Doodle Kisses Site Upgrade...

[Adina P]

I've mentioned in an email announcement that this was coming...so..

This Wednesday, August 21st, the DK site is slated for its long awaited upgrade.  By the time you log on Wednesday morning (unless you are super early risers) we should all be moved over to the new site and (crossing fingers) you won't even notice a difference except for it will look different and things will seem a little out-of-place.  

And from there we will arrange things so they look more familiar (but they won't be exactly the same).  The best part is that everyone will be able to access DK, in its full glory, from mobile devices!  But it will also function more smoothly overall.

Feel free to post questions now and when we have moved I'll start another discussion where you can post new questions, complaints, and "where did this go"? confusions.

[Stacy]

If I was writing a letter to a friend with a piece of paper and a writing utensil I might underline something for emphasis. But it's so much easier to use asterisks to convey that with a keyboard. I also think if I was writing something formal I wouldn't use as much sarcasm as in casual conversation, so I don't need a visual way to express that. I also abuse exclamation points. I don't seem to be able to stop myself. I also suspect that my commas are frequently in the wrong place. But I hope most people aren't diagramming my sentences. My goal is that I am able to convey my tone in writing so that people understand what I'm trying to say - even if it's not 100% grammatically correct.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Asterisks are for footnotes, lol. When did they start being fro emphasis? 
Oh wait, let me guess. When smart phones took over?

[Adina P]

An asterisk can mean:

• Footnote
• Replace letters in a four letter word
• surround a word to mean emphasis when you don't have access to something that makes italics or bold font
• denote an action like *cough*

All of these are valid depending on the modality/media/formality in 2019 :-D

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yeah, in techno talk. Which is not a real thing in my universe. LOL

[Stella]

Adina - I still double space after a period. I'm like you, I just can't not do it!!

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

I worked as an editor/writer for many years and have had to relearn the socially acceptable way to communicate in different situations. Single spacing between sentences in social-media writing is still hard for me. But not putting a period after the final sentence while texting is even more difficult!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Yay! Will we be able to use the search function again?

[Adina P]

It won't be a google search function (I don't think) like the one that used to work well, but the search should work.

[Stacy]

I'm really excited about this. Sometimes I look at poodle forums instead of DK on my phone, just because it's easier to navigate. DK is so much better though! xo

[Adina P]

Yeah...I'm afraid DK would get less and less useful if we didn't improve mobile functionality.  Everyone under a certain age or who just prefers mobile devices has probably taken a quick look around, found it a big pain in the butt to navigate and gave up.  The site's use does not match the number of members we have.  I think that's normal, but worse when you can't move around the site on your device.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Smart phones have broken up that old gang of mine. 
(snarly face emojis)
Maybe if this change brings back the fun of the old days, I will like it. 

[Adina P]

I hope so too Karen!