Dear LiveJournal - The User Profile Controversy
Dear LiveJournal,
Right now, you might be wondering what to do about the profile page controversy.
You might be thinking:
1. It looks good
2. We spent too much time on this to throw our work away
3. Putting in some kind of opt-in would permanently increase the complexity of the user options schema
And you might be right.
You might also be thinking that the complainers here are a vocal minority, with many quietly satisfied users who aren't saying a thing. I'll leave that up to the others to muse on.
What I will say is, again, out of this controversy, there is room for a great leap of improvement. Albeit, my suggestion will also:
1. Take a lot of time
2. Be controversial with some users
3. Permanently increase site complexity by a much greater amount
I am posting it here before submission to the Suggestions community in the hopes that the exposure (what's left, anyways) might be more timely and relevant.
That being said, what I suggest, is:
Full custom styles for user profile pages.
Implementation:
1. Fully CSS-ify the profile page, ensuring that all items have a unique name. For example, the "Add to Friends" icon would have names such as "lj_profile_add-friends-icon".
2. Set up the same customization for profile pages as for journals. "Bio" is an S2 free text area, and the rest is pre-filled data.
3. Basic/EA users can choose from two or more Basic themes, which include Classic and "2008", with exposed colorization and selectors for the 2008 theme.
4. Paid/Perm users can choose from a variety of new profiles, some specially created for user profiles, and possibly to match their journal. For example, "Flexible Squares User Profile".
They can also customize with custom styles. Custom CSS would go through the same security scrubbers as for profiles, but making some information difficult to manipulate, such as mandatory "User Profile" and username text (to prevent spoofing), and possibly enforced display of system icons for Adult Content, paidstatus, etc. One way to do this: certain text will always appear in a div with static background colors, with system font, and contrast from the background color is enforced (many algorithms to do this).
5. Whether or not with custom styles, users can "hide" or collapse some elements, e.g. lj_profile_last-updated-text style="display:'none'". However, every user can use ?style=mine or ?style=basic to view all information even if they try to hide it. This will be fair and help with security; to determine if an account is a Russian bot, we should always be able to see a real Friends list.
6. If the ads can reliably be put together with this, it's up to you what to do with Plus accounts, to allow this or not.
7. Extra Credit: Plan for enhanced functionality, such as S2 variables for optionally exposing user's most used userpics, userpic keywords, profile last updated variables ($PROFILE_LASTUPDATED_YEAR), and more. The ability to expose small previews (20chars) of recent comments on public posts as a S2 variable would be almost like a Facebook wall, if that's what you're aiming for. Transcluding userpics or 30x100 dA-style "stamps" userpics next to Community or Friends? Up to you.
Intended Effect:
By allowing users to add backgrounds, fonts, and other details, user profiles will flow with their journal layout. Users can choose how they want their information to appear.
Standardized templates ensure a consistent and secure user experience by ensuring that the word users can, for example, always find another user's Friends list either on a sidebar or on the bottom of the page.
Problems:
- In addition to the problems already mentioned, there are some security and logistical issues involved. Developers would need to carefully balance customization with usability, preventing inappropriate actions through coding.
For example, hiding the real Friends list with tiny transparent text, then putting a fake list that says you're friends with "brad". Additional things could be thought of. We don't want the profile pages to look like MySpace do we?
Benefits:
$$$ HEY LOOK SUP, MONEY! JUST FOR YOU, I KNOW YOU LIKE IT $$$
- Increase site revenue. When only Paid and Permanent users can modify the top tables, you'll have much more paid users. Additional revenue would be retained from increased value perception and customer satisfaction.
- Beautify LiveJournal through the creativity of its users, providing them greater control into a previously difficult to modify space. When more users are Paid/Perm, you'll have less ads too, and more stable revenue.
- Satisfy everyone(?), even the complainers.
Right now, you might be wondering what to do about the profile page controversy.
You might be thinking:
1. It looks good
2. We spent too much time on this to throw our work away
3. Putting in some kind of opt-in would permanently increase the complexity of the user options schema
And you might be right.
You might also be thinking that the complainers here are a vocal minority, with many quietly satisfied users who aren't saying a thing. I'll leave that up to the others to muse on.
What I will say is, again, out of this controversy, there is room for a great leap of improvement. Albeit, my suggestion will also:
1. Take a lot of time
2. Be controversial with some users
3. Permanently increase site complexity by a much greater amount
I am posting it here before submission to the Suggestions community in the hopes that the exposure (what's left, anyways) might be more timely and relevant.
That being said, what I suggest, is:
Full custom styles for user profile pages.
Implementation:
1. Fully CSS-ify the profile page, ensuring that all items have a unique name. For example, the "Add to Friends" icon would have names such as "lj_profile_add-friends-icon".
2. Set up the same customization for profile pages as for journals. "Bio" is an S2 free text area, and the rest is pre-filled data.
3. Basic/EA users can choose from two or more Basic themes, which include Classic and "2008", with exposed colorization and selectors for the 2008 theme.
4. Paid/Perm users can choose from a variety of new profiles, some specially created for user profiles, and possibly to match their journal. For example, "Flexible Squares User Profile".
They can also customize with custom styles. Custom CSS would go through the same security scrubbers as for profiles, but making some information difficult to manipulate, such as mandatory "User Profile" and username text (to prevent spoofing), and possibly enforced display of system icons for Adult Content, paidstatus, etc. One way to do this: certain text will always appear in a div with static background colors, with system font, and contrast from the background color is enforced (many algorithms to do this).
5. Whether or not with custom styles, users can "hide" or collapse some elements, e.g. lj_profile_last-updated-text style="display:'none'". However, every user can use ?style=mine or ?style=basic to view all information even if they try to hide it. This will be fair and help with security; to determine if an account is a Russian bot, we should always be able to see a real Friends list.
6. If the ads can reliably be put together with this, it's up to you what to do with Plus accounts, to allow this or not.
7. Extra Credit: Plan for enhanced functionality, such as S2 variables for optionally exposing user's most used userpics, userpic keywords, profile last updated variables ($PROFILE_LASTUPDATED_YEAR), and more. The ability to expose small previews (20chars) of recent comments on public posts as a S2 variable would be almost like a Facebook wall, if that's what you're aiming for. Transcluding userpics or 30x100 dA-style "stamps" userpics next to Community or Friends? Up to you.
Intended Effect:
By allowing users to add backgrounds, fonts, and other details, user profiles will flow with their journal layout. Users can choose how they want their information to appear.
Standardized templates ensure a consistent and secure user experience by ensuring that the word users can, for example, always find another user's Friends list either on a sidebar or on the bottom of the page.
Problems:
- In addition to the problems already mentioned, there are some security and logistical issues involved. Developers would need to carefully balance customization with usability, preventing inappropriate actions through coding.
For example, hiding the real Friends list with tiny transparent text, then putting a fake list that says you're friends with "brad". Additional things could be thought of. We don't want the profile pages to look like MySpace do we?
Benefits:
$$$ HEY LOOK SUP, MONEY! JUST FOR YOU, I KNOW YOU LIKE IT $$$
- Increase site revenue. When only Paid and Permanent users can modify the top tables, you'll have much more paid users. Additional revenue would be retained from increased value perception and customer satisfaction.
- Beautify LiveJournal through the creativity of its users, providing them greater control into a previously difficult to modify space. When more users are Paid/Perm, you'll have less ads too, and more stable revenue.
- Satisfy everyone(?), even the complainers.