Revamped Title Information Page

[BadCosmonaut]

...We're thinking of also experimenting with an "infinite scroll" type approach, so that new ratings load as you move down the page -- that would be new to us, but feels like it might make sense here. Allowing users to customize the number of reviews they see per page would be much easier to implement... we'll play around with both. This is listed as an enhancement to the page.

On the Overview page, I use the compact view. If I had the option to increase the default number of scores that were shown I would definitely increase it, probably up to at least whatever the old amount was (200? 250?), maybe more. Infinite scroll might work as well but might be annoying to have to wait for it to load each time I want to load more, which if there's only 20 scores shown by default then I will probably want to scroll it/load more like at least 3-4 times every single time I open a movie page. All those little loading times can add up in a way that's minorly annoying.

[BadCosmonaut]

Concerning the compact view, I also wanted to ask if anyone else thinks it's less easy to visually parse scores for a movie when the scores are listed in a dual column format. On the old page, the scores were single column, so it was visually easy to scan the list from top to bottom. On the new page, the non compact view is single column but is hard to visually parse because each rating block is so big and the size of each block is inconsistent, whereas under the compact view the scores are kind of hard to visually parse because they are in two separate columns. To fix this for compact view, I think I'd prefer a single column somehow instead of dual column. Anyone else have the same issue?

[BadCosmonaut]

The new movie page shows ratings by accounts I have blocked. This is true for both the Overview page and the Ratings & Reviews page, and for both Detailed ratings view and Compact ratings view.

[BadCosmonaut]

One of the 8 ratings for the movie I Like Movies (2022) is by an account called Guest that links to this broken user page and looks like one of these bugged accounts. The old version of the movie page doesn't show that Guest account and only shows the other 7 ratings.

[chengming]

Great to see a sign of life, I was a bit worried that Criticker was dying a long and drawn-out death!

It will take some getting used to the new design, but I think it's a step in the right direction - I always felt a bit hesitant when recommending the site to friends because I was sure not everybody would enjoy the 90's aesthetics. This change definitely brings it closer to the current age - looking forward to what other changes you have in store for us!

On first look, I noticed two issues:
1) There is A LOT of white space. Both in terms of a lot of white (I'd appreciate a dark scheme!), but also a lot of space. I feel like both font size and padding could be reduced by a good bit without making the page overly dense - and still giving me more info on one screen.

2) Really appreciate you adding the similar titles feature! Do I understand correctly that it is just based on the film's details (e.g. cast or genre) and collections? That feels like a missed opportunity - wouldn't you be able to come up with an amazing algorithm to calculate what other films users that loved this movie also love? Your PSI's are the most accurate recommendation system I've ever seen on any kind of site (and frankly the major reason by far that I use Criticker!), and it would be great if we could get similar titles up to the same standard. (At the moment, they mostly seem to be recommending other films by the same director - that may not be exactly wrong, but it is not what I need the feature for, checking the director's filmography is something I can do on my own).

Bonus: Not sure this really belongs here, but can we please, please get DOPs on the cast page?

All in all, congrats on a major overhaul, must have been a lot of work!

[MTR]

How do I get the old, useful, site back?

[djross]

allowing us more space to display and organize information.

Although I have been a user of Criticker for a little bit of time now, and have always supported the way Criticker is run, I have to say that I am completely disappointed by this new title page. Although the Criticker guys say they have listened to feedback, I beg to differ: how many people offering feedback have said that what they want is "more space to display and organize information", and how many have said that the new page spaces everything out in a way that makes it much more difficult and more complicated to access information?

Yes, the functionality is still there, but all the functions are less functional. I have spoken to many users, and they all have the same complaints about this new title page, and they are the complaints that have been given by many users in the threads concerning these changes. These complaints have not been addressed in any way in the version that has now been implemented across the board.

As I've said before, Criticker can attract all the users in the world, but that's not its problem. Its problem is that many users try it and leave very quickly. Which users stay? I'd say: the kind that are attracted to the functionality of the site and the way it uses and displays information. The changes being made on the title page will not attract more of those kinds of users. And they won't keep the other kind either.

From my perspective, it's a big mistake.

[mpowell]

The new movie page shows ratings by accounts I have blocked. This is true for both the Overview page and the Ratings & Reviews page, and for both Detailed ratings view and Compact ratings view.

Whoops!! Yeah, I kind of think that we forgot to include this... okay, this is something we'll definitely be getting to soon, and will update here!

[mpowell]

One of the 8 ratings for the movie I Like Movies (2022) is by an account called Guest that links to this broken user page and looks like one of these bugged accounts. The old version of the movie page doesn't show that Guest account and only shows the other 7 ratings.

Thanks for pointing these bugs out! This is super useful... I've added a bug report for this one as well, and we'll be fixing it up soon!

[mpowell]

Great to see a sign of life, I was a bit worried that Criticker was dying a long and drawn-out death!

It will take some getting used to the new design, but I think it's a step in the right direction - I always felt a bit hesitant when recommending the site to friends because I was sure not everybody would enjoy the 90's aesthetics. This change definitely brings it closer to the current age - looking forward to what other changes you have in store for us!

On first look, I noticed two issues:
1) There is A LOT of white space. Both in terms of a lot of white (I'd appreciate a dark scheme!), but also a lot of space. I feel like both font size and padding could be reduced by a good bit without making the page overly dense - and still giving me more info on one screen.

2) Really appreciate you adding the similar titles feature! Do I understand correctly that it is just based on the film's details (e.g. cast or genre) and collections? That feels like a missed opportunity - wouldn't you be able to come up with an amazing algorithm to calculate what other films users that loved this movie also love? Your PSI's are the most accurate recommendation system I've ever seen on any kind of site (and frankly the major reason by far that I use Criticker!), and it would be great if we could get similar titles up to the same standard. (At the moment, they mostly seem to be recommending other films by the same director - that may not be exactly wrong, but it is not what I need the feature for, checking the director's filmography is something I can do on my own).

Bonus: Not sure this really belongs here, but can we please, please get DOPs on the cast page?

All in all, congrats on a major overhaul, must have been a lot of work!

Thanks so much for all these thoughts! You are correct about how we're generating Similar Titles... you're also right that it's currently trending too much toward titles by the same director (or in the same franchise). We're already talking about what will be the "Phase 2" of this functionality.

Appreciate your thoughts about the excessive white space and dark mode as well! That latter one is something that a lot of users have been suggesting