My WordPress Reader has looked much different as of yesterday. I wondered if maybe it was just being haunted for Halloween, but if so, the ghosts aren’t very good at keeping track of the calendar. So, is it just me?
The font size is larger in my reader, I see fewer posts on the screen at a time, and I don’t see the word count.
With fewer posts per screen, I have to do a lot more scrolling to skim through it and find posts that interest me. It just seems like a greater chance of people giving up sooner.
I guess the font is a little more readable. But I was used to it the way it was, so now it just seems too large. I guess I’ll get used to this, too, if it stays this way.
The disappearance of the word count seems interesting. Were short posts getting more attention, and long posts being overlooked (or vice-versa), because people were checking out the word count? If so, removing this will force us to choose the post that interests us regardless of length. Or will it cause frustrations, or less use of the Reader?
I think all of the clicks where people get to the post, then think ugh, that’s too short or too long—all that wasted energy will mean some posts that would have been read won’t get read.
Yesterday, there was a huge gap in posts, from 1 hr ago to 16 days ago. I’m sorry if I missed any posts that I would normally read.
That Follow by Email button is handy for blogs we really look forward to. 🙂
And is there an issue with pictures showing in the Reader? It seems that some posts have pictures (are they smaller?), yet none of the pictures show in the Reader.
If WordPress did make changes to the Reader, I wonder if they were beta tested. (Or is this part of a beta test?) If so, maybe they have already determined that the pros outweigh any cons.
There is a forum on this topic now: http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/reader-changed?replies=4#post-1503145
I keep looking for a button on my Reader that I might accidentally have pressed. (Is this all just a big OOPS?)
Have you had the same experience? What are your thoughts?
Chris McMullen
chrismcmullen 
not certain. i am just seeing it for the first time. I will say it looks the same on my i-phone.
jury is out for now……:)
Maybe I need an iPhone. 🙂 On my PC, it looks much different. There is a WordPress forum on this topic, so apparently others are seeing similar issues.
oh definitely – on my PC it looks like I am in another country!
Well, I guess it depends if you want to visit that country or not. 🙂
I don’t like it at all. I have to click on comments to see my friends photo blog images. I posted a book review yesterday and the book cover image did not show….what a shame for the author. My poets who go to great lengths to pair their beautiful poems with pics…like pairing wine with food….now how bland.
Definitely, some of the pics attract us to the content. The pics and tags help us determine if the post will interest us. There will probably be a lot of posts that go unread as a result…
Don’t like it at all! Its not very user friendly for artists and photographers…
Many of the blogs I follower are artists and photographers. Their pics are mainly what attract me. So if they don’t show in the reader, it’s a lose-lose situation.
I haven’t been to my reader in a long, but I definitely see what you’re talking about. I’m guessing they’re going for the ‘bigger is better’ mentality.
It looks like they are pushing for bigger images and trying not to have longer posts ignored. But just the same, those readers who don’t want to read a long post may only wind up closing the window as soon as it opens, then remembering which blogs to avoid in the future, so as not to even try their shorter posts.
You show a blogger a post, but you can’t make him read it.
Many of the thoughts you expressed here I found myself thinking this morning as I scrolled through the reader. Hmm. Not a fan. I’m hoping this isn’t permanent.
I’m still waiting to find a fan of the new reader. I’d love to wake up tomorrow morning and see it back the way it was. Now if I could just find my ruby slippers… 🙂
Or your super hero cape… 😆 Surely your post could influence someone to see their errors.
Yes, sometimes new isn’t better.
I’m not in favor of the new look at all – the font was large enough to read before. Why have they changed it? Did we get any input and I missed it?
If we did, I missed it, too. 🙂 We can still share our input, though…
I’ve commented twice as the freshly pressed titles and avatar’s overlap! Really?
Twice as nice. 🙂
I kind of like it! After reading some of the comments, looks like many are not able to see any images. I’m following lots of photographers, but I’m able to see the images in the reader. probably not all
If the image shows in the Reader, it’s great. It’s a problem for those posts where the image doesn’t show. Maybe the image is too small. Once bloggers become aware of the issue and learn how to get the image to show in the reader, it won’t be an issue.
I have another issue with the images. Sometimes, a post has nothing but an image. In the old reader, this was clear up front. Now, you might just Like the post without realizing there was more than one image, or you might open a post just to realize there was nothing else to find.
Glad to hear you like it, though. There are probably others who like it, too. 🙂
You know, I hadn’t noticed…now I think maybe someone has been tinkering. No word count I think is a good thing, weirdly. I don’t want to live in a world where we can’s possibly tolerate a few thoughts put together into well-considered paragraphs. I am always suspicious of the short posts as they seem to shout “Hey HEY! Look at me!” So then I look and there’s nothing there! Bother! Although too long is presumptuous too. I think I may have Goldilocks syndrome! But your post was just right 🙂
Actually, not showing the word count may be to my advantage, since I tend to make write some lengthy posts. But as a reader, I like to know if it’s a serious article, just a handshake, or what before I click on it. Now it’s like buying dinner for a date only to realize that you’re utterly and obviously incompatible; why didn’t you at least introduce yourselves first? I concede that there is some merit in hiding the word count. We better watch out for the three bears. 🙂
I don’t like it much on the desktop. And the phone app double-posts for me, which is strange… I ‘like’ one and then I still see the same post come up again without the ‘like’ appearing. I think they have some bugs to work out. It was so nice before!
I wish they would give the “reader” options. Why can’t we control the font size and some of these other issues? That would be great for everyone, it seems.
My phone doesn’t work well with WordPress either. If I try to comment on my phone, I can login, type the comment, and that’s it. If I try to post it, I have to start all over. Ugh! I need a smarter phone. 🙂
Issues always crop up when I am out of town! Just got back and yep, you’re right – no pictures. I like the pictures. In fact my last blog post was about the pictures! It needs to return to its former self! 😦
I do see pictures for some of the posts in my reader that have them. Maybe it has to do with the size of the image… It would be nice to see it revert back to the way it was, or at least give us some options for how to view our readers.
I hate it. I have complained. Let’s hope enough of us do this to make WP take note.
Got my fingers crossed. 🙂
There’s tons of threads with people complaining… we might get lucky 😉
I was happy with it until I clicked on a post and you have to click again to view the actual post on the blog. I really don’t understand why they did that! Why?!!! 😦
Apart from that, though, it’s improved! 🙂
Yeah, that one seems hard to explain. 🙂
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