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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

am i the only one who doesnt use active conversations?

30 replies

nightowl · 10/03/2005 00:52

it just looks a mess to me! (sorry) so i always use last hour or last day and have noticed that chat has been moved from there also. am i the only one who finds that a pain? like last hour/day much better as i get to see snippets of the last few posts so i know if im going to find a thread interesting. sobs...i dont like change!!

OP posts:
MNHQ
tech · 10/03/2005 01:34

Hi nightowl,

That was a mistake in fact (chat going off last hour). I'll put it back...... sorry. Been hard couple of days.

It's been full on full moon on here, and I also have the most ridiculous injury to add to my misery. (I can tell you this as it's late and there's just us here.)

As I've turned into an old gimp, I've been getting hair in my ears. Disgusting, I know, but relevant. Anyway, one of them sort of itches the other side of the inside of my ear. So the other day I went fishing in there with tweezers to see if I could grab it and pull it out. It's really aggravating. It feels like there's a grub or something in there. It's the oddest feeling. Anyway, I must have scratched something as since then I've been in agony. I woke up last night with the pain of it. Might go to the quack tomorrow in case it's got infected or summat. Don't want to go deaf one side. Though it could come in handy round here. Anyway, thanks for listening. I'll put back chat in last hour/last day now.

Regards,
Tech

bobbybob · 10/03/2005 01:56

It's always the smallest things that are the most painful. Hope you feel better soon.

Original poster
nightowl · 10/03/2005 02:27

tech sorry to hear youre in pain but you have such an amusing way of describing yourself with the tweezers! cant get that image out of my head now! not nice, pain in ears and toothache too are the worst. wouldnt wish it on anyone!

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 10/03/2005 07:17

Eww, tech, I had this image of you as all hunky and gorgeous and you go and ruin it with talk of tweeezers and ear hair! I hope your week improves

lucy5 · 10/03/2005 08:04

Where have active conversations gone??

lucy5 · 10/03/2005 08:05

Ignore me I have a hangover and it has taken me 10 mins to work it out. Durrr

Keane · 10/03/2005 08:08

I didnt used to, I used to scroll through all the topics and try to answer almost everyone!

Imagine trying to do that now

Infact i get so confused now, i seem to get stuick on "threads Im on" and never go anywhere else

hub2dee · 10/03/2005 08:34

tech, didn yer mamma tell ya never to put stuff inside yar'ears ????

There's sensitive stuff down there, old boy... run, don't walk to the quack !

SleepyJess · 10/03/2005 08:36

Just came on here to ask where active convos are. Personally I'm lost without them. Anyway, read the convo and Tech, just wanted to say you sound as if you have an infected hair follicle in the ear and yes go to the docs because it will probably need antibiotics. DH had this.. it grew into like a big spot in his ear.. which of course I had to squeeze because I'm gross like that.. and had convinced him it needed squeezing.. (what a bitch, just for my own self-gratifications! ) but then it just grew...and got more manky and infected and loads more painful. So go to docs and get the antibiotics before you have to have it lanced! Ouch!

Ugh..I've gone off my coco pops now.. my fault, not yours!

SJ x

lou33 · 10/03/2005 09:21

i don't use it, i always click check for new messages since i last checked.

Snugs · 10/03/2005 09:27

Same as lou

Davros · 10/03/2005 09:44

I couldn't handle active conversations, got sucked into too many threads. I go through the home page to Talk and just look at the 12 or so topics that I like. I tend to miss all the excitement and flouncing though.

piffle · 10/03/2005 09:48

aaarghhhh I still have the link for active convos though on my web address
phew

Snugs · 10/03/2005 09:51

Am I missing something here? Active conversations is still there at the top of the page - why are people having problems?

SleepyJess · 10/03/2005 10:08

Active convos are in fact there, it's just that the bit that says 'active convos', which used to be a link, is now just a heading, in black.. and the other categories of active convo are next to it on the right. I have it sussed now.. or maybe it was different earlier..

SJ x

MNHQ
tech · 10/03/2005 10:14

I've just done a bit of a rearrange up there to make it a bit more obvious what's going on..... sorry for the confusion

SPARKLER1 · 10/03/2005 10:15

I thought it looked different . Much clearer thanks.

hub2dee · 10/03/2005 10:52

Must admit I think it looks rather inelegant, and might possibly be quite confusing for newbies...

Snugs · 10/03/2005 10:59

aims at hub2dee

Poor tech not only has to cope with a bunch of hormonal women but a bloody picky man as well

hub2dee · 10/03/2005 11:06

Snugs, you're making my backside toasty.

Actually, that's rather nice.

hub2dee · 10/03/2005 11:19

Increased spacing between the options would also make them more readable, IMO (just a few &nbsps should do the trick)

MNHQ
tech · 10/03/2005 13:16

Thanks for the suggestions. We are currently discussing internally what level of choice is appropriate for active conversations, and how it should be structured. The current layout is in the realms of the "quick fix".

It's true that the current search facility is not really optimal. Having to know whether you want to search current or archive is a little odd, though also quite common. The fact that "find new messgaes" (i.e. since x time or since I last searched stuff) is on a different page from regular searches is a hangover from when we started out with a third-party bulletin board. When we moved away from it, the people using the board at the time naturally didn't want to see major changes.

We try to bear in mind that a fair number of the people using mumsnet are new to the internet and that some of the terms that are very familiar to web-savvy people can totally flummox people in that position. We try to make our links as few and as self-explanatory as possible. This can make them a little wordy.

Change understandably annoys some people (see this thread ). Also, too much choice can be wearing and confusing and just make people switch off. Take me and BT. I don't care about Option 56 vs Option 57 - I just want a reasonable phone service at a decent price. I have better things to do than update a friends and family list. And frankly I couldn't care less if the electricity comes from the LEB or the Martians.

By the way, you can change the number of results in active conversations by changing the "lastn" parameter in the url to a number up to 200.

As ever, thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. I think we are going to leave things alone now - at least for a time - as we've addressed the original gripes about chat and trading dominating active conversations to the exclusion of other threads.

Regards,
Tech

rickman · 10/03/2005 13:21

Message withdrawn

NomDePlume · 10/03/2005 13:26

My god, I can't imagine using this site without active conversations. I'd just end up talking to myself on threads I'd killed.....

MNHQ
tech · 10/03/2005 13:54

Hello rickman, it's infected apparently, but only the canal - the drum is fine. I have antibiotics and a steroid spray. Who knew you could do so much damage with a dental mirror and a pair of tweezers.