To all complaining about the new DU:

[TomSlick]

I get it, I'm an old guy and resist change.

Look at EarlG's Welcome Back post.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218376451

Follow the instructions to change your settings to Skinner mode. It looks and feels like the old DU but with the upgrades.

Easy-Peezy.

[niyad]

1. No, it isn't, but thanks for your input. I did change to Skinner mode,

and nothing happened, nothing changed.

[dpibel]

2. Did you save?

I had the same experience. Then I scrolled down and found a "save settings" (or something like that) button.

Can't say that I found Skinner Mode to be remarkably more familiar. Same colors, I guess. But other than that, pretty foreign.

[niyad]

5. Of course I did.

[calimary]

11. I'm feeling more comfy with the "Skinner mode" option

and it’s a little less challenging to navigate. It’s a good option. I’m glad to have it. Thanks EarlG and friends! I’m sure it was a whale of an undertaking!

[TomSlick]

4. Skinner mode looks almost exactly the same as the old DU

Did you save the settings change?

[niyad]

6. Yes, of course.

[TomSlick]

9. EarlG's post says:

If you run into problems or have any questions, please use the DU Community Help forum, which can now be found via Navigate > Help & Search.

[NutmegYankee]

13. DU3 had a lot of options that Skinner mode doesn't have.

For instance, i used the entire screen:




Now, on the good side, EarlG has said an option to turn off the left sidebar is on the list for future mods. I'd love that with night mode.

[Wonder Why]

3. Your information is misleading. Only Star members can use skinner mode

[TomSlick]

7. I see nothing in EarlG's post to say that.

You know that you contribute what you want for Star membership - right?

[Wonder Why]

12. I became Star already. But read the benefits.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I'm a star member and it is grayed out for me

[TomSlick]

10. EarlG's post says:

If you run into problems or have any questions, please use the DU Community Help forum, which can now be found via Navigate > Help & Search.

[C_U_L8R]

15. Set Large Fonts to No

And Skinner Mode won't be greyed out.

[yonder]

18. I let my star membership lapse mistakenly. Till the check clears, its been painful.

The grayed out button for Skinner mode was a different shade than the others and allowed me to select it. That mode was working for me at least for a little while.

[Lancero]

24. I can use it just fine?

[Cha]

14. TY Some things I like Some I don't. It will

get sorted out.

[senseandsensibility]

16. I am barging into your thread to say that I can't start a discussion!

Everything else is okay, but when I click start a discussion I get an empty white box with no text at all. Obviously, I can reply and rec, but not start a discussion. I've tried several times.

[TomSlick]

19. I don't see any change from the old system.

Clink on the forum/group and then "start discussion."

[senseandsensibility]

20. I did that many times

Now I'm trying to work my way through navigate. I'll see if that works.

[Emile]

17. Stop being afraid of change. Plunge into it

and join the dance. 💃🕺

[DemocraticPatriot]

22. I will happily dance... as long as the dance hall looks the same

as it always did....


jajajajajaja

[DemocraticPatriot]

21. Yes, I was very glad to find out about "Skinner Mode"....

My opposition to the change was 100% about the radical change in appearance of the forum.
Since there was a way around that, it looks like 'the good ole days' to me...

Any minor changes in navigation are not bothering me... as long as it "looks right". LOL

Of course, reportedly you do have to be a 'Star Member' to be able to take advantage of that.

To become a 'Star Member', you only need to make one annual donation, and there is no minimum amount.

Credit card, debit card, Paypal-- and I believe you can even send a check by US mail, if you have no other option...

[IzzaNuDay]

23. I'm OK with the changes.

I’m used to dealing with software changes and to say the least, this will be an adventure!😄

[NowISeetheLight]

25. Change

Change takes time. I had checked out the Beta earlier so I was kind of ready. Still logging in tonight I was like "WTH". I found skinner mode and am using it for now. I figure I'll do a slow roll out the next week or so and it'll be fine.

[rickford66]

26. Skinner Mode is fine.

The new DU4 is a bit too slick like the rest of the internet. I liked the simpler layout before. I know the guys put a lot of work into this as I've done S/W for 50+ years. On another note, I hate all the new updates to the regular browsers I use. Grrrr.

I had to browse Raw Story today while DU was off the air. How awful.

[question everything]

27. No it does not. It is now a hybrid of both. I miss the left column where all the groups were listed

[sadasfyed]

28. I will give it a chance

[TomSlick]

29. I'm already impressed.

We're all progressives. We should embrace progress.

It takes a bit to get used to any computer program upgrade. Hang it there.

[Abolishinist]

30. Do tell, what does the changing of a website have to do with being a "progressive" ?

Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political reform. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, technology, economic development, and social organization.

[TomSlick]

33. Conservatives don't want things to change.

Reactionaries want things to return to an imagined status quo ante. Progressives want things to improve, i.e. progress.

The Wikipedia article you quote, without citation, footnotes to the Oxford Living Dictionary for the definition from Oxford Living Dictionary. The definition in Merriam Webster is more general:

1 a: of, relating to, or characterized by progress
b: making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/progressive

[ancianita]

39. It looks more like change for the sake of change.

Progressives go for upgrades that are more efficient, therefore, productive improvements.

[Pathwalker]

31. Um...what is Skinner mode? I never heard of it.

So far, I'm not minding the upgrade & Ireally like the larger font.
Thanks in advance,

[TomSlick]

34. See Pro Tips in EarlG's Welcome Back post.

The opening page looks like the old DU.

[Arthur_Frain]

32. Change Bad! Won't Learn! Can't Make Me!

Argle-Bargle!

Call the Whaa-ambulance for these people.

Man between the changeover and the Palestinian/Israeli issue this place is turning into a cesspool.

[TomSlick]

35. I understand the problem

People are resistant to change and don't want to take the time to learn.

[Arthur_Frain]

40. I do too.

Either way it’s a tyranny of the majority.

But life is all about change. Just like we want to drag the conservatives kicking and screaming into the future, so we are going to drag some DUers kicking and screaming into DU4.

I’m not 100% sure it’s all that and a bag of chips, but it’s here. It will be refined eventually over time.

Who knows, DU4 2.0 might even let me post a new thread whilst on my phone. In the meantime, bitching to bloody blue heaven about it seems like a time that would be better spent poking around finding out how to do what I want to do here.

[lapfog_1]

36. Software developers are like male dogs

every fire hydrant or light pole that "doesn't smell right" needs to be peed on.

Never mind that it is still a fire hydrant or light pole even after the new coating of pee.

Makes the software developer feel good about themselves, rarely improves the software.

I see a few things that are nicer with DU4 and a number of things I miss from the old ( in general I now have to navigate using sub-menus whereas before all I had to do was use the button on every page to directly take me to where I most often wanted to go ). UI are such a personal thing, there is no pleasing everyone. I will get used to DU4 ( I am not opposed to change ) but I dislike change for the sake of change. Just because a new dog is now walking around the neighborhood.

I've run software development groups for 45 years now, and have been through the "new hotness" stuff all the way from "C" and "Pascal" to "Python", with a lot of stops in between. Soon it will be AI that designs the UI we use... and, we may each have our OWN UI to DU... after all, the data behind the UI is pretty much the same... we can just ask the AI to provide it in a form that we each individually prefer. We will just tell the AI what we want to see, what posts are more relevant to our interests, what we want to navigate to, etc (whether the interface is keyboard/mouse or simply voice... or even brain waves)

[ancianita]

38. What's a UI? And why would you assume DU would sign up to use AI, anyway.

[lapfog_1]

41. UI or User Interface

for things like the web, often called a GUI or Graphical User Interface.

And DU will likely use AI... because AI is cheaper and more efficient than writing your own software.

For those afraid of AI... well, people have been afraid of many new technologies in the past... hasn't prevented a single one of them from being adopted in the past. Sometimes the use is much more limited to certain things (there were proposals for nuclear powered cars and planes), sometimes the use morphs past anything the inventors imagined ( this here Internet is one such example ).

doesn't mean that AI will be universally good. Just like the Internet has not been universally good. Or nuclear power, or even most technology inventions ( coal power, oil, etc may actually kill the planet for US, but the planet will survive, just without humans ).

[ancianita]

43. Oh, yeah. Thanks. Forgot. I do know GUI, just didn't know there's a shorter version.

I see what you mean about AI. As business people, DU owners would likely look into the profitability of its use.

Thanks for your info.

[Mosby]

42. User interface.

I switched back to skinner mode on my phone. Du3 mobile version was pretty awesome imo. They could have just added all the new functionality without messing with the layout etc.

[ancianita]

37. Did that immediately. It's not as easy-peezy as you say.

And why is Latest Breaking News buried at the bottom of the Main Page under "Interest Forums"? That makes no sense.

Why isn't the whole Main Page visual field as comprehensive as with DU3? The rest of the forums require more clicks to find , which isn't an improvement of what we used to see laid out on the Main Page, particularly with the nice visual review of the DU3 Video column missing.

I'm not complaining, but I find only one improvement -- the Milestone column.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

44. Hopefully the new look and feel will appeal to younger Dems

We need new blood. And the new look might draw them in.