Changes at Firedoglake
It has been over four months since Firedoglake went on hiatus, and you may have noticed that the site looks a little different right now. I believe it is important for someone to take some responsibility for what has transpired these past months by providing an explanation.
Firedoglake has operated on a reduced schedule and staffing, and experienced tremendous issues with our hosting and problems with the website itself. There was also a period in February, where strong evidence suggested a malicious attack took place that brought down Firedoglake for days.
These attacks, combined with tech issues, have had a huge impact on our traffic and negatively affected the community. Regular readers have had problems accessing the website, leaving comments and posting diaries for far too long now. We decided it was time to revamp things and make serious changes to put us back on a path to stability, so that something like this would never happen again.
For many weeks, we have been working behind the scenes to migrate and restructure the site. What you’re seeing here is Phase I of those changes.
One of the biggest problems we encountered was tackling Firedoglake’s enormous, 10-year-old database. We have more than 2.5 million comments from our readers, and we hope to have millions more in the future, but hosting them ourselves at this point has made it increasingly difficult and costly for the website to function. The decision was made to move our commenting to Disqus from this point forward so that Firedoglake can continue to do its work and maintain an important connection to our community.
This means that people who wish to comment on Firedoglake must now register a separate account with Disqus using their e-mail address, Twitter, Facebook, or Google accounts. Here are some instructions on how to login and register with Disqus, but all you need to do is go down to the comments on any post and click “Login” in the top right corner of the comment window. I also encourage you to read about Disqus privacy settings.
This was a difficult decision to make, and while we understand it may be an inconvenience to sign up for a separate account right now, please know that we do have plans to reunite FDL accounts with Disqus accounts in the near future. With that in mind, if possible, please use the same email address or social media account you use at Firedoglake to register your Disqus account. This will make it easier down the road to link the accounts.
In addition to comments, the other issue we had to address was the massive architecture and database of MyFDL, which, if left alone, would have also contributed to the continued deterioration of site performance. We have decided that MyFDL community diaries will remain on hiatus temporarily as we prepare a new community section to take its place. In the meantime, please email your submissions to kevin.gosztola@shadowproof.wpengine.com.
All MyFDL diaries will still be hosted here on Firedoglake, and you should be able to find them by logging in to your Firedoglake account here, or by using the search bar. The important thing to know for now is that all of your posts and comments from over the years remain online and backed-up. And, if you have any trouble, please contact us.
This is still very much a work in progress, and we will make more changes in the coming weeks.
We thank everyone for their support during the hiatus period and their patience and understanding in the meantime. We want to especially thank everyone who continues to read work published here every day and also thank everyone who responded to our most recent call to raise funds to overcome the attacks Firedoglake suffered. Thank you so much for all you do.
207 Comments
Not a big fan of disqus…! 8-(
Good luck getting us going again
Please recognize that while I realize you need whatever ad revenue you receive, the blanket ads that cover the entire site repeatedly make this the most unfriendly site I visit and make accessing via my phone impossible.
Neither am I, but the decision is understandable and a tiny price to pay to see FDL continue to grow and keep providing the fantastic quality of reporting and analysis. Thanks all for the continued stellar work.
Kicking the tires a bit… Crosseyed Mary
How’s the new format, CB…?
https://youtu.be/8WukfC-6Gpc
I like the type face and spacing of the source article but am still getting the blanket ads which really slow things down.
I like the nested comments and that links to pics and vids actually show up instead of just hypertext.
Miss the format options to differentiate my comment from quoted text.
But I will adapt.
” am still getting the blanket ads which really slow things down.” Ad block is your friend, CB…! 😉
“…by logging in to your Firedoglake account here, …”
Link takes me to ” you don’t have sufficient permissions”,
Sad that this is the only site I frequent where I would need such a thing.
Not sure what’s up with that, CB, I’ve already gotten some emails from others that got the same message…! 8-(
hi, thanks for your continued support and hard work, Kevin, so glad to move forward and have some more success getting in. FDL is worth having, and you who keep it going are appreciated.
I think it looks very good. And comments are nested.
Thanks for all the hard work, Kevin.
Oh, and thanks to everyone who made a financial contribution!
This works! Thanks Kevin and all.
Hi all. Just thought I would give my 2 cents. I know there are those no thrilled by Discus and some that may hate it. I am neither here nor there.
But Discus does give you some abilities that the old system did not have. Like the being able it embed media. I do hope though that there is some moderation, so it does not get too out of hand.
And you can up/down comments to.
at eschatonblog it’s been Disqus for some time, and sometimes comments fail to show up, have to refresh to get them. For the most part, it’s fine.
ARG ! How do you get the WYSIWYG editor. You go right to the text/html editor.
Auto updating of comments seems to a bit…sluggish.
I dislike Disqus. I may even hate it. But at least my longtime icon is in view. It is more relevant than ever, unfortunately.
And thank you Kevin!
Hint; go to the right hand of comments and choose ‘Sort by ‘Newest” and the top comment will be from the latest to comment, works really best for me that way.
Testing to see if I can comment
I simply cannot navigate this site because of the ads. I was very patient to leave this comment, let alone try to read the articles. Just doesn’t work. Every time I come here I get this huge full page ad that has to run through it’s thing before I can turn a page, then it comes up every time I click another story or page. Hope you straighten it up eventually because right now it’s too frustrating to come to this site.
there is an ‘X’ at the top right hand side of the ad, click on that and it goes away
Editing too. I noticed that was a problem in the old FDL comments. Like no thrilled might be not thrilled.
I use addblock so see no adds at all. I have not problem with this since I will not EVER buy ANYTHING base on website adds.
However it maybe worth while for FDL or look at implementing a paid membership that if you are a paid member, you see no adds.
Just a thought.
I know there are a number of sites that do this.
Adblock Plus
https://adblockplus.org/
Some sites have so many ads that it snarls things a bit.
How long before we get a new post up I understand we need to keep the Disqus information up for awhile but how long a day a week? should FDL send everyone an email about this just in case they don’t look at FDL for a week?
Not thrilled about getting emails every time someone replies to my comments. May have to put an autotrash filter in my email for all things Disqus.
If you want to do bold or italics you can do it like this: Use two pairs of lesser than and greater than symbols (same keys as the comma and period, upper case) making two little diamond shapes with the i and /i in each one for italics, and b and /b for bold. Try it I think you will be pleased by how easy it is. I use italics to indicate that I’m quoting somebody. The edit button is also handy.
“All MyFDL diaries will still be hosted here on Firedoglake, and you should be able to find them by logging in to your Firedoglake account here, or by using the search bar. ” link not working typing my name in the search bar did work but got an old post first then my most recent so does the new system organize posts by date, popularity, other or are there still glitches in the system?
You can change that in your Disqus settings.
however going to google typing my name then firedoglake and then a word like high school dropouts does not find old articles about high school dropouts written by me I hope as the new system gets online this changes any ideas how soon?
I have been a contributing member since the first day of the program.
And advanced search option would be good. So you don’t get everything – text, title, author … – that contains the search term.
working on this!
There should be a new post in the next few hours. This won’t be the only thing on the page all day.
yup they are still there and we will work on making this better.
keep the notes comin’ folks. we got a lot of work ahead of us but we’ll get there!
Thank you Brian
good idea; noted. thanks chris!
As addressed in the announcement, we can either use something like Disqus for comments or we can host the millions of comments we have and make plans to host millions of additional comments on our system in the future.
Hosting comments is hugely expensive and not a good use of funds and resources. It wears down the website. It is why you all were having so much trouble at the old site. Using Disqus means we can put funds and resources into projects, invest in journalism and improve other parts of this community.
That is the rationale behind using this platform for comments, which many of you have said you do not like.
It is still annoying as heck when the ad appears each time you go to a new article or page. I agree with Al, I was soooooo hoping these ads would have been gone, or at least modified that it only shows up the first time you log in!!!!
Agreed !
off now to plant the garden
thanks for the good company
Credit is due to Brian Sonenstein and our developer who worked many, many hours making these changes possible. Thanks to both of you.
The “learning curve” shouldn’t be too steep.
I called it! Not that I can prove it, since my long time fdl account isn’t connected to this rotten disqus corporate monstrosity. Anyway, when fdl added the Facebook and twitter log ins and people tried to convince themselves it was okay, since fdl promised it would always be optional, I said fdl’s idea of “always” would be until their readers forgot they promised it and “optional” means until fdl decides that it isn’t. I feel sorry for anyone who ever gave a penny to this site and its empty promises. How can you run
a site whining about spying when commenting on said site requires spyware? Irony fdl, you redefine it.
2nd on the thanks to Brain Sonenstein and our developer
Will these notes be as important and meaningful as those sent from all of us begging fdl to keep a separate login? You all promised then that that would always be an option. Like i’d waste another second writing you greedy sellouts notes or believing they mean anything to you assholes. Thanks for the non explanation as to what supposedly made this necessary.
It’s simple, stop coming here. I justified this ton of invasive ads because fdl was one of the only ones left with its own log in system. Note that that’s gone, the only thing that separates fdl from any other site is the shameless amount of ads. Jane’s gotta eat. Amiright?
Addressing the ads are high on the list. I totally understand the frustration. If it makes any difference, please know we’ve got our eye on this too.
I’m sorry you’re upset and I see where you are coming from. But it was either make difficult decisions and keep FDL online, or let FDL collapse under the weight of its own tech problems and bills. We went with the former.
The only rationale is greed, hypocrisy and greed. You lie like Obama. Stop embarrassing yourselves.
If the commenting system is to save you can, take away the intrusive, constant, repetitive ads immediately. Lol,I suspect that week happen at the same time Obama adds a strong public option to health care.
We are working on connecting accounts, but couldn’t do it at launch. Sorry.
adding to sisterlauren above
I can’t demonstrate this, only describe it
for offset quotes:
blockquote in between before text and /blockquote in between after
also u for underline
and strike for strikethrough
It’s a blog with dime a dozen opinions and virtually no reporting. It’s a money funnel. The only reason I came here was the excellent comment section. Now fdl went and destroyed that, as well, leaving nothing of quality at this site.
Firepups expect the NSA, FBI,CIA to read our comments Disqus is only a concern if they start sending us spam based on what they learn from reading our comments. If for example I advocate for revolution will ads for plastic explosives and guns appear in my email or does that only happen if you do that on a Right Wing site? ( That is something FDL should look into:)
You do realize there are thousands upon thousands of privacy advocates using Facebook and Twitter, and they are developing tools as users to protect not only their privacy but others’ privacy too.
We care about people’s privacy. And people can go to this link if they want to take a few small steps to further protect their privacy:
https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1197204-making-your-activity-private
You don’t like corporations owning and spying on your every word with complete control over how long your words even last?!? You so crazy ctuttle! This is what fdl represents… Didn’t you know?
I’d like to thank you Kevin and Brian and everyone else who is trying to keep FDL well and functional. We FDL lovers can be patient because we know a good site when we see it. Pay no attention to the malcontents and critics. This reader thanks you.
Actually, we will do something about the intrusive, constant and repetitive ads.
In the meantime, please provide us further entertainment by elaborating on how Firedoglake lies like President Barack Obama. I am truly intrigued.
Yes, I realize hypocrites are everywhere. Have no idea what that has to do with my comment or how it justifies fdl breaking a sacred promise to it users. But keep fogging the issues, it appears that’s what you’re here to do.
Instead, you went with lying to your most valued users and collapsing under the weight of your non stop advertisements?
Does that promise mean as much as the one where you promised fdl would keep its own self contained commenting system?
I do not like this format at all.
Pay no attention to malcontents and critics? How progressive of you, hope!
Constantly amused how these self identified “Lefitsts” are so appalled by corporate America and rail against it on various blogs and such.
When if they really want to “Bring it down” the real work reacquires being out on the streets and risking getting thrown into to some solitary can some where forever.
Some words from a geek about Disqus:
http://luke.asia/2014/disqus-worlds-biggest-blackhat-seo
(Had to create still another throw-away email account to make this comment.)
Folks should really research Disqus, comments about which are buried on Google, so you can start with Wikipedia’s Criticisms section in their Disqus article.
Comment 1/3 on the changes (format)
Kevin, thanks for keeping us informed. Thanks and good luck to
all who are working on the technical issues.
Is the format going to remain a single stream of “front page”
posts or are there plans to re-instate some more robust features that made FDL
a go-to site for a range of topics – namely a reasonably open reader diary
facility, and the sub-front-pages (like Action and Dissenter).
Comment 2/3 on the changes (architecture)
Was the choice between keeping all diaries/comments forever
or retaining the WP format with reduced archives? Probably doesn’t matter now
if decision has been finalized, but was a time limit for deleting or moving to
a separate archive an option?
Comment 3/3 on the changes (ads)
Either FDL needs ad revenue, or can get by on membership and
fund-raiser contributions alone. If the ad revenue is needed, the full page ads
are counterproductive, as they drive people away, make them less likely to want
to make additional contributions, and/or cause them to block all ads. I understand that technical issues take
precedence, and that ads are on the to-do list, but FDL may be losing more than
gaining until this is addressed.
Good question(s). The segmentation [for lack of a better term] helped to group like topics together. Made reading easier and looking for a particular subject as well.
It also made posting easier as I felt freer to post non-political topics in the reader pages, as opposed to the front page.
What’s the alternative?
Your criticism does not help because it does not come with any reasonable suggestions for how to do it better or differently. What do you want us to do? Return it to the way it was 24 hours ago? Please say that is what you want if that’s what you believe we should do.
For now, all posts will go to one page. There are plans for the next phase that may involve sections for specific topics. And there will be a community section developed in the next phase too.
The problem is that it still would have been untenable since we would be in the same position again after a few years. So, we would always be struggling to delete and reduce the archives or raise thousands of dollars for hosting.
Agree. We are working on getting that big super-annoying ad removed for people.
I use disqus for other accounts and Ad Block – good luck with the re design and revamp
I’m an old-timer (from the “Fitz” and “Zed!” and Ned Lamont days) but don’t come around these parts much anymore (though still an annual supporter). I’m certainly not going to get too worked about you all doing what you have to do to stay viable.
My utter contempt for Joe Lieberman, which I pledged would never abate, actually has… because he went away.
Yep, this update was all about keeping Jane rich. And she is going to do it by exploiting all of your personal data. Because apparently a new lucrative business opportunity that has not been pursued is taking advantage of commenters at progressive blogs.
Are you always like this?
Yep, this money funnel helped me buy this mansion:
Turn off AdBlock plus for website you actually enjoy (FDL for instance). They need that ad revenue.
I never wanted a Disqus account.
I want only a FDL account.
I cannot access any of my old golden comments.
I only receive error codes.
Can’t get to dashboard.
Just error codes.
Using WordPress Login.
Only error codes.
But “Google,” pops up in a nano second…..
So much for a free and open internet!
To having a Blackhat SEO implanted on one’s system by Disqus? Maybe not use Disqus?
As for FDL, several commenters have already made suggestions that I see no need to repeat.
Disqus is not fun. I set this screen name up along time ago and will have to do for now. Does not have that down home feel like homeroid has. My ad block is working fine i see zero ads.
Can anyone tell me how to switch this site from the mobile version to the desktop site?
It is ignoring my Android’s Request desktop setting.
Hmmm will have to go to town and see how this all looks on my ipad. No disqus on ipad.
Not sure what we lied about, and as I said previously, we’re working on ads too.
Hey Chris — I’m putting the Google search box from the “old” FDL on here, which should hopefully give you better results. Still tweaking the styling and we have to fix a couple other things, but just letting you know we’re working on this.
This is precisely why just a few nights ago I was recommending that people read Arthur Silber’s recent article “The Internet As We Know It Will Cease to Exist.”
The future of the internet, like so much else – especially meaningful action for change – is local.
TW
“Sacred promise”? I don’t have the Biblical text that Firedoglake was founded upon handy. What page has this “promise”?
And host the comments on FDL? Do you have any ideas on where we can find the tens of thousands of dollars to pay for this? Just pay for comments, not the journalism.
We won’t be able to do journalism because we will be paying for all of you to comment on … I don’t know what. Maybe re-posted content from other sites.
To be clear, nothing from the archive was deleted. We just changed the structure of the website.
MoonOfAlabama has really good examples of how to use the HTML attributes you describe beside their comment box.
A shame Disqus can’t do as much.
This is a responsive template; it resizes automatically depending on the size of the window/screen. So there’s no actual mobile vs desktop version, if that makes sense — it’s all desktop.
Woo hoo! Long time no see!
I suspect one thing that will be encountered with disqus is more trollery, to coin a phrase.
Keep reporting the way you do and don’t pay (too much) attention to them.
Thanks for your reply, and Kevin’s. I was just wondering if it were possible to do something in between – like a regularly scheduled process to delete anything older than x years that would have been possible with the old format. Not sure how it saves servers to keep all the old stuff but change the site format, rather than delete some old stuff, but keep the site format. Anyway, I don’t have any tech skills here, so carry on as you think best.
I think over the course of the last several hours, you’ve planted yourself firmly in the group that won’t get anyone’s attention. Don’t you think you have (several hours ago) made your point, whatever it is? Please give it a rest.
I am frequently amused by the ads that show up as separators on the front page. Right now, I am being invited to join the NRA for only $25. If whatever ad revenue you generate is dependent on click throughs, I don’t imagine that ads for NRA and similar right wing stuff does you much good.
On the other hand, If we all make a point of clicking through some of the crap ads, which then generates revenue for FDL from crap we are never going to buy, it adds a delicious irony to the process.
Thanks Brian.
Thanks Alice, I’ll try it (finally).
For what it’s worth, Privacy Badger (an anti-tracking browser extension from the Electronic Frontier Foundation) classifies Disqus as a block-worthy tracker.
We are going to need some reintroductions.
Jane once made a comment that revenue isn’t dependent on clicks. I tried the link to that post but it says comments closed, and doesn’t show the old comments.
Does that mean that the desktop site also presents the lines of posts with only 4-6 words each and indented block quotes with lines of 2-3 words (1 if the author uses a “big” word)?
Is the white space between lines also about 1/3 greater than the point size of the type, as it appears on my phone?
My final straw with the Guardian was when they locked my phone into just such a scroll-forever system for very slow readers.
That would be good.
I love the idea that something valuable that I like is being financed by those with whom I will never do business. 🙂
Thank you! Unfortunately (for me right now) it doesn’t support the Mac’s Safari 5.1.10. I did install it in Firefox but then couldn’t sign on to Disqus.
I did get a sternly worded warning from Privacy Badger about Disqus. I’ll work on it.
Me too ! 🙂
And adds I never see.
I think it’s a nice change. I was getting kind of bored with the old layout.
I agree it’s not easy to read. I’m adding this to the list, let me see if I can fix the font for mobile screens. Thanks for the heads up.
So does ghostery. It gets scary when a single entity is given a monopoly on online commenting, especially by sites that should know better.
Yes. Everything functions nicely.
Please note that I don’t see ads or experience any weirdness because I use Ghostery https://www.ghostery.com/en/
It takes just a second to load and the entire Internet speeds up. It stops trackers, which are much more insidious than ads. (I customize it to allow the Disqus app to run.)
This is a test comment to see if my avatar update was successful. Not sure why Disqus is making me log in AGAIN.
Please.Give.It.A.Rest!!
How often would you think of the NRA or corps promoting the XL pipeline if you didn’t see these advertisements? They were originally called propaganda for a reason, known as conditioning. Tell a big lie often enough . . . .
I have it installed in Firefox and can sign on just fine.
Thank you.
I’ve never used Disqus before, so I don’t know what to expect. So far, it doesn’t seem any worse than other discussion board systems.
Professional kvetchers and paranoiacs like eCahn/sloopy should probably give the changes a chance before pronouncing the end of the world. Kevin and Brian say things will be tweaked and improved; there’s no reason to believe they’re lying. It’s petulant to attack the FDL crew for things beyond their control.
I really appreciate the hard work by the FDL staff as they’ve struggled with all the technical problems/sabotage over the last several months. Even with the site’s curtailed offerings of late, the reportage and commentary have been terrific. Looking forward to finally having everything sorted out and seeing the return of Book Salon and all the other features.
I’m posting as another entity, as Starbuck was in use at Disqus when I first tried to post there. Little did I know that now, he/she can come in here and post in my place. So it’s Starbuck 101. aka Lawrence Hudetz.
I’ll have to check with Disqus about a total changeover, if possible. I stopped posting at Disqus over 2 years ago.
I’m glad for the site change, hopefully better protected from DDoS. Disqus, not so much.
testing… not sure if i can use my suzanne name or not – ok so far it is accepting suzanne even though the comments registration/signup thingie said it was not unique…. it would really suck big time for the person who wrote the post to have to comment under another name…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfjoQ4fUw78
[Been waiting to this for so long he he :-)]
Great answer;)
WOW nice Kevin and I do love the fact that we can add pictures:) LOL
It’s spelled “Raymond Luxury-Ya-ch-t,” but it’s pronounced THROAT WOBBLER MANGROVE!
it is REALLY going to suck when hosting and the author of the post receives an email with every comment made in reply to one the author makes when hosting…
big time
additionally NOT a fan of nested comments (was so happy when we got rid of them at myfdl) and i am having trouble reading ALL comments. looks like there is a sorting option of best, newest, and oldest.
i hereby apologize in advance for any and all comments missed since the default is BEST for sorting comments instead of the logical time based sort. BEST does NOT show all the comments
Brian and Kevin thanks for all the hard work already done and in the future.
Those that are worried about privacy either you have been out of the loop or ? If you want privacy turn off the puter, the phone, stop your mail, and move in the middle of the night to a cave.
I to can hardly wait for the ads to change but since none of us have a zillion dollars to donate just go along with it. I’m off to the site.
You can turn email notices off in your profile settings.
I noticed that. But since I get them from other Disqus sites, I just filter them with my email then delete them.
Yes…I have seen where nested comments can get real out of hand.
I think since FDL is now using Disqus they no longer have much control of how it’s presented. I am not so sure about having embedded media though. Links only would be cleaner.
Test A link
additionally there are no time stamps on the posts nor on the comments
Welll…that was interesting. Think I’m going to refrain from html links and tags.
You do get how long ago, but that’s it.
There are no numbers on the comments I like leaving a post knowing my last comment was lets say number 39 then coming back to a post going to comment 39 and seeing what else people had to say can we get numbered comments back? Numbered comments make arguing about specific comments with other people so much easier.
Nice to see all the regulars chiming in already…! 😉
Good to see you I always wished I could pun like you 🙂
Well there is also IntenseDebate for comments. It is suppose to be nice.
I have always read FDL for the content. I appreciate the changes and am glad not to lose another voice on the left.
I went to Disqus and they let me change certain details. I no longer have to use starbuck 101.
As I. I had to fuss a bit to make changes there, but finally it “took”. It didn’t like my web address either. I had to add the http.
Privacy Badger? What did it say?
I wonder if Disqus is forbidden at certain work sites. Nothing from BT yet.
I too agree. I like the new look at this site. And, FDL has always been and is still the source for detailed analyses on complex issues for many evolved readers. Great going guys.
Is sloopydrew for real? Congrats and sincere thanks to everyone at FDL for fighting the good fight. Best damn website because of the people. If you have to go to Google friends Ill follow (Gulp). FDL = Sanity refuge
Wish I could help more but I retweet and spread the word as much as I can.
Thanks for all the hard work to Brian, the developer, Kevin (for taking all the heat today) and i expect things will settle out in the coming weeks. If possible, I second Suzanne’s motion for numbered comments and/or time stamp; but i suspect that we’re going to have to get accustomed to Disqus format.
Have to laugh at myself and others that want “change” then get all flustered when it happens.
A trick i’ve used to get to comments where i’ve left off reading is to use “find” with a word in the last comment that hasn’t been used much in the discussion at ian’s site. over at counterpunch, i can usually use just 4 letters from the article author’s name 2 or 3 times; i.e., “elle” is sufficient to find Ellen Brown.
I’m a big fan of the Disqus commenting interface. And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for not going the Facebook route for commenting! Depending on my location when I am browsing, the Facebook log-in and commenting interface is often unavailable because of security restrictions. Disqus doesn’t have that problem.
Yes, we’re like the NSA of progressive blogs now. It’s cray cray!
More Android issues:
1) What do theJapanese/Korean/Chinese characters above this comment box next the profile head and in front of Recommended mean/represent?
2) When I move the cursor from straight typing – to correct a typo or rewrite something – it goes where I place it, but the moment I type anything the cursor jumps up 2-10+ lines and, is hell to get it back to the last letter typed before first moving it; then it jumps just about anywhere and will not “stick” at the end of typed letters.
3) I have yet to be able to access these comments without having to reload Disqus at the least FIVE times. Have the same problem trying to use Disqus elsewhere and the line “Discus seems to be taking longer than usual. Reload” seems a common complaint and something of an internet joke among Disqus users.
Actually, #3 is why I’ve quit going to public radio-related sites (e.g., NPR, PRI, APM, WBUR), all of which seem to have moved to Disqus now. Much like here, I go to read the comments to learn from other commentators what gatekeepers aren’t telling us. When I have to spend many minutes just trying to get Disqus to work, well, there are better ways to spend my time.
TW
That cursor-jumping happens on Edit, too.
FWIW, in the two articles/blogs I read about “Disqus criticisms” – one from Oct. 2014 and one from 2012 – there were three comments complaining/explaining that left-leaning sites were using Disqus to moderate/censor “hardcore leftist” comments from “the [officially acceptable] Left.”
I’m presuming FDL has outsourced moderation as part of the Disqus package, so I guess whether or not that’s true remains to be seen.
TW
Ads are necessary, but pop ups consuming most or the entire screen or having moving graphics or sound are counter productive. For ads I’d suggest reserving just the right hand ~third of the screen, column, a static picture or logo for each ad, maybe containing a link, and they move only vertically and in sync with the scroll. They’ll load a lot faster and not interfere with navigation. Less is more that way.
Disqus does not accept a space between words when that space falls at the far right of the box, instead always eliding the two words together on the next line until I type to the following line then go back, via bouncing cursor, to add the space, *then* it works.
May well only be a mobile version problem, but that’s what I’ve got to use right now.
TW
Can anyone explain why Disqus uses a Load More Comments button instead of just letting them continue on? Is it just for metrics to establish just how far into comments people read?
I ask because I’m particularly interested in the comments of a couple of tech-savvy commentators, but can only use Android’s Find on Page search function so far before having to …Load More Comments AND restart my search at 1 of X (number) over and over again.
Frustrating.
I’ve been using it on Safari Version 6.2.4 without problem.
how could atrios not be on the blog roll?
explain, please.
Two new features that are outstanding, IMO, are at the top of the comments.
One is the notification circle next to your user’s name, (Your Personal Notifications Inbox) which lets you read and interact with responses to your comments. Finally! This is a big boost in User Experience.
Also, on the left side at the top — the Recommend Heart. This lets the author know you liked the article, but also it boosts readership across the Disqus system.
Thanks for the effort. I’ve tried to contribute diaries and could not. It’s not that the world needed more Half/Human Half/Vulcan long winded blog posts, but I missed the conversations with people. My brain gets lonely in my box. So I’m grateful something that works is back.
It’s funny because just today I was thinking about writing about the specific attacks on FDL. What a lot of people don’t know, is just how many ways important voices like the writers here can be silenced.
Net Neutrality fought for the ability to have sites like this not get drowned out by huge sites, but what it doesn’t deal with are people intentionally attacking smaller sites.
I would throw out some facts about this that would blow your minds. However, since I’m not privy to the entire story, I won’t. It is likely it is a combination of factors, one of which is the attacks..
One thing I will tell you about the attacks is that the cost to launch DDoS attacks has dropped to absurdly low rates, while the cost to mitigate them has not. A subcontractor of a RW Think Tank can tie up a site with petty cash. It can be for petty grudges or political reasons. To keep the site going can cost 100 to 1000 times the costs to bring the site down.
I also want to point out is the importance of keeping FDL archives and comments available. That DOES take money.
Recently I wanted to link to some of John Kiriakou’s posts, but couldn’t because they would not load.
This is yet another way that groups continue to harm whistleblowers. Sadly, the media outlets who DON’T support the whistleblowers (but are happy to write about them) don’t see the cost that small outlets pay for breaking the story. They can just reap the clicks.
(I’m looking at you Huffington Post.)
Bookmark this for later. FDL has not outsourced moderation to moderate any “hardcore leftist” comments, whatever that is supposed to mean.
Always enjoyed your posts Spocko,
Thanks!
Hey yeah? What about my blog? Spocko’s Brain? (Blog rolls are actually important in building SEO infrastructure, but lots of people just ignore them these days.)
I read Playboy for the content. I read FDL for the pictures.
Hat tip to Starbuck 🙂
@Starbuck101
Lawrence Hudetz
SO..no indoor pool? Tsk, Tsk. I vote for Jounalism over comments even though comments are interactive. Dkos would be somewhere for sloppydrew maybe?
I posted here mostly as Natty Rebel because my usual nickname was deemed a spammer at FDL. Complained into a dead void: message inquiries neither acknowledged nor returned by whatever dead letter hole sent through the Contact Us link disappeared into
I like Disqus. I use it for Truthdig. On the old site, during your recent run of troubles, I could only log in occasionally.
That affected my coming here much more than the obnoxious hijack ads like Ketel One
What does”left leaning” even mean Post Obama? I know many news sites shut down pro Russian comments on comment sections.
It is why I boycott to the Guardian now
I am the last guy in America not on Fakebook.
When the Kardashian Post required you to login via Facebook, I wrote in to complain.
Got a mealy mouthed “too bad” reply.
So I unsubscribed from all their digests and barely ever go to them unless it is to compare their presstitution on Putin is evil stories in how far they have fallen since Arianna whored out to AOL
I just Praise Jah that none of those hijack ads say Are You Ready for Hillary.
Ketel One and Carnival Cruise are merely obnoxious. A full on Hillary ad is a deal killer for this Recovering Liberal
Reading it fine on my IPad. Safari. No problems adding an avatar or filling in Disqus profile
I’ve been trying to figure out what “hardcore leftist” is these days. I consider myself to be “hardcore leftist” but in no shape to ““Storm the winter Palace”
@ Brian … Android issue. Don’t know if there’s anything you can do about it, but that Report flag is so far right on my screen that I keep accidentally hitting it with my scrolling thumb, having to cancel, etc.
TW
Facebook? What’s that? 🙂
This is basically the blogroll that was at the old site. We just brought it over. We can add anyone. So, instead of getting upset, just make a request. Would you like us to add atrios?
Suggestions:
If there’s something equivalent to the “read more” button, post authors/editors should be encouraged to use it more promptly in the post , rather than require readers to scroll at such length through most of a post to get to the next one.
Can the “Recent Posts” list be expanded to more than 5
By the time the full page ad, the top and side banner ads, the 2 sets of mid-page ads, embedded video/photos, and eventually the content load to the page, it’s almost tomorrow. I don’t have the fastest internet connection, so my bar wasn’t that high to begin with, but you should get input from others as to whether they find this to be more of an issue now.
There is a more tag that should be used after 7-8 paragraphs. As an editor, I am backstage adding it when I notice it is missing. Thanks for the comments on what we can do to improve everything. Keep them coming.
Leaving this post at the top of FDL for a few more hours to make sure everyone who needs/wants to see it and leave comments about the changes can do so. By tomorrow morning, I will take it off the front page.
Ach
What?
This will probably not go through but…..
About a year ago I contacted Jane Hamsher by email. I had heard of the technical issues plaguing FDL. I told her that the DOS (Denial Of Service) attacks were very typical of Anonymous. That Anonymous apparently are free speech supporters. I also told her that I have friends who have contacts with Anonymous. That the folks at Anonymous appear to like and respect me. Now I cannot say that this is an Anonymous operation since i am not active in Anonymous but it surely cannot be ruled out.
Her response was, no response. I still post away at TruthDig with no banning of comments. I have met others over there who have likewise been banned at FDL and we all note how “pro” apologist corporatist Dem it appears here.
Take of this what you will. Lets see what happens when I hit enter. Censorship is not a progressive value.
Maybe when my book is finished “Dissent Erased” i can get a book review here? LOL
There is a chapter to the “progressive” blogs that censor. TruthOut, Common Dreams, FDL and Op Ed News. Just saying’. Didn’t expect this to go through. It will probably be scrubbed very quickly
By the way Kevin
When the 40 odd folks at Op Ed News were mass banned (including managing co-editor Rady Ananda) the folks that called ourselves COTO Coalition Of the Obvious- you were a favorite of many of us. however- I for one have noticed that when these banning happen, you remain very quiet about it. Your politics seem sound but quite frankly- I don’t know that I can trust or respect you anymore.
Again- I have met people at TruthDig who have been banned at FDL, Common Dreams and Op Ed News. We all have one common link. Political leftists and progressives who call on and indeed work to organize an active resistance to the current corporate duopoly. Instead of the “allowed’ complain about the Dems right until an election season starts.
Ya know- the Veal pen politics that used to be talked about here.
I also post on the Wendye Davis site Cafe Babylon. Great wee site.
No censorship here. Just you looking dopey for claiming we’re going to censor you.
“we all note how “pro” apologist corporatist Dem it appears here.”
For real? Seems to me like maybe only a couple (out of a dozen or so) regular writers here who appear inclined to cut Obama some slack. Surely haven’t noticed a general “corporatist Dem” apologist slant here. I would need some specific example/article to convince me otherwise. Please illustrate.
Kevin
As you very well know- I was banned here over a year ago. Just like myself and the other 40 odd members of COTO were at Rob Kall’s Op Ed News. You were liked by the COTO crew but didn’t say a damned word when we got banned then and you have been deadly quiet with the banning here at FDL.
I am here obviously by complete accident after the new format change. i am sure that this will be corrected soon enough.
Dont kid yourself. When i am again ‘disappeared’ I feel sure you will not say one word again. BTW nice Independent Left Electoral in your own Chicago last week eh? I frigging LOVED their response to Bernie Sanders.
Did you go? I could not as I was busy organizing around the Minneapolis May Day parade on the issue of police brutality.
T Boggs regular front pager. Pheonix Woman (from my own Minnesota0 both rabid Dem party corporatist apologists. just for starters and off the top of my head. then there those of us who were active in trying to build a real alternative to the Dems, banned. Not just the allowed ‘complaints’ about the Dems, which were and are tolerated in a non election season.
I’m happy to see this. I haven’t been able to log in at FDL for months.
TBogg is among the worst Obama and corporate Dem apologists on the net, but he left FDL a while ago. He was never representative of the average FDL contributor. Phoenix Woman could be bad, but she also doesn’t write here anymore as far as I can tell.
I think you’ll be pleased if you stick around.
You are certainly right about the proudly obnoxious TBogg. At least he/she moved on elsewhere. I’ll pay more attention going forward. Thanks for reply.
Best of luck!
Toast to new beginnings.
“I am sure that this will be corrected soon enough.”
Nope, sorry, still no corrective action being taken. Nothing you’ve said would lead anyone to ban you yet – though the attack against Phoenix Woman stemming from your dislike of her is something this thread could do without.
Anyways, you’ll continue to be able to post here and look like a boneheaded fool. We won’t ban people just because they’re acting like idiots.
Also recommending Ghostery!
Donald
I was booted out of here for the “crime’ of politely (and correctly BTW) pointing out that corporatist Dem apologists like T Boggs and Pheonix Woman were regular front pagers at FDL.
I will gladly stay around here as long as I am allowed. I didn’t choose to leave. I was summarily booted out.
As many, I am glad of this. Better change than to lose this forum. Thank you.
Thank You
I’ve been called a communist, an anarchist, and sometimes both, which I really find interesting.
I have placed this link before on FDL because I appreciate the dialogue. I would very much like to hear all and any possibilities for a fair and just society.
Even from people who may be heirs to those who failed.
I was attacked one time by a commenter who disappeared for a while. But later came back with better manners.
I am not meaning to hog the bandwidth, I am putting a colon in front of the link which sometimes reduces it to html without the optics. It doesn’t seem to be working here.
:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEuV7DMKess
I had one contributor call one of my links to a trotskyite outfit ultra leftist.
There they have good things to say about Lenin. I don’t. They also tend to maintain the myth of the October revolution. It wasn’t a revolution, it was a Coup. But Trotsky is a different matter.
They use Disqus. I read them regularly.
I don’t find many Dbots about here. And no censorship.
It helps to maintain good manners, which I am not always perfect at.
See my earlier comment below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfmiCLYweTQ
1) FDL keeps its self-contained comment system and collapses, completely silencing it and giving the wingnuts another win.
2) FDL changes to a comments system that doesn’t alter the content posted and stays alive.
Pick one sloopy.
So you would rather give the wingnuts another win by seeing FDL collapse?
TBogg left a while ago, and good riddance to him. I also don’t recall recently seeing PhoenixWoman that much around here either.
This new layout looks horrible in Opera, which is my preferred browser. It looks better in Firefox but I have no intentions of switching to Firefox to read this site. Hopefully the code can be cleaned up and adjusted so that it displays well in any browser. There is no good reason for blog software to be designed to be browser specific if the code complies with HTML standards…
Just about every site that I follow uses Disqus so I’m used to using it. Hopefully Disqus doesn’t suddenly demand a King’s ransom to continue using it down the road. It seems like a risk using such an important feature provided by a 3rd party vendor where all of the data will be stored on their servers. With Disqus, are you given the ability to obtain regular backups of all the comments in case you ever decide to switch back to your own databases or a competing vendor? If you ever have to walk away from Disqus for any reason, without backups, you lose your entire commenting history. That might irk some of the long term regulars…
You libruls!
Here’s a tip to speed up the site. Disguise the Donate to FDL link so that donations actually go to the Let’s Frack-Pass the TPP-Coronate Hillary Campaign!
You’ve got to be mulp…!
I tried to sign in to FDL using my old name and password. It didn’t work. So I reset the password and a page came up that said I didn’t have “sufficient permission”. The only reason I can comment now is because I have a discus account associated with another website. So there is still something wrong.
Otherwise, the website looks very good.
Everything is working correctly. You use your Disqus account to comment now. Nobody commenting signs in to FDL anymore.
My experience at FDL is NOBODY ever responds to any inquiries sent via the Contact Us button.
That said, I have nothing good to say about the Demorats, Obots, Hillbots, Moo-ve On, Dailey Kooz and the rest of the veal penned left
Nobody cares, that I am aware of. It’s not like DK where there is a captured orthodoxy where Lesser of Two Evils is the rule of the law. And Obama is Moses betrayed by the evil Republicans and traitorous Progs
If you were banned I doubt it had anything to do with your political persuasion
What I like about FDL is the civility of inclusion. The overall dynamic of both sides suck. Other than mulp and a few Israel Firsters and Ukrainian Fascists enablers from time to time, this site has good writing and commentary without trolling or boring fights between regulars
i quit coming around for awhile between the Ketel One hijack browser crap and the fact that when I couldn’t log in, I couldn’t even call up the Contact Us link to send my plea for help into what would have been a dead letter void anyway
I read Zerohedge first and like to follow up with FDL. So I am hoping this is a new beginning.
I have Firefox and, the latest Opera, and Opera 12, open to this page right now, I see no difference.
It looks much better in Opera today…
It appears that the coding gods are listening and responding quickly. Thanks kgosztola!!!
http://4fxearth.net/phpBB2/images/smiles/littleboy.gif
I spoke too soon. The index page layout is screwed up again when viewed in Opera 12. Hopefully you’re currently making coding changes to the site and it will look better by tomorrow. The layout displays properly on the discussion page…
I could provide screenshots of what I’m seeing if need be…
First, thanks for all the hard work restoring the site. Whether people like the changes or not, it’s hard to see how it’s not a vast improvement over not having the site at all.
Having said that, I’m having some problems working with the new setup. When I login, I get the message others have referred to: “You do not have permission to access this page”. But, as you can see by this reply, I’m able to login. Also, I tried to click the link in the OP to access my old diaries on myFDL but I receive the same permission error. How can I access my old posts?
Finally, is there a “new post” or “new thread” button available yet? Is that what is meant by “We have decided that MyFDL community diaries will remain on hiatus
temporarily as we prepare a new community section to take its place. In
the meantime, please email your submissions to
kevin.gosztola@firedoglake.com“? Can new threads only be started at the current time by sending an email?
As for Disqus, I guess I have mixed feelings. I’m not sure I want to share my FDL essays with comments I might make on a website discussing local community issues. Sometimes being seen as too far left is a disadvantage. By centralizing comments under a single umbrella, we are pushed into a one-size-fits-all vulnerability. These aren’t complaints; just observations.
Once again, thanks for getting FDL back on its feet.