BlogHer's New Web Site

The RSS button is just missing from each group. The team is working to bring back the buttons and they might even have that ready to go this weekend.

(In the meantime, if you have a browser that includes the RSS icon in the address bar, you can click that to grab the feed for all of our content level pages.)

Here's the feed url for Midlife Sonata http://www.blogher.com/node/82985/feed

Let me know if you have another group feed that you'd like me to snag for you.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net/ )

The group that most interests me in BlogHer is Midlife Sonata. I used to get a feed specifically of posts tagged to that group. Now I have to make an effort to remember to go there (first searching for it, since it doesn't show up as a subscribed group in my profile).

Just wanted to add my voice saying that it would be great if we could have a way to fine-tune the feed process so we can get the blog posts most relevant to our interests. Thanks!

Thanks, Denise!!

On the home page, (and topic level pages), we have an entire tab dedicated to comments now.

Go to http://www.blogher.com -> see the section that says Recent Activity -> Posts -> Comments. Click Comments. You can sort that by comments on Contributing Editor blog posts or by comments on content created by Bloggers.

Many have asked for the return of the old comments block, on the right nav, and I think we'll see it come back in some form or another - maybe on pages where this comment tab doesn't appear.

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

It looks like everyone has been working very hard!  You even inspired me, to revamp my site, too.

Are the (real time?) little blogger profile photos going to display anymore, on the main page, when someone is commenting?  I just love(ed) those so much, as it always inspired me to find out more about the bloggers and the articles.  But I'm slow to figure this stuff out, so maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place now?

Lots of Love,

ID

Yeah, being redirected to the .css file is a bit... unusual. :)

I access via bookmarks. I was at http://www.blogher.com - the main page, then clicked on login, entered the login credentials, and was directed to the .css.

It hasn't happened again since, and for me, it's not a big deal - I can find my way anywhere. But an inexperienced user might get very confused very fast.

Can you email me (denise@blogher.com) so I can get some info about your browser/operating system. I know some internet explorer users are struggling with it.

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

I'm still having problems. Haven't read chatter since the new site was launched. Keeps saying it's downloading (or maybe it's uploading:) but I'll try to scroll down and the whole page looks like a giant bar code.

If you've got a feed that isn't working, email denise@blogher.comn and I can assist you.

Thanks for your patience!

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

;-)

How do you access BlogHer? via bookmark? feedreader? Just type it in? I didn't realize that you actually were redirected to the css file - I thought you had the same url in the address window and were simply seeing the Css.

oy.

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

And apparently, typing is a challenge for me today...

It happened just before I left the above comment.

A refresh would not work to get out of that since the URL was http://blogher.com/whatever.css.I was directed to the .css file.

I'm usine Firefox 3.6 on Mac OS Snow Leopard.

I haven't had a problem with being logged out or with the CSS file.

If either of these issues happened on Wednesday night, Pacific Time, then it's possibly related to some maintenance the team was doing.

Did both of these issues happen just prior to you leaving this comment? (3/12 - 12:55am CT) Did a refresh get you out of .css?

What browser and version of the browser are you using? And what's your OS?

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

Two issues. One is definitely a bug.

First, I had to log in. Why didn't my cookies work? I had to log in again two days ago. Is this a side effect of Blogher changes? It could conceivably be a bug on my end, except I'm not having a problem with any other sites.

Two, definitely a bug. Immediately after I logged in, the page refreshed as it should, but instead of getting a real page, it loaded the .css file. Only the .css file. Which is interesting in its own way, I suppose, but not what should be popping up. :)

You are one of mine and Denise's peoples! I really, really miss My BlogHer. I used to live in My BlogHer and now I'm kind of all over the place. 

I'll cover the rest. Consider it my gift to the community (along with some really long hours, hah.)

OK I'm off to take the trash to the road. 10pm on a Chicago winter night ... it's gonna be fun.

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

And the rest of them - they would have loved it had they known how awesome that view was!  Poor things - they don't even know what they don't know!  It's so sad.  I shed a tear for them.

Let's get it back and then we can wrap it up in a bow and give it to them as a gift!  It will be the best gift ever - that special gift that they didn't even know they wanted until it showed up and they realized they just couldn't live without it for another minute.

I'll pitch in ten bucks.  Will that cover my portion??

(More seriously - thanks... I know it takes time to iron out the wrinkles.  Sounds like you guys are on it.)

Come sit next to me and Sassymonkey because we were also My BlogHer-aholics (in its last iteration.)

Honestly, we do not have that same functionality on the site. Your profile does show some recent activity but it's not quite working the way we'd like and not exactly how it worked before. We're trying to work some bugs out of it so that it is closer to our old favorite My BlogHer. And... I'm kind of trying to convince my crack tech team to give me back our old My BlogHer...  were there any others besides you, me and sassymonkey who loved it? :-)

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

Every time you edit your post, you are triggering an email to everyone who has subscribed to that feed. There's a new setting that allows you to NOT receive email updates when someone (including you) edits a post or a comment.)

You can also unsubscribe to individual posts or you can unsubscribe completely to email notifications.

Click My BlogHer -> Click Settings -> Click Subscriptions -> Click settings. Notice the "On updates. Sends a notification when an item is updated."  That will unsubscribe you from the extra emails sent when you or someone else edits a post you're subscribed to.

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

So much to like in everything you guys have done.  Kudos for that!

I feel like I'm missing something, though - a view that I used to have.  On the old platform, I would go to MyBlogHer and click on ALL and I'd have a feed, similar to my Facebook newsfeed, where I could see all posts, all discussions, all chatter, etc. in a nicely organized stream.

I can't find how to do that in the new interface - how to get to and see all that in one nice stream on one page.  Am I missing it?

Thanks!

I also noted  Denise and it may have nothng to do with fictionality but I often  get 3 or 4 emails from blogher that are repeats partiucularly over the last few months!! Dunno whether iit is at your end or my server for vita

love and light

Vita

AS always  dearest Lisa your team have reallly done a splendid job and as always PROLOFIC IN WHAT IS ACHIEVED !! They have really cleaned this up it is less chunky! However as a visual person I wondered whether the Blogher logo on the previous page on the right could be slightly reduced as it's a tad top heavy on the right side iof the page.. just a thought!! my dear!!  the one that has 'follow us on twitter!

See you in New York !!

Cheers

vita

Much cleaner Lisa  still trying to figure out how to speak to you  but love this look less frantic and seamless

Love and light

Vita

...thanks for your patience. Absolutely agree -- feeds are the short list!

O

M

Goodness. I agree.

Jenna, your patience with the old tools really does astound me -- I was much more frustrated, to be honest :) Glad to hear it's working for you.

:)

...imitate LoraleeChoate and SQUEE.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad Denise was able to respond while I was on the road. And please do let us know if there are any other new features that you'd like to see.

We are working on that and hope to have things resolved soon!

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

I've been subscribing to the Editors' posts in my feed reader for a while, and actually don't come over to the site all that often - it's a question of time, not lack of interest, of course!

The feed I had has been inactive for a couple of days, since the new site went live. As far as I can tell, the RSS option now includes ALL posts, not just the editors' - and that will swamp my Google Reader, which is already a pretty crowded place.

Am I missing something, or is there really not an option to subscribe to just the editors' posts? (And if there isn't one now, could we have one? Please?)

Having said that, though, the site looks great, and I think I'll like it better than ever when I do come over here!

Come to Chatter and talk to us -we need updates on how you've been spending your life! http://www.blogher.com/chatter :-)

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

I haven't been around much for a while, so the site's new look was a rather impressive surprise! A BIG round of applause to those who worked on what was obviously a huge undertaking.

Now please excuse me while I go look around at all the exciting new changes!

= = =@vomviersen
Kathi Wilson
Rottweilers Ate My Laptop ( http://rottweilers.brilliant-disguise.net/ )
( http://twitter.com/vomviersen )
Chicago, IL

I need you to email me. Because I think you are seeing some bugs. Or can I email you? Please?

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

Keep me posted about the load time (denise@blogher.com)
Bullet styling is an issue in lots of places, I'm adding comments to the list.
Signature block for comments will return soon!
Let me know if you see any more bugs!

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

If you are typing and you hit enter to create a new line it creates WAY too much space between lines. (Doubled, I believe.)

Like this.

Since I am a fan of isolating one line of text for emphasis, I think this would probably annoy me a lot. 

:)

Yes I used all caps. 

Because it is true.

I hated the way you had to upload a blog post on the old design. Now? AWESOME. And you can upload photos. Whee!

No "Cone of silence" moment to report as of yet, Lisa. ;P

hee hee. 

:)

I'm learning my way around. I was gone all day yesterday for some work projects and a much needed supper with friends. I logged on this morning and was pleasantly surprised. The old site didn't bother me but compared to this... well.... it doesn't even compare!

Kudos:
Love the new design interface. It looks clean and modern. Better navigation.
As a font nerd, I am loving the font size and line spacing. Less scrolling!
I like the profile pages better. Easier to see and access what you've contributed to in the past.

Quirks:

I experienced a little slower load time tonight (but this could be my own IP).

In the comment WYSIWYG, you can't create bullets - at least in Firefox. : (

Haven't tried it, but the auto signature tagline function is now gone.

Other than those few things, everything is working great so far! Congratulations on this transition, it's really an achievement!

g

Thank you! I couldn't find anything like that in the last iteration, either, and it annoyed me. If that feature existed, I have no doubt that activity in groups would increase. As it is now, I can't remember which groups I've joined and finding them is a pain in the butt.

I'm looking forward to having that functionality. :)

Thanks for taking the time to high-five the team.

Just a quick word of thanks and appreciation for the redo on the site. This new BlogHer design is much more user friendly and way easier to navigate. Thanks!

From @ ( http://twitter.com/ )anderuel ( http://twitter.com/anderuel )

@ ( http://twitter.com/ )LisaStone ( http://twitter.com/LisaStone ), want to join blogher, but yr Captcha is NOT wrking for IE8 or Firefox 3.6. Cookis R enabld cant post prob on forum w/out reg!

Thanks Anderuel - this is a known bug that we are working to squash!

...you know whereof you speak as well. Thank you so much for the compliment. And I so agree re: Liz's photo. Anyone who can engineer a picture like this of herself should be one of the people engineering our Web site. And so she is.

Or if you have questions. ;-)

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

All I know is that it's Drupal's Solr and it's fab-freaking-tastic. Julie Douglas, Liz Henry and Laura Scott can all give you details.

I am so glad you're as impressed as I am. I was kind of waiting for you to weigh in before I really believed it was THIS awesome. You're like my search goddess and nothing is great til you agree that it is. :-)

Denise

BlogHer Community Manager

Well, it's gorgeous to look at, that's for sure. And I echo the compliments about search above. Look forward to diving in further. Way to go, BlogHer team!

Love the pic of Liz. :)

@ayse ( http://twitter.com/ayse )

Elise, you've counseled me and BlogHer for years on the value of excellent tight design and slick code. Thanks for every minute you've spent working with us on this. I'm so glad to hear you like!

I'm going to defer to Liz Henry or Julie Douglas to talk more about the Search functionality. I'm at SFO and my flight's about to leave. Plus, She Of The Purple Hair and Julie are mucho smarter than I about the filter. And the site. And, heck, many other things...

...no matter how difficult we made it :) and the use of photography throughout the food community especially has been a huge inspiration to us.

Thanks mucho.