Hate the New Topic Firehose Refreshment!

I remember when it was different. Back in the day you could read the New Topic Firehose at your leisure. Even step away from the computer and when you returned all would still be right with the world. New topics were added and old ones shaved away in an orderly fashion like how they load passengers on the planes now. In your own row and by the numbers.

I don't know what's happening with the world today but it has all changed. Now it is a race to the finish line.

I'll be reading the New Topic Firehose page, it all doesn't fit on the screen of course so you have to scroll down.
I have to make a decision - read left to right or top to bottom sticking in the rows and advance quickly reading everything in view. Then scroll to the earlier entries in the firehose I wasn't able to fit on my screen. I try to remember where that UFO or whatever I wanted to go back to was. Left right or middle column and was it top middle or bottom of the hose itself?

Sometimes I read bottom up because when new entries are added those on the bottom vanish first and I don't want to miss anything. Which ever way I end up reading I have to stick to it so I don't keep reading the same thread titles over so you get sort of a concentration and focus "rhythm" going on...and

I usually ALMOST make it to the bottom of the entries.... but not quite. So close.

At some point what happens is my screen goes blank.
After that I can't really describe the horror.
All of the topics I have been studying get thrown up in the air unceremoniously and dropped back down on the page in no particular order. A tangled mess of topics, the columns are reversed and the items so confusingly laid around I have to pick them all up again in my minds eye. It is like how passengers used to board a plane with everyone scrambling to get in line first. A chaotic jumble of threads.
It feels as if I was playing solitaire and someone just came along and kicked my card table over.

Why do they have to change the columns arrangement?
What was wrong with the old way? It wasn't broke.

Ahhhh. I feel better now that I have purged these hateful emotions!

I agree.

I think the live new topics should - as they do - auto refresh and the firehose should be static.


I used to use the firehose all the time, but since it has been changed, I rarely use it.

reply to post by newcovenant

It adds from the top left and moves to the right, once in the right column it moves to the left of the next row down...etc

My biggest problem is the fact it refreshes faster than any normal human could ever read them all, so ii always lose my place.

Then the load time blows, as it is blank screen reloading it almost as long as it stays up, then loading again.

This is my favorite way of scanning new topics, as the new topics page has too few, and some of my favorite threads don't get enough attention to stay up very long. As they aren't politically motivated or msm garbage for the most part, which seems to get the most flags at present.

Other than that, I love the firehose option, I just wish it didn't load so slowly and leave me a blank screen while it refreshes.

reply to post by newcovenant


I have been struggling with it too. Also, the new topics main page doesn't update in real time. I can refresh it an hour later and the same crappy thread is still '17 minutes' old apparently...

For example, here's some evidence...



Note the time in this pic, your thread was actually started half an hour before this pic. Not saying your thread is crappy btw

I agree. No matter how quickly I scan through the firehose, it always refreshes just before I have completed my perusal, and then the topics are in a completely different order. Grrr!

FURTHER EVIDENCE!!!



It's been nearly an hour now and the supposed 'Real Time' new topics still says ''13 minutes ago'' wtf?

I agree, concur, ditto!

I was wondering if it was browser specific, and that some browsers play up (I use firefox)

However i'm sure all of you above use different browsers, so basically you're right - The NTFH is POO

I see a poor implementation of AJAX techniques all over the website.

Apparently it was concepted as PHP/Html only and the AJAX functionality has been applied later on in parts.

Especially the way stars and flags are handled is obsolete in my eyes and could be handled with AJAX requests in a much morr user friendly way.

As for the New Topic Firehose, I fail to see why there is no option "Refresh every XXX seconds" or one to disable it.

I also agree, the fire hose if not static, should be held longer. Some browsers don't even support the new fire hose, it simply will not load at all. I have to go out of my default browser, and into Google chrome, which I don't wish to do. Google chrome picks up keywords in thread post text and links them to elswhere in a dark blue which is a strain on the eyes to see. I did point out the no loading issue in sceptic overlord's thread that asked for feedback, it was totally ignored.

To edit, when I said some browsers, I should have said my browser.

reply to post by smurfy


Which browser would that be ?

reply to post by OpenEars123


It even does the annoying refresh thing on my android using opera.

Originally posted by H1ght3chHippie
reply to post by smurfy

 

Which browser would that be ?

I'm on AOL/UK not US. Until this ATS renovation it worked fine in all areas.

Admittedly, I dislike the new "hard" refresh right in the middle of reading through the last 24 hours. But I don't get the blank screen mentioned on any of my three browsers.

Firefox users: The new beta Adobe flash plugin fixes the recent problems Mozilla has been having with Adobe. You can get it here.

reply to post by newcovenant


I made basically the same post regarding the fire hose page a while back. Here.

Not sure what the problem or mode of thinking is, but the change was a DEFINITE UN-improvement!
I so disliked it, that I completely abandoned ATS for almost 5 months. I been back a while now and I can't see myself staying.

How I use ATS:
In the past, I would ALWAYS have my browser open all day and 1 tab would always be on the fire hose page.
If I was away from the computer for 3 or 4 hours, I could easily find topics in the last 4 hours and skim through them quickly.

No, the fire hose page is a total mess to me. As interested I am in finding new topics, I just can't be bothered now with the way it looks. And the other methods of staying on top of things are just not accommodating to me personally.

PLZ! bring back the old format when the fire hose page was set in labeled tables.