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.

[Alex 小正正]

GJ!! I love this clean-up. And I have to clean-up for my language too. :)

Another request is, could you expand the URL link in activity feeds? Just like Facebook does. People like to see IMAGES and few description. URL means nothing to them. 

Thanks!!

[soaringeagle]

 ya a mini preview yea good idea or even a fly out  whole page preview when you mouse over (i dont mean full size  but like a 200x300  thumbnail of the whole page the links to)

[Eric Suesz]

Totally hear you, Alex. This type of showing of underlying content could be really useful. We would need to build that tool or subscribe to a service that can pull in and expose that level of detail. It's something we've thought about but haven't quite gotten to. 

[soaringeagle]

alot of link shares scripts offer a few subscription options to site thumbnail services that are free

i think its a great idea..unless it slows things at all

[Planeta Balada]

Congratulations on your change! I think what could best is that when a member clicks aTwitter update or Facebook page open in a new window and not on the same page as it is now, making the member of our site.
thank you

[soaringeagle]

that should be standard for all links! (unless you specificly set it to same window)

definately twitter fb and rss should all default to a new window

[Vincent Wright]

Alex,

Is it me? Or have you also added a new but, VERY IMPORTANT, item for Twitter? Retweet?   (Formerly, it looked like this: 

1.) 6 minutes ago · Reply  but, now, it looks like this,

2.) 6 minutes ago · Reply · Retweet 

Either way, since I'm planning a "Brandergy Weekend Retweet", I'm TRULY HAPPY about THAT!

ONE WISH: I wish "Retweet" opened in another window rather than pulling retweeters away from my site...

+Vincent

[soaringeagle]

hmm  hadnt noticed that but awesome

[Alex]

Good eye Vincent, we did add Retweet in to Twitter activity items. Let me know if it helps with your Weekend Retweet.

[Vincent Wright]

Thanks, Alex.  I do think the added "retweet" functionality will help with Brandergy's "Weekend Retweet and I KNOW it's helped me spend more time on my *own* homepage... (in other words: Thanks to the updated activity feed - and especially the "retweet" functionality, I'm liking my own homepage more and more and more... Twitter and YouTube are 2 dominant streams which help to add more life to my site. I sincerely thank you guys at Ning for that healthy update...)

[Magesoad]

It was great, now this chat in the correct language, all membersnoticed the difference, very good, better than that allowing paid access only the pages and why not the blog's creator

[SweetPotato]

An rss feed keeps reposting itself over and over

i delete, it comes back, i delete, it comes back. might have to remove it at this rate