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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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 Posted - 06/09/2006 : 13:28:08
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quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I absolutely agree the homepage needs a lot of work- it's an absolute shocker layout-wise, but I've never really sat down to rework it.
I'd be interested to hear what anyone (especially so from those newbies amongst us) 'gets' from the homepage, what it lead them to expect and what they feel should be said more clearly (or, indeed, should be said that isn't).
I must confess that I never look at it.  I've got about 5-6 fwfr pages bookmarked, but the homepage isn't one of them. Which I suppose suggests that it might just be there for newbies.  |
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benj clews 
"...."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 13:45:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Josh the cat
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I'm starting to wonder if the answer, instead of clearing out the less highly-scored reviews, might be to make them less obvious. Perhaps have some kind of criteria (say, the top X voted reviews, plus the latest Y reviews (so these have a good chance of being seen)) for determining which reviews show against a film initially and then having a More... button to view the rest. It'd at least give a slightly more carefully chosen appearance to the review pages. Just an idea I'm throwing out there anyway...
That seems like a fairer option to me, people on the whole will ignore the more option but if they are interested they will visit. In this new era of nobody caring if they get votes or not it will not matter that some reviews are never read   .
The idea has some merit, what will you do with a film that has less than 10 reviews 20 reviews 50 and so on where would the boundaries be?
Hopefully this is something we can figure out amongst us here.
quote:
Will it be when a users clicks on another users reviews page(s) then that they will see all the reviews that a single FWFRer has written including the hidden and soon to be never spoken of reviews?
I'd leave those as is- a user chooses to be represented by those reviews (regardless of what anyone else thinks) and I don't see why anyone else should have any influence on that. |
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bife 
"Winners never quit ... fwfr ... "
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 13:45:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I must confess that I never look at it. I've got about 5-6 fwfr pages bookmarked, but the homepage isn't one of them. Which I suppose suggests that it might just be there for newbies.
Me too sean. I do actually have the homepage bookmarked, but I almost never go there anymore.
The bookmarks I normally use are:
My fwfr
Fourum
Latest Reviews
Top Reviews |
Edited by - bife on 06/09/2006 13:46:33 |
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Josh the cat
"ice wouldn't melt, you'd think ....."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 14:23:05
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I use crap cleaner and ad-aware almost daily so I lose my log in settings almost daily so I normally go to either
my fwfr and re log in and hit remember me
or
FWFR.com and log in
FWFR.com gives me access to top 100 reviewers and new reviews where I visit reasonably frequently they are the two reasons only. It is a useful path to other places but for itself I don't go there.
Josh the cat |
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Willy Weasel 
"Look left and right."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 14:31:30
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Lemmy you underwhelm me with your ode to a newbie. With the flannel pared away this was your post:
quote:
A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
And remember, the Lord Alps those who Alps themselves.
Considering the length of my immediately preceeding post there is little point in quoting it entirely. You then follow with a poetry quote in which the inclusion of the entire verse does not soften the intent of your personal message. And to finish? Yes, a third quote.
Perhaps using some of your writing skills might be a more up-front way of communicating than hiding behind quotes, for quotes make dull reading in isolation. If you do not like the suggested requirements for reviews these days do not take out your frustration on me for being in agreement with them. Have you nothing positive to say?
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Willy Weasel
"Look left and right."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 15:11:26
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Benj I am not about to get drawn into any personal conflict on this thread or any other. I have responded by highlighting a post written to me with a questionable tone. That is enough for me - I don't mudsling, I'm here for fun and intelligent banter. To disagree is everyone's right as is their right to express a general opinion, but personal putdowns have no place here. If I translated the post wrongly then it was not worded with enough care. I do not jump to conclusions in these circumstances.
I think you mentioned the Aliens tagline before Benj, perhaps it was a poor example to make my point. I can quite appreciate your moments of wanting to pull the plug on the site when there is unrest onboard. I will either agree with you or suggest other options but it is in mine and all other's best interest to keep you sweet. We are all too used to complaining to whoever is in charge but you provide a unique free service supporting a community and even if I get frustrated over technical issues or review requirements I don't lose sight of this.
Homepage. It looks okay to me, but I should draw your attention to one line which may need modifying or linking to a list of current guidelines.
Submissions are welcomed from anyone- the only condition being no more than four words may be used.
I don't think that reviews without votes should be hidden away. There is already too much imbalance of exposure between well established reviewers/high voted reviews and newer reviewers/reviews. The Top 100 page should be the example page to newbies but that raises the controversial subject of which reviews would pass the test if they sat it today. Only with individual consent and blanket ruling could that be done without upset.
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TitanPa
"Here four more"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 15:25:04
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So lets see if Im up to date now. Im leaving for Jamaica this weekend and I want to be sure I am up to date cause I dont want to miss out on anything.
We got new smileys?[10]
It was ok to point out reviews and their reviewers.
But then the the whole thread was wiped out?
And now noone is paying attention to what the problem was?
Now the home page is getting a work over
Bafta finally figured out the point of this site
We all are at peace now.
Did I miss anything? |
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lemmycaution 
"Long mired in film"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 15:45:15
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quote:
Originally posted by TitanPa
So lets see if Im up to date now. Im leaving for Jamaica this weekend and I want to be sure I am up to date cause I dont want to miss out on anything.
We got new smileys?[10]
It was ok to point out reviews and their reviewers.
But then the the whole thread was wiped out?
And now noone is paying attention to what the problem was?
Now the home page is getting a work over
Bafta finally figured out the point of this site
We all are at peace now.
Did I miss anything?
Blame it on 666.  |
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benj clews
"...."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 16:05:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Willy Weasel
I don't think that reviews without votes should be hidden away. There is already too much imbalance of exposure between well established reviewers/high voted reviews and newer reviewers/reviews. The Top 100 page should be the example page to newbies but that raises the controversial subject of which reviews would pass the test if they sat it today. Only with individual consent and blanket ruling could that be done without upset.
I'm not hiding them away, I'm just trying to present a more enjoyable experience for the average visitor. It's effectively what we already have with default ordering by votes and reviews spread over various pages, just with (hopefully) a bit of intelligence involved. On the plus side, it would give new reviews more exposure than they presently have.
And if there's already imbalance on the site, perhaps we need to address those issues separately? |
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RockGolf
"1500+ reviews. 1 joke."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 16:33:02
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quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I absolutely agree the homepage needs a lot of work- it's an absolute shocker layout-wise, but I've never really sat down to rework it.
I'd be interested to hear what anyone (especially so from those newbies amongst us) 'gets' from the homepage, what it lead them to expect and what they feel should be said more clearly (or, indeed, should be said that isn't).
The front page is the first one that newbies come to, so it should be inviting and give them a clear idea of what the site is about.
I would suggest driving off your UK Chart & US Chart list. Have the top review for each of those films next to the film title. This would keep the Front Page updated on a regular basis, and show hopefully better than average reviews. It would also look a little more like a "real" movie review site.
If revised, the page would look something like this:
UK chart
1. X-Men: The Last Stand Rated: 3.9/5 [10]
..."Pryde and Prejudice" - M0rkeleb
2. The DaVinci Code Rated: 3.1/5 [10]
..."Something About Mary Magdelene" - BaftaBabe
3. Poseidon Rated: 3.2/5 [10]
..."Poop-side-down adventure" - RockGolf
4. The Wild Rated: 2.3/5 [9]
..."Janeane Giraffe-alo" - Tequila Mockingbird
...etc. On those rare occassion (such as Indian films making the UK top 10) where there are no reviews, you could have an Enter your review here! link.
You could possible also have an "Opening Soon" section.
It would probably look better if there were a larger font for the title and a row of up to 5 reviews for each film.
There could also be a FWFR Chart that showed the top 5 or 10 voted reviews of the week, rather than the past 24 hours. |
Edited by - RockGolf on 06/09/2006 19:25:54 |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 18:56:03
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quote:
Originally posted by R o � k G o 1 f
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I absolutely agree the homepage needs a lot of work- it's an absolute shocker layout-wise, but I've never really sat down to rework it.
I'd be interested to hear what anyone (especially so from those newbies amongst us) 'gets' from the homepage, what it lead them to expect and what they feel should be said more clearly (or, indeed, should be said that isn't).
The front page is the first one that newbies come to, so it should be inviting and give them a clear idea of what the site is about.
I would suggest driving off your UK Chart & US Chart list. Have the top review for each of those films next to the film title. This would keep the Front Page updated on a regular basis, and show hopefully better than average reviews. It would also look a little more like a "real" movie review site.
If revised, the page would look something like this:
UK chart
1. X-Men: The Last Stand Rated: 3.9/5 [10]
"Pryde and Prejudice" - M0rkeleb
2. The DaVinci Code Rated: 3.1/5 [10]
"Something About Mary Magdelene" - BaftaBabe
3. Poseidon Rated: 3.2/5 [10]
"Poop-side-down adventure" - RockGolf
4. The Wild Rated: 2.3/5 [9]
"Janeane Giraffe-alo" - Tequila Mockingbird
...etc. On those rare occassion (such as Indian films making the UK top 10) where there are no reviews, you could have an Enter your review here! link.
I second this notion. |
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 19:09:22
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quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
I'm starting to wonder if the answer, instead of clearing out the less highly-scored reviews, might be to make them less obvious. Perhaps have some kind of criteria (say, the top X voted reviews, plus the latest Y reviews (so these have a good chance of being seen)) for determining which reviews show against a film initially and then having a More... button to view the rest. It'd at least give a slightly more carefully chosen appearance to the review pages. Just an idea I'm throwing out there anyway...
You've had some really good ideas in the past, Benj. There's that idea you had of starting up a website devoted to reviewing films in four words or less. Remember that one? I really liked that one.
But this one . . . can't say I like it for several reasons:
1) I like to be able to see all the reviews (without too much clicking around) for any given film, so I know what's been written and don't repeat.
2) I like having all my reviews together in a matched set. I've worked hard to climb the rankings (Presenting, hopefully, entertaining reviews along the way) so my reviews are pretty close to the top when I click on a movie. And I like that. I don't want just some of my reviews to show and others be hidden until you click the "MORE" button which many have said they won't hit. And, as I stated before, I haven't played the "Let's review each other's reviews" games as much, so I have a lot more reviews that would qualify for being hidden under the system of basing it on votes. And, I disagree that they are not worth viewing.
Okay, that's only 2. I thought I had more to say. 
But, as a long standing reviewer, I'd rather you mess around with the front page to make it more inviting to newbies -- or give newbies their own area for display, rather than start hiding our reviews.
EM :)
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MguyXXV
"X marks the spot"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 19:34:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Randall
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
[quote]Originally posted by MguyX
[quote]But I do hate Randall because he caught me plagerizing. (Just kidding, folks: it's only a joke.)
Honey, anybody could have caught you on the Walter Kerr. [And I agree with you about "Fishtar" too!] But they're here, they're near, so forget about it!
From one Kaufman fan to another,
Peace.
Signed,
Randall
I  Randall.  |
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Yukon
"Co-editor of FWFR book"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 20:29:46
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As a realtive newbie (I've been at this for six months) here are two thoughts.
1) Benji, feel free the raise the bar and only allow "clever" reviews, no "Bruce Willis fights terrorists" (Die Hard) reviews. I like this site because it makes me laugh. Period. It's why everyone is here.
That said, don't go back and kill all the "boring" reviews. If you do that, than go back and kill the reviews that no longer meet the requirement of "specific to a film", which means most of the top 10 All-Time FWFRs have to be delated (Icy Dead People, Fin, etc...).
If you do up the standards, it's only fair to grandfather the rule in, saying "From now on....
2) I love the idea of an editor's choice section.
The top 100 is great the first time you loook at it, but it never changes. The top reviews of the day consists mainly of people from the Fourum.
So the editor's choice is also a good way to get votes for people who aren't involved in the Fourum.
I remember when I first started, one of my first reviews was "Where queer, antelope play" for Brokeback Mountain. I waited for the votes to come in and nothing happened. Only when it was highlighted in the Fourum, did I get votes and now it has 34. I would have never logged into the Fourum if Cordoury Pillow hadn't told me about it.
I'm at the stage now where I don't mind if a review has no votes but when I first started out, It was frustrating writing a good review but not getting any votes.
So I guess the one fault of this site is a good reviewer not involved in the fourum gets lost because you have to be more than a good reviewer, you have to make an effort and "sell" your reviews so to speak.
The editors choice shouldn't only be for newbies, but I think it could help solve the problem.
That being said, this site is still wonderful. Five times a day, I get on my knees and bow towards England, in honour of Benji Clews who created an amazing website. |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 06/09/2006 : 20:44:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Yukon
Five times a day, I get on my knees and bow towards England, in honour of Benji Clews who created an amazing website.
I'm barely able to restrain the impulse to do the same! |
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Quality reviewing
