Write On! :: Comments :: Site updates and requests for comments

Well, there are a few things the abstain vote is good for, some not necessarily on this site though :-)

First, it lets you see accurately how many articles in the queue are actually new, because "new" is defined as "I haven't voted on it yet." If you don't want to either publish or reject a particular story, it will stay visible in that nice eye-catching red unless you vote to abstain. If you prefer, you can just not vote, and check the queue to see if that "new" article is actually new or if it's one you abstained from.

Second, if auto-post is used (which it isn't on this site) "abstain" votes are used when weighting the votes to determine if the story should be posted or not. Abstentions count slightly negatively, but not as much as votes to reject, because people who abstained didn't particularly want to see it published.

And third, it lets you see who all has voted on the story and how.

Flashiness should be reserved for sites that don't offer real content

I agree... rather, I have found that flashy sites rarely have content, so on seeing flashy design I already know what level of content to expect.

The layout won't be getting flashy, but it's been getting slowly cleaned up. Having a nice-looking site isn't the same as having a flashy one...

The only gripe that I have with the layout is that most text does not adhere to the font size I specify in my user configuration. [...] My assumption would be that this is due to the use of the stylesheets instead of <FONT> tags

Your assumption is correct. The font size preference that you're trying to set assumes that I'm using font tags all over, which I am not, using CSS instead. Since there are no font tags for the system to modify based on that setting, the font won't change. This is, I guess, a "historical" behaviour of the program, and is coming up in the list of things to fix. Hardly anybody used CSS when it was written, and nobody has gotten to it yet...

Actually, I'm pretty sure the main content text uses your default browser font and size. I'm a big fan of letting people set their own display, which is why the two columns scale with the size of your browser window, too.

I'm new to the site and have been reading through some of the older stories and am quite impressed.

I'm glad you've enjoyed your self-guided tour ;-)
--
Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
[ Parent ]

Thanks for clearing my head. Now, if only I could clear my sinuses....

First, it lets you see accurately how many articles in the queue are actually new, because "new" is defined as "I haven't voted on it yet." If you don't want to either publish or reject a particular story, it will stay visible in that nice eye-catching red unless you vote to abstain. If you prefer, you can just not vote, and check the queue to see if that "new" article is actually new or if it's one you abstained from.

Second, if auto-post is used (which it isn't on this site) "abstain" votes are used when weighting the votes to determine if the story should be posted or not. Abstentions count slightly negatively, but not as much as votes to reject, because people who abstained didn't particularly want to see it published.

Those are good enough reasons for me. :) I never took either of those into account when thinking of the "Abstain" option, and never saw it explained elsewhere. Personally, I never abstain on an article, as I figure that I should always have an opinion one way or the other. But that's just me, I guess.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the main content text uses your default browser font and size. I'm a big fan of letting people set their own display, which is why the two columns scale with the size of your browser window, too.

Right you were. I had wrongly assumed that there was a hard-coded font size in the stylesheet, and didn't bother to check and see. I'll learn to do a little more digging before complaining next time. :) I guess it was just that nearly every other site out there on the Internet had a hard-coded value and I had never checked my own browser's settings.

-- The world is quiet here.
[ Parent ]

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