Slashdot Mirror
Help Shape the Future of Slashdot
Long-time readers will know that we try not to clutter the front page of Slashdot with much stuff about the site itself; this is a rare exception, but we hope you'll like the reason: we want your opinions. You should see above a link to take a survey about Slashdot, and (just to be heavy handed) here's the direct link. The questions there are simple, but we're going to read the answers carefully. The reminder bar up there will remain active for some time, but this story will scroll down the page like all Slashdot stories. Comments are welcome below; surveys have their limitations, after all, but please don't comment without also giving the survey a visit — if it makes sense, feel free to cut-and-paste any answers from there as comments, too. The engineers who build this site (and the editors, too!) are counting on your honest opinions and hoping for some great ideas; ideas outnumber the hours we have to do things, so we hope you'll make a case for the ways that Slashdot should change (and the ways it shouldn't!).
1) Roll the comments system version back like 6 years. Make it load fast. Make it load all the comments on a single page (according to your moderation score preferences) If i'm browsing at -1, I want to see it all.
2) Make it load faster. Sometimes pages take forever to load, then when they do load, they scroll slowly. I think this is caused by fancy javascripting or something. Just display the comments. We don't need/want any fancy web 2.0 features.
3) We need better trolls. The trolls right now are lame. What happened to GNAA? Maybe you should invite them back.
4) The comment quality is getting worse. Slashdot is now mostly mundane comments. Sure, some are funny, but most lack content.
5) Take a note from Ars Technica. They are getting better commenters, they have original content (why not have feature stories here). Ars's commenting system sucks, but yet they still manage higher quality comments.
6) Delete all accounts numbered 2,000,000+. Remove signup. Invite only.
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I filled out the survey, but I will share my major concerns here as well. I use IE 7. My company mandates its use and locks things down fairly well. I am a lawyer interested in science and tech policy, but with no actual computer skills (i.e., I programmed a few lines of HTML in my youth, but that's about it).
Over the past few years, my user experience has gone into the gutter, with very few corresponding benefits. Boxes often overlap, and the whole site freezes on a regular basis. Most other sites are fine.
As a result, I show up less. Sure, I could read it on my home computer, but eh. What's the point if you can't sit on a conference call while reading?
I'm assuming meta-moderation is why I don't get mod points anymore. I've modded up some minority opinion and I've been punished for it.
Not that this comment will ever be seen, as I'm also stuck permanently on a score of 1.
Usually when I have the urge to comment I remind myself it's just Slashdot and posting is a waste of time.