Forum > Non-Gaming Discussion > Site Settings and Controlling the Experience
Site Settings and Controlling the Experience
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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:55:45
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I do like to look at trends and figures with the site to see what's working to give some idea of how to make everything more enjoyable, as well as simply a vain need for validation.

On thing I look at once in a while are site preferences and how many people apply what settings, and while not overly surprising, overwhelmingly everyone here leaves things on default.  There are literally zero people who have changed their site theme to light, despite people being split on which way to go back with the design.

There are also zero people, aside from myself, who are currently not using the editor and using the hide previously read messages option.

And the most successful, a whole 4 other users have changes their timezone settings.

While I'd like to think I made a perfect site with absolutely no need for any adjustment whatsoever, that seems unlikely.  What this means, though, is people seem to leave things be.  And that being said, it gives the default settings a lot more clout, because that's what the vast majority are going to stick with.

For better or worse, I'm going to keep rolling out features regardless, because the intent is to grow, and when someone first signs up, that's when the options help them stay along for the long haul rather than bailing early.

That said, what is the reason for this?  I mean, at the very least, bare minimum I'd think people would change their settings to the correct timezone, and even that doesn't get high numbers.  And I am definitely surprised at nobody using the light skin; if it sucks, at least have some feedback.

I'm just curious and wondering if the majority has just never been to their settings page.
Edited: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:56:44

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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:10:07
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I didn't even know we could change the colour. Nyaa
Hmm, I haven't changed the timezone cause it's kinda pointless for me. I don't really need to know when posts were posted, here at least anyway. It's more useful on a busier forum, though.

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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:15:05
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This would also be a good time to reiterate that all updates are announced in the Site Suggestions thread, so aside from requesting anything you want there, also keep an eye on it for anything new.

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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:53:09
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I like to tinker with settings, so I've messed around with all of them. I tried out the light skin, but prefer dark. I changed my timezone settings, which I have found to be very useful,  and I especially like the Hide Signatures option. I tried the Hide Read Comments option on day 1, but I prefer to have everything visible, so I disabled it. It's a nice feature that I'll probably experiment with more in the future, though. Posting news via the GG Weekly Toolbar is just plain awesome! I will not go back!



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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:57:38
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Yodariquo said:
I do like to look at trends and figures with the site to see what's working to give some idea of how to make everything more enjoyable, as well as simply a vain need for validation.

On thing I look at once in a while are site preferences and how many people apply what settings, and while not overly surprising, overwhelmingly everyone here leaves things on default.  There are literally zero people who have changed their site theme to light, despite people being split on which way to go back with the design.

There are also zero people, aside from myself, who are currently not using the editor and using the hide previously read messages option.

And the most successful, a whole 4 other users have changes their timezone settings.

While I'd like to think I made a perfect site with absolutely no need for any adjustment whatsoever, that seems unlikely.  What this means, though, is people seem to leave things be.  And that being said, it gives the default settings a lot more clout, because that's what the vast majority are going to stick with.

For better or worse, I'm going to keep rolling out features regardless, because the intent is to grow, and when someone first signs up, that's when the options help them stay along for the long haul rather than bailing early.

That said, what is the reason for this?  I mean, at the very least, bare minimum I'd think people would change their settings to the correct timezone, and even that doesn't get high numbers.  And I am definitely surprised at nobody using the light skin; if it sucks, at least have some feedback.

I'm just curious and wondering if the majority has just never been to their settings page.

Yoda, I changed my settings to light but they did not stay once I logged out.  I'll try again.  I think there was a color conflict on comments (like dark text on dark background, but on stuff like that I don;t report it as I figure it's my kooky setup.

I changed my time zone. I disabled the Hide feature for the reasons I mentioned in the suggestions post (reading old pages of ggweekly).

"There are also zero people, aside from myself, who are currently not using the editor" - what's this?

I agree with you that the more options we have for a new user the more likely they are to stay.  As for current users not taking advantage of new features, that is to be expected -- it's just the way things operate.

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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:18:50
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^yeah, you both fiddle the most LOL
aspro said:

"There are also zero people, aside from myself, who are currently not using the editor" - what's this?

You can default to toggle the editor off.  This was actually what spurred me to this was just a thought of who prefers to use the WYSIWYG as opposed to not.  I always like just a plain textbox.

Obviously you're not expected to change every single setting as some things will be what you prefer (I like the dark style as well), but yes, another reason I brought this up WAS bug reports.  It's better if you can to report any issues you have because it's not really a big deal if it happens to be your set-up, if it is, it still may be something that can be adjusted for compatibility, and ultimately, it could be a bug.  The logout thing on the skin I was unaware of, and just fixed.

And I am aware of the previous GG Weekly thing, and am still looking at a show/hide all thing, though the problem itself is pretty unavoidable.  Again, not saying everyone should be jumping on every option.

Edited: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:21:09

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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:57:05
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I like the wysiwyg, but yeah, I can see that.  I'll try the light skin again since that is my usualy preference and report any issues in the appropriate location.

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Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:45:27
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I prefer darker skins. The light burns my eyesesssss!
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Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:33:00
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selbie said:
I prefer darker skins. The light burns my eyesesssss!

They goggles! They do nothing!

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Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:18:41

General lazy people.

You need to announce the updates like a windows service pack, highlight where and how to do it easily.

Everything needs to be user friendly.

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