Member home pages
Chris and I have finished up a neat, possibly major new feature: home pages for each member. We think it's going to make LibraryThing a lot more dynamic, while not compromising our strong basis and roots in unchecked, unapologetic bibliophilia.
I made a short screencast about it if, you know, reading gets you down.
The basic idea was to give members a "center" from which to visit the rest of the site. Until now, sign-in threw you into your catalog. New members went to a special welcome page. And the profile also felt like a center.
The new profile centers you. It offers pieces or "windows" into the site—your library, your connections, your recommendations, Talk, hot books, hot reviews, Early Reviewers and so forth. It gives you an idea of how much LibraryThing has to offer. But, it's also editable, so you can control how much of each piece you want to see, and even remove the ones you don't care about. (Anyway, that's the theory. We haven't implemented reordering and removing the pieces yet, because we want members to tell us what the defaults should be.)
You can check out your Home by going here. Or check out my Home. (Normally you can't see other member's Home pages, but you can see mine!)
Some highlights. Home includes a summary of recent recommendations, so you can keep up-to-date on what LibraryThing has found for you, as well as a very handy Connection news piece. You can decide just what you want to see—new books, ratings, reviews. And you can decide whose news you want to see.
I'm also very taken with the Local events piece, based on LibraryThing Local. It should give Local more prominence. It's really a unique resource—driven by members and more comprehensive than anything out there.
In addition to the "Daily Me" stuff—news about you and your world—Home also provides snapshots of what's happening on the rest of LibraryThing, including a totally new "Popular This Month" list (The Host, of course), a weirdly fascinating up-to-the-second window into books being added to LibraryThing, an area for interesting reviews, a new "On this day" feature that sucks birth- and death-days from Common Knowledge, a peek into the current Early Reviewers batch and some featured LT authors.
In the near future we plan to make the order of pieces editable. For now, though, we'd love some thoughts about the best default order. After all, most users will never change the default.
Other planned improvements include:
Thanks for everyone's help critiquing early drafts of the page. Come talk about what we made in Talk.
UPDATE: The first thread is pushing 250 messages in eight hours. It also got sidetracked into tab issues. (I relented; the Profile tab is back.) So I've started a New Thread about the Home page.
I made a short screencast about it if, you know, reading gets you down.
The basic idea was to give members a "center" from which to visit the rest of the site. Until now, sign-in threw you into your catalog. New members went to a special welcome page. And the profile also felt like a center.
The new profile centers you. It offers pieces or "windows" into the site—your library, your connections, your recommendations, Talk, hot books, hot reviews, Early Reviewers and so forth. It gives you an idea of how much LibraryThing has to offer. But, it's also editable, so you can control how much of each piece you want to see, and even remove the ones you don't care about. (Anyway, that's the theory. We haven't implemented reordering and removing the pieces yet, because we want members to tell us what the defaults should be.)
You can check out your Home by going here. Or check out my Home. (Normally you can't see other member's Home pages, but you can see mine!)
I'm also very taken with the Local events piece, based on LibraryThing Local. It should give Local more prominence. It's really a unique resource—driven by members and more comprehensive than anything out there.
In addition to the "Daily Me" stuff—news about you and your world—Home also provides snapshots of what's happening on the rest of LibraryThing, including a totally new "Popular This Month" list (The Host, of course), a weirdly fascinating up-to-the-second window into books being added to LibraryThing, an area for interesting reviews, a new "On this day" feature that sucks birth- and death-days from Common Knowledge, a peek into the current Early Reviewers batch and some featured LT authors.
Other planned improvements include:
- Making it the homepage for non-signed-in members too (ie., the right stays the way it is, but the left is taken over with a description of the site).
- Adding specialized pieces, like a Combiners! log, a wiki log—whatever you want, in theory.
Thanks for everyone's help critiquing early drafts of the page. Come talk about what we made in Talk.
UPDATE: The first thread is pushing 250 messages in eight hours. It also got sidetracked into tab issues. (I relented; the Profile tab is back.) So I've started a New Thread about the Home page.
Labels: home, new features, screencasts
posted by Tim at 3:29 PM
54 Comments:
I really like the homepage. You did kind of have to move all over the place to find out all the new things before.
I appreciate the fact that your team is constantly working to improve the site. I was so thrilled when I discovered it two years ago, but you're always working to make it even better. Thanks for a great service and a great community!
Great addition. Looks good. One little thing I caught, though - the "Recent recommendations" link below the recently added book covers goes to athena.librarything. I'm guessing this is a testing relic since I'm being asked for a password to log in. Thanks for the great work!
Thanks. Fixed.
Thanks for adding this feature. I am going to start blogging and reviewing like crazy now! :)
p.s. access to Sonya's Blogger profile is blocked
Very, very nice!
One preference, if you don't mind my saying: the Talk goes to "all groups", "your groups", and "your posts" (I think). The one I actually care about is "your starred".
Thanks for making LT ongoing fun for all of us!
That's actually pretty cool! I'd kinda prefer to be able to move some stuff around... the Zeitgeist thing particularly, I'd much prefer that to be right under the "Recently Added" section, since I never use the recommendations section anyway and I think people would be more interested in THEIR stuff anyway.
My only other "complaint" is one that has bugged me in the past, which is that in the Talk section when you hit the cross to say "ignore this topic"... it ignores it only until you reload the page. If I'm ignoring something, I'm ignoring it and probably never want to see it again because it doesn't interest me. It might also be nice if you could choose which of the groups actually appears on that list.
As far as the "currently reading" thing goes, I REALLY just want a way to specify that I'm "currently reading" a book when I put it into "add books"... it was there for like five minutes, and it was very useful!
Anyway, home page looks good, keep up the good work!
Just had a first glimpse of my home page and it's absolutely awesome. I'm sure I'll have remarks how to improve it later on (and darn, I'll have more to translate again), but for now I say it rocks.
Love the new homepage! I'll definitely be giving more time and attention to groups and news on LT rather than just obsessively uploading books when I'm on the site. As a relatively new member, this makes it much easier to feel part of the community and connect with others.
I like the idea of the homepage...but I really miss the Profile tab. I like to be able to right to it from a talk page.
Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. *flails*
Changes. I don't do well with such big changes!!
This will take me awhile to get used to. Wow. I definitely like the new homepage layout and stuff.
But PLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE put back the profile tab!!! What the heck?!?! I had no idea that was going to go away! I spend most of my LT time one of three places: Talk, My Library, or Profile. It is VERY inconvinient not to have that tab up there (and it's more clicks and more page-loading for my already-sucky computer!). Please consider bringing it back!
Wow! Leave the computer for a few hours and look what happens!
Love the page and really like that it does not go directly to my library like before.
Keep up the great work...
Kudos to you and Chris for all your hard work! I realize that there's more to come and a lot of howling for bringing back things the old way, but I LOVE that this is bringing so much information together!
The easy toggles are very nice and it's great to see that they stay the same across all of those pages as you access them - it really seems more organized now. So much information in one spot! From so many member contributions! Good stuff.
Just exactly what coffee bean are you grinding over there at the LT Campus?
You peeps grind out such useful features so very quickly...
Is it Jamaican Blue Mountain?
Interesting idea -- but what I'm most interested in is on my profile page and I'd really prefer a first level tab for that, can you add that back please?
I'd also like more control over what goes on the home page, i.e. I want to completely eliminate some of that stuff I'm just not interested in. It's awfully busy!
Thanks for always trying to improve LT.
What a great new feature to see when I logged in tonight! Thanks for the hard work, you guys; it's much appreciated! Being able to slide the modules around would be super cool just to second that thought, but it's far from a complaint - just something to keep in mind when it's time to do more housecleaning :) Thank you, LT!!!
This is a fantastic feature. I love how it shows all the interesting stuff (like recommendations and connections and all the other stuff) on the one page. I've already tweaked the defaults and can't wait until you've activated the ability to change the default order. Well done!
First of all, *thank you* for adding the Profile tab back. It's the heart of my experience here on LT. The discussion regarding making the Home tab go to whatever page the user wants (Profile, Home, Library, etc.) would have been fine too.
You wanted favorites/least faves so here goes: I for one, do not forsee me using most of the modules on the Home page. I have no interest whatsoever in what's been recently added by random people nor the hot reviews (this is me cringing at having to say "Hot").
Popularity this month might be of interest to track as time passes, but frankly, if I want to know what the masses are reading, I can find that from other national sources.
The Early Reviewer section isn't going to be of use for a month at a time, or at all to those who are not (and don't want to be) ER members. And if Featured Authors isn't tied in any way to my tags, books, groups, etc., it's pointless too. When I first saw these two modules, they just seemed to glare of promotional material to me rather than something geared /toward/ me.
On This Day I can give or take.
So basically, what I'm left with of interest is material I use only every so often (e.g., recommendations), or things I could get from my Profile page in the first place (Connection news, MWYB, etc.) -- a page which is set up much more appealing to my eye.
Off topic: Did the list of MWYB section on the *Profile* page expand when I wasn't looking? Seems I'm scrolling down a lot more all of a sudden.
Thanks!
Since the upgrade, my RSS feed of my books marked with a 'reading' tag has been blank (I have 8 books tagged). I use the XML to feed my facebook profile and my blog with my current reading list. Can you fix it?
I have to let it sink in a little, but here are a few tentative thoughts.
My first reaction was a positive one -- lots of new text and information -- but I also felt a little bit lost. It seems a little *too* busy and not as 'calm' as the profile, which was a great anchoring point for new users. The decision to restore the profile tab was a wise one -- too much too soon for the new user could be a turn off.
That said, I think the idea could be taken a step further -- by making the new 'home' page a subnav of the profile page. Maybe it's just me, but GoodReads' home page is basically a connections page -- and I disliked it because the focus was on social activity rather than your *own* catalogue, of which your profile is a little precis.
I'm not sure taking a leaf out of GR's nav is an entirely good thing here. Social activity is fine, it adds dynamism to the site, but to me, it should always be a function of the catalogue, and hence a subnav of the Profile. It's less "all over the place" that way.
Second, the tabs need fixing. 'Home' consolidated under 'Profile' to make things less messy, perhaps? (I gather you're not sold on this. But do think about it.) Also, gaps between tabs should be eliminated, as it's not clear what they're meant to delineate.
Third, onto the new homepage. The personal info box is simplicity itself -- I like that very much.
"Recently added" is nice.
"Recent recommendations" can be shortened to just "Recommendations." Since "(13 new)" already tells me that these are new, "recent" is redundant.
"Connection news" need not be replicated in its entirety on the page. It can be streamlined to "XYZ has added a new review/books" and a link to the connections page.
"Local events" is awesome.
"Talk (forums)" is a little redundant, but I can see how it is cool for new users. You should show new topics that mention your books.
"Your Zeitgeist" is sweet and to the point -- again, simplicity wins here.
"Members with your books" is redundant, I think. It'd be more useful defaulting to *recent* members with your books. Maybe even recent members based on the obscurity level of the book added (even if it's just 1 book), or books tagged with your tags. Tags should be used more here!
"Announcements" and "From the blogs" can be consolidated.
"Popular this month" should be slightly more explanatory -- "most popular books added this month"? A more functional list would include popular books by tag entered this month, based on the tags in one's library.
"Recently added by other members" could be slightly more dynamic -- you did a dynamic version some time ago, scrolling as books were updated, and it was evil-great. Staring at it was entrancing. Perhaps you should bring it back?
Here too, you could make things more interesting by exploiting tags. "Recent books tagged ____" (this could be part of the tag watch function, of which, see more below).
"Hot reviews" aren't so hot because they aren't related to me or my library. Why should I be interested? It's hit and miss, regardless of how many thumbs up a review of something that doesn't relate to me gets. You should change it to "new reviews of books in your library" -- I believe this gets more mileage -- because you want to know what *other* people think of *your* books.
As before, tags can be exploited here. "Recent reviews of books tagged ____" might be fairly interesting.
"Early reviewers" is cool.
"On this day" is brilliant.
A final suggestion: add tag watch. Tags are a root functionality at LT, and should be treated as such.
I love the new home page. I actually wish the home page was my profile...
The new Home Page is very cool, and I personally wouldn't get rid of anything, as it gives me a chance to see some information I probably wouldn't have come across on my own. It might be nice to rearrange some stuff, but it would be great if a few of these things could be added to our Profile page for others to be able to see. Thanks again!
Very beautiful. Unexpected. I like the homepage. Great addition!
A tip: I think it will be better proposing the homepage also for new users (not yet subscribers, I mean) because so main ideas of LT (connections and suggestions and reviews id est other LT users) came more more evident.
Bravi!
The homepage really scared me at first. I was reading a long thread, then went up to the top, and it was changed! I didn't like how there was no tab for my profile, but I see you changed that. I don't really know what I think of the homepage. It's different. I'll get used to it. Just like with the new book pages, and I like that better so...
One thing I did see, is that on my profile the Members with your books is longer. I like how the box was shorter before and didn't show so many names. Also, if that's on the homepage then what's the point of it being on the profile too? I'd rather it just be on the homepage because when people look at your profile, they probably don't care who you share books with.
This isn't related to the above, but I noticed something when you click on the Your Tags tab. It shows you your tags, but it's under the Your Library tab. That doesn't make sense.
Thank you for making this site so great!
Y'all couldn't have given us a better gift than this new home page... Thanks so much!
With the homepage, I was looking at how you can change each little section. I really like that. But for the Recently Added section I edited it to see the different sizes of the covers, and there was less books. I tried editing it again to change it back, but the maximum was 15 books. It showed 17 before. I want it to have 17 again! I also thought the Members With Your Books should be only on the homepage. Other than that, it's pretty good.
I really like the idea of the home page. My only wish would be that I could delete some of the modules. Many I like, but there are a few I have no interest in and simply clutter it up.
LOVE IT. I WILL BE SPENDING EVEN MORE TIME ON LIBRARYTHING NOW CHECKING OUT THE NEW FEATURES. KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK! :)
I actually like this a lot. The only thing I'd ask to change is for you to add an "add books" form right to this page - that's what I'm doing 90% of the time when I log in, so it'd be nice to have it right on the page. I mean, come on - asking me to click a single link to get there is just far too demanding for my lazy self.
But otherwise, great job - I especially like the local events listing. Is there a way to rearrange things on the page, so I could move this to above the fold?
> while not compromising our strong basis and roots in unchecked, unapologetic bibliophilia.
Sorry old chap, I just don't believe it any more. I've pretty much given up on Librarything, a.k.a. MySpace for books.
Sorry old chap, I just don't believe it any more. I've pretty much given up on Librarything, a.k.a. MySpace for books.
So what exactly is the problem to you? The possibility of seeing a book cover? The possibility of being notified of another user's review? Seriously. How have we broken your trust?
ooo, very nice feature. :) One thing though...I can't seem to get to the 'home' pages from the profile pages. No link anywhere. :)
Oh, and I don't think this is 'myspace'ish at all! It's a great feature that is going to speed up book and info hunting! :D
hmmm, perhaps I have found my own answer...is the 'home page' only for our own eyes? I navigated away from your home page and then couldn't link back to it from your profile, but now I'm thinking, perhaps you want it that way?
Right. You can only see your own home page. And mine. Everyone can see mine, just because I wanted something everyone—even non-members—can see.
Good ideas; good execution! I will definitely visit more often.
I find the new home page very useful and well organized thanks for the update. One problem I am having though. My library went from some 40 odd books to 10 books. I can't find the other ones anywhere. Am I missing something? Hopefully I am the only one and this is simply user error.
I don't mind what tweaks are made to the front end, but I'd really like the geeky tools such as RSS feeds from a tag to still work please.
I joined LT - and bought life membership - because it had all the nifty Web2.0 perks I wanted. I've left a message here, and on two trouble-shooting groups, about the failure of the RSS feeds and have received absolutely no official response. Is it a known bug? Is it a new bug? Is it something someone is fixing, or are those of us who use such geekery being thrown aside?
Rodney - I think you've probably got a second account (by mistake),and your books are in an old account. Email me (abby at librarything.com) and we'll sort it out.
I really like this new addition, though it's rather overcrowded. I would happily dispense with the "popular" and "hot" sections. So maybe an option to choose which information we have displayed on our home pages?
Looks good so far. We should be given the option to delete or "re-attach" different tabs at will, it looks great and I am very happy with Library Thing:-).
"My" home page consists almost entirely of things which have no relationship to me, but promote LibraryThing. I'm not impressed by the direction LibraryThing is taking lately.
Will we have the option of turning off the home page entirely? For someone who simply wants to catalogue his library, a MySpace knock-off serves no useful purpose.
The "MySpace Knock Off" charge is just absurd. The only thing this adds to the Profile, when it comes to social networking, is a way to follow what your friends are reading. The focus of that and every other piece is on books.
I'm open to providing members with a choice of where you go when you sign in.
This is a great addition. I agree with others here who've asked for more control on what appears on this page, but overall, I like the snapshot effect. Thank you so much! Makes navigation much easier, and gives me a much better idea of the features available on LibraryThing.
Thank you for the work you are putting into this site. You guys rock.
--an Ester librarian
PS: how about this: part of the complaints about this are due to a cluttered look--what if you have a clickable arrow which can expand or minimize the given section, with the preference remaining as chosen by the user the previous time? That way the option would be visible for those who may not want the section open, just in case they change their mind, but wouldn't take up a lot of space if they don't want to use it.
Okay, "MySpace knock-off" is a bit harsh, but I'd like to be able to skip this feature.
Thanks for putting together the new homepage. I've enjoyed it.
While I like the idea of a homepage, this is waaaaaay too busy for me, and there is a whole lot of information that I just don't care about -- "hot reviews" in particular, which makes the site feel like a marketing tool. I know other people like these features, and that's fine -- just please make it possible for individuals to turn off or at least minimize features we're not interested in. Web 2.0/social networking/social tagging appeals to different people in different ways.
I like the home page concept and execution. Once it becomes editable, I'll probably pare mine down a lot -- I especially dislike having so many spinners spinning for several seconds when I first arrive. And I'm not a big user of many of the social features, though I appreciate having them.
One customization idea, though: would it be possible to give each user the ability to toggle back and forth between "custom" and "default" settings for the home page, a la the power edit toggle? I'd love to be able to set up my home page but *also* have the ability to bring up the full set of features in all their spinning glory when I want to -- and then toggle back to my soothing minimalism when the bells and whistles get too loud.
I love what you have done. I'm not crazy about the spinners though but I can put up with them. I like all info on my profile page.Not too busy for me.
I love LibraryThing!! I tried once to log my books by hand in a notebook and that was way too hard and really boring. My mom found LibraryThing and gave me a lifetime membership. I like the members with my books, it's pretty cool seeing who else has the same books.
thanks for the recommendations. however, of the 13 i see, "johnnylogic" offers 8. while i'll check out our affinity, 5 would have been sufficient to get my attention.
My home page gives me "Local" events in Boston. I live in Houston. Can you fix this? Thanks.
Suzie, it shows Boston by default. You can fix your own location via the "Local" tab OR via the home page by clicking the pencil icon next to "Local events" (hover your cursor over the box and the pencil icon will appear) and editing your location.
Thanks very much, anon. That worked!
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