As the author of entry 10 in yesterday’s Indy blog, I see no reference to a crossword-event in my post – or indeed in any other post. I have looked at the FT and G blogs too and, similarly, see nothing event-related.

  73. Postmark@72 The notices were removed shortly after I posted the message @70. I assume that the way the numbering system for blog entries works is that when entry N is removed, the message that was at entry N+1 is renumbered as entry N etc. It would be much better if something to the effect of “this entry has been removed” were to appear instead, because that would not mess up any cross-referencing.

  74. I’m in agreement with @67, @68, @69, @71.
    I think the introduction of avatars is unnecessary but I had begun to train myself to look past them. I’m finding it much harder to look past the new ‘busier’ default.
    It’s looking like a majority of posters are choosing *not* to select an avatar.
    @admin is there a target date for the avatar experiment to be finalised, and a measure by which its results will be judged?

  76. Hi Kenmac
    The last three times I’ve tried to get the Guardian puzzles from “Category”, most of them (but not all) having been showing the entire blog (not the comments) instead of just the introductions.

  77. I recently disabled a plugin that was flagged as being a security risk. Its job was to force a “more” tag into any post that didn’t have one. I’ll have to have a rethink. Thanks for alert.

  78. @74 Tim, if you use a content blocker with your internet browser, such as uBlock, you can add custom filters to remove all images from one site. For uBlock, the following line blocks Gravatar images across all sites:

    ||secure.gravatar.com$image

    This site becomes much easier on the eye without them (just my personal preference).

  79. And if we went on another WordPress site, would the crossword avatar follow us? Is that not linked to our email ?

  80. Just an idea, though I wonder if it’s implementable…
    …in the header links where is says “Site Feedback” and “General Discussion” would it possible to add the latest comment count in brackets after the title, e.g “Site Feedback (79)” and “General Discussion (115)”.
    That way you could tell in an instant if there’s been a new comment since last you checked in rather than having to click the link to check.

  82. Is there likely to be an Indy blog today, Ken? 4pm as I write. I enjoyed Tack’s puzzle and was hoping to be able to say so.

  83. Please can you ask loonapick not to give anything away about the crosswords he blogs in his first paragraphs? The Guardian’s excellent and inventive no. 29,657 (Ludvig) was spoiled for me by seeing his hints on the front page of Fifteensquared before solving (I often look there to see who the setters are in case anything looks interesting). He changed the text some time in the morning but it is still clearly intended to give hints (it actually begins “Hints:”!). Surely bloggers know not to do this? Readers of this site should be allowed to solve the puzzles as intended by the setters, like anyone else. I did leave a brief complaint on the blog itself but it was ignored and the hints were left up.

  84. Herb @83. I suspect you’re in a small minority of people who look here before solving, so, for most of us, hints aren’t an issue.

  85. Crispy@84. I agree that those who look on this site before completing or even starting a crossword are likely in a minority, and have only themselves to blame if they catch a glimpse of something they would rather not see, but I don’t see this as justification for rejecting a polite and rational request for no spoilers in the opening lines of the blog. (Though I do have sympathy for Loonapick and thought that what he wrote at the start of yesterday’s Guardian puzzle was fine.)

  89. Hi admin, I’ve posted a comment in General Discussion, and the site said it had been submitted correctly – but it hasn’t appeared. Is there a problem with the system? (I can’t see any reason why it would have fallen foul of any anti-spam measures.)

  90. Follow-up to me@89: it’s appearing now, tx. Not sure why it took a while to appear; comments usually appear immediately. But no to worry!

  92. Thanks! I see now that it says it’s awaiting moderation. Yes tx for putting the full one. (I experimented with splitting it up, to see if that would make any difference.)

  93. Hi Ken. For some reason, the whole of the blogs for The Guardian and Independent now appear on the home page.

  96. Sorry to bother you KenMac , there is no Guardian blog for last Saturday , not a complaint , I know you have problems to fix but if this is something easy to do …..
    Good luck sorting the bugs , a severe Paddington stare works for me .

  97. Roz – a bit of a cock-up on the scheduling front (sorry, been watching Reggie Perrin on BBC4)

    Fixed now

  98. Thanks KenMac , you are the genie of the lamp , I will save up my next two wishes . ( I remember the crosswords on the train from TFARORP , I am the last of this tradition , everyone else has a mobile phone now . )

  99. Since quite recently it takes a while before a comment that you just submitted appears in the thread. If you click again in case your click didn’t “take” it’s easy to get the “looks like a duplicate comment” message. Is there a way to circumvent this? Maybe just a pop-up message saying “Received your input… Processing” while the (admirable) anti-spam does its stuff?

  100. @ken / @admin – post #15 on the current Guardian Anto looks as if it’s slipped through Askimet / your checking.

  102. If the intention is to leave the new buy me a coffee button on the site permanently, could it be made less intrusive, please?

    I’m a fan of supporting this site and have already bought a few coffees. However, I don’t think I need to see the button so prominently on every page, and having “thanks for visiting – you can now buy me a coffee” pop up every time is irritating.

    Is there a way to make the button go away? I’d expect some sort of “don’t show this again” or “remind me again in 30 days”. I’ve actually donated to fifteensquared very recently so would rather not do this again right now.

    As always, thanks for all the effort that goes into this site!

  103. @102

    Sorry about that.

    After the recent investigations, the button, which is above the calendar, had disappeared and since it was about a million years ago that I had set things up, I’d forgotten how to get it back.

    It seems that “widget” was the wrong thing to do.

    It’s gorn!

  105. I subscribe to the RSS feed for the site and I’ve noticed the notifications are now showing the whole post, including the solution.

  106. This may be the appropriate place to say that earlier today a standard 15 x 15 online Prize by Kite appeared on the Guardian website, as well as the expected Bank Holiday Jumbo by Maskarade.

    The Kite puzzle was around long enough for some people to do it, but the Guardian now says it was published in error and has removed it: apparently it will reappear in May.

  107. Thanks Gladys , fortunately I never look online , it is definitely the Special in the paper .
    ( I didn’t get where I am today by looking at crosswords online . )

  108. I decided at last to put a picture next to my name, but the Gravatar login process took me round in circles and did not give me a code. I’d be surprised if I am the only one to experience this. Any suggestions?

  109. Hello Admin. Thought I’d try here first than clutter up your inbox. I seem to have a problem getting my posts to register. They seem to have been recognised as when I use the back arrow to retrieve and then try to re-post, I’m told it’s a duplicate. Also the Post happens immediately, no two minute timer, just vanishes into the ether. Might be my ‘.net’ email extension possibly.
    Don’t know if I’ve been banned as can’t recall posting anything particularly inflammatory. If so would appreciate a quick email to confirm so I don’t waste any more time trying to contribute.

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