Does the Gather "Create a Post" editor seem "odd" to you? Wanna know WHY?

Sorry about the repitition of words up there... I wuz inna hurry...

yep, and they now post ads that once one clicks on, they ask you to 'fulfill' an obligation to the ads, which means we have to agree to pay for something. THAT, I do NOT like, and will no longer CLICK on ads here..DAM!!!

Ah, I see what you mean.

Never thought of it like that. Makes sense.

I noticed that. The slideshow looks nice for an essay "post." However, a "post" that's a poem or something with a single photo with it looks silly having that TINY photo on the BOTTOM.

The fact of the matter is that if any of us are taking advantage (redeeming) of the points offered here we can't complain. The ad space is what makes it possible for our redemptions to even exist.

UUUU, Penni! THAT'S "dirty pool" in MY book! PLUS it doesn't help their sponsors any AT ALL!

Yep, Rae... Depressing but TRUE, I'm afraid...

Well...gather is a for-profit company. I guess it's like complaining about the commercials on free TV...WAIT! Maybe we should be complaining about the content on free TV!!
;-)

Yah, Carol...

Well, Jennifer... I mean we can't complain anyway, can we? I wasn't "complaining", really... Just pointing it out.

Eh, I noticed that the ads seemed bigger, but it's ok. I don't really click on 'em anyway. ;)

As I said, Ellie, I wasn't "complaining", really... Just pointing it out, is all...

It's not that I would (or did) "click on the ads", Sherry... The point (to ME, anyway) is the fact that articles here now look positively MINIMAL by comparison to the ads...

Maybe it's just me but I seem to have tunnel vision where the ads are concerned, anyway. I swear, I never even notice them. And I've not had any problem with posting anything, or how it lines up or whatever... the only complaint I have, in fact, is that it seems to be MUCH slower now.

Oh, I know you were just pointing out, Jean. Sorry if I implied that.

I was only pointing out the positive side of dealing with them (the ability to have our redemptions)

Like Julie I don't much look at the ads. I'm so used to them there that it's rather rare that one catches my interest, and if one does it's probably book related, LOL.

"Maybe we should be complaining about the content on free TV!!"

You mean that's not already being done? Of course, the income from those ads come from advertisers and is based on the amount of people watching the show, now doesn't it? Ever see how much an ad for the superbowl costs? Compare that to how much an advertisement costs for a 2:00 am rerun of Matlock.

Now, since YOU made the comparison...consider that the ads here pay and are based on users, activities and sales. So while it may be "fun" to slap-down a comment about the upgrade with a supercilious tone suggesting that Jean is using the site "for free" and complaining . . . it's really disingenuous to suggest that she and other users are not clients as well, and an integral part of the finances here. She's NOT using this site for free . . . she pays by looking at all those ads and being here so that Gather can sell those same ads. She puts in her time and her thoughts, which, based on this last upgrade, are likely better thought out.

Incidentally, there are MANY other bugs in this upgrade. Where do you click to go to the home page? How come you can't send an e-mail without the codeword, but there's NO place to put it until after you try to send it? I could go on and on. You know why? Because I'M complaining. (As is my right).

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~

I'm like Julie, Jean. My mind has learned to screen out advertisements, so I don't even notice them. Even when they are animated, we (some of us) have conditioned our minds to just ignore them.

I'm glad you were perceptive enough to pick up on that, though.

There are two changes to the article/post editor I simply don't understand:

1) The display width of articles/posts has not changed. However, the width of the article/post editor window is now narrower than the true article width, forcing me to scroll left and right to edit articles/posts in addition to up and down. This is a major annoyance.

2) The 'options' links on the post/article publishing page are just 'there'...hanging in space off to the right without any point of reference or association to their parent function. This is very poor design.

Also, adding photos to posts/articles is a very important aspect of publishing...yet Gather now only provides a nondescript link for this function...which only serves to exacerbate the unprofessional/unsophisticated appearance of the page. Sigh!

I won't be clicking ads anymore. We use to get points for that, not that I care, but perhaps the advertisers were losing money. With the ads to my right, it's easier to overlook them. The left margin gone, makes the page look cleaner, though.

Kevin, upper right? Er, the search box...?

I had to edit something 3x to get it to publish to groups. Goddess, what a pain in the butt.

KM,

I removed the comment because it only appears for certain types of content. Basically, it's the tag box appearing in the upper right without any identifying labels or titles. I'm trying to isolate a common denominator for when it appears.

Instead of complaining about the ads, get Firefox with Adblock Plus--no more ads! Bad news for Gather, good news for you. (And no Firefox does not pay me for the endorsement--I wish they did because I could use the money.)

Ah, got it. I edited an article that was originally posted via RSS and got no such tags - in case that helps your troubleshooting.

Overall I like the upgrade. I too have tunnel vision when it comes to ads. My biggest problem is that I keep losing posts and photos, and the system seems to be running slower for me.

I also keep getting booted off.

It makes sense and I keep getting booted off too.

Firefox huh? I keep hearing more and more about that. Interesting...

Whoa, guys! Gee... I never thought I'd spark such a lively debate! (Well... MAYBE I did... lol!)

I guess my only real complaint (besides the fact that I, too, am losing photos and even whole articles when I click "publish" -- but that happens, it seems, every time we go through an upgrade -- and even when we DON'T!) about the "new format" is that our nice, bold faced, LARGE titles on our articles are gone and now there's no graphic (if one wishes to add one -- which I usually do) up at the top to make it look nice...

I have Firefox (the program) but don't use it. I don't like it because I can't add little animations to posted comments with it...

I love Firefox. There are a few things which aren't really compatible but I can always open Explorer if I need to. In my opinion, Firefox puts it to shame.

I know it's more "secure" but, since I don't have anything anyone can "take" from me, I guess that part doesn't really affect me too much... lol...

And what else may we discover, with this upgrade?

Lord only knows, Dee...

Point well taken!

Well, yeah.

yes it does! its going to take some getting used to!

Thanks for commenting, Kerrell, Mary & Chelsea...

An interesting, well written post! Keep 'em coming.

Oh, and BTW, enrich your experience on Gather by joining us at pointmasters.gather.com.

Sigh is right Kevin. You are one clever bushtit, Jean.

Finally found this article. That Kevin sure makes sense! He must eat at the Common Ground Cafe in Lower Mills.

Thank you for the invitation C.A.

Awwww... T'wernt nuttin', ee...

Yup, I noticed that too and no I mentally screen out the ads too.

The smaller window on what was once an article is officially reduced to (a post) size. I'm surprised they still let us post pics.