Ad Bars November 22, 2022 5:34 AM Subscribe
Can we stop plastering the top of the site with fundraising and community notices? It's incredibly annoying.
I do realize that there's a "hide" button as part of the message, but that doesn't change the fact that it needs to be clicked for every individual device/browser, or that the font has doubled in size recently.
I do realize that there's a "hide" button as part of the message, but that doesn't change the fact that it needs to be clicked for every individual device/browser, or that the font has doubled in size recently.
The font size, at least, came as a direct request from users (I think I was one of them, or I might have favorited the sentiment). I personally am willing to live with it for a couple-few more weeks to help the site meet funding goals, so that it can continue to exist.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [44 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [44 favorites]
I see it as a temporary annoyance. The site was in debt and literally facing death. Thanks in part to those annoying banners, MetaFilter has pulled out of the red. Before the font was enlarged, many users had no idea that the website was about to go belly up. Many of them posted comments to that effect. So it has been a necessary evil and will probably become less obvious/annoying in the New Year. That is my guess; it is not up to me. Thanks for posting!
posted by Bella Donna at 5:52 AM on November 22, 2022 [54 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 5:52 AM on November 22, 2022 [54 favorites]
It's already starting to drift from that initial fundraising goal though. The current banner reads,
"Get tickets to MeFi Events! | Tues, 22 Nov: “How to Build a Business Plan” | “Intro to AI-Generated Art” ; Ongoing fundraiser (hide)"
There's no reason to push a speaking series with the same urgency as a life or death funding crisis. Especially not when there's already a sidebar that has the same info listed.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 6:16 AM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
"Get tickets to MeFi Events! | Tues, 22 Nov: “How to Build a Business Plan” | “Intro to AI-Generated Art” ; Ongoing fundraiser (hide)"
There's no reason to push a speaking series with the same urgency as a life or death funding crisis. Especially not when there's already a sidebar that has the same info listed.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 6:16 AM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
The current ad is for MeFi Events which is part of the fundraising, right? The sidebar also isn't visible on mobile, so the ad really is the main way mobile users like me would hear about something like this. I'm glad it's still being used and is larger.
posted by In Your Shell Like at 6:26 AM on November 22, 2022 [53 favorites]
posted by In Your Shell Like at 6:26 AM on November 22, 2022 [53 favorites]
Candidly, Orange Pamplemousse, this is not the vibe.
posted by kate blank at 6:30 AM on November 22, 2022 [161 favorites]
posted by kate blank at 6:30 AM on November 22, 2022 [161 favorites]
Even if you have ten devices/browsers, that's a whole ten clicks to rid yourself of the banner. Not a big deal.
posted by knapah at 6:35 AM on November 22, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by knapah at 6:35 AM on November 22, 2022 [12 favorites]
A friend of mine worked for a long time in non-profit fundraising, and I mentioned how I found a lot of fundraising tactics annoying, like repeatedly emailing people and repeatedly calling people, and following up on previous donors year after year, and how if anything they put me off donating, and wouldn’t people be more likely to donate if they were a bit more restrained?
They explained to me that all their available evidence indicates that in fact, no, this isn’t the case, and by far their most effective fundraising campaigns are the ones where they nag you a bit, and they are very aware some people will get annoyed, but campaigns where no one gets annoyed are ones where they also failed to reach a significant portion of people who would have donated, which is their job, so…
posted by Jon Mitchell at 6:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [51 favorites]
They explained to me that all their available evidence indicates that in fact, no, this isn’t the case, and by far their most effective fundraising campaigns are the ones where they nag you a bit, and they are very aware some people will get annoyed, but campaigns where no one gets annoyed are ones where they also failed to reach a significant portion of people who would have donated, which is their job, so…
posted by Jon Mitchell at 6:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [51 favorites]
Huh, I've just realised there's no sidebar on mobile. So yeah, if you need eyeballs on something, it pretty much has to be a banner. It's great that it's there in fundraising month; I do hope it's used sparingly outside of that. It's only a very slight annoyance, but I'll tune out if there's always a banner.
posted by pianissimo at 6:43 AM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by pianissimo at 6:43 AM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
The fundraising call to action is really important, and the events are related. There's no sidebar on mobile. And frankly, the amount of entitlement that you should not have to see what, 22 extra words is a bit stunning.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:44 AM on November 22, 2022 [33 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 6:44 AM on November 22, 2022 [33 favorites]
The banner breaks the site for me on desktop as a low-vision user because when I’m zoomed in enough to read it covers the recent activity/etc bar… and yet I haven’t complained about it because it’s more important to get as many more eyeballs on it as possible. I just zoom out, squint, click on recent activity, and then zoom back in.
Brw the sidebar doesn’t exist to me. I look at it about three times a year. It is not at all attention getting and I only recall it exists when someone mentions it out loud.
posted by brook horse at 7:22 AM on November 22, 2022 [27 favorites]
Brw the sidebar doesn’t exist to me. I look at it about three times a year. It is not at all attention getting and I only recall it exists when someone mentions it out loud.
posted by brook horse at 7:22 AM on November 22, 2022 [27 favorites]
the amount of entitlement that you should not have to see what, 22 extra words is a bit stunning
I am going to push back on that idea, gently. We all get to have our feels, and members have different perspectives. The OP's take is not popular with many, but that does not necessarily make it entitled, IMHO.
Thanks to the commenters who have brought up the mobile situation and brook horse's comment that the banner breaks the the site on desktop for low-vision users. Sounds like important issues. I dunno if the Steering Committee folks read MetaTalk on the regular. I assume they do but things have been busy at MF for awhile, what with fire fighting and all. If no one from the SC pops by, I will drop 'em a note to point out this thread as an FYI.
(I have nothing to do with the SC, I am merely a busybody from time to time.)
posted by Bella Donna at 7:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [30 favorites]
I am going to push back on that idea, gently. We all get to have our feels, and members have different perspectives. The OP's take is not popular with many, but that does not necessarily make it entitled, IMHO.
Thanks to the commenters who have brought up the mobile situation and brook horse's comment that the banner breaks the the site on desktop for low-vision users. Sounds like important issues. I dunno if the Steering Committee folks read MetaTalk on the regular. I assume they do but things have been busy at MF for awhile, what with fire fighting and all. If no one from the SC pops by, I will drop 'em a note to point out this thread as an FYI.
(I have nothing to do with the SC, I am merely a busybody from time to time.)
posted by Bella Donna at 7:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [30 favorites]
I kind of have to chuckle at this, it's so very MetaTalk. After all the panic at the site's funds, and the desperate calls to make the fundraising more prominent, so the site can continue to exist, of course we'd have the requisite backlash. Oh MeFi. 💜
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:50 AM on November 22, 2022 [97 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:50 AM on November 22, 2022 [97 favorites]
It’s not an ad bar. It’s a community banner. Communities are allowed to announce things in a slightly visually impactful way. There is very little manipulation, no shitty advertising tactics, no images, can be removed with one click and never reloads or pops back up. It’s as far from an ad as I can imagine, while asking for financial support.
posted by Mizu at 8:00 AM on November 22, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 8:00 AM on November 22, 2022 [20 favorites]
Yeah I assume the SC have a lot going on and as it doesn’t break the site for me (just requires finagling with zoom) I haven’t bothered to mention. But I also just remembered I recently had to teach another low vision person about Ctrl+ and Ctrl- (she only used the “make everything bigger” setting and the magnifier glass) so there may be people the site is currently broken for.
posted by brook horse at 8:02 AM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 8:02 AM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's already starting to drift from that initial fundraising goal though.
Nope, it's part of fundraising month. I emailed with another user who was deeply aggravated by the banner and I assured them it was temporary (it is) and for future banner stuff we'll work on making the banner somewhat better designed and possibly (don't want to overpromise) easier to remove. I get it, it's bothersome. If it weren't a crisis, we wouldn't be doing it. And yes the quick fix CSS change to make it bigger seems to have had some unintended consequences.
The banner breaks the site for me on desktop as a low-vision user because when I’m zoomed in enough to read it covers the recent activity/etc bar
Definitely a thing we'd like to work better, thanks for letting us know.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:51 AM on November 22, 2022 [47 favorites]
Nope, it's part of fundraising month. I emailed with another user who was deeply aggravated by the banner and I assured them it was temporary (it is) and for future banner stuff we'll work on making the banner somewhat better designed and possibly (don't want to overpromise) easier to remove. I get it, it's bothersome. If it weren't a crisis, we wouldn't be doing it. And yes the quick fix CSS change to make it bigger seems to have had some unintended consequences.
The banner breaks the site for me on desktop as a low-vision user because when I’m zoomed in enough to read it covers the recent activity/etc bar
Definitely a thing we'd like to work better, thanks for letting us know.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:51 AM on November 22, 2022 [47 favorites]
There's no reason to push a speaking series with the same urgency as a life or death funding crisis. Especially not when there's already a sidebar that has the same info listed.
But the speaking series is part of the Life and Death Fundraising Crisis.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:51 AM on November 22, 2022 [16 favorites]
But the speaking series is part of the Life and Death Fundraising Crisis.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:51 AM on November 22, 2022 [16 favorites]
While we're talking about the site being broken for zoomed in users, if you're zoomed in too much, the list of subsites falls off the left into the big mefi icon. When you zoom in further, the menu items below the subsites get cut off to the right.
posted by aniola at 9:04 AM on November 22, 2022
posted by aniola at 9:04 AM on November 22, 2022
While I'm on the topic of accessibility ponies, I think it would be awesome to have a neurodiversity accessibility section in the preferences page. It could have features like:
- turn off the banner or make it smaller after you've seen it once (or once a week or something)
- hide favorite counts everywhere, including on your profile page
- lock yourself out of your account for a set amount of time
- alt text describing emojis
- and more!
posted by aniola at 9:13 AM on November 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
- turn off the banner or make it smaller after you've seen it once (or once a week or something)
- hide favorite counts everywhere, including on your profile page
- lock yourself out of your account for a set amount of time
- alt text describing emojis
- and more!
posted by aniola at 9:13 AM on November 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
"If we don't make the banner bigger, people may not realize we are in life-or-death funding mode!"
"Why is the banner so big? It's not like we're in life-or-death funding mode."
I think what I am learning is the banner still needs to be bigger.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:17 AM on November 22, 2022 [73 favorites]
"Why is the banner so big? It's not like we're in life-or-death funding mode."
I think what I am learning is the banner still needs to be bigger.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:17 AM on November 22, 2022 [73 favorites]
If the design of the pop-up bar gets fixed so it doesn't break the top nav (which it did for me), is there a way to re-enable it? I don't mind being nagged by it, but I had to close it because it got in the way of my actually clicking links.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 9:17 AM on November 22, 2022
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 9:17 AM on November 22, 2022
never reloads or pops back up
My browser crashes a lot, and it logs me out when it does so. This reloads the banner. There's no way to hide the banner if you're logged out.
posted by aniola at 9:22 AM on November 22, 2022
My browser crashes a lot, and it logs me out when it does so. This reloads the banner. There's no way to hide the banner if you're logged out.
posted by aniola at 9:22 AM on November 22, 2022
I think it would be awesome to have a neurodiversity accessibility section in the preferences page.
This should be its own MeTa, maybe once fundraising month is over? I'd really like to see accessibility stuff more front-and-center and we probably will need a committee that is adjacent to the code committee that can put some of this stuff together.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:38 AM on November 22, 2022 [43 favorites]
This should be its own MeTa, maybe once fundraising month is over? I'd really like to see accessibility stuff more front-and-center and we probably will need a committee that is adjacent to the code committee that can put some of this stuff together.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:38 AM on November 22, 2022 [43 favorites]
(It looks like, if you
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 9:44 AM on November 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
- move the ".banner" div above the header tag,
- remove "position: absolute" from the banner, and then add it for the sub-550px layout,
- give it about 3em of top spacing on mobile, and
- remove the "top: 28px" from the header on desktop,
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 9:44 AM on November 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
(Perhaps more minimally, could we move the X over a smidge so it isn’t occluded by the scroll bar on Firefox. I’m fine with irritating notices, but I’d like to be able to close ‘em too.)
posted by Going To Maine at 9:49 AM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 9:49 AM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
I prefer the banner to getting a 404 because the site died.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:02 AM on November 22, 2022 [65 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:02 AM on November 22, 2022 [65 favorites]
It’s definitely worth considering, for the future, how the banners, and their duration, can be a negative to some users.
At this point I find them to be a bit much, while recognizing their importance for the moment.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:41 AM on November 22, 2022
At this point I find them to be a bit much, while recognizing their importance for the moment.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:41 AM on November 22, 2022
Orange Pamplemousse: Can we stop plastering the top of the site with fundraising and community notices?
Not yet, no. Maybe later. But as things are now: no.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [16 favorites]
Not yet, no. Maybe later. But as things are now: no.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:42 AM on November 22, 2022 [16 favorites]
It's a no from me, dawg. The community has been begging the site leadership for years to let us know when they need something from us, and now they're doing it. This is a good thing.
posted by bleep at 10:56 AM on November 22, 2022 [43 favorites]
posted by bleep at 10:56 AM on November 22, 2022 [43 favorites]
This is the natural state of Metafilter and I appreciate each and every one of you.
I'll note that the text oriented format attracts nero divergents like me who also really don't like stuff changing willy nilly and also can't always read the room. But change is inevitable. So there is going to be banners. I know things have to be different, and are never going back to the way it once was. So everyone who is embracing this new phase gets a hug, and everyone muddling through gets a hug and everyone looking back gets one too.
posted by zenon at 12:35 PM on November 22, 2022 [19 favorites]
I'll note that the text oriented format attracts nero divergents like me who also really don't like stuff changing willy nilly and also can't always read the room. But change is inevitable. So there is going to be banners. I know things have to be different, and are never going back to the way it once was. So everyone who is embracing this new phase gets a hug, and everyone muddling through gets a hug and everyone looking back gets one too.
posted by zenon at 12:35 PM on November 22, 2022 [19 favorites]
What about the cats, do they get hugs?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:41 PM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:41 PM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]
Two things:
- last year's very polite, non-intrusive fundraiser fell very short of its goals, and thus Metafilter spent a year and a half spending more money than it brought in, even after drastically cutting mod hours, and drained its cash reserves
- a lot of users asked specifically for a Wikipedia-style fundraising banner (i.e. much bigger, more glaring, and more wordy than what there is now)
The big banner's definitely a bit annoying, but it also makes me happy because it's for a good cause and it's a sign of real improvement and action. And it's a temporary thing.
One issue this post does bring up is that the banner doesn't really make it clear that the Events event is part of the fundraising efforts. But I don't know how critical that is.
posted by trig at 12:44 PM on November 22, 2022 [18 favorites]
- last year's very polite, non-intrusive fundraiser fell very short of its goals, and thus Metafilter spent a year and a half spending more money than it brought in, even after drastically cutting mod hours, and drained its cash reserves
- a lot of users asked specifically for a Wikipedia-style fundraising banner (i.e. much bigger, more glaring, and more wordy than what there is now)
The big banner's definitely a bit annoying, but it also makes me happy because it's for a good cause and it's a sign of real improvement and action. And it's a temporary thing.
One issue this post does bring up is that the banner doesn't really make it clear that the Events event is part of the fundraising efforts. But I don't know how critical that is.
posted by trig at 12:44 PM on November 22, 2022 [18 favorites]
Good thing for y'all that I wasn't allowed near the stylesheet, my version of the banner would've taken up one-third of the window and been in the colours of the infamous Hot Dog Stand theme, and would've floated annoyingly down your screen like the aforementioned Wikipedia beg boxes. A read over the Fundraising Drive Financial Packet (even just the summary) shows that Shit Got Real around here and something had to be done. So I appreciate the restraint shown by the current design, and applaud the results it had gotten so far.
And I agree it's unfortunate it breaks the site design for some users, we need to be as barrier-free as possible. But that's a further reminder that if the site's performance is to improve, we do need to hire and pay developers to do it, and that doesn't happen without this badly needed influx of cash. And an increased stable healthy monthly income will be crucial to keeping the familiar look and feel while bringing what's under the hood up to modern standards (a New Beetle redesign, I call it!), plus ensuring continued high standards for discourse and moderation of thiscommunity weblog weblog community.
posted by hangashore at 1:06 PM on November 22, 2022 [15 favorites]
And I agree it's unfortunate it breaks the site design for some users, we need to be as barrier-free as possible. But that's a further reminder that if the site's performance is to improve, we do need to hire and pay developers to do it, and that doesn't happen without this badly needed influx of cash. And an increased stable healthy monthly income will be crucial to keeping the familiar look and feel while bringing what's under the hood up to modern standards (a New Beetle redesign, I call it!), plus ensuring continued high standards for discourse and moderation of this
posted by hangashore at 1:06 PM on November 22, 2022 [15 favorites]
On an iPad I accidentally logged myself out, the banner covered the log in at the top of the page in the logged out state, and it took me a few moments of frustration to remember the one at the bottom.
Which was kind of bracing, really.
posted by jamjam at 1:10 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Which was kind of bracing, really.
posted by jamjam at 1:10 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
As feedback, not a request for change, I will point out that for the low-information reader, the banner no longer communicates that fundraising is a matter of urgency and important to site survival.
I did know this, because I come to the site often enough. But I didn't know that the speaking series was part of the fundraising efforts, so to me the main thing looked like advertising tickets for some events (which for all I knew was a "hope we break even!" type thing) and the fundraising demoted to an afterthought.
posted by mark k at 1:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [27 favorites]
I did know this, because I come to the site often enough. But I didn't know that the speaking series was part of the fundraising efforts, so to me the main thing looked like advertising tickets for some events (which for all I knew was a "hope we break even!" type thing) and the fundraising demoted to an afterthought.
posted by mark k at 1:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [27 favorites]
That makes a lot of sense, thanks for that feedback mark k (and others). I edited it a little.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:24 PM on November 22, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:24 PM on November 22, 2022 [12 favorites]
That's much clearer! There's a small typo now (a leftover " at the end, and I guess the word "part" needs something to set it off from the previous clause). What about
. Part of our ongoing fundraiser!
?
posted by trig at 2:40 PM on November 22, 2022
. Part of our ongoing fundraiser!
?
posted by trig at 2:40 PM on November 22, 2022
Edited somewhat. We have a bug in the banner-building tool which means we have to recreate it from scratch each time, so unless something is really broken, it will stay like this.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:48 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:48 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
What about the cats, do they get hugs?
yesss the cats definitely get hugs if they want 'em!
in fact, i volunteer to provide said hugs
here, kitty kitty...
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 3:14 PM on November 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
yesss the cats definitely get hugs if they want 'em!
in fact, i volunteer to provide said hugs
here, kitty kitty...
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 3:14 PM on November 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
I have no wish to contribute to this site if it's going to champion "AI-generated art" as if it's not a brief-lived, long-regretted part of our near future. End of, probably last message here.
posted by runehog at 3:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by runehog at 3:21 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not sure if you read the description, but I'd hardly describe it as "championing" AI art.
Join Jeremy Osborn as he wades into the murky waters of one of the most controversial technological developments of 2022: using artificial intelligence to generate imagery. Jeremy will demonstrate how these generative AI platforms work, discuss the ethical concerns behind their creation, and attempt (and likely fail) to predict where it’s all headed.posted by brook horse at 3:31 PM on November 22, 2022 [44 favorites]
I'm all in favour of an absolutely massive great banner in the circumstances.
In fact, maybe we could just chuck in a blink tag too? ;)
posted by penguin pie at 4:04 PM on November 22, 2022 [10 favorites]
In fact, maybe we could just chuck in a blink tag too? ;)
posted by penguin pie at 4:04 PM on November 22, 2022 [10 favorites]
Edited somewhat
All good! Thank you again (to jessamyn and everybody) for your awesome responsiveness and all the work you've all been doing.
posted by trig at 4:22 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
All good! Thank you again (to jessamyn and everybody) for your awesome responsiveness and all the work you've all been doing.
posted by trig at 4:22 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm all in favour of an absolutely massive great banner in the circumstances.
Make it bigger each time someone complains about it.
posted by octothorpe at 5:06 PM on November 22, 2022 [41 favorites]
Make it bigger each time someone complains about it.
posted by octothorpe at 5:06 PM on November 22, 2022 [41 favorites]
You hear those haters? That's it, the banner just got 2em bigger! (thunderous crowd applause)
posted by Meatbomb at 7:02 PM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Meatbomb at 7:02 PM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
Yesss, this thread is what I come for, so deliciously meta, but no click here to donate buttons every other comment!
posted by sammyo at 7:09 PM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 7:09 PM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
In fact, maybe we could just chuck in a blink tag too? ;)
We could but blink has been deprecated in all modern browsers :( so it won't work unless one has installed an extension or something.
posted by Mitheral at 7:10 PM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
We could but blink has been deprecated in all modern browsers :( so it won't work unless one has installed an extension or something.
posted by Mitheral at 7:10 PM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Donate 50 cents to make the banner bigger, $1 to make it smaller. I'm sure such a thing could be coded up in no time.
posted by Diskeater at 7:40 PM on November 22, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by Diskeater at 7:40 PM on November 22, 2022 [18 favorites]
We could but blink has been deprecated in all modern browsers :( so it won't work unless one has installed an extension or something
It’s not quite as simple as the tag, but the blink effect can be reproduced with css fairly easily. I mean, if one wanted to.
posted by rodlymight at 7:52 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
It’s not quite as simple as the tag, but the blink effect can be reproduced with css fairly easily. I mean, if one wanted to.
posted by rodlymight at 7:52 PM on November 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
One thing about sidebar not showing up on mobile is that you can click the three bars at the top of the screen and select "Best Of" and you will go to the Best Of Metafilter blog, which is basically the same as the sidebar info (it might have small changes in wording, and it usually has images). It's not effective for putting info directly in front of your eyes in passive mode (so not super helpful in fundraising awareness), but just as a general informational note, if you are using mobile and want to see what is on the sidebar, use that Best Of link.
posted by taz (staff) at 10:42 PM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 10:42 PM on November 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
You can also press the arrow button that's under the menu bar/banner, to the right, and it'll take you to the bottom of the page where the sidebar is (depending on screen size you might have to scroll down a tiny bit). True on the modern theme, anyway.
posted by trig at 2:54 AM on November 23, 2022
posted by trig at 2:54 AM on November 23, 2022
I kind of have to chuckle at this, it's so very MetaTalk. After all the panic at the site's funds, and the desperate calls to make the fundraising more prominent, so the site can continue to exist, of course we'd have the requisite backlash.
I also unironically love this. We haven't had a cranky or contentious MeTa about an extremely-low-stakes UX thing in AGES, 'cause we've all been too busy dealing with big, existential crises. Now that we're on the path to righting the ship, we've all got a little more bandwidth, so here come thepretzels nitpicks. Nature is healing itself.
posted by Mayor West at 4:59 AM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
I also unironically love this. We haven't had a cranky or contentious MeTa about an extremely-low-stakes UX thing in AGES, 'cause we've all been too busy dealing with big, existential crises. Now that we're on the path to righting the ship, we've all got a little more bandwidth, so here come the
posted by Mayor West at 4:59 AM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
The banner could take up a third of the screen and feature auto-playing llama screams, and it'd still be less obnoxious than the average website in 2022.
I'm in favor of the banners as long as they work in raising funds.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:19 AM on November 23, 2022 [17 favorites]
I'm in favor of the banners as long as they work in raising funds.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:19 AM on November 23, 2022 [17 favorites]
While the old small banner was in place I said a couple of times that it needed to be much more prominent – it should be noticeable enough that it annoys some people, I pleaded.
When it was changed, I didn't think that only making the text bigger went far enough – it didn't seem that annoying to me. I'm pleased to discover that I was wrong. Thanks SC for all your efforts!
posted by fabius at 5:37 AM on November 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
When it was changed, I didn't think that only making the text bigger went far enough – it didn't seem that annoying to me. I'm pleased to discover that I was wrong. Thanks SC for all your efforts!
posted by fabius at 5:37 AM on November 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
No.
posted by theora55 at 5:54 AM on November 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 5:54 AM on November 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
feature auto-playing llama screams
Ooh! Now there's a thought. Though tiny wolf pups get my vote (via this comment).
posted by trig at 6:28 AM on November 23, 2022 [5 favorites]
Ooh! Now there's a thought. Though tiny wolf pups get my vote (via this comment).
posted by trig at 6:28 AM on November 23, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'll note that the text oriented format attracts nero divergents like me who also really don't like stuff changing willy nilly
we gotta do something, wouldn't want to fiddle while mefi burns
posted by lalochezia at 6:43 AM on November 23, 2022 [5 favorites]
Hello! Steering Committee Kim here - thanks for the feedback, Orange Pamplemousse. I'm sorry it's annoying but we were receiving a lot of pressure (some of it pretty intense!) to make the banner larger and messaging much more prominent during the fundraiser.
When (not if!) we get to a coding/management place where we are able to:
> easily send emails/memails out to an opted-in community
> make community message posts sticky
> have the time to thoughtfully test how changes like font size can affect look/feel/ux across various browsers, devices, and MeFI themes
> embed llama screams
and some other suggestions that we're keeping track of, we'll be able to rethink how that top space is used.
posted by kimberussell at 6:43 AM on November 23, 2022 [25 favorites]
When (not if!) we get to a coding/management place where we are able to:
> easily send emails/memails out to an opted-in community
> make community message posts sticky
> have the time to thoughtfully test how changes like font size can affect look/feel/ux across various browsers, devices, and MeFI themes
> embed llama screams
and some other suggestions that we're keeping track of, we'll be able to rethink how that top space is used.
posted by kimberussell at 6:43 AM on November 23, 2022 [25 favorites]
(what Jessamyn said)
posted by kimberussell at 6:44 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kimberussell at 6:44 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Now that Nov 22 is behind us, an update would be useful.
posted by theora55 at 7:19 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:19 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
We are honestly doing the best we can with the banner and having it be both time sensitive and accurate.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:25 AM on November 23, 2022 [26 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:25 AM on November 23, 2022 [26 favorites]
Yeah, it's ever so slightly annoying.
You know what would be more annoying? Having MetaFilter go away forever because it can't bring in the needed funds.
posted by grouse at 8:42 AM on November 23, 2022 [24 favorites]
You know what would be more annoying? Having MetaFilter go away forever because it can't bring in the needed funds.
posted by grouse at 8:42 AM on November 23, 2022 [24 favorites]
I think llama screams should be a user option that we can turn on or off. I'm on the fence about which setting should be the default.
posted by biogeo at 9:25 AM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 9:25 AM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
Possibly a user setting for changing to other camelid screams, also.
posted by biogeo at 9:27 AM on November 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 9:27 AM on November 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
here is a single llama scream for your viewing pleasure
posted by aniola at 9:29 AM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by aniola at 9:29 AM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
10/10 scream, 2/10 that is a goat, 10/10 goat
posted by biogeo at 9:32 AM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 9:32 AM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
it's unfortunate it breaks the site design for some users
This is ableist. If someone says that a site change has broken something they use to make the site more accessible, it's not "unfortunate" it breaks the site for "some users," unless you're dismissing those people as not important.
I'll note that the text oriented format attracts nero divergents like me who also really don't like stuff changing willy nilly
we gotta do something, wouldn't want to fiddle while mefi burns
Again, extremely shitty behavior when someone is being vulnerable and saying, hey, my brain works differently, this actively sucks for me, only to have someone turn around and effectively say "Suck it up."
posted by curious nu at 9:33 AM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
This is ableist. If someone says that a site change has broken something they use to make the site more accessible, it's not "unfortunate" it breaks the site for "some users," unless you're dismissing those people as not important.
I'll note that the text oriented format attracts nero divergents like me who also really don't like stuff changing willy nilly
we gotta do something, wouldn't want to fiddle while mefi burns
Again, extremely shitty behavior when someone is being vulnerable and saying, hey, my brain works differently, this actively sucks for me, only to have someone turn around and effectively say "Suck it up."
posted by curious nu at 9:33 AM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
i thought i was making a pun about nero
but have at it!
posted by lalochezia at 9:52 AM on November 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
but have at it!
posted by lalochezia at 9:52 AM on November 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
I read the fiddle comment as a joke about the the "nero" typo, not a admonishment of the quoted comment. (on preview, yup.)
posted by the primroses were over at 9:54 AM on November 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 9:54 AM on November 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
came in to report that is not a llama 😆
(already covered by biogeo)
However, I was not sure if it was a goat or a sheep. How can you tell?
posted by Glinn at 9:57 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
(already covered by biogeo)
However, I was not sure if it was a goat or a sheep. How can you tell?
posted by Glinn at 9:57 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Here is an alpaca screaming like a human.
Also, on closer inspection, the animal in aniola's video has a pronounced philtrum, which suggests it is in fact a sheep, not a goat. I award my previous comment 2/10 not a goat 10/10 sheep
posted by biogeo at 10:42 AM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
Also, on closer inspection, the animal in aniola's video has a pronounced philtrum, which suggests it is in fact a sheep, not a goat. I award my previous comment 2/10 not a goat 10/10 sheep
posted by biogeo at 10:42 AM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
Nero made large statues and zusammenbrechendes neues Boot. Complaint-a-ments by Nero of Nero were were ecked out on the Acta Diurna but it's Julius Caesers vehicle really. So it's more of complaints about writing on the Album if a Roman analogy is to be used.
Which it prolly shouldn't so let's blame 🤚Gaius✋Julius👐 Caeser 👎
posted by clavdivs at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Which it prolly shouldn't so let's blame 🤚Gaius✋Julius👐 Caeser 👎
posted by clavdivs at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is ableist.
I read it in the context of the previous promise to start addressing these issues with a committee in a systematic way as soon as the biggest fire is under control.
posted by aniola at 12:05 PM on November 23, 2022 [10 favorites]
I read it in the context of the previous promise to start addressing these issues with a committee in a systematic way as soon as the biggest fire is under control.
posted by aniola at 12:05 PM on November 23, 2022 [10 favorites]
This is ableist. If someone says that a site change has broken something they use to make the site more accessible, it's not "unfortunate" it breaks the site for "some users," unless you're dismissing those people as not important.
"Unfortunate" as in this is something that shouldn't happen and can be prevented with the proper amount of tech support. As I said in the same comment, "we need to be as barrier-free as possible" which speaks to our need to accommodate all abilities, and I hoped it would mean about the furthest thing from dismissing anyone as important. But I get your point and I take full responsibility for the misunderstanding, I should have realized that plenty of people use "that's unfortunate" as a mean-spirited way of saying "I truly don't give a shit" which wasn't my intention.
posted by hangashore at 12:13 PM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
"Unfortunate" as in this is something that shouldn't happen and can be prevented with the proper amount of tech support. As I said in the same comment, "we need to be as barrier-free as possible" which speaks to our need to accommodate all abilities, and I hoped it would mean about the furthest thing from dismissing anyone as important. But I get your point and I take full responsibility for the misunderstanding, I should have realized that plenty of people use "that's unfortunate" as a mean-spirited way of saying "I truly don't give a shit" which wasn't my intention.
posted by hangashore at 12:13 PM on November 23, 2022 [14 favorites]
came in to report that is not a llama 😆
Not llama drama
dary
posted by chavenet at 4:26 PM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
Not llama drama
dary
posted by chavenet at 4:26 PM on November 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
Thank you for updating it. When will you be adding some monkeys to be punched? I couldn't find a good image of that old ad banner, because I didn't look very hard, sorry. Happy Thanksgiving MeFi!
posted by theora55 at 4:49 PM on November 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 4:49 PM on November 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yesss, this thread is what I come for, so deliciously meta, but no click here to donate buttons every other comment!
OOOH! If we want to get really aggressive, have a pop up every time a user favorites something:
"Hi there! We love that you like this comment. Aren't you glad that we all have this place to gather together? Isn't pretty keen? Wanna donate a dollar to help keep the lights on? (STRIPE BUTTON HERE)"
Now that would be incredibly annoying.
On the other hand... although I can already see a dozen ways this would go terribly (and deeply annoy people who dislike the favorites), you could maybe set up a system where donations from favorites could be tallied, and have a leader board, where you tally the users with the most favorite-earned donations.
Don't mind me, just trying to come up with the worst ever solution. I think I'm close, but it needs just a little something to push it over the top.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:49 PM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
OOOH! If we want to get really aggressive, have a pop up every time a user favorites something:
"Hi there! We love that you like this comment. Aren't you glad that we all have this place to gather together? Isn't pretty keen? Wanna donate a dollar to help keep the lights on? (STRIPE BUTTON HERE)"
Now that would be incredibly annoying.
On the other hand... although I can already see a dozen ways this would go terribly (and deeply annoy people who dislike the favorites), you could maybe set up a system where donations from favorites could be tallied, and have a leader board, where you tally the users with the most favorite-earned donations.
Don't mind me, just trying to come up with the worst ever solution. I think I'm close, but it needs just a little something to push it over the top.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:49 PM on November 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
Oh, it could be a popup ( Po-o-PUP! )
Or it could take half the screen!
Or you could get twenty e-mails -- ( Ee-hee-hee-hee-AILS!)
But we would never be that mean.
There's no annual subscription ( don't need a credit CARD)
And sell your data? That request's denied!
So please relax this one proscription
When you have to click the button that says "hide".
posted by amtho at 6:05 PM on November 23, 2022 [8 favorites]
Or it could take half the screen!
Or you could get twenty e-mails -- ( Ee-hee-hee-hee-AILS!)
But we would never be that mean.
There's no annual subscription ( don't need a credit CARD)
And sell your data? That request's denied!
So please relax this one proscription
When you have to click the button that says "hide".
posted by amtho at 6:05 PM on November 23, 2022 [8 favorites]
Don't mind me, just trying to come up with the worst ever solution
The only perk of a subscription is it lets you turn off the auto-playing of Jingle Rock Bell on every page.
posted by Mizu at 6:19 AM on November 24, 2022 [16 favorites]
The only perk of a subscription is it lets you turn off the auto-playing of Jingle Rock Bell on every page.
posted by Mizu at 6:19 AM on November 24, 2022 [16 favorites]
Swap out the banner close button with the Make It Start button. C'mon.
posted by cmyk at 7:09 AM on November 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by cmyk at 7:09 AM on November 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
Hey, speaking of fundraising stuff, are people still taking commissions to deep-dive and write FPPs because if so I think I have a thing I want to pay someone to dig into.
posted by rmd1023 at 3:43 PM on November 24, 2022
posted by rmd1023 at 3:43 PM on November 24, 2022
Are people still taking commissions to deep-dive and write FPPs ?
I think it's still open for a few days. Here's the link.
posted by NotLost at 8:52 PM on November 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think it's still open for a few days. Here's the link.
posted by NotLost at 8:52 PM on November 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ableist was I ere I saw Tsiebla
posted by y2karl at 1:25 PM on November 25, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 1:25 PM on November 25, 2022 [7 favorites]
I think the banners are fine and important right now, for reasons everyone has given above.
But I do wonder, is there a policy that Metafilter doesn't send out emails to the community? Is there some history to that, where people just don't want emails, ever?
Because somehow I missed the banners at first, even though I'm on the site almost every day. I didn't even know about the emergency until it was posted on AskMe. In this situation, where it's an emergency, I would have welcomed an email alert.
posted by daikon at 8:50 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
But I do wonder, is there a policy that Metafilter doesn't send out emails to the community? Is there some history to that, where people just don't want emails, ever?
Because somehow I missed the banners at first, even though I'm on the site almost every day. I didn't even know about the emergency until it was posted on AskMe. In this situation, where it's an emergency, I would have welcomed an email alert.
posted by daikon at 8:50 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't have the precise details at hand, but I believe the last time it came up the answer was "We're looking at that, but given they're a span of email addresses spanning decades & given to us for specific reasons, it's non-trivial to be sure people still want to be contacted & to do so in a way that respects GDPR, CCPA, etc. so we don't bring a messy legal liability down on our heads", give or take.
posted by CrystalDave at 9:14 PM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by CrystalDave at 9:14 PM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
daikon, if you buy a ticket for one of the MetaFilter Online Events ($10), they'll alert you from now on.
posted by bendy at 2:17 AM on November 30, 2022
posted by bendy at 2:17 AM on November 30, 2022
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Urgent Site Fundraising Appeal: Who is Responsible for the Banner? posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:41 AM on November 22, 2022 [61 favorites]