Hello!
We had 50 people signed up for testing, and 30 people have participated in testing so far. About 10 other people have let John or myself know that they are unable to test this weekend but would welcome the opportunity to test the site, so we decided to extend the test period through Tuesday night.
We are putting out a call for at least one person to test the new site with a screen reader, so if you might be willing and able to do that, please speak up here and/or send email to my nym at balloon-juice.com
What an amazing group of testers! Every single one has been working diligently, with many people testing on multiple devices. Kudos to all of you!
How has testing been going?
It’s much more important to know what you guys think about the site than it is to hear what I think, so I’m going to invite the testers to chime in here and let you all know how the testing has been going and what they think of the site.
So testers, jump in and share your thoughts, if you so desire.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Testing went pretty smooth, I only found a few small issues and only one thing I hate with intensity of 1,000 suns. All and all a good test.
Nicole
The new site is great, you’re really going to enjoy it. You can see all the time and effort and thought that went into making a site that’s incredibly user-friendly, pretty to look at, and a lot of fun to browse. I don’t know how I’m ever going to accomplish anything ever again after it launches.
dmsilev
A couple of things which will take some getting used to (quirks in the editor, basically), but all in all, it’s a big step forward.
NotMax
As an elderly Eastern European lady I once knew was wont so say, “It hass adwantages and disadwantages.” Cupful (a small cup, think shotglass) of quirks and glitches which if they remain either unaddressed or unfixed would be dealbreakers (but those are what testing is there to ferret out). One design choice which I personally despise (YMMV), one option which is not well enough thought out (it contains the potential to render certain text practically invisible), one navigation burp which I find both perturbing and spooky.
Grade: A- thus far.
lee
I tested on Windows 10 with Chrome, FF and Brave.
Everything worked really well. It was very responsive and looked great. It seems there was some thought put into the layout that I really appreciate.
It also has some built in features that I really liked.
I was really hoping for threaded comments, but maybe that will make it into the next upgrade. /s
Ruckus
I agree with everyone so far. My first impression was Wow!. Was tempered a bit after testing but it’s still damn impressive.
A couple of glitches but nothing that would affect most people. As others mentioned enough difference that some possibly might not appreciate but I found made it more readable. And it looks like a modernized Balloon Juice. But best of all, you don’t have to type your name/email every fucking ten minutes!
schrodingers_cat
What is a screen reader?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax:
I hadn’t thought of that use, could be useful in certain circumstances.
RAVEN
@schrodingers_cat: A technology that reads the text on a page for visually impaired folks. It was a big issue in online course development to supply “alt text” so screen readers could give the reader the full effect of what you are trying to convey. Jaws is one.
schrodingers_cat
@RAVEN: Thanks! How is the retirement going?
randy khan
@NotMax:
If it renders troll posts unreadable, I’d call that a feature, not a bug.
RAVEN
@schrodingers_cat: We’re packing up for a week at the beach so its’ good! I haven’t really done much in they way of productivity aside from a couple of hours a day being a garden sherpa.
thx
Ruckus
@RAVEN:
Mac has a built in reader but you have to highlight the text and then play it. Not exactly a full on reader. Only thing I’ve seen in the app store is $15 and I have no idea how good it might be.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@RAVEN: I’ve been told that when you retire you’re supposed to just knit and take walks in the woods. Maybe that’s just when you retire from politics.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
For spoilers, yeah. But in my experience those are few and far between here and nothing a prominent SPOILER ALERT won’t address.
satby
I haven’t tested as much this weekend and most stuff doesn’t bother me, so I’m thrilled with how well it’s been working so far.
@NotMax: I’m not a fan of multiple text colors either. But that’s really minor. I didn’t find any dealbreakers, but then I’m a simple soul..
NotMax
@satby
Was probably unnecessarily confusing. The three little things I mentioned are in a different category altogether from the few other flaws or idiosyncracies experienced which fall under the label dealbreakers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: I like being able to use different text colors, but the feature isn’t working with initial comment input(only works after you edit the comment).
@NotMax: Yeah, I had one other biggie.
RAVEN
@satby: It’s counter to ADA requirements to use colored text for emphasis since color blind folks won’t get it.
MisterForkbeard
I used to do this sort of thing for a living. Not like I’ve got a ton of time, but if you need another tester, let me know.
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard: Thank you. Some devices are well represented in the testing group, others not so much. If you’re game to let me know what devices you have, I would be happy to see if you can help fill in the holes! You can send email to the address listed in the post.
realbtl
Before you decide on colored fonts imagine what damage a deranged troll do with them. . .
Like a Trump tweet with random color changes. Ack, my eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@realbtl: It would only change the color in their comment, so no biggie.
Another Scott
@realbtl:
with each character in a different color. I can’t wait!!11
(h/t Evan Hurst at Wonkette)
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: If somebody wants to make their comment look like XMAS lights, it’s a free country(at least for the time being). Personally, I think some folk might use it alot in the beginning, but the novelty will wear off.
debbie
@satby:
As it stands now, you have go back into your comment to color it. That might stop some from using it.
I have an issue with one element, but eventually I’ll get used to the change. Though I kept going to where it is in the current design.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Strictly IMHO it’s like putting a tutu on a watermelon. Serves no particular purpose other than demonstrating it can be done.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: :-)
White text on a white background might be useful, as some of you alluded above. (Presumably the text would be visible on marking it with the mouse.)
Thanks for the testing reports. Here’s hoping that there aren’t too many annoyances. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: As a photographer, your idea intrigues me.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: Yeah, I’m still moving the mouse to the right corner to get to the ‘top of page’, etc buttons. But it’s like when I switched from stick to auto when I changed cars, you get it eventually.
NotMax
Out of curiosity, anyone else experiencing during new site testing that active links, after being clicked on, do not change to a visited link coloration?
MazeDancer
The massive amount of hard work lavished on the new site by WaterGirl really shows.
It looks and feels like Balloon-Juice, if some fairy godmother had waved her wand and turned BJ into a Lamborghini. It’s sleek and splendid. But you will still feel at home.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I will repeat what I told the developers months ago. If use of color gets out of hand, that will be removed as an option. Until then, color is an option.
WaterGirl
You guys, the color problem in the editor is totally fixable. It worked perfectly less than a week ago. A lot of changes were made to the site in the past week, and something stepped on the formatting in the comments. Totally fixable.
Noir
@NotMax: +1. Also bulleted and numbered lists. Oh wow! A blog needs that why? I found a few deal breakers, but I doubt that matters.
If people use colored text often, especially some of the obnoxious ones…
debbie
@MazeDancer:
Emphatically seconded.
debbie
@NotMax:
Philistine.
;)
dmsilev
@MazeDancer:
Co-signed. She’s doing a great job, on a massive task.
Yutsano
@debbie: Thirdeded. It’s looking beautiful so far.
Oh and I’ll have my mobile report later tonight. I tested an unexpected browser and will have feedback regarding that.
Another Scott
@Yutsano: Oh!!!1
Oh.
I thought you said “Threaded.” Got my hopes up for a second, there.
Shame on you.
..
..
Hehe. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Yutsano
@Another Scott: Je ne REGRETTE rien!
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Same here, lower right corner still gets a lot of hits for me. I’m learning – ha, you all thought I was no longer capable of learning. Just takes a bigger hammer now.
Aleta
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Blinking colored letters?
NotMax
@Aleta
Accompanied by an autoplay sound file of a truck backing up warning signal.
:)
BroD
@lee:
“I was really hoping for threaded comments”
me too.
NotMax
@BroD
Set to be implemented the day after the day after the Sun explodes.
JaySinWA
It’s mostly good, but one or more TBD pages and a few bugs. A bit laggy on my Chromebook for some things.
I just found a recreatable positioning error bug, after I turned in my sheets of course. Hits Firefox and Chrome both in windows and chromebook.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
That, is way too soon. We should wait about a month after to see if we really, really need it. And we will have to take a vote with a quorum.
TomatoQueen
I tested on my personal laptop, a Windoze thing, w/Fireyfox and a run at IE. The run at IE yielded a not-conforming with my work laptop experience, so I’ll be trying it out tomorrow, and not using IE on the personal machine. The Fireyfox experience, apart from a couple minor details, was generally as others have described, and I’m certain that other users will find it most pleasing. The minor details relate more to what I’m used to doing on the old site, therefore are a matter of adjustment. Once again and also too, Watergirl gets many many many stars.
WaterGirl
@JaySinWA:
Please send me an email message with whatever you found after turning in your sheet. thanks
FelonyGovt
It looks beautiful, very clean, more modern, but still familiar. Navigation and commenting is a dream, especially on the computer and iPad. (The iPhone screen is a little too small to make it easy). There are some really nice new touches. The amount of work WaterGirl has put into this is staggering.
And sticky nyms!
JaySinWA
@WaterGirl: You have email.
J R in WV
Getting colors is big enough a pain in the arse that no one will use it more than rarely.
I tested with Linux/Firefox and that was pretty good. I tested with Windows 10 and Firefox and that was good too. When I tested with Windows 10 and MS Edge browser, that was not functional, most of what was on the form for test results was not available or didn’t work at all.
I started with Linux and Chrome, and things looked OK, but I got bogged down and haven’t finished the form, but commenting and replying and editing your comments was pretty smooth. I did have a weirdness where I was unable to edit my own comment, but after I reply to the comment, I was able to edit the comment I was replying to, in Chrome. But then edits disappeared. IIRC…
The color widget could be removed for all of me, as opposed to doing a lot of work to get it to work without posting a comment, and then editing it. And then you have 5 minutes to make the color changes. Although you do reset that timer when you do a save edit on your comment, which is a big improvement if you are wordy like me. Learning how to type fast enables wordy documents!