'Wants' or 'would likes'?

SatNavSaysStraightOn

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Now that you've had a few days to settle to the new style and find your way around, are there any little things that you think would be nice to have? Something you've seen on another forum and feel is missing from here or that we would benefit from, whilst I'm tweaking settings here and there over the next week or two.

I'm not able to deal with a dedicated recipe input option or printing, I'll mention that now. But there could be something you've seen elsewhere that I don't know about...
I'll add that I'll make no guarantees or promises...
 
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First, and foremost, kudos. The site looks great and loving the colors too. Lots of bells & whistles. Appreciate that you ask what we would like to see. So, please don't see input as a negative, merely request/suggestion.
I always go to new posts, and didn't realize the lightening bolt was for new posts. Perhaps labelling it would help newcomers navigate around the site better. I like to keep things simple, i.e. sharing a recipe w/o cross references, etc. I found it complicated. Tags. I like them simple - perhaps 3 tops. Maybe this is a way for Google to find & bring more traffic to the site? Unsure. Do multiple tags help? I don't use all the bells & whistles. Rarely send a personal message. The word conversations threw me, but I figured it out. Also didn't see a way to delete them. There are other feature s I don't use - leaving a message on someone's page? Don't know if more features cost more money. Re food topics, perhaps a pic of the food. Not necessary, but would add more color. For me, the simpler to navigate, the better. Looking forward to seeing the new home page too. Thanks for listening, and all the hard work you do.
 
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First, and foremost, kudos. The site looks great and loving the colors too. Lots of bells & whistles. Appreciate that you ask what we would like to see. So, please don't see input as a negative, merely request/suggestion.
Thank you and I won't
I always go to new posts, and didn't realize the lightening bolt was for new posts. Perhaps labelling it would help newcomers navigate around the site better.
It is labelled in the larger format views. I'm guessing that you are using a mobile phone or other narrow screen device to view the site one because on these, labels have to be ditched and only an icon used because of the space issues.

This is it an a laptop screen.

1568684495309.png


Phone screens simply can't have the labels. You'll have noticed that on your device you won't have your full username across the top either - again its a space issue, though to be honest I think it could probably fit on on a tablet screen but that's the default design.

This is the view on my tablet

1568684739775.png


If I switch my laptop into phone mode (something I can do for testing the various screen sizes and the design) I get this.

1568684891258.png

I've highlighted the 2 identical symbols. One has a label and the other doesn't. Both do the same thing.

I like to keep things simple, i.e. sharing a recipe w/o cross references, etc. I found it complicated
Referencing recipes is essential for the sake of netiquette and copyrighted material. It is also absolutely essential that recipes are uploaded as new threads because the site would simply not be what it is without everyone participating in this. How would you find a recipe for say a nice beef stew you saw if it was embedded deep inside a 30 page thread that was now closed because it was for what you cooked or ate back in November 2016? The site would simply not work without recipes being created as a new thread and tags put on, and everyone knows how to make a new thread.

Adding a link to it has now become easier because all you need to do is to copy the web address in the bar at the top and put it directly into the text (just as I am typing here) and the system will copy the title post for you and make the link for you once you press the "Post reply" button. It's a new feature - so just copy the address of the recipe thread you have just created and paste it into an competition thread or what you did indeed eat today and the title is taken care of for you.

So copy this
1568685469187.png


paste it into your text "I made https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/dairy-free-buckwheat-blini.16466/ yesterday. They were really easy to make"

And you will get this "I made Recipe - (Dairy Free) Buckwheat Blini yesterday. They were really easy to make"

Tags. I like them simple - perhaps 3 tops. Maybe this is a way for Google to find & bring more traffic to the site? Unsure. Do multiple tags help?
Tags do all sorts of things and the more the better (to a point - the system limits each member to 4 and a thread to 8 total from anyone). It helps with searches, it helps with lists and it helps with the google search engine. The more accurate they are the better, but if you are making say "Brandy Butter", it is better to use "Brandy" and "Butter" and not "Brandy Butter" because your recipe will be seen by anyone searching for either "Brandy" or "Butter" but if it is tagged "Brandy Butter" it will only ever be seen by someone specifically searching for "Brandy Butter" and if you are looking for ideas on something to do with either Brandy or butter and are only searching on one of those tags (most likely brandy I guess) then a brandy butter recipe won't come up if it is tagged "Brandy Butter" but will come up in the search results if it is tagged with both "Brandy" and "butter"
Rarely send a personal message. The word conversations threw me, but I figured it out. Also didn't see a way to delete them.
Personal messages are exactly that - you don't have to use them. There is no way of deleting them. This allows for me to moderate members (once I have been added into a nasty PM) if there are problems. If a member can be nasty and then delete the PM with that evidence, the harm is done but I can't moderate them because I can't prove it ever happened. And yes, it does happen.
There are other feature s I don't use - leaving a message on someone's page?
Comments on a profile page are optional, they are just a quick way of leaving a message that the whole world can see - no different to an unsecure Facebook profile page and used in exactly the same manner.
Don't know if more features cost more money. Re food topics, perhaps a pic of the food. Not necessary, but would add more color. For me, the simpler to navigate, the better. Looking forward to seeing the new home page too. Thanks for listening, and all the hard work you do
No, the features like PM's and comments are all built into the core code of the forum and don't cost extra. The media gallery does cost extra but is needed to save server space and will be something that we will be encouraging members to use instead of direct file uploads, especially if the image is to be used in more than one location - currently if it is in 4 places (lets say 2 competition threads, the recipe used for the competitions and the what did I cook to day thread) then it is being uploaded and stored 4 times which is a massive waste of disk space on the server and makes the forum much larger than it needs to be in the long run. Think about a busy server and then consider many more members doing this regularly and it does become an issue. If it is uploaded to the media gallery, and then embedded into each of those 4 threads, it is only uploaded the once and stored once on the server. The threads show the picture as though it is there in the thread and also link back to the original which can be rated and commented on. There is actually a star rating system for images in the media gallery along with all of the EXIF data (dates and settings used to take the photo and what device was used, and if you know anything about photography, some of those settings are quite useful to know). But I am going to be writing a guide on how to use the media gallery in the near future. suffice to say right now, there are significant benefits to its use. Just think about that original image. If it was the maximum file size allowed, 5Mb and is uploaded 4 times into separate threads, that is 20Mb of disk space taken for 1 image. If it had been uploaded into the media gallery and a different icon used to insert it into those 4 threads, only 5Mb of disk space would have been used. That's a massive difference over a long period of time and as the site gets busier and bigger, with us being an image intensive/heavy site, it is going to add up and right now we are hosted free of charge by the original owner and creator of the site. I don't wish to cause issues by growing too big because of bad image habits of all users (myself included!).
 
Thank you :) Most I understand, and some I will reread. Appreciate your taking the time to explain. Certain things are easier for me on a laptop like posting a link. Haven't figured out how on a phone. My to-do list always seems to be growing.
 
Haven't figured out how on a phone.
usually it is a press and hold on the address bar and then either select all and then copy, or just copy. My browser actually detects and gives you the option to copy the link making life easier still.

When it comes to pasting, just get to wherever you want to paste the link and again press and hold down. That little same menu will pop up and this time you select Paste. Done.

If paste does not give you what you wanted, then you didn't copy the correct thing. There is a really useful undo icon on the toolbar above which shows on the phone as well. its the standard undo (go back) icon. Very useful for undoing a lengthy paste rather than manually deleting each and every letter.
 
usually it is a press and hold on the address bar and then either select all and then copy, or just copy. My browser actually detects and gives you the option to copy the link making life easier still.

When it comes to pasting, just get to wherever you want to paste the link and again press and hold down. That little same menu will pop up and this time you select Paste. Done.

If paste does not give you what you wanted, then you didn't copy the correct thing. There is a really useful undo icon on the toolbar above which shows on the phone as well. its the standard undo (go back) icon. Very useful for undoing a lengthy paste rather than manually deleting each and every letter.
On my phone, when my keyboard pops up, I click on the "G" (Google sign), and choose text edit. Haven't explored all my phone features yet.

I know about posting recpes in a new thread. It was the lengthy rules that were complicated for me. Or, perhaps, or in addition to, rules for competition challenge recipe sharing. I would have to be looking at the page at the same time to give any clearer or specific explanations/examples. In short, I've posted a recipe in a new thread & added tags on other sites. Simple.
Somehow transferring all my Mastercook recipes from laptop to phone is an undertaking I'm not certain I can or will tackle. That's my problem, though. Not site related.
 
There used to be a way to insert an image from elsewhere on the web. This would keep you from having to host images here. That function seems to have disappeared. (I've only been inserting images from my own blog.)

It is still available but because it actually breaks the SSL encryption (so the https becomes http again and you get a big red cross) the system now takes a copy and uses that which is also good because if the image is removed/edited or similar, the image will still display here rather than giving you the image unavailable or a big grey cross. Hosting images here isn't a problem. The problem is stopping members from using full seized images when a smaller one would display just as well, (just look at Yorky's images for an example - they are full screen but small sized images usually under 500kb each). Uploading the same 8Mb image or even uploading the same 5Mb image into several different places is what I'm looking to discourage. There is a media gallery, it has just never really been used much by anyone except for Yorky.
 
Okay I will look into media gallery. I think I looked at it when I first joined but found it more confusing than the other way - but it is quite likely since the other way was really easy, I didn't explore the media gallery further then. Or that I was having a "day" of being incompetent or something. I'll check it out when I post my next recipe because it would be nice not to have to post the same image at the challenge area AND at the recipe itself.

I do always optimize my images to be under a certain size - certainly can see that not doing so can be difficult. And that I'm living on satellite Internet - smaller helps things load faster when viewing!
 
And that I'm living on satellite Internet - smaller helps things load faster when viewing!
snap - and my time lag is massive. I get to a certain point in the day (between 3-4pm and I can't do anymore admin work on CookingBites because it just gets too slow). I have a nice fast download speed, once you get over the time lag. Uploads are not too bad but you do wait for responses which I find very frustrating and large images are the bane of my life (as are videos and video recipes. I have a restrictive data limit which makes life interesting as we approach a certain time of month and the off-peak hours are ridiculous (1am-7am only!)

I was in the process of making instructions for you... the link can now be found under this icon.

View media item 1252
View media item 1253
I have a red media sign which is highlighted which is a bit annoying , with 148 in it.

Russ
just go into the media gallery via that link and select Mark all read. It will reset it to Zero and only notify you as people add to the gallery. It is unviewed media items - same as all of the other alerts.
 
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