I figured that I should give people a heads-up, rather than just dump changes unannounced like wordpress.com did with their recent beep boop editor bomb.
Two changes – comment filtering and format. Two notes: editing for guest authors and a personal note about the future of WUWT.
1. Comment filtering has become stricter
This change is already in place this week and has been necessitated by the rising amount of spam comments not just at WUWT, but all blogs seem to be getting. Steve McIntyre laments his trouble with recent spam increases here.
WUWT gets about 3 times the amount of spam that Climate Audit does, most of it commercial link-back spam disguised as a comment. I too have seen the increase, and clearing out the spam filter has become quite a chore on some days. As a result, I’ve turned on this setting in my wordpress.com dashboard:
Strict: silently discard the worst and most pervasive spam.
What this means is that occasionally, some legitimate comments that meet this criteria might get thrown out with the bathwater. Some comments that are on the fence may also go to the spam holding que for review.
So, if you make a comment and it immediately disappears, it may go straight to either of these places. But, that doesn’t mean it is lost forever, it may be in the holding queue. Give it some time to see if it is retrieved by a moderator. For overnight, typically 11PM-6AM PDT, some comments may take awhile before they are rescued.
For a few people who have no manners and have been warned and finally banned (for example, Doug Cotton and his variety of shapeshifting sock puppets, and NASA GISS scientist Jan Perlwitz who made a death threat) those comments will straight to the bit bucket. Words with the usual variety of cuss words, profanity, and banned topics, etc. will also go straight to the bit bucket.
If your comment doesn’t fit any of these categories, and you don’t see it rescued within a few hours, it may have been a victim of the new stricter spam policy. I wish this wasn’t the case, but the enormity of the spam increase requires it. There just isn’t enough time in the day as it is and we shouldn’t be wasting it wading through dreck comments to decide which require permanent deletion and which don’t. Due to WUWT being a high traffic blog and in the top 10 of wordpress.com blogs worldwide on a daily basis, it is a prime target for spammers.
Also, some comments may be held for moderation, as we’ve recently added some words to that filter. Some people who have been known to post wildly off-topic, long rants, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate comments will get the inspection of a moderator. Also, first time commenters will be held in moderation, and after the first comment is approved, you are whitelisted.
The vast majority of regular commenters are also whitelisted, but occasionally somebody may trigger moderation. One of the surest ways for your comment to be held is to put a whole bunch of links in it, which mimic commercial spam. Right now we have it set to 4 links as the maximum. If you have a comment that requires more than that, try to break it up into two comments, or just accept that your comment will be held for moderation.
Also, moderator, please step up in removing off topic comments, we have a handful of people who think that “anything goes” when it comes to posting these sorts of comments on threads. Likewise, feel free to snip and warn purveyors of abusive comments.
The WUWT comment policy page is here.
2. New format
One of the biggest problems that WUWT (and many blogs like it) is that given the linear scrolling format, stories often get shuttled to the bottom of the stack pretty quickly, especially on busy news days. This means that some topics die a premature discussion death.
WUWT readers may have noted that I’ve been trying some experiments to keep stories of interest at the top, trying for awhile a “top stories” sticky post for a few weeks. While it helped, the amount of work to keep up with it was large, and some people didn’t like it. Of course in any change, there will be those that don’t like it.
The last major format change I made to the WUWT format was in early 2010, a couple of months after Climategate broke. I found the old Freshy theme we were using then was too narrow, and restrictive (it didn’t support mobile devices well) so I opted for the new (at the time) 2010 theme, which has served us well for over 4 and half years. But, it too is now showing signs of age, especially with so many topics and so much traffic.
After months of trying out new ideas offline, I believe I’ve found a new theme that will solve the problems mentioned above, while still retaining much of the look and feel of WUWT along with being able to keep all posts in a linear scrolling format as we have before.
The new theme is called “Expound” and you can read about it here. WordPress describes it as:
Expound offers a fresh, clean magazine-styled look for any type of blog. With a responsive design that looks great on any device, its support of post formats and featured posts will help your content shine.
Here is what it will look like. I still have not included the header image. This is a scaled version to show what the scrolled areas below the main headlines look like. It will be full width on any browser, and will properly adapt to tablets and phones as well.
The five most recent stories are at the top, you can see other stories directly below by scrolling down.
The only thing that will significantly change is the front page of WUWT and some sidebar elements will be removed that are no longer relevant. Posts themselves will pretty much look the same and commenting will work as before.
One big improvement to this theme is that it will allow bigger images, 720 pixels wide, up from the previous width of 640. We’ll be able to do HD! This is important for graphs with a lot of details and some videos in HD.
Here is a full-on view of the main page before scrolling:
The change will start on Monday morning, August 25th.
The good news is that if it doesn’t work for some reason, it can be changed back.
UPDATES
UPDATE: As you can see by now, the new format is live. Like with any new format, there may be some hiccups or some things that aren’t quite right. I’ve spent the evening doing some font tuning, and I hope the body font for posts is OK now for most people. If not, you can magnify/shrink in your browser using CTRL and + keys simultaneously as well as CTRL and – keys. CTRL and 0 (zero) puts you back at default magnification.
There are a couple of missing elements, such as comment count, and “leave a comment” on main page entries, along with some other small tweaks that will be put back in over the coming days with the CSS editor. BTW, if anyone is a WordPress CSS specialist, and can help me with such tasks, please leave a note in comments – thanks, Anthony
UPDATE2: Some things that I expected to retain got broken, such as the mobile theme, which I believe is fixed now. Some other things that we are used to got broken or removed because the default theme setting didn’t support them.
The good news is that most everything can be fixed with CSS tweaks over the next few days, though I have a bit of a learning curve on these items. Anybody out there a wordpress CSS specialist?
Some things already fixed are:
- Mobile theme
- Header font and body of story font sizes
- Making body font more readable by making it sans serif
- Put back “latest posts” on sidebar since some users still need it
- Background image restored
Things I’m working on:
- Putting back real time stamps
- Putting back comment counts
- Getting comment body fonts and comment name headers sized properly
- Less white space
- About a half dozen other small tweaks
Your patience is appreciated while these things are dealt with. – Anthony
Note: editing for guest authors.
For guest authors who can post on WUWT, to get an image to appear in the top five, you’ll have to select it as a “featured image” (on the lower right sidebar) during editing, otherwise it will appear as text only. Putting a short summary in the first sentence or two is more important now, since that is what readers will see at the top of the main page.
Also, to get around invoking the horrid beep boop editor that wordpress.com refuses to dump, here is a workaround. In the dashboard, simply click on the “Posts” item but NOT on the drop down menu where it says “Add New”:
To edit a post, click on “all posts”, select the post needed to edit, and edit from there.
Personal note:
After this change settles in, I will make the decision as to whether to stick with wordpress.com any longer. They assure me they are trying to polish this beep boop editor turd fix the beep boop editor, but I’m not sure they are going to be successful. They’ve pretty well ignored users concerns in this thread, and then decided to close it.
Closing threads where users are sounding off angrily sounds like the tactics some newspapers and magazines we know that simply choose to ignore overwhelming reader input when it comes to the many climate science faux pas that grace their pages.
Bad move, WordPress. I’m not sure your free hosting is worth the hassle anymore. Many other users feel the same with this “jumped the shark” moment with the “beep boop” editor debacle. Being able to control one’s own destiny has its advantages, and I’m beginning to feel abused by wordpress.com.
BTW, the video ads that appear at the bottoms of posts give the highest payback to WUWT, should you be inclined to watch them.
Spam has become a terrible curse. Seven years ago there might have been a couple of spam posts; often, none. Now there can easily be more than a thousand on a thread. It is tedious picking out the few legitimate comments from pages of spam.
If you don’t see your comment posted in a reasonable amount of time, post a note to the moderator and we’ll look for it. Sometimes, though, WordPress eats comments and they are never seen again. It is best to keep a copy somewhere until you see it posted.
Crossing fingers in support.
One additional warning to fans of my Guide to WUWT at http://home.comcast.net/~ewerme/wuwt/index.html I “web scrape” WUWT’s daily summary pages to fish out the article names and other data, e.g. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/23/ .
This change will likely make the program fail. I expect not for very long. Some features of WP’s classes help identifying the important pieces of each post.
No way to add a feature to allow editing of ones comments for a few minutes after posting is there like there is on some of the other blogs I have visited? Seems I never catch all the typos until after I’ve posted and then they stick out like sore thumbs.
REPLY: this is my most requested feature over the years, and wordpress.com has steadfastly refused to provide this feature even thought I continually ask for it. It is part of my reasoning to consider abandoning wordpress.com, especially when their major rival, blogger.com has it. – Anthony
You are the boss, boss and whatever you find works best is good. I will continue to do the best I can to keep things copacetic. The volume of input here is amazing and I guess it is a credit to what WUWT has become, a beacon for thinking people.
What a ride.
Agree with alcheson. and I guess the like /dislike and being able to answer the poster right below his post is still out?
REPLY: that one has been tried several times, each time failing because so many users consider it pointless and annoying – so, yes – Anthony
What Keitho said. Whatever works best for you Anthony.
You are in charge and we respect your decisions.
Thanks for all of your efforts, dedication and hard work. ☺
Clive
Moderator says:
August 24, 2014 at 10:49 am
“If you don’t see your comment posted in a reasonable amount of time, post a note to the moderator and we’ll look for it. Sometimes, though, WordPress eats comments and they are never seen again. It is best to keep a copy somewhere until you see it posted.”
————————————————————————————————————————
I am sure that many do this already but for those that don’t, the easy way for longer comments is to pull up a new word doc and type your comment, edit it and when you are happy with the result; cut and paste in the comments section. Don’t delete the doc until your comment posts.
+ + + + +
[Reply: Or just use a draft email. Post it there, then just delete the draft when you see your comment. ~ mod.]
I think we all just really appreciate the time and effort you put into having the best climate website out there. Thank you!
Tightening up on spam will hopefully save you (and the mods) time. Time is a precious thing to conserve during the long and difficult process involved in criticism of climate science issues.
Thanks for keeping this site thriving.
John
“REPLY: this is my most requested feature over the years, and wordpress.com has steadfastly refused to provide this feature even thought I continally ask for it. It is part of my reasoning to consider abandoning wordpress.com, especially when their major rival, blogger.com has it. – Anthony”
Think long and hard if you’re contemplating Blogger. I dumped them years ago for WP for a whole variety of reasons and have seen no reason to return. The major issue on the table right now for browsers and blog hosts is the “Rise of the Money App” that came with apple, and then Android and now Win8. “They” are all going there… Firefox couldn’t leave well enough alone with their management, they now believe they know what security you need and what you can read as a result. No way to opt out. Google Chrome now disables any add-on that makes an end run around any of their associated regimes, if they haven’t lassoed them for their App Store. Microsoft does the same on a lesser scale. The Google one is funny – they tell you the privileges afforded the installed rogue apps may be the same as their own, but you can’t use it. It isn’t about security, its about control their kingdom. Biggest app groups to get hit are the anonymisers and the U-tube downloaders… I wouldn’t have said so a few years ago, but I see the internet in a few years time being nothing more than another delivery model of “cable”…
These blogging sites are rated by their users as better than WordPress:
http://www.weebly.com/features/#!/blogging
https://www.tumblr.com/
REPLY: nope, I’ll never use either. Trying to export a large site like this to them is a train wreck – Anthony
self hosted wordpress allows disqus/livefrye integration. have never personally done it but have seen examples of it.
its only items on actual wp servers that are restricted.
And down the moderation rabbit hole we go…sigh.
THANK YOU Anthony for all the work you put in to this site!
Never forget, as you are picking through some irritating issue (whether it is a scrap between article authors or between people making comments, or cleaning out spam, dealing with your website service, or whatever) that there are a BUNCH of people like me who really value and enjoy the information, the stories, the back-and-forth discussions that you make possible.
An informative, highly readable website on issues that affects us all.
Again, THANK YOU Anthony!
Jim Jelinski
Can I suggest that people make a copy of their post before pressing the ‘post comment’ button.
If the post does not surface it can be readily reposted. Personally I find by far the easiest way of doing this is to merely make a comment, copy it then paste it into notepad or a new email.then delete when it appears.
This is also useful in case the connection is lost as the post gets transmitted. Saves a lot of hassle especially if you’ve made a long comment that you have invested time in.
Incidentally who on earth responds to the spam which is very obvious and quite useless?
Tonyb
Heh. Preemptively ban all comments commenting on the new format. That should save a lot of time next month. Or better yet, any complaints directed towards the new format must be accompanied by a contribution to the Tip Jar in order to be published.
Even if WordPress don’t oblige, hope you might consider it right to delay any possible change (despite the various problems) at least until WUWT reaches the full 200 millionth page view, to get every due accolade for this tremendous milestone, both for yourself and the Mods. It should only take a few more weeks …
The new look reminds me of Icecap.us, which is a refreshing look. Keep up the very important posts.
Anthony,
I suggest you give WordPress a few weeks to see the light. The bigger the ship, the slower it turns. Those responsible for the changes you so dislike will have to be either shouted down within the company, or run away on their own. Either way, it will take some time. (Remember the New Coke debacle? Careers were at stake, and it was very awkward to return to the earlier formulation.)
It is difficult for people to admit error…. it’s not just climate scientists. 😉
REPLY: that is a good point, and per TimC’s comment upstream, I think I’ll at least wait until 200 million on the counter. – Anthony
Anthony you need to create a new Blog and change nameservers. The styling and about everything about this blog is ancient. Host your new Blog on a cloud server such as Google Cloud where you can optimise the site yourself and most of all make it responsive to all screens.
edit: Plus you can completely eliminate spams once you have access to the source.
Just curious: How will you be able to tell spam from, say, nick stokes posts?
I don’t know if WordPress would allow it or if the readers would like it, but supposedly Disqus is good at blocking spam. TVBTN (the site for daily & weekly TV ratings) switched to Disqus to fight/block spam.
Whitelisting should solve many problems.
I hope I’m on the list. I’ve made 4000 (est.) comments over five years with only one snip.
I echo the appreciation expressed by others for all your hard work in bringing fourth and maintaining WUWT.
Keep in mind the problems you mention are those that come with success.
If you decide WUWT can no longer be accommodated on a free hosting service, I will happily join with many other regular readers in pledging a regular contribution to meet your costs.
Looks good. But while making changes, would you tell them to remove that annoying “enter your comment here” that pops up and constantly blocks your view of what you are writing. And another desirable feature would be ability to include figures in jpg or similar format without having to post them somewhere first. Arno
REPLY: Can’t help on what you are seeing. But try a larger screen size. I cannot and will not allow user uploads for convenience sake. It is a HUGE security risk.
You can include images from any URL just simply by typing in the full path with http like this: [http://cache1.intelliweather.net/imagery/KPAY/sat_atlantic_120x90.jpg] but don’t put in the brackets, the result will be this below.
http://cache1.intelliweather.net/imagery/KPAY/sat_atlantic_120x90.jpg
Anthony
I hope Pat will be whitelisted! I think most people like his stuff. It rarely distracts or derails. (Maybe run a poll??)
That’ll work!….plus the easier it is on you….the more you can post!! .. it’s a win win
You guys stop worrying about “spealing”….who cares as long as someone can read it…..and if it’s that wrong….just post a corrected post
Sir, thank you for the improvements on an already excellent site. I have learned more here on many topics other than climate change and enjoy the discussions of the comments section as well. As just an average joe, I have yet to find any articles where I am lost in the science (though I have had to research some). I also enjoy the fact that you link to other science sites that also drive my curiosity. All in all, thanks for a site well done.
I was going to suggest that a list of words that go to the “bit bucket” be put under the “site policy” drop down. That would be helpful for the “innocent” but it could also be useful to the disrupters.
Your call.
Thanks for what you do and thanks for trying to make it better overall for both the users and your ModSquad.
REPLY: I had thought of that, but my wackadoodle Internet stalker Miriam O’Brien (aka Sou Hotwhopper) and many others will most certainly use that for some unscrupulous purpose. – Anthony
Kinda like the gif I finally tracked down thanks to Leif. Hope it runs.
http://www.beerorkid.com/avatars/love_your_job.gif
I am looking forward to the changes. I think you need a new format due to the many new articles that appear each day.
As to nested replies, there are pros and cons on that issue. Having followed Mr. Greenwald (his posts normally get over 500 to 1000 comments each) at different places where some had nested comments and some did not, I found that your present system is better than nested most of the time. (not always of course)
On another issue, editing comments by commenters can lead to certain abuses that might make correcting a few typos not really worth it. Perhaps WP is right on that issue.
I do wish you would do the occasional “open thread” where certain topics and certain other skeptical sites could be mentioned. But, after all, it is your blog and you can ban talk about anyone or anything you chose.
Mods
Another one went to moderation.
I seem to get moderated on almost every comment. Yet I have not ever been snipped or warned. Any thoughts as to why?
REPLY: no idea, but I’ll see if I can find out – Anthony
@markstoval
I think I found the reason. I had three sites ending with xxxx.wordpress.com held for moderation.
your comments always have markstoval.wordpress.com in them, and I think the keyword filter simply interpreted it too literally.
Try it now.
This is your site Anthony, your site your rules. The fact that you’ve gone to such lengths to explain all this shows yet again the quality of person you are.
And it is all greatly appreciated. I know there are many here who are primarily interested in CAGW – oops climate change – but he CAGW movement is just a part of a much bigger travesty, and whatever guys and gals like you can do to stop it is greatly appreciated – and as the site itself shows, is appreciated everywhere – in Murica, in Murica’s economic vassal to the north Canada, in Engerland (went to the Man U game at Michigan Stadium with 109k of my closest friends – awesome) , Australia, Eriador, Scandahoovia, just about everywhere on the planet but France.
As for me, my posts are always on-topic and devoid of frivolous nonsense, so I have nothing to worry about.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360%5D
Can you buy software that does what Word Press, et al do, but you control it, and then just host it on Go Daddy?
I look forward to the changes!
Fwiw, disqus seems to work much smoother on other sites I’ve seen it used.
In any case, thank you for all your hard work and perseverance!
I get stuffed into moderation all the time too. Fair enough. I take this as a sign that my comments are offensive, in some way, and so use that as guidance to try to be more polite. We can all make mistakes.
Antony, whatever you choose to do will have my support (for what that’s worth). You’ve earned respect and shown competence.
Editing comments would be wonderful.
But Like/Dislike is just a means of enforcing conformity and intimidating minority viewpoints. That hasn’t discouraged me but may diminish the blog in the long run.
Over the past few months, three users have asked that the “Test” page be culled of unneeded/unusual posts: It now has several thousand messages. Some remain very, very useful, but certainly not all. Can the moderators be allowed to work on that?
Hope a spam whitelist of long-time trusted commenters will be maintained (with me in it, needless to say!). Sometimes cuss words – in context, like in direct quotes, for example – are wholly appropriate, and censoring can dilute the message.
Best of luck with the changes, Anthony. We’re just lucky to have you.
Like markstoval I too get moderated from time to time – could be I am putting four or more links it (nice bit of info – thanks!), however (as far as I know) they are all on target for the thread.
Perhaps if a person is whitelisted their link count can be increased a smidgen?
It would be nice to have threads such as are structured on Judith Currys’ site – Climate Etc. – makes for more interesting reading and folks have a better chance to learn.
I must say for initial info I usually start with WUWT and then spread out, but the comments structure really leaves a lot to be desired…
Re my last comment: duh, should have read the article more carefully. My point was already addressed. Sorry!
David, UK says at August 24, 2014 at 12:54 pm…
Not sure I agree. Many long-term trusted commenters may cross the line occasionally. Mea culpa sometimes and even my respected head of house may make the rare faux pas.
Yet such actions should lead to a ban in order to keep the tone of debate open and friendly.
But having double-standard rules means that the decision to “suspend” becomes harder.
@Tonyb
…Incidentally who on earth responds to the spam which is very obvious and quite useless?..
They (and the the Nigerian 419 scams) are obvious and stupid for a very cunning and intelligent reason. The people who run these things are not stupid.
What they are looking for is dummies – people who will buy what they are selling without question. They DON’T want intelligent people coming and asking them questions, then not buying anything and wasting their time. They want people with money but no sense. People who are gullible and credulous.
The easiest way to arrange that is to offer an advert which is badly spelled and screams “FRAUD!!” very loudly. If someone still responds, they are going to be easy pickings….
Here is a test post per request.
If it is a problem with me logging in with my blog credentials, I could log in with my Twitter account. (same name)
But it is kind of funny since it took me weeks to get this site to let me use my WP account. Several regulars gave advice and one of them (sorry forgot who) hit the nail on the head and got me going. Would it not be a hoot if logging in with a WP account sent you to moderation at a WP site? I have always said that computers are magic. (black magic)
~ Mark
And there you go @markstoval …problem solved
Thanks for all your hard work Anthony. I am sure your judgement is best on what to do. I will say that one site that I use a lot says “Powered by WordPress and Atahualpa” at the bottom, has Disqus (love it or hate it, it does have an easy way to edit posts, attach photos and videos, and a discreet voting system; but the best thing about it is you can reply to a comment and the replies stay together tabbed in, making it possible to help a newbie or air a disagreement without stalling the whole thread), and never gets spam somehow. Don’t know how they do it but it works (mostly).
Thanks Anthony.
Thank you Anthony for hosting WUWT; I have faithfully, almost daily, read your blog for over four years and have learned much from you and other WUWT contributors and commenters.
You have my utmost respect for your dedication, hard work, and the respectful and even-handed way you manage WUWT! As others have noted, WUWT is your blog, and I too fully accept any and all management decisions that you make.
You, through WUWT, have nucleated and grown a great climate science community, I just want to see you and this community thrive.
Thanks
Dan
Re use of Expound. On Icecap, which uses this style, it is quite frustrating to have graphs which are so small that one cannot read the figures on the axis and frequently there is no larger version available. I have noticed of late that a number of graphs in WUWT posts likewise use clip-image graphs that are too small. I hope posters will be requested to provide links for any such graphics to larger graphics that can be read easily.e.g. sea temperature graph in David Archibald’s post on missing heat in the Atlantic.
I can’t stand Pat’s off topic posts and REALLY look forward to them getting yanked
As for comments disappearing (eaten by WP) I don’t get bothered by it. Chatty enough I am to just keep on going.
For what it’s worth, I really like the new layout. I’ve always been somewhat frustrated by the limitations of the purely vertical posts.
markstoval on August 24, 2014 at 1:06 pm
– – – – – – –
markstoval,
Your commenting problem discussion reminded me that long ago I gave up trying to comment at WUWT when logged on with my WP account.
John
Jake J says:
August 24, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Can you buy software that does what Word Press, et al do, but you control it, and then just host it on Go Daddy?
*********************************************
wordpress is free and can be installed on any server.
and godaddy shared hosting is the worst thing you could do with a high traffic site.
AWatts says:
You can include images from any URL just simply by typing in the full path with http like this: [http://cache1.intelliweather.net/imagery/KPAY/sat_atlantic_120x90.jpg] but don’t put in the brackets, the result will be this below.
Doesn’t work for me! It does seem to work for some posters, I’ve concluded there’s some WP attribute flag you can give people, and I don’t have it. I’m including your link, I think it will become an HTML “a” link to the image, not an “img” element.
There is a good reason to keep that status quo – letting dark-minded folks use it provides a defacto way to edit a comment by changing a benign image into some remnant of a suicide bomber.
Oops – did I forget the link? Possibly let me try that again. http://cache1.intelliweather.net/imagery/KPAY/sat_atlantic_120x90.jpg
Ric Werme says:
August 24, 2014 at 1:51 pm
*******************************
using chrome as browser by any chance?
it copies links differently then other browsers and strips them when pasted.
work around is paste into a notepad file then copy paste from that.
ran into this when making a twitter embed app for invisionboard software.
I’m another one who has always gone into moderation (and running a WP site – never thought that might be the cause of it). My comments always appear after five or ten minutes, so I’ve never really worried about it, despite the odd frustration.
Good luck with the changes, A., it amazes me that you hold up so well under what must be quite a burden – yet this site is so important and has done more to get truth across than perhaps can ever be realized. It’s quoted and shared and new people find their way here all the time. I’ve been with you some years now, and have learned more about our planet, weather, science (and more) than I ever did in school. It also keeps me abreast of societal changes and outlook with regard with the whole CAGW scam. I can’t trust the news for the truth in this very important matter. I’m addicted to your site now, I practically live here.
I am surprised that WP doesn’t back down on the stupid Beep Boob Whatever editor. With so many people hating the thing, it would be easy enough and better all round just for them to remove it. Saving face shouldn’t come into it – they’d earn huge appreciation and respect if they just did the right thing (where have I heard THAT before?).
I hope somewhere they are considering getting rid of it. Losing one of their top 10 just to cling to something no one likes anyway is complete foolishness on their part. They’ll lose a lot of others, too.
LOL guess who has one stuck in mod queue now…
this guy 🙂
Looking at the new magazine theme to start tomorrow I don’t see the “number of comments” noted. That’s an important info to keep.
Also, my first impression of the new format is not necessarily positive. But who listens to me? I would like to have Likes (without Dislikes), as it gives a rough gauge on your comments worthiness, and on whether you should continue to work with variations of that comment across the web. Plus it’s good feedback. Recognition. Some people feel inclined to respond to certain comments just to give recognition for a job well done. Being able to Like a comment would serve that purpose, and reduce the amount of fluff “good job!” comments.
Plus, I like clean language, and also I am not a fan of “disguised profanities” such as just leaving the C out of the F word. It would be good, though, if possible, to have a full list of the unacceptable words so we’d have a better chance of figuring out why one of our comments didn’t make the cut, or is in moderation.
Hi Moderator:
My comment at 1:20 PM has been held up in moderation or eaten by WP; although I expressed nothing but kudos to WUWT and our leader. Please see whether it’s hung up; if not, I’ll resubmit since I have a text version on my desktop.
Thanks
Dan
There was a Physics site, I once tried posting some things on, in answers to very specific questions.
People voted, on the most popular answer to a question, quite often, the first answer given, which as often as not, was total nonsense. People voted points for and against, and the higher your score got, the more people would vote up your answer. The other problem was that the original question poser, would never come back to see if somebody answered his question. It was a totally juvenile format, Some kid, still wet behind the ears, but a high popularity rating, could veto, your most carefully worded response, to some question, the kid knew nothing about.
I like the WUWT format , and if it changes a bit, I’ll adapt; which is what I do every time the climate changes. I just started wearing, a windbreaker jacket in the morning. Still go out in shorts though.
Anthony,
This is a good time to simply say “Thanks” for all your tireless work. You don’t get enough credit for all you do every day and the impact of WUWT.
Most all of us here, I suspect, are in for the duration. That is, we’ve got your back. I’ve seen you wrestle with many issues over the years and I know you are dedicated to what is right, proper and the truth. WUWT is a site of both learning and laughter and your leadership and stewardship is what makes it a jewel.
I look forward to the new changes and suspect I’ll get used to them soon enough. I know your interest is in keeping WUWT the primary beacon of scientifc understanding in this modern dark age.
As for your quote above: “per TimC’s comment upstream (regarding giving WordPress more time), think I’ll at least wait until 200 million on the counter” — well, at the current rate that won’t take very long!
All the best!
p.s. WordPress, if I were you, I’d pay attention to Antony Watts…
To err is human. To REALLY goon it up, we need computers. I think you said it all, Anthony, when you mentioned that there will always be someone unhappy with the changes.
When WUWT gets too large, and you’ve no choice but to go to paid subscriptions, sign me up, Coach!
And thanks so very much, to you and the Moderators, for having done all this for so long for all of us who enjoy it all for free.
“””””…..stevefitzpatrick says:
August 24, 2014 at 11:55 am
Anthony,
I suggest you give WordPress a few weeks to see the light. The bigger the ship, the slower it turns. Those responsible for the changes you so dislike will have to be either shouted down within the company, or run away on their own. Either way, it will take some time. (Remember the New Coke debacle? Careers were at stake, and it was very awkward to return to the earlier formulation.) …..”””””
Who says they returned to the earlier formulation ??
“Coke” became “New Coke”, which nobody liked, so they changed to “Classic Coke.” They did NOT, go back to “Coke.”
Words have meaning; different words have different meaning. If it’s the same thing, it has the same name.
I don’t like the like/dislike thing; if you need a pat on the shoulder, stand in front of a mirror, and give yourself a pat on the back. It’s childish vanity.
Mine from 1:57 has been in moderation for over 40 minutes now – a record! 🙂 (don’t sweat it, A., you are busy).
I don’t like gooogle and avoid them whenever possible. My suggestion is to stay away from this awful corp.
Pamela Gray, that has to be the sickest cartoon I’ve ever seen; but I did laugh a little.
Pamela Gray says:
August 24, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Kinda like the gif I finally tracked down thanks to Leif. Hope it runs.
==================
Word Press now knows better than to upset the Irish 🙂
I kind of like the way the GWPF site is laid out. We’ve all had to adopt so much with change over the years (I started out engineering with a slide rule) I think we can all trust that WUWT is doing the best for us and we will enthusiastically support it. I’ve been following WUWT for 6 8- years now? can’t remember….I think I found it through the old Don Surber blog.
Looks great to me!
Please, forget Disqus. It is slow, restricted and makes reading a thread a nightmare. The most important thing to read are last new comments on a thread that I am following. Hiding them behind a theat three or thumbs up system is a very bad idea.
Disqus is restriced commenting to registered users. Here you just write your email address and that’s it. I have to close my WordPress account while I am commenting, but easier is better.
go for it !
Mine are now put into moderation too. Only the shortest ones get through. Maybe it’s just my use of old fashioned yet colorful vocabulary. It couldn’t possibly be because I am longwinded.
A like/dislike comment ranking would be useful to quickly separate the off-topic from the relevant comments.
@Peter Foster I whole heartedly agree with your criticism of graphic sizes, some of us are using (software) screen magnifiers most of the time, and even with that my worn-out eyes can not see all the details all the time.
Anthony keep up the good work, I await your new format. I’m sure I will find something interesting to view tomorrow.
By coincidence, I just recently reset up my computer. It took a little while getting used to. When WUWT revamps its homepage it should wait a while to determine if the audience likes the changes Most people don’t like change but they adjust.
Anthony, thanks for everything you’ve done. That “everything” would be a pretty long list, so I won’t even start. If any of these changes make life a little easier for you, that would be a big plus. We are all in your debt.
It could be worse, just ask the bloggers in Russia… heavy surveillance
History News Network | Winter Is Coming: As the World Crumbles, We Must Re-Engage with Russia
http://hnn.us/blog/153480
Prepare for a change of the hosting server. Next offer to stay with WP for 25% of the ad revenue. If they reject that, counter offer for 50%. If that is refused then counter for 75% and make a change. Come back to WP at 90% ad revenue and a change in management. From WP point of view 10% is better than nothing. The WP children will need to change their diapers.
Whenever I make a comment, I get the message that is “in moderation”.
From your post text, I get the impression that should not be the case unless you are a “trouble maker”.
Am I a trouble maker? If so, what for?
Word press best hosts!
http://wordpress.org/hosting/
Thanks.
What Keitho said way up at the top of the comments. You’re the boss.
You’re the boss, I will always be a polite guest here, and if my occasional comment happens to get moderated, well then, that’s life. 🙂
dmacleo says:
August 24, 2014 at 1:55 pm
Actually, yes, (but also an old Firefox). Both on Linux, and usually with Firefox running the ItsAllText add-on which then runs emacs. So what I see is what goes to WP. Notepad? Yow.
Let me contemplate AW’s post. Sure would be nice if someone reset the test pages, it’s been semi-busted since my test over a year ago – http://wattsupwiththat.com/test-2/#comment-1320423
[OK, with Anthony’s approval we can begin that task of deleting excess and extra replies out of that thread, but will leave the examples and discussion comments .mod]
Thanks, Anthony & Mods! This site is a gem, we look forward to your exciting changes! Keep pissing ’em off, Charles the DrPH p.s. RIP REP!
Thank You for the continuing knowledge and education you provide.
Love the new look. Once I can keep tuning in to the wonderful words of wisdom and wit, I wish you all the very best of luck with it.
Many thanks, Eamon.
Site question:
I’ve noticed more handle links are coming up “http://deleted/”. Is this a WordPress thing that bans certain sites from being mentioned but sticks that in as a placeholder?
Thanks Anthony. I am a recent reader but I’ve learned a lot and really enjoy the site.
This is Anthony’s blog. Long ago, I gave Anthony and his moderators permission to delete anything I post, no questions asked. I think everyone should.
Ric Werme says:
August 24, 2014 at 5:12 pm
*****************************
odd, the firefox should have worked.
now saying that its been a bit since I posted pic here so not sure it even will.
testing now, using palemoon brownser
http://cache1.intelliweather.net/imagery/KPAY/sat_atlantic_120x90.jpg
Knowing humans a total normal development! WE support you AW.
I have noted a lot of spam showing up on necro threads for Dr. Curry and Steve McIntyre, but not on yours (which is the largest in terms of traffic). SO I imagine your spam bin is outrageous. I appreciate your efforts to clean it up and keep it tight. I will just have to make a habit of copy comments before posting them.
Good luck in your efforts.
worked for me, didn’t fire up any gnu machines here so not sure if its nix based issue.
WUWT and Goddard +100% (SCIENCE)
Hi Moderator and Anthony –
Please delete my “Tips and Notes” comment at “August 24, 2014 at 4:45 pm”
In the last few hours, I have posted comments to this thread and now a T&N comment that each have lanquisted in “moderation”. . . also a third comment to “moderators” to release the first that took some time. I guess that’s OK (afterall moderators have to eat, and engage with their families etc.)
I’m a climate skeptic that has followed this site for years and has never gone off topic or been disrespectful to anyone within the WUWT community. . . yet I feel like an outsider! As I said in my first “withheld response” on Anthony’s 8/24 lead thread: This is Anthony’s blog and he’s in charge and I cherish WUWT!
I still believe this is true. . . nonetheless, having seemingly been blackballed by WUWT and/or WP, I refuse to be a “silenced” second class WUWT citizen (non-white-listed) and instead will move on. Best to you all!
As disappointed as I am; I hope you. . . Anthony particularly. . . keep fighting the noble fight. Bye to you all! May of your voices. . . I certainly will miss!
Thanks
Dan
DanMet’al
is your browser messed up? Why are you double posting? Check your email and the comment I left for you at Tips and Notes.
You are conflating an automated process with something I’m personally doing.
Don’t. Take. It. Personally.
You haven’t been “blackballed” and I’m not going to delete the comment. The WordPress.com spam filter simply flagged your comment for some reason and I’ve been away this afternoon.
Also, the surfacestations gallery is set on private use at the moment, it will re-open once our paper has been published. We don’t want any new stations added or any changes made while we finish up.
Theo Goodwin said on August 24, 2014 at 5:47 pm:
I think everyone should realize this is implicit, management is automatically free to delete anything a commenter posts. The idea that you gave permission is cute, but irrelevant. Obama couldn’t prevent his comments from being deleted here by witholding his permission.
Anthony – It all makes perfect sense. Thanks for the heads up. And THANKS for doing what you do. I’m sure it is a lot of work but a labor of love.
The changes look great.
Anthony, I think you are doing the right thing by moving to the news format. It probably should have been done a while back. I, too, don’t like the beep-boop monster.
Congratulations on your great success.
Anthony Watts says:
August 24, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Hi Anthony –
Everything I said earlier about my respect for you still holds true. . . my views have never wavered! But I also admit to, and sincerely apologize for being overwrought about the consecutive and lengthy moderation delays for my seemingly innocuous yet supportive posts. I double posted on N&C because, I had no idea when (if ever) my “Notes and Comments” submission would ever get a response, after it went into moderation
But in an effort to provide a meta-lesson (whatever that means) to this discourse; I truly believe that all WUWT’ers need to spend more time expanding climate knowledge, educating, and avoiding clever repartee and put-downs and instead help the rest of us better understand climate, it’s drivers, and associated false predictions of climate models.
Thanks again for all you do; and please my apologlies for causing you to respond to my rant/retreat. At the same time; if you can identify a mentor that might help pursue my N&C comments, I’d greatly appreciate it!
Best to you Anthony
Dan Backman
I’ll join the chorus of people thanking Anthony for all his hard work. That fact that he has been actively searching for a way to make this site better on top of everything else he does is really amazing.
I like the Expound format, a lot. More functional, and aesthetically pleasing to boot.
Hi Moderator –
Please, I’m responding to a reply to me from Anthony. Can you please read and then accept the post. . . presuming that you see no problem ?
Thanks. . . if I’m overy impatient, my apologies.
Dan
While on the topic of guest authors, I’d like to repeat the request to require all guest authors to provide a brief bio at the bottom of their posts similar to what Bob Tisdale does. This would be a tremendous courtesy to the readership. Thank you, Anthony. This blog is fabulous reading.
Congratulations on the Success. With success comes hassles. Much like the blessing, may we live in interesting times. Key point, you and regular users are making a difference, the need for changes helps prove the success.
Anthony & all the elves who support this site:
I heartily echo compliments given in prior postings.
WUWT adds value by maintaining civility and intelligence when dealing with a critical issue that easily generates intense emotions.
The quality of your team’s effort is reflected in the growth of the site. As a frequent visitor, I’m pleased you’re taking the reasonable and necessary actions to maintain the record of success.
[The mods outrank mere elves. “WE” are at least equal to dwarfs. 8<) .mod]
Hi Moderator –
Yes. . . my sincere apologies. . . the comment that I referred to at 7:32 PM has been posted.
Thanks for putting up with me! Let me know what I owe you 🙂
Dan
I am sure you have considered it already, but I would also like to re-suggest the idea of an AWS (Amazon) hosted site with a self hosted wordpress instance. You get global cloud hosting, self managed wordpress install, scale-able servers, and complete control of the ad revenue. You can tune up or down CPU usage, and keep it inside of the ad revenue by design.
Thanks for your hard work and being a wonderful host, Anthony. Hope you find a good solution to these issues.
I would be quite willing to pay a small fee, in order to have the privilege of being “white-listed” on this site. I was thinking that $10 per month would be reasonable. I like being able to make an occasional comment, would promise to never post an advertisement, and usually keep my comments both clean and somewhat relevant.
Now that I see it I really like it! Very clean and modern look.
Yes I see the new format now too. Looks good, well done and keep up the very good work you do.
I like the ‘magazine’ theme, but I wish it weren’t using the light condensed san-serif font (not sure which it is) for body text. To my eye it’s less readable than many others, including the font in the former theme. YMMV, of course. /Mr Lynn
Note: My comments are going to Moderation too, where they didn’t use to. Is it because I’m using a WP identity, like Mark Stoval? /Mr L
For what it’s worth, I would like to see the number of comments on a particular article/post listed on the main page with a “comments” linking directly to the discussion. The new format reguires “opening” the article/post and scrolling to get to comments or to even see if there has been additional comments since last viewing.
First reactions
1 – yes, would love to see the number of comments per post on the main page.
2 – I quickly hit “Ctrl +” to make things larger and easier to read.
I may be in the minority, but I do not prefer the Expound Theme over the 2010 Theme.
The body and comment text is slightly smaller in Expound than in 2010. It is also a change from a serif to a san-serif font. These are important difference for me and my eyes. 2010 is very readable at 150% browser zoom (1920×1080 15inch screen). But Expound is harder for me to read at 150% and I may need to go to 175%.
Expound has too much white space for me, particularly between body text, blockquote, and between comments.
I miss the next and previous article links at the top of the post. You now must scroll to the bottom of the post to find these.
Titles in Expound are several sizes too large.
The menu wraps onto two lines (Widget, WUWT Stuff)
I like the new banner picture, but the old one was good, too.
Some, or all, of the aspects I mention may be tweaked in the CSS.
For those of us whose eyes are not what they once were, the move from a large, dark coloured font to a small, light coloured one is a step backwards.
@neil Try pressing CTRL and the + key in your browser window.
I use Internet Explorer (v.11).
I was playing around with the View == Text Size (Largest, Large, Medium, Small, Smallest). None of the settings made any difference I could see. It did not make any difference to the old format that I had on a stale tab either. Apparently the WordPress CSS uses fonts in fixed points or pixels. I think Ems or percent (of system defaut) font sizes is considered better practice by the web design community.
You forgot your /sarc.
This new format looks nice.
Very nice – your new banner image.
Post text font seems a little smaller than before(?), may have to put on the bifocals.
The overall format is pleasing..
Thanks Anthony and/or wordpress
The script in this new format is hard to read.
When I refresh, it takes me to last comment posted instead of first new comment posted.
The comment number for each post on the main page was very useful.
Thank you for this great site and the work you put into it. I used to visit WU daily, until it became a CAGW propagandist playground. I noticed they would constantly dismiss WUWT, so I came here to what all the fuss was about.
I find this site a cornucopia of scientific discussion and a valuable peer review of any consensus that may develop within it.
Stephen Rasey;
I miss the next and previous article links at the top of the post. You now must scroll to the bottom of the post to find these.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Seconded.
I’ll be adding CSS tweaks to restore many of the small missing items.
Comment count, etc. will return.
The change will start on Monday morning, August 25th.
Reloaded this page on 11:55AM EDT, changes already here.
Very stylish, with the varying formatting. Blogroll longer, spaced out, more scrolling.
Where is the “Recent Posts” list? I can go months without looking at the front page. Also next/last story arrows are missing at top, that was a quick indicator of new stories and navigation aid.
Oh, that’s why the blogroll is now so spread out, previously was a list, now has extra line feed spacing.
“Important Person” comments have lost the blue background highlighting, guest author and management ones will be harder to spot.
Actually entire right toolbar is much more spaced out, more scrolling. Why arent’t titles right above graphics? The donation section is a mess, might have to redo as a widget. Why so many extra <br> codes?
Handle website linkage is no longer highlighted, have to mouseover. There goes publicizing a site by posting here. Also prevents detecting questionable links.
Hey, when did the “load last” smiley go away?
That’s the “first look” list. And CA Assistant still works, at least the all-important Preview button.
As dictated by internet evolution, I will adapt. Heck, at this point I no longer even remember the old site theme. This is not me responding to change:
http://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/sad-kitten.jpg
Just testing.
Global cooling
August 24, 2014 at 3:17 pm
================================================
I frequent sites that use Disqus for most of my commentary. One point which I like in using it, is that the entire page does not have to refresh when posting a comment. But I am not crazy about having to open up ‘more comments’ to read through on a thread. Although, to get away from that, I can go to my Disqus page and see all comments there and replies. So there are pluses and minuses with their system. Overall I like using Disqus and the ease with which I can scroll through to see my all of my older comments.
I like the changes so far.
Love the new top banner/logo BTW.
Anthony, looks good – only comment i would make is that the links to next/previous article are no longer at the top of the current article, only at the bottom. Any chance of getting those back please ?
Keep up the good work…
New layout a lot better
Anthony Watts
August 24, 2014 at 10:41 pm.
The tweaks sound good.
My previous comment about the refresh issue on comments was just a function of the format change over. I was reading comments in the old format and when I refreshed, it changed over to the new format. All is good now.
It seems to be okay. No problems, so far. Looks good.
From Anthony Watts on August 24, 2014 at 10:41 pm:
http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/expound/
Uh-oh, that lead to a “Learn More and Purchase” link, quoting $30/yr, reoccurring charge.
Okay, I kicked in for the first four months. Who’s next?
(PS: Here’s the source link for the kitten pic, http://www.petbucket.com/blog/63157/5-reasons-why-your-kitten-is-crying-at-night.html)
Looking good so far … I see y’all still busy tweaking … the look’s sharp and clean.
I too would like to add to the ‘thank you’s, Anthony. Do what makes it easiest for you.
Wow, that’s a neat trick. This post came off of being a sticky top post and went from being posted about 13 hours ago to 13 minutes ago.
Time to play with adjusting the posting time?
Anthony, is it possible to get reduce or get rid of the gap at the top of the page? I notice it in Firefox and Explorer.
what ever they do will not stop WUWT
I like the look of the new format.
The default font is small (I know this as been mentioned before) and appears slightly grey so that it lacks contrast to the background.Full stops are about one pixel.
I can enlarge it but generally don’t fiddle as sites vary and I accept the default size.
The smaller greyish font and the large amount of white area has the effect (on me) of making the conversation less important.
Ok, the new format is out.
I HATE IT. I feel less of a connection to it. I know that I am going to be less inclined to come here. And where’s the number of comments? But, I guess the change is done. And the wuwt logo.. kind of superficial or something. But it’s like they’re trying to stuff less information in more space. So I’m just not getting the same feeling, the same depth. This is just my impression though. So who knows?
@Eric Simpson.
Gosh, so fickle? I’m disappointed.
I’ll be working on tweaks over the next couple of days to make improvements based on user input. Of course if you don’t want to wait, you can leave now with no hard feelings.
Anthony
@Anthony – Free ice Cream. Basically you are providing a service. What makes it easier for YOU is what is best as we want the service, not the frills. If it is not up to our ideal, that does not negate the content which is the service. So as long as it IS readable, I will read your content. And appreciate the free ice cream.
ALTHOUGH.. I’m looking at the home page as far as not liking it. But the comments, with the new font or whatever, seem to look good. Do you believe in climate change? In WUWT change? The old font was fine though.
It looks pretty. Let’s find out if it is easy to use.
The company I work for changed it’s benefits site last week. It looks prettier, but I still haven’t found the logical way to find what I look at most often. With the old and inferior site, it took 1 click.
New is not necessarily bad. But change for change sake is not necessarily good.
Possibly already commented on above (I didn’t read through them all), but it looks like the latest posts section on the right sidebar has been eliminated. I liked this feature to quickly see if there was something I wanted to read and it also helped to identify those articles that I had already clicked so I didn’t have to remember them. Can this be brought back?
Yeah, sorry, except me to be fickle sometimes. Just kind of the shock of the new maybe. I don’t really want to leave. Thanks for accepting the user input. The “number of comments” is something I’d like to see, but if it can’t be fit in to the format, I understand. As well as Likes. But I think that issue has already been debated.
The new main story layout is fantastic since unlike the original version, it has pictures to remind readers with an icon that the story is the same one as last time, so they might check in again to read comments. The text only version was awful since I just skimmed over it and it could not be understood in a single glance, even in peripheral vision.
I like it… but:
It doesn’t use the full width of the browser, it’s about the same as the old style using 2/3 with the rest gray.
It doesn’t show the number of comments before reading an article like the old style did.
stevefitzpatrick August 24, 2014 at 11:55 am
Those responsible for the changes you so dislike will have to be either shouted down within the company, or run away on their own.
___________________________________
Yes, like the disasterous iPad 7.0 update, which slowed older iPads to a crawl. One key-stroke per 5 seconds.
The main problem was that this was the new executive’s first major update, and it when spectacularly wrong – and he was not about to admit it was a complete &!@*#+^. Apple took over 6 months to slowly get back to where they were before 7.0 was issued.
ralph
Whether I’m on the iPad downstairs in the kitchen,
or the laptop in our lounge,
or the PC upstairs in our study,
WUWT is first to be found.
For over five years now and counting,
this obsession to learn every truth,
about CO2, the swindles and climate,
has made me a real weather sleuth.
On occasions, I may post a comment,
but mostly, I catch up with the views,
expressed by our skeptic community,
whilst ignoring the trolls who abuse.
Like many, I’ve allowed WUWT to take over,
when there’s other more important jobs to be done,
so, whatever layout tweaks or moderation change,
our wonderful host’s site is still second to none.
So from the Jimbo’s, the Courtney’s, the Pamela’s,
from Zeke, Bushbunny and Tonyb
and all those to numerous to mention,
we are owe a lot to An. Tho. Ny.
Just tested with 5-10 resolutions above 1024 horizontal and with Firefox, Chrome and IE the gray bars get bigger the wider you go.
fyi my native res is 1920×1080 and looks like this in Firefox:
http://i.imgur.com/WHScyu4.png
REPLY: So? What’s the problem. The old theme did exactly the same. This one is actually wider than the old one. I’m not sure where people are getting the idea that all of the sudden it should fill the screen. – Anthony
@redcords, try it now – background from previous WUWT restored. I think that because it was missing, it gave the wrong visual idea.
Disappointing. When you first referred to editing, I was hoping that you had engaged a real editor to correct the gross misuse of commas on this site.
REPLY: Well if that is your worst complaint, I’m a happy man. – Anthony
Anthony it’s fine, but I got the idea it would be different from this sentence:
“It will be full width on any browser, and will properly adapt to tablets and phones as well.”
REPLY: Ah, OK I didn’t make it clear. My bad. You can make it full width with zoom using CTRL+ and CTRL-
-Anthony
From GeeJam on August 25, 2014 at 12:57 am (bold added):
Gee, wild guess here, but did you post that with your iPad in the kitchen?
Well offhand I think there’s only one Jimbo, two Courtney’s needing family counseling and conflict resolution (will you two please just stay in a bar ’til you get it all resolved and hug it out). There’s only one Pamela, as two would make WordPress explode as the servers melted, especially if the second one is Anderson, as that would be adding catalyst to the cocktail.
Looks good. My main reservation concerns the new shrinking font – I’ve Ctrl-+’ed it a couple of times but it’s still not as dense and readable as before. I’m sure we’ll get used to it. And another voice of support for this excellent blog, which often reads like a full-scale newsroom.
Anthony – When you find you’re stuck for a subject (ha!), could you do a post on the trials and tribulations of living through the current California drought? I’m thinking more of how it affects your day-to-day life than “news” stories (which we see anyhow). It could be instructive for those of us living in places like the UK, where a “drought” usually means not much more than a month or two of hosepipe bans and assurances that it’s “patriotic” to drive a dirty car! Thanks if possible.
73 de Steve
What about allowing italics, bold and block quotes etc? They help greatly to emphasise commenters points.
Shame about losing recommends, as that can be very useful identifying outstanding posts that deserve to be read. (Despite their shortcomings the Guardian has the best ‘recommend’ feature – simplicity itself)
However these are small points. WUWT has been superb so do keep up all the great work and I’m sure the new format will be a success.
@Cheshirered
You can still do italics, bold and block quotes as before.
I like the look on the front page. I like the comments. I did have to enlarge the screen to be able to read it, but then that is not all that unusual for me at my age.
I look forward to seeing the evolution of the site as the tweaks are added over the coming weeks.
Anthony, you need to do something to improve the readability of your chosen text font. It’s a sans serif one, which might look smarter but is much less easy to read that one with a serif. Check out the Flesch readability chart to see what I mean. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch–Kincaid_readability_tests
The Times of London came up with a great font (called Times Roman, oddly enough) when they produced their early newspaper.
Newspapers’ rule of thumb for layouts: A sans serif type for headlines (Helvetica, etc). and a serif type for text. You’ve done the opposite.
@Old Ranga
Refresh and have a look now. I’ve switched styles.
The font is rather small and grey. Could it be boosted and be the default?
I also liked the previous posts reminder down the side which made it easier to navigate. The overall concept looks good however and the picture alongside the top posts makes the format smart and modern.
tonyb
MR Watts, I can only thank you for hours you put into this to help the rest of us. Thanks and Well Done. Best wishes.
Anthony
I can’t really see any difference even after refreshing. Are you now using Calibri in 11 point size? It still looks small and does not stand out. To me Times Roman can’t be beaten but it needs to be in a suitable font size.
Many of your readers are not going to be in the first flush of use and having a default that recognises that eyesight deteriorates as we pass the age of 21 (which I suspect even Pamela has done) might help improve readability.
I like the overall effect but as with everything new a few tweaks may be needed
tonyb
@ kadaka (KD Knoebel) August 25, 2014 at 1:35 am.
Correct – yes, it was the ipad – and it is well documented that the ipad’s keyboard function is frustratingly difficult to use. Maybe chill a little and call my typos and use of plural names ‘poetic licence’. I’m sure the regulars will not be offended – they’ll know that my comment meant well. There are not many websites that allow you to contribute to healthy debate about how the site’s design and layout could be improved. I cannot tell my bank that they need to modify the font – just as I cannot suggest that Amazon needs to modify their confusing layout or stop sending me overly-repetitive and annoying marketing emails.
We are all privileged as followers of WUWT.
PS I typed this on the laptop – so you wouldn’t split hairs again.
Now I’ve spent some time with the new format may I make a couple of comments:
1: Too much white space – partly because of the change to a smaller font.
2: It is going to be harder to move between posts when using a tablet – and I’ll continue to bang on about needing quick ‘buttons’ to go to TOP and BOTTOM of a long comment stream.
3: The summary posts do not give any indication of the number of comments any longer.
To those complaining about fonts and sizes, you do have the ability to decide how you want them to appear.
For example, on Iceweasel (re-branded Firefox) I can go Preferences, Content. At “Fonts & Colors” I click “Advanced”.
I un-checkmark “Allow pages to choose their own fonts”.
If I don’t like WUWT being Sans-Serif, I change “Proportional” to “Serif”. WUWT now displays Serif. Every else will display Serif as well, but if it’s a problem here then it should be a problem elsewhere too.
Are you finding the text too small? Select a “Minimum font size” that suits you.
Note that “minimum font size” is independent of the ‘page chooses fonts’ setting. I recommend everyone set it to something other than “none”, smallest setting for my browser is 9. On one site I visited, juvenile posters would add personal insults in tiny sizes that looked like fine dots, hard to see, couldn’t read unless I cut and pasted to an editor. But once I set minimum size, not a problem.
But I did become amazed at the amount of words now popping up on commercial and media sites, hidden near graphics and between words. “Terms and Conditions” are hard enough to read. But curious things were found in those and similar pop-up documents. If I had saved what I was agreeing to by copy and paste, I would be at quite a loss later to understand how I could ever have agreed to such disadvantageous terms. I may get tired, but I don’t get wasted!
The new font is much better, Anthony. Responsive, as always.
I think the home page is looking tremendous. Well done.
Anthony,
Do what ever you have to to reduce your workload on this site…whatever you do will be accepted by most of us as it is such a gem. I look at it several times every day and get so much useful information for talks and discussions. You need to get your life back and avoid burnout.
Many thanks for all your efforts over the years.
I’m finding the lighter text harder to read too. Much harder.
I agree.
I miss the prev/next links at the top of the page.
Jim Jelinski wrote
August 24, 2014 at 11:26 am
“THANK YOU Anthony for all the work you put in to this site!
Never forget, as you are picking through some irritating issue (whether it is a scrap between article authors or between people making comments, or cleaning out spam, dealing with your website service, or whatever) that there are a BUNCH of people like me who really value and enjoy the information, the stories, the back-and-forth discussions that you make possible.
An informative, highly readable website on issues that affects us all.
Again, THANK YOU Anthony!”
May I second that.
I have learnt a lot from this site, even from Nick Stokes, Steven Mosher and Zeke. Not that I agree with much of what they write but long may they keep posting as each of them appears to provoke some of the best discussions. And unlike some (many) other sites heretical opinions are not censored.
It looks great – nice change!
“This is a scaled version to show what the scrolled areas below the main headlines look like. It will be full width on any browser, and will properly adapt to tablets and phones as well.”
You knows ah ain’t bashful, this buggy sux on a droid, looks awful and functions worse.
Cool, looks good and very structured. Congrats and thanks Mr. Watts
Very nice, Mr. Watts. You done good.
Yep, fell on its face almost immediately. I wonder what <pre> does in this theme:
python wuwtload.py -a /big/wuwt/archive -l 14 Processing http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/11/ Traceback (most recent call last): File "wuwtload.py", line 647, in process_date(None, time_tuple[0], time_tuple[1], time_tuple[2]) File "wuwtload.py", line 556, in process_date if not process_soup(BeautifulSoup(page), year, month, day): File "wuwtload.py", line 423, in process_soup process_views_val(soup) # Do this early on in case we bomb out later. File "wuwtload.py", line 137, in process_views_val views_str = views.find('li').next.split()[0] AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'find' make: *** [last_week] Error 1please restore the link to the previous and next article to the top of the article these links are easier to find at the top simply by pressing the home button
Cheshirered
August 25, 2014 at 1:50 am wrote:
Blockquote works, though I noticed quoted text isn’t italicized any longer. I consider that a plus though you might consider it a minus.
Hmm, ending the bold also ended the italics. That’s okay, it was an abuse of HTML anyway.
Oops, I meant to do bolding and italics that inside a blockquote. Like this:
@Anthony
Very good design now, I like it.
But yet again, I have the problem with the crippled font, that makes the articles almost unreadable. 🙁
Could you please roll back to the old font again?
Thanks a lot!
I notice the topic information no longer has a “comments” selection where one could jump to comments.
Also, at bottom of comments under “Leave a Reply” there is no choice that returns one to the main WUWT homepage.
REPLY: yes, I’m working on CSS tweaks to put that back – the new theme didn’t have that for some reason – Anthony
Suggestion: Haven’t read other comments above, so apologies if this has been offered already.
You have a database of email addresses and white-listed regular users so to prevent a legitimate post that appears to be commercial getting binned, why not have the spam filter look at the poster’s email and user name and match it to the whitelist to decide if it is legit?
The constant moderation checking really breaks up the discussion flow.
Anthony,
I tink I like the new format. Seems easier for these old eyes (and brain) to grasp quickly. Good luck with the spam defense…I hope it works.
Having been moderated several times I’ve come to the conclusion that common phrases or cliches can sometimes click the moderation button. There’s not really much that can be done to separate out the common phrase issue electronically, it takes human eyes to do that.
In all cases the reply has been dealt with quickly and put on line.
Thanks to all.
Mike
I like the overall look, but like others I would prefer a slightly larger font.
Love the new layout. Much cleaner.
Beware the áltèrnate keyboard to enable the posting of shít…
Wordpress’ editor is simply something one learns to live with
Looks great!!
Cheers
Elmer Likey!
I’m logged in on my wordpress account.
See what happens.
About the format change: My first reaction is that I don’t get enough information in the shorter capsules on the home page to decide whether to “Continue Reading” Without enough time to do that for every article, so value in going to the site is in the first place is diminished. We’ll see how readers adjust. But you might want to watch out for that. issue.
It went through with no delay.
I guess this is the change in climate everybody was talking about.
Overall I like it. I don’t know about the new font, though.
Many thanks for changing the body font. It’s much more readable now.
/Mr Lynn
AW: I’ve spent the evening doing some font tuning, and I hope the body font for posts is OK now for most people
I noticed the change immediately. It is an improvement. Much Appreciated.
I’d still like to see the size of the heading text reduced, and the class=”fn” for the names atop the comments.
Thirdly, the line spacing between the end of the comments and the dividing line is twice, maybe thrice, what it needs to be.
Thanks for all your work. 200 million views just around the corner.
“Changes coming to WUWT … ”
Hmm A.nthony, WUWT as text only (well, at least the small thumbnails above each article are visible)!
Not sure I would call this change some “improvement”. Some of us do have to maintain higher web security, did you play that in your decision? Will try again later when I can borrow a wifi device from a family member but I’m not going to be reading WUWT on some tiny phone, you know, the eyes, sorry.
On the bright side all links do seem to be still listed along the left all of the way down.
Ditto on all of Stephen Rasey’s remarks. I am a speed reader of sorts and in many formats I can drink in a whole page of comments in a quick visual scan. A speed read of the page can’t be done with the Expound theme. The type is too small and there is too much white space.
Looks spectacular!
I do not like the time stamps on the articles — “9 hours ago”, “2 days ago”, etc.
When I copy something for future reference I like to have a real date and time like you still have with the comments.
REPLY: yes, we are working to put back what the theme change took out – Anthony
“Recent Posts” is back in the sidebar – Good!
“Facebook Friends” image gallery is mounted higher than that so I might again scroll by and click on a curious tiny pic and see it was indeed someone holding in place apparently a large cucumber they had stuffed into their red Speedos – Not Good.
Might have been a squash. Definitely not a banana.
The new look is fantastic Anthony!
The web-site looks so professional now that it’s gonna be hard for you to continue denying getting big cash from big oil!
/wink!
REPLY: oh, dammit! 😉
Anthony
I miss the “next story” and “prior story” links at the top of the page.
REPLY: They are at the bottom, but I’ll see if they can be duplicated at top – Anthony
Your post tells us also how much work you and the moderators and contributors put into this important site. Thanks Anthony. Too the tip jar!
Anthony, the new look, looks good!
Only one third of the screen used in 2560×1440 computer screen (27″). UX quite the same when using a tablet but I prefer writing with a keyboard.
Finding the latest comments in thread that I follow is the thing, The short list for them is well hidden.
Solomon Green
August 25, 2014 at 4:35 am
Jim Jelinski wrote
August 24, 2014 at 11:26 am
“THANK YOU Anthony for all the work you put in to this site!
Never forget, as you are picking through some irritating issue (whether it is a scrap between article authors or between people making comments, or cleaning out spam, dealing with your website service, or whatever) that there are a BUNCH of people like me who really value and enjoy the information, the stories, the back-and-forth discussions that you make possible.
An informative, highly readable website on issues that affects us all.
Again, THANK YOU Anthony!”
May I second that.
=========================
I’ll third that.
See UPDATE2 above on fixing missing items and tweaks to the new theme.
I have not read all comments so I am not sure if I am the only one, but I follow WUWT mainly on my iphone and the new format sucks. On the PC all is fine with me, but via the phone all text shows up in long narrow strips and is a pain to read through or scroll through.
B.
You are in the best position to see and hear what the prevailing thoughts are on the changes, but please reconsider, if possible, the loss of the posting date at the higher level. If I’ve missed a day or two, finding where I am may be very confusing and I do like to know who has posted an article.
Thanks for everything and keep up the good work.
SteveT
Good luck.
I like clean formats, but your new one could be tightened up for space utilization.
IIRC you had a problem with WonkyPress recently, not the first. Dot_com types “just don’t get it” as far as quality is concerned. At the time of your earlier problem it seemed WordPress was altering code without testing.
Don’t know if other services would be better, I heard a horror story about eblah or such not notifying their customer when there was a problem, and being very difficult to get ahold of (that’s a key criteria for your list of requirements). Mind, while I know there was a problem, the teller of the story is whacko – praised my posts on climate, locked me out when I presented facts on those visible things behind airliners, then swore at me when I nailed him in a competing blog. (He was smart enough to read between the lines of my post there.)
Disqus (not used here) is bad for me. It requires logging in via social media, which means Disqus has your social media parameters. As I have no social media accounts (other than Linkedin which doesn’t count and I wouldn’t use it on Disqus anyway) that leaves me without Disqus access.
Furthermore, it is not clear that anything written on Disqus ever reaches the author of the article. It is just a place for readers to argue in a futile way among themselves while Disqus harvests your interests, schedule and other useful data.
@Michael 2 – re: discus. Actually it does give you a choice. It allows you to use Gmail, Yahoo as well as facebook and twitter. I use a throw away account in gmail.
Oh, and another excellent addition (the reply). At least for quick answers. Thanks guys!
Dang, I just wanted to leave a URL, not actually grab a screenshot that isn’t very helpful. Let’s try this again.
http://www.meetup.com/Data-Mining/messages/boards/thread/20495372
“Alan Watt, Climate Denialist Level 7 says:
If you decide WUWT can no longer be accommodated on a free hosting service, I will happily join with many other regular readers in pledging a regular contribution to meet your costs.”
Dunno if I will ever be a regular financial contributor, but if Anthony wants to take a combined business/vacation trip overseas every year for the next few, I think I’d be up for contributing a few shekels for that. I’ll only contribute if it’s not business only and Anthony also plans on having fun though, otherwise – no. Maybe some conference in Australia next year?
For newer posters/readers, I think we have a plane ticket covered for an overseas conference, but I bet Anthony could use some more $ for the associated pub tour – it can’t be for food cause that’s awful in England – he might starve to death.
love the new look, ctrl + to 175% zoom and it fills a 24 monitor nicely,also looks great on my android, with the phone rotated to horizontal of course ;0)
Comment #225ish: Very nice format update.
I like the old blog look better and am not happy about the censorship so i hopefully assume you’ll eventually leave wordpress behind as they won’t change their stripes, ever.
As one who often checks the site on my iPhone, I’m incredibly pleased with the improvement in the mobile experience. I haven’t seen the full site on my computer yet, but this loaded so much quicker and cleaner than the past layout. Nice!
Looks great on my PC and works fast and clean.
On the subject of long posts, not on the topic being discussed (you know who I’m looking at ;), can they be shuffled off to tips and notes. Sometimes there is something of value in them…
Should, perhaps, have mentioned my PC is windows 8.1 and I use IE. Looks good on my Android phone but I can’t post there. Maybe I need to login on the phone.
At first glance, I admit to rather liking the `new’ look. I’m going to have to explore again
and give it some time to see what `wrinkles’ and irks I discover.
Thanks for your efforts, Anthony. It must be an unbelievable amount of work now, given
how much WUWT has grown. It’s still one of the most informative sites I’ve come across
so, if that was your target, you’ve more than met it!
Cheers.
A few minutes ago, I made a CSS change to increase the body font size slightly and to make the font fully black instead of the dark gray. Please advise how this looks now to those that said the readability was low.
Is there any way to donate to WUWT other than PayPal? I’d like to say “thanks” for your years of hard work.
@AW
I think I see a change in the body of the post. It is very readable now. High contrast, serif, fonts. Nice and tight line spacing, too.
I think I caught a quick change to the commenter name font a few minutes ago. It was non-bold? Maybe a Serif font? I thought it was pretty good.
I see a different, slightly smaller font for the comments. I can live with that font. Reducing the spacing between comments that I think needs the attention.
Anthony, WUWT is great but we need to be able to to reply to comments, the fact tat WUWT is so popular is amazing considering how other forums, eg the Gruniard, gett the to and fro that would be just fantastic here
Anthony,
It looks good to me. Like most regulars, I am disturbed by change even when that change is for the right reasons.
Can I persuade you to start a campaign to get Steve McIntyre to change the theme of ClimateAudit? I mean, that theme is more than seven years old and now looks horribly dated…
Anthony, I can help with CSS and I know WordPress very well. I’ve built a few sites, including some highly custom CSS. Let me know how I can help.
Anthony,
The new format style looks more professional and is easier to see what the top stories are without scrolling too much. Thanks for your hard work.
Anthony said: “…CSS change to increase the body font size slightly and to make the font fully black instead of the dark gray. Please advise how this looks now to those that said the readability was low.”
Readability is a few things: contrast, font type and size, and spacing. I can give you a few options to consider. I definitely would change it from what’s here now.
Anthony,
While Jan Perlwitz always seemed to come across as somewhat of an arrogant jackoff, I can’t help but noting that the comment you linked to above hardly rises to the level of a “death threat”. It’s your site and I don’t want to be critical. You can do as you please. It is just that for me, it looks a lot like what “zero tolerance” policies get you. As far as I am concerned zero tolerance isn’t much different from intolerance.
Anthony
That darker text is better although it doesn’t show up in the leave a reply box, but the’font size is still small, but I am viewing this on a 7inch tablet
Tonyb
New font is an improvement I like a lot. Anyone know why can’t I make a comment on my phone and how I might fix that?
New font is much better.
A smaller font for commenter name would help when scanning comments. There’s something distracting to the eyes with the larger font in the name/tag. May be the peripheral vision can’t pick it up and the eyes must move and refocus or something like that.
timg56,
You don’t think “I shoot you” is a death threat??
Anyway, Perlwitz has a long and obnoxious history here. He wasn’t made persona non grata just because of one comment.
This comment is via my Android phone. I discovered the comments form is before all comments on my phone bu affter all comments on my PC.
Sent via Android
===========================================================================
This is not a reply to Elmer but just checking if blockquotes,italics and bold still work the same.
======================================================================
I guess so. My typos are even the same!
If I remember correctly, number of comments was going to be added back in later? With this WP format will be possible to display the date and time of the last comment also?
Very few times have I liked changes to a format that I’ve grown accustomed to. Change is bad and all that.
This, however, is an exception. Looks fantastic!
Looks great! 🙂
@ John A
“Can I persuade you to start a campaign to get Steve McIntyre to change the theme of ClimateAudit? I mean, that theme is more than seven years old and now looks horribly dated…”
Steve really doesn’t care, for him it’s just an occasional entry a couple times a month. He’s repeatedly mentioned online that he has “energy issues”, so I can’t justify pushing him into something just for the sake of aesthetics.
I like it!
=================================================================
I might be wrong here, but didn’t the old format adjust to the times to the commenter’s local time zone? I made that comment at 5:01 pm EST. Again, I could be wrong.
On my phone the comment form displays PRIOR to all comments. On my PC it displays after all comments. In either case it posts after all other comments.
Anthony Watts
August 25, 2014 at 12:14 pm
…..Please advise how this looks now to those that said the readability was low.
I normally use Opera web browser (because it loads very fast), font has gone ’strange’ ( some letters are normal others bold), italics are difficult to read, see the screen shot link
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/ScSh.gif
This was case since the new format was introduced.
I will use Firefox it is a bit slower, but fonts are still OK.
Not a complaint. Thanks for the effort.
@ Jim Reekes
Thanks for the offer. Please check the email you use to comment here.
If I could make a quick note to people submitting articles to punctuate the tag line and the author – when the intro paragraph gets placed below a title, the lack of punctuation makes it hard to separate tag lines, authors and text.
I expect this has been pointed out above, but just in case….
Otherwise, the new fonts take a bit of getting used to, but doesn’t everything? I use Opera mostly so I was finding the italic font more difficult to read, but if it is only in Opera then perhaps it is not a critical issue (not many of us left, I guess Vuk?).
I like the new look. It reflects a website that has grown and ‘matured’, unlike the screaming, fear mongering, climate warmists.! They, by the way, are getting pretty desperate in this time.
well, if nothing else….we finally got the “tips and notes” bin cleaned out
….LOL
Still hoping for a “Like” button for comments – the information presented in the comments section can be as valuable as that presented in the article – it would be nice to be able to express appreciation for it (the sense of humor that is shown much of the time is likewise appreciated 🙂 )
From tonyb on August 25, 2014 at 1:26 pm:
Can you set minimum font size on your browser? If so, then you can make it big enough.
From vukcevic on August 25, 2014 at 2:28 pm:
Can you find in your browser settings where to turn off letting the pages choose their own fonts? Then you can select fonts on your device that should display correctly.
Note to Mozilla Foundation and plug-in developers:
The Next Big Thing in browsers will be individualized site settings for fonts and colors, for different personalized looks between Twitter and Facebook and HuffPo for example.
Now go forth and Code The Future!
CrossBorder
August 25, 2014 at 6:45 am
I like the overall look, but like others I would prefer a slightly larger font.
For all who like a larger font, just press STRG-key, keep pressed and scroll with your mouse wheel.
Almost all browsers support this kind of font scaling.
Another method for FireFox (I only use this):
Open “Options” -> “Content”, there you can define a standard font for overriding the website’s font.
Click on “Extended…” beneath and disable the checkbox for taking over effect for all websites.
Maybe other browsers have a similar setting, but I don’t know.
HTH
Terrible on iPhone browsers. Paragraphs are I my a few words wise in comments, so it’s all scrolling hell. Can’t access full site really.
I’m still trying to decide whether I like or dislike this new format as a whole. There is one feature that I absolutely HATE, however. The switch in the article byline from an actual date/time stamp to “19 hours ago” is a huge turn-off. It doesn’t matter so much when you’re looking at an article posted within the past day but if you’re trying to keep track of (or find again) an article that was written two weeks ago, the only precision you have is the huge blog that fit between “one week ago” and “three weeks ago”. Try to go back a few months and it just gets worse.
If that byline is something you can control, PLEASE change it back to actual dates. Thanks.
Typo in my comment immediately above – please change “blog” to “blob”.
Testing just to see if my user name still works.
The name was somehow lost? at disqus.
Please and forever more, NO like button! Sometimes the feedback that is accurate is exactly the feedback you DON’T like! So let’s just keep likes and dislikes for Christmas presents. Information should have no relationship whatsoever to “like” and “dislike”.
Okay, is it just me or is the green snot above the Earth annoying?
I just did what Anth******** suggested and watched the advert at the end of this post. VERY FUNNY!!!! “You still on woo woo?” “Nah, my mom’s on woo woo.”
Looks great on my Nexus 7, very clean and clear.
Thank you again for all that you do Anthony I’m heading for the “donate” button now to express my thanks in a more tangible form!
Thank you Anthony for your years of efforts …including this beeping time hole wordpress forced you into and for supporting accuracy over policy. Question: will the archives return?
I miss the old original WUWT format.
Sans Serif please, please, please, or at least less Serif-y. The general cover look is great (except the green stuff above Earth). Looks high-end and professional. Better than before. The font size is on the edge of needing versus not needing reading glasses for me. Next year and another year older is another story.
On a 15″ laptop running the latest Firefox and the text looks fine. Especially the increase in contrast.
Preview on Greasemonkey does not enclose Anthony’s comment as a “blockquote” but I will post and see.
Just a test with italics
Preview OK.
Testing Link function
Again preview was OK.
Anthony & mods: Thank you for all your work and care. I know a lot of thinking went into these changes. As far as I am concerned anything that makes your life easier and saves you time is good.
Also, I am one of those who will be grateful if you succeed to bring back the date and time stamp the theme change took away (as mentioned above). It makes referencing much easier.
We fully plan to get all the missing pieces back.
Well done. Like it.
(fully understand and sympathetic to your machinations to bend WordPress to your will vs. some user’s needs solved by understanding how to use their browser.)
Anthony
Please can you tell me how we access the ‘archives by month’ feature now?
Also, it is noticeable that the text in the articles themselves are of a good readable size, but that the text in the actual comments remain very small for those of us who are (just) over 21.
Overall the site looks smart and as with anything tweaks are always needed. My biggest problem remains with the small font size within comments.
tonyb
Tony
Press Ctrl and + keys together magnifies, Ctrl and 0 returns back to original.
[And Ctrl minus (-) makes it smaller. ~ mod.]
As several have noted, the lack of prev/next links at the top is somewhat inconvenient.
In particular this is an problem when large numebrs of comments are added to a longish article, since the links are no longer at or even near the bottom but somewhere indeterminate ;(
@jim Reekes: Hi Jim! If you’re advising on CSS tweaks etc, can you have a go about getting a ‘Top’/’Bottom’ button so that tablet users can easily go from top to bottom and back without having to finger scroll through yards of comments?
(I know — I do bang on about this! 🙂 )
Some over due changes. Thanks to our genial host!
Vuk and mods
Thanks. Could you be so kind as to remind me every day? 🙂
Seriously, that’s a useful tip but how many current users let alone future ones will think to do that?
Would it not be possible to have it in a larger default size in the first place?
tonyb
The serif font does not get clearer with size. But that is just me and my early macular degeneration issue. Still, there is quite a contrast between the post font size and the comment font size. Up the comment size a bit and change the style to more of a sans serif and my eyes will thank you.
REPLY: A change was made this morning to do just that – Anthony
A small issue on Firefox 31.0 is that links you’ve previously clicked on the recent-posts list are no longer changing color (to indicate they’ve been clicked before).
Looks pretty good to me. I like change for the better 🙂
tonyb
August 25, 2014 at 11:42 pm
> Please can you tell me how we access the ‘archives by month’ feature now?
See the right-sdie nav button for “Ric Werme’s Guide to WUWT?” Click it or just visit http://home.comcast.net/~ewerme/wuwt/index.html and use my monthly Tables of Content.
Currently the comment counts that I try to update (i.e. articles from the last fortnight) are broken. Either AW will get them restored to the daily summaries or I’ll read individual articles and fish them out of those.
Expect the daily updates to fail a few times before the new format settles down.
The new theme looks great. It’s a lot easier to read over, and the post content is a lot more clearly separated. But why do you use wordpress.com instead of a self-hosted solution?
Anthony,
If you choose to reconsider the idea of running your own server (and I understand your reasons for not considering that in the past), I would be happy to help out in the research and/or implementation of that.
Anthony,
As I most often access WUWT with my iPhone, I really appreciate your efforts on the tweaking you’ve done since your initiation of your new webpage to make it readable on the iPhone. Initially, before your tweaks, the new webpage was almost un-useable.
Accessing WUWT on my notebook PC I did not have major concerns about your new webpage.
Appreciate your wonderful venue.
John
From tonyb on August 25, 2014 at 11:42 pm:
WordPress automatically makes listings for the relevant URL directories, newest stories first. So you can always type it in by hand. For example:
Days:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/24/
All 8/24/2014 postings
Months:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/
All the August 2014 postings
This also works for years.
Note you will need JavaScript on for WUWT to get all the listings with the nigh-perpetual “load next page of older stuff as user scrolls down” method.
If you don’t like JavaScript on for WUWT, or just don’t have it with certain browsers, you can still access the listings with “page-slash-number” syntax, currently displaying 7 stories for page.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/06/page/3/
Third page of results for June 2014.
db,
Not even close. The context was discussing the possibility of people going after alarmist scientists with pitchfolks, tar & feathers. If someone comes after me in that manner they are likely to be unpleasantly surprised.
Besides, if Perlwitz is as good a shot as he is a commentor, he’s unlikely to hit anyone, short of his using a howitizer.
@tonyb
I’ve restored the Archives section to the sidebar. It is at the very bottom.
Anthony,
Once you get done with all the tweaking to make “Expound” a stylish modern yet fully functional and versatile theme, package it up, tie it together with a big pink bow, then offer up the “Expounded” theme for sale to WordPress. You clearly deserve some compensation for your effort.
Anthony and/or Mods,
Under the new format, if I click on one of the Blog Roll links e.g. William Briggs or Climate Audit to visit a linked site, when I use my browser’s back button (Safari 5.1.10) to return to your site I am taken to wattsupwiththat.com/page/4 which displays older content instead of wattsupwiththat.com home. I’ve tried clearing my cache and restarting Safari, but the problem persists.
P.S. I like the new format. It takes some getting used to but it is very clean and very easy to navigate. I use your blog roll as my bookmark page for most of the sites listed.
Cheers
@Steve E
And the blog is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/page/4/ is actually your jumping off point from WUWT at that link position. Scroll down further and look at your address bar. You’ll see it jump to http://wattsupwiththat.com/page/5/ etc.
This has to do with the new “infinite scroll” feature, which I had to implement in order to be able to fill the body of the blog to complement all the stuff on the sidebar. With posts shrinking size on the main page to capsule form, they didn’t fill the page in fixed number of stories to show format…and I had this long sidebar with nothing in the main body.
Great job, Anthony!
Is there a way to always display the author’s name on the front page? I always want to know who the author is as I scan the front page to decide what to read.
Thanks for all your hard work. Much appreciated.
Hi Anthony! I see that some of the white space has gone. Great! I’m kinda with Pamela on the fonts, though. I find that in reading a post I tend now to do a ‘CTL -‘ to drop a size in font, and then a ‘CTL 0’ to read the comments. That works for me, so I can’t say it should work for others…. That said, the new version is evolving into a swan. 😉
I take it back! Just done a refresh. Apologies
Anthony,
The Archive listing takes up too much vertical space and will keep growing. I suggest turning on the widget’s option to make it display as dropdown instead.
REPLY: Good suggestion – done – Anthony
Our Host
Didn’t read all the comments – he – 0745 In The City tomorrow. It’s 1005 here now…..
It looks fine on the outside for me.
Appreciate your efforts on this, recently & over the years I have been coming here.
Thank you – from the bottom of my heart.
Auto
Anthony, thanks for your reply. I should have been more specific. The infinite scroll only works in one direction. If I jump to another site from the blog roll and then come back via the back button on my browser, I can indeed continue an “infinite scroll” down, but I can’t scroll back up past the page I return to. Instead, I have to hit the home button to view new material. I have your site open for most of the day and as mentioned use your blog roll more or less like a bookmark page jumping back and forth between sites. Now when I bounce back I’m not coming back to the newest material.
It’s a small thing, but it would be nice for the scroll to work up as well as down.
Cheers
I like both the new and the old format. Would it be possible to have a menu option to display the page in the old format? Only consider it if it happens to be easy; your effort is better spent elsewhere. Thanks.
I like the tightness in the comment spacing. I wasn’t sure about the light-blue-green background, but the blockquote and code blocks show up differently so they now stand out.
Post Titles have been nicely reduce in size, too.
The menu is crisp with high contrast san-serif font. But ‘WUWT Stuff” isn’t there.
A lot of improvements inside of 60 hours.
Stephen Rasey says:
Thanks for noticing. Some things we won’t be able to fix while hosted on wordpress.com but we will do the best we can with what we can.
Stephen Rasey
August 26, 2014 at 3:33 pm
> But ‘WUWT Stuff” isn’t there.
Yes it is – the page may not have displayed the topmost data. Scroll up! (And that may have been fixed too.)
Yes, I have noticed them as well. The change of background on the comments is a very welcome addition to these tired old eyes! Many thanks.
Anthony, is there a way for someone to opt out of the colored backgrounds on each post?…….it’s incredibly distracting and messing with my eyes
REPLY: No, there is not. – Anthony
I can see!!! I can see!!!! Bless you!!!!!!
Latitude August 26, 2014 at 5:43 pm
Well, that’s really, really a pitty. I absolutely hate it. I don’t think I will get used to it. Maybe I will use the quote tag in order to, at least, see my own comments in black over white…
Most browsers let you do some adjustments on YOUR end. Perhaps if the final design Anthony settles on is still difficult for you to read, you can apply some custom styling?
article.comment div.comment-content blockquote { background-color: white; }
see http://www.lostsaloon.com/technology/using-a-custom-stylesheet-in-a-web-browser/
I’ve made another small tweak, switching the comment background from a light blue to a soft gray. We’ll see how that does.
Can we have hot pink? lol
REPLY: No you cannot. If you can run a better website, by all means go do it. – Anthony
Sorry, I was just clowning around. You are doing a great job. I’m happy with whatever the outcome.
OK. The day we have pink is the day I stop blogging.
I don’t think I could deal with the hot pink either!
OK, so no hot pink.
What about cold pink?
(Liquid oxygen is light blue…. ) 8<)
I wasn’t sure about the light-blue-green background, but the blockquote and code blocks show up differently so they now stand out.
Wow! I find the grey background harder to read. I assume that the text on the grey background is unchanged and is pure black. (I haven’t checked the CSS code in the source).
By all logic, I think the grey background has a higher lightness than the pale blue (on the HSL scale) , so you would think there was greater contrast than the pale blue.
But my subjective opinion is that the black on light blue is easier to read than black on light grey. My wife, who is a web designer gave the same opinion.
Hypothesis: When we see the pale blue background, we are seeing it with the cones of our eyes, but the rods (black and white) see the greater contrast and make it easier to read. But when we see the grey background, the rods have less contrast between text and background and it becomes harder to read.. Maybe for the same reason we can use a yellow highlighter on a page to text to focus attention without masking the text.
There might be some bio-science going on here.
Try it now Stephen. Do a refresh and see comment I left below this one.
Level 3 comment test.
And another comment in the same tier.
1. Yes, but your reply (a reply to a comment at Level 3) was seen, but did NOT have a reply button. The button, Anthony, was left as an orphan back at level 2.
2. Can we “re-sort” the display list so “latest replies” are still placed at the bottom of the thread? Not being able to find newer conversations inside a thread is a significant problem in reading Dr. Curry’s blog.
And my comment in Level 3 did not have a “Reply” button either.
No. I can’t please everyone for every possible situation. Sheesh.
I’ve switched the background for comment body back to white, and made the comment header have a soft gray, which I think works better.
I have also enabled nested comments, which I think will work OK in this new format. One big advantage is that you can reply directly to the person, and the comment form will come up right there where you click the “Reply” link in each comment. No more scrolling all the way to the bottom to reply to somebody!
Let’s see how it goes.
Definitely it does! Thanks a lot. I also love the nested replies. This is IMO absolutely an improvement. Again, thanks.
Oops, the format changed again.
Light grey on the name and date.
White on comment background
Blockquote light grey with shaded boarder.
All pretty good.
AND a REPLY button with Indented threading.
Now you are playing with our minds!
Well, we don’t HAVE to use the reply button. We can reply to an upthread comment as before, we just have another option. AND we can reply to our one comments for immediate errata, corrections and second thoughts. What’s not to like?
Correction:
AND we can reply to our
oneown comments for immediate errata, corrections and second thoughts. What’s not to like?[test and example of a threaded correction]
Anthony, this a major change and worth testing for a day or two. Threaded replies will be behavior change for readers. It will be interesting to see how it’s use evolves.
Two other changes I would like to suggest:
1. The Time and Date of the comment are now medium grey on a light grey background. It is already as smaller and different font than the poster’s name. I see no reason the Time/Date shouldn’t be made black or at least dark grey.
2. The font in this “Leave a Reply” window is as small as I would go. I think earlier versions had larger fonts. Making the font one size larger would be worth testing.
I look forward to hearing some backstory about the CSS changes you made when the dust settles.
I know absolutely nothing about setting up a web site. I had to google CSS to see what that was.
It is very interesting to watch as Anthony works to create a new and customized format here @ WUWT. I’m sure it is quite a headache to say the least. I’m confident that the final result will be best on the web!
Anthony, as I sign off for the evening I just want to say that the comments section looks great (fonts, contrast, sizing, spacing, etc.). I like the light grey between the comments. I doesn’t distract the eyes while scanning. The date and time of comment is much less important than the comments themselves. I have no opinion as to the tiered commenting as there are pros and cons.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Looking forward to visiting this thread again to follow the updates.
From Anthony Watts on August 26, 2014 at 9:12 pm:
For me that means before I can finally close a tab that people have stopped commenting on, I’ll have to scan the entire comment list for new entries.
It also means late-posted derogatory comments can be effectively hidden, months later I’ll look at an old story and find in the comments “Ha ha you silly den-i-er, your crap was already debunked on Skeptical Science!” as a reply to the third comment, on the last day before comments closed, and the “debunking” was crud 90% of us could dismiss with a quick link if we knew it was there.
Then see the same thing repeated at the fifth comment, seventh, twenty-ninth…
Likewise the spam posts won’t be easily noticed at the bottom.
No, comments close automatically after two weeks – Anthony
Anthony,
Is that something new, too? I seem to remember months-old posts still being open to comments?
Or did you change that long ago and I’m just now catching up?
kadaka has a point. If the closure of the comments is predictable, then a malicious strategy would be to bomb the replies with insults an hour before lockout. With an unthreaded list, the trash would be at the bottom of the list and much less effective.
As I said earlier. It will be interesting to see how behaviors of posters evolve.
Gosh people, just give the worrygasm a rest. None of you have to deal with such things IF they happen. I DO.
From Anthony Watts August 26, 2014 at 10:38 pm:
I know, but it’s the 13th-day comments that are snuck in. Although trolls often lack patience, so things show up after posts are quiet for only a day or two, my preferred “waiting period” before closing.
Another issue, comment nesting is a trick that won’t show up on text-only browsers, blind and near-blind people using reading programs likely will also miss out.
There is this:
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/none-of-my-blogs-displaying-properly?replies=21
This has been an ongoing problem lately for me, without the css loading I get one column with numbered comments. Sometimes I have to reconnect several times until the routing clears up and css loads. Somehow this theme loads more reliably.
(Yes, I’ll be getting DSL after moving email to Gmail, Extreme DSL has dry loop cheaper than dial-up, toss in a MagickJack as well.)
Without css, no nesting, much confusion.
Kadaka – I’m not buying the worry, sorry. If what you say was true about “comments sneaking in” we’d have them now EVERY DAY as old threads close. But, we don’t.
It stays, we’ll see how it works out, and I’ll take input from a broader section of people rather than instant naysayers.
All the fine tuning has paid off handsomely, Anthony. The extra leading (white space) between the lines is a further improvement to readability.
The blog is looking professional, user-friendly (ghastly cliche), and very smart. It conveys excellence.
Seeing you have an enquiring mind, you might be interested to read Handling Newspaper Text by Harold Evans (a former editor of The Sunday Times in London) pub. 1974. Ch 2 is The Readability of Newspaper Text. The basic principles are the same for words read in print (hard copy) and words read on-screen. As you would expect, it all gets back to the human being doing the reading, and the interaction between eye and mind.
The term ‘leading’ refers to the days of Linotype hot metal printing, when the compositors inserted flat metal (lead) slugs between the lines of metal type to create a space.
I look at WUWT on my Android phone and find the articles and posts are in a thin column down the centre. Posts get so thin the column is one word wide. Holding the phone sideways, which is uncomfortable, helps but only slightly.
Is there something to help this?
(if this has been answered already I didn’t spot it – there are a lot of replies).
Thanks
Margaret, I’ve looked at several Android phones, and this isn’t happening on them. You might try resetting your browser cache and/or make sure you’ve allowed your browser to be updated to the latest.
Also be sure you’re using Chrome for best results. The stock Android browser (usually just “browser” or “internet”) is often modified by the phone manufacturer or service provider. When I do mobile website testing, that’s where I find a lot of problems – and there are so many they can’t really be accounted for.
Thanks. I am no computer geek but I’ll see the O2 guru tomorrow.
Anthony
Ok, this is all looking pretty good. Congratulations. Bearing in mind the resistance to change shown here I’m glad I’m not a politician trying to change an entire country whilst hoping to still get re-elected!
I’ll give the ‘reply’ facility a go. Not sure how we will notice comments that are inserted days after the event. On the whole I prefer the linear format of WUWT over the nesting format of Climate Etc but let’s give it a fair chance.
tonyb
Anthony, what did WordPress do? CA Assistant no longer shows at the top of page here or with Twenty Ten on my one blog, but still does at Climate Audit and my other blog. The script is still there working, as seen by the comment box. My affected blog was the one I tried the dropdown option.
To summarize the long hours of troubleshooting, it’s not my cookies or cache, it’s not the Archives widget, switching to and from a different theme doesn’t help.
What mattered on my blog was if there was a comment on the page. If comment, no CA Assistant on top. I had a post with a test comment, deleting the comment restored the CA Assistant controls.
I checked what I thought was the unaffected blog. Same thing, comment on page, no controls on top.
Climate Audit seems unaffected.
CA Assistant has options for coloring comments based on age, to easily spot new ones. It can also hide old comments. Works on Climate Audit. On my blogs it was working even when the controls weren’t showing.
WUWT does not have the comment coloring. The main page, which doesn’t have comments, does not have the controls. “Submit Story”, a simpler page without comments, does not have the controls. WUWT has the comment box improvements, and that’s all.
PS: CA Assistant needs the wordpress-dot-com Javascript on for the controls to work, but not from the particular site.
Anthony, what did WordPress do?
Hard to say, they have been mucking about with the base code almost daily for two weeks now based on my observations. A lot of it has to do with that horrid “beep boop” editor they are trying to get everyone to use.
Anthony Watts
August 26, 2014 at 9:12 pm
I have also enabled nested comments, which I think will work OK in this new format. One big advantage is that you can reply directly to the person, and the comment form will come up right there where you click the “Reply” link in each comment. No more scrolling all the way to the bottom to reply to somebody!
Let’s see how it goes.
======
LOL …. no, now we have to scroll all the way from the top to the bottom each time we check a thread… to see if there’s a conversation we missed
You’re having way too much fun playing with your new toys! 😉
I strongly prefer the previous layout. It was functional, very readable, and I liked seeing more than one paragraph on the main page. I really don’t care for this new layout.