TPMtv Explains myTPM!
In case anyone missed it, we did a TPMtv yesterday on the new community tools. Hopefully it'll give you a sense of what we think this crazy thing is all about.
Check it out:
Let us know what you think. How's it going out there?
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Pretty good, Andrew. I'm getting used to it now.
By the way, my biggest thanks in all this is how much you guys have stayed on top of answering questions and keeping us updated with hints, tips, asking for feedback...
The dashboard is growing on me - definitely makes it easier to follow my favorite posters.
The comments section in our own blog page still doesn't seem to be updating, which makes it hard to follow blogs I've posted on. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the comment confirmation page - I'd rather it just reload back to the blog page like before. And any way we can still have the rec and reader lists on the right sight of all blog pages? As is, you have to go back to the main Cafe page to read more reader blogs.
October 15, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Really glad you like it Hilary.
We're working on the comments thing today, both pulling in comment listings from before the launch and figuring out the delay in updating new ones.
In terms of having the rec'd and recent lists on all the reader blogs, our thinking here was that we wanted to give people full control over their personal blog sidebars. We decided that would be an important part of letting people feel like they have complete ownership.
That make sense? Do folks agree?
October 15, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey - I thought I saw a Smokey-pie sighting in that vid :) Thanks!
Love the new tools. Thanks to you and Al for the hard work! I agree with Hilary that the most rec'd reader's posts being included on the dashboard sidebar would be very useful. The dashboard icons when you are following a lot of folks seems to be very spread out in an artsy way, but I think it would be most useful & space saving to be organized in rows. I'm a Hillary girl - consistency and predictibility is important :) Also when will you be launching the retraining order feature?
October 15, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
*restraining orders that is. Also electro-shocks for not previewing for typos before clicking submit would be helpful.
October 15, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Zzzzzzzzzzt !!
Last warning, Dajimo.
October 15, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
* ZZZZZzzzzzt!!!!!!
Dammit, Dij. Electro-shock for spelling? Am doomed.
October 15, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
BTW Dij, I have NO idea why Andrew didn't use MY avatar to zoom in on. Harumph.
I thought I'd arranged those blue tubes rather artfully.
October 15, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alright, cool. We'll discuss adding that. Other folks have thoughts on this?
October 15, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like the idea of having the list of posts on the side of my blog page. Or at the bottom or wherever.
October 15, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I see what you're saying but I think most people wouldn't mind (and might prefer) still be able to have the list show up on all pages - really it isn't a huge deal, just saves us some clicks.
I've seen one or two other folks mention it as well. Is it something the new software would be compatible with? (In other words, if enough people wanted it back, is it doable?)
I actually really like the layout of the dashboard - I like the all feature in particular. I also like being able to see who others are following, as it reminds me of posters I might have forgotten about.
October 15, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ya, it's doable. We'll talk about it. Thanks for the feedback!
October 15, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I'd appreciate it as well. Good idea.
Couple of minor things. I keep popping out of being logged in, which is easily resolved by just punching the "log in" button...
Certain people's blogs will not recognize me or let me comment (maybe this is a special feature??!) like DF's for instance....
The "confirmation" page that shows up after you comment is perhaps not useful....
And for me personally, the software does not recognize the space between my names the same way it did before. Now, it's with a "_" and before it was a "%20." This means when I directly hit the "My Blog" page, I have to then edit the address so my page actually shows up.
But all in all, very well done folks. And many thanks for being so accessible & informative through this. Ahhhh, could it be? the start of Change We Can Believe In?
October 15, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
One other thing. The 24 hour timeclock on posts on the Recommended list doesn't seem to be working. I've had posts come off the list after 20 hours or so, but they continue to show on the Cafe listing. Not sure what's happening there.
Thanks again folks.
October 15, 2008 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very nice, Andrew! I have a question, though: How do I cancel following someone?
October 15, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just hit the follow button again.
October 15, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks!
October 15, 2008 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
The vid was very helpful. I've been looking for the "Follow me" button since the beta went up and thought I was being dense. I may still be dense but now that I know where to look, I can see that "Follow me" is not appearing under anyone's profile when I am signed in.
Any suggestions?
October 15, 2008 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Huh. Can you clear your cookies and log in again?
October 15, 2008 9:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just to make you even more nuts, a Follow Me showed up long enough for me to Follow Deanie Mills, then went away again. I'll try clearing the cookies and let you know.
October 15, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, after clearing, a Follow Me showed up for you so I clicked it. Now they all seem to be gone again. I also tried rebooting and turning off the phishing filter. No good.
I just noticed that there is a Waiting for http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/agolis/2008/10/tpmtv-explains-mytpm.php..." messsage in the IE7 status bar. Maybe the page isn't loading fully?
October 15, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ya, the follow button is the last to load. It sounds like something else is hanging up and preventing the page from completing the load.
Is there anything else not yet on the page? Maybe an ad is hanging up for you?
October 15, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
OK, I tried loging out, clearing everything (cookies and temporary internet files) close the browser, open and logged in. I went to my dashboard, clicked on your comment and when I got to your blog entry there was no Follow Me. Scrolled down to comment and noticed that it was saying I needed to sign in to comment. Checked the top of the page and it had the Login link. Clicked that and was automatically logged in without reentering my info. Now there is a Follow Me.
I know that others have reported similar login/logout problems, but I don't recall the solution. Could you remind me? Thanks!
October 15, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
It sounds like you solved it. You cleared your cookies, which logged you out. Then you logged back in and could follow.
So you're good right?
October 15, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Follow me seems to be showing up OK if I am logged in. The system still seems to be confused about when I am logged in. If I log in at the top of TMPCafe it lets me look at my dashboard OK, but then when I click a link to go to a thread I seem to be semi-logged out, i.e. "Log in" appears at the top of the page and I am asked to sign in if I want to make a comment. When I click on "Log in" or "Sign in" I don't have to re-enter my User name and password, but I get the Hi HmCody message at the top, Follow Me appears and I can make comments. I can live with this, I just don't think it is the way you intead for it to work?
P.S. I think the preview feature is FANTASTIC! I am forever messing up my tags (backslash/frontslash dyslexia) and now I can check before I post.
October 15, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another wrinkle.
When I posted the above comment (I don't know if it matters, but I also previewed the comment before submitting) I used the link on the page that comes up to indicate that the post is complete to return to this page . "Hi HmCody" is now at the top, there is no Follow me, but it looks as if the page is stuck loading something. All the ads look like they are there. And the comment box is odd, it wants my name and email address (not a request to sign in) even though the top of the page indicates that I'm logged in.
Don't you just love computers? ;)
October 15, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect it IS the preview. I posted the second comment without previewing and all is as it should be.
October 15, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
None of the new features work for me at all.
I'm using the latest version of Safari and the latest version of Mac OS X, and have encountered the same results on both of my computers.
I can't create a blog post. When I click 'blog now' it takes me to my dashboard with no option to create a new post.
I can't change my avatar. After I choose the picture I want and click 'save' it tells me my Movable Type session has expired and makes me log in again (without saving my pic).
I can't follow people. When I click the follow button, it thinks for a bit, but nobody is added to my list.
I can't log out. This is where it gets really weird. When I click 'log out' it still shows me as logged in at the top of the page. I tried creating a new account, hoping that would help. When I logged in under the new account, it still shows my old username at the top of the page. Then when I click on my dashboard it shows my new username.
Blargh. and now I'm getting these node, and session expired errors when I try to comment, and the submit button was missing the last attempt.
Hopefully this one goes through...
October 15, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha ha. Oh man.
It took me 4-5 attempts just to leave that comment. But I now that I have, everything works for me. Something must have been clogging the tubes and my comment seems to have flushed it out.
Weird. But it looks like I'm good now.
October 15, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha. I'm glad. Might have been some kind of cookie issue.
October 15, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I gotta hand to you guys...this process wasn't pretty and you've taken a lot of heat, but the resulting product seems to have been worth the wait.
I'm an "if all else fails read the instructions" kinda gal and I was pretty much able to figure it out, but the video was a nice touch.
I've been particularly impressed w/ your follow up and being so good at soliciting feedback, getting back to us quickly with help and genuine interest in making it work for us.
I'm sure as we get into the site more, we'll have more questions and suggestions. So, Thanks!
October 15, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is there someway to erase recommends from my dashboard?
October 15, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yeah. Nice vid too. I've sent it to some people who sometimes browse TPM, but who've been wanting to get into commenting. Their immediate feedback is that it looks both doable & attractive.
Maybe you guys should also just punt Josh & the regulars outta this TV business, eh? Let the tech-heads have a day a week.
Or at least get the guy a hat or some bling or something. You know, sex it up a bit.
October 15, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Andrew, this is all such a great improvement to the site. I see that you've been ironing out the glitches, and the new expanded range of tools is so cool.
Thanks for the edit function!
October 15, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yay! Glad you like it astral!
October 15, 2008 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, here's a new problem:
I'm following three users right now. My "your blog" page says this next to my avatar. But "your dashboard" says under "following" that "worthlesscitizen doesn't follow anybody." I've deleted my cookies, but the problem remains.
Any ideas?
October 16, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, did you fix it? I attempted to update my profile (it wouldn't let me), but immediately the "following" function works again. I will never understand the internet!
October 16, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Andrew,
I'm having problems very similar to what RoboticSpaceMan reported except that I'm on Windows XP with Firefox 3 (I see the same problems with IE, though). I tried clearing cookies, rebooting, etc. with no luck. The main symptom now is that hitting "BLOG NOW!" takes me to the same place that "YOUR BLOG" does. In addition, a number of items show up in the error console:
(1) Error in parsing value for property 'cursor'. Declaration dropped. Line 47.http://tmpcafe.s3.amazonaws.com/styles.tpm.css
(2) Expected ',' or '{' but found ';'. Ruleset ignored due to bad selector. Line 1150.
(3) Error in parsing value for property 'text-decoration'. Declaration dropped. Line 1189.
(4) Unknown property 'fontweight'. Declaration droped. Line 366
(5 ERROR) Permission denied to call method Location.toString
Any ideas?
-- Jim
November 2, 2008 10:15 PM | Reply | Permalink