Comments on: Resolving V3 issues http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/ Learning on Your terms Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:07:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-9057 Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) Thu, 10 May 2007 22:10:31 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-9057 Wow! Whatever you guys just did - it works. My vocab pages are turning over like s**t of a shovel (which apparently is a good thing where I come from). Serious relief. Thanks! Wow! Whatever you guys just did - it works. My vocab pages are turning over like s**t of a shovel (which apparently is a good thing where I come from).

Serious relief. Thanks!

]]> By: Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8988 Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) Wed, 09 May 2007 19:38:09 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8988 Thanks for the update Trevelyan. Looking forward to the fix! Thanks for the update Trevelyan. Looking forward to the fix!

]]> By: trevelyan http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8989 trevelyan Wed, 09 May 2007 02:05:01 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8989 Brendan and TJ, I checked the vocab issue this morning. The problems are apparently being caused by pagination issues on the backend database. The tech team is looking into it. Brendan and TJ,

I checked the vocab issue this morning. The problems are apparently being caused by pagination issues on the backend database. The tech team is looking into it.

]]> By: Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8990 Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) Tue, 08 May 2007 23:19:09 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8990 Ken and Co, It would be really great to know what the timetable for the next series of fixes is - above all the vocab list speed problem. It would be comforting to know that this problem 1) has been recognized as a serious one, 2) has been identified in terms of its cause, and 3) has a scheduled fix roll-out date. The problem only seems to be getting worse with every vocab item I add, and is now at the point where I have to avoid using the vocab section entirely. On a general note, have you guys considered using a ticket-management system to allow users to raise issues and remain informed of bugs on the system? Thanks, Brendan. Ken and Co,
It would be really great to know what the timetable for the next series of fixes is - above all the vocab list speed problem. It would be comforting to know that this problem 1) has been recognized as a serious one, 2) has been identified in terms of its cause, and 3) has a scheduled fix roll-out date.

The problem only seems to be getting worse with every vocab item I add, and is now at the point where I have to avoid using the vocab section entirely.

On a general note, have you guys considered using a ticket-management system to allow users to raise issues and remain informed of bugs on the system?

Thanks,

Brendan.

]]> By: Rich http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8993 Rich Tue, 08 May 2007 11:11:42 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8993 Please see my post in the Traditional Chinese Add-in blog about my troubles with the lesson PDFs in general ever since the change to simplified-only PDFs... for some reason my Symbian 60 phone's Acrobat Reader shows a blank document now. Anyone experience this? -Rich Please see my post in the Traditional Chinese Add-in blog about my troubles with the lesson PDFs in general ever since the change to simplified-only PDFs… for some reason my Symbian 60 phone’s Acrobat Reader shows a blank document now. Anyone experience this?

-Rich

]]> By: TJ http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8992 TJ Wed, 02 May 2007 10:59:04 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8992 Don't mean to whine, but I have to second Brendan's observation. I really can't use the Vocab section at all due to the speed. Would it be worth trying to clean out all of my vocab and start over? I think I have about 700 words that transferred over and maybe this mass of vocab is bogging it down. At this point, I probably don't need all of it, but it's hard just to get in there to make a change. Don’t mean to whine, but I have to second Brendan’s observation. I really can’t use the Vocab section at all due to the speed. Would it be worth trying to clean out all of my vocab and start over? I think I have about 700 words that transferred over and maybe this mass of vocab is bogging it down. At this point, I probably don’t need all of it, but it’s hard just to get in there to make a change.

]]> By: Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8991 Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:44:20 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8991 Ooops. I forgot another one about tagging. It's easy to fix but very frustrating, so this is low-hanging fruit guys :-) When I click Add Tag, the screen focus should go to the newly opened text field. It doesn't, which gives me another click that I have to do. If I have to do a lot of these (and I do), then it just builds up the bad chemicals in my brain over time. And there isn't a whole lot of space up there for bad chemicals... Ooops. I forgot another one about tagging. It’s easy to fix but very frustrating, so this is low-hanging fruit guys :-)
When I click Add Tag, the screen focus should go to the newly opened text field. It doesn’t, which gives me another click that I have to do. If I have to do a lot of these (and I do), then it just builds up the bad chemicals in my brain over time. And there isn’t a whole lot of space up there for bad chemicals…

]]> By: Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8994 Brendan (Peeling Mandarin) Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:18:09 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8994 A little more feedback on V3. I'm mostly <a href="http://peelingmandarin.blogspot.com/2007/04/trying-chinesepods-premium-subscription.html" rel="nofollow">very happy</a> with it, there is one important section that I think needs a lot of work with regards to usability: Vocabulary. * Tagging is really important for managing vocab, but I can only tag one item at a time (and sometimes it takes a very long time to even open up the tag field for editing). * The vocab page in general is *extremely* slow - getting to a point which is frustrating. The pagination scheme makes this worse - I can't choose to show everything on one page, and it takes forever to move pages. Is this because of demand on your system, or is there some kind of architectural bottleneck? For me, the vocab section is crucial. It's effectively the revision section - the place where I go to remind myself not only of the words I've learned, but to get memories of the dialogs themselves triggered. One more thing - this is a suggestion rather than a complaint: It would be great if the status of vocab items could be changed to 'learned'. This would prevent me using those words during tests, but would still allow me to keep track of my progress and get a view on how many words/characters I can now recognize. (I could manage this myself with tags if they weren't so bleedin' slow ;-) )I emailed a similar suggestion wrt 'studied' lessons - I think they should remain on the calendar but just change colour, again in order to help me build up a picture of my progress. In general I think a next step forward for Chinesepod would be to help students build up an almost statistical view of how they are getting on. I find it a great incentive. To finish on a positive note: I'm really happy that I've finally started to use the premium services, and I trust you guys to iron out the wrinkles and continue to deliver an excellent program. A little more feedback on V3. I’m mostly very happy with it, there is one important section that I think needs a lot of work with regards to usability: Vocabulary.

* Tagging is really important for managing vocab, but I can only tag one item at a time (and sometimes it takes a very long time to even open up the tag field for editing).
* The vocab page in general is *extremely* slow - getting to a point which is frustrating. The pagination scheme makes this worse - I can’t choose to show everything on one page, and it takes forever to move pages. Is this because of demand on your system, or is there some kind of architectural bottleneck?

For me, the vocab section is crucial. It’s effectively the revision section - the place where I go to remind myself not only of the words I’ve learned, but to get memories of the dialogs themselves triggered.

One more thing - this is a suggestion rather than a complaint: It would be great if the status of vocab items could be changed to ‘learned’. This would prevent me using those words during tests, but would still allow me to keep track of my progress and get a view on how many words/characters I can now recognize. (I could manage this myself with tags if they weren’t so bleedin’ slow ;-) )I emailed a similar suggestion wrt ’studied’ lessons - I think they should remain on the calendar but just change colour, again in order to help me build up a picture of my progress. In general I think a next step forward for Chinesepod would be to help students build up an almost statistical view of how they are getting on. I find it a great incentive.

To finish on a positive note: I’m really happy that I’ve finally started to use the premium services, and I trust you guys to iron out the wrinkles and continue to deliver an excellent program.

]]> By: Fu Da-Wei http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8997 Fu Da-Wei Fri, 27 Apr 2007 07:39:41 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8997 Has anyone reported flaky audio behavior on some of the flashcard entries. Seems like 95% of mine work fine -- but sometimes the system barfs on expressions with word breaks (ex: hao ba), which is curious since they work perfectly well under the Vocabulary Tab (and I assume Flashcards & Vocabulary point to the same .mp3 files. Is it possible that the Flashcard interface chokes on spaces (and might require underscores on some systems)? Has anyone reported flaky audio behavior on some of the flashcard entries. Seems like 95% of mine work fine — but sometimes the system barfs on expressions with word breaks (ex: hao ba), which is curious since they work perfectly well under the Vocabulary Tab (and I assume Flashcards & Vocabulary point to the same .mp3 files.

Is it possible that the Flashcard interface chokes on spaces (and might require underscores on some systems)?

]]> By: MarkT http://praxislanguage.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/comment-page-2/#comment-8996 MarkT Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:59:57 +0000 http://blogs.chinesepod.com/2007/04/17/resolving-v3-issues/#comment-8996 "ling" in the Pinyin chart is also not working properly. 3rd tone doesn't work, 4th plays 3rd, and 1st-4th plays 4th. “ling” in the Pinyin chart is also not working properly. 3rd tone doesn’t work, 4th plays 3rd, and 1st-4th plays 4th.

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