Small Talk: "I'll Take Non-Show Chat For $400, Alex."

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Just curious: Do you have a Mac or PC? And which browser? 

new HP Laptop PC/Windows 10/Firefox.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

new HP Laptop PC/Windows 10/Firefox.

Maybe 🤔 it’s a Firefox vs. Chrome thing.

Anyway, I am glad my ability to censor edit myself is back here.  
Twitter and NY Times comments are not editable ––which I can appreciate has archival and other value–– but which also drives me a tiny bit nuts, heh.

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Hokey smokes @shapeshifter. You even get circle icons while I get squares. Are you circles or squares, @Clanstarling, and a three dots or bottom icon person?

ETA: And you get info about each poster under that person's avatar. I just get how long ago someone posted. If I hover over the avatar a window with that info opens.

I find some of this creepy.

I have round icons on both the computer and the phone (which is a Chrome browser, not Firefox like my desktop). I don't get three dots or a bottom icon. But then again, I have an ad blocker on my browser, so maybe it interferes with some stuff.

Edited to say: yes I have the three dots, but I was thinking of the ones on the browsers that are in a vertical line, not the ones in the editor that mean "share this post."

Edited April 19, 2021 by Clanstarling

[SoMuchTV]

28 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I have round icons on both the computer and the phone (which is a Chrome browser, not Firefox like my desktop). I don't get three dots or a bottom icon. But then again, I have an ad blocker on my browser, so maybe it interferes with some stuff.

I have square icons with the "Light (Default)" theme, and round ones with the "IPS Default" theme.  Still trying to figure out which theme I prefer.  There are some features I like better on one, and some on the other.  One good outcome from this round of changes - up to now, I never noticed that "Theme" option at the very bottom of each page. 

[Clanstarling]

2 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I have square icons with the "Light (Default)" theme, and round ones with the "IPS Default" theme.  Still trying to figure out which theme I prefer.  There are some features I like better on one, and some on the other.  One good outcome from this round of changes - up to now, I never noticed that "Theme" option at the very bottom of each page. 

I'm probably using the default theme, unless Dark Mode is considered a theme. I wish I could use Dark Mode on every website. It is better for my eyes.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, saber5055 said:

And you get info about each poster under that person's avatar. I just get how long ago someone posted. If I hover over the avatar a window with that info opens.

I find some of this creepy

Eh, “creepy,” schmeepy. 
I’m the one who should be embarrassed that it’s taken me about 3 posts for every 2 of yours to get about 75% as many up votes as you have, @saber5055.

Heh. At least they’re not tracking how many words I deleted. 

[illdoc]

At the time I posted my weekly contest score, I had the "pencil edit". Since yesterday, I lost my "pencil edit" and I do not have dots anywhere. Posting via PC & Chrome. I'm also missing the first letter or so of the crap on the right. I've tried enlarging/shrinking via Chrome, as well as changing the font size via the bottom of the forum page---nothing fixes that missing part of the right column (where I assume the "down arrow to eliminate the crap showing on the right" is).

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, illdoc said:

At the time I posted my weekly contest score, I had the "pencil edit". Since yesterday, I lost my "pencil edit" and I do not have dots anywhere. Posting via PC & Chrome. I'm also missing the first letter or so of the crap on the right. I've tried enlarging/shrinking via Chrome, as well as changing the font size via the bottom of the forum page---nothing fixes that missing part of the right column (where I assume the "down arrow to eliminate the crap showing on the right" is).

I just noticed there is now a "Site Update Issues: Please Post Here" thread here: https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/117563-site-update-issues-please-post-here/

 

 

Maybe copy your post from above along with a screen grab to that thread?

[shapeshifter]

56 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Edited to say: yes I have the three dots, but I was thinking of the ones on the browsers that are in a vertical line, not the ones in the editor that mean "share this post."

Oh, you mean the "hamburger" menu icon: ≡
   see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_button

My "evil" boss and I often irritated each other, but she loved my discovery of the "hamburger" menu button's moniker; we bonded over it often --perhaps because she spent a large part of her childhood in Germany?

I wonder if Jeopardy might include it as a future highest-valued clue in a category named something like "Buttons, icons, and symbols, Oh My!"

There was a recent similar category for text (or was it chat?) acronyms, but they were pretty basic, IIRC. 

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

I'm probably using the default theme, unless Dark Mode is considered a theme. I wish I could use Dark Mode on every website. It is better for my eyes.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but I'm referring to the "Theme" choices at the very bottom of each page.  If you're using Dark you would have had to select it there, I think.  I didn't even realize they were there until someone mentioned them a couple of days ago.  It's a little confusing - the middle one is the actual default if you don't select one, but the top one also has "Default" in the name.  I tried out the Dark one, but it was harder to distinguish some things for me.  I go back and forth now about whether I prefer the IPS or the Light.  I have ad blockers on all my browsers so that makes things more bearable, whichever theme I pick.

[shapeshifter]

38 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but I'm referring to the "Theme" choices at the very bottom of each page.  If you're using Dark you would have had to select it there, I think.  I didn't even realize they were there until someone mentioned them a couple of days ago.  It's a little confusing - the middle one is the actual default if you don't select one, but the top one also has "Default" in the name.  I tried out the Dark one, but it was harder to distinguish some things for me.  I go back and forth now about whether I prefer the IPS or the Light.  I have ad blockers on all my browsers so that makes things more bearable, whichever theme I pick.

Thank you for posting this, @SoMuchTV! 

Like @Clanstarling, the dark mode is better for my eyes, but I had stopped using it some years ago because I also use a Stream, and there was no way to get automatically to the first new post of a stream in dark mode. 
But it *is* working now, *and* the Edit feature is at the bottom of the post instead of under the 3-dot icon: 

ETAA:

And now it looks like this:

Welcome to the sausage making factory?

Edited April 19, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Moose135]

Looks like they fixed the "Manage Followed Content" page - right after the update, items were listed in the order you started following, with most recent first. As of a half hour ago, I see they are now back to being sorted by order of most recent post.

Does anyone know what changes were being made that required this update, beyond just messing with us?

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Does anyone know what changes were being made that required this update, beyond just messing with us?

No, but I would guess 

• security (anti-hacking and other outside threats by trolls, evil-doers, garden gnomes, etc.)
• loading speed
• space on servers
• keeping up with browser and OS updates
• crash prevention
• improved functionality (things working like they should)

Since it doesn't look much different, I don't think it was just for fun,
except there are those creepy pictures and other data on the right side. 

[PBnJay]

I see square avatars on Chrome on a PC Windows and have the toolbar at the bottom of the message box. I wonder if the browser version makes a difference. I don't have a hamburger icon and am glad since it would make me hungry.

[saber5055]

3 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I have square icons with the "Light (Default)" theme, and round ones with the "IPS Default" theme.  Still trying to figure out which theme I prefer.  There are some features I like better on one, and some on the other.  One good outcome from this round of changes - up to now, I never noticed that "Theme" option at the very bottom of each page. 

Oh, that's the deal with the round vs. square avatars. I just switched to IPS view and now all icons are round and I have the three bullets in the upper right corner. The stuff on the  right-hand side showing who is the biggest mouth on this site also got clean  up  and neatened.

I never knew the view switcher was down there with the small print site-owner copyright stuff I never look at. Talk about putting it in a NOT obvious place.

Maybe I like the round-icon view better. I'll try it for a while. In the square-icon view, my edit pencil has turned into the word EDIT. They are still sneaking changes in.

[Clanstarling]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Oh, you mean the "hamburger" menu icon: ≡
   see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_button

My "evil" boss and I often irritated each other, but she loved my discovery of the "hamburger" menu button's moniker; we bonded over it often --perhaps because she spent a large part of her childhood in Germany?

I wonder if Jeopardy might include it as a future highest-valued clue in a category named something like "Buttons, icons, and symbols, Oh My!"

There was a recent similar category for text (or was it chat?) acronyms, but they were pretty basic, IIRC. 

Nope, not talking about the hamburger icon - though I see it right there on this browser. Sorry for the confusion. As it turns out, the vertical three dots are what I see on phone apps, rather than the computer, at the top right of pages. On some browsers, they are three horizontal dots. These give access to various browser or app specific functions/settings.

I spent a large portion of my childhood in Germany too - but I guess I'm more food oriented. When I see hamburger,  I think of an American hamburger. (though I just found out this weekend from my Austrian cousin that they have schnitzel hamburgers at the fast food places there. Yum.)

5 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but I'm referring to the "Theme" choices at the very bottom of each page.  If you're using Dark you would have had to select it there, I think.  I didn't even realize they were there until someone mentioned them a couple of days ago.  It's a little confusing - the middle one is the actual default if you don't select one, but the top one also has "Default" in the name.  I tried out the Dark one, but it was harder to distinguish some things for me.  I go back and forth now about whether I prefer the IPS or the Light.  I have ad blockers on all my browsers so that makes things more bearable, whichever theme I pick.

You are right. I wasn't sure Dark was a theme, and didn't bother to scroll down. Dark works perfectly for me, thank goodness. I have Dark theme on the PTV on my phone too. I only wish I could do it with Google or other white intensive screens. Google claims to have a dark theme, but last time I checked, it only made the headers dark. Waste of time.

[illdoc]

That "IPS" mode seems to have fixed that problem I was having with part of the right column being cut off (but no "down arrow") and I see dots now!

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, illdoc said:

That "IPS" mode seems to have fixed that problem I was having with part of the right column being cut off (but no "down arrow") and I see dots now!

I tried out IPS mode (from Dark mode) - and the right column did look better. Unfortunately, I lost my editing button, and I think the dots. LOL. I think we're not going to figure out the perfect solution for everyone.  I'm guessing the changes for the non-default modes will take some time (my right column is cut off too).

Eh, I'm a patient person. Until I'm not. 😉

[Prevailing Wind]

Still have square avatars, but the space is mostly white with the jpg shrunken and stuck to the top edge of the square.

ETA: I have the word "edit" now, too. Still no 3 dots or hamburgers.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[shapeshifter]

I especially preferred the Dark “Theme” on my phone at night, but only the IPS theme doesn’t have an add at the bottom of the screen that I have to close every time I go to a new page or forum. 😒

[SoMuchTV]

I posted about this on the Bugs thread, but I haven't seen anyone else report the same problem, so I thought I'd check here. We seem to have a good cross-section of folks who use the site in various ways.  Is anyone else having this issue?

I normally start from "My TV shows" (used to be called Customized Home Page), where all the shows I follow appear.  The ones with unread posts are bolded, and I click on those to read them.  Well, starting at some point during/after the site maintenance, I stopped being able to get to shows from my home page when I'm using my iPhone.  It just sits a while, then I get a message saying the content is not available, try again later.  I can get to a show thread if I get a notification for it, and if I go through something like Streams/My Streams/Content I Follow (but not everything I follow seems to end up there when there are new posts).  I can't seem to get to shows through the Manage Follows (same "try later" message).

This is with an iPhone/Safari, and I've done all the "stuff" like log out of the site, close the browser, delete app data, try a different browser (I tried both Chrome & Firefox), try a different theme.  No luck.  Meanwhile, everything works normally from my desktop PC.

Anyone else having a similar issue?  I'd like to provide the admins as much evidence as possible, especially if this is not happening to all posters.

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I normally start from "My TV shows" (used to be called Customized Home Page)

Do you mean "Your Shows"?
What link are you using to get there?

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Do you mean "Your Shows"?
What link are you using to get there?

Yes you're right, it's "Your Shows".  As opposed to "All Shows".  Sorry, got a little possessive there :)

And it's just the landing page I see when I open the forums (forums.primetimer.com)

 

[shapeshifter]

27 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Well, starting at some point during/after the site maintenance, I stopped being able to get to shows from my home page when I'm using my iPhone.  It just sits a while, then I get a message saying the content is not available, try again later.

I noticed this for about the first 12-24 hours after the update began. 
Maybe try:

• Sign out and then sign back in (make sure you know your password first!)
• Clear your browser cache

[SoMuchTV]

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I noticed this for about the first 12-24 hours after the update began. 
Maybe try:

• Sign out and then sign back in (make sure you know your password first!)
• Clear your browser cache

Yep, those were among the “stuff” I tried. The only thing I haven’t tried is restarting my phone, although it makes no sense why that should maybe a difference. 

For me, the “your shows” option wasn’t there at all for the first day or two (on any platform), then it was back, then it didn’t work (on my phone only, which is where I am now).

Really curious whether anyone else is seeing this. 

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

The only thing I haven’t tried is restarting my phone, although it makes no sense why that should maybe a difference. 

Actually, that should have been my first bullet to try. ;)

[saber5055]

8 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Still have square avatars, but the space is mostly white with the jpg shrunken and stuck to the top edge of the square.

ETA: I have the word "edit" now, too. Still no 3 dots or hamburgers.

Switch to the IPS Default found in Theme at the very bottom, below the FB and Twitter icons. I switched a couple days ago and now prefer it. It shows round avatars and the three upper-right-hand dots if I need to edit.

The Forum Home page also is all white with show names preceded by a bullet, and can run two or three to a line as opposed to one per line with a yellow background. This view also is more organized in my Firefox desktop browser.

I don't use any of the "My Shows" boxes. I just think, hey, I just watched 911 Lone Star, guess I'll go there and see what everyone says. I access everything from the Forum Home page. Old school.

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I don't use any of the "My Shows" boxes. I just think, hey, I just watched 911 Lone Star, guess I'll go there and see what everyone says. I access everything from the Forum Home page. Old school.

I actually checked on my phone, and whether I have the forum home page toggled to "Your Shows" or "All Shows", I can't use any of the show name links to get to the show threads.  And to answer a question addressed above, I did restart my phone; same problem.  Really weird that I don't see anyone else reporting this.  I guess I'm special.  Yay?

[saber5055]

Maybe change the view theme? It changes everything when I switch from one to the other.

[zoey1996]

I was using Light (default), but I decided to see what IPS (default) would do.  I do not like it, but mostly because it showed me the column with Replies, Created, Top Posters, etc. that I wasn't seeing before.  When I switched back to Light (default), it's still there, when it wasn't before.  Not a happy bunny about that.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

I do not like it, but mostly because it showed me the column with Replies, Created, Top Posters, etc. that I wasn't seeing before.  When I switched back to Light (default), it's still there, when it wasn't before. 

I ignore it the same way I ignore every ad on every site. No ads here now though. Not that I noticed until I checked just now, because, as I said, I ignore all that. I don't need to keep seeing my avatar up there as one of the biggest mouths. "What, doesn't that person have a freaking LIFE? Get off this site, dude."

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I ignore it the same way I ignore every ad on every site. No ads here now though. Not that I noticed until I checked just now, because, as I said, I ignore all that. I don't need to keep seeing my avatar up there as one of the biggest mouths. "What, doesn't that person have a freaking LIFE? Get off this site, dude."

Whereas I just saw myself as a frequent poster and thought "oh look, I'm engaging with others, good for me!" It's all in your perspective.

[Clanstarling]

Now the dark theme is in the process of being updated. I say process, because though the right hand column works and isn't cutting off the first letters. But some of the icons are very strange - some are the basic square icons with rounded edges and a bit of white on the right and bottom edges. While some don't fill up the square for the icons at all, leaving them the same size with a giant white box. (doesn't have anything to do with screen settings because I expanded and reduced it just to see).

I do have the bottom arrow back. And my editing pen is now the word "Edit"

I am curious to see what else happens over the next few days.

What I would like again, though, is the ability to clear my notifications once I've read them. Anyone find a way to do that?

Edited April 21, 2021 by Clanstarling

[Bastet]

5 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

What I would like again, though, is the ability to clear my notifications once I've read them. Anyone find a way to do that?

Oh, could we do that before this update?  I thought we had to just let them "expire" (they get automatically removed after a certain period of time).

7 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Now the dark theme is in the process of being updated. I say process, because though the right hand column works and isn't cutting off the first letters. But some of the icons are very strange - some are the basic square icons with rounded edges and a bit of white on the right and bottom edges. While some don't fill up the square for the icons at all, leaving them the same size with a giant white box. (doesn't have anything to do with screen settings because I expanded and reduced it just to see).

That's happening in the Light theme, too; the icons and profile pics were back to normal for a brief period, but most of the day they've been wonky.

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

What I would like again, though, is the ability to clear my notifications once I've read them. Anyone find a way to do that?

Whenever I "follow" a thread or forum, I always select "Follow without notifications," mainly because I do enough obsessive checking without also being notified that I should check something. 😄

[Bastet]

37 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Whenever I "follow" a thread or forum, I always select "Follow without notifications,"

Me too, but I get notifications when someone reacts to my posts in any way; I only want them for mentions or quotes, to make sure I see something that might need a response, but the like/useful/etc. reactions are bundled together with those.

[Prevailing Wind]

YAAAYYYY - the "go to top" arrows are back!

 

[zoey1996]

27 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

YAAAYYYY - the "go to top" arrows are back!

 

On my iPhone, using light default the up arrows are there, but the poster’s name is partially covered up. On the isp default mode, the up arrows are missing, but the poster’s name is fully visible. 
I’ll live with however it turns out, but I’ll be glad when it’s settled down.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Whenever I "follow" a thread or forum, I always select "Follow without notifications,"

Me too, but I get notifications when someone reacts to my posts in any way; I only want them for mentions or quotes, to make sure I see something that might need a response, but the like/useful/etc. reactions are bundled together with those.

In that case, this may be a browser setting. 
Whenever I first go to most websites these days, a pop-up asks some variation of the question “Is it okay if we send you notices?” I make it habit to choose “decline” (or whatever term they use for “Hell, no!”) but at least once I must’ve accidentally selected “Sure! I’m happy to have you simultaneously pester me and collect data on my online presence!” (or whatever euphemism they used for that choice) because my Twitter bookmark gets red dots or hearts or something.

Or it may just be some other setting on the primetimer site. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

In that case, this may be a browser setting. 
Whenever I first go to most websites these days, a pop-up asks some variation of the question “Is it okay if we send you notices?” I make it habit to choose “decline” (or whatever term they use for “Hell, no!”) but at least once I must’ve accidentally selected “Sure! I’m happy to have you simultaneously pester me and collect data on my online presence!” (or whatever euphemism they used for that choice) because my Twitter bookmark gets red dots or hearts or something.

Or it may just be some other setting on the primetimer site. 

It's not a browser setting, it's a site notification setting - if you want to be notified by Primetimer when you are mentioned or quoted within someone's post, you have to also be notified when your post merely receives a like/sad/useful/surprised/funny reaction, as they're all lumped together; you either aren't notified at all, are notified on site, are notified via email, or are notified both on site and via email.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Bastet

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

It's not a browser setting, it's a site notification setting - if you want to be notified by Primetimer when you are mentioned or quoted within someone's post, you have to also be notified when your post merely receives a like/sad/useful/surprised/funny reaction, as they're all lumped together; you either aren't notified at all, are notified on site, are notified via email, or are notified both on site and via email.

Right.  I used to know that. 😏 

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Whenever I "follow" a thread or forum, I always select "Follow without notifications," mainly because I do enough obsessive checking without also being notified that I should check something. 😄

I'm obsessive about efficiency, and the notifications are an efficient list of things to look through first thing in the morning. 😉 I don't follow a thread until I've watched the episode (spoilers).

I like to clean out my notifications after I've read them, to keep a list I don't have to eyeball to see where to start. (I go bottom up).

But if that doesn't change, so be it.

Everything's looking good in dark mode this morning. I do like the bigger icons. So many have put a lot of work into their icons, and now I can see them better. :)

Edited April 22, 2021 by Clanstarling

[saber5055]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I do like the bigger icons.

I am liking the IPS view, surprising, since it's a large change from what I was used to looking at for many years. Well, since TWoP shut down anyway. The icons are bigger but being round, some things are cut off, like Clanstarling's head. That's sort of unsettling.

I never knew there was an UP arrow until you guys posted about it, so thanks for that. It looks like a recycle logo out of the corner of my eye, which is the only way I ever saw it. I never look directly at anything in the right-hand column. I will have to think about using it along with those keyboard keys. Starting a new habit takes a bit of time.

Edited April 22, 2021 by saber5055

[saber5055]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

So many have put a lot of work into their icons, and now I can see them better.

And some icons are just the same old same ole dog face.

[Clanstarling]

47 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

And some icons are just the same old same ole dog face.

And I can see it better. Besides, mine is just a bird. Apparently a headless one in your view...

[zoey1996]

 

Most of the ones I saw were in what I call old people colors: tan, gold, brown, and were pretty squarish.  But I admit to that being an extremely small sample to judge by.  Yes, the name completely screams "old fart".

When I decided to get a minivan, I was looking at both the Chevy Lumina and the Olds Silhouette. At the Olds dealer, I asked the salesman why the Silhouette was a few thousand more than the Lumina. No good answer, they were pretty much identical. I bought the Lumina, and was very happy with it. That was the one known as the DustBuster, because they closely resembled the handheld minivac!

3 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

And I can see it better. Besides, mine is just a bird. Apparently a headless one in your view...

I got a notification from you while on my phone, and the avatar was huge!

[saber5055]

4 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

When I decided to get a minivan, I was looking at both the Chevy Lumina and the Olds Silhouette.

The Silhouette had a very good reputation and good resale price back in the day. I should have been your Olds salesperson. I've always tracked minivans, they are the staple vehicle of dog-show people. I downsized from a Ford Econoline full-sized van to a Ford Transit Connect cargo a few years ago. I can still shove a ton-load of crates in the Transit plus stand up to change clothes. Hey, try putting panty hose and a dress on while laying down in a low-roof vehicle!

I wanted a Chevy Astro back when, then they quit making them before I found one to buy, so good on that for me. I've always been skilled at packing crates for dog shows. Believe it or not, I could get six mid-sized dog crates plus ex-pens and grooming box in my VW Rabbit.

My Olds 442 was robin-egg blue with a navy-blue landau roof. Smokin'. And def not your old man's car. I practically had (young) guys fighting over it when I sold it.

Edited April 23, 2021 by saber5055

[Prevailing Wind]

Speaking of discontinued vehicles, I just found out 2020 was the last year in the USA for the Honda Fit. I love my 2007 Fit. After I bought it, I realized it just might be my last car, if it lasts, which it has, so far.

[Clanstarling]

17 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

I got a notification from you while on my phone, and the avatar was huge!

I forgot to mention it, but I had the same thing happen with notifications. I hope that transitions out pretty quickly. It took up most of the width of the center of my screen, and went beyond the height of the screen.

[Prevailing Wind]

I get the huge, third of a screen avatar on notifications, too.  Y'know, sometimes I like to wait until later to look at the notifications.