Feedback Request - New Lit Voting Element

[Manu]

Hi Lit Authors -

It's me. Your favorite site-breaker!

Please, don't throw tomatoes until the end of the post!

Today, we are testing the new and improved (I hope) voting element on Lit stories and poems. That's right, Dorothy, it's not 1998 anymore! Here is an example of what it should look like:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=329089

Notice the shiny blinking neon stars at the bottom of the page? If you click on one of those, you can ruin an author's life! Of course, if you click on five of those, you can make an author rich and famous. It's your decision. But, you people are the authors, so you know all of that.

So, what I really need from you is a bit of testing. Can you go to the above linked story and see what happens? Does the new voting element appear? Does it seem to work? Do you notice any problems, bugs, issues, annoyances, etc.?

I will post more about this on Planet Manu in the next 24 hours, as I've been doing with other changes to the site lately. You can leave comments either here or on the Planet Manu blog. I will read them all either way. You can even send a PM if you are too scared to show your username in public!

Thanks for your time and sorry to bother you. Let the fruit throwing begin!

 

[jomar]

Hi Manu,

I'm using firefox and didn't see anything blinking. It looked the same as always.

(And I still can't update my biography )

 

[neonlyte]

Works for me (MacBook / Firefox)

What does it do

I.E. how does it numerically convert to votes?

 

[matriarch]

Hi Manu,

I'm also using Firefox, I get the stars eventually but they don't blink, they are greyed out until you move your cursor/mouse over them, when they then become gold/yellow.

I assume we just click on the 1, 2, 3, 4 of 5 stars for it to register ??

 

[Manu]

Thanks for the comments!

Sorry, the blinking part was just a little exaggeration.

The stars should be gray and then turn gold as you mouse over them. The 1-5 system is still in place. One star = 1, 5 stars=5, etc.

The idea behind the change is to make it easier (and maybe a little more exciting) for readers to vote. The old system (which required two clicks instead of just one) has been in place since Literotica's early days. We think it's probably time to upgrade to a modern voting system that readers who visit other vote-allowing websites (from You Tube to Yahoo) would easily understand and relate to.

But, more important than all of the theories right now, is to make sure it's actually working on all of the major browsers!

Also, if you love it or hate it, feel free to share that.

Jomar - can you see the big stars for voting, or are you seeing the old radio buttons? Sorry to bother you twice.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Manu, same problem as Neon and Matriarch, and I tried it in IE as well as Firefox.

The stars are virtually invisible at first and only go yellow/gold when you roll the cursor over. I can understand the logic, but isn't this going to reduce the number of readers voting. With the voting on comments, who knows what they are voting for.

If the new system is introduced, either remove the thermometer for public comments or make it clear that it isn't a story vote.

Like the change, but would like the voting bit to be more highlighted.

 

[3113]

I see a problem.....

I get the stars eventually but they don't blink, they are greyed out until you move your cursor/mouse over them, when they then become gold/yellow.

Yo, yo! I'm using Safari and I got the exact same thing. Grey stars that turn yellow as one passes the cursor over them.

Now I tested this and I see an IMMEDIATE problem! You have to pass your cursor over the stars, and after the number you want lights up, you click. But if, as I did, you don't understand this, and you point to one star, click, then try to move to a second star and click...well, you can't do that!

Yikes! I see a lot of mistakes being made as frustrated readers, believing they can just click on each one of the stars they want try to do that, only to find that, OH NO! they've given an author only ONE star when they wanted to give them five!

I'm certainly dismayed. I thought the story deserved more than one star. Yet I clicked too early (hmmm, a metaphor for an erotic forum?) and the poor story only got one star.

Manu, there really, really has to be a way to CLICK on the number of stars you want--and TAKE IT BACK if you click on too many or too few. You should be able to click away until you're decided, then submit the number of stars. Just MHO.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I'm using IE 7.0, and as reported by the Firefox users, the stars are greyed out until my cursor passes over it.

It worked fine overall.

 

[Guest]

The stars should be gray and then turn gold as you mouse over them. The 1-5 system is still in place. One star = 1, 5 stars=5, etc.

yep got exactly that in ie

The idea behind the change is to make it easier (and maybe a little more exciting) for readers to vote. The old system (which required two clicks instead of just one) has been in place since Literotica's early days. We think it's probably time to upgrade to a modern voting system that readers who visit other vote-allowing websites (from You Tube to Yahoo) would easily understand and relate to.

But, more important than all of the theories right now, is to make sure it's actually working on all of the major browsers!

Also, if you love it or hate it, feel free to share that.

love the idea and it looks cool

 

[Guest]

Yo, yo! I'm using Safari and I got the exact same thing. Grey stars that turn yellow as one passes the cursor over them.

Now I tested this and I see an IMMEDIATE problem! You have to pass your cursor over the stars, and after the number you want lights up, you click. But if, as I did, you don't understand this, and you point to one star, click, then try to move to a second star and click...well, you can't do that!

Yikes! I see a lot of mistakes being made as frustrated readers, believing they can just click on each one of the stars they want try to do that, only to find that, OH NO! they've given an author only ONE star when they wanted to give them five!

I'm certainly dismayed. I thought the story deserved more than one star. Yet I clicked too early (hmmm, a metaphor for an erotic forum?) and the poor story only got one star.

Manu, there really, really has to be a way to CLICK on the number of stars you want--and TAKE IT BACK if you click on too many or too few. You should be able to click away until you're decided, then submit the number of stars. Just MHO.

wise women are sexy

 

[buxxxom]

Tried it and it worked fine, just as for the others using IE7. I'm a little concerned about the issues 3113 raised, though. I can see many clicking one star, thinking they'll keep on clicking until they get to 4 or 5.

 

[glynndah]

Yes. A caution about waiting for the proper star would help.

 

[Katyusha]

So, what I really need from you is a bit of testing. Can you go to the above linked story and see what happens? Does the new voting element appear? Does it seem to work? Do you notice any problems, bugs, issues, annoyances, etc.?

I will post more about this on Planet Manu in the next 24 hours, as I've been doing with other changes to the site lately. You can leave comments either here or on the Planet Manu blog. I will read them all either way. You can even send a PM if you are too scared to show your username in public!

Thanks for your time and sorry to bother you. Let the fruit throwing begin!

I didn't see anything blinking, but the stars turned yellow as I moused over them. When I clicked on one the rating I gave it stayed yellow, with the other star(s) still gray. Is that what's supposed to happen?

 

[Katyusha]

Thanks for the comments!
But, more important than all of the theories right now, is to make sure it's actually working on all of the major browsers!

It works on Safari 3 just fine. Also works on Firefox 2, Netscape 7.2, and Camino 1.5. And yes, these are all Mac browsers.

I do echo 3113's concerns about people thinking that they're supposed to click on a star several times to give the story the number of votes that they want...we could end up with a lot of artificially deflated scores, and thus, a lot more time spent on sweeps, with the way the system is currently.

I don't like the idea of treating readers like they're stupid but on the other hand, a lot of people aren't necessarily savvy about the way these things work and only learn after several tries. So something like 3113's idea about readers needing to confirm their votes first (you have chosen 1, is this the score you want to give this story?), or more instructions on how to correctly do it, is necessary IMO.

 

[Manu]

Thanks for the feedback so far!

What do you think of the idea of putting a number in the middle of each star to make it more clear that 1 star=1, 5 stars=5, etc. We could also put back the "best/worst" text from the old voting element, but I am not sure if that's needed or too obvious. For comparison, here is the YouTube voting element:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr8n0ww3pio
Look below the player.

Thanks again for the feedback, keep it coming!

 

[jomar]

The stars should be gray and then turn gold as you mouse over them. The 1-5 system is still in place. One star = 1, 5 stars=5, etc.

Jomar - can you see the big stars for voting, or are you seeing the old radio buttons? Sorry to bother you twice.

I've clicked on it a number of times and all I see are the old radio buttons. I'm running Firefox and Windows XP Pro.

I'll keep checking in and trying.

ETA: Well, I just tried again and I got the stars.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I just clicked back on the story...it looks like it remembered that I had voted, and what I voted...very cool...

 

[gauchecritic]

I quite like that, worked in firefox but it took me a moment or two to realise that the words above reflected what the number of stars indicated. Bigger words maybe or perhaps more explanation.

Noobs will probably realise straight away but old hands may be disoriented.

 

[cantdog]

Win XP and Firefox:


I see five VERY large gray-on-gray stars. If I hover over the fourth one, a message appears interpreting a four star vote as "A great read, loved it" or some such, and the four stars are now yellow-gold, but not the fifth. Hovering over the fifth, all five go golden, and it characterizes the story in a message "One of the best!" or something like that. Clicking fixes the number of stars and disables the messages. a little whirligig reassures me I must have voted.

 

[glynndah]

Um. Whose story is that? I didn't read the story, but I voted. I hope the story was worth all those stars.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Um. Whose story is that? I didn't read the story, but I voted. I hope the story was worth all those stars.

I know, I did the same thing...LOL....I just wanted to see the stars light up!

 

[Vermilion]

I know, I did the same thing...LOL....I just wanted to see the stars light up!

is it mean that I gave it a two without reading, just because I reckoned everyone would be voting and I didn;t want them to get too uppity

x
V

 

[cantdog]

Yeah, probably.

But I bet it will be possible to wipe the ones placed during the test period.

 

[Stella_Omega]

That works very well, Manu! And I think it might encourage people to vote, too.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

That works very well, Manu! And I think it might encourage people to vote, too.

I think the only way that will happen is if we discover a way to have the readers keep their pants up until after they've read the story...