I am starting a new topic to see if others are interested.  One of the best things about this site to me was the constantly changing thumbnails on the front page.  It was a great coffee break to come here and see the changing items.  Now that the books are being added in a "batch" type process to the "books posted today" list, it takes a long, long time to see any updates, and only the people who have time to be on the site at the right moment when the batch is added get access to the new books posted.

I am wondering if there are other members who enjoyed the constantly changing thumbnails?  Because of a limited time to check the site, I usually stopped in several times during a day and checked the new listings.  Without the changing thumbnails on the front page, this site isn't nearly as attractive to me.

Does anyone else agree?

I totally agree...when I got bored, I would go through all of the newly posted books or just traded books and check the reviews for conditions.  Or I would just browse.  :)

Thanks, Maggie.  Maybe somebody will listen to us??

I also have finished Eleven on Top and the latest 12th book also.  Am waiting on the wish list for Mean Thirteen to see what Stephanie Plum is up to next!!

I just wanted to jump in here and answer this question.... We had to make this change to keep up with the growth of the site. It is not that we are trying to exclude anyone but rather make it where we can keep the same functionality. The Book Posted Today page is a heavily used page and the slightest speed increase will benefit the entire operation of the site. I hope that this answers any questions for confusion.

Robert

Hi, Robert, thanks for your answer.  I think  you are going to find that a lot of the allure of the site was the constantly changing book inventory!  Perhaps it was a bit addictive even. . .like slot machines for us bibliomaniacs.  With the batch process, it takes a long, long time for new items to show up. 

Can you add the books in real time to the list like you used to?  Hopefully you can either have the thumbnails OR the real-time, rather than batch additions.  I think active membership will drop dramatically with the current system.  I love the site, just don't have time to stay on it for long, long periods. 

Thanks again for your consideration.  Another idea. . . .I think a lot of us would be willing to contribute money toward the upgrades if one of these two features could be added. . .I definitely would.

I like the new front page.  I liked the old one too.  But the new front page gets more information packed into that small space.  In my opinion, I think the front page is for folks who are first timers to PBS.  It's to get as much info to them as possible so they will decide to stick around.  But it's not cluttered.  I didn't mean it like that.  And I know a bunch of us see the front page, but really, we can access everything we want once we're inside the "front door".   I mean if you had to decide who to appeal to, the folks already registered on the site, or the potential new "clients" you would want to appeal to those not yet on board.  I think it's a good move.

Hi, drewsmom. . .I think the constantly changing thumbnails would appeal to newtimers way before the features shown now.  The constantly changing list is what appealed to me when I first joined.  At that time, there weren't front page thumbnails, but there were constantly changing ones on the books posted today.  Now, I can check in and the list stays the same for a long time.

We have lost an important feature. . .I think some of you weren't aware we had it!!

I was aware of it.  And I liked it.  And I do think it's an important feature.  Aside from the help to the speed of the page Robert mentioned,  if I was just coming to PBS for the first time I would want to know what PBS was about more than what books were added in the last hour.  Having them both there would be great.   I'm just saying why I think it gets more info out there in a more user friendly way, that's all.  Just my first thoughts on the new page versus the old.     

Personally, I never even look at that page...I think I've looked at it maybe a dozen times total since I joined over 2 years ago, and that was because I was logging in from a computer not my own. I have always had PBS bookmarked to my main account page so never even saw those book covers. I didn't even know they were gone til I saw another mention of it elsewhere and went to have a look!

Cheryl

Yeah... I miss it too.  I often requested books based on those thumbnails.  :-(

I think I looked at that feature maybe twice.   It just wasn't something I used at all.   I don't have the main page for the page I go to when I click PBS on my toolbar - my icon takes me right to my account, skipping the main page altogether.

With the thumbnails, if you had a 15 minute coffee break, you could see the new books being added.  Now, you can see the same books for 15 minutes.  . . . that has taken the fun away.

I'm like Cozette; I never look at the front page either. Everything I want is "inside".  I don't miss it at all!

I guess I see the point in it taking up less space/speed than the old version, so we don't have a wacky day like we did earlier this week.  But I'll still miss it!  :)

I miss it too! I ordered quite a few books from it.  I can understand that it was slowing down the site, though. 

I am hoping the site owners will be interested in  taking donations for the upgrade that would allow the thumbnails to return.  I have been members of other  sites that did that and many people were happy to make a donation.  How about it R&R???

I use the "Books Posted Today" on the Search menu, so I don't think I would even have noticed the change if there hadn't been questions about it here. I completely understand why R&R had to get rid of them, though.

I think a lot of members do not know about "Books Posted Today" under the Search memu.  It was on another thread also.  So, all of you who used the "thumbnails", check it out.

Interesting thread.

Not only did I not browse from those thumbnails, but it really bugged me that the quality of the pic was so poor -- How do you guys see them -- I have a fairly large screen and they were always blurry -- I thought it looked sort of messy.

So interesting to see that others really embraced them.

- Tracy

I loved the thumbnails on the first page especially when I only had a few minutes to browse - everything was right there.  The other thing that kind of bugs me  more though, is the delay now with the newly posted books.  I thought it was great when they showed up as posted.  JMHO.

HOWEVER, I still love the site and appreciate all the work that goes into it.  Sometimes I just adjust to change a bit slowly.

I could see them well. . .I have a great flat screen monitor.  Plus you could click on them and get more information.

Junie,

Thanks for your comment, but books posted today doesn't update very often.  Right now it is about 35 minutes old.

Oh Gail, I am so glad you started this thread! I have always loved that particular part of PBS. I do wish it was still like that...

Yes, once it was 45 minutes before anything was updated.... *sigh*

Robert, I do appreciate the explanation. Thank You!!!

From 9:00 to 10:00 today it was updated one tim..... :( and after ten it has still not been updated... :-( I loved being able to refresh and see more new posted books more often..... Is there some way to do it more often?

EDIT= OK Very strange ,but wanted to let you know... at 10:07 an update finally showed on my computer, BUT for the 9:00 hour... It went from 129 to 500 something.......

Strange that it showed up on the 9:00 listing and not the ten since it was after ten....

Thanks for listening... I do love this site.. GREAT IDEA!!!!