#tumblr staff PLEASE fix how your posts work

[fpacatuto]

slightly offtopic but: every time I try to edit or answer in a post for on this infernal hellsite, I start growing another premature white lock of hair hair

#tumblr staff PLEASE fix how your posts work #idk what kinda css or html5 code you use but #it is becoming unusable again somehow #not that big a deal maybe but it just feels bad writing a whole page and seeing it deleted because tumblr doesn't even use a warning system #offtopic #fpacatuto

[changes]

Friday, September 1st, 2023

🌟 New

On web, you can now purchase a new Tumblr Supporter badge that levels up over time, so you can show your support for the platform and help us pay the bills around here more directly. Expect to hear more about this on the @staff blog soon!

In the latest experiment on web that makes changes to the post header, we’ve altered it to re-include the post author’s avatar, based on the feedback we’ve received so far. Thank you to everyone sending in feedback about this!

We’ve released a new major version of the tumblr.js API client, which you can use to access Tumblr content via our public API. Read more about it here!

We’ve also rolled out Tumblr Live to even more countries in the European Union!

🛠 Fixed

For those of you who still see floating avatars on the web, we fixed a bug that was causing them to “hide” a little under the dashboard tab bar. Similarly, we fixed a bug that was causing posts to be in the wrong position when using J and K to navigate post-by-post.

For those of you who see the new dashboard tab configuration button on web, we’ve added a little more space to the left side of it, so tabs have less of a chance to overlap with it. Similarly, sponsored tabs show a “Sponsored” label next to them in this dashboard tab configuration view.

🚧 Ongoing

We’re still experimenting with a big performance improvement for how content is shown on the web, but it broke being able to use Command/Control + F to search for text on the page, for content that’s been hidden after scrolling away from it. We’re working on making this better, and we have a fix in place, so please give it a try again if you’ve been having difficulty with it!

🌱 Upcoming

Nothing new to report here. There’s a lot of fun stuff coming though!

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

#tumblr update

[calware]

animated tumblr icon masterpost

(EDIT (7/10): it is no longer possible to have an animated icon if you did not have one previously. staff has admitted that this "feature" was added accidentally and that it's already been patched. i'll be removing any now-irrelevant segments from the intro and the FAQ. check the notes if you want to see earlier versions of this post)

two days ago, tumblr added the ability to have an animated icon by using an animated webp without giving out any official information on it (from what i can tell). i'm making this post to reduce the amount of questions i get about this. i'll be updating it with any new information i come across. if you have any questions after reading this post, feel free to ask

before i start, as of now, the web version of tumblr plays animated icons automatically which means icons with flashing lights/colors are a danger to people with photosensitivity. do not abuse this feature! remember to keep your icon safe for others by avoiding using any animated images with flashing lights/colors

also, please note that i do not use the tumblr app and i don't know how it works or how it differs from the web version. i use the desktop website as well as the website on my phone's browser (safari)

with that out of the way, here are some frequently asked questions:

7) if a blog has an animated icon, the animation only plays if i click on the icon. otherwise it's stuck on the first frame. why is this?

it's probably because of the platform you're using tumblr on. i use the web version and this doesn't happen to me, it just automatically plays on its own continuously. from what i can tell, this bug(?) only occurs on the tumblr app (depending on which device you use)

8) i use the app and i can't see anyone's animated icons, it's stuck on the first frame no matter what i do. how do i fix this?

check to see if you need to update the app

9) all the animated icons on the page suddenly froze up, what do i do?

try scrolling a little bit, that should unfreeze them. i don't know why this happens or why doing that fixes it 🫥

10) i had an animated icon and now it won't move. why did this happen and how do i fix this?

unfortunately i don't know why this happens, sorry. i could be wrong but from what i've seen i don't think you can fix it ☹️

11) i currently have an animated icon, if i upload a different animated webp image will it still work?

from what i've seen, no. if you want to keep your animated icon as it is, i'd suggest not changing it

12) i have an animated icon, if i edit my blog appearance (without changing the icon) will it mess up my icon?

if you edit your blog appearance via the desktop theme editor (https://www.tumblr.com/customize/yoururl), it should be fine

#tumblr #webp icon

[frenzyarts]

Okay for people who use dark mode on the tumblr app, did your text also randomly become unreadable? I uninstalled and reinstalled it and it’s still not working.

When I make posts, it’s usually white text on the black dark mode background. But now it’s doing black text??? On a black background?!?!??! So I can’t read it unless I change the font color⁉️‼️⁉️‼️⁉️‼️⁉️

if anyone else has had this problem and knows how to fix it PLEASE let me know. I need dark mode or my eyeballs shrivel and die. @staff @support

#please my crops are dying #helpppp #tumblr support #tumblr help #support #staff #frenzy post

[vacuously-true]

Tumblr improving its algorithmically generated features will be good actually. When new users join it takes a lot of time and work to curate your "following" dash. A functioning "for you" dash will massively improve their experiences. The "for you" page currently sucks. It does not show me stuff I would like to see. But the technology to make a good algorithm exists! It is possible to make the "for you" page good! And new users who aren't following many people yet will benefit from this. And it WILL NOT hurt existing users. The "following" page is not going away. The ability to turn off "best stuff first" is not going away. Tumblr knows existing users love these mechanisms. They aren't going away. But they don't work for new users who aren't following lots of people yet. Those people will benefit from the "for you" page being better.

You've seen the polls that get passed around and show that most users have been around a long time. New people are not joining tumblr in significant numbers. Except, my anecdotal experience is that I have MANY irl friends who I have encouraged to join tumblr and couldn't get into it because their "following" page sucked and their "for you" page sucked. So why would they stay?

And yeah everyone can make their "following" page not suck by following more cool people. But where to start? It's hard! You have to follow lots of people to get a dash that moves regularly! I'm following over a thousand blogs and I have built that up over nine years! New users are not going to have that! Some of them will be able to make the time and energy investment to pick a ton of stuff they want to see and follow blogs and tags. But a lot of them won't want to or won't know how or won't be good at it because it can be hard to find out what you actually want to see. So many of them aren't going to be able to fix their "following" page. So staff wants to fix the "for you" page so it keeps people interested and enjoying the experience. I want this to happen! It will be good actually! New users can actually enjoy Tumblr! And if the "for you" page is really good it will show them blogs and tags they want to follow and maybe they'll even eventually accumulate a "following" page that they enjoy too! And! It would be super cool actually if both my "following" page and my "for you" page were good! I would use them both if they were good! It does not hurt me at all for Tumblr to improve the "for you" page while not messing with the "following" page which is exactly the plan as I understand it.

I want new people to be able to join tumblr and enjoy Tumblr and that requires making it easier to use and that's what they're going to try to do. I don't understand why people are so hostile to this. Tumblr needs to be functional for new users or eventually we will no longer have Tumblr. Some of you keep saying that you're going to leave if they make Any Change At All (even ones that actually won't affect you) but like. If they don't make any changes, we're all going to be forced to leave. Because it's going to shut down. So please chill out and work with them. If you have concerns it makes sense to voice them but please actually read what they're suggesting first? And understand where they're coming from? And think about what the actual alternatives are.

I think the recent staff post is mostly good. It definitely doesn't warrant all the "piss poor reading comprehension rebuttals" and "staff go kill yourselves" in its notes. I want Tumblr to get better. Hating every single thing staff does on principle seems to be like our national sport and it is not productive. It would be super cool if people could calm down and think rationally about this stuff instead of blacking out and rage posting every time they see a post by @staff regardless of its contents. Come on y'all.

#leemursays #mine #tumblr

[orchidyoonkook]

personal

Hi, need to scream. Tumblr seems to listen best. can and please feel free to ignore.

okay so essentially my job has removed all of the things I use and need in order to be able to do my job with my mental disorder. my mental DISABILTY. that i was honest with them and told them about at my freaking trial shift. that i told them i needed certain things in order to do well. nothing drastic. but things that helped me significantly with my performace.

SOOOOOOOOO i am now severely struggling at my job because they've taken those away cuz they were 'annoying' or 'in the way' or 'clutter'. like. im not even leaving shit every where. It's like, maybe at most 3 sticky notes? (for example) and they're written just for me, like just so i can have a list of things i can do and know to go back and look on when i need a task because ive finished the one i was doing. but then my boss reads them and critiques them as if they're for everyone. or says 'okay yeah but we do that every day so i dont see why you have to write it down. you should know to do it by now' LIKE BRO. I forget to put deodorant on some days because of said mental disability. it's something i do and have done every day since i was 12 or 13. thats 12 years. and i still forget some days just cuz my brain wasn't working properly.

AND now due to this they have put me, one of the staff currently with more seniority than 3 other staff, down to one shift a week, while every one else is full time or heavily part time.

In march i was full time and kicking ass, I was the fastest employee on my tasks, i was doing great, the customers loved me and now that all of my things that i need in order to function have been removed for everyone else's aesthetic preferences, I'm suffering, and most likely being silently fired.

like... what do i do with that. I can do my job, with my accomadations - that arent that many btw - i dont expect them to move mountains for me. But dude. I hate this feeling so much because i'm capable, theyve seen me be capable. i was for 1.5 years. like i want to be good at my job. I like and enjoy being good at my job. i've told them that. I want to do good but my ability to be good is being derailed, and i just get told to try harder, just work harder, impress your boss with how hard you work -> for minimum wage, i might add.

and everyone is like "just get a new job, just apply for more jobs you're not applying for enough, literally just apply for everything, even if youre not qualified" and i cant just do that, due to said disability. there are jobs i am unable to do. so i have to be a lil picky otherwise i'll be right back where i am now. and ive been looking for months and applying for months with no luck - no one ever responds. why list jobs if you dont respond?????

it's getting to the point where im debating opening up drawing commissions or writing commissions, or something that i can make to earn a little extra cash here and there while i get over this transition period. And that's a big deal for me because i don't do commissions. I do my art for myself or for when i want to share something i've made already, like the UTWT books. Hell, I did a tattoo design for a friend on here that i put easily 40 hours into, and i felt guilty that they wanted to pay me for it because i'd asked them for the idea. Like, i don't do commissions. so for me to be considering it is really telling for me.

anyways. this is a bajillion words long now, but i already feel better. and I'm posting it in the middle of the night in hopes that the void just consumes it and never lets it see the light of day.

If you read this, thanks and sorry for the bummer of a post. This isnt a pity party or a poor yoon thing. I'm not looking for comfort or any of that. this is a 'i don't have a therapist and my friends and partner and family are sick of hearing me bitch, when i havent been able to fix it in months despite trying my best too' thing. so yeah..

i hope the new year brings me something good.

#i just needed to get that out #dont mind my screaming #literaly ignore it its just me bitching about my job for the millionth time #im not even doing organizing tags so itll vanish into the interweb

[isolaradiale]

Hey everyone!

We just wanted to touch base on some developing technical issues with Tumblr’s platform relative to how we use it for RP, as well as what the fixes will likely be going forward. It isn’t a fun topic, but unfortunately Tumblr has decided it’s a necessary one. We don’t claim to be experts on how these things work mind you, so this is just an overview based on what we understand.

As you all may have noticed Tumblr has been beta testing a new post editor for some months now, and we’ve largely been ignoring it since they’ve given us access to the legacy editor in the meantime. But as it seems has been the case for the past few days, newly made accounts don’t have the option to use the legacy editor at all. This has led us to the conclusion that they intend on forcing a rollout to every account in the near future, but we’re not sure when that might be.

Now why is this post editor change a big deal? Well, the community relies on a browser extension known as XKit (whether old or New XKit) to make RPing a little more convenient, and one of those features is the ability to edit the reblogs in a thread and trim them so each thread isn’t more than two or three or more replies long. The issue is that the new editor isn’t compatible with this XKit feature if you’re using one of the older versions of the extension, which is obviously an issue when some accounts can’t access the legacy editor at all and we expect the number of these accounts to increase.

It gets even more confusing when it comes to a solution for the new editor, because while one does exist it is completely reliant on your RP partner also using the new post editor for it to work. Which won’t be an issue once Tumblr makes everyone use the new editor, but in the meantime it means some of our members will not be able to trim threads and it will fall upon members using the old post editor to do this for them when they reply.

This solution is XKit Rewritten, a newer extension that is receiving constant support (unlike the old versions which have been abandoned and are gradually breaking). Along with having functionality comparable to the old versions, it also has a “Trim Reblogs” feature that you use on a reblog after you’ve posted it, and you can select old reblogs to remove. The problem is that this is incompatible with posts made using the “Editable Reblogs” feature of previous XKits because it incorporates reblogs into the post of the one reblogging it. Technically it’s confusing to explain in detail, so we’ll avoid the headache.

For the time being feel free to use whatever extension and post editor you feel comfortable with, this post is just more of a heads up about what’s happening and we would never force anyone to use an extension they don’t want to. We’re just wary that the time where we’ll be forced to abandon the old editor and XKit is on the horizon, and we don’t want our memberbase to be blindsided when it does happen.

If you find all of this a little confusing, a couple of other voices in the greater Tumblr RP community have made handy posts and guides on it below (make sure you give them a like and / or a reblog if you find them helpful!):

rpschtuff

shinsources

Likewise if anyone has any other possible solutions or concerns, please reach out to the staff team!

-- the island stars.

#modnote

[astraltrickster]

So I suspect there are a few things going on with the moderation bias issue.

1. (Educated guess) Whatever system they're using (because it is known that the majority of tumblr's moderation is automated) is self-adjusting, like most pre-2021-ish machine learning systems. Meaning, any post that action is taken on manually - be it by an actual staff member, or a user with the report button - is acknowledged within the system as "this is what a Known/Potentially Flag-Worthy Post Looks Like."

2. (Known fact about the internet) Bigots, knowing that OPENLY harassing people gets them banned (no, seriously, I know it's easy to think they don't because they keep popping up like fucking weeds and SOME of them are pretty good at playing the "I'm-not-touching-you" game, but if you dig around for them crossing The Line of plausible deniability like I do when I have the mental energy you'll often find them talking about having been banned multiple times before, [airplane-survivorship-bias-diagram.jpg]), often instead choose to resort to report-brigading innocuous posts by users of the demographics they're bigoted against. Because most websites over a certain size have a mostly automated moderation system, the number of reports makes the system essentially go "oh, wow, if THIS many people are reporting it it must be REALLY bad!" - and if point 1 is correct...the impact is obvious

3. (Statistical consideration) Tumblr staff is about 200 people. That's way too few to have people constantly on top of making sure appeals are resolved fairly with minimal risk of overwork-induced human error, on a site this size...and, given the state of Politics right now, also too MANY for it to be at ALL likely that there aren't at least a small handful of absolute thundercunts who at best CONSIDER themselves aligned with tumblr's mission as a queer-positive space but whose internal definition of "sexual content" is roughly the same as the Florida government's (it is illegal, in the US, to ask questions about personal politics in a job interview, and...I mean just look at the whole existence of the kink-at-pride discourse and how widespread that bullshit is even in ""mainstream"" LGBT+ circles)

4. A lot of that skeleton crew is currently distracted from making sure the moderation system doesn't eat itself because the decision at the top is to take a gamble on new users being willing to pay more than existing ones and throw their hat into the ring of trying to clone Twitter (someone PLEASE tell upper management that no other social media site at this scale has EVER gotten into the black off user engagement alone either; making a site that people WANT to Crab Day on really IS your best bet my dudes)

5. (Speculation, admittedly maybe overly bitter) Given that the CEO has praised the muskrat FOR the decisions causing the Twitter collapse, I wouldn't be at ALL surprised if he's instituted an internal policy that excessive negativity about the site is a secret extra category of "mature content" 🙃

So...what's the solution here? The strategy I suggest is:

1. If you're a trans woman or other queer user, and your SFW content got flagged, DON'T attach your complaining about it to the same post in case of point 5; appeal, list the things you're NOT doing that appears in PG-13 movies all the time, and MENTION the fact that they've ALREADY had a moderation bias settlement that they're SUPPOSED to be fixing the core of in your ticket

2. If that doesn't work - document it and try again. And again. And again.

3. USE THE FEEDBACK FORM, USE THE FEEDBACK FORM, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, USE THE FEEDBACK FORM. Politely but firmly (because if you just curse them out it will get lost in the noise of inevitable "I can't identify anything specific that could be better but I don't like change" that EVERY website gets with EVERY change) stress that fixing this system NEEDS to be a higher priority, for the users' sake AND their own, because FOR FUCK'S SAKE there was ALREADY a settlement over it

4. If THAT doesn't get some shit done it may be time for us as a community to consider turning to a human rights org and lawyering up again, because...while I highly doubt there's some kind of grand queerphobic conspiracy, it's still also likely that we're approaching the point where our best bet is doing the EXACT opposite of what this ridiculous, wasteful overhaul is trying to do (i.e., COST them a ton of money rather than making it), or at least threatening to in a way they can't ignore

#tumblr wank #serious tag

[magnusbae]

I do (ironically) love it when people make posts about how little fucks they give about tumblr changes, and making a point to ridicule the people who were, in fact, upset by those changes. Very cool. :)

And now seriously?

UI change is not the worst thing on earth, and often can actually improve the quality of life and make the place better.

While yes, the tumblr user base does not typically receives change happily (unless it's good, polls, am i right?) to say that this is all about the users being 'bitchy' or 'silly' is a gross understatement of what upsets people in reality and is pretty damn rude.

I will not go down to every single point of why it's bad, but I'll bring forth a few points nevertheless.

Releasing a massive UI change while there's still active and major bugs and issues in the main functionality of your platform is not only bad towards a loyal user base that is used to a certain way of things, it's also unprofessional, incompetent, and quote frankly—stupid.

Here is an example of main tumblr functionality, the post editor on web. As a website that is heavily reliant on text posts, and the ability of users to be able to write quality posts, the fact that as of today, the text editor is heavily bugged, is truly a thing to be astonished by.

Especially considering the fact that some users (namely me) made a point of sending them a proper documentation of the bug, along with full descriptions and even a screen recording for an easy recreation of the issue on their side.

Following image was submitted with my feedback months ago:

In case you were wondering what response did I get—well— TL:TR they say that there's an issue, and IF they find the issue, they will fix it :)

So now with this in mind, and many other bugs like this still present, since April they could not have fixed the post editor— but they could add numerous and absolutely pointless UI changes, right?

Now taking it a step further, let's address the UI changes, why not?

The changes they're rolling out are clearly unpolished, unfinished and untested. The audacity to force hardly-working versions onto people without any sort of consent as is customary in such an unpolished version of a product is something that I have no other words for other than absolutely shameless.

Even look at the Chat UI change, the text is smaller, the windows cover other parts of the dashboard, the Chat visually changes from section to section of the website (for instance it's new on main, it's old on support page) and again, endless amount of other bugs.

What's worse? And I will not go into depth about this particular topic as not so many people are from 10+ years ago still here, but just in short: The loss of identity that tumblr had prided itself for so long with. We are not like other social media, right? Or well, so we thought. As it seems like tumblr is adamant to change and curate for new users that will, frankly, leave the moment their social media gets fixed. Some will stay, and they are warmly welcome to, however most will leave just as they did last time twitter had a crisis.

P.S You have to appreciate the irony of tumblr making money out of making fun of twitter, and the user base supporting it because that's the sort of UI changes we do enjoy— only for tumblr to copy paste twitter some months after :)

But yes, why not, call everyone a crybaby, since siding with a staff that simply does not listen to its user base or cares about fixing current and relevant bugs—is the way to go!

P.S2 it's absolutely fine if you're unbothered by the change or simply don't care. Ain't nothing wrong with having some good proportion on things. However please don't embarrass yourself by making fun of the people who actively care and worry about how this place operates and what sort of platform we'll be engaging in the future.

#I try very very very hard to not get aggressive ever in my posts #I much rather explain and rationalize things to people #as understanding it the best way to come to an agreement #And franky I was not even going to speak of this topic in this manner #HOWEVER SOME LITTLE :) DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT HOW STUPID EVERYONE IS AND PISSED ME OFF :)))) #siding with the uppers against your own fellow people is SO wow. :))))))))) #tumblr #tumblr issues #much longer than i had ever intended #but this is my stance and it's where i'll stand. #it's just how it is. #again. no issues whatsoever with anyone who simply doesn't care. #but come on-- what do you gain from making fun of literally your fellow fans. what on earth do you get out of it. #does it make you feel good? #this is such a bad attitude. #I relaxed a bit and placed it under readmore since it's too long

[changes]

Tuesday, November 1st, 2022

🌟 New

We’ve made some changes to our Community Guidelines! Please read about it over on Staff.

We’ve improved how link posts created from the mobile apps and the new web editor look on blog themes.

We’ve updated our Twitch embed integration on web, and it now includes Twitch chat.

You can now select multiple blocks in the new post editor on web. We’re aware that there are still some bugs to iron out — for example, you can’t select multiple blocks and change the text type (like regular to indented) yet. We’re working on these issues!

🛠 Fixed

We fixed an issue in the latest version of the Tumblr iOS app that was causing the dashboard to refresh every time you opened the app.

Photosets posted from the mobile apps and the new web editor now have more consistent vertical spacing on blog themes.

We’ve fixed a visual glitch on web that was causing the dashboard to reload in the background when clicking the reblog button.

🚧 Ongoing

We’re aware that the open beta version of the Tumblr Android app has some serious issues and crashes, we’re getting a fix out now.

🌱 Upcoming

Nothing to report here yet.

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

#tumblr update

[thediktatortot]

I keep seeing like 5 different ways that people are wanting to help tumblr, change tumblr or fight against tumblr and I have still yet to see anyone make any concrete ideas as to what it is people are supposed to do in order to keep the site from being monetized & become something it's not.

If the site does not pay off it's debt, it will eventually cease to exist. If you don't petition for change, it will continue to label queer bodies as mature and sexual, continue to remove BIPOC folk from it's premise and continue to allow white supremacists to infiltrate this site.

So what's the options? What are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to change a site without everyone sitting down and actually talking about what change means and how to get there?

I see so many people just tossing out ideas that in theory do work in one way or another, but might not fix all the problems so there HAS to be something that can fix things without disenfranchising half the communities on this site?

There's so many "don't do this, this hurts these people and now your a horrible person for suggesting this thing." When most the people on this site have no idea who most of each other are and why or how it would effect people.

Give actual insight as to what could be done to get Staff to pick up their fucking big boy pants and do their job. Going around and telling people that they are horrible people for trying to suggest a solution or the people who share those solutions in an attempt to help isn't going to help anyone.

This isn't aimed at one post or idea in particular either, I've seen NUMEROUS ideas floating around that in theory could work for one thing or another and all there is, is people shooting these ideas down without actually backing up with something that might work.

Half the people on this site are children who have no idea how websites work on a corporate level, the other half are adults who've been on this site since they were children and just want the site to stay online and not disappear. There's disabled people who need this site (I'm one of them) to keep having a social life, there's artists who need this site to contuse having any form of recognition, there's writers who've got their entire portfolio on here and people who's entire blogs are dedicated to helping queer and trans kids learn about themselves and communities dedicated to finding people like themselves so they don't feel so alone in this world.

So what is it? What are we supposed to do? Without money the site fades away, with strikes you completely disenfranchise entire groups of people, without fighting against the staffs changes, current policies and lack of care about the white supremacists and TERFS that run rampant then people are still going to get harassed, reported into the ground and completely removed from the site for no reasons at all.

So if you have any fucking ideas then please actually tell people because at this point, everyone's trying to not get people to do one thing or another and yet no one is backing up these ideas with actual action that will work.

#Tator Rants #I'm just exhausted with how everyone fucking yells at each other for coming up with ideas that might do something #and then hound anyone who doesn't understand how these things work just because they tried to spread a word about something potentially wor #working* #so either come up with a plan or stop shaming random fucking users for hoping to find a fix #it's not going to help just shooting absolutely every idea down from the sky #EXPLAIN why things wont work #We all know funding this site isn't going to change policies but it would keep the site afloat #we all know that striking the site would lead to profit drop and push the staff to change things but it would disenfranchise entire groups #so suggest something that works because right now everyone's just yelling at each other while #tumblr still gets to pull it's bullshit by hurting people and plotting to monetize the site to hell and back

[heresiae]

being of this lovely hellsite since 2007 I saw all the evolutions and... we hate them all, everytime. but, of the three biggest changes (comments, chat and reblog structure), the only one that we embraced better is the chat (it's not like I use it much, but maybe other do?). comments are ok, but it allow people to make a comments instead of actively participating in the conversation through reblogs. I mean, they're ok in post where a reblog might be too much, but with some people they're just... meh. and yes, sometimes the branch reblog structure is missed, but we're used to the new one.

I also remember when using tumblr without x-kit was, indeed, an hellish experience. not like today, when if you don't have it you can still manage around, it was literally impossible to have a not "I'm going to kill this site" experience without it.

so, I have to be honest, after the communication the they will not get rid of the chronological navigation, the most anxious point, for me, is the conversation one.

people: it is working right now. it's working for everyone that had used tumblr for more that two weeks. not only it's not difficult @staff, but it's also the very way that distinguish us from other socials.

if we preferred other ways of communicating, we wouldn't have stuck with it during all the 16 years of mayhem till today. we LOVE how we're communicating right now and trust me, as a UX designer, completely eliminating the learning curve on a social platform it's impossible. you do have some ux problems, but not on the dashboard. it's mostly in the menu and every time you wan to change some settings that is not completely intuitive (also, you're search DO need a much better way to work).

honestly, the only thing you should do on your list, it the last one: FIX THE DAMN APP.

I discover new tumblrs and creators regularly, because my mutual do and reblog them and they probably do the same, etc. it's a chain and it's working. when I'm feeling adventurous, I follow a tag, or search for something.

creators are very well loved and supported here. the creative community is not only very active but prone to teach stuff to us civilians. now, if you're able to put more creators in my dash (since I can't afford to pay for the free-from-ads anymore) that's ok, but DON'T PUSH IT.

please, don't make us more like the others? we are not becoming a refuge from other social for nothing. don't change things too much.

[wanderinginksplot]

Vent Post

Please skip if you don't have the space right now! I'm just frustrated and looking for advice if anyone has some. Details below the cut.

The Complaint:

I have an NSFW sideblog. Sometime around the end of last year or beginning of this year, it got shadowbanned. I don't know when it happened because I didn't know shadowbanning existed on tumblr. All I knew was that fics from 2022 got several hundred notes and the most popular fic I posted this year (a list that included several continued works) got about fifteen notes total.

I spent four months working on fics for an event I do in February, but I got almost no interaction from anything I posted. It felt like I had just sacrificed literal months of my life (including holiday time I could have been spending with family) to work on stuff no one cared about.

All of that contributed heavily to the writer's block. I like to think I write mostly for myself, but seeing those numbers? I figured my works were either dropping in quality or I was just a content farm. Neither of those theories put me in a great creative headspace, leading to the writer's block I'm still trying to get over.

I sent a ticket to the staff account, letting them know about my issues and requesting to fix the sideblog. Well, since I'm shadowbanned, I didn't get a email saying that my request has been received, but they don't want multiple submissions, so I'm trying to let it ride. My other options are using a different email (I'd rather not) to get a ticket number or tweeting them (I really don't want to create a Twitter account) in hopes of a faster response.

Today, I created another sideblog as a stop-gap, to repost my fics and hopefully get some interaction on them. Just as a way to release pressure since I'm sitting on over 100,000 words of fic that most people haven't seen. The fic I reposted isn't showing up in any of the tags, which leads me to assume even new sideblogs I create are shadowbanned.

I am beyond frustrated right now.

Request for Advice:

Have you been shadowbanned before? How did you handle it? Do you remember how long it took for your problems to be addressed?

#ink's life #shadowbanned #tumblr shadowban #seeking advice #vent post

[thelezzer]

pre-note: i'm not interested in complaining or insisting that this website shouldn't change. i want tumblr to be profitable and to grow, and that's going to involve changing things so more people will use it and understand it. i have been using this website since 2011, i recommend joining/rejoining tumblr to my friends whenever i can, and i've even bought socks and a mousepad from the shop LMAO. i have some genuine advice and things to consider that could help tumblr and i am offering all of this for free with no expectation of return.

~

i truly believe that if @staff @changes fixed the "because you follow #tag" feature, it would solve a lot of the issues that new users have when coming to the site.

currently, this feature:

- puts a disproportionately low number of posts from followed tags on the dashboard

- repeats the same posts over and over instead of providing new content from the tag.

these can be fixed by:

- instituting a % value for how much of the dash is from the followed tags. i would suggest that this percentage is higher if you follow very few blogs, and lowers as you follow more individuals. for someone like me who follows 400 blogs, i think as many as 1 in 15 posts could be from a followed tag.

it is important that this is not algorithm based. users only see posts from the tags they follow. i would hope that you've gathered how anti-algorithm your current userbase is. please do not alienate us.

as a middle ground on that issue, i would suggest adding suggested tags to the menu of suggested blogs that appears on the right side of the dash. that suggested blogs feature is one of the best changes this site has seen IMO, and has really helped me find more people to follow. implementing the same this for tags will get more eyes on more blogs and increase time on the site.

encouraging users to follow tags (or "join communities" if you want a fresh coat of paint) and actually putting a variety of posts from those tags on the dashboard would improve the experience for creators and get more eyes on their work without tumblr having to guess what a user is interested in.

- not showing the user multiple copies of the same post if it is from a followed tag.

i recommend keeping the presence of duplicate posts from individual blogs for multiple reasons. 1: a post fundamentally changes as more people add tags, replies, and reblogs; if the post disappears into the void after you see it once, you won't see any of this beautiful creativity and community discussion. 2: spam reblogging is funny sometimes. 3: if it's been a long time since you've seen a post, it can be fun to see it creep up again.

the key is that this repetition is because a human person liked the post enough to reblog it again.

~

it is ESSENTIAL that users do NOT see content that they did not ask for on their dashboards.

yes, algorithmic suggestion is a feature on other social media sites. even on those sites, the users complain about this and ask others for ways to turn it off and view a chronological following feed. i have personally seen this on twitter and reddit. this will be much worse with the current tumblr userbase, who is hostile to algorithms.

~

i have more thoughts on this matter but didn't want to join the flame war. on the low low low chance that someone from staff sees this my DMs are open for free consultation from a long time average user

#staff #changes #tumblr #ranting into the void probably

[absentcaryatid]

Hiii! How are you? I hope you're doing alright!

I saw your posts about these Community Labels Mature and I wanted to know what they are. I only saw Tumblr added a filter for mature content, but I don't know what the Community Labels Mature are. I don't have too many mature content of my own on my blog, but I reblog many. If you can, would you, please, explain this to me so I can apply it to my own blog?

I'm always well to get the chance to talk with you, Saturno!

I think you have answered part of my question why more people are not using the new labels. People just don't know because Tumblr did not explain things much for such a big change and I had to hunt up the Help Center article on Community Labels myself. And here is more about it with an illustrative screenshot when I accidentally triggered a review on a post by the very kind and understanding Smileysuh. I think we should be getting to a place where all Mature content is well marked but during this not-always-working-well transition it should be the choice of the author.

As a reader who Tumblr knows your birth year makes you 18 or older, you want to make sure Mature works are allowed by your settings to keep seeing posts by the authors we love who have marked a work Mature. The setting to see every rating was turned off by default for everyone when the feature went live on September 26, 2022.

As a reblogger of 18+ work like me, Mature works should be able to be designated on the reblog. My account on desktop with the "new" editor in Beta shows that option but everything I have reblogged does not keep that label and defaults to the Everyone status. It is not supposed to be like that. If the author already marked Mature on the original post that is done for us and can not be removed.

As a writer with sometimes adult material, look for the new options in the tag line when composing a post on desktop with the "new" editor. I don't see this as an option on mobile yet. The default says Everyone but can be changed as needed to Mature due to Violence, Drug or Alcohol Abuse, and Sexual Content. If everything was working as it should, you could go back and edit the rating on the older works that qualify for the Mature rating. That does not work for me, though others have been able to.

I have had success flagging the post I wanted marked and Tumblr staff rated it Mature for me. They should not have to do that so I am hoping all the glitches will be fixed letting us revise on our own someday. I would like people who read at work or wish to limit Mature material for any other reason to be able to trust things marked Everybody actually are that instead of the current default where everything is marked Everybody unless successfully marked Mature.

#Community Label #Ask #I retain information best through explaining so am happy to describe anything further I have learned through playing around #How Tumblr works #or doesn't

[pathologicallypedantic]

This the most cogent analysis I’ve read of the big problem with new Twitter and why in fact it is dead already and will never come back. It is also, I think, a roadmap for how a site like tumblr ought to strengthen itself. Not to make itself like Twitter (as if that was possible; the author contends it really is not possible to recreate and I agree) but to avoid the same mistakes and strengthen its core experience.

Tumblrs strength above all else are it’s communities. It’s the the network effect; how the social graph we’ve all carefully constructed over the years for ourselves have resulted in these shared experiences we can all talk about. That’s so special.

After reading the latest staff posts I am very worried tumblr may not understand this fully. They seem very concerned about driving more user onboarding and engagement and they feel the way to do this is to always be presenting users fresh new algorithmic driven content. To them if you ever open the app and don’t see an endless buffet of new content they’ve failed.

This is a huge mistake! As long as this remains a separate section of the site that might be okay. But if tumblr ever messes with dashboards that would be the worst decision they could possibly make. Instead they need to LEAN INTO the dashboard. I know in a past life folks like @foone were working on fun dashboard features like “sub dashes”. This is exactly the shit they need to be doing. Throw for you in the trash. Discovery is fine. Giving users tools to discover and find new content is grand. Fix search! But for the love of god, put down the algorithms. They will not be your salvation, but rather your downfall. Please tumblr. Stay pure.

#tumblr meta #discorse #twitter #fuck the algorithm #for you #meta post