Reader view
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I POSTED THE COMMENT AFTER TRYING TO USE THE READER THIS MORNING!!!!
I didn’t post just for the fun of it and that just about sums up WP these days – assume all your bloggers are idiots and don’t admit your own failings.
Before suggesting that your customers ‘test’ things I’d suggest you do the same yourself as there was clearly a distinct lack of testing of anything.
I use the reader on my PC and I can assure you it is cr*p compared to how it was and even that was poor compared to when I joined WP 4 years ago. You are going backwards.
There is no point in suggesting I click on ‘visit blog’ etc when you are adding and removing links by the hour, renaming them and directing the clicks to different places. Only some blogs on my reader were showing the link to visit the blog, the rest require you to know where the various obscured links lead. They are not intuitive at all and there is far too much clutter anyway.
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read time estimate was removed for short times and word count was added back for all posts
One the one hand it’s good to have the word count back for all posts. But why have a reading time still for the longer ones? Has it ever occurred to you that different people have diffferent reading speeds? Let me be blunt: showing reading times is absolute nonsense.
I agree with mud4fun when he says that you’re confusing us users be constantly changing the reader, even if you claim you’re eliminating the bugs. How can we ever help you be edscribing a problem when by the time we notify you this problem might already have been corrected but a whole bunch of new ones added?
It still is a fact that you
– changed something that didn’t have to be changed
– did not consult your users before any change [Have you ever heard of polling??]
– did not test the new version properly before you implemented it
– are using us as involuntary beta testers [The appropriate way would have been to ask some of us to be beta testers before you force an untested programme full of bugs on all of us.]
Conclusion: I really question the competence of your team of developers.
Sorry again to be so blunt. -
with the Visit Site link having been added the Ctrl-click not working is no longer an issue :)
@kokkieh, to follow-up on that one, the Ctrl-click normally works in most browsers I use (I use a Mac most often), but on further inspection it can be a different key combo depending on the OS and browser. I tested in Windows 8.1. Ctrl-click worked in Internet Explorer, but I had to use Shift+click in Firefox 39 and Chrome 43 respectively.
Oy. Sorry I didn’t know the other browsers as well when I first recommended that!
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@crystaltwilight, thank you for the details. Your report about browser tabs closing in the middle of scrolling as you described is the only report like it I can remember seeing so far. I did try testing but couldn’t reproduce the problem. I will keep an eye out for other similar reports and if I can find more then I can look for a trend in the data collected about this issue specifically.
Just in case it helps, one thing you can try is to clear browser cache, which is a basic troubleshooting step for browser-related issues like what you are describing:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-your-browser-cacheIt might also be helpful to note what browser add-ons you have installed (if any) and maybe even temporarily turn them off for testing because sometimes those are known to cause odd, unpredictable behavior that’s hard to pin down.
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but I had to use Shift+click in Firefox 39 and Chrome 43 respectively.
I had another look, and results are inconsistent for me. Some blogs if I Ctrl-click on the title now open in a new tab, while others still slide to the single-post Reader view. I don’t see a pattern regarding WP.com vs non-WP.com or custom domain vs free domain sites.
Shift-click opens a new window entirely in Firefox, so I didn’t even think to test it, but I did now and it appears to go to the blog directly every time. But of course multiple tabs in the same window is preferable to multiple windows. And FWIW, clicking the scroll wheel on the post title opens the blog in a new tab consistently.
But as I said, having the Visit Site link makes this no longer an issue. But perhaps the extra information can help iron out any bugs that might still exist :)
I also thought I’d mention that the Reader loading time now feels longer to me (very erratic 3G connection). It might be entirely subjective, though. What might be making it feel longer is the WP-logo that now appears for a few seconds before any content starts appearing. It used to be that the content started loading immediately. So, more a case of perception rather than facts.
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As reported on another thread, https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/new-dash-scroll-to-top-not-working?replies=3, the “scroll to top” function is not working in the Reader.
With such long pages to scroll down, the “scroll to top” function needs to work on WP pages.
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As a new blogger who joined WordPress a few months ago, and as someone who is not tech savvy and likes things clear and simple and understandable, I can say that I am not pleased at all with the new changes to the Reader. The way the old set up had been was easy for a newbie like me to navigate and connect with other bloggers. If I had decided to join WordPress while these “new and improved” changes to the Reader were going on, then I’m not sure how much I would have enjoyed my experience. I would probably have felt ten times more frustration over it than I do now, and it makes me wonder how those just joining WordPress now feel must feel about it.
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Re: images in the summary version
WOW! I just posted and I can’t believe I had to go against what I believe in and change my setting to full text just so people can see my photo in the reader! This is so sad and disappointing to those who just want people to visit their blog. When I post a photo with my written material it is something I have chosen carefully and 99 percent of the time it is my own photography. It is part of what I want displayed in order to entice readers to read my whole post…..FROM MY OWN BLOG, not the ridiculous whitewash version.
I should not have to sacrifice what my post truly looks like in order to get people to go to my original blog.
Why would WordPress ruin a beautiful reader that worked so well??
My patience is wearing. I don’t want to leave WordPress. I just want them to realize how dumb these changes are as far as function and appearance. -
change is constant. WordPress.com will continue to change
I have not complained about change as such, but about unnecessary change, making a fairly good product worse, and about WP forcing a bad product upon their customers.
Just all those bugs reported here in this forum should make you think again. -
1. the font is too light. I can barely read it (Chrome, updated today; desktop Windows OS 8.1)
2. I hate having to click more than once to get a post
3. I hate that it doesn’t look like the person’s blog anymore
4. I hate that it doesn’t open in a new window
5. I hate that the word count is gone and
6. WP has NO IDEA how fast I read, so why guess???
7. related to #1, above: can’t see “more” and have to guess where to click to get more of the post to showWHY DO YOU NOT DO BETA TESTING with actual users and stop messing with what works without asking actual users????
WP Customer Service rots.
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change is constant. WordPress.com will continue to change
I love change, that’s my nature, however, changes made that are downgrades in usefulness or changes that take away functions are only frustrating.
I’ve been here long enough to see some very good changes on WP. But in the last year or two, most all of the changes have not been upgrades or user friendly or for function. The Reader is only the latest example of this.
from designsimply on another thread: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/photos-not-displayed-in-reader?replies=31#post-2428110
I expect full text feeds get better referrals and more traffic from the Reader as a rule.
To those who are changing their setting to “full text” in order for a picture to show on the Reader must receive a lot of views from the Reader. My blog doesn’t, so I will not change the setting. Nor do I understand how that would increase views on my blog. Why go to the blog when the entire post is on the Reader? Changing it will also have your new posts in full on the email notices, so again, no reason to go to the blog post. Also, the RSS feed readers will have full posts. Many people follow using a much better RSS feed reader than WP’s Reader.
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sallyember, I’m really sorry but if you just completely hate it, there’s really not very much I can do to help you.
I work hard to help people in these forums. I have explained the answers to the questions in your list in this thread and others and on the announcement post already. Please have a look at past comments if you are interested in learning more.
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@designsimply
How about love? I, and several others, LOVE the Reader from two years ago.
Better yet, and trying to be constructive instead of nostalgic, how about choice? Aren’t things generally better when readers have choice?
Does the user have no options for how the WordPress Reader is displayed. If the blogger doesn’t have control for the layout and design of the post in the Reader, why not offer some control to the user, with regard to how the Reader looks and functions? What’s not to love about that? It seems customer-centric.
Let me give an example. When the stats page changed, originally there was an option to view the old stats page. I loved having that choice. You let me decide which was best for me. (Alas, now I get the choice between the new stats page and Insights, but I can’t find the classic stats page. My choice has again been removed.)
Similarly, with the Reader, if I could check a box for it to simply work the way it used to (or better yet, how it worked 2 years ago) for me, when I use the Reader to read blogs, that would be so amazingly wonderful. I’m suggesting that such a simple checkbox could Engineer tons and tons of Happiness. :-) -
- Do you guys have beta-testers or get input from a variety of bloggers before making changes?
Also, I’m starting to see some of the headlines and photos in the reader link directly to the blog, while some still lead to the interim page.
- Is there a rhyme and reason for this, or is it random testing?
I also think there isn’t enough communication about updates … things that have been changed back, and/or are still being tested. If there was a central location for this information, without having to read through myriad pages and hundreds of responses, that would be awesome.
- Can wordpress create a post for this, maybe with a timeline?
If something is changed back, it can be added to the post at the top with a date and brief explanation.
More in-depth explanations would be awesome, too. The Reader Refresh explanation is just too vague and generalized. Knowing why something is being done, and how it helps the “greater good of all” would help changes be more palatable.
For example, if I were trying to explain the importance and necessity of the whitewashed interim pages, I’d give reasons like…
An increasing majority of users access the reader from a mobile device. Over 50% have bad experiences because of slow loading times. They quickly leave pages and a growing number have stopped using the Reader as a source to find quality reading material. We’re implementing changes that will improve loading times so people will keep coming back to wordpress to read your blogs.
I totally made all of that up. I don’t like the interim pages. I’m still for direct feed to blog links because of the essential marketing value for bloggers. And, as a reader, I also prefer going directly to the blog. I’d rather design my own site in a way that increased loading times if it were truly that much of an issue. Anyhow, explanations like that would be more helpful and appreciated than the “surprise attack” effect.
And, with that, I want to thank you for all your hard work. I’m sure it’s not easy being the designated staff person when there are controversial changes that are upsetting and frustrating to others. One day you’re the “happiness engineer” that fixes problems and people feel grateful, and the next day it seems you’re the “bad guy” that creates problems and ignores people. Thank you for listening and conveying our complaints and suggestions back to wordpress decision-makers. I’m glad they’ve changed some things back.
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timethief wrote
… we need the ability to opt out of having our content displayed in the WordPress.COM Reader.
on this forum post:
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/reader-doesnt-show-enough-information?replies=42I’m with her, can we have an opt-out for it?
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@chrismcmullen, here is the old Stats Page link that you will have to bookmark unless you want to access it through the old WP admin dashboard: https://wordpress.com/my-stats
I made a blog post with screenshots on how to find the Stats Page: https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/where-are-the-stats-pages-on-wordpress-com-blogs-by-lo/
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dandelionsalad
The main reason I caved in to the full text setting is because I believe that people are more inclined to click on a post in the reader if it has a photo. It is more visually appealing. I am speaking from my own experience. The posts without photos do not draw me in. Therefore I many miss many excellent posts.
WordPress has put me on the fence because I do NOT want to have my posts in full text, but I DO want my photo to be visible from first glance in the reader. A very frustrating experience. -
@dandelionsalad
Thank you. I’m glad to see that there is still a way to reach classic stats. Now if you can find a way into the old reader, you’ll be not merely a hero, but a magician, too. :-)
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