Journals Exist! Go and Have a Look at Them 😎 3 3

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:45 AM, CGC Mike said:

I am sorry but, we have made no progress on this.  

Okey dokey.

[Get Marwood & I]

For those following this thread, running journals here, or who are interested in reading them, I have contacted a member of management at Invision and made my case for the comments filter, referring him to this thread. He said it was a 'fine suggestion' and will be speaking to the development team to hopefully have it included saying it would be 'simple enough to fix'. Apparently, we here on the CGC Forum are using the journals in a way that Invision were not expecting, hence the absence of what would otherwise have been considered an obvious filter choice.

Fingers crossed that's the case and maybe we will see the capability added in a future update. I'll look out for it.

In the meantime, those wondering why your journals get so little traffic, don't lose heart. Your comments have very little visibility presently, and many members won't even be aware that you've posted - especially those with an ad-block in place (which apparently eliminates the journals side bar).

Getting a comments filter added will be a great step forward  

[troydivision1]

Thanks for all the 'leg work' and drive you put into this.

[Get Marwood & I]

A final update on this from me - my Invision contact hasn't followed up and has ignored my (single) "did you speak to the tech guys?" chaser. It's hard to help some people, isn't it, and it's a little demeaning constantly chasing them. I'm trying to help them make their product better, after all, and have put a lot of effort into clarifying what the issues are and what could be done. Still, that seems to be the way of the world lately.

I did find this on the Invision website while browsing blog related comments from other website users - someone was complaining that there were too many blog (journal) reference points on their site, prompting the Invision lead to respond with this:

As that and this thread of mine shows, the journals do seem to annoy some people. I don't get it myself - they're just user content in a different format - but at least someone at Invision has a sense of humour about it!

Anyway, it's clear that no one wants to help me with this, or is appreciative of the efforts I've put in, so I'm stepping back now and won't be using the journals here at CGC again. It's a shame, I enjoyed them and had a lot more to add, but there's really no point if no one knows that they even exist let alone that you're posting in them. I do think it was worth the effort however, over the last year or so to try and get some visibility - the software has much to commend it and could be used to great effect - but sooner or later you have to admit defeat and move on. No one likes a whinger, after all, and that's regrettably how you end up feeling when you take up a cause with CGC. It's their site though, and they can do as they please, when they please, if they please.

See you at Wordpress! 

[OtherEric]

Thank you for trying on this.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:05 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

On 10/4/2022 at 6:06 PM, CGC Mike said:

As of right now, we are not sure what is possible.  It is very complicated.  We are both in agreement that the current journal format is a long way from great.  I would like it to go back to the same threaded form like the other forums are.  We are looking into what is possible.  As soon as that is determined, we can come up with a plan.  I know this isn't much help but, it's the only news I can offer at this time.

A month on, any update for us Mike?

Have Invision confirmed if it is possible to add 'Comments' to the Sort By filter?

Hi Mike, one last try on this as it's been almost a year since your meeting with Dena 

Have you or anyone else at CGC still got a plan in course relating to the journal visibility issues that I identified in this thread? Is anyone actively working with Invision on the comments filter that I outlined, which Invision said "shouldn't be a problem"? What a big difference that would make.

If the answer is I say thee NAY!, and is going to stay as I say thee NAY!, we can take it  

@CGC Mike

[CGC Mike]

Dena is no longer associated with the forum.  Let me send someone else a link to this thread.

[Get Marwood & I]

Oh, that's a shame. I'd have liked to have said goodbye. 

Thanks for forwarding the link. 

[CGC Mike]

I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with the Senior Site Reliability Engineer regarding this.  

[Get Marwood & I]

Thank you 

[dena]

On 8/10/2023 at 10:12 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Oh, that's a shame. I'd have liked to have said goodbye. 

Thanks for forwarding the link. 

 I'm still around...just focused solely on a special project in another area of the business.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/11/2023 at 1:25 PM, dena said:

 I'm still around...just focused solely on a special project in another area of the business.

Oh good, you're still here 

Good luck with the special project!

[CGC Mike]

There wasn't anything in the settings to improve Visibility of the journals.  So, I have recommended to the  Senior Site Reliability Engineer that he ask Invision if they can fix it so every time someone posts in an existing journal, it would boost it to the top of the page  like the regular threads do.  

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/12/2023 at 1:33 AM, CGC Mike said:

There wasn't anything in the settings to improve Visibility of the journals.  So, I have recommended to the  Senior Site Reliability Engineer that he ask Invision if they can fix it so every time someone posts in an existing journal, it would boost it to the top of the page  like the regular threads do.  

 

Thanks. The 'sort by' filter is the key, I think. If your SSRE isn't familiar with the journals, and has any questions having read the suggestions in this thread, he can always drop me a line. Good luck.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/12/2023 at 7:37 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

On 8/12/2023 at 1:33 AM, CGC Mike said:

There wasn't anything in the settings to improve Visibility of the journals.  So, I have recommended to the  Senior Site Reliability Engineer that he ask Invision if they can fix it so every time someone posts in an existing journal, it would boost it to the top of the page  like the regular threads do.  

 

Thanks. The 'sort by' filter is the key, I think. If your SSRE isn't familiar with the journals, and has any questions having read the suggestions in this thread, he can always drop me a line. Good luck.

Coming up to a month now Mike. Any update?

Is the filter possible?

[CGC Mike]

On 9/7/2023 at 3:51 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Coming up to a month now Mike. Any update?

Is the filter possible?

The filter is not possible at this time.

[Phicks]

I never looked at the Journals until I saw this thread.  Now that I have, I am confused as to how they differ from just starting a new thread on the chat boards?

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 9/9/2023 at 10:02 PM, Phicks said:

I never looked at the Journals until I saw this thread.  Now that I have, I am confused as to how they differ from just starting a new thread on the chat boards?

It would only be one per member and each member has they're dedicated thread to talk about whatever and so on. If people got unruly for example mods would clarify it's your thread to discuss, ie instead of multiple "new threads all over the place to talk about whatever"

Lol hopefully that is clear. Even after a journal post if enough people were talking, then I suppose you could start a new thread elsewhere for more public discussion.

Nothing wrong with starting a thread that benefits everyone publicly. Just look at journals as more personalized to the individual who started it.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 9/10/2023 at 4:02 AM, Phicks said:

I never looked at the Journals until I saw this thread.  Now that I have, I am confused as to how they differ from just starting a new thread on the chat boards?

The format and functionality are different and the journals have a separate location to standard board threads which makes them hard to find. They have much to commend them however - there is a lot you can do that you can't with standard posting which suits those wishing to share information in a certain way. But they are largely invisible due to Invision, their creator, failing to anticipate how people would use them. Add to that that CGC have expressed no interest in them at all, having dumped them on us without any thought in that act of vandalism some years ago (the existing journals were ruled off and cancelled, which upset a lot of people who subsequently gave up).

You can see that I've been battling away for some time now to get the journals greater recognition, here and elsewhere, but all I get is blunt, emotionless one line responses to specific questions whenever I try to push for help. I've put a lot of effort in over the last two years and have not received one comment from CGC that even remotely resembles a thank you in all that time. So my advice to you, given with a heavy heart, is this Phicks: don't bother with the journals. They are impenetrable and there is clearly no plan to make them penetrable. 

[CGC Mike]

The only thing that I  can do to give the journals more visibility, is create a journals forum that is the same format as all of the other forums.  If a majority is on board with this, I will make it so.