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Poster:
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pegzmasta |
Date:
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Mar 23, 2016 4:57pm |
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Forum:
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general
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Subject:
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Re: What happened to the actual Internet Archive? |
It's good that you have these links saved (not everyone can find the "
Most recent posts" link).
Maybe if the Archive is not willing to fix their own links, then I'll ask and see if garthus (or anyone else whose interested) can help out. Ignoring the visual aspect of things: We know it's easy to turn
the forums page with 3% of working links into a forums page with 100% of working links (some are censored due to content). Obviously fixing the forum problem requires more than just that kind of fix, but it should at least
start with that kind of fix.
The next step would be to make specific links easier to find. Perhaps including the "
Most recent posts" link throughout all forums would allow users to maintain an abstract visibility on the overall conversations in the community, whilst still maintaining focus in there specific forum. Another thing that I think is important is to allow users to comment on how the Archive's interface or features currently function for them on their browser, and allowing them to rate certain features, and to even contribute code and ideas if they want to improve something.
Maybe the admins or Achivists believe it's
far-fetched to report bugs when they are spotted, but how can a bug be fixed if we don't identify it first? Maybe they think that it's only good enough to have links bring you
close to your destination, rather than directly to your destination. What about new users? If a link does not point to the right spot, won't new users have a hard time navigating this site? Isn't it lazy to think: "Oh, they'll figure it out eventually; we've got a button on that page– they just need to find it and click on it." Some may say that I am splitting hairs, but I'm not just thinking about myself: I'm thinking about new users, as well as the
larger 65% of computer users, and of course researchers who themselves say this website is in dire need of improvement (these users we simply can't afford to drive away, for they are our greatest potential contributors).
I know you already know all of this
PD, but I'm wondering how new users will react when they understand the sorry state of things here. Hopefully, garthus will have us an alternate
INFOPORTAL soon; the lack of feedback is too disappointing for such a great website. It seems like Jeff is doing all of this by himself. I wish another admin or Archivist would chime in, and enlighten us on where the Archive is going with all these so called "
improvements"; better yet, the programmers who are implementing said features should be helping out– they are in the best position for fixing the forum problem.
This post was modified by pegzmasta on 2016-03-23 23:57:52
