Comments / Feedback / Suggestions Thread 2019

scotty on 11/01/2019 - 21:05

Continued from the same feedback thread of 2018. This post will be used for general feedback in 2019. Please make any suggestions for new features, bugs, things you'd like to see changed or anything else. Please check this wiki page as your suggestion may already have been mentioned.

The majority of things you see, as well as policies on OzBargain were implemented based on user feedback. Please see the Site & Guideline Updates Announcement Thread to keep up to date with the changes/features that we implement as they are added.

Site Discussion

closed Comments

    • Aap Ke Papa on 16/04/2019 - 11:25
      +2

      Yeah. Dont like them. Hard to decifer and figure out what deal is getting popular. Number gets mixed with the text. Maybe its too small. Needs to be larger with boxed border.
      Coz if you think about how an ozbargainer looks at the website is the number of votes first and then the deal

  • ronnknee on 19/04/2019 - 00:03

    Restrict new users from creating new posts in forums before x days.

    There have been many instances where someone creates a new account, makes a troll post and then deletes their account.

    Exhibit A B C D

  • Mister Plod on 21/04/2019 - 02:20

    thanks for making the right side +vote text larger, much better now

  • ronnknee on 22/04/2019 - 12:50

    Adding "Beem It" as a payment option in Classified posts.

    • Moderatorhamza23 on 05/06/2019 - 12:03

      Beem It will be added as a payment option this month (as well as cleaning up existing options).

      Thanks

      • ronnknee on 05/06/2019 - 15:08
        +1

        Awesome! Thanks.

  • Mr BoMBAStiG on 05/05/2019 - 13:48

    https://brave.com/brave-rewards/
    I realise OzB gets a lot of revenue from affiliate links but for the few of us that use Brave, and when it comes to Australia, Brave Rewards could be another revenue stream.
    We could then combine it with my other idea of "tipping" or rewarding posters using a form of OzBargain currency that posters can eventually redeem for tangible value, perks or status.

    • Moderatorscotty on 05/05/2019 - 16:53

      We have already registered ourselves as a Brave publisher, however the revenue there is tiny comparing with our other display revenue. I guess the demography of Brave user is just too small to make the exercise worthwhile.

      Brave also pays to Uphold, which currently does not have a way to cashout to AUD in Australian bank.

      • Mr BoMBAStiG on 05/05/2019 - 17:56

        Thank for the reply and great to hear you guys are on board, hopefully usage will change in the future.

  • Mr BoMBAStiG on 08/05/2019 - 17:27

    Would you guys consider splitting off Alcohol from Groceries so it is easier to filter out deals as per https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:faq_beginner#how_can_…

    It's not your problem but I find it hard to stop the impulse booze buy when it's a good deal and I'd like to cut down on the drinking. I get value out of a lot of the other grocery deals though.

    • Moderatorscotty on 08/05/2019 - 18:59

      Mods had this discussions just a few days ago. Currently category filtering only works on the front page, NOT new deals page. For front page with the new backend, we might be able to do filtering by tags later (currently not available). For now it is still best to filter out alcohol related deals by stores (for known liquor stores).

      • Mr BoMBAStiG on 08/05/2019 - 22:17

        Cheers scotty, I'll do that.
        I only browse new deals so hopefully category filtering there happens one day.

  • b1h on 10/05/2019 - 15:47

    Bug with +-?
    https://imgur.com/LhmQl4g

  • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2019 - 22:10

    Why do we have the option where you can subscribe to someone's activity? Feels a little bit stalker-ish to me. Is there an option to opt out from being followed?

    Edit: Found this @Scotty, what made you change your mind?

    • Moderatorscotty on 11/05/2019 - 06:55

      "Subscribe" on one's profile page only gets you notification on deals they posted, but not comments.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/05/2019 - 07:10

        Thanks

        • [Deactivated] on 13/05/2019 - 06:22
          +2

          It is possible that a couple of your recent comments have attracted the attention of North Korean/China/Russia.

          Alluding to your work on revolutionary new fidget spinner, contributing power to grid from a user's nervous energy*, also interesting…

          *yours personally having already compensated significantly for the loss of Hazelwood, remarkable… :)

          BTW, in case insufficiently motivated to explore, passed just last year and was a significant figure - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Masekela

          Have good week, of, variously less angst.

          :-)

          [Deactivated] on 13/05/2019 - 06:22 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
          • [Deactivated] on 13/05/2019 - 10:25
            +2

            @[Deactivated]: Is it possible that alluding to my allusion to my top secret , revolutionary work has gained you even more subscribers than me? 😜

            • [Deactivated] on 13/05/2019 - 13:08
              +2

              @[Deactivated]: Yep, could well be. Still, mighty difficult to keep up with my out-of-control posting rate? Click says 19!
              You should click on *this* OzBargainer's name. Proper candidate vis-à-vis comparing your invention with existing fidget-spinner technology! :)

  • Clear on 11/05/2019 - 21:06
    +2

    Loving the new drop down menu added to the search bar. I could never remember all those search codes!

    • nocure on 11/05/2019 - 21:11
      +1

      Can we add option:titleonly to the menu ?

      • bluesky on 11/05/2019 - 22:01
        +2

        Looks like the dropdown is a quick way of specifying the 'type' parameter. Since any type can go with 'option:titleonly', if this is part of the same dropdown, every combination will need to be enumerated. Would that make it rather unwieldy? (Something for scotty and team to decide).

        As it stands, we can still type in '<searchphrase> option:titleonly' in the search - to specify the 'type' (using dropdown) as well as the 'option'.

        But agree, some easy way to be able to specify (or recall) the options would be good. Even if it is just a help icon to click on, or a hover hint of the options near the search field. I find myself forgetting the keywords sometimes.

  • fredblogs on 15/05/2019 - 19:57

    "Post one like this"? Eg I just saw an old deal is back again, but would like the fields pre-filled.
    Example: https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_903258/johnnie-walk… is on special again, could find an old deal and repost it.

    • fredblogs on 16/05/2019 - 20:03

      I'm thinking of ebay's "Sell one like this" for comparison

  • Arese on 16/05/2019 - 08:00

    Hey everyone,

    I've been been on and off on ozbargain, mostly only when I need to buy something specific but I feel like I'm not using it at its fullest and missing out on deals/opportunities.

    What's configuration and how do you use the site to not miss any potential good deal?

    IS there an android application that offer push notifications? I feel like having an app would make me check the site on a more regular basis.

    Otherwise how do you keep up with all the deals? Do you get a daily email or something?

    Any recommendation would be appreciated

    • Moderatorscotty on 16/05/2019 - 10:14
      1. Search Alert — search a keyword, create an alert and OzBargain would email you when a deal posted containing that keyword
      2. Under subscriptions -> events, turn on "Notify me by email when … A deal reaches the front page"

      Not sure how an app would help, unless the app implements some kind of notifications to alert you when an interesting deal gets posted that matches your criteria. However notifications do not need to come from an app, and you can achieve similar result by configuring emails properly.

      • Arese on 16/05/2019 - 21:40

        Thanks for sharing this new feature with me. I just created an alert.

  • tryagain on 20/05/2019 - 12:29
    +2

    Would it be possible to change the bright blue "today" on deals like this one https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/457701 to an actual count down timer like there is when you click through to AliExpress, this would be good for when the deal doesn't start at midnight. It might help prevent some of the common "not working" comments that always happen for similar deals.

  • Quantumcat on 28/05/2019 - 20:07
    +1

    What's the difference between a DisabledUser in grey text and one in red text?

    • Moderatorscotty on 01/06/2019 - 18:14

      Do you have an example of DisabledUser is red/orange text? If a user is disabled, you should not be able to access the profile page.

      • Quantumcat on 01/06/2019 - 18:19

        I should have taken a screenshot while I saw it! If I see it again I'll screenshot and upload it

        • ronnknee on 04/06/2019 - 10:07
          +1

          Yea, I saw it in red text as well.

      • payton on 02/07/2019 - 13:35

        here's an example from today,
        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/7456773/redir

        • Moderatorscotty on 02/07/2019 - 16:56

          Okay — it's shown on a comment that has been unpublished. Text in unpublished comment block has dark-red colour by default and it's not just the username, but the text "Comment unpublished" as well.

  • The Gent on 01/06/2019 - 09:17

    Can we please have the option to disable posts by category of what state they are for?

    There's a fair few deals which aren't available in SA, which are completely irrelevant to me :/

    • Moderatorscotty on 01/06/2019 - 18:18

      You mean the category pages? Filters aren't applying to those pages yet. Maybe we should bring some new front page filters to them as well so it would be possible

      • The Gent on 01/06/2019 - 20:13

        For me personally, I would love to just be able to hide any deal that is only in states which I don't live in.

        EG: this deal is for Victoria only an has the [VIC] tag, so I'd just like to hide all that are not national or [SA] specific deals - no [NSW] [VIC] etc.

        • ronnknee on 04/06/2019 - 10:08
          +1

          I requested something similar but I guess it's not a priority.

          • bobwokeup on 28/11/2019 - 01:31

            @ronnknee: I thought everyone would want this? Maybe there are too many comments and no one saw them? I raised this a few years ago and have given up suggesting it. I hate seeing deals from other states.

  • brisdaz on 02/06/2019 - 06:22

    How do you link to multiple stores or domains?

    • Moderatorscotty on 02/06/2019 - 16:52

      The functionality is only available to the moderators. Users can only link deals or forum posts to one store.

  • Quantumcat on 04/06/2019 - 14:11

    In the monthly stats posts, can you give us the most interesting/engaged-with post of the month?

    Criteria are:

    • More than one page of replies
    • Most average upvotes per reply (eg if every comment is getting 2 or 3 upvotes instead of one or two comments having 20 upvotes and the rest few or none)
  • The Gent on 05/06/2019 - 08:33

    Hide "Out of stock" deals from my feed tickbox would be cool :)

    • Moderatorneil on 05/06/2019 - 09:41

      My Account - Edit - Deals - Front Page
      ✅ Do not show expired deals

      • The Gent on 05/06/2019 - 10:38

        Hi Neil,

        Already ticked, but "Out of Stock" still shows up.

        My limited understanding of how you likely catalogue the status of a particular deal is that "Out of Stock" is probably not treated as an "Expired" deal?

        Regards,

        The Gent

      • The Gent on 05/06/2019 - 10:50

        This might be a "New" front page thing, actually. I suppose this is a bug report, then :)

        • Moderatorscotty on 11/06/2019 - 16:39

          With New front page, it does not eliminate the expired / out of stock deals. Instead it adds some penalty to the score before sorting. If you have "Do not show expired deals" the final score of the expired deals will be multiplied by a very small number (something like 0.01) making them almost impossible to be shown on the front page — except

          • if you have other multipliers that promote certain keywords, stores, categories, etc forcing some of the expired deals gaining enough score.
          • when you go down to 2nd, 3rd or older front pages, as many of old deals are already expired, they end up getting enough scores to show up (especially when you try to have more "Deals Shown")

          For New front page, penalising expired deals rather than completely removing them is a compromising design decision. We don't want to show no deal at all (i.e. blank page) when you go to older front pages.

          • The Gent on 11/06/2019 - 16:51

            @scotty: The option would be nice - a deal which I cannot use because it no longer exists is completely useless to me.

            • Moderatorscotty on 11/06/2019 - 16:54

              @The Gent: I have already explained how the new front page treated the option, and the reason we implemented it this way. If you see an expired deal on the front page that is useless to you, just skip it…

  • giu on 05/06/2019 - 14:44

    It would be great to highlight the OP in forums. That way we can easily see when they respond, rather than having to look up their name, remember it and scroll through. I think reddit does this, puts an icon next to the OP and displays them as a different colour.

    • Moderatorscotty on 05/06/2019 - 14:46

      OP's comments have grey box around them. Like this.

      • giu on 05/06/2019 - 14:47

        And here I was looking at their name. Once you see the grey box, you can't unsee it. Thanks.

      • haru on 05/06/2019 - 15:38

        Does this apply to comments on deals?

        And could it be made more obvious? Eg. the mic symbol on reddit.

        • Moderatorscotty on 05/06/2019 - 16:41

          Apply to all posts, i.e. deals, forum posts, competitions, classifieds, etc.

          I am not sure why a grey box around the entire comment is less obvious than a mic symbol next to just the username.

    • Moderatorneil on 08/06/2019 - 00:42

      Answer

      • brisdaz on 08/06/2019 - 00:45

        Thanks and RichardL also answered it with less irrelevant details:

        Please refer to our Referral Links on OzBargain.

        If the OP of the deal has their own referral code for that merchant, it will show up as the first link in the Referral Block (but only after minimum front page votes are received, until then only random referral links will be shown). Clicking on that link will use OP's own referral link. A random link is also provided with total number of referral codes in brackets. Clicking on that will pick a random referral link from the pool.

        And for those reading it who can't be bothered reading irrelevant questions it's this q&a.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:referrals#i_ve_added_…

      • brisdaz on 08/06/2019 - 01:14

        And now the grey box seems to have disappeared? Please see (8) 4 x $40 Belong Starter Kit $47.76 ($11.94 Each) Delivered @ Mobileciti - OzBargain

        • Moderatorscotty on 08/06/2019 - 10:22

          Because the store linked to the deal is mobileciti. We only show the referral links if the link posted belong to a store that has referrals.

  • ronnknee on 09/06/2019 - 12:17

    Voting forum topics. Ideally both positive/negative votes but I can understand why you wouldn't want negs as it can potentially generate too much negativity (similar to how Facebook only has likes and not dislikes). At the very least, allow only positive votes similar to competitions.

  • Legsweeping on 22/06/2019 - 22:48

    Had a classified post removed with no real information. Posted on ask a moderator forum and got the same generic reply that I got from the bot and was marked as resolved when it clearly wasn't. Posted a follow up topic which was also ignored. Also messaged the moderator responsible and asked to mark as unresolved but that went on further deaf ears…. How can I get any transparency regarding this?

    • brisdaz on 22/06/2019 - 23:02

      What was the generic reply? Maybe it links to a wiki article that explains further?

      • Legsweeping on 22/06/2019 - 23:03

        It listed to a bunch of reasons that could have been for my topic being removed. I asked which specific one and I'm still waiting to hear. I've no idea what it was for

    • Moderatorscotty on 23/06/2019 - 07:47

      We had sent you the PM, replied to your TWAM with links to the guidelines in the wiki. It might not be "resolved" on your end but it definitely is with the mods. You were trying to unload a large quantity of gift cards from various merchants, likely via some loyalty scheme. We linked to this section to the guideline that

      Classifieds is a place for selling, giving away or swapping your excess personal items. No offering personal services/purchasing on behalf of others.

      Basically, selling gift cards purchasing service (various merchants with varied discount) is not permitted on OzBargain.

      • Legsweeping on 23/06/2019 - 10:20

        Not a single one was purchased via a loyalty scheme, I can provide evidence on every single count…. It was mostly like $20 gift cards and such…

        It's not a service I was just straight up selling gift cards and I've seen so many topics on classifieds doing the same thing. How do I avoid this getting locked? Do I need to list each gift card individually if I'm genuinely just trying to sell it as a classified?

        • Moderatorscotty on 24/06/2019 - 06:47

          We would also like to know the source of those gift cards. Again, as Classified is for personal unwanted items only, selling excessive number of gift cards would be deemed as operating as a business, and would not be allowed. Please use other venue for that (eBay, Gumtree, etc).

  • Munnday on 26/06/2019 - 09:56

    Suggestion: When searching the search functionality for a store, the first 5 results are the 5 most recent itme for that store.

    Could expired deals be filted out of this list? Or, have an expired flag put on them?

    A search for LEGO as an example

  • Alzori on 07/07/2019 - 08:56

    Is the little animation for revealing hidden comments new? I only just noticed it and I like it. Small details :)

  • brisdaz on 12/07/2019 - 09:55

    RichText/Clipboard to Markdown Table

    Does anyone know a paste table to markdown service (web or otherwise) which also supports links? Markdown Tables generator - TablesGenerator.com works for the table but don't think it works with links.

    This is for crowdsourcing the participating gym list on Free Indoor Climbing: THE NORTH FACE Global Climbing Day - Saturday 2019/08/24 - OzBargain deal

    • brisdaz on 25/07/2019 - 06:24

      Help?

      paste table to markdown has some links to open source code. Perhaps integrate it with ozbargain? It'd be nice if it supports links as well.

      • Moderatorscotty on 25/07/2019 - 10:27

        People should just use that and paste into the plain text field here? Markdown is supported — people just need to write them with the proper syntax.

      • brisdaz on 13/08/2019 - 08:40

        Thanks for the reply scotty.

        brisdaz posted:

        works for the table but don't think it works with links.

        I've tried messaging three table generator app creators this feature request but no one has replied.

        You've integrated the quote feature in PM messages (the quotation mark next to the PM box) so why not tables? Is it that much harder?

        If not, can anyone point me in the direction of a markdown extension/userscript that could help? I use the Copy as Markdown Extension for 🦊 Firefox quite frequently. There's also a chrome version.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/07/2019 - 10:10

    Can we have a new section on tools to include hand tools and power tools?

    It just seems like a really big segment that at this moment, has to be shoehorned into electrical or home.

    Thanks

    • robinCTS on 13/07/2019 - 10:36

      A Tools Category is a great idea!

      So far, electrical tools are the only items I've dealt with that I find need shoehorning.

  • jace88 on 15/07/2019 - 22:48
    +1

    Do we have a view on whether it's ok or not ok for people to buy up deals which are well priced and then in the comments offer to sell it to those who missed out but at an inflated price (but still cheaper than RRP)? I'm in two minds on this but seeing it in a recent thread where someone quickly offered to flip their purchase for double the purchase price felt a bit too opportunistic even for OzB.

    • Moderatorneil on 15/07/2019 - 23:40

      Selling in comments is not permitted.

      Commenting Guidelines

      • jace88 on 16/07/2019 - 00:06

        Does that apply when they do it in a somewhat subtle manner but it’s still blindingly obvious eg “oh I bought this but didn’t need it… anyone interested in it for $x” (where $x is above the deal price)?

        • Moderatorneil on 16/07/2019 - 00:10

          If we think you are selling, subtle or not, we will remove the comment, and send a warning. We have a whole classifieds section dedicated to buying/selling and trading stuff.

          • jace88 on 16/07/2019 - 00:11

            @neil: Glad to hear it. Thanks!

  • muzzamo on 24/07/2019 - 14:39

    "Don't show a notification for subscribed deals that have been removed by a mod".

    The subscribe functionality works really well - I use it to be notified about YouFoodz deals. The 'notification bell' appears at the top when there is a new YouFoodz deal. However if that deal is unpublished by a mod - dupe, single use code, whatever - the 'notification bell' remains and I don't find out until clicking through.

    The notifications should be removed if the deal is unpublished.

    Cheers

  • fredblogs on 25/07/2019 - 20:14

    Feature suggestion for ios/android apps: Detect what device you're on and direct you to the correct page (playstore vs appstore) when clicking "Go to Deal"

    • Clear on 25/07/2019 - 20:45

      That would be more device specific. Clicking on "Go to Deal" on all my Android devices goes straight to the Play Store.

      Amazon/eBay for example take me through their app unless I have them disabled/uninstalled and then it goes to the mobile webpage.

      • fredblogs on 25/07/2019 - 20:54

        Try it on iPhone or iPad, you'll still get play store.

        • Clear on 25/07/2019 - 20:55

          You will if the URL that was submitted in the deal is the Play Store.

          • fredblogs on 25/07/2019 - 21:01

            @Clear: Right, that's the issue this feature suggestion is trying to solve.

            • Clear on 25/07/2019 - 21:02

              @fredblogs: Multiple URLs for deals that have Android and iOS apps.

  • payton on 26/07/2019 - 22:56

    Hi Admins
    any possibility of a dark theme for ozbargain?

    • Moderatorscotty on 27/07/2019 - 09:19

      It has been asked many times before. At the moment it's not possible, not do we have any plan for it.

      • capslock janitor on 27/07/2019 - 22:52
        +1

        Would it be easy to invert the black and white as "dark theme"?

        • payton on 28/07/2019 - 11:24

          yep that's all i'm hoping for.
          Just makes it easier on the eyes for long periods of reading.

          • OzBargain User on 28/07/2019 - 16:26

            @payton: Install a free "dark mode" web browser extension for your web browser and you'll have a "dark mode" ("dark theme") for EVERY website. If certain websites are hard to read in "dark mode" ("dark theme"), you can turn off "dark mode" for those websites.

            For Google Chrome, google search "dark reader chrome"

            For Firefox, google search "dark reader firefox"

            For Microsoft Edge, google search "turn off the lights microsoft edge"

      • activ8newbs on 28/07/2019 - 12:15

        Excuse the ignorance, but why is it not possible?

        I'm untrained in this field, but out of curiousity, one would imagine it's just a matter of changing colours/fonts/backgrounds, is it not?

        • Moderatorscotty on 28/07/2019 - 21:55

          The same OzBargain layout has been used by 3 websites with custom colours overriding the default (OzBargain, ChoiceCheapies, CheapCheapLah). It's more than just swapping the white and black, but also places where lighter / darker shades are used, which we'll need to provide dark-theme equivalent, and it adds more complication when some of them got overridden by other sites' configurations. There's also background images that need dark-theme equivalent. All future development that uses site-themed colours/shades will also need to be coded with dark theme in mind.

          So no, at this stage it is far from trivial.

          It would be easier once we simplified the stylesheet, getting rid of legacy styles, move over to CSS variables, etc. I just don't have time for that. Meanwhile, there are a few dark-reader extensions that can already do half decent job.

  • reubot on 27/07/2019 - 14:54

    Hi, the freebies RSS/Atom feed is not working in Thunderbird, it says it is not a valid feed. Running it through the validator gives errors:
    https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fww…

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