New Spokt Day 1
This morning we deployed a major update to Spokt.com. Overwhelmingly the response has been positive. We received a lot of kind words as well as some criticism. I thank you for both kinds of feedback. I am glad that you care about the products you use and because of that we strive to make ours the very best we can.
Things have been so crazy here today with all the feedback and post-launch tasks that I’ve been responding incorrectly to some feedback you’ve sent in regarding replying to specific comments. We discovered that we accidentally threw the baby out with the bath water: Replying to comments should not have been removed. This is a feature we love about Spokt and one we certainly don’t plan on getting rid of. We are currently digging into the issue and hope to have a resolution in place soon. Bottom line: you will have individual comment replies.
To add a bit of clarity, the feature to which I’ve been (mistakenly) referring is the streamlined layout of replies to posts. This has been a highly regarded part of the mobile experience for some time, and one we have been looking forward to bringing to the desktop users. With so little time in our hubs and so much time working on today’s launch we missed the crucial omission of the reply buttons.
On a broader note this update was the first act of a three act play. We have a number of enhancements and new features that the Spokt team is working on based on user feedback we’ve gathered over the last number of months. Please continue to make your voices heard– reach out to us on our contact form or here on the blog.
We will continue to work tirelessly to improve your experience at Spokt!
Glad to hear this!
Ok, I’m sorry to say but I think this update is awful. Just came over from MyFamily last week or so and loved the simplicity of your site. It was easy to read, threads were easy to follow with the conversational feel.
The new font and background color are awful to read. So bad on the eyes and will surely keep me from spending too much time on your site. The small profile pictures are hard to see as well. Maybe I’m old but I’m hearing this from a lot of our group.
Being able to reply to a specific post and seeing that post post under the post it refers to is sooooo helpful.
Also, the edit button to edit a post is missed!
Honestly, I was expecting some great upgrade and what I really want is for you to go back to the way it was. There is nothing positive, in my mind, about this upgrade.
As I said we are looking for a new site with the MyFamily shut down and all agreed this was our favorite but now most of us are pretty unhappy with the changes.
Hi Sherri,
The responses we’ve received both pre-launch and post launch have been largely positive regarding the new “look” of Spokt. The cleaner look is a step we’re taking to minimize clutter, and pave the way for a simpler overall experience. We’ve made some big moves on the hub pages, and we want to make sure that we get it right for everyone.
Many of the features you’ve mentioned are still available (or in the case of comment replies, they should be but are temporarily disabled due to an issue with our rollout – see this post: http://blog.spokt.com/general/new-spokt-day-1/). We are working hard to restore functionality of inline replies to comments as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience as we fix this.
As far as editing posts, that feature is still available. If you click on the small arrow next to a post’s time stamp, you should see options for each comment, including (if you’re an admin or the creator of that comment) edit, or delete.
Some of the comments regarding font and readability so far seem to be related to very specific computer setups, and we are looking into this to see what we can do to make the experience better for those affected. We appreciate your feedback (and patience) as we work to get this update right for everyone.
Thanks Dan!
You guys are awesome. Thanks for the transparency.
I am unable to attach a photo or PDF to a news item I am posting.
Also, after posting an item, when I go back to edit it, the attachment option has disappeared.
Finally, I cannot get any html codes to work in the body of a news item, or in an item title. (I agree that the font used here is weak. (There are a lot of “seniors” on this site. I see from your personal pages Dan that you are a young guy! Don’t forget us with fading eyesight.)
I would like to see a calendar added as a feature.
Hi Paige,
Thanks for your feedback. We are planning on a calendar feature for Spokt. Thanks!
Some of our members are having trouble uploading a profile picture. Is that a known issue right know?
Hi Carolyn. Yes, this is a known issue for certain image files, and we’re working to correct it. We’ll keep everyone updated here as we release a fix. Thanks for informing us that some of your members are being affected by it.
I am testing out your demo hub before committing to paying for a hub. Is there a difference between your new Update and what I am seeing on the demo? It seems so from the comments left on this blog.
Hi Ellen. Both the Demo Hub and the Live Hubs are updated to the new system. It’s very similar to the old release in a lot of ways. The most substantive changes are in the design.
There are a few known issues in this release, and we are working hard to roll out fixes and updates to correct any bugs the users are finding. Please keep us posted if you encounter any problems. Thanks!
My experience today (June 19) is that I am unable to upload a video from my PC (with W7, Firefox) but an upload works from my MacBook Air.
The only other thing I noticed besides the avatar issue was that gifs and images on the mobile site are cut off if they are too big instead of being shrunk down to fit onto screen.
Dan,
I’m very impressed with you and the rest of the Spokt team’s responsiveness to the users! Keep up the awesome work! Oh, and the update is awesome and I am so pleased to hear about the return of replying to comments.
How is it coming fixing the ability to comment on a single comment on news?
Hi Carolyn, it’s coming along! It’ll be ready this week.
We just set up a family blog and I noticed that anyone can invite. Normally this is limited to the administrator. Is there a way this can be limited?
Hi Stephen,
For now you’ll just have to kick out the unwanted riffraff đŸ™‚
We’ll look into this.
Thanks for the feedback! I, too, am anxious for the reply to a specific post issue to be fixed – and the indenting of the post when this happens. And the font is still very tough on the eyes. If I can fix a setting in my browser to make this better, I’m happy to do it. Just let me know!
Thanks!
How do I make someone else a co-admin?
Hi Janet, click “Manage Hub”, there is a list of members and an Admin column. Click in that column to promote/demote.
I have uploaded a couple pictures, but can’t find where pictures can be uploaded. Help!
Hello Ruth. Please contact us through the support form found at the link below and we’ll make sure to get your questions answered. Thanks!
http://spokt.com/contact
I am doing this for my 83 year old mother who created her myFamily site and is scared to death she will lose everything. I don’t want her to die! I sure hope the migration works! One thing she is really going to miss is being able to adjust some pictures as to brightness,crop, etc. The biggest thing though is not being able to create family member FOLDERS. In myFamily, she has conveniently grouped pictures relating to each family member in their own folders so if you want to look at pictures from “Dan’s” family for instance, you can click on “Dan’s family photos” and there they all are. If you wanted to see “Mike’s” extended family photos, you could click on “Mike’s family” and there they all would be. Are you ever planning to implement a feature like this? It sure make it easier to find photos of just your brother or sister’s family that way instead of wading through hundreds of pictures. That would make my Mom REAL HAPPY! hint hint.
Yes, albums for photos are needed. I want to create a Spokt site, but I need the ability to have members and/or the administrator be able to create albums as needed or desired. Just like in MyFamily, everyone would have access to the albums, but only the administrator or the album creator can delete it.
As administrator of my former MyFamily site, I had each member create an album for themselves with the first photo they posted. Each time they posted a photo, it was to be added to his/her folder and any other albums I created that it applied to. I also, as administrator was able to remove them from albums they didn’t really apply to, and add to albums they applied to to assist the members. With each member having their album where all the photos they shared entered, it was easy for that member to delete any photos (s)he wanted to delete because they were easily found by going to his/her album. Nobody posted photos to another member’s album. Some members just posted photos and I took care of adding them to albums for that member.
Granted, my MyFamily site did not have hundreds of members and each member having an album was not an issue and did not create a ton of albums. It was a small group of a specific interest.
My Spokt would have multiple uses and albums are needed. It would be a combination of friends and family as I am closing down my Facebook. I still will not have a ton of members. Albums are needed. Each member would not necessarily have an album, unless they wanted to create one. But I need my photos, family photos, friend photos, craft photos to be in separate albums. Photos would be posted into the All Photos area and be linked to other albums. I can’t create a Spokt until I have his ability.
I need to get a Spokt ASAP so I can delete my Facebook. Not a fan of it. Any idea of a timeline for photo album capabilities or if there is any consideration for album capabilities? Need to know. Thanks..
Hi we do not currently have an albums feature but plan on adding organizational tools as soon as we can. Mayflower DOES store the names of the albums the photos were posted to in preparation for our albums feature.
Thanks Dan. My mother will be very happy to hear that!
Overall, i love the new SpokT site. The size of the photos is larger than it used to be on the myfamily site. Because we are a photo club, we enjoy sharing and exchanging comments about photos. To that end, please consider the following changes:
A. Need Albums that can be controlled and deleted by individuals to put their photos in.
You are already working on this, so this is great!
B. Please revise the member rights so that they can delete their own photos. Presently, members can delete their own comments but not their own photos, i think. For some members of our club, this is important to them.
C. The perceived colors in photographs are very impacted by the background. The present neutral light gray background is fine for colors, but for critical viewing of images, it would be great if there was a standard black background or at least an optional black background
Thanks and excellent work so far. I presently an admin for the PT Photo Club and their President as well.