New ReMix Comment/Review Presentation

[djpretzel]

In the spirit of making April kick as much ass as possible, we've gone live with a modified ReMix detail page that incorporates comments RIGHT on the page itself, in a blog/youtube style. You can still get to the full review thread, and in fact need to in order to reply, but if you're just browsing the latest 15 comments, you don't need to leave the main mix page. We plan to do the same thing for albums.

Example: http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01830/

I'm still working on the code that parses/cleans up BBcode, so you'll see some formatting inconsistencies with URL, quote, and other elements, but in general the comments should be intelligible.

I personally prefer things this way as I feel it highlights the awesome feedback OA, DragonAvenger, Marmiduke, Polo, Dhsu, and many others provide for so many mixes. Hopefully it will encourage others to do the same.

So, what do YOU think? Post your thoughts on this change here - do keep in mind that, as stated, I'm still working on the text formatting, so pointing that out isn't necessary.

[IsolinearMoogle]

I like it.

[big giant circles]

Ha, I didn't know you were working on this. Nice jorb!

[Dj Mokram]

So far so good. It's a neat feature indeed!

This will really help appreciate a rich diversity of opinion regarding the remixes, without having to constantly switch back & forth between pages.

Added to the tagging campain currently in progress, it will help everyone gain a lot of time, and hopefully encourage people to be more productive (ie= moar reviews).

Much appreciated.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Looks good, and emphasizing the reviews is a good idea.

I'm thinking the "reviews" tab/link could be retained, as it's a fast link to the full review thread, *and* hilights the fact that there are reviews for the pieces. If you're a new user of the site, and directly head for the download (maybe only skimming the first paragraph of the writeup) you'll now miss that fact.

--Eino

[Rozovian]

Looking good. Just noticed its absence from among the other tabs and went "whoa, djp forgot to make a review thread".

This might be the time to suggest to link game threads to their database pages, in the same style that was done with the reviews.

[Gollgagh]

oh cool, I was wondering if you were ever gonna put that kind of thing back on the mix pages

[Polo]

Instead of a single anonymous poster's words getting cut off or taken out of context like in the old days, this method is far more economical. It's fair to the latest reviews/reviewers and fair to those who prefer a simpler method of comparing djp's/the Judges' comments on a mix to the community's. I myself read the reviews already posted before I finalize my feedback (so I don't unwittingly repeat what someone else has said), so it's a boon. I'm still breaking my habit of looking to the top left of the threads for the "main" tab, but it's nothing I can't get used to.

I'm also flattered djp finds my reviews "awesome" enough to be noted in his post above. <3

[Palpable]

Looking good! I used to love reading the comments while listening to the song when we had the last.fm player, so if/when we get something streaming back, that'll be really cool. Is there any reason you don't want to also have the reviews tab at the top? I liked having access to the thread without scrolling down.

[Platinum Azure]

I just noticed this myself a few minutes ago... I like the concept, definitely.

I'll get back to you later on whether I think the presentation needs any work.

[djpretzel]

Looking good! I used to love reading the comments while listening to the song when we had the last.fm player, so if/when we get something streaming back, that'll be really cool. Is there any reason you don't want to also have the reviews tab at the top? I liked having access to the thread without scrolling down.

I could reinstate it, but here's the thing... I'm in the process of sort of re-envisioning how the tabs work in general. The problem is that in some places (homepage) they're being employed as site-wide navigation across huge areas (forums, wiki, etc.) and then on detail pages they're being used for scoped views specific to that data. From a navigational perspective, I want something cleaner, where there's no "role-changing"...

I don't know, I'm rambling... hopefully that made sense. If I can't figure out what I want in a week or two, I'll reinstate that tab until I can.

[SwordBreaker]

Nice, nice. I like, I excite.

[K.B.]

Makes sense, djp, but from the perspective a relatively new poster, this site can be a bit confusing in how many locations have navigation functions. For instance, I still always forget about the tabs on the main site until I click on the sidebar or the nav buttons at the top of the page... I don't realize the tabs are there until I'm in one of those main areas; they stand out better once off the main page. I'm not trying to complain here, I'm just saying don't toil over making it perfect. Especially since, btw, it's pretty awesome already.

Regardless, this is very cool! On the first page I viewed it made instant sense to have it this way. And, of course, I hope this will attract more reviewers (and hopefully positive reviewers at that).

[vindkast]

I think this is a really, really great feature that will help the remixing community as a whole by encouraging feedback (and "rewarding" it by making it more visible).

I was just saying over on OLR that I don't think the fans of the remixing community fully realize the effect that positive feedback has on remixers. Many people feel they should only comment on a song if they can offer constructive criticism-- they don't realize that a simple post of "i liek this" might be enough to encourage the remixer to keep making music.

I've never commented on a change before, but I think this one (simple as it is) is a great step in the right direction for the remixing community. I hope it encourages more feedback, no matter how trivial. And I hope more changes down the road focus on feedback, comments, artist encouragement.

nice job djp, appreciate the effort, as always

[Moguta]

Awesome new feature. Hopefully this will get more people to register and review mixes.

Also, I love how the OCR Mascot Bios project has finally been implemented. Progress!

I could reinstate it, but here's the thing... I'm in the process of sort of re-envisioning how the tabs work in general. The problem is that in some places (homepage) they're being employed as site-wide navigation across huge areas (forums, wiki, etc.) and then on detail pages they're being used for scoped views specific to that data. From a navigational perspective, I want something cleaner, where there's no "role-changing"...

I don't know, I'm rambling... hopefully that made sense. If I can't figure out what I want in a week or two, I'll reinstate that tab until I can.

I think tabs on the ReMix pages could be outright eliminated. Instead of a download tab, you could simply make the "Download MP3" link a script-generated link to a random mirror. I always wondered exactly why OC ReMix showcases the multiple servers its files come from, when most other major sites distribute server load without showing the users that its happening. Also, if certain mirrors wish to receive less or more of the load than others, you can program that in too.

As far as the chiptunes tab, perhaps a link like "Download original chiptunes" could be placed near the "Download MP3" link, with a smaller "Won't play?" link beneath to Chipamp?

One reason I see for eliminating these ReMix-page tabs is their JavaScript implementation. Many tabs on the site give expected behavior with back/forward browser actions, but these do not.

[herograw]

pretty slick

[KyleJCrb]

I think this is a really, really great feature that will help the remixing community as a whole by encouraging feedback (and "rewarding" it by making it more visible).

I was just saying over on OLR that I don't think the fans of the remixing community fully realize the effect that positive feedback has on remixers. Many people feel they should only comment on a song if they can offer constructive criticism-- they don't realize that a simple post of "i liek this" might be enough to encourage the remixer to keep making music.

I've never commented on a change before, but I think this one (simple as it is) is a great step in the right direction for the remixing community. I hope it encourages more feedback, no matter how trivial. And I hope more changes down the road focus on feedback, comments, artist encouragement.

nice job djp, appreciate the effort, as always

I can't say it much better than that. This is a great change that benefits both those giving the feedback and the remixers. Nice work.

[Arian]

GREAT improvement!!!

[CPacaud]

Very nice, I actually went back to my old remixes to see if there were new comments. Quick'n'easy.

[Sinewav]

I definitely like this. Putting the comments on the main song page should really help get more reviews posted. Heck, I'll probably wind up reviewing more because of it.

Something needs to be done about the scrolling down thing though. Kinda of confused me at first, and a bet a lot of people who don't read the write-ups will miss it. Maybe you could have a narrower/abridged comments section on the side (with a "read more" button that takes you to the vBulletin version), right underneath the eStarland ad? Just throwing ideas out there.

[Platonist]

Yah, this will probably up things for the better.

Great ideas come these days. =D

However i miss being able to read the right-wing information while pressing the download links .. it just vanishes there.. kinda annoying if you wanna rename the file

EDIT: oh sry, it's not there anymore at all, it's only on the top of the main-page. but the effect is still the same

[Dunther]

I think it's a good thing, but I don't like the new layout of the game images...