KALW News on UserVoice

Improve search [is now completed]

2010-04-21T09:44:23-07:00

When I search 90 percent of the items that come up are "feed items" so essentially I'm not searching crosscurrents - I'm searching Bay Area news. If I wanted that I'd use google. I'd like to see feed items cut out of the search results - so that results are restricted to only Crosscurrents-generated content. Also Advanced search options?

Improve search [updated]

2010-04-21T09:44:23-07:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We've changed the search to only include Crosscurrents original content. Thanks for the suggestion!

We'll be implementing advanced search in the future

investigate CDCR's practice of lockingdown prisoners 4 to 5 days out of every 7, that's inhumane. [updated]

2010-04-01T11:53:34-07:00

Renee Sherrer said:

A lockdown means the prisoners spend 23 out of 24 hours in a cell, no "yard time". I'm not sure but I think most prisons are doing this. My husband, who is at Mule Creek Prison, tells me they are locking them down 4 to 5 days out of every 7. These lockdowns are not for disciplinary reasons, security reasons, medical/health reasons (like a disease outbreak). These lockdowns are supposed to be for "budgetary" reasons but a according the prison guards' union and a recent judicial decision, prison employees cannot be furloughed or laid off, so where are the "savings".
I contacted the Ombudsman for Mulecreek State Prison and she tells me it is within the legal parameters for the prison to do this. I've checked the CDCR Department Operations Manual (DOM) and cannot find where this is stated. I emailed her, asking where that lockdown information was located in the DOM. She has not emailed me, nor will she (most likely). She is a CDCR employee. It does not behoove her to be concerned with prisoner rights.
This is cruel and inhumane treatment. This will impact the inmates' health negatively, resulting in increased medical costs (no exercise makes for unhealthy people). Also, with the stress of being a) without exercise and b) inside with your "cellie" continuously, there will be more violence in the prisons. WHO is making this policy because they are not thinking clearly!
Even animals in a zoo get outside every day!

investigate CDCR's practice of lockingdown prisoners 4 to 5 days out of every 7, that's inhumane.

2010-04-01T11:45:09-07:00

follow up the coop article

2010-03-10T14:37:14-08:00

an anonymous user suggested:
For people interested in a new way of working together - we would like to see an article about a coop opportunity which currently exists to make tempeh, worker owned, small scale. See: www.maketempeh.org

Newark Senior Center redux

2010-02-17T17:21:23-08:00

an anonymous user suggested:
How about checking back with the relocated seniors in a few months? Might be interesting to learn if sharing their new space with teenagers/teen-oriented equipment has had any influence on the seniors.

Nice website. [updated]

2010-02-10T10:38:31-08:00

Links on the website (so far clicking on Nathaniel Johnson's transit articles) don't tend to link to full articles, just photos. In one case also links to the audio file, but often just a photo. Front page implies there is more written after the link. Is this a work in progress or did the links get screwed up?

Zoe Corneli (admin) responded:

It looks like that when the page has not fully loaded. This can happen with slower internet connections. Try giving it more time or refreshing the page. Thanks!

Nice website.

2010-02-07T11:20:47-08:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Links on the website (so far clicking on Nathaniel Johnson's transit articles) don't tend to link to full articles, just photos. In one case also links to the audio file, but often just a photo. Front page implies there is more written after the link. Is this a work in progress or did the links get screwed up?

Education

2010-02-05T14:01:40-08:00

an anonymous user suggested:
You communicated a piece titled: Education San Mateo residents willing to pay to support community college system -- in the future can you please present with our current brand for CSM. Go to http://collegeofsanmateo.edu/marketing/logos.asp for download of logos. Thank you, Beverley Madden

go back to embeding the flash player in the RSS feed. [is now completed]

2010-02-02T20:52:02-08:00

go back to embeding the flash player in the RSS feed. [updated]

2010-02-02T20:52:02-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We had a problem with our RSS feed that has been corrected -- they should be loading with the embedded flash player. If not please let us know!
We want to make it easy to listen.

Twitter and Facebook "above the fold" [is now completed]

2010-01-30T20:31:10-08:00

I wouuld recommend that you put your "Twitter" and "Facebook" above the fold, on the upper right of the page. They're going to be a great way by which people 'subscribe' to your content...provided you guys push update of new stories into those subscription streams. Right now the Twitter account looks kinda dead.

Twitter and Facebook "above the fold" [updated]

2010-01-30T20:31:10-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We did change the links to be more prominent in the footer.

Thanks for the feedback!

It took me a while to find the feedback tab (even though it's orange). Put it in the header. [is now completed]

2010-01-30T20:30:13-08:00

It took me a while to find the feedback tab (even though it's orange). Put it in the header. [updated]

2010-01-30T20:30:13-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We've added a link in the footer that will take you to our feedback section. Please keep the feedback coming!

remove the grey'ed out "read more" link from the body of stories. [is now completed]

2010-01-30T15:29:06-08:00

In the headline "read more" takes you to the full story. People read through and then at the end they see ... read more! They don't notice that it's greyed out and they try to click, thinking they are missing part of the story. I've had several complaints about "broken" stories.

remove the grey'ed out "read more" link from the body of stories. [updated]

2010-01-30T15:29:06-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

Thanks for the feedback -- we can see how that was misleading. It's actually the label for the tags -- so we've now changed it to say "Related Tags".

Keep the feedback coming!

change language from "listen now" (in top right corner) to "most recent show" [is now completed]

2010-01-20T03:58:42-08:00

This is a suggestion for creating easier access to the most recent show.

change language from "listen now" (in top right corner) to "most recent show" [updated]

2010-01-20T03:58:42-08:00

This is a suggestion for creating easier access to the most recent show.

mrosas (admin) responded:

That makes perfect sense! We've made the change.

I agree about CC's tone -- I'd call it "approachable" -- should be communicated in pics & text [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:47:44-08:00

I agree about CC's tone -- I'd call it "approachable" -- should be communicated in pics & text [updated]

2010-01-17T22:47:44-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We loved your feedback and we've made changes to incorporate your suggestions.

make it possible for readers to respond to blogs in the left hand column. [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:47:03-08:00

make it possible for readers to respond to blogs in the left hand column. [updated]

2010-01-17T22:47:02-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

Comments are open!

Titles at the very top could be in bold type [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:46:34-08:00

Titles at the very top could be in bold type [updated]

2010-01-17T22:46:34-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

They are now bolded.

three columns are overwhelming to navigate [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:46:18-08:00

three columns are overwhelming to navigate [updated]

2010-01-17T22:46:18-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We've made spacing, typography and line changes to make the page more readable. Please let us know what you think.

make it possible for readers to comment on blogs. [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:45:40-08:00

make it possible for readers to comment on blogs. [updated]

2010-01-17T22:45:40-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

Comments are now open!

simplify, simplify, simplify [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:45:22-08:00

and simplify some more. The actual layout of e.g. http://beta.crosscurrentsradio.org/audio/homeless-students is a bit "busy" with facebook and twitter widgets (e.g. the "tweet" button that intrudes into the first paragraph seems like a major typographical faux pas). It seems to me consumers will have ample opportunity to microblog about your articles using the buttons *below* the article. Look at everything on the site the same way. How can it be simpler? 'k, said enough.

simplify, simplify, simplify [updated]

2010-01-17T22:45:22-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We loved your feedback and we've made changes to incorporate your suggestions.

Add a popup audio player [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:44:34-08:00

this will let me listen while I browse the site

Add a popup audio player [updated]

2010-01-17T22:44:24-08:00

this will let me listen while I browse the site

mrosas said:

Yes! We've added the popup player.

More white space, less density of text, more pastel color [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:43:46-08:00

The web page doesn't convey the feeling tone of CrossCurrents, which to me is its best attribute. I enjoy the freshness of the topics and interviews. This web page is very ho-hum, and doesn't convey anything at all, other than being serious and busy with topics. More white space and pastel colors would help. Also, the diver logo conveys the whimsy that I also appreciate from CrossCurrents. The web page should have more whimsy.

More white space, less density of text, more pastel color [updated]

2010-01-17T22:43:46-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We loved your feedback and we've made changes to incorporate your suggestions.

Designate a clear "archive" section [is now completed]

2010-01-17T22:43:03-08:00

The existing "Full show archive" link is not prominent enough, given that the main task I am trying to accomplish when visiting the site is finding a past show I heard on the radio. It should be in the top nav somewhere. Also, the orange RSS icon next to the link makes it look like a feed link, not a link to a normal page. Once on the archive page, I can only search within one month of shows at a time. Please expand the search functionality so I can search all Cross Currents broadcasts (default) or narrow down only if needed (e.g. last week, month, year, etc.). Also, where will the podcast/RSS feed live in this new design? I couldn't find it.

Designate a clear "archive" section [updated]

2010-01-17T22:43:03-08:00

mrosas (admin) responded:

We've added a link from the top header to take you to the Archives.

Add a popup audio player [updated]

2010-01-10T10:28:17-08:00

this will let me listen while I browse the site

John Paul Hayes said:

It looks like this has be done.

feedback on feedback [updated]

2009-10-29T06:39:17-07:00

It took me quite a while to figure out that "search" translates into "add new idea". Can you change the name of that button to "search or add new"? In general, this feedback site is great, but I hope you will keep tweaking and improving it.

mrosas (admin) responded:

This is part of the UserVoice interface and we don't have the option of changing this text.

feedback on feedback [is now declined]

2009-10-29T06:39:17-07:00

scrolling news articles are too fast [updated]

2009-10-29T06:34:01-07:00

Scrolling headlines I'm used to, but scrolling news articles are new to me. It might work better if they articles went by a little slower.

mrosas (admin) responded:

We've slowwwwed down the articles to allow more viewing time. Thanks for the feedback!

scrolling news articles are too fast [is now completed]

2009-10-29T06:34:01-07:00

Scrolling headlines I'm used to, but scrolling news articles are new to me. It might work better if they articles went by a little slower.