The site works much better on my laptop, but I generally use an iPad.
No kidding!
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I wasn’t sure where (or whether) to post this, but since you mentioned performance issues… I’ve had Task Manager (Windows 10, desktop) up next to my browser window (Firefox, currently), and it has a column for “Power usage”. When I’m on this site, the status is usually “Very high”. Sometimes just “High”. This is even when I’m just reading a page, not scrolling or going from page to page. Any other sites I visit may show “High” briefly when a new page loads, but then settle back to “Low” or “Very low” once I’m just looking at stable data. So something is going on in the background - I hope that’s what you’re referring to and looking into. On a desktop, maybe not that big a deal, but as many others have mentioned, it seriously cuts into battery life on other devices.
It’s a big deal on desktops too. Over the last year, it’s become increasingly clear that College Confidential has suffered because it’s slow to load and slow to respond to user actions. One of our goals for this platform has been to increase usefulness by increasing performance you see in your browser. We are currently missing that mark. But I believe we are making progress.
Thanks @CC_Jon Never easy to switch platforms and look forward to things improving.
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Interestingly I have notice no loading problems or lag time whatsoever, but my ad blocker is showing it has blocked 323 things and I haven’t even been on that long. I’m on Firefox on a laptop BTW.
I am not having any success using this new site on either my kindle or iPhone. After being a member for 5 years and learning so much about the college process, I will hang my hat and stop coming to this site.
I feel really bad for all the new parents. There is so much to learn and honestly this site has helped our family so much.
Please make it easy to navigate again. Parents need this site. It’s an amazing teaching tool.
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Now that I’m getting used to it (old dog, new tricks syndrome), I’m liking this version better than the old. I’m fortunate that I’m on a laptop, so not experiencing many of the problems those of you on tablets and phones are getting.
It’s been getting better on the laptop too - fixes I presume. I haven’t had to reconnect my internet in a couple of days now.
Still concerned about the data usage and the fact that the fan is running all of the time, but that’s it at this point. Well, maybe the emails too, but since I don’t check that email account, if they’re piling up there it hardly bothers me. I can ignore all the badges or levels or whatever.
I like being able to see what’s new more easily than before, both for posts in threads I post on and what’s been posted across the forum. I like being able to edit whenever I spot a typo I’ve made. I look forward to possibly being able to add pictures.
For my device, it’s new, but I’m changing from severely disliking it to liking it as I’ve learned more. I don’t access the forum on my phone.
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I remember when you said it would take a “few hours” to transition between Vanilla and Discourse. The issue with device battery drainage is huge, as is the power usage desktops.
I don’t understand how these issues couldn’t have been foreseen. This has been worked on for months, after all, yes?
I just look at a few areas on CC, and will be able to muddle through. It looks like I’ll be spending a lot less time on CC, since post counts are so few.
If the students see their phone batteries being drained, though, they will abandon this site. Is that a complicated fix?
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Plain and simple, if the site does not work largely the same for most users on most devices at any given time, the site will suffer from activity. Activity meaning # of posts, posters, new threads, etc. So one person saying things are “ok now” on their laptop or phone or whatever is no consolation when many others are having issues.
An online experience should be smooth and efficient. Many of us have busy lives that we’d like to include CC but if it becomes too difficult or a time suck in terms of waiting for a page to load, then we will spend less time here which means overall, less content for users and ad exposure, etc.
I will give credit where credit is due and say that @CC_Jon is open to ideas/thoughts and has been pretty honest at times and not acting like the know-it-all. I appreciate that you do not brush off individual posts that are a cry for help or a nod to helping.
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Well I notice some things being addressed so thank you. Trying to get the hang of things.
Noone has answered the question about the long list of Musical Theater schools. Can this be explained at least if they are not going to be removed? Is it just to fill the space?!
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Also it looks like we cannot see whether anyone liked our posts (the heart is missing on our own posts), and we cannot see who liked posts for others as we used to.
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I don’t have any official connection to CC, and I have 4 wonderful kids without a lick of musical talent, so take this for what it is worth.
The MT process is very different from the regular one. I think it makes sense, both for their benefit and ours, to keep those discussions separate. Otherwise we are going to be giving each other bad advice.
I think the problem right now is that they take up so much real estate on the forums page. Although I am so happy to have that back to an easily skimmable format that I’m not going to complain. The last couple years I only used “latest” unless I was really intent on seeking something out. Tbh other than the forums I used regularly I wasn’t even aware of what the others were. They were too hard to find.
Not a fan. I came to this thread to comment (on a computer) and I had to scroll all the way to the very bottom of all the comments before I could add my comment. What a time consuming nuisance. Why can’t we quickly get to the last comment? For some threads, they are just too long to scroll to the very end, so I might just stop reading them.
I do like the font - it is very readable. The rest - not a fan of the changes.
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The constant shifting and jumping has to stop. That, and the massive power drain. If a website doesn’t work properly then how it looks doesn’t matter.
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When I am at home I usually read my emails, FB, Instagram, and CC on my iPhone. I rarely use my home computer. Today I am at work and finally had a chance to try the new format on my computer and it is a million times better than on my phone. But that will definitely limit my use.
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There is so much problems and tips to scroll through on these “new board” threads -this and the one(s) on the Community Forum Issues page that it’s hard to keep track of tips and for what device. I almost feel like there should be a phone (Apple and Android separate threads), iPad or tablet, laptop/desktop - all separate threads.
My best solution I’ve found is once a day to check new threads by going to the main parent cafe page. There isn’t much activity of course.
Then when I come on (usually on desktop or laptop) I click the three black lines next to my avatar at the top right of my screen . “Unread” will show me any threads I have participated in (or read?) that have new posts. I click on those one at a time to catch up.
But like I said before, I feel like now I have to click, click, click to get ANYTHING read. SO MUCH clicking.
@dadof4kids there is already a MT major forum under “majors.” Isn’t the list redundant? And why only MT?
Some thoughts after using the new site for a few days: (I typically visit on a laptop, with a larger accessory screen).
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I see no benefit to the circles showing the latest posters. They’re too small even on my large screen to tell who is there, but even if I could, I really don’t care to see it again. I typically scroll through the posts, and see who has posted. The dots use up too much valuable space. The visual layout may be slightly more interesting, but I’m here for the content, and ease of use.
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I really miss seeing the number of posts by each poster. It gave an indication of how long they’ve been on the boards. Most long term members, I know by name by now, but not all. Plus I was just finally awarded a “senior” member in the old system after 18+ years
Seriously, I don’t care about all the awards. And, at this point, the only statement about most posters are that they’ve been on the boards “at least 1 year”. That is not very informative. -
When I am typing in the reply box, and scroll up or down, the main page moves. So I lose my place.
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It is still frustrating to visit an old page, and have to re-find where I last left off. Once done, it solves the problem, so I assume over time this will correct itself,
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It seems there is a lot of white space on my monitor. I rarely visited on my cell, as it is a small one, and too hard to read. Will try on the tablet next.
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This site is working pretty well on my iPad now. But oh my…it’s really really challenging on my IPhone (which I don’t use that often for this forum). IPhone…tons of scrolling. Pages hopping around. When writing a post, the text box hops around all over the place. Sometimes the text box doesn’t load at all. No options for fonts boldface, etc…in the text box on my iPhone. Can’t flag problem posts on the iPhone at all.
But generally, the kinks a week ago are getting worked out as I use my iPad. It’s not difficult to navigate. I do miss page numbers. I wish there was some way to differentiate between read and not read threads…I miss the boldface that did that.
Still think the trust levels are not going to be helpful. Everyone will likely end up at trust level two because of the number of responses on the number of posts needed to be level 3. As someone who has been around the block here for a long while…I think that doesn’t help readers.
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