05.22 | Development Update

May is here with a new update report to go with it! One week after the backer closed-beta I have new tidbits to share about the feedback and the current status of the release.

The Closed Beta Results

In case you missed it, we had a closed beta for primarily trying out the new log editor. Allowing participants (thanks again to all who participated!) to get a feel for what it'd be like to log their games in the new UI while being able to find bugs, submit ideas, and give their general feedback along the way. This was the first time I ran a beta like this but it proved pretty useful in the end, especially when the feature is as substantial as the log editor. So let's go over some of the more prominent feedback.

Creating an additional log is confusing and too cumbersome.

One of the new features of 1.10 is being able to create multiple logs, all with their own rating, review, platform, etc.. But the only way to do this was by going to a game's page and clicking the" Log again" button which would start a new blank log for you. First, it wasn't very clear on how to find this as there was no option inside of the editor itself only by visiting the game page after you had created one log already. Second, if you were trying to create multiple logs in one session, it becomes very cumbersome as you'd have to open and close the editor each time to click the "Log again" button on the game page each time.

So an easy solution to this is to add the ability to start a new log straight from the "Switch Log" screen which you can see in the main image. From here you can switch which log you're editing but also create a new one while you're at it. That way you never have to leave the editor again!

Moving the game statuses to a different tab adds too many steps (same with played statuses)

A big change was moving the game statuses (Played, Playing, Backlog, Wishlist) from the main log screen to the new "Game Status" tab. The reasoning for this is because your game statuses aren't tied to an individual log but are game-specific. So it felt confusing to leave them on the log screen, I didn't want to mix fields with different contexts as that's currently a big issue with the log editor now.

It does add an extra click but also keep in mind you can also toggle these statuses from both the quick access menu (the menu when hovering a game card) and from the game page itself. I'm going to try it with this system and if it really doesn't end up working we can explore alternatives post-release.

Another change was moving the played status (completed, abandoned, etc..) from this first log screen as well. Now that it lives with the Played game status toggle, it will also be accessible from the Game Status tab. In order to add quicker access to this I've implemented a shortcut to change your game status from the quick access menu. There is now a shortcut where if you click on the Played icon it will bring up the status editor where you can change the played status without even opening the log editor! I'm also hoping to make a similar feature for mobile, such as long pressing on a cover.

The idea is to provide multiple ways of accessing controls to this data so I'm hoping the more shortcuts the better.

There's no easy way to log multiple platforms at once anymore

With selecting multiple platforms and ownership areas at once being replaced with the new log system, it can be pretty cumbersome to create a new log for every platform you've played, especially if you're creating your account from scratch.

So with this I'm hoping to make an editor tool for logs by allowing quick and easy additions from a single page (versus strictly having to use the pop-up log editor). This page will be the same logs page that exists now just with an edit view. This will also be an experiment as I haven't implemented it yet so I'm not entirely sure which data will be shown and how. If it doesn't end up feeling right to use or just doesn't straight up work then I may have to rethink how mass-logging certain fields should work. Feel free to suggest ideas if you have them!

The site's colors are a bit too dark

The general background colors are definitely darker, this was done to provide better contrast and help the site feel a bit more modern by removing the more colored look of the current site. This is also something that might just need getting used to, but luckily this can be easily updated on the fly if maybe the contrast is too high or just doesn't end up being the experience most users are looking for. I'll also be continuing to tweak these colors up to the final release so stay tuned there.

Current Status

So after the beta concluded I went and created an entire new batch of tasks for my todo list which set the progress tracker back by a little. Luckily I'm mostly complete with all of the design work (such as how the log editor should work, what features there are, etc..) which takes the longest. On the other hand there is still a lot to cleanup for the editor and making sure the data you entered will be properly reflected on the site. Then finally I still need prep for transferring all your current data to the new system without any hiccups. So between all new tasks and just having more than enough for the log changes itself, I've decided to delay the home page changes until 1.11.

I know this isn't the best news, but hey you're all gamers so you're used to delays by now right 😉 ? In all seriousness, we're already at the longest period between updates and the log editor changes themselves are super substantial that I think it makes sense to split the focus between two updates so they both receive dedicated support. On the bright side the home page has come along pretty far so the wait for 1.11 should be much less (hope I didn't jinx it).

With all that said be sure to keep updated on the 04.22 post for the latest progress report as I'll get back to updating that now that the beta has concluded.

Thanks again for checking in, until next time!

MrProg