Websleuths is changing our colors

[Gemmie]

I may have hit the wrong button.

Thank you. Looks like it'll take a while to populate it back to be a big, long list. I can be patient.

Thanks for doing that! You rock!

 

[Gemmie]

Thank you. Looks like it'll take a while to populate it back to be a big, long list. I can be patient.

Thanks for doing that! You rock!

They're all back! All 21 pages of them! I minute ago there were maybe 7 links. Awesome blossom!

 

[Gemmie]

I thought since I've been asking fraize for a lot of things that I'd instead post a big THANK YOU that the limit of DM participants has been raised to 50 from 20 (21)!!! (51 total, which included the Organizer).

So THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Gemmie]

@fraize - Another big THANK YOU!!! You had told us a while back that this site couldn't do reverse chronological order and we instead had to use Advanced Search and select date if that's how we wanted the results, vs by relevance which is how they were coming in after the site upgrade.

I just now noticed the image below after doing a search. I scratched my head, did a much longer search (more results than the 1 I had when I saw that message) and they are in reverse chronological order. I'M BEYOND thrilled!!!!

So THANK YOU again for all you do!!!! You rock!!!

 

[Fraize]

I thought since I've been asking fraize for a lot of things that I'd instead post a big THANK YOU that the limit of DM participants has been raised to 50 from 20 (21)!!! (51 total, which included the Organizer).

So THANK YOU!!!!

I'd love to take credit, but this one wasn't me. Our beloved previous-webmaster Dave, aka "WS Admin", did that about a month ago!

 

[Fraize]

@fraize - Another big THANK YOU!!! You had told us a while back that this site couldn't do reverse chronological order and we instead had to use Advanced Search and select date if that's how we wanted the results, vs by relevance which is how they were coming in after the site upgrade.

I just now noticed the image below after doing a search. I scratched my head, did a much longer search (more results than the 1 I had when I saw that message) and they are in reverse chronological order. I'M BEYOND thrilled!!!!

So THANK YOU again for all you do!!!! You rock!!!

View attachment 579056

This one was me, though. Cash or money-orders are accepted at Fraize c/o North Pole. ;-)

 

[Gemmie]

This one was me, though. Cash or money-orders are accepted at Fraize c/o North Pole. ;-)

Well, for what it's worth... as much as I love Dave's contribution/change... I search WAY MORE often than I create DMs, and more rarely one that needed over 21 people! So fraize wins the big THANK YOU award!

That was huge fraize (the fact we got back reverse chronological order, not that I gave you a huge thank you. lol)

 

[Gemmie]

Hi @fraize. I have a small issue I wanted to toss out. A while back when we'd link to a WS post their look changed to what you see between the ====='s below.
==================================================

Post in thread 'Websleuths is changing our colors'

Mar 28, 2025

The what now? I've never seen that happen before!

I described it above, in my first post in this thread.

I tried (repeatedly) to enter my email address into the popup field. The first several digits are letters, no problem. Then I needed to enter a numeral and each time I tried, the screen changed or refreshed or something. I repeated it several times to make sure I wasn't just having bumbling fingers.

All that said, if it doesn't happen for anyone else then it's probably a me-ipad-static-electricity-or-something problem. Just wanted you to be aware in case anything similar...

• Auntie Cipation

• 
• 

==================================================

They used to look like a regular old link. Text in blue font. The issue is some people don't realize it's a link to be clicked on when they look like what I posted above. Some people think it's a SS that we're trying to show them. I had this issue again yesterday. Going back and forth in DM with someone not understanding how I had gleaned something from someone's post. I posted a link to the post. They said they had no idea how I could come up with what I was saying from what was showing on the screen.

That's because she thought I was SSing the part I wanted her to see, when I had actually given her a link I wanted her to click on to see the entire post. Only when I realized the reason she wasn't following is because of the confusion with links that look like the above example. Sure, this person now know to click on the "picture", but not everyone does. I could include "Click on this link" before I paste a link but c'mon... lol

What do you think? Issue? Non-issue?

Thank you!

ETA - And thank you, Auntie, for being my example.

 

[Fraize]

Hi @fraize. I have a small issue I wanted to toss out. A while back when we'd link to a WS post their look changed to what you see between the ====='s below.
==================================================

Post in thread 'Websleuths is changing our colors'

Mar 28, 2025

The what now? I've never seen that happen before!

I described it above, in my first post in this thread.

I tried (repeatedly) to enter my email address into the popup field. The first several digits are letters, no problem. Then I needed to enter a numeral and each time I tried, the screen changed or refreshed or something. I repeated it several times to make sure I wasn't just having bumbling fingers.

All that said, if it doesn't happen for anyone else then it's probably a me-ipad-static-electricity-or-something problem. Just wanted you to be aware in case anything similar...

• Auntie Cipation

• 
• 

==================================================

They used to look like a regular old link. Text in blue font. The issue is some people don't realize it's a link to be clicked on when they look like what I posted above. Some people think it's a SS that we're trying to show them. I had this issue again yesterday. Going back and forth in DM with someone not understanding how I had gleaned something from someone's post. I posted a link to the post. They said they had no idea how I could come up with what I was saying from what was showing on the screen.

That's because she thought I was SSing the part I wanted her to see, when I had actually given her a link I wanted her to click on to see the entire post. Only when I realized the reason she wasn't following is because of the confusion with links that look like the above example. Sure, this person now know to click on the "picture", but not everyone does. I could include "Click on this link" before I paste a link but c'mon... lol

What do you think? Issue? Non-issue?

Thank you!

ETA - And thank you, Auntie, for being my example.

It's an excellent observation. Tricia and I have been discussing usability on the site, even just today. We want to work on improving how welcoming the site is to new users -- from how we encourage people to post, to how welcoming we are as a population, to how busy the homepage is, to how and where we get people to visit and choose to stay. It all works together.

If site features are locked behind institutional knowledge, like how to expand a context window, how can we expect folks to want to return?

 

[Gemmie]

It's an excellent observation. Tricia and I have been discussing usability on the site, even just today. We want to work on improving how welcoming the site is to new users -- from how we encourage people to post, to how welcoming we are as a population, to how busy the homepage is, to how and where we get people to visit and choose to stay. It all works together.

If site features are locked behind institutional knowledge, like how to expand a context window, how can we expect folks to want to return?

Since you brought this up, I went and took a look at the homepage as it's not someplace I normally go. I have 1 suggestion off the top of my head to make the HP stand out as what WS is about, cuz pretty much the first thing you see is the General discussion section, with things like Off-Topic, Celebrity and Entertainment News, Bizarre and Off-beat news, etc.

IMO that section should get buried at the bottom of the HP, or even under another area. I'm not sure how I'd feel about a crime solving site that had that right up front. I'd be like... Seriously? Speaking of "Seriously?"... I feel it doesn't lend to this site's credibility. What WSers do is a serious matter. We help solve crimes, we help the unidentified regain their names. And there's a lot of ugliness here due to the nature of a some of the crimes (murder, rape, etc.). I feel it deserves a more serious look to the HP and moving the General Discussion section from the top would be a good start. Let newcomers see what WS is about FIRST, then they can move on to the unserious stuff.

All JMO!

 

[Fraize]

Since you brought this up, I went and took a look at the homepage as it's not someplace I normally go. I have 1 suggestion off the top of my head to make the HP stand out as what WS is about, cuz pretty much the first thing you see is the General discussion section, with things like Off-Topic, Celebrity and Entertainment News, Bizarre and Off-beat news, etc.

IMO that section should get buried at the bottom of the HP, or even under another area. I'm not sure how I'd feel about a crime solving site that had that right up front. I'd be like... Seriously? Speaking of "Seriously?"... I feel it doesn't lend to this site's credibility. What WSers do is a serious matter. We help solve crimes, we help the unidentified regain their names. And there's a lot of ugliness here due to the nature of a some of the crimes (murder, rape, etc.). I feel it deserves a more serious look to the HP and moving the General Discussion section from the top would be a good start. Let newcomers see what WS is about FIRST, then they can move on to the unserious stuff.

All JMO!

We're discussing that very thing in about an hour from now!

BTW, those of you on the new themes may notice a new way to toggle closed any categories you don't visit often. It always bugged me that New Posts was ALWAYS on top. Now I can collapse it if I want to!

 

[Gemmie]

I took another look at the home page and really think About Websleuths, and most definitely The Rules, needs to be at the top of the HP! Get that front and center, IMO.

 

[Megnut]

If we promise not to break things, can we have page numbers at the top and bottom of each page?

 

[Gemmie]

If we promise not to break things, can we have page numbers at the top and bottom of each page?

Hmmmm... they are already there for me. fraize took care of that when I asked him to a while back. Maybe log off and back on (if you ever log off).

Where are you not seeing them? I have them in both DMs and MTs. Are you talking about these (from this MT):

And for those that might not know what those 3 ...'s do between the 1 and 20 in this thread... you can select which page you want to jump to by clicking on it and entering the page number. Comes in handy if you have DMs in the hundreds (or over 1,000).

 

[Megnut]

Hmmmm... they are already there for me. fraize took care of that when I asked him to a while back. Maybe log off and back on (if you ever log off).

Where are you not seeing them? I have them in both DMs and MTs. Are you talking about these (from this MT):

View attachment 581216

And for those that might not know what those 3 ...'s do between the 1 and 20 in this thread... you can select which page you want to jump to by clicking on it and entering the page number. Comes in handy if you have DMs in the hundreds (or over 1,000).

Took me a minute to figure out HOW to log out. Don't judge.

I only have that at the bottom of the page. Would be handy up at the top too.

 

[Gemmie]

Took me a minute to figure out HOW to log out. Don't judge.

I only have that at the bottom of the page. Would be handy up at the top too.

I'm thinking things might be different if using a smartphone? Cuz I have them top and bottom on my desktop. If so, I'm thinking fraize can fix that!

My top (not that you didn't believe me. lol):

 

[INfisherman]

FWIW, iPad Pro iOS 17.7.6 shows page numbers at both top & bottom. Depending upon your device, some websites may offer both mobile & full versions of their site & your device might automatically choose the mobile site or cookies may do that (unsure bit it’s common on phones). If that is the case, a user might find a link at the bottom of the page to switch between the two (I do not see one for WS).

Screenshots of this thread

Top of page:

Bottom of page:

 

[Megnut]

I'm thinking things might be different if using a smartphone? Cuz I have them top and bottom on my desktop. If so, I'm thinking fraize can fix that!

My top (not that you didn't believe me. lol):

View attachment 581222

Signed in on my older smartphone and it's an entirely different layout. And indeed has the page numbers top and bottom. Not sure when or how I set it up this way nor do I know how to switch it. The struggle is real.

 

[Gemmie]

Signed in on my older smartphone and it's an entirely different layout. And indeed has the page numbers top and bottom. Not sure when or how I set it up this way nor do I know how to switch it. The struggle is real.

Now that's interesting. Maybe fraize or other members have an idea of what's going on with your setup.

 

[Megnut]

Now that's interesting. Maybe fraize or other members have an idea of what's going on with your setup.

Somewhere I must have selected a desktop version but failed to drop breadcrumbs, can't find my way back.