profile page update
Communication and Beta
We'd like to clear up any confusion about beta testing: It has always been open to any user to beta test. When something is available for beta, a Beta Features link will appear on the header of the default site scheme, Horizon, and Vertigo, it's vertical counterpart. Features available for beta testing are also announced in news, as well as any major updates made in beta.
To keep up to date on these, if you haven't already done so, you may want to add news to your friends page, or sign up to receive notifications when "LiveJournal.com makes a new announcement".
If you're still using the older site schemes, Dystopia (the purple and orange one) or XColibur (the blue one with your userpic in the top right corner), this is a reminder that they are no longer updated or supported, and haven't been for years. The Beta Features link will not display in these site schemes. You can switch to a current one on the Viewing Options page.
That said, we will also try to make betas more prominent on our side. For future betas, we plan on adding "beta test the new version of this" messaging to the top of each page that will be changed, in addition to the Beta Features link and news announcements.
Change and Opt-Outs
We have explained in previous posts why an opt-out cannot be offered. There are already many use cases that need to be accounted for (logged out, logged in, ads, no ads, viewing your own profile, someone else's profile, communities, feeds, and so on) and all of them would require updating if something were to be changed or added. Having an option to use the old version of the profile page as is, with no updates is also not optimal, as it would also double efforts in Support if someone needed help. New additions would also be missed.
Change is required for LiveJournal to grow and evolve. We cannot keep legacy versions of everything on the site. Major changes are jarring at first, and take time to get used to. In the feedback we have received, many of you have even said you didn't like the profile page at first, but do now after giving it a chance.
Feedback
Just because we are not doing everything exactly as requested, it does not mean we are not listening. Your comments do get read. Keep in mind that the best and most helpful feedback is detailed. If you don't like something, what is it that you don't like about it? How would you prefer it to be done? If something has broken, how has it broken? Details help with investigation.
We'd love to make everyone happy, but everyone uses LiveJournal in a slightly different way, with different preferences. To that end, we're really trying to make the site as usable as possible for as many users as we can.
Proposed Changes
These are some of the changes we are thinking of making, based on your collective feedback. (Click images to enlarge; the view is of looking at someone else's profile)
Let us know what you think, and we'll continue to revise and implement.
We'd like to clear up any confusion about beta testing: It has always been open to any user to beta test. When something is available for beta, a Beta Features link will appear on the header of the default site scheme, Horizon, and Vertigo, it's vertical counterpart. Features available for beta testing are also announced in news, as well as any major updates made in beta.
To keep up to date on these, if you haven't already done so, you may want to add news to your friends page, or sign up to receive notifications when "LiveJournal.com makes a new announcement".
If you're still using the older site schemes, Dystopia (the purple and orange one) or XColibur (the blue one with your userpic in the top right corner), this is a reminder that they are no longer updated or supported, and haven't been for years. The Beta Features link will not display in these site schemes. You can switch to a current one on the Viewing Options page.
That said, we will also try to make betas more prominent on our side. For future betas, we plan on adding "beta test the new version of this" messaging to the top of each page that will be changed, in addition to the Beta Features link and news announcements.
Change and Opt-Outs
We have explained in previous posts why an opt-out cannot be offered. There are already many use cases that need to be accounted for (logged out, logged in, ads, no ads, viewing your own profile, someone else's profile, communities, feeds, and so on) and all of them would require updating if something were to be changed or added. Having an option to use the old version of the profile page as is, with no updates is also not optimal, as it would also double efforts in Support if someone needed help. New additions would also be missed.
Change is required for LiveJournal to grow and evolve. We cannot keep legacy versions of everything on the site. Major changes are jarring at first, and take time to get used to. In the feedback we have received, many of you have even said you didn't like the profile page at first, but do now after giving it a chance.
Feedback
Just because we are not doing everything exactly as requested, it does not mean we are not listening. Your comments do get read. Keep in mind that the best and most helpful feedback is detailed. If you don't like something, what is it that you don't like about it? How would you prefer it to be done? If something has broken, how has it broken? Details help with investigation.
We'd love to make everyone happy, but everyone uses LiveJournal in a slightly different way, with different preferences. To that end, we're really trying to make the site as usable as possible for as many users as we can.
Proposed Changes
These are some of the changes we are thinking of making, based on your collective feedback. (Click images to enlarge; the view is of looking at someone else's profile)
- Redesigning the top to fit the ad so Bio can come before Basic Info
- Moving Last updated time and comments counts from the top to Basic Info, moving name field to the top
- Changing the headings from the gray rules to blue to match the collapsible sections on the Customize Journal Style page
Let us know what you think, and we'll continue to revise and implement.