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While I'm very happy with the new blog link in the header (it does wonders for the traffic), I've heard several complaints regarding the red [new] tag.

enter image description here

It's supposed to indicate there's a new blog post and it's only displayed 24 hours after posting, but after I've read the blog post the [new] tag is like an annoying Inbox that keeps saying I've got unread messages.

Is it possible to make the [new] tag disappear after I clicked the link?

9
  • Just curious, where can I see this new blog icon? I used to see the icon before logging in but now it is gone.
    – user162697
    Aug 8, 2011 at 12:21
  • It depends on the site @Siva, its supposed to work on any non (M)SO site that has a blog
    – Ivo Flipse
    Aug 8, 2011 at 12:24
  • @Siva: When you're logged in, it's at the bottom of the page in the footer. Aug 8, 2011 at 12:27
  • @Cody: Thanks. I never saw new icon there. I used to see it at the top bar.
    – user162697
    Aug 8, 2011 at 12:29
  • 6
    It's especially confusing when there are new blog posts for two days in a row. Sometimes I don't pick up on that and think it's still talking about the blog post I've already read.
    – Troyen
    Aug 8, 2011 at 16:53
  • Any word from people who can implement this? It's really getting bothersome. I actually find myself.....refreshing SU and SO less often (gasp)
    – n0pe
    Aug 9, 2011 at 14:24
  • 1
    Alternatively, make it a less aggressive color. Aug 9, 2011 at 16:21
  • Me too! Me too! It appears again and again, on all the sites - the same ol' blog post about improving tagging, on SE, SO, UL, AU and more, more, more. Aug 9, 2011 at 22:53
  • +1 I was just about to suggest this. Aug 11, 2011 at 3:39

3 Answers 3

32

Starting with the next build, we'll use localStorage to remember you clicked to read the blog or dismissed the blog indicator. You will be able to either:

  • click on the (new) indicator to only make the indicator go away
  • or click on the blog link to go read the blog

Either of the above will dismiss the new indicator and it won't show up again until the next blog post.

17
  • 3
    Since the blog link replaced the chat link, will clearing the new flag put the chat link back in the header? I miss that link. :) Aug 9, 2011 at 18:26
  • 1
    Can't wait ... gotta avoid SO till then ... bugs every time. Aug 9, 2011 at 19:24
  • @Steven - we built a little bit ago, go forth and enjoy :) Aug 9, 2011 at 19:25
  • 2
    This is cool, but appears to be site-based instead of blog-based. Like if I visit the blog link on meta, I still have "new" showing up on SO.
    – Troyen
    Aug 9, 2011 at 19:43
  • @NickCraver: Yay! Aug 9, 2011 at 19:57
  • 5
    It looks like I still have to do this individually on each site, even if they all link to the same blog. Aug 9, 2011 at 20:43
  • 7
    Please change it to use a cross-site storage thing (I'm fuzzy on the details) like chat uses for stackauth.com, so we don't have to click on it on every site.
    – user154510
    Aug 9, 2011 at 21:15
  • @Nick, thanks for the fix. Despite wanting more flexibility with the little button, I appreciate the current fix.
    – n0pe
    Aug 9, 2011 at 22:38
  • 1
    Great, now can we make it so that the new blog link doesn't make the chat link vanish for logged in users?
    – Powerlord
    Aug 10, 2011 at 18:21
  • I see that it disappears on left clicks to the link, but not on middle clicks... could middle clicks be added too? The sites got me in the habit of opening all links in a new tab since all links never opened in a new tab... until now. I've always used middle clicking to do that. Could that be added? Aug 10, 2011 at 18:30
  • It doesn't work. I'm using Chrome 13.0.782.112. Aug 11, 2011 at 3:39
  • 1
    @Nick Could this be moved to server-side storage? It's still a little annoying if you use more than one computer every day.
    – sblair
    Aug 16, 2011 at 10:42
  • 1
    Agreed with @MatthewRead: this should use StackAuth as the localstorage host, so that it persists across metas. It gets annoying to see the same thing pop up on every meta site.
    – nhinkle
    Aug 31, 2011 at 22:23
  • @nhinkle - There are cross-domain issues there that are blocked by all modern browsers, and non-trivial to work-around in each case...that's why we didn't immediately go that route. Sep 1, 2011 at 0:59
  • NickCraver ah, that's understandable. If you went with a server-side variable like @sblair recommends, then would it work across domains? It could be stored in the global profile.
    – nhinkle
    Sep 1, 2011 at 1:01
13

I also find the red "new" label (enter image description here) distracting:

  • It's larger and more prominent than the Stack Exchange notifications at the left of the header
  • It sticks around for 24 hours even though I've read the recent post, because...
  • Subscribing to the RSS feed is a much more sensible way of being notified of blog updates

Possible changes to mitigate this:

  • Only show "new" once, e.g., the first time the home page is loaded, per user, after a new blog post.
  • Hide it for logged-in users with at least a certain rep. These users will probably know about the blog anyway.
  • Unify the log-in method of the blogs with SE accounts. Each blog could track the time of each user's last visit, and show "new" accordingly. This should cover RSS feeds too, as long as you visit the blog page. This would sort of be a partial implementation of the suggestion here, and it could involve a lot of work.
  • Reduce the time threshold for showing the "new" label, e.g., to 4 hours. This might be needed anyway if there are several posts per week - otherwise the "new" message might be present most of the time, and lose its impact. It might mean some people are asleep or otherwise and miss the notification for some posts, but regular visitors will notice it every now and again. The time could even be tuned, roughly based on the frequency of posts to each blog.
  • Clicking on the blog link while "new" is present hides "new" until a new blog entry is posted. I don't like this because I'll end up having to click it pointlessly, just to make it go away.
  • Add an option in user preferences (I don't like this option either - it's too trivial).
  • Something like this Chrome extension:

    newPostLabels = document.getElementsByClassName("new-blog-post");
    
    if (newPostLabels.length > 0) {
        newPostLabels[0].parentNode.removeChild(newPostLabels[0]);
    }
    

A lot of effort seems to go into the community blogs, certainly for Super User, and they're a good supplement to the main sites. I'm just suggesting that this method of notification is over the top. We already have blog adverts on SU, and lots of cross-linking to the blog from relevant SU posts.

4
  • 7
    "Hide it for logged-in users with at least a certain rep. These users will probably know about the blog anyway." it was (until a few days ago) shown at the top to any visitors who were not logged in, so we can consider the number of visitors from that route quite stable. But since it has started being shown to logged in users, traffic has seen a positive shift; logged in users were apparently not visiting the blog much, so continuing to nudge them that way would be useful.
    – DMA57361
    Aug 8, 2011 at 15:07
  • @DMA Good point, can we see the data anywhere? It'd be interesting to see what happens to page hits, and maybe the number of blog comments, over time with this scheme. Data are way more convincing than my rough notions. But, either way, there's still a minor irritation for people who already read the various SE blogs.
    – sblair
    Aug 8, 2011 at 23:01
  • 2
    Data: yesterday, the home page of the SU blog (which is what the URL on the button points to) got over 600 views. The home page gets less than 100 views on a normal day, even with new posts. Super User itself was the #1 referring site yesterday as well. I think this does make a difference. I do agree that the new button should go away after it's first seen though - it can be distracting. I think it should be shown the first time you log in when there's a new post though.
    – nhinkle
    Aug 9, 2011 at 5:50
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    @sblair I agree it's a little irritating, so support something that hides it after viewing, I just thought I'd point out that it's helping us so it would be nice not to just revert. nhinkle has covered SU, but we've seen similar boosts on gaming: site traffic has increased by about a factor of about 4 to 5, and over the last 7 days gaming.stackexchange.com is by far the most used referrer for the site, beating blogoverflow.com (which has been at the top for a while, if we exclude reddit spikes) by a factor of 3.
    – DMA57361
    Aug 9, 2011 at 6:53
4

It could just appear (and, more importantly: disappear) in the normal inbox.

1
  • Good point, there could be, for example, another tab for blog entries. Also, that tab could be given default focus when a new community blog entry is posted.
    – sblair
    Aug 11, 2011 at 17:00

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