I want to see new uploads, new art, new this, new that, not some predetermined picks, letting people know or giving them faster access to see what has been "top rated" is not necessarily bad, however I think it should be an option on the side panel when searching or browsing categories. I concurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The reason we are contemplating making this update is so that first time visitors to the site will see the best/highest rated work on the site. I feel that we need to display quality work to these visitors so they'll have something to strive for, live up to .... I don't want to initially display work that's below par.

With the method that will be implement in a day or so, once you check your choice of sort methods you'll always see the files sorted that way.  For example, if you click the sort by 'date' button this will remain in effect for your current session and for every time you return to the site provided you're using the same browser.

I know that's it's impossible to please everyone, but I think I've hit a compromise that gives us some control over how the site shows content to first time users, and that doesn't negatively impact or inconvenience our users. (Just the first time - when you click once. :)

Edited by ibsystems on 04/07/10 07:46 PM.

Having "sort by rating" on by default will be a problem when new users hit the page. People expect to see things sorted by date on a site like this.

By using "sort by rating" as a default naive new users will see little or no change and then they will go away.

Your fix will work for experienced users, but not for new users.

Why was the change made in the first place?

-

D. Jay Newman

Jalex417:

I'm sorry I didn't see your response before I responded. I'm a bit of a slow poster nowadays.

I understand your reasoning, but I think that the end result isn't going to be good. As many others, I come to this site often and I want to see the new stuff. The cookie is a workaround for experienced users to this site, and newer users may not see it.

One thing to think about is that this site is perhaps more important to new users than to more experienced users. New users are just getting into CG and they can use more things than experienced users. Also, new users may be more apt to clicking on advertisements.

And frankly, I never cared for other people's ratings. Often they have nothing to do with the art in question, but rather the popularity of the artist. I had enough of that sort of crap in high school, I don't like to see it again.

As an alternative I suggest that maybe you put a sidebar on the site with whatever you want to display for new users. That way you have the best of both worlds.

I'm working on improving my skills so that I can become a vender of Poser items. I was planning on giving away some of my initial work here to make a name for myself. I will not do this here as long as the "sort by rating" is the default. Think about it: when I first upload an item I will be unknown and not have a good rating. Therefore new users will not see it. Therefore the item (and myself) will rarely be seen by new users.

I will upload my works probably to Rendo because their items are sorted by date.

-

D. Jay Newman

After reading all your comments, giving this much thought, and lots of internal discussion, we agree with all of you that users want to see the latest uploads by default. 

Thank you all for letting us know what your preference is.  We'll have it all back to normal  tomorrow. (During this change you may possibly experience problems in the sort area .. please be patient, were working on it.)

Edited by jalex417 on 04/07/10 11:45 PM.

Sorting by date is great for someone who visits ShareCG on a regular basis.  I don't really want to view or download the same files or artwork every time I visit.  Sorting by rating is great for someone who has never visited ShareCG, or only visits once or twice a year.

Maybe make "By Rating" the default for guests, and "By Date" the default for members.

-David

(I sent this after only seeing Page 1 of the responses.  I didn't notice that there was a page two.  Actually, I prefer "By Date". I was just trying to suggest a compromise)

Edited by DavidJHanna on 04/08/10 10:35 AM.

We've set the default sort order back to - by Date - and have also added verbiage at the top of the page that tells the user how it's currently sorted and where to go to change the sort order.

I thought I had a neat idea, but it turned out not to be. 

Thank you all for getting on me for making the original change to sort by Rating.  Live and learn

jalex417.....you are my new Hero   Thank you!

Much better! I like the new headline that tells you how it's sorted. Thank you!