Trouble Reading New Font/Constructive Crit of New Site

monotone_ink 2017-04-18 08:14:30 UTC #33

As soon as I was getting started back up, the host website itself just has to make it harder on all of us.

Like many have said in this thread, I'm frustrated that the sections for independent creators have been pushed all the way to the bottom. I understand the inclusion of paid content, as tapas is in the end a business, but it feels like my heart's been kicked in the dick when said paid content fills up more than half of the website. Along with random advertisements for the various comics, it feels really messy to browse through. If they had just made a half half portion between paid and unpaid comics, where clicking on the 'view more' button on the paid content would show all of the 'professional' work, I feel that would have been fair, as it both promotes paid work and still gives us a chance. The current front page though, I'm not liking it at all.

Fuck this shit, maybe I'll just move to LINE.

mintycanoodles 2017-04-18 08:44:27 UTC #34

the whole site gets an overhaul but I still can't see my notifications on the mobile site without switching to the full site... which now opens a new tab totally 😒

Hel 2017-04-18 10:38:04 UTC #35

I don't get why they would take the app and make that the whole site? You don't design an app the same way you do a website.

I thought the old site looked better. Something about the new homepage feels off.

noxfox 2017-04-18 12:53:56 UTC #36

Right now I feel "so done" like, "what am I even still doing here?"

On one hand, they leave confusing rules that require that users be 18+ (for the app) but on the other hand they put that rounded font that makes everything look both childish AND painful to the eyes for many of us with lesser or bigger sight-impairment and/or dyslexia. Not to mention that :3 and <3 indeed no longer look the same, yes (and it does matter).
I really do not understand this choice, considering adults still have this ongoing idea that "comics are for kids". And then we have ads for games that are mostly targeting youth? (though, there is that one ad for a business trading software, and those casino ads that are probably illegal here due to how strictly luck-based games are regulated).
It'd make more sense if those ads were more about art-related things, be they softwares, pet games or anything such that appeal to people who read comics or books.

As for the front page layout, I agree with everything that's been said above. It's cluttered, repetitive, gated, static, and seriously, "Tipping has arrived" is getting old. It's been several months now.
I really hate that books and comics are mixed together confusingly. Everything confuses me: some sections have a title, others don't. Everything looks random as heck, and why did they hide the Forums button?
I also agree with @kurapikasuki, the notifications icons are now very confusing, and way too dark against a pale background. The contrast is unpleasant to the eye and makes me want to just ignore it all.

I'm so upset that I've reached that stage where I'm not peeved but just numbed. It's getting to be hard to care, because, like @GoldenPlume I've put a lot of effort and energy in Tapastic, and the more it goes, the less I get back. It used to be a place I loved but my love is crumbling apart like the letters of the brand name.
We heard "something big" was coming but we were not told what as usual and were not asked our opinion in any way. Now I don't even know why I'm even giving mine right now. I feel like there is a growing disconnection between the @STAFF and the creator community. Even readers are now getting to be alienated by the amount of premium content pressed at their face.

My feeling is that by pressing monetized content so much, pressing popular comics and practically hiding away the indies, Tapas is just going to scare away new creators and new readers and end up suffocating itself in a downward spiral.

The only thing that could make it up to me is if @STAFF tells us that this update also will allow for features that were not possible on tapastic.com, such as changing the order of episodes of a series, or making series co-owned by several creators.

PotooGryphon 2017-04-18 13:27:07 UTC #37

Hm, I'm still letting it settle. I know that the order of the front page isn't set and will be going through changes and Michael is already working on changing the font.

So I'm a bit more hopeful with this site update than the last several that were also dramatic garbage fires. The idea of the brands unifying has great possibilities and could be the first steps in bring favorable app features to the site.

Seems like there are common threads to everyone's criticisms here, so question to the community- If the front page gets a better rearrange (Popular/Trending/New back up to the top) and the font gets changed, how would you feel about the update then?

shanikabormann1431 2017-04-18 13:32:39 UTC #38

Most of the responses here are about exposure and font problems, so I think if the front page could facilitate exposure to free and growing comic like the old front page layout did, I think most of the complaints would settle imo.

Ah, and easier access of the forums, of course.

PotooGryphon 2017-04-18 13:37:01 UTC #39

Right, that's what I meant by the better rearrange that if they bring Popular/Trending/New back up to the top.

Seems like if they did something as simple as that than there wouldn't be as much doom and gloom?

shanikabormann1431 2017-04-18 13:42:11 UTC #40

Yes, I presume that would be satisfactory for most people, is what I have gathered by reading the responses so far.

Aspie_Gamer 2017-04-18 13:42:23 UTC #41

Oh yes, and tell @STAFF to get a move on with fixing the image uploading problem here in the forums. They've taken long enough as it is even though its a "low priority fix" which by itself shouldn't be that hard to fix.

PotooGryphon 2017-04-18 13:43:36 UTC #42

Actually, they tweeted me yesterday that that is in the works! It's on their radar and it's getting addressed. It wasn't mentioned when but it's a start lol

azureXtwilight 2017-04-18 13:59:46 UTC #43

I believe this is the case, yes! Thank you for responding!

AnnaLandin 2017-04-18 14:59:25 UTC #44

A lot better, tbh. Just pushing the popular/trending/new back up top, and for the love of god, adding the link to the forum to the header bar, would do a lot.

There are a few smaller things - like the colours of different notifications, etc. - but re-arraging some elements on the front page would go a long way towards solving my biggest issues. I'm definitely not against the idea of changing things, but this current layout has some serious problems.

elixiadragmire 2017-04-18 15:07:09 UTC #45

thanks @PotooGryphon for the info!
I could see this a year ago with the app update. Personally I dont like the app, the microtransactions, the choice of books etc etc

Devika 2017-04-18 15:17:20 UTC #46

I would like that, definitely. My gripe was that only premium stuff is shown, free comics pushed away, and a simple rearrangement would fix that.

That being said, I get the feeling that this update kind of "confirmed suspicions" a lot of creators have had about tapas ditching free comics in favor of premium stuff, so there is some deeper hurt here that might warrant some attention in the form of... Dunno, some statement about where the company intends to steer tapastic, or some actions to boost the forum and creative community.

Hel 2017-04-18 15:25:17 UTC #47

If the site only pushes the premium content it will entirely change what the Tapastic website is and they'll lose a lot of their current readers/writers/users and gain different ones in a smaller number. Way less people are willing to spend money or jump through the hoops required to get keys than would just like to read regular, indie content. From the way the front page is now, it's not even clear that there is free, indie content available on the website.

I also agree with @elixiadragmire that the choice of books they push doesn't appeal to me. I've always been under the impression that only premium books even exist on the website. If they allowed indie books as well I think that would be fun and would appeal to more people.

mintycanoodles 2017-04-18 15:26:48 UTC #48

is there any reason why activity notifications haven't made it to the mobile site? reading list is there.

PotooGryphon 2017-04-18 15:43:12 UTC #50

I asked Michael about this too recently. The response I got was that it's in the works. Notifications and push notifications are a bit tricky w/ iOS in particular and they're still seeing what is and isn't allowed. They're still trying to find that healthy balance between immediate feedback and collecting multiple notifications into one push notification.

I'd be really happy to see notifications make it to the app too. Perhaps that'll be another thing made easier with the brands merging.

GoldenPlume 2017-04-18 16:20:08 UTC #51

Yes, staff could make these adjustments and it would help, but the most disconcerting part of this whole update matter is that staff actually believed that the new format in its current condition was good enough to push out live.

Why?

It's not like they promised creators something on 4/17/17 and had to rush a half finished job to meet their promises. They had all the time they wanted, all the time they needed to make sure independant creators didn't get buried, that the forums didn't get nearly eliminated, that premium series didn't dominate the site, to check with creators and get beta feedback, etc.

Supposedly (according to Twitter) staff showed the website last week to some creators. Who? The premium peeps? Seriously, what independant creator with less than 10K subs signed off on this?

It feels like so little consideration went into this update without considering how it would impact the 99%.

Agreed 100%. Is this update a "freudian slip" and it shows what staff really thinks of creators? It's hard not to be seriously wounded by this unexpected change.

Suddenly now everything we do for Tapas.io (Independents Obsolete?) feels like we're just hamsters turning the monetization wheel for another big corporation.

Are we all just "feeder comics" for the premium peeps?

UzukiCheverie 2017-04-18 16:23:28 UTC #52

lol if there were plans to shut down the forum we would know (the mod team would at least be notified, which we haven't sooooo).

The forums just aren't the main draw to this site. They need to make conservative decisions about their layout and the links to comics and books (especially the money making ones) are undoubtedly more important to have up there than a community forums link (and let's face it, the forum community is much, MUCH smaller than the main website community).

PotooGryphon 2017-04-18 16:32:31 UTC #53

Totally agree, there was no rush and they could have fine tuned things better, however botched ill-thoughtout updates are sort of how Tapastic rolls. lol In fact I think each one has had its share of rocky road drama storms. I'm so used to them by now, and did used to get upset by it.

I don't think the staff is out to put creators down. Share holders may have a say in site design, but idk. More than likely with all the flood of feedback, they get the message and the site will definitely be changed. And as for the sneak peek of the design I think it was a site slip that happened, much like how sometime the banner feature accidentally gets changed and such.

I'm just thankful that with this update, scheduled episodes sitewide weren't released with no way of creators deleting them. lol Cuz that was a thing.