Revamp of "default style for visitors"

Following on the revamp of how styles are picked and moved around, we've revamped "Default style for visitors."

You change it here: https://www.librarything.com/settings/styles

And here's how it looks now:


We've removed the rather intrusive "so and so has a default style, do you want to use it?" messages, and flipped the default. That is, members' default styles is now the default--if you hit a catalog with a default style, it uses that style. You can flip to another style, and it will stick, but the default is to use it. We think this (slight) flip values member's preferences better, while respecting everyone's ability to see things as they want.

Other changes:

1. Your viewing style (i.e., whether you're looking at A, B, C, D or E) is now saved in your user preferences, so it will persist across platforms and sessions.
2. The view for other members "sticks." So you can be looking at A on timspalding and B on LT_ammar. If you've made a choice there, it sticks. This, however, is session-based, so it will eventually go away.

There are some other wrinkles, but they're really small wrinkles dealing with edge cases.

Yay! Thanks!

Very nice!

Nice. I think this will be especially helpful for people who expect their catalogs to be frequently viewed by non-members, so that the visitors will see the preferred style by default.

>1 timspalding: Re point 1 - style persisting. I'd rather not have it persist across platforms - my preferences for my widescreen monitor and my crappy little phone are rather different.

Thank you so much. This solution works for our group. You have some nice features here.

Odd. I don't know if it's me doing something silly, but I just logged on and my Your Books page was showing in style A (I have style B saved to settings as my preferred format). I had to change it all around. (I also like to view my books in order of date started, which I always have to reset if I log in afresh. It'd be grand if I didn't have to do that!) Should that have happened?

Thanks for a great solution to that problem!

>7 Vivl:

Your setting was reset to A when we changed systems. If you click B it will stay B forever.

I see that now when a non-member (or logged-out member) views my catalog, it defaults to the "Your library" collection. Did it do that before?

>10 saltmanz:

I think it has always defaulted to the collection that's first on your list.

Nice!

Is there a way to set the default viewing mode to "Covers" (for visitors), rather than "List"?

Also, can there be a way of specifying the default sort order for visitors?

Right now, I suspect that these are "live" settings (stored, I presume, in cookies), rather than settings that can change as you move from catalog to catalog. Nevertheless, there have been times when I would have found both of these options useful. For instance, right now, if I wanted to send someone a link showing them the covers of the books that I have recently read, I would have to send them instructions, in addition to the URL to my catalog.

>13 SilentInAWay: I would love to be able to do that..

Yay! : )

@13: You can encode cover view and sort order (among other things) in your URL. See this wiki page for more details.

Is there a way to set the default viewing mode to "Covers" (for visitors), rather than "List"?

No, and the remaining JavaScript problems with Covers makes me wary of making it the default. Perhaps when it's redone correctly.

>13 SilentInAWay:

You can send them a link. Make it covers and choose the "permanent link" icon at the bottom of the catalog.

>17 timspalding:

PLEASE do not make Covers the default. I'd be okay with allowing members to set their default mode as part of the "preferred style" - hey, if you don't actually want me to know anything about your library, then I probably won't be interested in it anyway - but not as a default for everyone.

(For me, suggesting Cover Mode is telling me the aesthetic appeal of your books is the most important thing for you. It's like organizing books on your shelves by color - it looks pretty as long as you don't actually want to be able to find a book, or want others to get an idea of what books you have.)

Don't worry. It would not be the default default.

>19 Collectorator:

Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that, it just means I'm not likely to go trawling your library for interesting reads, just as you won't be searching mine for beautiful old children's books.

>21 Collectorator: Promptly noted: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/User:Bnielsen/TimQuotes#2015-03

Thanks :-)

>23 bnielsen:

Gah, you need to put a warning label on the ones of those that go to Pro and Con!

>24 lorax: It's not mandatory to follow the links :-)

But yes, I get your point.

>9 timspalding:

Thanks, Tim!