Activity Feed update: interface clean-up

[Alex]

We're still adding to the Activity Feed. The most recent batch of changes involved the beta release of RSS feeds into the mix.

Today, we've completed something we've been working on for a while: some clean-up of the interface. Just to be clear: This release doesn't feature any new functionality. For the most part, this update will go unnoticed by Network Creators, but it's an improvement that we wanted to let you know about if you are a fan of the nitty-gritty details.

Consistency!
The main change is all activity items will now follow the same order:

- Message (what happened).
- Content. Title.
- Timestamp.
- Comments/Likes.

Previously, different content sources/items were using non-consistent ordering with some of these details. This should make reading the feed easier for everyone, old-hand and newbie alike.

Active voice
Some of the old language (in English, at least) used the passive voice. As any 10th-grade English teacher will tell you, active voice beats passive voice in a grammar smackdown any day of the week. Previously, where you may have seen "Photo posted by Alex" you will now see "Alex posted a photo". Admittedly, this is a small change (but a huge win for 10th grade English teachers). If you're speaking a different language than English, you'll be happy to know that these details have already been translated and included with this release.

Sourcing
We've made sure that all outside content is sourced correctly and consistently. So, you'll always see "via Twitter" or "via Facebook" when the content comes from another source. (You'll see icons in the Activity Feed; text everywhere else). RSS is a little different, since those sources vary widely. So, those are not called out as text.

A few barely noticeable changes:
- We've removed quotation sprites (images). They're now text-based.
- Message text ("JDawg posted a photo") is new standard text size. In some cases it was previously smaller.
- Titles are to the right/below content items. They used to be above those items.
- Made locations consistent for timestamps.

The long and short of these changes is that content items will now look a lot cleaner and be a lot more consistent. Most people won't notice these changes, but we're confident it will be easier for people to read when they are scanning these feeds.

 

Custom coders….
If you have made any changes to your Activity Feed using CSS to hide or alter the size or location of any of these items, this change could bring that to light. If you see something in your Activity Feed that you think may be related to this change, we strongly encourage you to remove your custom code and take a second look. It could be that some CSS you may have added or altered will either no longer be wanted or needed.

[Riccardo Rossini]

Very nice this improvement

Now in the preview we can also see the description. Well done!!

[Eric Suesz]

Thank you, sir! Glad to see that you noticed the difference! Looks great in that screenshot. 

[Jordon McGee (Jords)]

Very nice update!

[SweetPotato]

Will this change items already in the activity feed .... Just so i can check

[Alex]

Yes, SP. You should be seeing these differences on your network now.

Be aware that if you've made changes to the Activity Feed with CSS these tweaks might be hard to spot.

[SweetPotato]

Cheers, I have so I'll check, but looks good!

[Casey Fritz]

I'm wondering, when are members going to get email notifications or any kind of notifications for commenting on a status update?

[Eric Suesz]

Excellent question. Stay tuned, Casey....

[solo]

+1

[Ron]

nice update

[mark]

I was one of those sticklers that was frustrated over the old design. I love consistency and very much appreciate this update. I bet this helps improve the new mobile activity feed look as well. Can't wait for that release!

[classic]

Very nice