Did I miss something? When did Fluther start this "action thingy" while someone is working on an answer?

I just noticed it 30 seconds ago.
Very high tech.

yeah i seen it first time here as well.

I see it now. How completely distracting while trying to type. Take the pain away.

I see an activity meter below “so and so” is crafting a response

@mcbealer , is that what it’s called? Thanks.

The CIA required Ben and Andrew to put that in. While that is appearing, the Feds are being notified that the user is posting on Fluther so they can observe.

Now they should add sound to it! :)

OK.. This is really fucking annoying. Please take it away.

<blink>Or let us use the blink tag</blink>

It is annoying. I don’t like it.

blink tag?

Hit the ESCAPE key and it will stop!!!!

I just ad blocked the image.. Much better.

@SirBailey Only for a split second and then it keeeps on.
How did you do that Ryan?

On my screen, @ryanpowell has stopped.

I use Firefox and for ME, when I hit ESCAPE, it stops it until I leave the page then return.

I use Firefox and adblock plus. I just right clicked on the image and and chose adblock image.

I have IE. How do I do it with IE?

It’s distracting and makes me anxious. Such animations are generally used to indicate a waiting/working period as a result of some user action, so it’s quite weird to apply it to someone else writing something. Is it only visible to beta testers, or everyone?

As far as I know, I’m not a beta tester.

Rich, I think everyone sees it. And it is fucking annoying. Ad Block Plus FTW!

So, I’ve been gone for a long time. What is this beta? I got a message from ben that mentioned it. Haha, I’m clearly missing something. :(

@richardhenry That is exactly how it makes me feel, anxious.

OH MY GOD WHEN MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS CRAFTING AT THE SAME TIME I GET MOTION SICKNESS

The URI for the image is.

http://davinci.fluther.com/images/v2/compose-loader.gif

Stop it!

@chyna When there’s nothing I can do about it and it’s not caused by anything I’ve done, I feel like I don’t have any control. Plus that thing is rapid as hell.

I’m a beta user as well, although I’m not sure why or how come I became a beta….

also something else that’s happening, is when I’m done crafting a respose, the page refreshes and navigates me all the way to the top, which is pretty annoying on long threads

I’m indifferent.

I’m 12 years old, and what is this?

I actually find it kinda cool. Come on guys! Be flexible! Learn to adapt; it’s the only way you’ll survive in this world!

Besides, it’s only distracting if you let it distract you.

I can so picture you guys a few decades from now reminiscing about the good ol’ days of cars on wheels while complaining at how the supersonic cars are going to be the death of the human race

@Saturated_Brain You’re totally missing the point. “Everything new is awesome!” This thing is the equivalent of someone standing next to your monitor staring at you eyes wide, smiling and chewing something loudly while you’re trying to write a response.

I ♥ AdBlock

@richardhenry is right, though. It’s usually put in an application when a USER takes an action, to show that the system is actually working and not frozen.

And while we are bitching can we get get the “crafting a response ” box to be below where we enter text. It is fucking annoying to have the text field bounce around when a bunch of people are responding.

Think about making edits. I get to what I want to edit. Go to to click the mouse and bam, The fucking box moves.

I think we can all agree that energetic animations should be reserved for when you’re not trying to concentrate.

Someone please tell me how you use Adblock to make it stop?

“Besides, it’s only distracting if you let it distract you.”

They should put a zen mastery course in the FAQ.

I think maybe we’re being hypnotized.

@richardhenry Why so? I mean, okay.. I can see where the distraction can come in, but I’m pretty much indifferent to it. To me, it’s not much different from what usually occurred. Even before, the teal box flashed occasionally.

I should open that zen mastery course shouldn’t I?

+1 for the box below the textarea. I suppose an animation could be non-disturbing, but then it’d have to be really minimal like hiding and showing part of an ellipsis. Also, that it’s left-to-right is confusing, it’s as if something is loading. Then when someone stops typing it disappears again. Bottom line, it’s just odd. I bet it’s gone (or at least not present in this form) tomorrow.

Wow, a sure way to get a rise out of Fluthers: mess with their interface.

If anything, just give Ben and Andrew credit for trying out new stuff to make Fluther a good site. It’s a continuous reminder that they’re taking an active interest in it. If it ain’t good (or popular, though the latter might not be the best criteria to use), I don’t see why they won’t remove it.

I do agree wholeheartedly though that this function is unnecessary. But we always gotta push our boundaries (though within limits [shut up about irony]), eh? Otherwise we’ll just have stagnation.

When does it start? When we first put the cursor in the yellow “Answer the Question” box?

Didn’t Ben or Andrew say recently that requesting cosmetic changes was ill advised because they have to go through Committee? This went through Committee?

I actually am fine with the box.
Seems like small issue, I’m sure we’ll adjust – it’s really a small point.

Take the pain away

@ryanpowell Please tell me how to ADblock on IE. I will send you money.

Please tell me how to Adblock with Fluther.

Kind of reminds me of when they would make the Great Answer button read if the OP had clicked it. I sort of liked that feature.

I wonder if one can have an epileptic seizure! :)

@chyna – it’s easy ;-)

@SirBailey copy the link to the image that @ryanpowell was good enough to post. Click your ABP icon. Paste the URL into the Search Box. Right click on it and choose Create new filter. Choose just that specific image, no wild cards. Block. Rejoice.

I’m not sure how to block images on IE. I use Firefox and adblock plus.

With that combo I just right clicked and chose the option to block the image.

edit :: and I really hope they undo this once bendrew sees this.

@MrItty, right click? Where?

Why would you block it , it doesn’t bother me i like it very much .

When you paste the URL into the search box, it should appear by itself in the big box of blockable items below.

BTW, this is all assuming you’re using ABP + Firefox. If you’re using some other browser (why?) you’re on your own.

I think I am completely missing out on it when I type. But, I see it when others type.
And I have no clue what the hell beta is so I ignored Ben’s mass comment. Fluther needs to stop trying to make me computer savvy..I will resist.

You don’t see it when YOU type. Only when someone ELSE does.

Oh, well that doesn’t bother me. Or it hasn’t yet. I haven’t encountered more than one person typing, so I haven’t had my world turned upside down yet.

For Firefox+AdBlock, you can also just right-click the throbber and click AdBlock Image.

I give up trying to Adblock. It’s not doing crap.

The big green box is enough to let us know people are responding.

Ewww…. I don’t like this at all.

@SirBailey I think |http://davinci.fluther.com/*
is what you have to put into add blocker to get it to work , or click the little drop down arrow and click for this site only .

It’s a bit too obnoxious for my tastes

@SirBailey :: NOOOOOOO that will block all images on fluther.

You want it to look like this.

Fluther has a beta :O take it not everyone got that memo then….

@ryanpowell , I can’t bring up that window. How do you bring up that window?

Is that what you guys are whining about? Jeez, I agree with sandystrachan, I sort of like it.

Ack, I have to say I hate the bar and do not see what it adds.

<—-got the memo from Ben, I feel special =)

If you really don’t like it , could always just scroll up a tad to hide the bar…......

@sandystrachan It’s above where you type, so you can’t really scroll up.

Ugh, how unpleasant. The little bars move so fast too. Maybe it if was slower it wouldnt be so bad, but it’s just wooosh wooooosh wooosh.

I tried to block it, but it blocked every image on fluther so I had to undo it. Damn it.

@La_chica_gomela Agreed. It’s not an aesthetic thing, it actually messes with my eyes.

I got AdBlock to do it! Thanks to those who helped.

Eh, it doesn’t bother me.

I just saw it. This must be part of what came on during the downtime yesterday (7/17).

I positively hate seeing things move and twitch and flap and jitter onscreen. That’s one of the reasons I am so grateful that we don’t have animated GIFs and emoticons here. Cartoony junk just irritates me no end, and seeing constant onscreen motion drives me away. This is not even in-the-corner discreet but pulsing right in your line of view.

Is it time to say again that changes are not necessarily improvements, that simplicity and intuitiveness are among the beauties of this site, and that people have been very happy with things as they were?

I don’t really need to know that someone is responding. I’d rather have no notification than have to look at this. The gain is not worth the cost.

Anotherwards, just cuz u can dosnt mean u gotta.

Haven’t we had it for a long time. It always been here when I’ve been here and I noticed it this morning. Its the same as the other one but there are bars. Am I the only one who had this forever?

@desiree333 I just noticed it this morning.

@desiree333 the bars are new. There was always the green box saying “so and so is composing a reply”. It’s the new flashing status bars on the green box that we’re complaining about.

@desiree333 It only happened when the site came back up.

Ok, ok, we hear you all loud and clear. It will come down until we find something more acceptable.

For the record, what we were trying to achieve here is a way to communicate to new users that “green” means liveness. To a new user that isn’t obvious, and it’s something we want to get across.

But clearly we crossed the line. So down it will go.

@ben :: Thanks

Maybe the throbbing light from a iMac’s power button? That isn’t obtrusive.

I looked for a gif and failed.

@casheroo I was more leaning to those who wasn’t responding , or you could have waited until the others responded .
Not that it matters now , Fluther has fell to the masses i didn’t see any problem with it . It should be kept people should learn to adjust to new ideas . . .

Christ, it was just a fucking picture. And with Ben’s reasoning of why it was added, I support it more. The more they can do to cut down on the new member bullshit the better.
Bitches be getting their panties in a twist.

Thanks, @ben.

I have noticed that how-to guidance for things, such as how to use software, often makes no distinction between things that a person needs to be shown only once and steps that they need to be guided through over and over again. This seems like something that people need to be shown or to see an explanation of only upon first exposure. After that they will get it. So it does not make sense to make it part of everyone’s ongoing experience for the sake of the first time for newcomers. Maybe the same end could be achieved some other way, such as by a link to a page that simulates a run-through of how to post, without forcing all that hand-holding on experienced users.

But I am sorry if we are moving away from an interface that’s simple enough to require no hand-holding.

I was hoping that they would add the Knight Rider sound effect to the swooshing bar : )

@ben Thanks for responsiveness.

+1 for @fireside‘s suggestion. :)

Good thoughts, all.

FYI: An updated has been released and it’s much less visually aggressive, plus it can only can be seen by new users. (Log out and look at it if you’re curious).

I think this makes for a nice compromise.

Yep, much better, I wouldn’t even mind if this was visible for everybody :)

That said, it would still be nice if the answer input textarea could be moved above it or at least have the UI changed in such a way that it doesn’t scroll down when someone starts writing a new answer.

@ben: That looks great! I wouldn’t mind that too much. Thanks for listening! <3

@asmonet: Actually, it wasn’t. Did you see it?

Yeah, I saw it. I don’t get the fuss. Period.

Sorry to keep on this, but I just don’t understand. If you saw it, then why did you call it a picture? It wasn’t a picture…

<3

@La_chica_gomela , it definitely wasn’t a picture when 2 or more were going at the same time!

ohh, I thought no one else saw the composing a respons thing

Chica, I don’t understand your confusion. It was an image, a picture.

@asmonet @La_chica_gomela @SirBailey are all arguing terminology. “Picture” means something different to computer-people than it does to “normal” people. In computer-ese, a picture is any image file, including an animated gif. The blinking status bar was an animated gif file. It was a “picture” of several vertical bars, which flashed or blinked in an alternating pattern.

wait, did i just miss the apocalypse?