There are a lot of technical issues that could be improved, but I'll try to post one at a time, or post thematically, so to speak.  Today I want to join with Peter Silverman and ask: Why no bookmark function?  And it would be good to have lists of my reviews, one for ones I've posted and one for saved reviews.  This could either be on the "news feed" or on the dashboard… but why are they separate?  Why not a single homepage that shows my current activity?

It helps when authors use chapters, as then you can remember or make a note of the chapter you've left off at.  If the texts had pages and you could navigate to a certain page, that would do for a bookmark.  You could leave yourself a note in the saved review and then change or delete it as needed.

I use the "follow" function to have links to books I have reviewed or am reviewing, so you don't need to explain that. 

I've seen a number of good and promising writers here, so it is worth some technical slogging, but sometimes it seems like this site was designed for some other, mysterious purpose and then converted to what it is now.

Hi Richard, 

Thank you for jotting down your feedback and impressions of the site. Like Lucy said, we gather members' suggestions in one doc and use them when we make enhancements in the future, etc. So this is very valuable - thanks again.

Also, I just wanted to make sure that you know you can view all of the reviews you've written on your profile page: (just scroll down to the bottom) http://www.bookcountry.com/Community/UserProfile.aspx?id=8589938815. Perhaps you already know this, but I couldn't tell from your comment.

Nevena

Book Country coordinator

--edited by Nevena Georgieva on 12/4/2013, 5:23 PM--

Hi,

I've been off this site for quite some time (too much going on), but have been diligently editing and writing. Yesterday, I received an e-mail notification from Book Country telling me that someone had posted feedback on one of my books (A Kaliphian Matter I: Revelations). So, I logged in, went to my dashboard, and clicked on the book in question. The latest review on the book is from December of 2012. And there is no indication on my dashboard that there has been any recent activity.

Am I not looking in the right place? There was no link within the e-mail either (other than generic links to BC) that would have helped me figure this out. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks,

Angela

Hi Angela,

I'm glad to hear you've been working on your writing and editing. I hope the process is going well!

Best, Brandi

Hi Aira,

We added some new functionality this morning to make things run better below the hood. You may have caught us as we made the change.

Try logging out and logging back in -- that should fix any problems you're having.

Best,

Brandi

Lack of Synergy:

compared to many forums I have used this set up is very needy in regard to navigation to review the latest content posted by its members, 

and the traffic for the posts seems to prove this.  Here are two examples:

All threads are listed from oldest post to newest post? Should this not be the opposite?

Second, unless I have not found it,  There is not a place in the forums that show only new posts (regardless of topic) thus I have to individually enter every thread, navigate to the last post, just to read the most recent comment within that specific topic.  This makes forum based conversations on all the topics very needy and time consuming.  

for more information and beta testing of changes contact me via email macbizzo @ yahoo

Okay, I had my first experience with the BC store, and I can't say I came away entirely happy with it.  Since we're all storytellers here, let me spin you a yarn:

I click the purchase epub button for a couple of books and go to check out.  My first attempt fails.  Now, full disclosure, I use NoScript in Firefox to whitelist which domains are allowed to run javascript on my system, so I'm accustomed to things occasionally not working.  I go back and allow the domain that the checkout system seems to use, and the second time my purchase goes through.  More on that later.

Now I'm looking at the post-purchase page with download links for the books I purchased.  I click the first one and it helpfully takes me to the download page for the mobi version of the book.  I close the window, thinking I clicked a wrong link or something and try the other book.  It correctly goes to an epub version, which I download.  I go back to the first book and click the download link again.  What's this?  It's no longer available?  Apparently.

Well, it was only $3 and I thought maybe I clicked the wrong link to end up with the mobi version of the book, so I buy it again, making absolutely sure I clicked the epub button.  I check out, click the download button, and end up with the mobi version again.  This time I download it and just convert it with Calibre.  So this adventure cost me an extra $3.  Oh well.

But wait, there's more.  Remember that failed attempt to check out that I mentioned?  The next time I check my credit card website I see two charges for 7.98 pending.  Now, as of this writing, one of them is still pending so I'm not sure whether I'll actually end up getting charged, but it's concerning that it's possible to have a charge show up on my credit card without actually getting the books associated with it.  Again, that was partially my fault, but I can't recall it ever happening before so I wouldn't call it normal behavior either.

Add to that the fact that one of my books showed up in the wrong format and also that the download links are apparently one-time use only, even if you never actually download the book, and it was not a good overall experience.

I'm not all that worried about the money - it was my decision to buy the one book twice and the other spurious charge hasn't officially posted yet (it still shows up pending now three days later though), but I wanted to let you know about the problems I had with the book store.  If I weren't already a member of the site it would have been enough to keep me from coming back.

--edited by Ben Nemec on 1/21/2014, 10:49 PM--

Hi Ben,

Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate the level of detail you provided, and I'm sorry that you had a negative experience. Like most eBook retailers, your card is charged and the sale is finalized before the eBook can be downloaded, but then you should have been provided a link to the right file. We haven't heard of anyone who has encountered the same problem you described, and we will investigate why it happened. It's our goal that the process is seamless and everyone leaves happy.

We'll reach out to you via email to make you sure you get the right file and a refund for the second purchase.

Best,

Brandi

So... I've been on site now for about 10 days, and am pretty much frustrated at the lack of activity that exists. Being something that is touted, not only for self-publishing options, but particularly for getting feedback on one's work, it seems that there really isn't anyone around that does any reviewing.

To be fair I'm guilty of this myself, and in truth, most authors that come here, likely aren't looking to do reviews, and I don't think that's unusual - especially if we are at a point where we are focused on a particular writing project. It's hard to sometimes remove ourselves from that focus to look at something else other than in a casual sort of way. 

Just wondering if there is anything planned for attracting more people who are actually looking to do reviews specifically (maybe with some sort of reward system even), as opposed to just attracting authors who are all more or less competing to get their work reviewed, but don't really have the time to review others? Since it seems that none of us are really getting the experience here that we are looking for. 

Worth noting too, that it doesn't seem to be something that is limited to Book Country in particular, but still it's frustrating when you need good input and you aren't able to get it - when that is one of the primary purposes of the site you are posting on. 

--edited by Sephira on 1/23/2014, 6:42 PM--

Hi Sephira,

Thanks for your post. I know writers who join the site are doing so because they need feedback; feedback is what helps you make your book better, and what will ultimately help you find your audience. So it can be frustrating--or simply anticlimactic--when you take the leap and post your book for review (it feels like a HUGE step!!), and then the flurry of critique doesn't flood in.

We've got a couple suggestions on where to start:

• First, here are some tips for connecting on the site--where to go to find like-minded writers to workshop with.
• Second, as you are giving feedback, you might check out these Dos and Don'ts. The best way to get helpful feedback is to give it.
• Third, don't forget how important it is to make your book "pop" to other members. Every member who wants to post a book for review needs to review a book first. That means we've got lots of writers looking for books to read every day. Make yours stand out with these tips. We also have advice from one of our Penguin colleagues, copywriter Carly Hoogendyk, about how to really jazz up your "About the Book" on Book Country.

I am also happy to recommend some connections to you. Let me head over to your profile and send some ideas your way.

Lucy

Book Country Community and Engagement Manager

Hello, Book Country! I presume someone from staffing is still reading this thread?

I just realized how clunky and awkward it is to attempt to follow a member's postings across various discussion threads. Someone asked me to provide a list of currently-active discussions where "the 'ole gang" is posting; I had to open up another browser, than laboriously cut-&-paste five separate clickable hotlinks into my e-mail reply back to the person. 

Suggestion: When you click on one of your contacts, there should be a list of every discussion they're following that comes up before you see their connections. To re-iterate: This should be the very first category you see, immediately under their posted books and followed books.

In descending order of ranking, then:

--posted books

--books they're following

--discussions they're following

--connections

Clear? This would go a long way toward making it possible to contribute to on-going discussions in a timely manner.

Thank you for listening! 

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 9/26/2014, 1:30 AM--

Hi Carl--thanks for your suggestions--and of course we read this thread! All of us--with great attention.

I'll bring this to the developers and try to find out what it would entail to implement.

Yay! I sure miss that old-time connectivity. Honestly, I swear to myself every time I come on this site: Why'd they take that away from us? And, how's about when you hit post, you get sent to the latest entry instead of to the beginning?

.

We lost some good members when the change-over came. Alantis, for instance. I loved that guy. 

.

Scuse me, I can't resist: Oh, Alantis! Oh-oh Alantis! Oh-h-h-h, oh-oh Alantis, got ta get back to you! (Love when Emmy Lou does that. Love Emmy Lou.)

--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/26/2014, 2:12 PM--

To the tireless, hard-working, ever-kind, thoughtful and gracious members comprising Book Country's staff: What she (Mimi) said!

It does seem rather odd, counter-intuitive and clunky that when one clicks on a discussion thread posted comments come up in chronological order, instead of "most recently posted" first. Oftentimes this necessitates a scroll alllllllll the way to the bottom of the adjustment bar/open window, followed by clicking on a succeeding page# in order to arrive at the aforementioned "most recently posted" comments. 

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 9/26/2014, 3:30 PM--

Hello, all - I had made a promise to someone (and you know who you are) that I would spend some time on this site every day starting today. So, here I am. I admit I have been very much missing in action (and missing "talking" with folks here), but I've been dealing with some personal stuff (unemployed now for 6 months because of and yet another re-organization) and just never warmed up to the new site. Just answering a couple of private messages this week brought it all back to me - the scrolling within a box PLUS scrolling the main window to see the bottom of the box to click send. Ugh. Just a little bit crazy-making. So many online applications feature a pop-up window that sits atop the main window but no other site that I use requires you to scroll the main window to get to the bottom of the pop-up. I'm sure I could spend some time playing with the size of the pop-up, but. . . eh.

I agree with what others have recently posted here, too.

I know how complicated applications like BC are. There are a lot of moving pieces here - users' personal page, each book, the reviewing page, and not to mention the scores of discussion threads. Kudos to the BC developers and staff for what they've accomplished so far. Here's to seeing more updates/fixes in the (not so distant) future!

Thanks, Mimi!

 The layout of the discussion board benefits new members coming to the site and browsing for information that will best suit their needs. It's in the spirit of inclusiveness that we organize the discussions by topic rather than entirely chronologically. We want the discussion board to be useful as a reference guide as much as a tool for conversation, and, as you can see since the "views" are visible online, lots of folks browse these boards for tips about writing and publishing without ever responding. For that reason I think it's unlikely that we would make serious changes to the Discussion Board soon, but of course if enough members gave us that same piece of feedback, I could make a serious case for a change.

In the meantime, are you aware this trick you can use if you want to see the most recently active discussions?

Go to the search bar at the top right of the page. Click on the arrow to the left of the search bar and view the dropdown menu. Click "Search Discussions" and then hit the search button (basically, do a blank search just on Discussions." This will bring up every discussion. Then click on "Most Recent Post Date" to get a descending list of the most recent discussions that have been active.

This is a great way to see what's been happening in other boards.

As always, we're glad you take the time to tell us how you're using the site and how we can improve for you.

@Angela--Great to see you here on Book Country!

Thanks for your comments--they've been noted by our entire team.

Hi Luce,

.

No, no. I'm not talking about chronological order, I'm only talking about landing at the end of a thread after you post. I always want to review my entry for typos/ tweaks. No, it doesn't take long to get back, but it's an annoyance nevertheless. 

.

And I always understood that the new format was in the interest of inclusiveness. But it's just as important, once you've discovered the voices that ring your bells, to be able to stalk them. Some people may be intimidated by the brain power on this site. Hell, I'm intimidated. That doesn't keep me from barging in and making a fool of myself. It might sometimes be better if it did. Sorry, guys, I'm not ready to crawl back into my hole yet. 

.

Angela! So good to hear from you again! You've been missed, lady.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/26/2014, 3:39 PM--

@Lucy: I echo Mimi here. No one is suggesting that the discussion boards be re-organized chronologically. Good grief, no! Topical organization--keep it, please!

What we are talking about--surely you've encountered this yourself?--is that when you click on a particular discussion, the comments come up in chronological instead of "most recently posted" order--in that particular discussion. Make sense?

Also: What is the reasoning behind eliminating the info tracking a member's personally-followed discussions? The old site had it. This one doesn't. That is a giant step backward in user functionality and friendliness, as many of us have been saying. Repeatedly. (Ain't we free-loaders demanding?!)

I hope I'm not beating this particular drum too hard but please understand: When I click on one of my contacts I want to see something other than their posted and followed books: I want to see what DISCUSSIONS they, personally, are following and posting mssgs to. 

Why is this so hard for Book Country to understand?

Speaking in programming terms, this is nothing more than tagging fields [posted discussion topics] and associating them with members' accounts.

However, I do realize that any changes to the site costs time and money. I'm only posting here because we've been asked to contribute to this on-going discussion re: suggestions for improvement. 

Please understand that I am not expecting nor requesting a glitter-farting rainbow pony! I merely and most humbly beseech thee to execute a tracking tweak to enhance user satisfaction and ease of use. 

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 9/26/2014, 3:53 PM--

Thanks for clarifying what you meant--I understand now.

But wouldn't what you suggest make it so I am reading through the replies backward as I am scrolling through a discussion?

@Lucy: That's exactly it: You would be reading the posted comments "backward", chronologically-speaking, but would then be able to read the most recently posted comments, first--instead of having to jump to the bottom of the window and click "page 5" or some-such.

You know what would be best? Some sort of clickable filter option that would enable you to TOGGLE this backwards-forwards re-ordering of content. For instance: If you're a new user, maybe you'd prefer to read the posted comments in any given discussion chronologically. If a veteran, you probably want to immediately jump to page 7 (or whatever page# the latest comments are found) and resume reading there.

Yes, a "toggle" filter option would be an excellent site improvement; I'm sure of it.

Thank you for listening to us, Lucy!

If you think of this site as a lunchroom, the old site made it easy to walk past all the tables with unfamiliar faces to the table with your buddies. And that's why I thought that member 'follow' option was dropped. But you pick up new friends on the basis of their contributions to the discussions, that's how I always did it. And every day I look at all new posts. I'm not ignoring new arrivals.

.
Every site has its strengths and weakness. This site, the strength was the people, many of whom have made themselves scarce in the last year or so. I imagined that in addition to being unhappy with the redesign, the AWOLs were hard at work while I was stuck in procrastination mode.

.

Get some of that 'easy' back, please. The new members (who don't know what they're missing) will love it as much as the originals.

.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/26/2014, 6:33 PM--

On the attracting membership front, I've mentioned this before, but I think the fact that the site's tags are primarily for attracting self publishers is a mistake. Tags that match what someone looking for a writers group would bring in a lot more people. At the moment, when you search, Online writers group, writing clubs online, writing community, writing critique sites, etc, this site is pretty hard to find. But if we had a tag that matched the search term...

The thing I miss from the old site is the writer's posted work listed on their home page. Yes, we can go to one of the genre pages and type in the author's name and search, but many newer members won't realize that you can search that way, simply because you have to select a genre.

Yes, Jay, that's another thing that drives me nuts. 

.

We've been in go-along mode here for way too long and what has it gotten us? Many wonderful members have bailed on us. We love this site. SPEAK UP! Lucy is the first manager who seems to be willing to hear our concerns. Lucy, we love you for that!

--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/28/2014, 3:47 PM--

A couple of suggestions and irritations after my short time using this site:

- I can't find a way to find my saved reviews. But perhaps I'm being stupid and missing something obvious. I generally just bookmark the review page, but I have lost reviews like this in the past.

- It irritates me that my "Dashboard" only includes my writing. If I want to get an update on discussions I'm following, I need to go to the homepage. And then to find my own reviews and contacts, I need to go to my profile. Surely the point of a dashboard is that it should collect all key information that interests me? In the end I find myself jumping between three pages.

- The separation of people's forum profiles and writing profiles is annoying. Often I see someone's forum post and want to see what they are writing and what they've reviewed. But then I find I need to search their name. It seems more intuitive to simply have a single profile page including their forum activity at the bottom. But perhaps I'm doing something wrong again...

There are a lot of things I like about this site, despite occasional moments of frustrations. I feel that the usability could be improved a lot with some relatively minor adjustments.

Go well,

Momo

--edited by Momo on 9/4/2015, 10:19 AM--

Momo, I have to say I agree with every point you made. I'll add my own:

1. I find it annoying that, when I post to a forum thread that has more than one page, I'm automatically bumped back to the first page and have to re-click on the last page to make certain my post looks right. That definitely miffs me.

2. When I'm reviewing a manuscript, learn that there's a new draft, click on said draft, and lose every single word of review I wrote. I'm sad to say I gave up on a few manuscripts because of this happening--got discouraged after writing so much and then losing it all.

3. I'd like a feature that lets you know when someone's online or not. Maybe a little Lightbulb button on their Profile page that lights up when they're onsite or something.

4. I also think members would appreciate updates when MEMBERS UPLOAD NEW MANUSCRIPTS FOR REVIEW!!! I mean, come on. This is Feedback site where writers come to connect and get FEEDBACK on their manuscripts. Why don't members get updated when someone uploads to the site? Why leave it up to luck for someone to come across a manuscript and check it out? I know we have Featured Manuscripts, but having an update on our home page would be helpful. That way, all members would see new uploaded manuscripts from the start. And why not have a customizable feature where you can choose which genres to be updated for? Like say you checkbox fantasy, romance, and erotica and you get updates on newly uploaded fantasy, romance, and erotica manuscripts?

I love this site. Truly I do. I love the people here. I love the connections I've made. But it's lacking at the moment. I'm feeling it needs an overhaul--minor or huge, you pick--to attract more members.

Either way, I won't leave the site. It's my first writer community home. But I'm beginning to feel a tad neglected. Active members aren't recognized here. Not really. On Scrib, you have titles and reputation points. Here, you're a faceless name.

I understand there's little room for improvement. I understand that this is a free resource for writers. But really, lets make it more user friendly, please?

Hi Momo and Amber--Thanks for putting these suggestions together. As always, I am listening and sharing with the rest of the team. I hope to have an update soon, though our developers have a few things in progress, so I can't promise a certain timeline--yet. But I agree and am always interested in with collaborating with you to make the site better. Like everything on the web, it is a work in progress!

Keep in touch with me!

Will do, Lucy!

I re-read my post, and realized it might come across whiney. Not what I was going for at all, haha.

This site has a lot of great benefits.

1. I've met a lot of awesome writer friends here that I'm eternally grateful for.

2. I learned a lot about writing here and probably wouldn't be near as efficient in Craft if I hadn't found this site.

3. I've found fans here, and that means a lot.

4. It gave me the chance to get my writing out there and in front of other writers/readers. Thank you.

Yes, there are bugs. And yes, I can see places where Book Country can improve. But I'll always be grateful it's here.

Book Country, never close your doors! I'll be so sad if you do.

Amber

yes! and i don't think the flaw is in attracting members but in keeping them. oi love how involved lucy is but i'm worried- i want to see some movement.

there's so much right with this site. it just needs some tweaks...

--edited by katie78 on 9/1/2015, 3:55 PM--

Amber--thanks for your kind comments. So glad you are here!

Katie--thanks for your feedback as well. I'm looking into what it would entail to make these modifications to the discussion forums.

In the meantime, Katie, I am confused--are you not subscribed to the threads you are following? Do you see how you can follow them in your logged in homepage in the right hand space under the banner ad?

Agree with Katie, can't do all those emails. I want to choose when to hear the discussions, and when not to. If it's in my email, I have to deal with it constantly. It's intrusive.

It would be so much easier if you could click on something like MY WATCHED THREADS at the top of the discussion area home page and get to a list of your chosen threads, hyperlinked. A page of shortcuts to where you most want to go. This would be the first thing you would check when entering the forums, if you're an active user.

And then another page called RECENT DISCUSSIONS, containing list of the threads with new comments, in time/date order, most recent first. This way the user can immediately see where there are active discussions happening, without having to scroll through the complete directory.

The things we're suggesting are important for a really busy, active forum. People who go online to talk like to find the live action. It's just not as much fun to post a comment, and wait hours or days for the reply.

Also this is crazy that after I post, I am bounced back to the top of page 1 of the thread! That really discourages people from having a conversation.

--edited by GCleare on 9/3/2015, 2:24 PM--

Zero errors but still can't save project - error saving project. I've done a review. The fonts are those listed as acceptable. Whoever coded the upload software... well, you should get your money back. There's no error-trapping on the project save component. 

I give up - I can't upload. Spent days trying to get it right. It's FUBAR.

"""

--edited by katie78 on 9/13/2015, 10:27 PM--

to find this thread, i go to the search bar, scroll to discussions, do a blank search, scroll down on that page until i find the 'most recent' heading in about the center of the page, click that so i can see the threads in order of most recent posts.

(to improve the functionality and participation of this site, this REALLY needs to be easier. a single step, easily located on the main forum page.)

then i click on the thread and i'm sent to the first post of the first page of this thread. i maneuver to the most recent  post, add my message and am sent back to the beginning of the thread.

it is especially worrisome to see the same complaints made on this thread YEARS AGO. are these changes likely to happen any time soon?