[Dixonary] OT: New Google groups

[Jim Hart]

I know most of you participate by email but surely I'm not the only one who
regularly uses the Google Groups site. Having been warned that the old
version would soon be gone I obediently tried the new one.

Now is it just me and my Firefox, or are there some gaps, especially in the
buttons at the top of the screen? On the Dixonary homepage for example, I
see a red button marked 'New topic' but two of the grey ones are blank
though their purpose appears on mouse rollover. Similarly when I read a
topic, the red 'post reply' button is labelled but not its neighbours e.g.
'Refresh'.

Apart from that the postings are all collapsed once they've been read
(similar to Gmail) which I suppose I'll get used to. Anyone know if this is
switchable?

Anyone else feeling grumpy?

Jim

[Daniel Widdis]

I'm feeling grumpy about Google randomly removing useful features from many
of their products. I'm not surprised Groups is one of them.

--
Dan

From: Jim Hart <jfshart (AT) gmail (DOT) com>
Reply-To: Dixonary <dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com>
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 22:49:08 -0800 (PST)
To: Dixonary <dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com>
Subject: [Dixonary] OT: New Google groups

I know most of you participate by email but surely I'm not the only one who
regularly uses the Google Groups site. Having been warned that the old
version would soon be gone I obediently tried the new one.

Now is it just me and my Firefox, or are there some gaps, especially in the
buttons at the top of the screen? On the Dixonary homepage for example, I
see a red button marked 'New topic' but two of the grey ones are blank
though their purpose appears on mouse rollover. Similarly when I read a
topic, the red 'post reply' button is labelled but not its neighbours e.g.
'Refresh'.

Apart from that the postings are all collapsed once they've been read
(similar to Gmail) which I suppose I'll get used to. Anyone know if this is
switchable?

Anyone else feeling grumpy?

Jim

[Guerri Stevens]

I have that same grumpy feeling. For example, in Gmail, why can't "sign
out" be at the top of the screen, and not buried in a menu? So far I am
refusing to try the new version although my days are probably numbered.
Plus they feel free to make changes without telling us at all (the "sign
out" for example).

I like the free Email and I dislike Yahoo even more than Google, but I
am starting to wonder whether it would be better to pay and perhaps get
a product I like better.

Guerri

Daniel Widdis wrote:
> I'm feeling grumpy about Google randomly removing useful features from
> many of their products. I'm not surprised Groups is one of them.

[Tim Lodge]

I'm definitely grumpy about this too. I guess I could get used to the
new Groups format eventually. However, there doesn't seem to be a
means of switching from proportional to a fixed font, which means that
the rolling scores table is mangled and difficult to read. I switched
back to the old format after discovering that and was delighted to be
offered the chance to tell Google why I was doing so. I filled in the
comment form in some detail, then pressed submit and got the helpful
message "sorry, we can't take your comment at present" or words to
that effect. Lovely!

-- Tim L

On Mar 8, 10:31*am, Guerri Stevens <gue... (AT) tapcis (DOT) com> wrote:
> I have that same grumpy feeling. For example, in Gmail, why can't "sign
> out" be at the top of the screen, and not buried in a menu? So far I am
> refusing to try the new version although my days are probably numbered.
> Plus they feel free to make changes without telling us at all (the "sign
> out" for example).
>
> I like the free Email and I dislike Yahoo even more than Google, but I
> am starting to wonder whether it would be better to pay and perhaps get
> a product I like better.
>
> Guerri
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Daniel Widdis wrote:
> > I'm feeling grumpy about Google randomly removing useful features from
> > many of their products. I'm not surprised Groups is one of them.

[Jim Hart]

Guerri, I've been using Gmail for years and forgive it its trespasses for
its two principal benefits: the ability to access my mail from any computer
and having an ISP-independent address. And maybe a third: I use it as a
backup archive.

When I'm at home I access it via my computer's mail client where even
Outlook express has a much better interface especially for writing (but I'm
considering changing to Thunderbird).

I already pay a few $ a month for a couple of hosted domains which I could
use as mail hosts but don't know if they would be any better, plus I'd have
to tell everyone to write to jim (AT) newdomain (DOT) com or whatever I choose. So I
guess that means I'll stay where I am.

Jim

On Thursday, March 8, 2012 9:31:33 PM UTC+11, Guerri Stevens wrote:
>
> I have that same grumpy feeling. For example, in Gmail, why can't "sign
> out" be at the top of the screen, and not buried in a menu? So far I am
> refusing to try the new version although my days are probably numbered.
> Plus they feel free to make changes without telling us at all (the "sign
> out" for example).
>
> I like the free Email and I dislike Yahoo even more than Google, but I
> am starting to wonder whether it would be better to pay and perhaps get
> a product I like better.
>
> Guerri
>
> Daniel Widdis wrote:
> > I'm feeling grumpy about Google randomly removing useful features from
> > many of their products. I'm not surprised Groups is one of them.
>
>

[Guerri Stevens]

Well, switching does force one to ask everyone to update their
addresses, which is a definite drawback. I suppose as long as Gmail is
free, I could make the switch, notify everyone, then keep the account,
but set up a "vacation" reply for those who didn't pay attention to the
switch.


Guerri

Jim Hart wrote:
> Guerri, I've been using Gmail for years and forgive it its trespasses
> for its two principal benefits: the ability to access my mail from any
> computer and having an ISP-independent address. And maybe a third: I use
> it as a backup archive.
>
> When I'm at home I access it via my computer's mail client where even
> Outlook express has a much better interface especially for writing (but
> I'm considering changing to Thunderbird).
>
> I already pay a few $ a month for a couple of hosted domains which I
> could use as mail hosts but don't know if they would be any better, plus
> I'd have to tell everyone to write to jim (AT) newdomain (DOT) com or whatever I
> choose. So I guess that means I'll stay where I am.
>
> Jim

[Judy Madnick]

From: "Daniel Widdis" <widdis (AT) gmail (DOT) com>

<< I'm feeling grumpy about Google randomly removing useful
<< features from many
<< of their products. I'm not surprised Groups is one of them.

Same here. I check gmail spam daily -- all my email accounts are filtered thru gmail so that I can check my email on my iPod Touch or from any computer. I don't like using "mouse-rollovers." Apparently, though, that's a sign of the times. <sigh>

Judy

[Dodi Schultz]

On 3/8/2012 5:31 AM, Guerri Stevens wrote:

>
> I like the free Email and I dislike Yahoo even more than Google, but I am
> starting to wonder whether it would be better to pay and perhaps get a
> product I like better.

You mean an e-mail client? Thunderbird's free.

[Guerri Stevens]

I can see a point in using icons rather than words, namely that the
icons can be generic but if words are used, they have to be in
appropriate languages. On the other hand, if you can see the words by
pointing at the icon with the mouse, what's the point? Maybe there are
space savings on the page, but it seems to me there's plenty of room for
"sign out", for example.

There were two things that initially drew me to Google: the ability to
get my Email via POP3 via my Email client and the fact that the Google
advertising was text (no singing, dancing, and blinking on and off). I
planned to use it only for things like online ordering, but have started
to use it more and more. And now the tapcis.com Email accounts are
hosted by Google.

Guerri

Judy Madnick wrote:
> Same here. I check gmail spam daily -- all my email accounts are filtered thru gmail so that I can check my email on my iPod Touch or from any computer. I don't like using "mouse-rollovers." Apparently, though, that's a sign of the times. <sigh>
>
> Judy
>

[Guerri Stevens]

No, I am talking by an Email provider, not the software for accessing
Email. I use Thunderbird for that, and as you pointed out, it is free.

My Email *provider* is Google.

Guerri

Dodi Schultz wrote:
>
> You mean an e-mail client? Thunderbird's free.
>
>
>