The Good and The Bad

At least I think that's the term for this.  Or is it Easy Reply?  Way back in the day, version 4 or so, when you clicked the Reply button on comments, it would load the comment you were replying to as a new page, and you put your reply into the textbox there and hit send.  But with quick reply, it opened right under the comment, quick and easy.  I doubt many people remember those days, but that update was beautiful and much loved.  Also one of the very first beta features, back when beta testing was first launched.

This was, and still is, one of the best subscriber features for me.  To be able to customize your journal however you want and add some unique flair to your page?  Awesome.  And it's what first got me interested in learning CSS.  Sure, most people use the one click idiot-proof installable journal skins, but being able to create or edit your own skin is amazing, and I really appreciate that.

This one may sound odd.  But as you may know, you can click the time stamp on any comment to get just that specific comment.  I find that useful, for a number of reasons.  First and probably foremost, since dA doesn't remove comments, those comments will always be here.  So while the deviation or whatever may be removed, those comments are always able to be loaded.  Then there's some other useful things that can be done with those unique comment pages, mostly on the scripting side for me.

I was kind of hesitant to add this one, since I don't ever draw or use it, but I really like how dA stepped into the HTML5 world and made this, saying "fuck you IE, we'll support you as much as we can, but won't let you hold us back".  It's a pretty cool feature (not to imply that it's better than a standalone drawing program), and I hope to see more advanced pages and features here.

I don't know if dA was the first to implement this.  I doubt it.  But I bet it was the first site of this size that used nested comments so much.  It drives me absolutely insane trying to follow a thread of comments on another site when the threads aren't nested like they are here (or can be, if you select to view threads nested).  On other sites, you often see "username: comment here" or something similar, or those fucking quote boxes (like many forums).  That is just not useful.  To me at least.  Having direct replies to people nested right under their comment just makes sense to me, and it feels like anything else is just stuck in the early 2000's and can't fricken adapt nested replies to help people follow conversations better.  I love that dA has had nested comments for so long and makes that the primary way to view conversations.

This is, by far, one of the dumbest features still in existence.  You know, that block of moods on the right you can select when you leave a comment?  Only hardly anyone ever leaves a mood on a comment?  I do find it useful that you can see only the comments of a certain mood on things, but since it's so seldom used, it's just a block of emoticons that gets in the way and annoys me.

This is found on  the today page, at the top left, and it never ever changes.  Ever.  Or if it does, I haven't noticed.  Since it never changes, why is it there?  Just to remind me that most people are feeling "love" followed by "joy" when they emote or leave journal moods?  Bah, rather useless to me.  If it never changes, I don't need to see it.

This is probably my most hated "feature" right now.  Since version 7, when you click a deviation, you aren't taken to a new page.  You are getting fed information about the deviation page and it's loaded into the page you are currently on and made viewable.  Or in theory.  For me, maybe due to my internet speed or browser configuration, it often fails to load right.  But you end up with a URL such as http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=by%3Aelectricjonny#/d4bzqg.  For people that pay attention to the URL, you'll see that it makes no sense.  The originating page I was on was a search page, and then to show the deviation, dA tacked on #/d4bzqg.  But when that URL is linked elsewhere on the internet, people get a double page load.  First the originating page is loaded, then once the JavaScript kicks in, the final deviation page loads.  Which is just confusing and disorienting to people.  Not to mention that it gives no hint as to the creator of the art, or the title of the art.

This is sort of a long standing tendency of dA.  They make great features, but they release them early, while they could still use some polish, then they forget about them.  Like sta.sh?  Seems it was released half finished and they are finishing it as we speak.  And take portfolios for example.  They had said that small images (like emoticons) and literature and video and Flash would be supported.  But as far as I know, those are still not available to be put into a portfolio.  Don't get me wrong, I love the portfolio.  It is great for images, but for those other types of art, it is lacking.  And we've seen absolutely zero progress here.  Many site features are in the same boat.  Chats being a prime example.  It was great when it was first launched.  But it was not user friendly and the style is still rather dated.  Third party developers, like electricnet, have made scripts to try and smooth it's use.  But why dA can't just spend a week or two and put those features in for everyone is a fucking mystery to us all.  But dA did recently revamp the forums, and for that I am thankful.  I just wish that dA would refine more of it's current features rather than spend time and money and resources with other things.  And on a related note, take a read of this, since I very much agree with it: An Open Letter for API Developers.

Part of the last few issues I talked about, is a lack of direction.  Or a lack of leadership.  Or so it seems to me.  We are getting hit with new features and refinements left and right.  But I don't see a clear logic or reason behind any of it.  It seems that it's kind of a "Well we have the man power, make some new feature!" or something close to that.  I think, what this site lacks, is a clear model of where it's headed.  Are we appealing to idiot 12 year olds who like to give each other llamas and spend mommy and daddies money?  Are we a professional art site?  Are we just another money making social network?  Why are we making these features?  What about all the older features?  Granted those questions would take a long time to answer, and I or anyone else here probably doesn't deserve to know, but I used to think I had an idea about those questions, 3 or so years ago.  dA is hiring new people left and right, and they seem to be public relations folk that their prime job is to talk the talk and to sound pleasing.  I don't know.  I liked it better when the old staff I knew talked about things.  While I don't love each and every old time staff member, I appreciated their talking to us.