COVID-19 RESOURCES
LIT CAMS (200 Free Tokens)ADULT TOYSVOD MOVIES

Number formatting gripe

M

MindsMirror

Really Experienced
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Posts
316
Now that the new interface is the only option, having to hover over large numbers to see them is the norm. What is the point of this useless feature? How many characters are in these two versions of the number
169528 (6 characters)
169.5K (6 characters)

What's the difference? They take up nearly the same space. Why not give all of the information instead of hiding it until hovered over?

Rant off... return to your regularly scheduled reading .
-MM
 
Last edited:
MindsMirror said:
What's the difference? They take up nearly the same space. Why not give all of the information instead of hiding it until hovered over?
Click to expand...
Two observations - firstly, that's the way the NCP has always done it, so why is this new? Only the rounding has changed (4.5 instead of 4.50).

Secondly, some folk (I'm one) actually get more instant "information" out of the truncated numbers because I can see at a glance the quantum, whereas the whole number is actually less meaningful if there are many of them. For me it's the difference between "data" and "information" - they're not the same thing. Remember also, some writers have stories with millions of views, so I imagine they find the truncated form useful.

Still, it's a bit of a First World "problem," isn't it? :)
 
electricblue66 said:
Two observations - firstly, that's the way the NCP has always done it, so why is this new? Only the rounding has changed (4.5 instead of 4.50).
Click to expand...

The old control panel used to display unrounded numbers for view counts. With the new CP, they're only visible via mouseover.

This is a nuisance for transcribing story stats; used to be I could just keep my story info page open in one window and read off that while writing the numbers into a spreadsheet, now I have to keep jumping between windows to get the view counts.

Secondly, some folk (I'm one) actually get more instant "information" out of the truncated numbers because I can see at a glance the quantum, whereas the whole number is actually less meaningful if there are many of them. For me it's the difference between "data" and "information" - they're not the same thing. Remember also, some writers have stories with millions of views, so I imagine they find the truncated form useful.
Click to expand...

Agreed that truncation can be useful, but it'd be nice if there was at least an option to switch it off.
 
Bramblethorn said:
The old control panel used to display unrounded numbers for view counts. With the new CP, they're only visible via mouseover.

This is a nuisance for transcribing story stats; used to be I could just keep my story info page open in one window and read off that while writing the numbers into a spreadsheet, now I have to keep jumping between windows to get the view counts.
Click to expand...

If you're short on the time it takes to mouse over the views number, then you can just download the stats sheet. It isn't rounded there.

Personally, unless I have a new story up, I can take the 0.75 seconds (approximately) that's needed to mouse over the views number.

What I would wish for is for the score to be cited to thousandths, or for a mouse-over on the score to give the total number of stars voted (the latter is preferable). Either one of those would lift the 100-vote limit on being able to accurately track voting.
 
Bramblethorn said:
The old control panel used to display unrounded numbers for view counts. With the new CP, they're only visible via mouseover.

Agreed that truncation can be useful, but it'd be nice if there was at least an option to switch it off.
Click to expand...
Ahh, yes, I forgot Luddites. Let me just go put another record on, let the valves warm up, and we can enjoy some good music while we contemplate progress ;).
 
MindsMirror said:
Now that the new interface is the only option, having to hover over large numbers to see them is the norm. What is the point of this useless feature? How many characters are in these two versions of the number
169528 (6 characters)
169.5K (6 characters)

What's the difference? They take up nearly the same space. Why not give all of the information instead of hiding it until hovered over?

Rant off... return to your regularly scheduled reading .
-MM
Click to expand...

The second one is easier to read. It doesn't strain the eyes when looking at it.
 
The downloadable spreadsheet is a very useful tool for me.

I don't mind the ks either, though I already use them quite often.
 
NotWise said:
If you're short on the time it takes to mouse over the views number, then you can just download the stats sheet. It isn't rounded there.
Click to expand...

It's less the time than the back-and-forth mousing, which isn't friendly to my wrists. The stats sheet is a good thought though, I'll have to give that a shot.
 
Bramblethorn said:
It's less the time than the back-and-forth mousing, which isn't friendly to my wrists. The stats sheet is a good thought though, I'll have to give that a shot.
Click to expand...

I reformatted my "views" spreadsheet so all I have to do is copy the views column from the stats sheet and transpose it into the spreadsheet. The whole process now takes a few seconds. I also reformatted my "votes" spreadsheet so I just copy part of one row from the stats sheet and paste it in. That saved a little time, and it avoided manual typos.
 
MindsMirror said:
Now that the new interface is the only option, having to hover over large numbers to see them is the norm. What is the point of this useless feature? How many characters are in these two versions of the number
169528 (6 characters)
169.5K (6 characters)

What's the difference? They take up nearly the same space. Why not give all of the information instead of hiding it until hovered over?

Rant off... return to your regularly scheduled reading .
-MM
Click to expand...

TriadWriter said:
The second one is easier to read. It doesn't strain the eyes when looking at it.
Click to expand...

Unless commas are placed in long number, they are very hard to read. So...

169528 becomes 169,528 and even 169.5K is easier to read than either of the others. And as far as storage goes, it really, really cheap nowadays.

All this stuff was hashed out way back when I was but a pup in the computer science field. Study after study was done on what was the perfect number format and what text face was the easiest to read. (by the way, Times Roman 12 point, a serif font is always easier on the eye and brain than a sans serif fort, except where numbers are concerned, then you use a sans serif font)
 
I used to obsess on numbers. A massive 1-bombing erasing many Red-H's cured me of that. I like when I get more views-votes-faves-comments but I don't wrap my life around the numbers. Stories emerge (or don't) despite statistics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
When is a serial story finished?
2
Replies
42
Views
787
Tomh1966
T
EmilyMiller
What I learned from publishing a Loving Wives story
9 10 11
Replies
273
Views
6K
Gamblnluck
G
Bubo_bubo
A question about story categories
Replies
17
Views
495
Bubo_bubo
Bubo_bubo
AWhoopsieDaisy
Word Count Stats By Category (Completed)
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
NightPorter
NightPorter
TheRedChamber
Your Favourite Structures in Stories
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
TheRedChamber
TheRedChamber
Back
Top