Header Promotion
WE ARE LIVE!!! ( 2:30pm Oct 22, 2008 )
Over the next few days, we will be introducing a new look and feel to the eHarlequin.com site with updated navigation and new functionality. You will see changes on the HOME Page, Shop, Read and Book Detail pages. The Community pages will be updated as well to reflect these new features and you'll notice a few small changes here and there. We don't anticipate any disruption of service during this upgrade.
What you need to know....
First, early in the week you may start to notice changes to the navigation bar (the header at the top of the page) when you are using some of the Community pages. These changes will be completed by the week of October 20th and will make the Community navigation bar consistent with the rest of the site.
Then, on the morning after the migration is completed successfully, the new Community functionality and updated book review feeds will be available for members to use. You will see your comments from your book reviews start to appear on the NEW book detail pages on eHarlequin.com in a module under the book cover image captioned "Overheard on eHarlequin".
I've posted previews of the new site design and how the book reviews are going to display, so you can see why we need you to reformat your reviews so that the back cover copy from the book doesn't appear first and that you don't insert images in the first paragraph of your review. So enjoy your sneak peek and then tell us what you think 
Jayne
Thanks Jayne...
Next time I sign in there may be changes. I'm looking forward to seeing what the updates bring us. Hopefully some of the things we have complained about that we would like changed.
Take care, happy reading,
Donna M, Dream Team member
What I mean...
Hi Donna,
What we'll be applying is a new wrapper around our content. The pages will be wider and the navigation will be slightly different. We will be applying the same navigation from the main site on our Community pages and some of our page modules will widen and some of the placements on the pages will change for aesthetic reasons.
I've explained before in response to some of the complaints regarding the new boards that we have to live with a few perceived shortcomings in exchange for enhanced connectivity and the integration of some social media tools. We'll be applying the master list of all bloggers and a few other requests that you have asked for, but understand that some of those issues that folks feel are "broken" are actually the way this platform is designed to run.
Jayne
ps and I'll be bringing back the team blogs for next year's challenge
>> ps and I'll be bringing
>> ps and I'll be bringing back the team blogs for next year's challenge <<
Jayne what are the team blogs?
Nancy
I think it's a great idea!
I think it's a great idea! I can't wait.
Penney
Happy reading!
Penney
Hi Nancy, This is the
Hi Nancy,
This is the third year we've run the book challenge and one of the problems we faced this year was bringing over SOME of the set ups that we had on the old site, such as the ability for reviewers to have a group blog, rather than individual ones like we currently have that feed into the main challenge blog.
Jayne
I can see where that might
I can see where that might be fun.
Nancy
Jayne, please please please
Jayne, please please please tell me that one of the things that can't be fixed ISN'T the bring-us-in-at-the-last-post-read bug.
This bug has really killed the LUNA threads and has affected posting in the Gal Pal Corral.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Not yet FF...but I'm hopeful.
I'm sorry FF, but that is one of this system's Achilles heals, and isnt' something that I have the budget to address just now as a custom fix. I'm hoping that in the next version of the platform software that the developers figure out a way to nail this bug as a global fix.
Jayne
*Heavy Sigh*
*Heavy Sigh*
Thanks anyway, Jayne. BTW, could you edit the name out of the above post?
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Changes
Wider pages? Hmmm. Well, I'll keep my eye out.
I agree that it's been difficult finding the new posts sometimes, but at least we can click on Last and get to the last page.
NaNo: 50147 of 50000
November's MEMBER OF THE MONTH!
"Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it." Oswald Chambers
The Hope Chest |
Haven't seen them yet
Maybe I haven't been going to the right areas, but I can't say I've noticed any changes yet.
Adopt a shelter pet. www.shamrockpets.com
View my DD's very public video acting debut at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E-v05kMucw.
Thanks for the heads up on
Thanks for the heads up on the changes, Jayne.
Oh awesome, I look forward to this!
For the book reviews...basically just don't put a summary or the book image in the first paragraph, and we're good? They can still go further down?
I'm guessing a quick summary of what you enjoyed about the book is good for a 1st paragraph, then. I really like the idea and look of the reader comments on the book pages! Can't wait to see them for "real"!
Thanks also for the feedback about getting to the last post in threads...it's helpful to know the reasons behind why things can't be "fixed". Here's hoping for the eventual global fix.
Love the book review
Love the book review thingy you guys are implementing! That caught my eye right off. So am I to understand you want our first paragraph of the reviews to be our opinion?
And I also add my thanks to explaining why the last post linky thing can't be resolved just yet - I look forward to the day it is altered so that we don't have to click through so many pages to get to the most recent posts. :-)
Cole
Nicole Reising
www.nicolereising.com
www.nicolereising.com/blog
Imagination... the magical whispers from within.
May be unrelated
I don't know whether the changes you've been implementing are the cause, but this morning the system is going so s-l-o-w-l-y! On the Online Reads area, it took probably a minute and a half to load the page originally and another 45 seconds to load today's chapter, once I clicked on the page link. Then every bit that long to get back to the base page and, again, to click on today's chapter in another story.
I truly hope the new programming isn't causing the problem because that's just too long to have to wait!
By the way, I still haven't seen any differences that I can honestly say I've noticed in terms of how the reads look. I have noticed, however, that clicking on the "Talk about each chapter of this story" link in the daily read no longer takes me to the discussion of that read but to my Profile page. Is that a bug?
Adopt a shelter pet. www.shamrockpets.com
View my DD's very public video acting debut at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E-v05kMucw.
It's totally related.
We're going to go live with deployment of the redesign next Wednesday so you can expect to see the changes we're implementing then. We run the site across three servers and I suspect that the slow loading times are totally related to testing and back end tweaking while we're running both old and new versions of the site at once. This will improve dramatically when we launch next week....sorry for the inconvenience!
Jayne
testing
Jayne- I'm testing a review by putting the opinion first and then summary. I hope to hear your input on any other changes I might need to make http://community.eharlequin.com/review/where-theres-smoke-m-j-fredrick-qc-388
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
more than one book
Jayne- how will this affect the fact that sometimes we do more than one book especcially briefs, bites, minis (undone coming soon) or with anthologies where we disect each story
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
This is exciting
And I'll be closely watching to see what else comes along. Thanks Jayne for everything ~ and I do mean everything ~ that you and the behind-the-scenes people do to make this home-away-from-home more fun and easier to get around.
I absolutely love the idea of the reviews being connected to the book... very nice!
__________________________________________________________
kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
eBooks aren't affected
Hi Christa, actually the briefs/bites and minis and other ebook format are all sold through our ebook boutique and won't be integrated the same way as books sold through the main site, so you don't need to comply with this new format for reviews.
For anthologies I guess all I can say is that you start with the novella that you liked best in the collection since we're limited to about 100 characters. Of course someone clicking through will have the opportunity to read your review of all the stories in the anthology in your blog entry.
Jayne
On the book reviews:
Does this mean the handy <--break!--> feature in plaintext won't work any more? I liked that. It made it easier to put the break where we wanted it.
It must be SO hard to be the web techs around here! Doing all those designs, and then getting complaints about how things work (or don't work). If you spot this post, techies, just to let you know, we do appreciate you, even if we kvetch a lot. It's a huge site, and with three servers, it must be the edge of chaos all the time. I hope you're getting paid a lot! Commendations from a fellow webbie (who doesn't get paid).
NaNo: 50147 of 50000
November's MEMBER OF THE MONTH!
"Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it." Oswald Chambers
The Hope Chest |
Bouquets
I'm using this thread to tell the techs and all the people behind this website how much I admire them and appreciate them. This includes the hosts. I am almost the most ignorant person aroung when it comes to all things dealing with computers and too old to learn so I really admire those who set up programs, websites, etc. and then fix problems and help others.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
I was wondering about a link to the eBoutique ...
So basically, the only difference is that on the very first line or two we are to give our impressions of the book .... and then below that we can carry on just as we did before
this will work very well for me, as I normally give my star rating and a sentence that sums up my feelings ... so I'll try to expand my sentence a tad to make up the 100 + characters for the link to the Book Store .... that's easy peasy for me
Jayne, a question ... previously in a discussion it was mentioned that there was a posibility that we would rate the book on a five star rating .... is this going to happen? ..... I know some weren't too keen ... I like rating my reads, makes it easier to refresh my memory when looking back
also, I suppose once the book is no longer available in the book store, there won't be a link to reviews anymore? ..... so really, we only need to put our review brief on the books presently being sold and books out of print or by others publishers can be written up as we prefer
KatherineT-eHarlequin ~ Book Challenge Host
I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it! ~ Quiet Canadians Blog
...so really, we only need
Yep, that's what I was thinking too and was just coming to ask!
Yes, because I'll be using
Yes, because I'll be using the tags on the reviews to feed them to the appropriate book pages...eg a review that is tagged Silhouette Special Edition will appear on the Silhouette Special Edition bookstore page and Harlequin Blaze will be pushed to the Harlequin Blaze bookstore page etc with a link for users to click through and visit your blog and comment on your review. You guys WERE complaining about not getting enough comments on your reviews, right? I THINK I've come up with a way to help
Jayne
yay!!!
Now all we need to do is work on the color schemes for our pages I want pink or Light blue what do ya say and an extra place for going and putting some more pictures?
Imagination is more importent than Knowlege- Albert Enienstein love! A.Rosebeauty
Okay, I tried to do a review
in the new way... not sure how I succeeded, but I can change it... Love having that Edit feature... I'm Always editing post-posting.
Anyway the link to my new-style review is here.
Now I have to go post my 300th review... and then #301... I'm just chugging along here!
__________________________________________________________
kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Optimization
It looks like it's all systems go for Wednesday of this week for deployment on the refreshed site. Once we get familiar with the new review set up, we'll get an even better idea of how to optimize them for inclusion on the book detail pages.
Jayne
That sounds wonderful, Jayne!
What a neat idea to link the reviews to the line pages! Looking forward to the changes!
NaNo: 50147 of 50000
November's MEMBER OF THE MONTH!
"Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it." Oswald Chambers
The Hope Chest |
Jayne
I added a review of Rnacher's Redemption to my list of reviews and I think I did it the way you wanted. I know you are very busy but if you get a chance to check I would love some feedback before I do any others.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Ellen
It's perfect, that's exactly what we'll need going forward!
Jayne
Thanks
Thanks Jayne....
Now that I have the right idea I'll try to get some more reviews done in the next few days.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
I'm really looking forward
I'm really looking forward to the reviews being with the books in the store again, only " alot more" reviews this way, very exciting.
Years ago many books here had a list of readers reviews under them, and i enjoyed reading all the comments. I also bought alot more books that way...fun, fun.
Kathy D
I'm a step behind...
I took a look at the samples, they look really cool, but I don't seen any differences on the live pages I go to. The sample pages are so small on my monitor I can't really see them very well. I like the shop, read, talk, write in the middle of the page. I like the list on the left grouping books with similar themes. Can't wait to see the new pages live.
I'd like to have a 'return to top' link at the bottom of every page! How's that for being too lazy to scroll up.
Wider look
Love the wider look for sure. And the quick link to different formats and authors! Thanks!
Cole
Nicole Reising
www.nicolereising.com
www.nicolereising.com/blog
Imagination... the magical whispers from within.
YIKES
Ummmm - I was right in the middle of reading a post and suddenly I was catapulted into a new dimension. I knew I shouldn't have taken those heavy duty pain killers for my migraine. LOL
I will say I miss the page numbers at the top of the page.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Can we customize the Author
Can we customize the Author link on the right upper corner? Diane Palmer is NOT one of my favorite authors but I can think of several who are. I would prefer not to be reminded of the abusive hero in a book I read by her every time I check into Harlequin.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
love wider look
for some reason it looks neater more spread out.
Can I nitpick Vivi Anna is missing from author list.
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
Avatars
Are the avatars going to be appearing?
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Do you have any more of those pain killers to share?
We're still on our first page of comments, you wouldn't see multiple pages of comments until we hit 50 comments. We're only at 36....so far!
Jayne
Painkillers
Well yes I have more of them but they are prescription and I'm not sure how to get them to you. I'm sure you are going to need them before you get all the new things done.
Excuse any stupid questions I ask while I'm on them.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Ellen Too
I just noticed that, the page numbers are at bottom and not top
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
Avatars!
Rats....I thought things looked a little funny! Seriously we're working on getting the avatars back up. I've asked the developers to also include avatars next to the book reviews in a slightly new format. Perhaps they've just forgotten to turn things back on? I've logged this as a bug and hope to see our smiling faces back up shortly.
Jayne
D'oh!
You mean page numbers on OTHER pages and not just on this one....sorry, it's been a long day (and night)!
Jayne
I like the wider look. Some
I like the wider look. Some things are going to take some getting used to. Others have been here first and have noticed and commented on my other concerns/complaints.
Nancy
Jayne
You will definitely be forgiven for misunderstanding anything I write as I'm not always clear in what I say. Besides anybody who stays up all day and night to get this site renewed for the better deserves to be a little confused.
December's MEMBER of the MONTH!
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Oh wow..
Okay that took me a second to figure out ~ but Wow! Does it ever look different so spread out. Very cool!
__________________________________________________________
kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Oh Jayne, the page numbers
Oh Jayne, the page numbers are now only on the bottom of the multiple page threads. PIA if you ask me.
Nancy
Still tweaking!
Hi all,
We're still tweaking the community design on the live server so if something has disappeared (like page numbers, or avatars, etc.) just let us know here.
The redesign is only supposed to be a look & feel change, giving you more room for content, without changing the way everything works. If something has gone missing, we might not have noticed it that it disappeared. It's not gone for good, just until we can turn it back on.
Cheers for now!
Scott
p.s. Yes, the profile pages will be tuned up to get rid of all that white space and fix a few missing items.
Profile Pages
Also you might notice that if you've changed your profile page background colour from the default blue to either of the other options, that the formatting has gone wonky. That's another thing we're working on and know about...
Jayne
Hi Jayne--I love the new
Hi Jayne--I love the new "wideness". Somehow it seems more reader friendly. I miss the avitars, so hope that works out all right. Thanks for all your hard work.
Jeannie
http://www.jeanniewatt.com
http://www.loveisanexplodingcigar.com