We're not in Kansas any more Toto...

2007-12-28T20:50:51Z

Welcome to Kudocities!

Whilst you were off eating mince pies, opening pretty packages and being drunken buffoons – all in the name of Baby Jesus of course – we were busy taking the training wheels off Fridaycities. We’re all grown up now and ready to take on the world. Or at least a little bit more of it.

Kudocities works much the same way that Fridaycities did. It’s all about making the most of the city you live in and hopefully making some friends along the way. But, in our humble opinion, it’s a little slicker and a lot prettier as it goes about it.

One of the first things you’ll notice is that kudos play a much bigger part of the site. And in the coming weeks and months there will be lots of exciting ways to spend your hard earned karmic currency in the real world. From bars and restaurants to books and music to gigs and parties. Woohoo!

We’ve also made the site a lot smarter. From your tags it will suggest new questions for you every day. It will draw your attention to the team’s favourite conversations. And best of all, you don’t have to go through the moderation process anymore! (There are still a few failsafes so don’t be getting too froggy.) It does a lot of other stuff too, but we’ll let you get acquainted with it in your own time.

We’re treating these next few weeks as a soft launch. We think the site’s great but frankly it’s your opinion, yes yours, that counts. So share. Tell us what you like, what you hate and what, if anything, you don’t get. In return we’ll send you some kudos – natch.

All existing members’ profiles have been imported into the new site so all you need do is log in as normal. If you’ve just come across us now, or were a ‘lurker’ on fridaycities, sign up! It’s both big and clever. Do it. Do it now.

Whoever you are, we hope you like the new site. And we hope you had a very wonderful Christmas. We’re very much looking forward to the New Year…

Team KC x

2007-12-28T21:53:00Z

Hope it all works out. Looking forward to being part of it. See? I’ve checked my cynicism at the door.

2007-12-28T22:03:51Z

Hello. I was quite happy mostly lurking with the occasional log in to post. Are we always going to have to log in to view the site from now on? I don’t much like being tracked…. At least it doesn’t take 5 hours for every page to load now though.

2007-12-28T22:12:26Z

course you’re not in kansas, there are witches here

2007-12-28T22:18:15Z

Right now, all I need you to do is move the premium online/online tagline away from the comments KCers are making. It’s annoying me just a little.

Thank you.

2007-12-28T22:37:25Z

I miss being able to see who is online or isn’t.

You are messing with my ~~stalking~~ observations.

And plllllllllleeeeeeeeeease bring back the preview for comments…

2007-12-28T23:03:03Z

Hmmm, I’m not wild about how my messages are now displayed. But I do really like the reply thingy.

Everything is rather large.

I’m pretty sure I like it.

2007-12-28T23:03:29Z

Where did my watchlist go? Well, I can see where it is, but it says I’m not watching any thing. And I was. I just can’t remember what they were, which was why they were in my watchlist, so I wouldn’t have to remember….

2007-12-28T23:18:52Z

hoorays.

that is all

2007-12-29T01:47:31Z

Can we stop the premium thing getting in the way? Awesome.

2007-12-29T08:15:41Z

blimey! Haven’t had a chance to check it all out yet but good on yer. Like the look. A new start for a new year. Hurrah and all good things to you xx

2007-12-29T10:54:28Z

Is this where you want us to tell you what we like and what we don’t? I can’t change my picture – I’m only trying to change it to an image I used on the old site, so it can’t be the file. Can you check that this bit is working?

I also think it would be good if you could reply to specific replies on a thread and be notified if someone replies to your reply. You know, like on Facebook.

You also need to sort out the online payment thing. No one in their right mind sends a cheque to subscribe to something like this.

Otherwise, it all seems lovely.

2007-12-29T11:26:42Z

The premium banner is making me angry. Other than that, some instructions would be nice, i.e how do you change to other cities?

2007-12-29T11:27:03Z

Oh, and the new site is very quick. Which is nice.

2007-12-29T12:16:15Z

What Tikki said.

2007-12-29T12:28:25Z

BNM, can you say that again? BNM, can you say that again? I’ve just typed the same sentence twice, so you can see what I’m saying.

2007-12-29T13:00:13Z

Oh, and I mourn the loss of my watch list. I can’t remember who I like. I need the computer to tell me these things.

2007-12-29T14:11:43Z

I can’t change my profile pic. And I always change my profile pic.

I feel so used…

2007-12-29T15:25:22Z

On my computer, Mizz Beagle, your profile pic has changed from the bear’s footprints to the glass. (Plus my eye is still the multicoloured one I changed it to this morning.)

I only have one last gripe:

Can Kudocities please give back all the messages previously posted on my profile page?

And if not, why not?

2007-12-29T15:52:14Z

Better. Slicker. More interesting at first glance… although, as Carla points out, everything is a bit large just now. Nice work though. HNY you lot. Onwards…..

2007-12-29T17:13:14Z

Is it only IE7 with… Is it only IE7 with the problem with “premium” and “premium online” sitting off the side of everyone’s pics? If so I’d guess you’re finding a workaround for that.No-one else has mentioned it, so is it just me who things the typeface in all the normal copy is rendering oddly?

I don’t love a couple of minor things like “I think X is hot” instead of the fancy thing (which seemed tonally non-serious rather than slightly ick), but that’s pretty subjective so hey ho. I don’t love the fact that you have to click in 3 places to effectively see your whole profile now. And I don’t actually like my personal stuff (like my watchlist) appearing on my FCL homepage rather than in a profile area. No idea why, I just don’t. Maybe I’m weird. Can I not see messages I’ve whispered to people now by the way?

These are all pretty minor and I’m sure will be fine once we all get used to it.

I think it’s a big branding change as well and I’ll be interested to see how that goes – I can’t imagine all of us calling it anything other than “FCL” for a long while…

Otherwise – looks good, well done, nice work, Merry Christmas.

2007-12-29T18:21:57Z

..........Tum te tum te tum… (twiddles fingers). Has the word “premium” finished yet? Ah, good. My thoughts:
– I’m finding it a bit harder to browse a the moment. Maybe I’ll get used to it, but the “Home” page doesn’t quite have all the stuff it needs to be the central page you keep going via.
– I’m glad there’s a much longer list of “recently-active” conversations on the front “Knowledge” page.
– I don’t think it’s a good idea to have ALL the tags for the whole thread on the front “Knowledge” page. The reason is pretty clear if you look at the effect the “Top Fives- c’mon, spill again..” thread is having on it at the moment.
– Has the “Events” page disappeared?
– That “Premium” thing is really annoying. Not just the current position of the word and the fact that it’s getting in the way (although that’s the main reason), but also, I don’t think it’s THAT important to us. Wouldn’t a more subtle indication, such as having our name in bold, or just a little “P” indicator next to our name or photo, be enough?
– Are we not going to be allowed to lurk/browse without logging on any more? That would be bad. If that is the case, I’m probably going to have an “Anonymous” alias as well as my real one, just for lurking/browsing. That’ll teach you.

2007-12-29T20:30:29Z

What’s the sitch with posting events – has that function gone completely?

2007-12-29T23:37:50Z

Oh wow… Not only have I got back the saved messages previously posted on my profile page, but I now also have every single message I’ve deleted since joining the now-defunct FCL…

2007-12-30T11:38:05Z

Hm. I don’t have my message history at all. Where have they gone then? CarmenM presumably that’s what you’re talking about, but yours are back now? I’d like mine too but clearly without the deleted ones!

Also how can you view your non-public message, either sent or received… I can’t work that out.

2007-12-30T12:13:40Z

Oooh, isn’t this pretty?

2007-12-30T16:12:02Z

Do you have any plans to form a Sunshine Band?

2007-12-30T16:22:39Z

why don’t the pcitures have peoples names under them any more?

2007-12-30T18:00:57Z

lalalalalalalal…. BNM you thief! :)

2007-12-30T18:19:30Z

Not at all, Fi. But I now see why it looked that way.

2007-12-31T00:55:17Z

blah blah blah blah stupid tag

1) That “premium” tag is really, really annoying.

2) The names have gone from under the pictures- very minor, but slightly annoying.

3) You can’t call it “KCL” as that is the name of my university and I might get confused (again, minor).

4) I really, really am not happy about having to pay £24 up from the £12 it was this time last year- what extra features are there that would cause it to double in price? Looking at the site at the moment, not enough to warrent to extra!

All of these are just my thoughts though, so feel free to ignore.

2007-12-31T01:03:05Z

Having people’s names under the pictures would be useful; some people never change their profile pictures, but many do and it will get confusing, I think.

The premium tag is sitting at the top of the pictures for me fine. I will echo the comments about its lack of importance to us, but I do understand why you have done it.

2007-12-31T09:39:27Z

Dear Sir, I am excited to see the new internet so well designed.

However, I would like to see a return of the preview pane. It allowed users to contemplate and delete their drivel before posting. A site bouncer helping with the editorial dress code, I suppose.

You may also like to categorise the questions sections in a clearer fashion. In the war, we labelled the enemy squareheads, huns, eyties and tojo to allow the chaps to better identify who they were shooting in the face that day. The same concept may be useful here.

Well done, though. Looks cracking. Kind regards UncleGeorge, Maj, Ret’d Tunbridge Wells

2007-12-31T10:51:58Z

Please just bring the old one back. It was better.

All this talk of new and exciting things you can do with Kudos is a ~~bit annoying~~ big lie.

Woo

2007-12-31T12:27:16Z

Blahblahblahblahblahblah and hopefully I’m past the premium tag now …

What is OpenID thankyouplease?

2007-12-31T14:05:29Z

Much better in that I like the big type. Very handy for shortsighted people like me. Especially as I can’t find my glasses and can’t be bothered to put in my contact lenses right now. And it all seems a lot faster. Not completely used to the new layout but once I get back to full-time skiving – ahem, work – I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

2008-01-02T10:50:00Z

- Everytime I see premium, I think that person’s either online, or a type of lager. It’s a bit crap and makes everyone’s photos look even more squashed than useful.

- Names – actually quite important, yes?

- White space. Get rid of it.

- £24. You bloody WHAT? That’s the same as Private Eye give or take three quid. You are actually having a laugh.

- The name is the worst thing I’ve ever heard. I’m going off to have a sulk and a read of Willster/BBB’s old threads to remind me of when fields were green/FCL didn’t resemble some corporate overthrow run by the terminally techniblind.

2008-01-02T14:01:52Z

Where’s my watchlist gone? Other than that, I’m still deciding.

2008-01-02T19:08:24Z

It’s also a bit too white. It’s giving me a headache.

2008-01-02T21:27:09Z

what kinkyfantastic said and I can’t see how you can delete messages

2008-01-03T18:11:02Z

Not what kinkyfantastic said. I think she’s being just a bit unfair. White space is good. Think of it as minimalism and you’ll suddenly like it, too. The large type is OK for the reason snuffles gave.

£24 does sound a bit steep, but I think over the past year I’ve had more than £24 worth of laughs – more than you get from the Eye these days – and have certainly met more than £24 worth of friends. Everything else is just minor touching up and dusting down.

2008-01-03T22:37:12Z

I too think £24 ain’t so bad for all the reasons BNM mentioned.

Especially the minor touching up…

2008-01-04T02:28:42Z

I remember when it was all fields round here….....

2008-01-04T13:46:59Z

BNM – yes, but not viz. The site does look rather good, though it’s not quite as convenient (due to bigness) for sneaky tiny window at work viewing. I still don’t regret giving away all my kudos, though – just too competitive to not want to have the most, etc… my precious...

Hmmm… I think I quite like it here. Thanks, teamkudo!

2008-01-06T15:44:31Z

£24 worth of new friends, BNM? It used to be that you could buy a friend with a packet of monster munch. The £24 price should allot me almost 100 new friends by that ratio; if not, I’m asking for a refund.

I’d like to have previews of posted conversations on the front page – right now, there’s a message titled “Has anyone been here?” and I have no idea where ‘here’ is so I’m not participating in the thread. Yes, I could just click on it to find out, but I’m a lazy internet user and so that’s not the kind of thing I’m prone to do.

2008-01-07T21:17:13Z

edited to hide stupidity on my part

2008-01-08T13:46:26Z

Yes please, names back under people’s pictures. I’m getting awfully confused. And smaller font. And less white or I shall have to wear sunglasses indoors and thus will look like a plonker. Thanking you.

Otherwise I love how much faster it is, and I think I like my new profile page, though i miss previews of my messages cos i get the spaces all wrong and i can’t check what they’re going to look like now.

2008-01-08T13:49:32Z

Also, I think it would be nice if you gave everyone a Kudoswarming present…of 500 kudos. Just to get us all started, like….