Reactions: Agree and Thank You in most forums

[mkellogg]

Hi everybody,

After a number of months testing Reactions in a few places, we have decided to allow them in a nearly all forums. The exceptions are mainly the Spanish-English and Spanish-French forums.

We have been quite hesitant to allow emoji-style reactions here, as many of you know. A simple "Like" wouldn't work well here, since it could mean either "that is the right translation" or "that was funny". With the ability for use "Thank You" 🙏 and "Agree" in this version of the Xenforo software, we shouldn't have many problems. You will see the word "Reactions" or its translation in the bottom right corner of posts.

I hope this works well! My main goal is that the threads are more useful to people viewing them later when looking for a good translation. These people often do not have the time to read through 10 posts to find the right answer and a few Agree votes might help them know which translations are preferred.

Mike

 

[Masood]

Thanks for the update.
Any particular reason for the Spanish-English and Spanish-French forums being excluded?

 

[swift]

Thanks for the update.
Any particular reason for the Spanish-English and Spanish-French forums being excluded?

Yes, that seems odd, given how active those forums are and the quality of the answers provided, especially in Spanish-French.

I’m happy to see this has been implemented in the forum for Dictionary errors & suggestions as well! This way, people can up-vote suggestions and feedback they agree with.

Thanks, Mike!

 

[suzi br]

I am so pleased to see this - the ability to AGREE will be really helpful in some threads

 

[mkellogg]

Thanks for the update.
Any particular reason for the Spanish-English and Spanish-French forums being excluded?

The moderators of those forums are not comfortable with the concept (yet), so we let them exclude their forums. Different forums are different, so I'm letting the moderators decide.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

But then again, we still have the 'thumbs up' icon in "Smilies" where I thought it means "I approve of/agree with this", since we also have the smiling face emoji for "I think that's funny!", no?

 

[elroy]

Yes, the smilies still exist. I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

 

[SwissPete]

Once you have "reacted", can you "un-react"?

 

[elroy]

Once you have "reacted", can you "un-react"?

Yes. Just click the same button (which will say “Agree” or “Thank you!” rather than “Reactions”).

 

[SwissPete]

Great. I just tried it on your response.

Just because I erased my initial reaction does not mean I don't like your answer...

 

[Myridon]

But then again, we still have the 'thumbs up' icon in "Smilies" where I thought it means "I approve of/agree with this", since we also have the smiling face emoji for "I think that's funny!", no?

The reaction doesn't create an entire post just to say Me, too! (It would be nice if it didn't bump the thread to the top, too. Does it?)

English Only could use "Reactions" for "It is the same in American English." and "It is the same in British English."

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

I see only the symbols for "Thanks" and the "thumbs up" (actually "thumb up"). Aren't these the only "Reactions" we can post? Or can we post Smilies as Reactions — why isn't the "Thanks" symbol simply added to the Smilies list?

 

[elroy]

Aren't these the only "Reactions" we can post?

They are.

Or can we post Smilies as Reactions

You can still post smilies in separate posts. The advantage of Reactions is that they're quicker/more efficient, and they make it easier to see who has agreed with / expressed thanks for which posts.

why isn't the "Thanks" symbol simply added to the Smilies list?

I think it would be a nice addition (the idea has been proposed before). Mike, can it be added?

 

[mkellogg]

I think it would be a nice addition (the idea has been proposed before). Mike, can it be added?

Yes, I think it makes sense to add it.

 

[elroy]

(It would be nice if it didn't bump the thread to the top, too. Does it?)

It does not.

 

[Jektor]

I think this is an improvement, but unfortunately the symbols seem too small, badly designed, and lack colour and contrast. I prefer the simple clear kudo system on the eBay forums, which works well:
community.ebay.com.au - community-spirit-2318568#M709530
.

 

[elroy]

too small, badly designed, and lack colour and contrast.

I have no idea what you’re talking about. Sincerely.

 

[pointvirgule]

[...] unfortunately the symbols seem too small, badly designed, and lack colour and contrast.

I agree. Even with my reading glasses on, the "thumb up" icon looks like an indistinct yellow spot, and the "thank you" looks like an indistinct yellow spot surrounded by two blue spots. They do lack contrast.

ebay's community forums show, for instance, "2 Kudos". Easier to read.

 

[elroy]

Even with my reading glasses on, the "thumb up" icon looks like an indistinct yellow spot, and the "thank you" looks like an indistinct yellow spot surrounded by two blue spots.

Maybe this is a problem on your end (and Jektor’s). They don’t look that way to me at all. Can you post a screenshot?

They do lack contrast.

What does this mean?

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

There's a "thumb(s) down" "Smilie" for "Don't like/disagree". Is the reason why this isn't a "Reaction" that it wouldn't be a shortcut since the person clicking on it would have to say why they didn't like or disagreed with the post in question?

 

[elroy]

Yes. It’s unhelpful/uninformative to just say “Disagree” without explaining why.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

Yes. It’s unhelpful/uninformative to just say “Disagree” without explaining why.

So it's as I thought; thanks for confirming!

 

[mkellogg]

the "thumb up" icon looks like an indistinct yellow spot

I agree, but I am having a hard time making it appear more clear. It is better if slightly larger, but then it overlaps with the .

 

[pointvirgule]

I agree, but I am having a hard time making it appear more clear. It is better if slightly larger, but then it overlaps with the .

Well, it's not a big deal. Just a bit hard on my aging peepers.

Maybe it would be better if the Agree icon was green?

 

[elroy]

I'd still like to see a screenshot. Maybe this is something that only affects certain browsers or something.

 

[siares]

I'd still like to see a screenshot.

I think the thank you thing in no way look like hands, more like an antibody or slingshot upside down. The agree icon needs some lining or shading around fingers and nail.
I don't care about the icons either way, but I mind the words as interruptions in the flow of reading a thread, I keep expecting some information to be there.

 

[mkellogg]

I made a slight adjustment. They are a little larger and better spaced, but still not ideal.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

Maybe you could change the color of one or the other?

(Later) I see from LMorland's #31 that ; suggested something like this in #24.

 

[Aliph]

On my tablet and even on my phone (not the latest model) they look ok. Never checked on a laptop.

 

[elroy]

They are a little larger

I think they're too big now.

 

[LMorland]

mkellogg, I am extremely happy with this enhancement to the Forum! Back in the days when I was quite active here (2006-2011), I never felt a need for it, but -- conditioned by my experience in other social media, obviously -- in the past few months I've found myself wishing for the ability to simply express my agreement without cluttering up the thread with a post, and so I've simply kept silent. As well, being able to thank a respondent without creating a separate post will also help to keep the Forum 'clean'.

So:

pointvirgule, I know you from the French-English Forum obviously (Bonjour !), and I must say that on my laptop I'm not experiencing any problem discerning the icons, although I concur with you that changing the color of the 'thank-you hands' might be desirable. Perhaps you need a new monitor sans que vous vous en rendez compte ?

Finally, Mike: one other innovation you might consider in future is the ability to include a link to people's Forum handles in responding. I've being doing it for years (as hereabove), but it requires a lot of cutting-and-pasting effort. The advantage is that people reading my response can mouse over the person's forum handle and see what their native language (and experience) is, without having to scroll up the thread.

P.S. Facebook has for years resisted installing a emoji, and I'm glad you have, too.

 

[swift]

Finally, Mike: one other innovation you might consider in future is the ability to include a link to people's Forum handles in responding. I've being doing it for years (as hereabove), but it requires a lot of cutting-and-pasting effort.

All you need to do is @ mention that person, @LMorland. If the person you’re tagging has the appropriate configuration, they’ll be notified that someone has tagged them somewhere.

I like this feature. It’s an easy way to call somebody’s attention when a mere quote is not enough to prompt some sort of commentary. In the social media era, it also enhances collaboration with people who can add valuable and helpful insights and explanations in their area of expertise.

 

[DearPrudence]

Now the thank you emoji looks pretty creepy in the banner:

Thank You 🙏

It looks like a gray Yoda/Stormstrooper. I am not sure what this is supposed to be

 

[swift]

Hullo, DP!

Are you talking about the emoji as it displays at the bottom of the post? This is what it looks like on my computers and my phones:

 

[DearPrudence]

Those are fine. I am only referring to the announcement at the top:

Starting now in most forums, you can use emoji-like "Reactions" to say Thank You 🙏 and Agree . More information in this thread.

In threads, the emojis are displayed well for me.

 

[swift]

Ah! That banner!

This is what I see:

 

[Loob]

Ah! That banner!

This is what I see:
View attachment 42099

Yes: it's been changed.
EDIT Oh no it hasn't. It's just that the banner version of "thanks" looks different on a tablet and on a laptop....

 

[SwissPete]

In this thread (post 2): Where to send us to school

how did this 'reaction'

get in there?

 

[siares]

I tried, right clicked on the word 'reaction' and opened in new tab, confirmed there. Very cute.

 

[Loob]

I was wondering that too - thank you, siares!

 

[SwissPete]

Thank you, siares!

 

[Jektor]

I think this is an improvement, but unfortunately the symbols seem too small, badly designed, and lack colour and contrast. I prefer the simple clear kudo system on the eBay forums, which works well:
community.ebay.com.au - community-spirit-2318568#M709530
.

Somebody asked me off forum, how do you know who gave the kudos?
- Simply click on the word "Kudos" under each post for a list of the kudo givers....
.

 

[mkellogg]

how did this 'reaction'

get in there?

Oh, I purposely hid the heart reaction, trying to keep it to a simple "Agree" and "Thank you". Sorry, but I will try to remove your ability to use it. In the meantime, make sure that the moderators are OK with you using it in their forum.

 

[DearPrudence]

Ah! That banner!

This is what I see:
View attachment 42099

Oh, it's been removed apparently. But here is what it looked like for me, on Firefox:

 

[Hector9]

View attachment 42164

Wow, is that an old man saying thank you?

Maybe it was a Firefox rendering problem displaying the image improperly.

 

[DearPrudence]

Yes, some kind of gray yoda or something! Creepy if you ask me.

 

[mkellogg]

View attachment 42164

Oh, no. It is the "prayer" emoji, that is often used for "thank you", like I'm trying to do here. But each company gets to create its own interpretation of it. I think what you consider a creepy old Yoda is probably a revered monk in whatever country made your device or browser. What do you see here (🙏)? I did ": pray :" without the spaces to create that.

Also on the page linked above, I see "skin tones" halfway down the page. I think I like Medium Light Skin Tone best.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

Actually, I had no idea what that emoij was supposed to mean before reading the explanation here.

 

[Jektor]

Actually, I had no idea what that emoij was supposed to mean before reading the explanation here.
.

.

 

[DearPrudence]

Oh, no. It is the "prayer" emoji, that is often used for "thank you", like I'm trying to do here. But each company gets to create its own interpretation of it. I think what you consider a creepy old Yoda is probably a revered monk in whatever country made your device or browser. What do you see here (🙏)? I did ": pray :" without the spaces to create that.

Hmm, this is a basic EliteBook.
This is what your post looks like to me:

And what it looks like in the link you gave:

But well, it's ok. It is displayed normally in posts.