RATS!
I have a dreamwidth. It is 
energybar. I'm also considering Insanejournal, but for now you have that.
I stayed up until 6am writing some massive feedback to LJ, and I suggest all of you do the same. Even if you don't think it'll do any good, PLEASE do the same. They need to know. Do not emphasis fandom, emphasis poor customer service. If you must mention something related to fandom, bring up trigger warnings formerly in subject lines, because those aren't limited to fandom. Explain what they are and how not having them can impact AND ALREADY HAS impacted people in very real and very negative ways.
Here is what I sent them, all 620 words of it.
I love Livejournal. I have loved Livejournal since I discovered it in late 2001, which is ten years ago. I especially love that this site has never let the frequent DDoS attacks take it down and provides a much needed political platform for Russia.
I have spent hundreds of dollars in the last few years on extras to enhance my LJ experience. However, if this newest release isn't rolled back, I'm afraid I will be force to leave, and take my money with me.
This isn't just being upset about change. (The new shade of blue is really quite nice.) These new comment pages have made your site VERY DIFFICULT to use, too difficult for me to consider continuing to use this service, let alone pay for it.
Most problematic about these pages is the fact that they lag in every way possible. The old pages were simple and loaded very quickly. The new pages take far too long to expand, not to mention there are people who cannot even select their icons, which in some cases they pay to have, because the fancy new selector simply WILL NOT LOAD. The drop down menus were better. If you wanted to offer the ability to see what we were selecting, the browse feature that was originally only for paid users was much better.
Reading long threads is now nearly impossible. On the old pages, clicking the link to a specific comment would bring it all back to the left. That isn't so anymore. Everything before it simply collapses.
The preview function is GONE. People use this to check for errors, or they did before it vanished.
Instead of being taken to a comment when it's posted, I'm now taken to the top of the page of comments, and not even the page my comment is ON, but the one I was on when I commented.
And the one I'm sure you've heard about by now: the removal of subject lines. This was originally the one I was worried about, before the release happened and I saw how truly awful this change is, but it still stands. I don't think you realize how many people used them and how IMPORTANT they are in some cases. I've used them every single day for a very long time. They are mostly used for organizational purposes, or in the same way that the subject of an e-mail would, which would then be translated into the subject of the e-mail notification for that comment.
More importantly, though, these have been used for TRIGGER WARNINGS. Translating the existing subject lines to bold text at the beginning of the comment DOES NOT make up for the lack of subject line, nor does the fact that the option is still available on select journal layouts. There has already been at least one person who has been triggered and had to seek help because of the lack of warning from a subject line, and I can foresee it happening again and again as more people log on post-release.
What bothers me the most about this whole situation is that there were many pages of complains before this was even rolled out, some of which brought the trigger warning issue to your attention, and all of that was seemingly IGNORED. It disturbs me. With all the aggravating changes and site issues over the past few years, I have NEVER been moved to write any feedback, let alone something this long, but this? THIS. IS. HORRIBLE. This goes miles beyond poor customer service. You HURT SOMEONE with this release, which you could have prevented if you were paying attention.
For the love of everything good, roll this back. Moreover, APOLOGIZE TO YOUR USERS.
energybar. I'm also considering Insanejournal, but for now you have that.
I stayed up until 6am writing some massive feedback to LJ, and I suggest all of you do the same. Even if you don't think it'll do any good, PLEASE do the same. They need to know. Do not emphasis fandom, emphasis poor customer service. If you must mention something related to fandom, bring up trigger warnings formerly in subject lines, because those aren't limited to fandom. Explain what they are and how not having them can impact AND ALREADY HAS impacted people in very real and very negative ways.
Here is what I sent them, all 620 words of it.
I love Livejournal. I have loved Livejournal since I discovered it in late 2001, which is ten years ago. I especially love that this site has never let the frequent DDoS attacks take it down and provides a much needed political platform for Russia.
I have spent hundreds of dollars in the last few years on extras to enhance my LJ experience. However, if this newest release isn't rolled back, I'm afraid I will be force to leave, and take my money with me.
This isn't just being upset about change. (The new shade of blue is really quite nice.) These new comment pages have made your site VERY DIFFICULT to use, too difficult for me to consider continuing to use this service, let alone pay for it.
Most problematic about these pages is the fact that they lag in every way possible. The old pages were simple and loaded very quickly. The new pages take far too long to expand, not to mention there are people who cannot even select their icons, which in some cases they pay to have, because the fancy new selector simply WILL NOT LOAD. The drop down menus were better. If you wanted to offer the ability to see what we were selecting, the browse feature that was originally only for paid users was much better.
Reading long threads is now nearly impossible. On the old pages, clicking the link to a specific comment would bring it all back to the left. That isn't so anymore. Everything before it simply collapses.
The preview function is GONE. People use this to check for errors, or they did before it vanished.
Instead of being taken to a comment when it's posted, I'm now taken to the top of the page of comments, and not even the page my comment is ON, but the one I was on when I commented.
And the one I'm sure you've heard about by now: the removal of subject lines. This was originally the one I was worried about, before the release happened and I saw how truly awful this change is, but it still stands. I don't think you realize how many people used them and how IMPORTANT they are in some cases. I've used them every single day for a very long time. They are mostly used for organizational purposes, or in the same way that the subject of an e-mail would, which would then be translated into the subject of the e-mail notification for that comment.
More importantly, though, these have been used for TRIGGER WARNINGS. Translating the existing subject lines to bold text at the beginning of the comment DOES NOT make up for the lack of subject line, nor does the fact that the option is still available on select journal layouts. There has already been at least one person who has been triggered and had to seek help because of the lack of warning from a subject line, and I can foresee it happening again and again as more people log on post-release.
What bothers me the most about this whole situation is that there were many pages of complains before this was even rolled out, some of which brought the trigger warning issue to your attention, and all of that was seemingly IGNORED. It disturbs me. With all the aggravating changes and site issues over the past few years, I have NEVER been moved to write any feedback, let alone something this long, but this? THIS. IS. HORRIBLE. This goes miles beyond poor customer service. You HURT SOMEONE with this release, which you could have prevented if you were paying attention.
For the love of everything good, roll this back. Moreover, APOLOGIZE TO YOUR USERS.