New Tapas Inbox is Poopy!

[Calculus_Homework]

Yeah, um... I just wanted to vent and see what other people thought about the new inbox! xD

Now, you click on it and it sends you to a page showing 3 categories and defaults to basically ads first. Then you can click on your alerts/messages that actually have something to do with you.
Another thing I don't like about it is that the number shows until I go into the inbox again and mark all as read in each category.... Which, I did that for my messages and it's still showing me that I have 4 unread things and I don't know what it is referring to.

Anyone feel like it's pretty excessive and inconvenient? What are your thoughts? :}

(And how do I get rid of the red alert number hanging over my inbox icon? It's setting off my neuroticism. lmaocry)

[ohno-mydear]

nah, agreed. Inbox is flooded with things I have no intention of reading and now I can't clear them? Agh. I was realistic enough to know my comic wouldn't have that much traffic all of the sudden though, so at least I wasn't disappointed when I opened it, lol.

[bulgariansumo]

I don't care for the new inbox either, though I went more in detail in the other thread.

And how do I get rid of the red alert number hanging over my inbox icon?

Click on Mark All Read. Though if I recall correctly, I heard that it only works on Chrome on desktop. Hope this helps!

[AmysGames]

Though if I recall correctly, I heard that it only works on Chrome on desktop.

It worked for me on Firefox, but I had to click it twice before it took. So if it doesn't work the first time, try clicking it again, lol.

[darthmongoose]

There are some aspects of it I actually like, but I feel like the UX design isn't well considered.

In concept, I like that it now separates out messages into tabs. I like that now promo messages aren't in my main messages and I like that I can now use tabs to sort between different types of reader activity. This is actually a useful change for people with thousands of subs and strong engagement, especially if they also have a lot of pages. Comments or donations can get lost when there are lots of likes to scroll through.

I'm ambivalent about it showing premium content. The app has been like that for ages. I wish that the default category clicking my inbox was Activity rather than Gifts or Messages, because most desktop users are creators first and readers second, so it would simply make more sense to have it default to activity when clicked.

I'm not so keen on the handling of notifications. I don't think the number of notifications should include "Messages", and if it does, it should at least have the feature where the notification can be cleared in a more intuitive way than having to go to that tab and click "mark all as read". It wasn't obvious I had to go to the tab because those messages weren't marked as being a different type of messages from the ones in my Activity inbox, so of course I assumed all messages would be cleared, because all messages are listed as a single number. It would be more intuitive if they were two numbers indicating how many of each category of message is waiting.
I also feel like with how frequently the Tapas system puts out notifications that advertise premium series, having it treat them all as notifications requiring clearing from the inbox is...a lot. It's a bit too much in terms of how often it shows a notification, and how many it adds up to, leading to everyone seeing a whopping 75 notifications when the system launched.

A good idea or two, in terms of sorting messages and bringing Desktop messages closer to the app... but I feel like the User Experience needs work. It isn't clear how to use it, and the frequent messages being given the same urgency as activity feels irritating.

[InTheEndlessMidnight]

It also works on edge too, after that all gone, fantastic

[SereinChoo]

I have no idea about the concept of it - it's good that it helps separate the activities but at the same time, it wasn't showing what I want to see. So in the end I felt that it wasn't very useful to me.

[Hambonous]

First it was removing the ability to play music with your comic, then replacing the forum button to a discord link, now it's this garbage. At this point they should just remove the ability for us to upload comics entirely on the site, I've rarely seen a company be this disconnected from its users.

Obviously there's a push from tapas management because they want more people to read their premium comics, more readers, more engagement, more money. However ostracising a large part of the creators on the site with these moronic decisions will only be a detriment in the long run.

I picked tapas specifically because they allowed for more engagement with readers through the notification system and that they allowed for better resolutions when uploading pages but at this point my patience is running dry.

[NickRowler]

Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click feedback and tell Tapas how you feel.

I don’t think the people making these changes are just browsing the forums. But maybe if they get enough unhappy emails, they might listen.

(Don’t threaten them, be professional, be honest about being not liking the changes)

[Calculus_Homework]

RIGHT? The disappointment is immeasurable. lmao

[Calculus_Homework]

I'm feeling the same way tbh. I don't know if Webtoons is really any better, because it's the same kind of company/site that can change its ideals on a dime. And we as creators will still be at the whim of whatever business decisions they make.
I was thinking of scouting out other sites, but Tapas and Webtoons are the big guys... but maybe it's best to be apart of smaller communities nowadays? Not sure...

[Calculus_Homework]

Omg okay. Ahahaha, so I had clicked that button only in ONE category, thinking it would take care of everything. Found out it was in a separate category other than Activity. Thanks!
I hopped on over the the other thread you linked. You make a good point--why shove the front page into my inbox if I haven't already clicked on the more flamboyant option??

Honestly, another creator said they'd rather just make a personal website for their comic at this point... And I'm thinking they have the right idea. My partner had suggested that be my lateral move from Tapas if I gather enough readers. But it's a lot more than just making a website and redirecting your readers to it--people use Tapas for its convenience and mobile app. And it lets creators know if anyone is viewing your work at all. ughghghg

[Calculus_Homework]

That's a pretty good idea. I think I will go ahead and do that. It seems like they will be getting enough email complaints about the most recent changes, as I'm seeing quite a few people are very unhappy about this among other things...

[Calculus_Homework]

that's a very well thought out observation of the new UX! You're right in that separating ad content from other forms of inbox content is a good idea... but how they've gone about it is to directly benefit their own exposure. Which... they already do ALL OVER the front page on the website. (And it took me a minute to figure out how to completely clear out the messages too. lolol)
It's a disappointment for sure. And a bit of a nuiscance. I'm hoping if enough people send email complaints about fixing the UX, maybe they'd change it to be more efficient for users?

[Calculus_Homework]

Would it be okay if I quoted some of the suggestions/complaints from you all in this discussion?
I'd censor out your usernames. I was just hoping to send a feedback email to Tapas with my own thoughts and opinions on this new inbox setup, but have some additional comments that I think are useful here.

Please let me know! I'd like to send out an email to them today.
I hope they can at least change it a bit to help us directly go into our inbox that pertains to our own content and readership--because then at least that can bring us some convenience back to the creators.

Tapas should know how their decisions affect its creators... It would be a shame that it all comes crumbling down just because they'd rather profit from their own team's comics than give the creator community a fair chance at sharing their work on a supposedly community-driven platform.

[BlairFujin]

I'd say at this point... both are pretty much as bad
the best alternative when it comes to creator friendly to userbase size ratio would be globalcomix and apart from hosting your own website, comicfury is probably the most creator friendly webcomic platform

[darthmongoose]

Would it be okay if I quoted some of the suggestions/complaints from you all in this discussion?I'd censor out your usernames. I was just hoping to send a feedback email to Tapas with my own thoughts and opinions on this new inbox setup, but have some additional comments that I think are useful here.

I don't see a need to censor the usernames. This is the official Tapas forum. If somebody has said something here, they should assume Tapas can see what they've written (and if they don't....I don't know what to say, maybe they need to think before they type?).

I'm perfectly happy to be quoted, and better, to have my post directly linked so it's clear my words aren't taken out of context. It's important to show that a person can have a reasonable, balanced opinion about this change, but still feel that the pattern is going to make the experience of using the site worse for the main group that uses browser Tapas; creators.

[jenerg1]

Hi,

I wrote to Tapas regarding the tens of messages and gifts regarding works I don't know and unrelated to my interests, asking how could I stop receiving them, and delete what was sent, and the answer was:

Hello,

At the moment, there is no way to customize your inbox.

I will pass this message along to our Dev Team and ask that they look into this to learn more about how readers liek yourself would like to use their inbox.

Thank you,
Team Tapas

So, there is hope. I think that if everyone writes to them, more chances that they'll take into consideration and change the Inbox.

[shimichs]

I actually came here cuz i had this problem where the notification just pops up. and said i have 98notification. i am a person who doesnt like looking at pop ups XD .... i google how to make it dissapear... i dont have chrome, but i have EDGE. so i click it one time and The numbers are gone. and now im happy. thanks for the thread XD