New Feature: Embed YouTube In Comments
Sometimes you can't think of anything to say, but you can think of a video on YouTube that will make your point perfectly. That's when you might want to bust out a new feature we added to the comments. Just drop a link to a youtube video and then our computer gnomes will go make that video magically appear in the comments in a thumbnail size. When you see one of these, click "watch video" to watch it. Click "stop video" to make it go back to thumbnail. Nifty.
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Comments:
I suppose I can only hope that commenters will use this feature for good. Barring that, lifetime bans for abuse, I say!
Should we use the "link" or the "embed" code? Thanks!
Also, can we use this thread to try out this nifty new feature?
Great idea! What could possibly go wrong?
ugh, I'm not crazy about this idea. I read this page at work, and I can't really watch a video here (no sound, no java). So now I won't get half of what's going on when people are posting videos as replies.
Sorry, had that song stuck in my head all day, and it seemed to really fit here, even though I'm probably going to get flagged "innapropriate".
@QuantumRiff: i think you used it quite appropriately. unless, of course, you take the song to heart, in which case there wasn't enough nudity.
At least they are hyperlinked and not embedded. I just had to install flashblock but I got fed up with my elderly computer getting bogged down my youtube heavy pages.
Can we put this feature in a box with the "See what your friends are doing" chaffe, and send them to Sears' Idea department? Pretty please?
@Sherryness: Just go to you tube, find a video, copy the URL, and paste it into the comment box. The site takes care of the rest.
Haha, doesn't look like I'm missing much so far not being able to view the videos.
Great, still no formatting buttons or automatic
quoting of text when replying to a post,
but now there is embedded YouTube? WTF?????
Who the F' needs to include a YouTube clip as part of a relevant response in a thread? Oh, sure, on rare occasions it might be useful, but not nearly so much as basic formatting tools.
This is a stupid new trick in light of the missing basic functionality that is far more needed and useful.
@Skeptic: I gotta agree, and the lack of "nested" comments makes the discussions awfully hard to follow. It would be nice if the reply's were indented and minimized underneath the parent. (look at slashdot and digg for examples). Really makes the conversation "flow" much easier.
The "stop video" under the thumbnail stopped the video, but not the audio. I ended up listening to QuantumRiffs video while watching Girtychs. Try it and have a giggle.
[the video where Julius Caesar gives the thumbs down]
@QuantumRiff:
I'm not sure what the reluctance to provide formatting tools is. Even BoingBoing has the same problem. There seems to be a favoring of clean looking design over function, since practical and functional tools and nested threads would mess with the "white space."
Why is it that cheesy intellectual blogs like "The Volokh Conspiracy" have simple and easy to use formating tools but Gawker websites do not? Seems silly to me.
we still need an edit button!
Considering the numerous assinine comments and pathetic attempts at humor, already on this site, one shudders to think what adding video clips will do. Praise Jesus, I don't have to click on them.
Of course, an edit feature would have been far more useful, but it appears that catering to dickheads, seems to be where it's at.
@Skeptic: I'd vote for a timed edit button giving you like 5 minutes to tweak your post and then it's permanent. This of course necessitates your comments being visible right after you post them.
You also seem to have enough HTML down to make the formatting work for you. :)
@zouxou: maybe not an edit feature per-say, but the ability to add notes to your original comment (with timestamps of course) to offer clarification or corrections. That way people can see the original comment and then any comments you have about your original comment. I think that if they had the option to edit comments directly, people could go back and change what they said and it could disrupt the cohesiveness of the thread.
@MercuryPDX: and just to clarify...
The timer aspect would prevent you from typing something like: "The OP is a jerk.", someone replying: "Way to blame the victim!", and then you editing your post to say "Way to go OP! Stick it to the man!".
Any replies to comments you edit would be confusing.
BY MERCURYPDX AT 07:18 PM
You also seem to have enough HTML down to make the formatting work for you. :)
Now I do. But it is an inconvenience. And why shouldn't everyone get to use basic formatting instead of just people who have the time an knowledge to use HTML? And, you never know which tags different forums will accept, so hand coding is a crapshoot.
Over at BoingBoing, which has a similar cool-looking, function free comments engine, the nee mod bitched out someone who used ALL CAPS on a few words of a citation for emphasis. Well, the poster didn't know you could use formatting tags, let alone the HTML so he was using what tools he had at his disposal--reasonable in the context I think--and got yelled at. If there had been formatting buttons, the issue wouldn't have come up.
--man, I wish I had an edit button to fix that typo...sigh...
Am I the only one who can't view Youtube videos sometimes? It seems like my ISP blocks Youtube sometimes.
I don't like it. Editors by all means should be able to post video, but random commentors (like me)? Nope.
The dumbing-down of the art of the written form continues.
BY BEN POPKEN AT 07:18 PM
@QuantumRiff: You can nest comments by installing this Greasemonkey script in Firefox.
You mean all I have to do is install the occasionally insecure and hackable Greasemonkey add on, then install the special Consumerist script and then only use Firefox. Wow, that is much more convenient than just having the functionality built into the site the way Slashdot does... :-/
Bold text here = <b>Bold text here</b>
Italic text here = <i>Italic text here</i>
Quote text here= <blockquote>Quote text here</blockquote>
Easy "how to make links" tutorial
Did I miss any?
P.S. "Clip" this article (using the heart) above to keep this as a reference.
BY SAVVY9999 AT 07:34 PM
I don't like it. Editors by all means should be able to post video, but random commentors (like me)? Nope.
The dumbing-down of the art of the written form continues.
I have to say I agree. While video may on rare occasions be useful in a comment thread, you can't really have a discussion by posting dueling YouTube Videos. Additionally, video is a linear format. You can't scan down the comments and glean the import or relevance of the content, which is why the written word remains so relevant on the web: random access and quick parsing.
It's not like commenters are, generally speaking, going to run out, make a video to argue their point, then post it, then someone will watch it, create their own video and post that.
Content and functionality, please, not useless eye candy.
That's the heart of it and a great resource for people. But since it isn't a sticky, most people will never see it.
How frickin' hard is it to had a couple of formatting buttons down next to the "submit comment" button? If cheap arse blogs like Volokh can do it, Gawker (much better funded) can do it.
(Help me, oh missing Edit Button...I have mistyped and which to make recompense...)
(er, twice in a row...)
@MercuryPDX: Oooo thanks for the nifty block text code. I figured the rest out, plus links, on my own. The YouTube function is nifty, but not really necessary. Hey, that makes it just like most things on the internet!
@blondegrlz: Oooo thanks for the nifty block text code.
Personally, I think italics works better than blockquotes for quoting people. :)
@Skeptic:
The larger-than-life quotes are kind of annoying, since we're all being so critical and "honest."
Personally, I think italics works better than blockquotes for quoting people. :)
Really? I like the nifty blue box. We could do this all day! (ha, see what I did there?)
The larger-than-life quotes are kind of annoying, since we're all being so critical and "honest."
I'm not sure what you mean, actually. Are you talking about blockquote formatting?
Could we have a button that deletes our own comments, if we can't have an edit button?
I sure hope this doesn't force me to look at ads for things I don't really want, submitted by unruly youtube posters for their own products!