SUGAR SUGAR

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus) 05/18/2016 at 12:34 • Filed to: None

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I miss the theme days. sure there were a ton of posts but whats wrong with that. the themes usually started out with some normal stuff and ended up with some oddball stuff you never knew existed.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

and for if anyone wants to be cool like me, this just came up on my local CL:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 12:40

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Because it’s a shit ton of clutter that bumps any posts with any sort of substance down

pauljones > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 12:41

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You can still get all that oddball stuff you never knew existed, but condensed into a single, easy-to-ply post!!!

See here:

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/theme-posts-a-…

Love,

The Mods

McMike > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 12:45

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Did someone say Sugar?

OPPOsaurus WRX > pauljones 05/18/2016 at 12:48

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its a good idea in concept but it doesn;t work. take a look at this:

the last post on the cafe racer story is from 2 WEEKS ago

pauljones > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 12:51

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The system works based on page views. The more people leave comments in the same post, the more that post is being viewed. The more the post is viewed, the higher in the queue of popular posts it goes.

The system works fine.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in not encouraging, or partaking in, the useless, childish, annoying, and pointless spamming of Oppositelock.

OPPOsaurus WRX > pauljones 05/18/2016 at 12:54

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i’m going to disagree. The system is flawed. people try to keep a theme day in one post and its gone in a couple hours.

Blondude > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 12:59

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Agreed. Posting in one thread isn’t a theme day, it’s just a thread on a certain topic. Theme days were a fun occasional thing, then they became a near-daily occurrence, got shut down (I blame oppositerock), and now people get pissy if they happen at all. News flash: you can schedule posts if you’re so bothered that your post got pushed down.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Blondude 05/18/2016 at 13:00

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Just because you schedule a post doesn’t mean it won’t get pushed down because of the crap

pauljones > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 13:05

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That’s because no one is actually really trying to do it. Everyone thinks that they are a special little snowflake and that their dumbass little picture that contributes nothing of any actual value deserves front and center above anything and everything else, including posts from people who are trying to engage in actual, relevant, car-related discussions. Or people like Steve Lehto, Sean MacDonald, and others who provide high-quality content, and share it with us free of charge.

The system is not the problem. The attitudes of some of the people using the system are the problem.

OPPOsaurus WRX > pauljones 05/18/2016 at 13:21

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but if the system worked so well, then it wouldn;t matter how many posts there were, those important posts would make it to the side bar...

pauljones > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 14:02

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That would be kind of hard to do given the fact that no one could get to the good posts through the mass excess of bullshit posts that clog up the forum. If no one can effectively find the posts, no one can view them. If no one can view them, they don’t get in the top posts.

In summary, the fewer crap posts there are, the easier it is to get to the good stuff.

Really, this is all pretty straightforward.

Kinja has many, many flaws and many, many less-than-ideal characteristics. This is not one of them.

I realize that you have a bit of a bee in your bonnett on this one, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. I do know, however, that you’re not going to change our stance on the matter. If you want to do a theme day spam party, go to Cigar Lounge or Bullshift where they might be more welcoming of that sort of thing. While you are on Oppositelock, I strongly discourage you and anyone else from spamming Oppositelock with a bunch of useless crap.

OPPOsaurus WRX > pauljones 05/18/2016 at 14:30

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this is the important part:

“Kinja has many, many flaws and many, many less-than-ideal characteristics. This is not one of them.”

actually it is. even if there isn’t a theme day, posts are pushed down after an hour.

it annoys me because a couple people complain now everyone has to conform. Theme days get people involved.

People are scrolling through OPPO constantly. A couple extra scrolls of the wheel isn’t going to kill anyone. I bet most people keep scrolling until they get to the last post they saw. no one reads the first couple posts.

if you dont like the post keep scrolling.

Instead of just telling me i’m wrong, acknowledge that I may have a point and maybe work with me or other people to fix it. when there is a new post every 5 minutes (even on non theme days) maybe a top 3 isn;t working. Maybe embrace the theme posts and lock it in the side bar so its easier to access and contribute to. Maybe make it an every day thing. people like it and its fun.

pauljones > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 15:09

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Wow, that burr got lodged pretty far up there, didn’t it?

Okay, let’s walk through this.

“actually it is. even if there isn’t a theme day, posts are pushed down after an hour.”

Actually, it isn’t. Posts are pushed down by the very nature of this system and every other blogging system known to man on God’s green earth. Such is the way of life in this crazy, temporal universe that we live in.

Deny it all you want. It won’t change the simple truth.

“it annoys me because a couple people complain now everyone has to conform. Theme days get people involved.”

Being a mod myself, I can tell you that far more than just “a couple people” complained. A lot of people complained about it, and we addressed the issue.

Theme days, as a multitude of sequential, individual posts, also discourage people from making any effort at quality posting, because they know that no one will give a shit because it’s buried under a bunch of useless crap and no one will ever see it.

We got many, many complaints about this, so we stepped in and did what we said we would do: keep this place clean.

“People are scrolling through OPPO constantly.”

Yes, that is the nature of a blog.

“A couple extra scrolls of the wheel isn’t going to kill anyone.”

You know what also won’t kill anyone? Keeping themed comments in a single, relevant post.

Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

“I bet most people keep scrolling until they get to the last post they saw. no one reads the first couple posts.”

From the files of your individual, anecdotal experiences. Noted.

Please also note that many other people have had different experiences.

Also, if no one looks at the first couple of posts, then how would they know how far back to go before they stop scrolling?

“if you dont like the post keep scrolling.”

It gets a little annoying when you have to CLICK through multiple pages, waiting on load times with each click, just to get to something interesting or worthwhile.

Also, if you don’t like the policy against theme days and spam posting on Oppositelock, just go somewhere else that doesn’t have sucha policy and spam that blog all you like. When you’ve got it out of your system, come on back to Oppositelock.

“Instead of just telling me i’m wrong, acknowledge that I may have a point and maybe work with me or other people to fix it. when there is a new post every 5 minutes (even on non theme days) maybe a top 3 isn;t working. Maybe embrace the theme posts and lock it in the side bar so its easier to access and contribute to. Maybe make it an every day thing. people like it and its fun.”

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. Sorry dude, but that’s life. We’re all wrong sometimes. Time to move on.

As for working with you and others to fix it?

Let’s explore this a little bit.

I, and all of the other mods here, are unpaid volunteers that have slightly elevated priviliges under the Kinja system on the condition that we dedicate a portion of our time to helping keep this place clean. We are not employees of Gawker Media. We are not coders. We are not developers. We are not software engineers. We have fuck all nothing to do with the intricacies of Kinja and its operations.

When it comes right down to it, the only recourse we have if something isn’t working is the same recourse that you and everyone else has: email the Gawker Help Desk. Sometimes they reply. Sometimes they don’t. Usually they do, but not always. Such is life.

If there is something about Kinja that we don’t like or wish we could do with Kinja, we have the same recourse that you and everyone else has: email the Gawker Help Desk. Occasionally they reply. Usually they don’t. Such is life.

The only people that have any sort of control over Kinja and it’s functions are the people that created it and maintain it: Gawker Media. They have done what they wanted with it, and the form it is in now is what they seem to be happy with. They are not going to change something merely because you or I don’t like it. As a rule, Gawker Media has never given much of a shit about user opinions, and that was during the Golden Age of Gawker Media. Now, Gawker Media gives even less of a shit. They are struggling for their survival as an entity at this point in time, and they have far bigger fish to fry. As you can imagine, that means that changing the code so that posts can be pinned on a random ass Gawker Media subblog probably isn’t all that high on their priority list right now.

The Top 3 feature works just fine. It works exactly as it was designed to work. If more people understood how and why it worked, it would be even better.

Sorry for being a bit brutal here, but I’ve tried explaining this general concept to you multiple times, as have several others, and yet you keep coming back and insisting that you’re not wrong, you’re just misunderstood; we’re the ones who are wrong. Sorry dude, not the way this works. I’ve explained it all to you in every way I know how. At this point, if you want to keep spinning your wheels on this, go for it. For my part, however, this conversation is closed.

OPPOsaurus WRX > pauljones 05/18/2016 at 15:23

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all i get out of this is i’m wrong and your right because you have slightly more power and a differing opinion.

Dusty Ventures > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 20:24

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I’m hoping that since you know me you’ll trust me on this. The sidebar thing on the left of Oppo shows the three Oppo posts that have gotten the most clicks in “x” amount of time. I don’t know exactly how long x is, because that information hasn’t been shared with us, but it’s a relatively short period. I’d guess in the 15-30 minute range. If all the theme posts were in a single thread, the traffic of everyone interacting in that one particular thread would bump it up into the “top 3" sidebar (unless one of the classics - “The ultimate cafe racer speed check, tales from the turbo tattoo” - has been shared on reddit or something and there’s a lot of traffic coming into that post from an outside source. It happens occasionally, and that’s usually why the old stuff floats back to the top).

As for us locking something like a theme day post into the sidebar, we would LOVE to be able to do that, and if we could we absolutely would. Unfortunately the format of Kinja/Oppo doesn’t make that possible, and we have no more ability to change that than you. If we had it our way things like the Oppo handbook, site news, and theme day threads would be locked to the top all the time.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Dusty Ventures 05/18/2016 at 20:42

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This works a lot better with a respectful response such as what you did. It’s too bad you guys can’t control more of that type of stuff. BTW you’re going Saturday right?

Dusty Ventures > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/18/2016 at 20:57

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Yep, I’ll be there

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > pauljones 07/07/2016 at 15:40

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Mr. Jones, I found this comment in looking back to see what necessitated a special post from the mods today. I haven’t been as active on OPPO for the past several months due to work & family responsibilities, but I still love & care for the community deeply, and always enjoy my time here (when I can get it). In reference to “no one effectively finding the good posts”, I think making OppoBlog more of a known thing here and encouraging people to use it and aspire to getting their work shared there would be very beneficial to the community. There are always those here that will spend hours per day on OPPO, but for the ones that want to keep up, but don’t have the time it takes to wade through all of OPPO, it’s a great resource. But to get used, Opponauts need to know about it, and far too few do. Having all the mods behind it fully as an extension of OPPO, mentioning it whenever reasonable, pointing the Jalop editors there for good stuff to “front page”, making it a related blog (if possible), would all help to encourage our community to continue to produce and share the great content we love so much. http://oppositeblog.kinja.com/

Thanks,
Dave

pauljones > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/07/2016 at 16:01

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That... that was a great comment.

I had no idea Oppositeblog was still an active thing; I thought it was just one of those flash-in-the-pan, wild-west little Kinja subblogs that started quickly and faded quickly. If it’s still active, that’s certainly something to consider.

I’ll bring up the idea with the other mods. In the meantime, can you tell me a little bit more about it and how it works? Does someone actively seek out good posts from Oppositelock to put on Oppositeblog? Do you have a small set of trusted authors that generate content?

Let me know, and we’ll take a look into that.

Also, sidenote: Your sharing of the picture of the nude cyclist? Not cool. I unshared that. Please avoid sharing that sort of thing on Oppositelock.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > pauljones 07/07/2016 at 16:18

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Thanks. It seems to be still active, in the caring hands of DasWauto, HammerheadFistpunch, perhaps a couple others, and myself whenever I get the time.

OppoBlog is nothing more than direct shares of OPPO posts that are deemed by the OppoBlog editors to be worthy of more attention. All may apply: great writing, great photos, audio/video, humor, etc. When I was more active and still today, whenever I see something of real quality, I share it to OppoBlog. It’s a idea that grew from DasWauto’s Best of OPPO that I helped him get going along with with 505Turbeaux (who’s not around anymore). It’s a way to work within the confines of Kinja to put the best content from OPPO in one place, and give readers a place to go to find quality posts without having to wade through all the chaff.

It’s really DasWauto’s baby, so if you’re interested in perhaps getting more involved with authorship there, you’d need to go through him. It’s a great resource to the community, and I just want to see it get more use than it does.

——-

Yeah, sorry about that. See my response to Gamecat. Thought it was a harmless joke and just bringing back to light a great old ‘shop by McMike that was relevant again today...