Play Book Tag discussion

Has anyone seen the new Beta format for book pages?
It's big requiring lots of scrolling to find info and I only see the top 8-10 genres and no link to tags. Big problem for us.

I agree. I can't see it being beneficial to amazon, either. It wasn't easy to click on the link to purchase the book.

Linda C wrote: "Has anyone seen the new Beta format for book pages?
It's big requiring lots of scrolling to find info and I only see the top 8-10 genres and no link to tags. Big problem for us."

how do you get to that?

Linda C wrote: "Has anyone seen the new Beta format for book pages?
It's big requiring lots of scrolling to find info and I only see the top 8-10 genres and no link to tags. Big problem for us."

Also ... I STRONGLY suggest we flood the "contact us" page with information on how we require the use of tags for our group.

OMG!! I've been DYING for this to be made public so that I can talk about it!!!

I emailed the Goodreads product team through work with a link to our group showing that we use those links for a variety of challenges and games throughout the year. I haven't gotten a response. I was going to keep following up on that. I have it enabled on one of my browsers but not others (I have it on Chrome but not on firefox or safari). I keep checking to see if they've incorporated my feedback.

Book Concierge wrote: "Linda C wrote: "Has anyone seen the new Beta format for book pages?
It's big requiring lots of scrolling to find info and I only see the top 8-10 genres and no link to tags. Big problem for us."

A..."

I disagree with flooding the contact us. It's a small team.

When you are a beta tester you have the ability to Share Feedback. Any of us that are beta testers need to ensure we bring this up as a big piece of feedback through the proper channels so the right people see it. I was able to email via work too and shared links to our group and examples of our challenges.

Charlotte wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Linda C wrote: "Has anyone seen the new Beta format for book pages?
It's big requiring lots of scrolling to find info and I only see the top 8-10 genres and no link to tags. ..."

Thanks for having our back Charlotte! Lord, what would we do?

I have not seen or heard of this - what is it? Can you post a link?

Very cool that we have an inside ally!

Because I'm so new to the group, I never paid attention to tags, and they still annoy me because I have to go by what someone else thought the tag should be. Sometimes they are just wrong! The great people in this group and the large amount of reading is what keeps me here, not the games themselves.

annapi wrote: "I have not seen or heard of this - what is it? Can you post a link?"

There was a beta link at the top of a page when I clicked on a book cover at the top of someone's review so I could go to the books page. The first time there was no link to give feedback. Today a feedback link appeared with a way to return to the original format.

I'm definitely not a fan of the new format.

Yep, NOT at all a fan of the new format. It looks a lot more like the mobile/app format and useless!!

On the book page, there's a box on the top of the screen that says "Goodreads is testing a new design for this page, and we’d love your feedback. Check out the new book page here."

Click that & the page will show you the beta. Then on the right hand bottom corner there's a "Beta" button which you can click and there is an option to "Share Feedback".

There are a few questions (if you've seen the beta page & if you're familiar with the current page) and then asks whether if you like/dislike and how much. I, of course, chose "The new page is much worse" option....

Thank you Tien!!!

I don't know what I can or can't say, so I'm going to err on the side of not saying much in posts.

So... maybe I should see when our Zoom call is this weekend ;)

I had filled out the feedback form with an objection to format and loss of tags. I just noted that you have to click more details for the book to bring up character names, places, all awards, and other editions (all useful bits that are buried) and noted that there is no list of lists that the book is on in listopia at the bottom of entry but before reviews (no link to thisfunction at all).

So I went to add another feedback form and it said I had already commented and could not do another or give me the option to edit the first one. SO BE SURE YOU ENTER ALL YOUR COMMENTS BEFORE SENDING YOUR FEEDBACK.

I do NOT see any box alerting me to the fact that they are testing a new format.

Can someone post a screenshot of it?

Also ... how are you accessing GR? I'm on a desktop, not on a phone or tablet. Does that make a difference?

When you finished the survey did you guys get a message? About if you have other feedback...
Did you see the email address...

Here is a url for a book in the new beta. Not sure if it will work

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Charlotte wrote: "When you finished the survey did you guys get a message? About if you have other feedback...
Did you see the email address..."

If there was a message with an email I didn't copy it. Now when I click beta it just tells me I have completed the feedback and my session has expired.

Linda C wrote: "Here is a url for a book in the new beta. Not sure if it will work

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Thanks for trying ... it just shows the regular "current" book page for me.

Again .. I'm on a desktop, windows10 ... using Firefox browser.
Don't know if that makes a difference.

Book Concierge wrote: "Linda C wrote: "Here is a url for a book in the new beta. Not sure if it will work

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Thanks for trying ... it just shows the regu..."

I use Google and I cannot get to it either

Book Concierge wrote: "Linda C wrote: "Here is a url for a book in the new beta. Not sure if it will work

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Thanks for trying ... it just shows the regu..."

I am also on windows 10 using firefox. I think that they randomly selected beta testers and not the whole of goodreads at this point. My guess.

I think I could get used to the new format over time, EXCEPT for the loss of tags. Why do they think we only want to see the top five or so? Do they not know they have entire groups setup around tagging? I don't think we are the only ones that use it.

I think there is too much focus on the book covers. They're pretty, but I don't like them taking up so much space on the page, and of course the loss of the tags just kills the deal for me.

If they are beta testing, it is in preparation to launch a new format. We are not going to have a choice, so I hope enough people tell them not to lose the tags that they will tweak their design before releasing it.

After you give feedback, it gave an email address. I emailed them a link of our group along with screenshots of example challenges we play from my internal Amazon email address. The more of us that make sure we include that in our beta feedback, the better.

Charlotte wrote: "After you give feedback, it gave an email address. I emailed them a link of our group along with screenshots of example challenges we play from my internal Amazon email address. The more of us that..."

So great to have an advocate in our midst! Before this group, I had no understanding of or interest in the tags, so if I had been given an opportunity for feedback, I wouldn't have thought about it. My personal automatic response to any online change is negative. No matter how clunky the site, if I am used to it, I don't like it to change.

I can’t say too much about the what and whys but they are doing it for a reason. In my opinion, I don’t entirely agree. I did find that I could give additional opinion when I used a different browser type... like chrome instead of edge

Is this just for the app or will it affect computer users (laptop, notebook, desktop...) as well?

There is a Reddit discussion on it, but I am not a member of that https://www.reddit.com/r/goodreads/co...

Today was my first view of the new beta book page. I am not impressed. I do not like anything about it. I did provide feedback, with an emphasis on keeping the tags.

When we were voting for March's tag I also looked on LibraryThing, and the same books came up from the Goodreads tag.

LibraryThing also has Common Knowledge pages for places.

So, if we do lose the tags on here I think we could manage by using LibraryThing! ETA: The only problem I can think of with LibraryThing at the moment is that it won't tell us how many people have tagged it as such.

I have yet to be invited to sample the beta format.

Of course, I ONLY use the website on a desktop (very occasionally on my tablet when traveling).

So an answer on whether this is supposed to roll out across all platforms vs only the mobile app is vital.

To chime in on the discussion of whether this beta may just be for app....note I have NOT had access to the beta...

I never use the GR app. It is so appallingly limited, I see no reason to use it and even on my phone, I access GR from Chrome browser to use desktop version. But today I opened the app on my phone to see if it gives me an invite to the beta - it did not - and while there decided to check a few things viz tags/shelves.

I can see and access all my shelves/tags.

On the book I am currently reading, I cannot see any shelves/tags. It does give me 2 measly listopia lists. So if this roll out is just for app, the tag feature sounds like a vast improvement.

The book I am currently reading: Still Life by Louise Penny. It has 100 pages of tags. The listopia lists offered for it by the app were only 2 and they were weird.

The app is just so bad.

I've only seen beta on the web/desktop version across all browsers. I've kept it turned on on Chrome on my work laptop and have beta turned off everywhere else.

I also never use the GR app for anything, I don't see why anyone would. Maybe in the earlier days of smart phones, websites didn't show up as well on phones but I've never had an issue. And since I don't like changes, I want it to look like what I am used to, not have to find things in a different place.

I use Firefox as my browser, and only access GoodReads on my laptop. Yesterday was the first day I was invited to view the new beta version book page. It sounds like the invites are rather random. Hopefully the new roll out isn't soon.
I took a quick look at the Reddit conversation. It looks like reviews are pretty evenly mixed, so people love the beta version, so hate it.
I really hope they figure out some way to keep the tags that we use. It will be an awful lot of work for the admins if they don't :(

Jenny wrote: "ETA: The only problem I can think of with LibraryThing at the moment is that it won't tell us how many people have tagged it as such. ..."

It doesn't, but since it's a tag "cloud" type, you know that the tags with the larger font have been used more.

Robin P wrote: "And since I don't like changes, I want it to look like what I am used to, not have to find things in a different place. ..."

I'm like this for every website! It helps that I don't use a smartphone and I have a tablet, so it's a bit bigger. I wish they would all allow us to switch to the website on our mobile devices. But they don't all allow it.

LibraryCin wrote: "Robin P wrote: "And since I don't like changes, I want it to look like what I am used to, not have to find things in a different place. ..."

I'm like this for every website! It helps that I don't ..."

I treat my tablet like a mini laptop / desktop. I told Best Buy to delete all the "apps" and install the desktop versions. I really only use it when I'm traveling and that's to access my email and Goodreads. So it's not like I need a ton of memory on it. (I have the files on a thumb drive and in the cloud.)

LibraryCin wrote: "Robin P wrote: "And since I don't like changes, I want it to look like what I am used to, not have to find things in a different place. ..."

I'm like this for every website! It helps that I don't ..."

Actually, if it defaults to the app in your device browser, if you go to bottom of home page for GR you can switch to desktop.

Theresa wrote: "Actually, if it defaults to the app in your device browser, if you go to bottom of home page for GR you can switch to desktop. .."

I have GR already set up that way (and I will for any website when I can find the option, but many websites don't give the option to change it from the mobile device "view". :-(

I rarely download an app for a website. I will always attempt to use the website, unless the only way to see it is using the mobile view or an app (booooooo).

Have no idea what the Beta version is like, but I found the GR app not very user-friendly. So like other, I use the desk top version - even on my phone and tablet.

I HATE IT.

The feedback link isn't working on the pages I saw, so how do you tell them what you think?

The print is much smaller, and it's harder to read.

No link to tags!!!!!!!

Jenny wrote: "When we were voting for March's tag I also looked on LibraryThing, and the same books came up from the Goodreads tag.

LibraryThing also has Common Knowledge pages for places.

So, if we do lose t..."

For those that do use LibraryThing. It does tell you how many people have tagged the books on the tag page. If you are on the tag page, the section that shows the tagged works has a small number under each cover picture that appears to be the number of times that book has been tagged. It may not show that for all books with the tags, but it does for the most often tagged ones.

I have not been invited to try the new Beta version, but I have already experienced some changes to current GR desktop.

Last couple of days I have been doing a lot of tag checking for a challenge ... both verifying tags already identified earlier in March and checking a slew of new reads. I have noticed:

1. Several tags, which may all have been a single tagger but not sure since did not note as not important, are no longer showing for the book. Example: book X was tagged portugal in early March. Now no longer is. This happened on several books all different tags.

2. If there are 17 pages of tags or 31 or whatever, the last page or two gets an error message and you cannot access.

3. No book has more than 100 pages of tags. For popular books like HP and Sorcer's Stone that means lowest number of taggers is 3 people. You never get to one tag on mega-popular books.

This isn't really messing with any ongoing challenges I am doing in 2021, but anyone moderating any challenges or setting up onnes relying on at least 1 tag needs to take these changes into account.

I also noticed a change in appearance and listing of Most Popular Books Published In.... lists. They now have largish book covers dominating each line, load a few to the page at a time so you have to keep clicking on to see more, and I am not sure you can search the page using F3. Bit of a pain. Feels more like an app loading than desktop. I was on my computer at the time not a device where it could have defaulted to app.

Theresa wrote: "They now have largish book covers dominating each line, load a few to the page at a time so you have to keep clicking on see more, and I am not sure you can search the page using F3. Bit of a pain. Feels more like an app loading than desktop...."

So many websites are doing this now. Making their site look like an app. Booooooo

A few years ago, GR changed the home page to make the book covers much bigger so that you can see fewer of them at a time. I used to look through those to see what people were reading.

I hate, hate, hate the beta format, but can't see how to make comments without using something my computer isn't set up for. Is there a way to get to that email place without that link? I use an email service, etc, that I can't just link to that way.

BUT --hooray, Theresa, for telling us about how we can switch to desktop. I hope that works on Macs as well. Yes, it does, and mine is on the desktop. I tested switching back an forth.

I got a look today. How do i go back?

I would normally not jump on looking at a new site as soon as given a chance, but I wanted to send in my unhappy feedback.

Oh yeah, I also got error messages when trying to mark a book as Currently Reading. I can mark it Want to Read, but I get error messages otherwise.

Shoot - just reread (well, skimmed) this entire thread. Does anyone know how to go back? Please!? Thank you.

ETA: I found it! Click the Beta link again and you get an option to "leave beta". The "Share Feedback" was still there, though. Would it have told me that I couldn't share feedback again had I clicked on it? Or is it, after all, possible to leave feedback again?

I finally got the link for the Beta, but when I clicked on Share Feedback I only got a blank page. I also did not see any alternate email address or way to leave feedback. Did anyone else have this problem? I will try again tomorrow to see if it was temporary glitch.

When you click on the left side of the BETA button, it brings up an email window and you can give feedback. I have already given feedback and it looks like I can give more (I did not send it, though, since I want to think through what to say).

I have, in my work life, been involved in web design rollouts, and once they are beta testing, they are planning to implement at some point. They should take the most frequently noted feedback into consideration and make a few changes prior to implementation.

I advise everyone on this forum (who is able) to give feedback about the lack of ability to view all tags for a single book.

It looks like they are expanding the number of pages for a specific tag from 25 to 100, but we will still have to scroll through pages and pages to see if a particular book is on the list.

In a pinch, I can use the App on my phone or tablet, but it is clunky and you cannot do everything you can do on a laptop. I always use the laptop for posting reviews or anything other than viewing.