SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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New GR book page
Same. It's the community aspect that keeps me around as well. I have my little bubble, and that's why it's SO upsetting that Goodreads keeps trying to shrink it and make it harder to use and less useful. This site has always been a SOCIAL site for readers - but now the social aspects are being axed in favor of... I don't even know what, and it is really frustrating.
When I first saw that beta page, I was so overwhelmed by the drastic changes, and upset by all of the missing and buried functionality that I actually had something of a meltdown about it (not just because of the beta, to be fair to myself, but also the history of GR "improvements" and the complete disregard they have historically shown for how those changes actually affect readers and knew that feedback would likely be ignored). It's incredibly hard to explain just what impact changes like this have to someone (in this case, my baffled husband) who doesn't use this site or understand the community/social aspect of internet spaces in general.
I REALLY appreciate Lori for opening this thread, because none of the people I had mentioned it to had it or seemed at all concerned with it, and venting and commiserating here has been very cathartic and helpful.
I'm resigned to it now, and will adjust, because of the community that I don't want to leave yet. As I have all the times before. <3 youse guys! :D
Becky wrote: "When I first saw that beta page, I was so overwhelmed by the drastic changes, and upset by all of the missing and buried functionality that I actually had something of a meltdown about it (not just because of the beta, to be fair to myself, but also the history of GR "improvements" and the complete disregard they have historically shown for how those changes actually affect readers and knew that feedback would likely be ignored)."Same. And then I shut down and took defensive action. I'll eventually activate all the pent up rage and send them detailed feedback. Thanks all for starting things off here, it'll be easier to compose my thoughts when I don't have to start from blank.
(Yes, I should've already sent them feedback, I just couldn't deal with this at that moment. And still haven't wanted to, but seeing this thread is keeping the rage nice and fresh.)
Is it too late to start our own web ring...?
Resurrecting the dead thread, because I've seen the beta new look for the first time today (I guess a wider testing phase began?) and... the heck? First, most things are way too friggin' huge. Second, I don't see any decent-placed link to my highlights. Third (following from #1), the space management is awful (way too large gaps between things, especially the genre tags, which could remain in a side bar (maybe under the cover?). Fourth, lacking links to other books in the series. Fifth, way too huge links to "related" books (which, as other thread mentions, tend to be quite off at times).And there's probably more that I won't spot at first glance...
Given it the ol' Goodreads tune-up, they have. Now with 129% more wasted space and 49% less functionality!
Becky wrote: "Given it the ol' Goodreads tune-up, they have. Now with 129% more wasted space and 49% less functionality!"LOL right.
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Yuck, I just got the new book page on my iPad ☹️ I still have the old one on my other devices, but the iPad has no option to switch away from the beta. I hope this doesn’t mean it’s moving forward.edit: False alarm, I tried again and was able to leave the beta page, but the fact that I even got it without selecting it annoys me.
Ines wrote: "The page has been in beta for months now, and it hasn't changed. I wonder what they are doing."Wondering how to screw things up even more?
Heh, I can imagine them having a meeting, being disappointed by how the feedback isn’t as scathing as they’d expected, so they need to figure out what would make us even angrier.
Anna wrote: "Heh, I can imagine them having a meeting, being disappointed by how the feedback isn’t as scathing as they’d expected, so they need to figure out what would make us even angrier."I swear somewhere amongst the GR team the people who code the site, and the folks who monitor the customer feedback, are making this very same joke about the people who make the decisions for the site.
I don't like the new book pages which I just saw for the first time yesterday. I'm not quite sure how to change the edition I "Want to Read" without adding the default one and then in My Books, editing the version.
I haven't been thinking of this horrible thing at all for a long time, I don't even see the new page banner on book pages anymore, my brain filters it out. But I just read new librarian instructions for using the new book page, and now I'm filled with dread that it's going live soon :SNoooooo!!!!! :'(
The beta book page started showing up for me a week or two ago. I still have the option to exit it and return to the original format, but I’ve just left it on beta because I figure I’ll have to get used to it sooner or later. I don’t really do much directly on the book pages anyway. I mainly only go there to look at friend reviews.My initial reaction when I first saw it was to reflexively hit Ctrl+0 (reset zoom to 100%) because I thought I’d accidentally zoomed in. Then when nothing happened and I took a closer look, I realized I was looking at the new format. Too much white space, and excessively large images. I keep wanting to zoom out, but then the words get too small. It’s also kind of annoying to have to click a drop-down now to see all my friend reviews. I tend to adapt to interface changes pretty easily though, so I’ll get over it.
CBRetriever, not sure if it’s what you’re looking for, but you can get to the edition list on the book page through the “Book details & editions” link. (The text is black and not underlined, so it doesn’t stand out as a link.) It's a little bit below the book description, page count, and publication date. It looks like you can then select the edition you want and edit the reading status in the usual place under the cover image in the top left. Also, if you didn’t notice, you can click on “Beta” at the bottom of the screen to leave the beta for now.
I usually search by ISBN or ASN which brings up the correct edition in the search results and then I add the book to my shelf directly from the search results, so I rarely add books through the book page.
Can librarians even edit from the beta page? i cant find the "edit" link on a book without exiting the beta and going back.
Thanks! Yes, they sure buried the functions.
It boggles the mind that they have buried all of the information that is actually useful, but made the book cover image large enough to be seen from space.
Becky wrote: "It boggles the mind that they have buried all of the information that is actually useful, but made the book cover image large enough to be seen from space."This seems to be a trend on other sites as well. Three movie sites that I use (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Mubi) have also opted for the HUGE PICTURE and not much else option.
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That sure sounds like the new layout will go live soon. :/ And it's still as awful as a year ago. It doesn't seem like they implemented any of the feedback people sent.
On a completely unrelated note:
The StoryGraph just added new audiobook tracking and stats features: https://roadmap.thestorygraph.com/de/...
Just in case anybody wants to have a look before their group feature goes live.
Ines wrote: "It doesn't seem like they implemented any of the feedback people sent."Standard GR practice <_<
edit: There's a good reason to mention TSG in this thread, but if anyone wants to discuss it in general, there's a Storygraph thread! :)
Roll-outs have started and they've forced the new page on me! :[*sobs*
Info here: https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...
I can't with this today :S Go away awful page! :´(
It's even worse than I could fathom now that I actually have to *use* it. For example I can't see the date I started/finished reading on the book page, I have to click through to the review. Also marking something as read on the book page is more complicated than it used to be.I guess it's good that I'm used to doing a lot of stuff straight from the shelf, I'll have to stay there forever.
As of last night I wasn't forced onto the new book pages, but it seems like it is only a matter of time. I did learn how to get to the information I wanted, so aside from flinching at the sh*tty looking design, GR life will be more or less the same. Users will likely start getting annoyed away from the site by the ""improvements,"" though. Also, apparently "keep me signed in" means practically nothing now.
I got forced into the new page yesterday as well, it sucks so much. Feels like I’m on a shopping website. 🤬
Beth wrote: "...Also, apparently "keep me signed in" means practically nothing now...."This has driven me nuts for a good while now.
...but it's a small bother compared to the impracticality of the new book page. (Which was forced upon me a while back, too. But which has since been gone, and is yet to make a permanent comeback).
I edited the thread title since this is no longer in beta.
Beth wrote: "Users will likely start getting annoyed away from the site by the ""improvements,"" though."Ngl, I'm not enjoying this much anymore :/
I hate it. What was wrong with the book pages before that they felt a need to fix things? I still miss Shelfari...
OH MY GOSH! The Library browser extension doesn't even show up on the new GR book pages! :-(
Didn't notice any change on my iphone, but ugh, on my computer. I don't need their massive recs - that's why I use goodreads' groups - thanks SFFBC!
I got forced into it today. What garbage! And they clearly didn't address any of the complaints I made about it when I tested it last year. Thanks for the reduced usability and less information, Goodreads!
The text is ginormous on my laptop. I have to reduce the font, then when I go to any other page in GR the font is miniscule.
Yeah I can barely read the book info, ie. the reason I’m on that page, but there are MASSIVE images everywhere, and all the completely useless text is huge.I already spent some quality time with my trusty css editor, but I’ll have to keep editing because I hate everything on that page with a burning passion.
Like why doesn’t the book cover have sharp corners? Remember when the ”new” (still won’t use it) homepage gave us square covers? It’s like GR doesn’t even know what shape books are, no wonder they’re steadily making everything worse 😠
I had the new page inflicted on me yesterday. I will get used to finding what I want but I will never like the layout. It is all so BIG! Like a huge advert for something. And the endless scrolling to get to what you want is painful.
Oh well it doesn't matter any more. As of just now I can't get any book pages at all. Just an unexpected error occurred
Anna, can the click-to-reveal stuff be made visible by default by editing the CSS?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried. Do we have someone who actually knows css, I only dabble?
I hate it and my husband (who only minimumly uses the site) was screaming what have they done and how do I fix it? He mostly uses audio books and doesn't like that that it's harder to see other editions and everything is too big and he can't find anything. Told him it's not just you everyone is complaining and I can't find anything either.
I got it on the iPad now, earlier I still had the old page here. They say they’ve made this change for desktop and mobile users, but why does it look better on a tablet than on an actual computer?! Isn’t that why we have the mobile version and the crappy app, so that we can use a proper site when we’re using a proper device? Oh wait, no, this is what GR has been doing for years now, changing everything so it looks great on a phone. I’d get it if we only had the one version of the site, but we we have three and they keep optimizing the desktop version for phones.I’m so done.
I sent some feedback via the link on the "welcome" pop-up, for what it's worth. (likely absolutely nothing)
I hate it. I hate it so much. I keep trying to zoom out to actually SEE something.
I sent some more feedback, too, and I share Beth's expectation of how much good it'll do.
Anna wrote: "I’m not sure, I haven’t tried. Do we have someone who actually knows css, I only dabble?"I'm fumbling around with it. I've managed to get descriptions of a certain length to display without needing to click to expand them, but it still cuts off longer ones. I'm trying to find the code that truncates it, to disable it.
Yeah that's kinda my method, looking at what they've done, and then figuring out how to fix it :D Nothing elegant. I don't mind the hidden stuff though, the page is already so f*cking long. I fixed the margins/paddings first, that took out about half a mile of empty space.
Is it only me or does it feel really like looking at a product page on Amazon? It does have a few similarities especially that Readers also enjoyed section.
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You're right, Allison: what makes goodreads so good is the people, not the site.
On a positive note: perhaps they're also overhauling the message board part of the site, adding lots of features and functionality... okay I can't even make myself believe it. Why aren't they adding new functionality? And is all that empty white space in the preview meant to be filled with ads in the future?
I've thought of one thing I actually want them to change: the text search function for searching reviews, e.g. for specific content warnings is too far down the page right now, I have to scroll past the reviews of everyone I know first before I finally reach that little search space.