Improving Propeller Through Member Feedback »
Posted By tdrapeau 9 months, 1 week ago in Science & TechnologyFriends--
I am pleased to announce the release of several enhancements to the Propeller.com experience. These enhancements were widely requested over the past month by you, the Propeller community. We hope that you will enjoy these changes as much as we enjoyed making them.
Firstly, changes to the layout of the home and article pages provide a much cleaner experience. The mascot has been removed from the top of the page and moved to the right side, making way for more story content. The story capsule itself has been reorganized and improved, as the channel name (News, Politics, etc) and the source domain of the story have been added to help those scanning for news to optimize their browsing time. Story images, when they are available, are now visible in the capsule as well. Here is an example story capsule to illustrate:
The Top and Featured members and groups that were featured in a middle column have been moved down the page a bit, and are now laid out horizontally. There is also a new "Meet the Community" module on the right hand side that allows for cycling through featured, top and new members and groups on Propeller. We realize that Propeller is powered by its community, and think this is a great way to highlight the great contributions being made every day on the site. Take a look:
Categories, categories, categories -- we have added a list of categories on the right hand side of both the home and article pages. Thanks to all for helping us fill out our new categories added in September. You may have noticed that the Politics-Left, Politics-Right, and Politics-Neither categories have been rolled into a single Politics category -- you told us that this wasn't the right way to promote diversity of political opinion on Propeller, so we listened. We kept Politics around as a category, as well as Religion and Health & Fitness, and they have been thriving.
We have also upgraded the home page story rank algorithm to have limits on the number of stories allowed per category. We tested this on a beta home page, and it has performed quite well. As part of this initial launch, we'll have the following distribution (subject to change without notice as we tune things): Politics (6 stories), News (4 stories), Health & Fitness, Religion, Arts & Entertainment, Business & Finance, Style, Science & Technology (3 stories each), Family, Sports and Humor (2 stories each).
The Propeller article page has undergone a facelift as well, also moving to a 2 column format. Not only is the space optimized around the story summary itself, but the submitter details and related articles are highlighted better. The "Also Propping This Article" and "Groups Watching This" lists are now found in the right column, as well as the new category list. Here is a look at the improved article area:
And for our friends on the AOL network who come and visit now and then due to great Propeller stories being featured on AOL.com, we have made it easier for you to come by and comment. The "Add a Comment" box on the article page will allow visitors to sign up for a new account while commenting, sign into an existing Propeller account while commenting, or sign in using your AOL Screen Name while commenting. We're hoping that this upgraded comment box will make discussions on Propeller easier to partake in. Here is a closer look:
Over the next few months we will be working on some big integration projects to help spread the word about Propeller and bring in some fresh blood, and we'll be sure to tell you about them when they are ready. We will also continue to improve the Propeller experience -- we are committed to making Propeller the best social news site on the web. You expect that of us, and we expect to reach that goal.
As always, let us know how we're driving -- You can reach our feedback page here.
Tom (tdrapeau)
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tdrapeau
Tom Drapeau is the Director of Propeller social news. Although it is the job he always dreamed he'd have, he's had a pretty ...
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+ Add CommentShowing 118 of 154 Comments (view all)
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gamahuche9 months, 1 week ago
A real surprise this morning.
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I had to make some coffee quickly to make sure I wasn't having optical illusions.
NOW - if we could get back some of the best and brightest whom we lost in the shuffle
AND dispense with the little guy - who's at least become less conspicuous
AND stop being "good pals" we'd be in almost perfect shape!
But in all ways thanks to Tom and James for persistence, being there, and grace-under-pressure! -
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altnrg9 months ago
I like it very much as well. You deserve all the applause for listening to the community.
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In my wish list there is one thing that I would like to see. Just like that the top stories from the "news" channel are shown at http://news.aol.com I would like to see that other channels' stories get their exposure on the relevant aol.com's subdomain. -
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Jayson9 months, 1 week ago
The new format looks great. I REALLY love it. And I'm so glad that there are categories!
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populist9 months, 1 week ago
seems to be running a bit faster too, nicely done. home page - is it still allowing one per user at a time? I do like the category limits!
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flyonthewallzz9 months, 1 week ago
Sorry: to be a stick in the mud.
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I STILL really miss the who rated thing.
I don't mind all the NEG's I have been getting lately.
But I do wonder if some of them are coming from folks, who's opinion I respect.
I had made an effort to let someone who was hollering from the other side of the fence know, when they had said something I agreed with.
I like ripping holes in fences.
And I like making friends with folks that disagree with me about some stuff.
I miss that feature a lot.
My observation has been that this site has become more partisan orientated. And I have even found myself supporting the comments of folks that have broken my silly "code" about how I rate comments. I will even admit that I Negged someone the other day, because he/she had said something previously that had ticked me off.-
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tdrapeau9 months, 1 week ago
You aren't the only one who misses this. We have had a number of folks write in to argue both sides, some rather eloquently. I think we will see a "who rated this comment up/down" in Propeller's future - when in doubt, transparency is a good way to go.
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meoknet9 months, 1 week ago
This is NOW an excellent site. The mascot is still there, but a lot less intrusive. You can finally access the blog from the main menu, and I must say that I love the the way they've conformed the blog to look even more like the site. If I didn't know better I'd think the blog was built directly into the site. I love it. I love the better access to categories as well, but they have to upgrade the categories at the bottom of the page. The only thing I'd really love to see now is the Propeller Preview Panel on AOL.com working. It works on Netscape.com, allowing me to see a preview of the Propeller top stories on the right, but the one on AOL is still broken.
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tdrapeau9 months, 1 week ago
Thanks for the kind words. I believe it was your feedback that helped us with the Blog tab and the updated blog design, so thank you for that.
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I am working with the AOL.com team on fixing the preview panel. Thanks for reminding me, I just sent an e-mail to check in on it. -
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Beau78909 months, 1 week ago
Great to be able to see the story categories and sources before clicking on articles, as others have mentioned above.
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And I like the way the new layout that allows more information per story and less wasted space.
Thanks, Tom.
I'm also glad to hear you're working on being able to see who votes on comments.
On a side note, I think the partisanship and political propaganda pieces will always be sent to social news sites with a fairly open submissions policy, but it'll tone down a bit when election season is over.-
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flyonthewallzz9 months, 1 week ago
POS from Fly!
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Don't tone it down Beau!
you speak well!
And thanks Tom!
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Eagle_Eye9 months, 1 week ago
I really like the new layout, it is much cleaner and has more sustenance and less wasted space. Good Job Team Propeller and thank you for listening to the community AND posting the updates like you have keeping us informed.
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BUT here is my new "Pet" peeve....please get rid of the "ap" bot!!!!
Our site is based on "You Pick The News" and "Propeller: the news site where all the action is run by fine folks like you! ", well all the fun is gone when you go and post a story only to find that "ap" has all ready done it. I get so frustrated and also no one votes on "ap" or comments on 'ap' stories. We like posting the stories and interacting with each other in the community, no body here likes the "Bot" and we would like to see it go away......can that be done??? We have no use for a news spamming bot that is taking our stories.
I also miss the "sink" feature, I always felt that was my way of expressing my disagreement with a story.
Also, I want to be able to take a vote back if I find out I didn't agree after all.
Then there is the issue brought up by fly, I do agree that blind pos and neg is perhaps more truthful, but I also notice even if I say some thing not negative I am still being negged. It would be nice to see who the trolls are that are following us around negging all the time even in non political or called for cases.
I still have problems deciding where I should categorize my stories, some just don't fit into the categorizes so I just guess.
Otherwise, again great job with the new layout.
Peace, EE -
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Bkumm9 months, 1 week ago
I like Propeller more and more each day. Keep going guys, you're doing great!
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ekklesiawarrior9 months, 1 week ago
ANYTHING but anything makes it better than it was.
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Thanks DEV team! -
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Eagle_Eye9 months, 1 week ago
I don't really agree with you there am, there were times when the front page reflected nothing but politics, and a lot where duplicate stories just different sides. I thing the fair and balance goes back to the old propeller site of limiting the number of stories per category to the front page giving users more diversification in the news, IMHO.
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BronxBomber9 months, 1 week ago
Also, I must ask again about displaying identities of members who are pos and negging voting comments in the threads as we used to in the old Propeller. As members,we certainly have a right to know. "Trolling" for instance shouldn't be encouraged, but quashed.
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Nowalive9 months, 1 week ago
BB
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Excellent point. I liked knowing who pos'd and negged me as a tool to meet new people and expand my friends list. I have made MANY new friends simply by knowing who to offer the chance to express their opinion.
Additionally the "share" feature needs tweaked. I miss the old means of broadcasting to friends. Although the new way with progressive search does allow for throwing new members into the mix. Darn it.... now I'm conflicted.
It's still a little rough, but it's getting there.-
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Candida9 months, 1 week ago
I agree on the usefulness of knowing who gave positive and negative votes, but not only to my comments. I often checked who gave positive or negative votes to others' comments that I found particularly good or distasteful.
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I've never used the broadcasting function in the old Propeller, but I find that in this one, anybody who is interested in his/her friends' submissions can check it through the Friends Submissions. Those who are not interested probably won't care anyway.
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RickyDawkins9 months, 1 week ago
I think it is working now.
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Hooray!
And thanks to Tom and the team.
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reviewer9 months, 1 week ago
Good improvements. Thank you. Now where is the cake? :-)
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P.S. If a submission is political news which category should be used and does it matter if it is tagged "news" or "politics" or both? -
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SenorCoconut9 months, 1 week ago
Huge improvement Tom, the site looks much "friendlier" and functional.
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The category limits are a most welcome addition. -
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PinkyPie9 months, 1 week ago
I have been absent from Netscape/Propeller for about 18 months for various reasons (no I wasn't in jail but I sure could have used the rest :) The overall look was a little jarring and seems juvenile compared to the old format. Of course the old Netscape had an older contingent and that seems to have changed drastically. With that went civility. The one feature that still has not been returned is the 'message to friends' feature that enabled us to do a broadcast message to selected friends. Also if you are going to allow voting neg or pos you need to make it transparent so we can see who's doing what.
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TimALoftis9 months, 1 week ago
nice to see you again, PinkyPie...seeing your avatar brings back many memories of those early days here at Netscape/Propeller. I hope you stick around.
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Spadecaller9 months, 1 week ago
I agree with your remarks PinkyPie.
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"The one feature that still has not been returned is the 'message to friends' feature that enabled us to do a broadcast message to selected friends."
Many members are new or have forgotten that feature; it enabled communication among us. We are much more isolated from each other and it has thwarted the aspects of what a social blog site is supposed to encourage.
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tchef9 months, 1 week ago
It definitely looks better, and is working well. Thanks. I do still miss being able to go directly to comments that you made instead of having to go through all the comments each time to see if there where any replies.
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Spadecaller9 months, 1 week ago
Thanks Tom for keeping the lines of communication open and for helping foster some community awareness. It is good to know that you are interested in sincere feedback and for some added transparency at Propeller. Since the launch of Propeller 2.00, some vital changes have transpired.
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At the same time, I do not like pretending that there still remain important issues that remain unresolved for many of us. Several refugees of Propeller and some, like myself, who participate on a more reserved basis, still abhor the amount of abusive commentary that routinely accompanies political attack articles. Some members routinely disagree by simply calling others liars, hypocrites, and wackos. For many of us, that level of “debate” remains unattractive and does not speak well of Propeller.
I have communicated with management repeatedly about individual cases that many of us find objectionable, but to no avail. In fact, after directly requesting acknowledgment of my inquiries repeatedly, I have still heard nothing from management in response.
Should I assume that the reason the blind negging that Bronx Bomber, Nowalive, and many of us dislike still remains because management prefers controlling confrontations among its members rather than directly confronting those who abuse the Terms of Use? I have no way of knowing, because I have forwarded those questions without a reply.
Like many, I have decided to adjust my own participation on Propeller and hopefully there will come a time again that I will look forward to exchanging ideas with others who prefer a more respectful level of discussion. Hopefully, enough responsible members will eventually confront this issue and that management will see the value in opposing commentary that turns off good members and new members from participating.
Conscientious, responsible, well-mannered members with integrity will continue to drop off the radar site and what is known as “adverse selection” will leave Propeller with a group that reflects the worst in us rather than the best. I hope that trend comes to an end soon.-
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Will13139 months, 1 week ago
i too have addressed the issue of someone simply replying to a comment by calling a liar..... most of us old timers.. know who negged us... but the name calling is simply not called for and nothing is being done.. after REPEATED calls for action..
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I'm not advocating a banning on a first offense.. but a word of warning... from management and a probationary period would certainly be called for....
management warned me a LONG TIME AGO about an acronym I had used... and I haven't done it since..
I never did neg comments.. but it must be less fulfilling to someone who does.. knowing his shot may be missed.....
GREAT NEW LAYOUT... -
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tdrapeau9 months, 1 week ago
This was mentioned a few times in this thread -- I'll respond here. We are certainly not ignoring reports of TOU violations. We review every report we can, multiple times if necessary, to come to a consistent decision. Sometimes consistency is difficult to achieve -- a member on a first offense may receive different treatment than a repeat offender, even though the offense is the same, for example.
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TOU violations can be black and white, but more commonly are shades of gray. Sometimes a report will come in about a comment and we will not remove it. This doesn't mean the TOU is being neglected. It just means that we looked at the report in question, the context, the members involved, and tried to make a human decision weighing all the factors. The trick is to allow for debate to be colorful and engrossing without neutering or censoring it, while making sure the comment threads aren't vile.
AlphaGnosis was banned for violating the TOU of Propeller. That is as much as we can say, as we value the privacy of our members. Clockworkorange's account was reviewed, and has not been conclusively linked to AlphaGnosis. If there is any new evidence of a connection, we would be happy to review.
I hope in the coming months to bring in new members to the site to enrich discussions with new points of view on the day's news. Propeller 2.0 had a very rough start, but things are looking better all the time.
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Poulenc9 months, 1 week ago
I must agree with the posters who want the who-commented-on-my-comment function back.
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Without that, I have no accurate way of weighing the validity, if you will, of the pozes or negs I receive--of understanding where the comment is coming from.
Also, minus commenter ID, it's more difficult to make new friends, chosen usually because of like-mindedness. I don't know about others, but my friends list has remained pretty static since the format switch.
Are you listening, Tom and Co.?-
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Spadecaller9 months, 1 week ago
Poulenc,
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I hear ya!
... But this concept of "feedback" can often be quite misleading. Perhaps there are other definitions of the word that are eluding me. -
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tdrapeau9 months, 1 week ago
Why yes we are. We hear you loud and clear. Bringing back who rated on your comments (up or down) is now the #1 request from members. It involves a bit of work so we are looking into it.
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Thanks to all for being vocal about wanting it - that has been extremely helpful, especially in this case. -
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berkeley9 months, 1 week ago
you can look at what new members say in comments and what they choose to post as a better filter for adding new friends. agreeing or disagreeing with a comment can have all sorts of strings attached.
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i still strongly favor anonymous comment ratings. who cares if someone has an enemies list and follows people around, negging comments? no harm is done, except to the person with the agenda. some would even neg more often if it got their name in lights. leave the system as is for another year, please.
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