Patron's Choice Poll #1 - What's Next?

Hey there, Backloggers!

I was hoping to the Data Export update out today, but I've hit a few snags. Hopefully next week!

In lieu of that, I thought I'd go ahead and start the first Patron's Choice Poll since I've been sitting on it for a few weeks now. It'll also be nice to have something to point to when one of the more common requests come in.

This poll will let the community pick the next major update I work on after the Data Export update goes live. This time, the options will be mostly returning features and revisions based on the feedback I've received since launch. In the future, new features will be among the candidates. Options that lose will return in later polls, but the less popular ones might be rotated out for fresh options.

Some of these updates and changes are relatively minor, so I've tried to group things that are either logically or thematically related together and make each option have a similar heft. There's bound to be some variance though, so apologizes in advance if one of your personal favs feels a bit short-changed.

I'll explain the options below. Patrons of any tier can vote in the poll. Poll closes in two weeks. Depending on what wins, I might make a follow-up post to brainstorm ideas and get more detailed feedback on what you all are looking for.

➡️ Please note that an option winning the poll isn't a guarantee of a certain outcome. Ideas that seemed good in theory might turn out to be bad, have unforeseen consequences, or unexpected technical difficulties/burdens. That said, I'll do my best to only include options I believe to be both feasible and sound.

The Poll Options:

• Badges, Emoji, and Likes
  Badges and emoji return! Emoji will include all site icons, like priorities and badges as well as returning ones like statuses. "Likes" would be a new feature and exactly what you think, liking posts on the Multitap. A fun and easy way to cheer on your friends' accomplishments. Actual terminology TBD.

• Colors and Banners
  I intentionally scaled back user control of profile colors for the remake to help avoid the more garish color choices some made. Perhaps I was too heavy-handed? This will give you greater control of your profile colors, including text. A brighter variant of the Status colors will be made available to better match brighter color schemes. Banner sizing will also be made more flexible.

• More Info in Home View
  Did you hear that people want the multitap shown on their home page again? I sure did! Maybe not the most frequent request but definitely the most passionate. For this option, I'll likely implement a new view for using your own profile that focuses on surfacing more info at a glance, like your multitap feed and history.

• Game Presentation and Filtering
  This option will add a row of icons to games that will surface things like star ratings, region, and reviews. It'll also let you filter your library by them as well. Definitely one we'll have some brainstorming/feedback sessions on when/if it wins.

• Platform Summary and Auto-Sort
  Who designed that Platform Summary anyway? Ugh. This option will prompt a redesign of the Platform Summary and aim to present things more clearly and cleanly. I'll also add platform tallies to the Platform Settings page and provide various options for auto-sorting your platform order, like Most to Least Unfinished, by Total Games, etc.

Got a question about an option? Ask below!

Update Forecast

Here's a look at what's coming up:

• New Feature Update: CSV Export - as long promised

• Patron's Choice Voting Ends: I'll talk a bit about the winner and you give a chance to give more detailed feedback on what you want from it.

• Polish Phase: various site improvements I'm prioritizing

• Patron's Choice Phase: work starts the set of updates chosen in the poll 

Also, there's a Backloggery Stream Marathon coming up on Saturday, Aug 3 to celebrate the site's 17th Anniversary! (The anniversary is the 14th, but it's as close as we could make work.) The whole staff will be there, including Xavean! More details to come.