I don't find change to be a bad thing...

[sireesanwar.livejournal.com]

I know there are probably some of you out there who aren't really appreciating the changes to Live Journal but I actually like them. Granted the "homepage" navbar is complicated but I think after spending a little time clicking around and getting used to it; it works well. Now, it does get annoying that LJ has to update things constantly but at the same time they are trying to improve things.

I've already noticed that some of the text editor issues have disappeared. I can now manually enter Blockquotes without the editor creating new line after new line between my previous paragraph and said blockquote.

What I would like to see is a return to table adding and blockquotes. Why did those buttons disappear off the text editor so long ago only to be forgotten?

A few more changes I would like to see:

1. The ability to set what I want as my default size to images. I'm sick of them always coming up as 300px. I want them to be original size or whatever size I want to make them.


2. The fore-mentioned blockquote button and table button.


3. Maybe add userpics under that MyBlog menu so finding, updating and changing userpics isn't so difficult. Also add scrapbook so we can get to our scrapbooks easily.


4. Give us the ability to "randomly" choose our user icon. This can be a fun feature.


5. The ability to have pages and expand our navigation bar....

Why #5
Many of our friends from Live Journal have left for platforms like Tumblr and Wordpress. Notice both have the ability to add a "Page" to their blogs which in turn adds to their menu (some menu customization abilities maybe necessary for sub-content). I think LJ implementing this would put them in league with Tumblr and out shine Wordpress and I'll tell you why.

WordPress doesn't give the average user the ability to customize their layout. You are stuck with a few general layouts that are not all that appealing. Live Journal with page and menu customization would end up outshining WordPress for the fact that their letting their users make their blogs their own and giving them some flexibility while also being in the running for the "Blog Website" users. Premium users at Wordpress do have the ability to customize their layout but it costs 5 times as much as Live Journal. Even if LJ paid accounts cost $5 more a year to cover the "new features", you'd be paying a quarter of what the WordPress Premium users are paying.

Tumblr not only gives you the Page and Menu ability but they let you customize your layouts by going out and finding the coding or creating your own. The big issue I've found at Tumblr is the "open in new tab" links which are frustratingly annoying. Live Journal let's us control that through coding or the convenient check box when adding a link to our posts. Not only that but in my experience Tumblr's posting is more difficult than Live Journal where you can simply click "post".

Having said all that, I'm still liking the some of the newer stuff and am planning on creating a tutorial for some of the changes which took me a while to find.

What are you disliking about the changes? Anything you can't find?
Please be respectful.

Comments

[tracyj23.livejournal.com]

Let's see, where to start ... I'm not terribly resistant to change but I don't like it when:

1. They go and change things without telling us, without consulting anyone (I'm not a paid user or have a lifetime account but it would have made sense to ask those people for their opinions) and just assume everyone will like it.

2. They take away some of the things we used to be able to do without warming.

3. They don't allow us to choose - I'm reading comments and seeing people say they are choosing the old settings -- I never saw that option. I just went to log in the other day and bam! suddenly the site didn't look like LJ anymore and I had no idea what was what.

4. They make it harder to use instead of easier. I can't find half the things I used to know by heart. I'm not a developer like you are and hence I don't find it easy to just "figure it out" on my own. I need things to be easy to find -- maybe I'm just an apple junkie and taught that things SHOULD be user friendly and easy to work with but this is just AWFUL.

I don't like the way it looks and I don't like the way it functions and I really don't like that things aren't easy to find. Way to piss off users and drive them away. Change can be good but in this case it really isn't.

[sireesanwar.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, it is highly annoying when they don't consider what the users want. I mean they think the people who have held on this long are going to stick around even though they change everything these customers like about LJ? So stupid.

But then I also don't think they have to tell us everything. I think a lot of the users don't realize that without the updates LJ might just completely shutdown. They are in a business of the internet and if they don't stay with the program and change they are going to be left behind and will cease to exist.


2. This is highly annoying. And there is no excuse.


3. Okay so I understand wanting to be able to choose but from a development stand point, they can't possibly have too "operating systems" going for a long period of time. They would essentially have two LJ sites on one server which is not only confusing to developers but to the coding itself.

However, they could make it so they have different "views" which is basically templates of LJ. This is a more practical approach. They can then have the "Retro View" or the "Modern View". I personally think this is what they should do.


4. Okay so it is very true that my brain works much like the people programming this site but at the same time, a lot of people are afraid or reluctant to just start clicking around and seeing what does what.

But I have noticed a LOT of things that are sooo not easy to use and have really made things more difficult for the user. I've actually submitted suggestions to LJ for this and had a positive response that said they were going to make the changes I suggest. Let's see if it happens. (I'm somewhat doubtful but willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.)

I have to say that I actually find the posting process and moving around the site user friendly but there are certain things that just aren't.

I know people say it is hard to deal with LJ and they ignore users but I think part of it is the serious lack of respect and common courtesy which is being paid to people trying to keep LJ going. Not you. But you go on these communities where they are addressing LJ and it is RUDE.

I think thoughtful requests are a better way to go and in my recent experience are more effective than these people being down right nasty about it. First of all, "Change it back," will automatically be ignored. LJ isn't going to do it.

This is why I told them about issues I've found with the editor. Links that should be added to the navigation system, etc. Every response from them has been positive.

Now, having said that, I do feel that the people developing LJ aren't planning the site for the basic user. You don't build a site or make changes that someone with development skills is going to understand. You want to present it to the person who is on Level 1 (not that you are). That way someone who has never spent anytime on the internet can come to the site and understand it. Simple is better!

[tracyj23.livejournal.com]

Absolutely polite requests and suggestions are the way to go. Does anybody like getting browbeaten and told they're idiots for changing things? Of course not. If people need to vent that's ok, vent in your own journal, like I did and like Angel did. We are certainly free to not like what they've changed, but as in your case where you have ideas that could make things better, having a polite conversation about it instead of just posting "you're idiots, we hate the new layout" is the way to actually have some good dialogue and for them to get people's feedback.

Oh, I feel like I'm a level 1 sort of person!! Simple is definitely better. Intuitive is even better, where things are where you expect them to be. While change is good, I think maybe they got a little too complicated (and definitely too geometric for my taste!) with this new release. I hope they do listen to you and others like you who have real suggestions for them to make things better.

[sireesanwar.livejournal.com]

No. It amazes me that comments people make to LJ and expect them to acknowledge them. It just isn't going to happen.

They do need to make things simple. I mean I can figure something out but do I want to put in all that effort for a post?

[tracyj23.livejournal.com]

They're already changing - when I went to log in just now I got a bubble pop up that asked for feedback and had an option to go back to the old journal style. WOW!

[sireesanwar.livejournal.com]

That has actually been there but they are now telling you where to find it. LOL

[tracyj23.livejournal.com]

I was surprised it popped up as a bubble I had to deal with before I could actually access LJ. Which is good for me as I'd never have found it otherwise. *lol*