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Vote Up, Vote Down, and Rising News


  3. mario_a
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Vote Up, Vote Down, and Rising News
Hey there, it's release time once again here at Current.com, and this time around we have several new features to recap, so let's jump right in.

// Yellow Bar //

If you're reading this, chances are you've already met our new home page message bar. This cleverly named yellow bar gives us the ability to easily inform our community of system news and recent Current.com blog posts. When we have updates, the trusty yellow bar will appear with links to help guide you on your way.

// Voting Buttons //

How many times have you wanted to vote on a story, but hesitated when faced with the decision between I Like It and Nope? Too often? We know. Voting I Like It for a story like, "Albinos hunted for their body parts" just feels so...wrong.

Confusion over our voting buttons has gone on for too long, so we've decided to try something different on our home page. Current community, meet our new Vote Up and Vote Down buttons. Now voting up a story like "Albinos hunted for their body parts" no longer implies that a voter thinks hunting Tanzanian albinos is a good idea, it simply means that this is a story they think should be seen by more members of the Current community.

// Featured Videos //

Have you noticed the Current TV tab at the top of the page? This tab is a one-stop shop for checking out and voting on pods that have aired on Current TV. The most popular Current TV pods now have the chance to show up on the home page in our new Featured Video slots found in the home page stream. Featured Videos are not eligible to get picked for Current:News, and they will change with each refresh of the home page. Try it out!

// Rising News //

Looking for more stories to vote on? Check out the new Rising News section. Think of it as an on-deck circle for stories that are starting to pick up steam and gain some traction on the popularity front. Place some votes, refresh, repeat.

// Wait, those look suspiciously like ads... //

OK, you caught us. In an effort to afford keeping our servers running and our team fed, we'll be introducing ads on both the Current.com home page and our topic pages. For now we’re simply displaying Current-related house ads, but our plan is to keep things clean and friendly once we start introducing offsite ads.

As always, these are some significant changes to Current.com, so please don't hesitate to shoot us a response on this post sharing your thoughts and feedback. If you don't feel like sharing publicly, you can always fire off an email to feedback@current.com.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say,

Mario
Online Community Team
mario_a

28 responses // Vote Up, Vote Down, and Rising News

  • Mario please tell me you guys are going to option VCAMs for the online ads... think about it... pitch it to the bosses... then hire me ;)
    parisinla
  • What happened to the comment stream at the bottom of the front page. I really liked this feature.

    A good comment can help a reader find interesting content even when poorly named or buried on a back page.
    recommended by  huntre, Conniepae, jade_azul16
    seeker561
    2 responses to this
  • It would be nice for credentialed journalists to have a different or accelerated path with which to contribute to Current. No, I'm not one of them...but, I would value their input.
    recommended by  huntre
    Wreyeter
    1 response to this
  • When we click VIEWER UPLOADS no one cares what's "Airing on current tv" or being able to vote on those pods because we already know they ARE ON TV. If you want to know if the stuff you're airing is relevant, let the citizen programmers back into the equation of VC2.

    We want to see NEWLY UPLOADED pods shown first when you click Viewer Uploads.

    We want a voting mechanism that actually counts for more than a green flag for in-house programming to cherry pick stories.

    We want the democratization of the media you all promised us.

    We want accountability: bring back the leaderboard & weekly winners picked by the Current Community.

    I just don't understand the decision makers at Current, they are clueless to the lost opportunities by scuttling VC2 into the depths of obscurity instead of prominently featuring it when you click on VIEWER UPLOADS.

    It's like you have a flat tire on your car, and rather than just change it, you decided to rebuild the engine.
    zenbeer
    4 responses to this
  • Bring back the "people are talking" section at the bottom of the page.

    It's a great way to sample a few viewpoints on stories i might never have gotten to.
    1percent
    2 responses to this
  • Pitch: Double the size of the News page.
    Why?: Not enough people care enough to go to the second page, when there are some really great stories. Or at least give us an option to display how many stories we want at once (20, 30, 40, 50, etc.).
    Dmitri_Molotov
  • i like everything but the ads... but hey they are unavoidable! you gotta make some money!
    great job.
    lemonsun12
  • i would love love love to Viewpoints back on Current. They were one of the top reasons i came on here.
    blue_blooded
  • oh by the way, it's still "like" and "nope" when you actually click on the link, it would be great to change that to vote up, vote down too... just because someone JUST commented me saying "i don't LIKE this, but find it interesting" or something along those lines.
    lemonsun12
    1 response to this
  • This is about the Search feature. I seem to recall that I could type a few letters or words and the Search window would offer a list of suggestions below as an assistance.
    Now, I have to type a specific title directly relating to a posted item in order to find it. This is a problem as I don't always remember a title exactly as presented by it's poster. Did Current remove that helpful feature or is it my computer that needs adjustment?
    In advance, thanks.
    huntre
    1 response to this
  • I liked the comment stream at the bottom of the front page. Hope current will bring this feature back.
    The fresh up to the moment experience of reading the comments at the bottom of the new page makes current more interactive.
    I agree with other posters that "a good comment can help a reader find interesting content even when poorly named or buried on a back page."
    Thanks for all the great work you do on current to make alternative news accessible to the world.
    TouchArt
    1 response to this
  • yes, the comment stream was the only reason I posted here... that was just the best, too bad. Haven't visisted the site in a couple weeks and it is gone... too bad, this was a great way to highlight a story you thought worthy.... Current.com, please stop emailing me with stories I might like, this feature is very annoying not to mention outright spamming tactics.....

    goog luck with the new GUI, you'll miss Tribe 10!!!!
    tribe10
  • Hey Tribe10 and others... the comment stream will be coming back, it just had a few bugs that have to be worked out. Also, there is a link in those "you might like this" emails to block users who are "spamming" you - try it out next time you get one!
    digitrash
  • Hey, I had another request too.

    I run my resolution at 1920/1200. Often on websites, I am enlarging my browser font on the fly so I can read the text that is too small. This is easier than changing my resolution back and forth.

    I noticed in your CSS that many of the divs have styles that have overflow of content set to "hidden". This obviously cuts off the text when enlarged. I am aware that a change to "visible" really screws with your layout, since I tested this method.

    This isn't a big deal I guess, but for improving the usability of the interface, it may be something to consider for the future.

    I sit back from my display about 3 feet, and it'd be nice to have this feature so I don't have to move closer to read all of the stories and comments.
    YourMothersMilk
  • Hawkmang
    1 response to this

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