The Free Talk Live BBS
Free Talk Live => General => Topic started by: FTL_Ian on May 09, 2013, 05:27:25 PM
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Hello,
I have some exciting news about the Free Talk Live website! Our techs have been working behind the scenes on a major upgrade to the site's functionality: Reddit integration! Want to help us beta test it? Here are instructions and beneath that, why the change is happening:
HOW TO USE REDDIT ON FREETALKLIVE.COM
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0. You will need a Reddit account, so if you don't have one, get one at https://ssl.reddit.com/login (https://ssl.reddit.com/login) before continuing with these instructions.
1. Log in to http://freetalklive.com (http://freetalklive.com) the normal way using the Login button at the top right (Next to the search field).
2. Change the URL address in your browser to https://www.freetalklive.com/subreddit/subreddit (https://www.freetalklive.com/subreddit/subreddit)
3. Click on the "Reddit Log in" on the left side bar under "Listen Live".
4. Continue to log in to Reddit if required.
5. Click "Allow" to allow FTL to vote on your behalf.
6. Browse back to https://www.freetalklive.com/subreddit/subreddit (https://www.freetalklive.com/subreddit/subreddit) if you aren't there already.
7. Use the "Up" and "Down" buttons to vote.
8. To submit a new link, use the link on the left sidebar above the login button called "Submit Link to Reddit" OR browse to thehttps://www.freetalklive.com/subreddit/submit URL.
WHY THE CHANGE?
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Back when we launched FTL 2.0 in early 2010, it was a big change from our old "we tell you what's important"-style (web 1.0) site. FTL 2.0 reversed that, and focused our site on you telling us what is important by allowing you to submit content and vote it up or down. Content that received enough votes would make it to the front page. It was a big improvement, but not without its own set of problems.
Some issues that have been ever-present:
-Once an item was front-paged, its ranking had nothing to do with the amount of votes.
-Paltry amounts of votes.
-Sometimes voting or the captcha for submitting content would break in some browsers.
-Constant spambot submissions
Many of the causes of these problems was the fact that the software we chose for the guts of the voting system, "Drigg" hasn't been developed since 2007. It's literally ancient in internet terms.
What were our options?
We could have scrapped the voting system entirely, but despite it not being a new idea, it's a good idea. Drigg is just a less-than-stellar implementation of it. I wanted to keep the voting feature, because it's a great way for you to share your show prep ideas with the show's hosts.
We also could have replaced Drigg with a different voting system designed for Drupal. However, those could also decide to halt development and they really didn't offer anything more than solving Drigg's issues, maybe.
Finally, we decided that dumping Drigg and moving to a Reddit implementation means we would be using a reliable voting system that is one of the most popular sites in the world, meaning that your submissions and votes would not only show up on FTL's site, but also on the new FTL subreddit at http://www.reddit.com/r/freetalklive/ (http://www.reddit.com/r/freetalklive/) That should mean more votes and more participation, since anyone with a Reddit account will be able to see your stories and vote as well.
I hope you like the new system. Please report all bugs you discover via the BBS's bug reports forum: http://bbs.freetalklive.com/in-progress/ (http://bbs.freetalklive.com/in-progress/)
Ian
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No, and go fuck yourself.
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(http://cdn2.holytaco.com/wp-content/uploads/images/2010/800px-Balok_laughing.jpg)
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Reddit is totally fucking with my head. I have job idea what is going on there. So people just write stuff? Then when I click on it all I see is like a picture.
WhAt is going on here? I'm confused enough already.
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Reddit is a state of mind. ...or something.
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So, I guess the consensus is that you go ahead and fuck yourself. I'm reall sorry aboot this, Ian, we were all pullin for ya.
No we weren't.
(http://gaygamer.net/images/TPB.jpg)
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Done fucking myself. Now what?
Reddit is way better than the old site.
Working site > broken-ass-old Drigg
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My submissions don't seem to show up for a while. For instance, I submitted this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/freetalklive/comments/1il410/the_case_for_censoring_hate_speech_stricter/ (http://www.reddit.com/r/freetalklive/comments/1il410/the_case_for_censoring_hate_speech_stricter/)
But when I go to the page for new submissions which seems to list from newest to oldest, it isn't there after 30 minutes. Screenshot:
http://i.imgur.com/USYzsks.png (http://i.imgur.com/USYzsks.png)
This seems odd since early clicks on reddit seem to have a significant impact on the math of whether it's considered "hot".
attn: Mark Edge
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I have no idea...but I'll try:)
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As far as I can tell, it still hasn't shown up for people to vote on.
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AAaaaaaand still not there.
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Yay! It's there. And it only took 3 days.
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Nothing I've submitted since the Reddit switch has shown up for voting. I don't understand the errors that I get - telling me I've done something too many times. I tried posting a story yesterday and gave up after 20 minutes - I'm sure someone else will post it eventually anyway.
The Reddit submissions are more convenient for viewing and it look better.
Not an amazing improvement but it's nice...not thrilling, but nice.
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If you are still having trouble with Reddit submissions, please email me directly at ian at freetalklive.com.