The official "Sputnik Ideas and Suggestions"-thread

[Damrod]

Cleaning time. Just like in the old thread, post your ideas and suggestions on how to improve Sputnik here.

The list of suggestions so far:

Pending, not yet judged

Style buttons (italic, bold etc)
Band discography sorted by release date
Dedicated Sputnik forum (to support community feeling)
Force a comment when someone leaves a negative vote
No Top15 list anymore, because of fights etc (maybe replaced by review of the month?)
Search for user comments (like search posts by users in the forums)
Report bad comment link (take to Report bad user forum/email?)


Undergoing changes/Under construction

Change to the genre system -> more/less genres


Implemented requested changes

copyright situation
edit comments
last comments of submitted reviews in User CP
increased review title length
new chart system
special indication of hyperlinks in reviews
parsing of style tags (italic, bold etc) in preview of review
Average user rating on main page (in addition to reviewers rating)
Release date on main page
Change to display of 'number bands'. Change from '1' to '1-9' or '#'
Mod: Approval of first reviews by mods
Mod: Delete all posts by user
'Last page' link also at the top of comments pages
Prohibit voting on your own reviews
Rename 'Alt Pop' to 'Soul'
Maybe a change to the "Useful Review" thing (different name?)
Include Sub-Genres in all time charts
Release date change (only year necessary)
Display of "Useful Review" voters for Mods


Dismissed requested changes

Different coloring for 5 star reviews
'Approval sign' for mods to underline good reviewers
Alternate views for Top15 list (sorted by review count/weighted rating)
Name of reviewer below album on main page (Too crowded)
Different solution for chosing "Similar Artists" and "Recommended Albums" (Obsolete with new system)
Genre for albums instead of artists (Too subjective)
Force to use 'review helpful' link before postinf of comments

Status Explanation
pending - no decision yet
under const. - it's being worked on
implemented - suggestion that has been integrated into the Sputnik site
dismissed - like it say, the idea has been dismissed

[Iai]

/me gives $0.02


Style buttons (italic, bold etc)
Definite yes

Band discography sorted by release date
In time yes, just not yet

Display of "Useful Review" voters for Mods
ESSENTIAL

Release date change (only year necessary)
Yes. I don't think any particularly cares about the exact release date of anything not released this year.

Force to use 'review helpful' link before posting of comments
Oh god, no.

[Jom]

/me gives $0.02


Style buttons (italic, bold etc)


- By nature, I manually type the code. I don't use any of the toolbars when it comes to color changing, font organization, or what have you. If I wanted to write a lime-colored, bolded sentence, I can do so by typing in the tags manually, as opposed to using the toolbar. But hey, that's just me. If it gets implemented, I won't ever use it, but others would, it seems.


Band discography sorted by release date


- Not really a pressing issue, but it'll get there, I agree with Iai.


Display of "Useful Review" voters for Mods


- 123 w/ Iai. That way, you guys can see the goings-on, and you can answer our questions if we've been negged suspiciously.


Release date change (only year necessary)


- Agreed with Iai. The only time this is really necessary is when someone reviews an album that hasn't been released, I think.


Force to use 'review helpful' link before posting of comments


- This would do more harm than good, I think. Plus, friendlier users will get a huge surge in scores, while mindless or less-friendly users will get negged, regardless of the quality of the review.




My my, that's $0.04 you have there.

EDIT: no one saw that :eek:

[DFelon204409]

/me gives 2 cents

Kill beyondtheblueprint after taking out a heavy insurance claim on his life

Allow mods to see who voted for what.

[Neoteric]

/me gives 2 cents

Kill beyondtheblueprint after taking out a heavy insurance claim on his life

Allow mods to see who voted for what.
I agree, I don't like beyondtheblueprint either :evil:

[Dave de Sylvia]

/takes all 6 cents

Style buttons (italic, bold etc)
Couldn't care less, as I type my reviews out in MSWord, complete with tags.

Band discography sorted by release date
In time yes, just not yet

Display of "Useful Review" voters for Mods
ESSENTIAL

Release date change (only year necessary)
Yep.

Force to use 'review helpful' link before posting of comments
Oh god, no.

Wow, barely had to change anything. Dunno why I bothered. I think I just wanted the money.

[Iai]

Everyone agrees with me.

Cool.

[DFelon204409]

Pending, not yet judged

Style buttons (italic, bold etc)
How about you stop being a little girl and just use the vB html tags that most people know.
Band discography sorted by release date
Agreed
Display of "Useful Review" voters for Mods
Of course. This should apply to mods elsewhere like me, not just Dammy and Meddy.
Release date change (only year necessary)
I don't care but I think that the recently released albums thing should have more overall. Maybe a side column all the way on the right.
Force to use 'review helpful' link before posting of comments
No no no no no no no no no no no


Undergoing changes/Under construction

Change to the genre system -> more/less genres
Add post-hardcore. That's pretty essential from my stance. Also, in the future maybe make an electronica section and make subgenres like breakbeat, trance, etc. but that's way off in the future.

[DesolationRow]

Not voting before you post a comment, but you should HAVE to state your reasons in a comment if you vote 'no'. Not voting before you leave a comment, but just leaving a comment for voting no.

[Jom]

EDIT: nevermind

///

Not voting before you post a comment, but you should HAVE to state your reasons in a comment if you vote 'no'. Not voting before you leave a comment, but just leaving a comment for voting no.

That's the thing: people SHOULD do that, but people don't.

[DesolationRow]

Ummm, who's Twist?

I know people should, but they should make it so they HAVE TO, if they vote no.

EDIT: Oh, twist is the letters in my name. Silly me. Sorry. :thumb:

[DFelon204409]

Not voting before you post a comment, but you should HAVE to state your reasons in a comment if you vote 'no'. Not voting before you leave a comment, but just leaving a comment for voting no.

That's dumb because I read through a lot of reviews but comment on many less than I read. I end up giving the yes/no vote to way more than I comment on. Maybe mods and Top15 don't have to backup their voting but regulars do?

[Iai]

Gee, give people another reason to scream elitism from the hilltops, why don'tcha.

[masada]

It'd be nice if there were to be a "Country" genre on the site, or at least merge it to be be "Country/Folk"

[Shadows]

Can review lists be organized? Whenever I go to 'User CP' and then 'Edit My Reviews' it takes me ten minutes to find the one I'm looking for. Would it be too much to ask to have it alphabetized by artist?

[Jom]

Can review lists be organized? Whenever I go to 'User CP' and then 'Edit My Reviews' it takes me ten minutes to find the one I'm looking for. Would it be too much to ask to have it alphabetized by artist?

Ctrl + F :)

[Shadows]

Ctrl + F :)
I suppose that would work. I always thought it would look nicer if the list was organized in some way, but there's no point in making more work for mx and the mods if it's something I could easily do. I'm surprised I never thought of that before. :)

[Dave de Sylvia]

That's dumb because I read through a lot of reviews but comment on many less than I read. I end up giving the yes/no vote to way more than I comment on. Maybe mods and Top15 don't have to backup their voting but regulars do?

No, everybody should be writing a sentence.

[Neoteric]

A lot of people dumped it but I'd like to see a mini forum dedicated to Sputnik. There could be a forum for Sputnik General Questions, there could be a Rate My Review when you can get your review rated and commented on and the site forum could be moved in there.

"Where would we put the link?!?"

I made a brilliant picture:

http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/5480/sputnik4lj.png

[Damrod]

Basically not a bad idea. It could support a sense of community that a lot of people stated the new site lacks.

But a link to the Site forum would be enough though in my eyes, a complete move there not really necessary.

Added to the pending list

[morrissey]

I think if you did create it (good idea by the way) you should at least mention it on sputnik. Very few people frequent this section of the site, so it wouldn't be very well noticed and thus not very active. If you link it on the actual site (even just as a link like MXtabs or the other forums are at the top of the page), it'll be worth the while.

[Jom]

It's a good idea, but then there are users who just spam reviews to raise postcount while not contributing anything worthwhile to the review or discussion, and I'd imagine that this would happen on that forum as well.

[mx]

Basically, the comments are a forum, just in a different form =)

[masada]

There goes mx pooping on the party.

[DesolationRow]

Can you please reconsider my suggestion of ' Vote no, and you must leave a comment stating your reasons.'? I think it would help, a lot.

[Berserker!]

Something needs to be done about idiots seeing track by track reviews with fancy colours and going 'yeah great ****ing review' then giving their review a 'yes' when in truth, the review was quite poor.

As DFelon said somewhere, you're reviewing an album and not just a bunch of separate songs.

Something should be done.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Why? They like the review, it's their choice as to what they think of it.

[Damrod]

Something needs to be done about idiots seeing track by track reviews with fancy colours and going 'yeah great ****ing review' then giving their review a 'yes' when in truth, the review was quite poor.

As DFelon said somewhere, you're reviewing an album and not just a bunch of separate songs.

Something should be done.

First of all, voting on your own reviews has been gone for quite a while. No one can vote on their own reviews anymore.

Personally, I find the color thing overdone as well, but you can not forbid that just because you don't like it.

[Shadows]

What if we allowed the reviewers to view who voted yes/no on their own reviews, just as the mods can? *ponders*...

Also, I have a quick question - are the "all-time album charts" managed and sorted automatically, or do mods have to organize that themselves?

[Dave de Sylvia]

What if we allowed the reviewers to view who voted yes/no on their own reviews, just as the mods can? *ponders*...

It would almost certainly result in retaliatory negative votes, which would bring the site down.

[Damrod]

Spat Out is right 100%. That is exactly the reason why mx would never consider it

[Shadows]

That's probably a good point...well, I'm just throwing ideas out whenever something hits me.

[Jom]

That's what counts, man, heh.

In regards to the color fiasco:

I think people are trying to distinguish themselves from other reviewers. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to try to stand out from other "plain" reviews; however, I don't want to have an epileptic seizure reading a review because the review has more colors and sizes than a mother****ing strobe light, heh.

But I don't really have a problem with the color thing. Yeah, sometimes the colors chosen look really awful, but whatever. I can deal with it, or just not read the review period.

[Shadows]

Tell me what you think of this - in the metal section, we have plenty of sub-genres to put bands in, but there are still a fair few that don't fit into any of the sub-genres we have, and therefore are left uncategorized. I was thinking maybe we should have another sub-genre simply called "Heavy Metal", that way we would have a place for the bands that don't fit into any of the other ones. Many of the bands that are put into sub-genres may also belong more in a "Heavy Metal" section too. It's just an idea, but I think it would be nice.

[sunsinger]

I think in that case, you would just leave said band in Metal.

[Shadows]

But there is no link to a "Metal" sub genre page. We already have a plain "Metal" genre to leave bands in, but it make much more sense to give it a link and a subsection like the other genres. That way they're organized somewhere and don't seem like their left out there and undecided.

[Damrod]

But there is no link to a "Metal" sub genre page. We already have a plain "Metal" genre to leave bands in, but it make much more sense to give it a link and a subsection like the other genres. That way they're organized somewhere and don't seem like their left out there and undecided.

I don't think mx is willing to create a Metal sub-genre inside the Metal main genre (kinda funny thought). If it does not fit into one of the sub-genres in existence, it will have to reside in the Metal main genre

[blueyxd]

Symbol bands, eg. {Miocene}, !!!, etc. are still not showing up in any of the 0-9/letter pages from the menu thing. I'd suggest the 0-9 page would be the most suitable for them.

[Jom]

I think people are trying to distinguish themselves from other reviewers.

Speaking of which, some kid is knocking my percentage/letter grade at the end of his reviews :mad:

He is not a beautiful and unique snowflake!

He is a poser!

[Jom]

Hahahah. I'm glad you got the joke.

Shouldn't I have spelt it "poseur" though?

[Holland, 1945.]

I think it would be much nicer to change the rating scale to that of which Clumpy used to use. It is more modest and may lower the number of reviews with outlandish 4.5 and 5 ratings.

A Brief Note: I operate on the same rating scale as Rolling Stone; by my standards, a two-and-a-half star review is an average record.

Three Stars: A conditional recommendation.

Three-and-a-half stars: a strong recommendation. (Read the review to see if the record sounds like it appeals to you.)

Four Stars: An excellent record. Unconditional recommendation.

Five Stars: An earthshattering, fantastic record; I won’t give this often. A five-star record is very rare.

[Iai]

Changing that won't change the fact that people won't read it.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Yeah, my rating scale tends to change depending on my mood. I don't think the star ratings are overly important. If you can't get your point across in the text, then your review probably won't be very helpful. Stars are more of an afterthought to me.

[mx]

The average rating on almost everything will still be 4 stars, its human nature

[Dave de Sylvia]

I prefer 3.5, it creates the illusion of unbias.

[Holland, 1945.]

I guess I'm inhuman, then.

[Jom]

I guess I'm inhuman, then.

Changing that won't change the fact that people won't read it.

Bingo.

I don't think the star ratings are overly important.

Bango.

If you can't get your point across in the text, then your review probably won't be very helpful

Bongo.

///

Anyways, I recall a time recently where there was a review where the explanation of the reviewer's criteria for stars was longer than the review itself.

There's no point.

[DFelon204409]

First of all, voting on your own reviews has been gone for quite a while. No one can vote on their own reviews anymore.

Personally, I find the color thing overdone as well, but you can not forbid that just because you don't like it.

You don't need to vote for your own reviews when you and three other real-life friends bump and highly rate each other's carbon copy reviews that you churn out all the time.

beyondtheblueprint and rudd13

[br3ad_man]

It's probably not a good idea, but I wish we could see which people vote for and against your own reviews. It's just that I always get negative ratings but the threads are all people saying "good review". It's annoying.

[DesolationRow]

Br3ad, I have the same problem. All the feedback is good, but I still get negged. The problem with seeing who voted, as previously stated, would result in retaliation by negging their reviews. I just want something that makes everyone who votes no, must leave a comment explaining their reasons.

To DFelon: It's true. :upset:

[br3ad_man]

Yeah that's why I thought it wouldn't be so good. Most people wouldn't be dumb enough to neg people for revenge, but then there'd be people who would go through every review from a single user and neg them all.

[DesolationRow]

Yeah that's why I thought it wouldn't be so good. Most people wouldn't be dumb enough to neg people for revenge, but then there'd be people who would go through every review from a single user and neg them all.

Sound familiar, Dfelon? :D

[Jom]

Yeah that's why I thought it wouldn't be so good. Most people wouldn't be dumb enough to neg people for revenge, but then there'd be people who would go through every review from a single user and neg them all.

There are some stupid people on the Internet, I agree.

Having said that, you should just befriend Med and/or Damrod and hope they tell you who the instigator is... but I don't endorse this message, since I've already tried and it didn't work

:(

[Damrod]

There are some stupid people on the Internet, I agree.

Having said that, you should just befriend Med and/or Damrod and hope they tell you who the instigator is... but I don't endorse this message, since I've already tried and it didn't work

:(

Oh, feel free to ask me over AIM if you have the feeling someone is going at you. I can look and see if it's the same person. If I will tell you who it was... if it's strategic, maybe.

But don't hesitate to ask :)

[ReturnToRock]

why don't we expand it to movies, too? that would rock :)

[Damrod]

Movies...? You mean like Movie reviews?

[Dave de Sylvia]

Movie reviews on the CD Reviews site? OK!

[Killtacular]

Sounds like a plan.
Wait... no it doesn't.

[Iai]

Movies are lame.

[Jom]

This is a musician's forum, not a moviewatcher's forum. Sorry, but only music should be reviewed here.

The one exception if it is a live concert DVD, such as this one that nobody reads (http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=3102) :(

[Shadows]

Hey! You reviewed that!

[DFelon204409]

Sound familiar, Dfelon? :D

Painfully so.

[Let's Chop Cats!]

Suggestion of adding a Grind genre. Even though there is the lack of reviews certain bands just don't belong in the hardcore section.

[Shadows]

I've been wondering - whenever I edit a review in which one of the tracks has an apostrophe, slashes always appear next to the (') when I submit the edit. Why is this?

[Jom]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=3520

Two options:

1. Fix the spelling error, or

2. It doesn't warrant its own review, please combine with Burt's review (and the other one, whoever did it).

[Killtacular]

I've been wondering - whenever I edit a review in which one of the tracks has an apostrophe, slashes always appear next to the (') when I submit the edit. Why is this?

Because it's teh ghey. To be serious, I don't know. I always just take 'em out of the tracklist and they go away unless I edit it again.

[Shadows]

It works fine if I re-edit and delete them, but it's really annoying.

[Jom]

Edited the title, but it's not a bad review, so it can stay, although I'm not entirely sure why he just reviewed the second disc.

He said that it would have been exactly the same as Burt's if he reviewed it, so he just did the second disc. I don't have that big of a problem with just the review, but I just felt that he should have reviewed the first disc as well - even if it was similar to Burt's :)

[Shadows]

It's really annoying when every single person says "good review" but you still end up with someone neg-voting the review. Whoever did that to my Ghost Reveries and Are You Dead Yet? reviews shall die for not posting. :mad:

[br3ad_man]

I've got some reviews with about 4 or 5 people saying 'good review' and then it will say '1 of 4 found this review helpful'.

[Damrod]

As more and more people are reporting that their reviews get voted negative but no comment about it is left, maybe a comment should be forced. Not for every vote, but for negative voting only.

[Killtacular]

This (http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=3589&genreid=26) review, has been labeled as a different genre as the others (http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=1575) for Kid A. As a result, the other reviews don't show up in the box. Same for the Radiohead page. Click on Kid A and the Alt. Rock review comes up. The others are labeled as All Genres.

[Arrakakaka]

Why was doom metal taken out? Is it because there's not too many bands in that genre on sputnik? Then why don't you take out street punk, there's only 3 albums in there.

[Shadows]

:eek: Woah, major-super-crazy changes over in sputnikland. The entire format is different. Looks like I'll have to get used to it all over again.

[br3ad_man]

Yeah I don't like it at all actually. I thought the old layout was awesome.


There are a few bands that are missing from the artist lists. Nation of Ulysses and Mogwai come to mind and also The Dillinger Escape Plan are in the "D" section right at the bottom.

[morrissey]

New layout is bad. Maybe I just need to get used to it but there is far too much going on and it's hard to tell what's what.

[br3ad_man]

Plus the old thing that featured new reviews was cool.

[Berserker!]

The new layout is alright. A bit chaotic but it's a nice change.

[Neoteric]

I don't like it, it's a bit messy and why did they take out the top 15?

[Jom]

[W]hy did they take out the top 15?

Is this a serious question?

I liked looking at the site when it was "black as Death." It was a lot easier reading the text. This grey-on-white isn't all that aesthetically pleasing... but maybe I'll get used to it.

[Holland, 1945.]

I like it, besides the last five reviews having the little snippets from the review and the enlarged image.

EDIT: Much better now.

[mx]

Still very much a work in progress

[Damrod]

I really like the blue scheme shimmering through. Also, I find it a good idea not putting the Top15 list open on the main page as it seems to spawn a lot of unnecessary competition between some zealots eager to get up there :)

EDIT: A thing I personally would find very cool would be the cover art of an album next to the name in the last comments thingy. Just my two cents

[Tsuruka]

The color scheme is good, but it looks extrememly cluttered.

[mx]

I agree that it looks cluttered. However, to 'de-clutter' it I might have to remove information

EDIT: Should be better now

[Dave de Sylvia]

Yeah, I prefer this layout. It'll still take some getting used to, though.

[Damrod]

I like it! :thumb:

[Jom]

I like it was well, it's much better than the first few times, heh.

The only thing that looks funny with me is the cyan for the newest albums. Maybe make it red, since that's what the "Go to last post" arrows are? The cyan is just a bit loud when compared with the rest of the page :)

EDIT:

I was thinking about this for a bit, see what you guys think:

In the right column, we have the new reviews. However, look at the preview text for the review... it's not that big. And besides, I personally can't tell if a review is going to be good or not with just fifty characters (or whatever limit it is)... I just click on the review and read it in full anyway.

Perhaps you can take out the little blurb (this way, you don't have to worry about people listing band line-ups first) and just have the upper-right set up with just the album plus art, and just have that in five rows (album art on left, with artist + album on the right) instead of three with a blurb.

I can try to clarify with an MSPaint drawing, if you'd like.

[morrissey]

Ah that looks much better. Nice work.

[Shadows]

How come I'm missing reviews suddenly?

[Neoteric]

I think the layout is a lot better now. Well done MX!

[pulseczar]

why isn't my review in the "new reviews" thing? I just submitted it and it's still showing the other ones.

[Jom]

why isn't my review in the "new reviews" thing? I just submitted it and it's still showing the other ones.

What review is it?

[pulseczar]

Billy Corgan "TheFutureEmbrace". You can see it in the "recent comments" but not in "new reviews"

edit: nevermind, it finally appeared.

[br3ad_man]

I like the new one a lot better. However, I think it would work a lot better if it were to look like this:

New Reviews in the same place and the same size
Featured Albums/Album Charts next to New Reviews and roughly the same size as it is now
Recent Posts on the bottom, taking up the entire width of the page

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/br3ad_man/sputnik.jpg

[mx]

That's an interesting suggestion. The only problem is that the upper left hand corner is considered the most important part of the page. Therefore the most active part of the site (the recent posts should go there). A big problem with the old design was that you had to scroll all the way down to view the new posts, which are really the lifeblood of the site.

I'll look into it

[br3ad_man]

hmm, I think if anything is most important, it should be new reviews. Maybe if the new review section was on the right hand side and the featured albums on the left.

But whatever, thanks for considering the suggestion.

[mx]

I came up with an alternate design based on your suggestions and I like it. However, due to the hours I have put in very recently, I am going to let this design sit for awhile and see if it grows on people.

[Shadows]

Yeah, I've noticed a large string of major changes in sputnik lately. It's good to know you're thinking of us. :)

[pulseczar]

the only thing i dont like about the new layout is that only 3 new reviews are shown on the main page, and way more than 3 reviews are submitted per day, there should be atleast 5 shown

[Neoteric]

the only thing i dont like about the new layout is that only 3 new reviews are shown on the main page, and way more than 3 reviews are submitted per day, there should be atleast 5 shown
currently in this time there was 12 submitted today :thumb:

[mx]

Agreed, but then once you drill down to the genres, it shouldn't be as bad. I don't want to cram too much information if I can help it

[Shadows]

Do we have a section for soundtracks? I think it's something to consider.

[Killtacular]

I thought soundtrack reviews were forbidden. No?

[IsItLuck?]

I suggest that the mods are quicker on new reviews or at least contact the person saying it has been rejected. It should not take more than a day to accept/reject a pending review for a first time reviewer such as myself. Oh yeah, it still hasn't been posted.

Oh and if it is possible, could you put in the option to read your past posts like they have it on the musician forum (find more posts)

[Let's Chop Cats!]

Ughh, that font color for the band names looks ugly. Also I liked the older setup better, there is too much infront of me with this setup.

[Killtacular]

After being neg-voted for no spoken reason again, I say it's high time that a comment is mandatory for all neg votes.

[Damrod]

I suggest that the mods are quicker on new reviews or at least contact the person saying it has been rejected. It should not take more than a day to accept/reject a pending review for a first time reviewer such as myself. Oh yeah, it still hasn't been posted.

Oh and if it is possible, could you put in the option to read your past posts like they have it on the musician forum (find more posts)

How should we do so? I would like to contact reviewers to tell them why their reviews were rejected, but if they do not give IM contacts in their profile, we can not do so (at least not yet). We do not have access to the e-mail adress used for registration that is saved in the user database

[pulseczar]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=1411&genreid=38&page=2

as much as I love Michael Jackson jokes, this isn't really the place to post them...

[IsItLuck?]

How should we do so? I would like to contact reviewers to tell them why their reviews were rejected, but if they do not give IM contacts in their profile, we can not do so (at least not yet). We do not have access to the e-mail adress used for registration that is saved in the user database

Okay, I see.

[superpeer]

Today I seemed to have the power to accept a new review, I didn't know I could do that, but I did. Hope you don't mind. It was the aerosmith review.

Secondly, I was wondering, if someone votes 'no' on your review, you go down in the ranking, I suppose? This seems a bit of a handicap, because, I could write a brilliant piece on how much I think Aenima or Master of Puppets or The Number of the beast or *insert another extremely popular album here*, but mindless fanboys would vote no, just because they don't agree with it. This bothers me.

[Iai]

I'm gonna have to express disappointment in the new layout.

New reviews need to be on the top left. Having the comments like this might have been a good idea back when we were having problems with the sense of community, but those problems don't really exist anymore. I suspect very few people genuinely care about comments, compared to the people who care about new reviews. Most people will be most interested in comments on their own reviews, too, and those can be accessed through the User CP. In any case, scrolling down to see some of the reviews is a far bigger problem than scrolling to see comments ever could have been.

Having a number instead of stars on the comments is pretty off-putting and awkward too.

[Jom]

New reviews need to be on the top left. Having the comments like this might have been a good idea back when we were having problems with the sense of community, but those problems don't really exist anymore. I suspect very few people genuinely care about comments, compared to the people who care about new reviews. Most people will be most interested in comments on their own reviews, too, and those can be accessed through the User CP. In any case, scrolling down to see some of the reviews is a far bigger problem than scrolling to see comments ever could have been.

Agreed with everything here. I never look at the comments... I always look at my User CP to see if there are any new posts in my reviews before anything. Then, I look at the newest reviews. After all that, then I might look at the recently-commented on reviews... but really, I'm not going to post comments in albums I am unfamiliar with. I vote on peoples' reviews, but I'm not going to be say, "Great review, don't own any Afghan Whigs albums, though." That kind of derails discussion, in my eyes, when someone says something like that. That's why I just vote.

[Iai]

Just had to use the Whigs as your example, didn't you :p

[Jom]

Just had to use the Whigs as your example, didn't you :p

Hey, at least you know your reviews get looked at and voted on by me :mad:

Haha, of course I had to use it as an example. At first I wrote "Tori Amos," but then I was thought, "Nah, there has to be a better example." Then I remembered Afghan Whigs a split-second later, and my post was born :p

[Shadows]

And yes, that's true with the rankings. It's unfortunate, but there's no real way of combating people voting against the review simply because they disagree with your opinion. Damrod and I can see who voted on reviews, and how they voted, but unless someone's systematically misusing the feature, i.e negatively voting multiple reviews by one user, there isn't all that much we can do about it.
Wouldn't there be some way to alter the reviewer ranking system to make review approval votes count for less? I'm sure that most of the times I've been neg repped were for really stupid reasons.

[Damrod]

To be honest, currently it does not really care. I mean, the Top15 List is nowhere near the main page, and so far I found no link to it. And to be honest: I don't really think it's a bad thing

[Jom]

Agreed with Damrod.

Med and Damrod should have a portion of the site dedicated to featured reviews, or reviewer(s) of the month, or something... and totally abolish this points system crap.

Take out, say, half of the left-page with the comments, and use the open half to have this section. Or, incorporate it somehow with the Album Charts. I don't care, but just get rid of this Top 15 list and get rid of this points system. It sucks, and it causes too many stupid fights. Keep the "Is this review well-written" thing going, but don't have it count for anything.

[mx]

I'm gonna have to express disappointment in the new layout.

New reviews need to be on the top left. Having the comments like this might have been a good idea back when we were having problems with the sense of community, but those problems don't really exist anymore. I suspect very few people genuinely care about comments, compared to the people who care about new reviews. Most people will be most interested in comments on their own reviews, too, and those can be accessed through the User CP. In any case, scrolling down to see some of the reviews is a far bigger problem than scrolling to see comments ever could have been.

Having a number instead of stars on the comments is pretty off-putting and awkward too.

The new reviews were originally at the top left, and people complained heavily. Basically, no one will ever be happy with any site change. There will always be a vocal minority that disagrees with something, because they like to feel comfortable on the site. It's part of web design. I'm going to make the decisions that I feel improve the site.

Not to say that you can't complain or voice your concern, I'm just recognizing that there will always be someone who's unhappy.

[Arrakakaka]

I understand that doom metal was removed for lack of bands. But street punk has even less bands.

[DesolationRow]

It may seem pointless, but what about merging the postcounts from Sputnik to the MX postcount?

It's not a big problem, but we don't need 2 postcounts. Plus, i can never remember what mine is...:upset:

[Jom]

No one gives a **** about postcount. It isn't representative of anything, and it certainly doesn't relate to quality of reviews/comments.

Again, I'll repeat: if postcount mattered, Ethan would be posting on Sputnikmusic.

I also think it's equally pathetic that comments in reviews include, "Good job, you just passed [so-and-so] to take [x]'th place in the Top 15! omg good work lol!"

Please. None of that crap is necessary. I hope the Top 15 list gets obliterated to nothing to spite everyone that does this.

[Jom]

Med, while you're on, a quick question:

Can you flag my review (http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=3548) by Mudvayne (http://www.sputnikmusic.com/bands.php?bandid=453) so that it's the, well, highlight review of the three? The one that pops up first is the one that is 3/3, but mine is 12/12, so... if you could do that, that would be nice :-*

[Shadows]

I don't know if it's technically possible (it may well be), but even so I doubt it'll happen. Postcount's very irrelevant to be honest.
I don't see why it would be impossible. If he managed to merge the two sites to make out mx account the same as our sputnik, than he should be able to merge postcounts shouldn't he? I guess it really doesn't matter anyway.

Just a thought I had. Would it be possible to allow users to edit the ratings they have given albums in the "Your Rating of This Album" in the little info box? I know many people change their feelings or even pick the wrong number by accident, so I think having the option to change it would be helpful.

[Jom]

Pfft, your site sucks :mad:

Just kidding. It wasn't a pressing issue, I just wanted to ask. Basically, you answered my question moreso than anything, so it's all good.

[Storm In A Teacup]

Just a thought I had. Would it be possible to allow users to edit the ratings they have given albums in the "Your Rating of This Album" in the little info box? I know many people change their feelings or even pick the wrong number by accident, so I think having the option to change it would be helpful.


I have an idea, but I don't know if it can be done? Since a lot of people have said they wish they could change the "Rating of the Album", but nothing has been done about it. Maybe someone could make a thread where people could post that they want this changed and if enough people post maybe mx would be convinced to change it. I have no clue how this would be done since I haven't been a member of this site a month even so no one please flame me if you know that this wouldn't work.

[Shadows]

I have an idea, but I don't know if it can be done? Since a lot of people have said they wish they could change the "Rating of the Album", but nothing has been done about it. Maybe someone could make a thread where people could post that they want this changed and if enough people post maybe mx would be convinced to change it. I have no clue how this would be done since I haven't been a member of this site a month even so no one please flame me if you know that this wouldn't work.
I don't think that would work. That would be way too much trouble for mx for such a small thing. It would be best if we were given the option of changing the ratings we gave.

[Neoteric]

Agreed with Damrod.

Med and Damrod should have a portion of the site dedicated to featured reviews, or reviewer(s) of the month, or something... and totally abolish this points system crap.

Take out, say, half of the left-page with the comments, and use the open half to have this section. Or, incorporate it somehow with the Album Charts. I don't care, but just get rid of this Top 15 list and get rid of this points system. It sucks, and it causes too many stupid fights. Keep the "Is this review well-written" thing going, but don't have it count for anything.
I approve on this idea, the Top 15 is getting silly now. Reviewer of the Month is quite a good idea and I would like to see this happen ASAP

[Damrod]

Like I mentioned, I think replacing the Top15 seems like a good idea. The problem I see with reviewer of the month is: Who's to decide, us mods? If that should come, I bet quite a lot of people will try to whore their place "up there" by smoothing around Med and me on IM services. And a system where people vote would basically end up in the same state the Top15 were recently (friend votes and so on, vote abuse etc)

[Jom]

Like I mentioned, I think replacing the Top15 seems like a good idea. The problem I see with reviewer of the month is: Who's to decide, us mods? If that should come, I bet quite a lot of people will try to whore their place "up there" by smoothing around Med and me on IM services. And a system where people vote would basically end up in the same state the Top15 were recently (friend votes and so on, vote abuse etc)

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Dammmmmmmmmmrrrrrooooooooooddddddd :-* :naughty:

Hahaha, I'm kidding.

I would say that you and Med collaborate on deciding, yes. You guys are (should be ;)) unbiased, so having the distinction of getting recognized by you would carry more weight than a site-wide voting system.

Alternatively, you guys could accept nominations. I understand your plight about it returning to the Top 15, but you guys know by now the little "cliques" running around on Sputnikmusic already, so you can ignore those nominations if necessary. From those nominations, you and Med could decide; or, you could have a poll here. The only thing, though, is you can't make the poll results private >: [

[Damrod]

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Dammmmmmmmmmrrrrrooooooooooddddddd :-* :naughty:

Hahaha, I'm kidding.

I would say that you and Med collaborate on deciding, yes. You guys are (should be ;)) unbiased, so having the distinction of getting recognized by you would carry more weight than a site-wide voting system.

Alternatively, you guys could accept nominations. I understand your plight about it returning to the Top 15, but you guys know by now the little "cliques" running around on Sputnikmusic already, so you can ignore those nominations if necessary. From those nominations, you and Med could decide; or, you could have a poll here. The only thing, though, is you can't make the poll results private >: [

Don't do that gramps thing on me :)

I would prefer a solution without such a list or anything, but I know that it motivates people to write more... *sigh* In the end I think we could do it, yes. But I already hear the people complaining "He only reviews poppy stuff", "Too bland", "Never enough details in the reviews" or stuff like that...

Anyways, if the majority of folks would say this is the better solution, and mx thinks positive of this as well, I would tag along for sure. Still, I would prefer a solution without any Top-lists at all

[Jom]

Yeah, I understand. People will bitch about anything and everything; that's why you and Med need to decide based on what you guys think or through the list of submissions.

Or, you could do that contest thing like you did in the other forums. Have people go on Sputnikmusic, find a review that they find stellar, and post it there. I know how wildly successful the first contest thing was (heh, sorry), but that could be an alternative.

Or, just post it in one place, like The Pit. Just be weary of the spam.

Anyways: the last thing I'd want is another list. So, we'll see how it goes.

[Shadows]

I like the ideas of reviewer/review of the month and whatnot. The top 15 thing could be good if it weren't for people trolling each other and neg-voting just to screw with them.

[br3ad_man]

I think it would be better if just Med and Damrod chose it. That way it's a surprise each month and it's unbiased. Top 15 is definitely getting ridiculous. I don't like that I'm at the top of it (well, in some ways I do) because I don't have the highest average rating. Maybe that's because I'm at the top in the first place, but whatever. Getting rid of it seems a good idea to me.

[morrissey]

I don't know where to ask this but are Something_vague/Eliminator Jr./Holland 1945 the same person? :confused:

[Damrod]

I don't know where to ask this but are Something_vague/Eliminator Jr./Holland 1945 the same person? :confused:

If I remember correctly, something_vague got a name change to Eliminator Jr. Don't know though if he got another one (doubt it though)

[pulseczar]

you guys need to merge The Foo Fighters and Foo Fighters, but make it Foo Fighters because that's their actual name

[Shadows]

I have a quick question. I'm thinking of reviewing the new Slipknot album (Vol. 3), but I have the re-released version with the new cover art and the bonus disc. Should I add it to the other reviews as the same album and just give it a different track listing, or should I submit it as a seperate album with it's own tracklisting and cover art? I'm not too sure how to do this.

[Jom]

I have a quick question. I'm thinking of reviewing the new Slipknot album (Vol. 3), but I have the re-released version with the new cover art and the bonus disc. Should I add it to the other reviews as the same album and just give it a different track listing, or should I submit it as a seperate album with it's own tracklisting and cover art? I'm not too sure how to do this.

Since it came with eight unreleased tracks and a new disc, I would tell you to make a new album name and put the new album art up with it. Logistically, it doesn't make sense to have a review with only fourteen songs in the tracklist (or however many tracks there are on the first release of Vol. 3, I forget) and have over twenty songs reviewed. Plus, there is the new album art... so, I would tell you to make a new album name and make sure you specify that it's a re-release or (bonus disc) or whatever.

But, my username is not Damrod or Med57.

[Shadows]

That's kind of what I was thinking. I could just submit it as the same album but with the new cover art and bonus tracks listed, but that would cause the other reviews of the album to make no sense. I think your idea is the best way, but I'll wait for official mod ruling before I do something stupid.

[br3ad_man]

Stuff like the Legacy Edition of Jeff Buckley's Grace is in seperate reviews. I don't see how this is any different.

[DesolationRow]

Can there be a change to the search function? A user option would be helpful, or a 'posts by user' option.

Just a thought...

[Shadows]

Rgiht, I'll just put the review in a seperate slot.

You can easily check reviews by user by clicking on their username and looking at the review through their profile.

[Killtacular]

Unless you can't find their username. Then searching would make sense.

[DesolationRow]

Why do all my ideas get pooed upon? The 'advanced serch' feature would come in handy.

[Shadows]

I agree about the searching of posts by user, but if you don't know who the user is, than how could you search by user?

[Jom]

I don't see the point of a search function by user on Sputnikmusic at this point, to be honest.

Maybe if the site was entirely new, but since it brought all the old reviews (and, accordingly, all the comments) from the old forum, I really don't see a point to it.

[DesolationRow]

^ It's just a better navigation tool, instead of rummaging through reviews trying to find a User Profile. IMO, it's a lot easier.

[Dave de Sylvia]

A user list page would be better, and useful in general.

[Jom]

My point is, who cares about searching for what people have said? I'm not going to give two shits and a **** about what you wrote for a comment in Britney Spears' Oops!... I Did It Again review.

[Damrod]

The search thing would have been interesting for us mods, before we got the "Delete all" command (to fight spammers). But I don't know if it is really necessary...

[Shadows]

Here's a crazy thought I just had. Shouldn't a user have to actually write and submit a review before they can be added to a "favorite reviewers" list? I've been looking through and seeing guys on favorites lists who have never submitted anything. It doesn't make much sense to me.

[Storm In A Teacup]

Sorry ShadowsFallen, but I don't think mx would waste his time changing something so trivial like that when people have wanted a lot of things changed latley (like changing what they rated an album) and nothing has been done about it.

[Shadows]

I agree, I was just kind of voicing something I had been thiking about lately. It surely was an idea not worth the time to fix up.

[Heldbackbytheban]

I have a idea for reviewing albums,

Intro

Vocals-lyrics

Guitar work

bass-Drumming

Keyboard if in the band
any other musical instrument used. Say you were reviewing children of bodom,

You would have a paragraph about the lyrics vocals lead guitar talking about alexi laiho I hope im explaing my thought well.

Then reccomend tracks at the end and say if theres any bad ones and why. then rate.

[Jom]

How one person reviews an album will be entirely different from someone else.

If everyone had the exact same cookie-cutter style of reviewing, Sputnikmusic would become terribly boring.

[Heldbackbytheban]

I wasn't saying everyone had to. I just thought that would be one other way to.

[morrissey]

I wasn't saying everyone had to. I just thought that would be one other way to.
Then write a reviewing using your style. If people like it, they will pick up on it and adopt it as their own. If they don't, they'll go on their merry way.

[pulseczar]

For a user's profile, you guys should do a "this reviewer is a favourite of x people" or something like that, to make more use of the favourite reviewers thing. But it's obviously not a big deal anyway.

[Storm In A Teacup]

For a user's profile, you guys should do a "this reviewer is a favourite of x people" or something like that, to make more use of the favourite reviewers thing. But it's obviously not a big deal anyway.

I think that's a good idea and if the ranking thing isn't done away with it could even count for weighted ranking to. My two cents :thumb:

[Shadows]

I don't mean to pester the mods, but I want to mention this again. I really think it would help if the ratings that users give albums within the reviews could be changed. I'm looking at some of the ratings I gave and wondering what the hell I was thinking; opinions also change.

[Heldbackbytheban]

I just reviewed Devildriver's "The Fury of Our Maker's Hand and it put it under all genres? Could a Mod please place it under the correct metal genre. I think it's death metal-metalcoreish. Thanks.

[Shadows]

This is another thing that's bee bothering me for a while. Could all the links from the forums to sputnik be changed from sputnikmusic.com to musiciansforums.com/sputnik?

The first site doesn't work for me. It keeps logging me off automatically. The second address works fine, and it would be nice if the links on mx would work correctly.

ALSO: I think it's importent that we start emphasizing balance. I don't know what we could do to remedy this, but it's time we get some negative reviews to contrast the overabundance of positive ones. We have 100 people flocking to what they like, and consequently have 100's of reviews with 4-5 star ratings. Only once in a great while do I see a negative review or a review rated low.

[Storm In A Teacup]

ALSO: I think it's importent that we start emphasizing balance. I don't know what we could do to remedy this, but it's time we get some negative reviews to contrast the overabundance of positive ones. We have 100 people flocking to what they like, and consequently have 100's of reviews with 4-5 star ratings. Only once in a great while do I see a negative review or a review rated low.


You won't have to worry about that soon. I'm working on Life of Agony's Soul Searching Sun and we all know everybody loves that. :naughty:

and I'll be doing the first reveiw of Green Day's American Idiot that will get a rating lower than 3 stars.

[Killtacular]

The problem with that is that I don't have hardly any albums I don't like, seeing as if I don't like something, then I don't buy it. Ocassionally, I'll have a random album I bought during my musical idiocy, which'll get not so high marks.

[morrissey]

In this case downloading albums is actually a good thing... because you have a better chance of downloading a bad album rather than buying one in the store.

Still, most people aren't bothered to review them. People review albums they like, because they want other people to hear these albums. The same incentive isn't there for bad reviews. Does anyone one really want to put the time in just to deter someone from an album?

[Shadows]

You won't have to worry about that soon. I'm working on Life of Agony's Soul Searching Sun and we all know everybody loves that. :naughty:

and I'll be doing the first reveiw of Green Day's American Idiot that will get a rating lower than 3 stars.
I was planning on doing Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil too. It has 3-4 5 star reviews as well as 18 users who rated it 5. I'll be flamed for sure this time, but I don't care anymore.

[Jom]

I was planning on doing Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil too. It has 3-4 5 star reviews as well as 18 users who rated it 5. I'll be flamed for sure this time, but I don't care anymore.

People need to understand that they are voting for whether or not the review is helpful, not "Do you agree with the reviewer?".

But, some people are stupid : |

[Shadows]

People need to understand that they are voting for whether or not the review is helpful, not "Do you agree with the reviewer?".

But, some people are stupid : |
Yes, I've always felt the same way. However, my Trivium review was very successful. Virtually everyone disagreed with me, yet I still had 10 out of 11 who said the review was helpful.

[Storm In A Teacup]

I was planning on doing Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil too. It has 3-4 5 star reviews as well as 18 users who rated it 5. I'll be flamed for sure this time, but I don't care anymore.

Once I turn my Green Day one in and 1039/SlappyHours and Nimrod see it their bound to vote no against it, I'll have their asses banned for 10 days or whatever it is. :D

[br3ad_man]

I think the rating scale should be changed. Like keep the 5 star thing, but it doesn't really make sense to go from Average to Excellent, especially considering the two before Average are Terrible and Poor.

[t e h : c h a d]

I only glanced over this thread, so I apologise if it has been mentioned before.

But please could there be the option of previewing a review before submission?

[morrissey]

I only glanced over this thread, so I apologise if it has been mentioned before.

But please could there be the option of previewing a review before submission?
No need really, since you can edit.

[Shadows]

I think the rating scale should be changed. Like keep the 5 star thing, but it doesn't really make sense to go from Average to Excellent, especially considering the two before Average are Terrible and Poor.
I think it would make a 2.5 - the middle rating - average.

[Jom]

0 - virtually unlistenable
.5 - atrocious
1 - Terrible
1.5 - Unsatisfactory
2 - Poor/Needs Improvement
2.5 - Average
3 - Decent
3.5 - Good
4 - Great, Grand, Wonderful, NO YELLING ON THE BUS
4.5 - Excellent
5 - Classic

Sorry, I was bored and too lazy to go through the thesaurus :cool:

[Dave de Sylvia]

I think we should do away with stars.

[Shadows]

And replace it with what?

[Dave de Sylvia]

Words?

[Shadows]

I don't understand. :confused: The stars are basically just an image to sum up our words. People are always going to be giving it a numerical rating anyway, so what's wrong with keeping them?

[morrissey]

He means you shouldn't use any sort or rating system, be it percentages, fractions, stars, whatever. They're so trivial and people base too much off a number. Read the review - if it sounds like something you'd be into, get it. Words are all you need to be convinced.

[Shadows]

I suppose that's true. I'm really sick of people looking at nothing but the numbers I put and flaming me for things that I clearly explained in the review. People need to actually start reading the reviews.

EDIT: Also, what's the policy on reviewing compilations? I was hoping to review the Roadrunner United thing, but I don't know if it's allowed, and if so, where it would go.

[morrissey]

I suppose that's true. I'm really sick of people looking at nothing but the numbers I put and flaming me for things that I clearly explained in the review. People need to actually start reading the reviews.

EDIT: Also, what's the policy on reviewing compilations? I was hoping to review the Roadrunner United thing, but I don't know if it's allowed, and if so, where it would go.
EXACTLY why stars should be abolished.

[Jom]

EDIT: Also, what's the policy on reviewing compilations? I was hoping to review the Roadrunner United thing, but I don't know if it's allowed, and if so, where it would go.

Yes, you can review compilations.

Just put them under Various Artists, with the album called "Roadrunner: The All-Star Sessions" or whatever it's called.

Alternatively, you could call it Roadrunner Records - "The All-Star Sessions."

Personally, I would select the latter, just because it's solely that label's artists; thus, it would be most representative, I'd think.

So, again:

Roadrunner Records - "The All-Star Sessions"

... would be what I would choose :)

[br3ad_man]

I don't think stars should be abolished at all. It might be nice in some ways, but it's totally unpractical. I was thinking this sort of scale:

0 - poo on cd
0.5 - Garbage
1 - Terrible
1.5 - Don't bother
2 - Below average
2.5 Average
3 - Good/Above Average
3.5 - Great
4 - Excellent
4.5 - Brilliant
5 - Classic

Yeah, pretty much the same as Jom's. Basically though, what needs to change is that 2.5 should be average and 3 should be a good album.

[Dave de Sylvia]

I don't understand. :confused: The stars are basically just an image to sum up our words. People are always going to be giving it a numerical rating anyway, so what's wrong with keeping them?
Well you can give it a numerical rating, I just don't think it should be so prominent. If you want to add percentages or whatever into your review, that's fine, but having a bunch of stars at the top of your review gives the reader a potentially inaccurate picture before you've even started. I'm open to arguments, though.

[Storm In A Teacup]

Well you can give it a numerical rating, I just don't think it should be so prominent. If you want to add percentages or whatever into your review, that's fine, but having a bunch of stars at the top of your review gives the reader a potentially inaccurate picture before you've even started. I'm open to arguments, though.


I don't like how when I read a reveiw I always see what the rating is at the top so sometimes I lose interest. So yeah, something should be done. Even if it's just moving where the stars are in the reveiw.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Oh, so that's how it is. :mad:

I just think stars are silly. It is annoying when people take issue with your star rating when they clearly haven't actually read the review. I won't cry about it, though.




(Yes I will.)

[Shadows]

This may not seem worth it, but what does everyone think about organizing albums on a band's bio/disco page by release date instead of alphabetically? It makes much more sense to me.

[Storm In A Teacup]

I second that. :)

[Killtacular]

Sounds like a plan. A plan that should've been enacted long ago.

[Jom]

Sounds like a plan. A plan that should've been enacted long ago.

Yes, because THAT is EXACTLY the number one priority for Sputnikmusic, right? But of course. How silly of me to think otherwise.

[br3ad_man]

Oh, so that's how it is. :mad:

I just think stars are silly. It is annoying when people take issue with your star rating when they clearly haven't actually read the review. I won't cry about it, though.


(Yes I will.)

Eg my X&Y review.

[Damrod]

This may not seem worth it, but what does everyone think about organizing albums on a band's bio/disco page by release date instead of alphabetically? It makes much more sense to me.

We discussed that with mx a while ago, and dismissed it because of the massive lack of release dates. Only with the recent reviews (since the first layout changes I think) people add release dates to their reviews, but by far not everyone.

It's a good idea, but like stated, not really possible (in a decent way) at the moment

[Leper Affinity]

I was wondering; on a band's page where the albums/bio is listed, there are options of editing the band. Wouldn't it be much easier and effective if there was also the option of editing that band's albums' tracklists and album covers there? That way the mods won't have to do it and we won't have to bitch at reviewers for not editing it in. I think it would reduce the amount of reviews that look unprofessional or incomplete.

I'm sorry mods, it seems like I'm always pestering you with stupid ideas. I swear, one day, one of them will be good!

[Jom]

The reviewers can do it, it just needs to be approved by the mods first (in regards to the biography/artist info).

In regards to editing the tracklist and album art: users can do this by going to User CP > Edit My Reviews > [insert album here]

Then, they get the universal tracklist + empty field for the album art.

I've done it numerous, numerous times. It works :)

[Leper Affinity]

I'm saying everyone should be able to edit that stuff, not just the people who reviewed the albums.

[Jom]

I'm saying everyone should be able to edit that stuff, not just the people who reviewed the albums.

That's my point: people can.

It just has to be approved by the mods is all first.

EDIT: oh, I see what you mean now. You kinda have to have that album reviewed before you do the tracklist.

However, in terms of band bio and genre, you can do that yourself... just not album-specific stuff.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Does anyone else have the glitch where when you edit your review, all the song titles with apostraphes get a "/" in them? First edit there's one /, second there's three, and so on. It's not a big deal, it's just annoying, especially if you edit 5+ times like I do.

[Jom]

Does anyone else have the glitch where when you edit your review, all the song titles with apostraphes get a "/" in them? First edit there's one /, second there's three, and so on. It's not a big deal, it's just annoying, especially if you edit 5+ times like I do.

andy says it's a vBulletin issue - Jeremy can fix it, apparently, but it's doubtful that it's a high priority.

[Leper Affinity]

What, so anyone could edit in album art, etc? I see your point, but people would abuse it...if there's one thing I don't want to do, it's go through reviews editing out horrible images placed where the album art should go, and replacing it with the right picture repeatedly, which I can guarantee would happen. Even if it was mod-approved, in practice checking stuff was right, which we'd do, wouldn't really cut down on the time we'd spend doing it ourselves. :-\ Does that answer your question? Anyway, carry on throwing out ideas.
Yes that answers my question. Very well, I'll continue as usual. :)

[br3ad_man]

It should be made compulsory to add in a release date. Not the whole thing, but a year at least.

[Damrod]

It should be made compulsory to add in a release date. Not the whole thing, but a year at least.

Something I would appreciate

[Leper Affinity]

What's with the big red number next to the title in the review? Did mx replace stars?

[pulseczar]

it looks really bad, and the idea of star ratings is still there, just in number form. pretty pointless.

edit: actually it looks good now, when I first saw it, the coding seemed screwed up

[Jom]

Jeremy, a quick thing you might want to look into.

In reviews, you have the line, "Review written by [insert username]." That's fine... but the review starts immediately after the line. I think it would look better aesthetically if you added another break.

///

Examples:

Review by Example User
This is the opening sentence to Example User's review. Words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words.

To me, it'll look better with another space in between, like so:

Review by Example User

This is the opening sentence to Example User's review. Words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words.

The extra space makes the beginning of the review look less congested that way, and just looks more aesthetically pleasing. This is especially true if the opening paragraph is... well, a paragraph.

A minor thing, I know, but it could be easily implemented.

[Killtacular]

I want the stars back.

[mx]

I think it's amazing how little people can handle the smallest changes. The new system is easier to read and to see the rating at a glance. It's also more clear.

So it's staying =)

[Leper Affinity]

I'm the same as Galapagos. When Ifirst saw it it looked very rough and messed up. But now it doefinitely looks more pleasing.

I like it much better this way. :) It highlights the actual review better without all of the flash and overbearing title stuff.

[Killtacular]

Damn you mx, damn you and your administration powers!!

:upset:

[Jom]

I think it's amazing how little people can handle the smallest changes. The new system is easier to read and to see the rating at a glance. It's also more clear.

So it's staying =)

/wins a moral victory because you liked my minor suggestion, you silly Big Red :p

[NEDM]

Although it doesnt really matter, I miss those little red letters next to my user name. :upset:

[Damrod]

Woah, Top15 gone for good. :eek:

I like the new Point thing, especially as the "Translation" is given below it.

[Jom]

Woah, Top15 gone for good. :eek:

Well, not really :-\

There's still rankings in everyone's User CP. I'm saying that it should be done away with PERIOD, not just being removed from everyone's reviews. This way, we don't have people checking to see where they are all the time in the Top 15, and checking other users' positions and judging what they have to do to pass them. I think that's a load of crap, really. If someone writes a stellar review, it should be voted on, not ignored because that person is higher up than another in the Top 15.

I mean, heck, people are already complaining about the Top 15 titles in reviews being gone.

JUST GET RID OF THE SYSTEM ALTOGETHER.

I think that people will be more receptive to voting, then, since no one is going to be competitive about it. The people that were competitive, or forming "clans" to circlejerk votes out of each other, and so on, are rather pathetic. By getting rid of their pwecious widdle pwestige (oh, boohoohoo), there shouldn't be any issues. If there are, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out, really.

[Dave de Sylvia]

It's probably best it's gone and it would probably better to get rid of it altogether.

I think the new changes make the layout a lot more attractive. :)

[pulseczar]

the site's doing that thing again where it doesn't show the newest review


edit: no it's not doing that, it's saying at the top of every review that it was submitted 07-10-2005

[mx]

edit: no it's not doing that, it's saying at the top of every review that it was submitted 07-10-2005

Thats just the format of the date! It's the seventh of October

[br3ad_man]

The new rating system is wonderful, thanks mx.

[Damrod]

One thing I would like to suggest mx:

I think something about the head of the reviews looks... strange. I think it's because of the small line ">date< by >username<". IMO it would fit better in the line above next to the number of comments thingy.

That's the only thing though, I really like the recent cosmetic changes :)

[Senor_Whippy]

I'm not loving the new look Sputnikmusic.Please bring back my stars,I miss them.Oh yeah and wouldn't it be nice if Sputnik was a little more colourful?

[mx]

The stars are gone. Period.

[Killtacular]

Oh yeah and wouldn't it be nice if Sputnik was a little more colourful?

NO!!

Black is easy on the eyes.

[I'm Charming]

Could a mod please feature or w/e its called my devildriver review? Theres only been a few comments and it was never featured.

Thanks for your time, Thanks in advance,

[I'm Charming]

I fully understand, Thanks anyways though.
I agree obviously devildriver is not world famous or classic anything. I just was wondering about how that works and now I know for the future.

[NEDM]

Okay, the Top15 is gone but there should still be some form of reward for a great review. To be honest, when I signed up for the site, I swore to my self that I would get on that list. Now I dont have as much motive to write anymore. Don't take this the wrong way, I'll review when I feel a review is due. (unintentional rhyme).

[Jom]

Okay, the Top15 is gone but there should still be some form of reward for a great review. To be honest, when I signed up for the site, I swore to my self that I would get on that list. Now I dont have as much motive to write anymore. Don't take this the wrong way, I'll review when I feel a review is due. (unintentional rhyme).

Oh, please. Bye bye, then.

You had your share of glory, you made it onto that precious list, now drop it.

You should be writing reviews because you like to take the time to review and introduce people to music, not to get your e-shlong sucked. You're in this for the wrong reasons, I think.

No one is drooling at your feet waiting for you to review. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone outside of your little clan who is checking Sputnikmusic every hour to see if you've written a new review.

To think that you're the cat's meow on Sputnikmusic is laughable, since it's a community of reviewers. There isn't a single user who makes Sputnikmusic. Sputnikmusic is a COMMUNITY of reviewers.

YOU are NOT above the COMMUNITY, no matter what you think.

If you think you're so superior to everyone else and you think people are just dying to see your next review, then you need a bit of a reality check, kid, because I can assure you that no one cares for your pompous attitude, and no one will care if you leave Sputnikmusic just because you don't think you're getting recognized to the level you became used to.

If you leave, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Dave de Sylvia]

There isn't a single user who makes Sputnikmusic. Sputnikmusic is a COMMUNITY of reviewers.
I'm right here, man. :(

Don't take this the wrong way, I'll review when I feel a review is due.
Good, that's the right mentality. The Top 15 is meaningless. The best reviewers are still the best reviewers. It was nice while it lasted, but look at the reaction to its removal, it was a monster.

I love Jom rants <3

[Leper Affinity]

I think Beyond is right to an extent. While the top15 was meaningless and shouldn't be used as a reviewers sole purpose, it is good to give some kind of incentive. When people know they're getting something - anything - out of reviewing, they'll strive to write more and write better than before.

But above all, Jom is right. We're a community of reviewers, and we should be reviewing because we want to and not because we think sputnik will owe us something if we do. That site stays together because there are a core of writers who are always submitting new things and making it more comprehensive with every review.

[br3ad_man]

Oh, please. Bye bye, then.

You had your share of glory, you made it onto that precious list, now drop it.

You should be writing reviews because you like to take the time to review and introduce people to music, not to get your e-shlong sucked. You're in this for the wrong reasons, I think.

No one is drooling at your feet waiting for you to review. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone outside of your little clan who is checking Sputnikmusic every hour to see if you've written a new review.

To think that you're the cat's meow on Sputnikmusic is laughable, since it's a community of reviewers. There isn't a single user who makes Sputnikmusic. Sputnikmusic is a COMMUNITY of reviewers.

YOU are NOT above the COMMUNITY, no matter what you think.

If you think you're so superior to everyone else and you think people are just dying to see your next review, then you need a bit of a reality check, kid, because I can assure you that no one cares for your pompous attitude, and no one will care if you leave Sputnikmusic just because you don't think you're getting recognized to the level you became used to.

If you leave, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out.


:lol:

I think you forgot to punch him in the face. Nice rant though.

[pulseczar]

the only problem i saw with the top 15 is that some people only commented on a review because it was a by a top 15er. But in general, im at #30, and still get told I write good reviews. So I dont care really, aslong as people think theyre good it shouldnt matter whether you're popular.

[Dave de Sylvia]

But above all, Jom is right.
Don't feed the monster!

[Leper Affinity]

Don't feed the monster!
:mad: Perhaps I should put my foot in the monster's ***.

That is of course assuming that Jom = teh monster.

the only problem i saw with the top 15 is that some people only commented on a review because it was a by a top 15er.
I never got that feeling at all. :confused: I've had reviews with tons of posts and many more with hardly any, as have all of the top15. When I post, it's because I have something to say, not because of who the reviewer is. I never felt like people really payed that much attention to the top15.

[morrissey]

I'm number 119 or something but I'm the best reviewer there.

Top 15 can go to heck

[Dave de Sylvia]

**** the 15.

:mad: Perhaps I should put my foot in the monster's ***.

That is of course assuming that Jom = teh monster.
They don't call him Jomzilla for nothing.

[Leper Affinity]

Former top15 > YOUR MORTAL SOULS

I bet Jom's the kind of guy who likes a good twinkie-weiner sandwich after his nap every afternoon. Closely followed by a monsterous building-smashing lawyer-gutting killing spree, and then some pr0n.

[morrissey]

Please stop posting.

[morrissey]

About the new rating system:

Though 2.5 should be an average rating, it comes out as 2 in the user comment section. When I try doing "good", it comes out as 3. I suspect it's a tiny error and it's easy to fix, but basically there is no 2.5 opinion for user ratings. Unless I'm missing something.

[Damrod]

Ok, discussion on the Top15 is fine, but please keep it on a friendly level. :thumb:

[Neoteric]

For The Top 15, I like it the way it is now, no list but it still tells you're a good reviewer.

[Jom]

Do you really need a list or a number to tell you that you're a good reviewer, though?

[Dave de Sylvia]

Aww, but I'm a friendly Jomzilla.
I'd like to see you tell that to the good citizens of Tokyo :-\

Do you really need a list or a number to tell you that you're a good reviewer, though?
Yes. :)

[Damrod]

Ok folks, this is the Suggestions Thread. As funny as it may be, I would appreciate it if you could stop spamming this one up. Take it to AIM or the Pit for chatter

I'll leave it closed until I get back from my parents place later, I hope you alll calm down a bit until then

[Jom]

Fine, fine. I'll accept any blame here because my little "rant" de-railed the thread. I'll delete the posts from me that, by any stretch of the imagination, would be construed as "spammy."

But here's a suggestion: compare what went on in this thread to any of the old Guitar forum's LODs and compare the two and tell me that they were similar in any way, then I'll buy it. For now, though, I'm selling.

[Leper Affinity]

When will we be seeing a new set of featured albums? We need more metal featured.

[Dave de Sylvia]

When will we be seeing a new set of featured albums? We need more metal featured.
Yesterday :-\

[Leper Affinity]

Yesterday :-\
/checks

Was it really? I'm still seeing old ones. :confused:

[Leper Affinity]

I think I understand. So instead of wiping the entire list clean and adding a whole new set, you just gradually add a few more reviews every once in a while? That would explain why I see some new ones and then a long list of old ones.

[Damrod]

Yeah, I added two today as well. It's just stretching a bit longer for the features, we're not so strong about featuring 5 every week

[Storm In A Teacup]

Three Days Grace is under the genre Nu-Metal when it should be under Mainstream Rock I beleive.

[NEDM]

Oh, please. Bye bye, then.

You had your share of glory, you made it onto that precious list, now drop it.

You should be writing reviews because you like to take the time to review and introduce people to music, not to get your e-shlong sucked. You're in this for the wrong reasons, I think.

No one is drooling at your feet waiting for you to review. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone outside of your little clan who is checking Sputnikmusic every hour to see if you've written a new review.

To think that you're the cat's meow on Sputnikmusic is laughable, since it's a community of reviewers. There isn't a single user who makes Sputnikmusic. Sputnikmusic is a COMMUNITY of reviewers.

YOU are NOT above the COMMUNITY, no matter what you think.

If you think you're so superior to everyone else and you think people are just dying to see your next review, then you need a bit of a reality check, kid, because I can assure you that no one cares for your pompous attitude, and no one will care if you leave Sputnikmusic just because you don't think you're getting recognized to the level you became used to.

If you leave, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I guess you took it the wrong way as I expected.

I was basically trying to spawn an idea for another form of reward.

[NEDM]

I also find it REMARKABLE that you could put so many words in my mouth.

Give me a break.