Floatplane

[Giiman95]

1 hour ago, AJJaxNet said:

 but because of a bug, some people kept access to the forum without any payment renewals. We effectively just fixed that problem.

So other people like mods, contributors and admins can access the Floatplane forum, but not the people who were paying for access to it???

[Aluavin]

this is BS.

 

The website still doesn't work for me. on ultrawide, it's just ugly - mainly due to the fact that there is no dark-mode. I get a big white-ish boarder around videos.

 

The thumbnail-cancer is also real and due to a lack of consistent colors, it makes the overview kinda messy. it works for youtube because they use the text below the videos and not on the thumbnail with just a black-ish background. also, those thumbnails are way smaller.

 

for me it is a dealbreaker. I really want to support LMG and also FPC, but the lack of UI customization (show videos as a list, dark mode etc.) makes me really not want to use it.

 

another thing which is annoying is that pages take ages to load, I stare for at least 2 seconds on a blank screen with no information (to reproduce: click on a video, then go back via browser...). you know - prerender is a thing and it's a possibility for a reason.

 

if i'm lost somewhere and i click the logo on the top i get refered to the homepage (which probably lists videos of all subscribed creators) but I only see 5 Items, so I have to do 1 more click to get to the lmg channel (before staring at whitespace for about 2 seconds....).

 

edit:

while talking about design I just started up a video. 

open 2 browsers: left one you have a fpc-video playing, the other one you load a youtube video.

do you notice the navigation above the video? this creates some space so you don't have the feeling that your video isn't cut on the top. on floatplane the video is directly under the bookmark bar - this makes the video seem to cut of in the top. add some padding here on the top - or even better use the space.

 

all in all it still feels like an alpha version. Let me tell you this: no one will care about how good the service is - when the UX is bad no one will appreciate your work

[PX4XKkRWMM]

I also liked the forum still better than the dedicated website, mainly because I could much more easily track which videos I did or did not watch (I clicked Like on any and all I watched).

But also the discussions on certain videos on the forum where just that much better, the comments section just isn't suitable for lengthy in dept discussions.

And when the Floatplane uploads are not working I always appreciated the forum posts from @RILEYISMYNAME with the YouTube video so could still easily and directly view the video without waiting for the upload to be fixed and more importantly without going to YouTube myself.

And a final reason that I'll mention why I still prefer the forum: the site simply is just still quite buggy for me now and again, while most of the times it works perfectly fine sometimes it doesn't. Like currently when I open https://www.floatplane.com/channel/linustechtips/home at first I do see a list of videos but after a second or so they disappear and I have to click the Videos tab first to be able to actually select a video.

 

Also to be clear, I certainly do not dislike the Floatplane website I actually kind of like it however, I simply like the forum more because it fits my use case better.

And I also do understand why it currently is like it is with the reasons given here and elsewhere and I accept this current situation but I very much hope that this will change in the not so distant future.

[LogicalDrm]

The most annoying things on current version of site, and main reasons why I prefer continuing with forum until my yearly runs out:

1. Download titles aren't a thing. They are on forums, but site gives every video same "1080mp4" filename.
2. Login reloads. No idea why this is even happening. Everytime I enter page after longer periods, it reloads 2+ times before my login details even get inserted by LastPass. Then it ALWAYS reloads main page, no matter what link was used before login page. So if I go from forum link to FP video, I need to first login, then go back and use same link again to get into correct video.
3. And the reason why I don't just browse is because scaling on site is messy AF. I use 110% zoom. Because it looks better than 100%. But thumbnails are way too big. YouTube can fit 4 videos in a row, and have padding too. And it still looks good. FP has 2 videos. Just two, as I need to scroll to see more. Thats how big they get. On Youtube its 2 rows worth, with description snippets.
4. Dark Mode. Not a dealbreaker as much as above ones. But I've hated Apple/Google white for a very long time, and have voice my disgust on lack of creative eye for anyone who dares to use it.

[PX4XKkRWMM]

@LoGiCalDrm I just noticed that you still have the "LMG Pilot" tag besides your post under your username. Do you also still have access to the Floatplane section of the forum? Are you still paying through the forum? Or any idea why you are still an "LMG Pilot"?

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, PX4XKkRWMM said:

@LoGiCalDrm I just noticed that you still have the "LMG Pilot" tag besides your post under your username. Do you also still have access to the Floatplane section of the forum? Are you still paying through the forum? Or any idea why you are still an "LMG Pilot"?

I have yearly subscription which expires mid-october. I do have access to subforum. After this yearly expires, and if yearly is available on the site, I will continue it there.

[yolosnail]

The thing that gets me the most is that we were told that we weren't going to lose access to the subforum, but that has happened.

And if it's still available for some people, then it clearly can't be that much of an issue

Maybe @LinusTech or @Slick can tell us why they've gone back on their word

[yolosnail]

Just now, VegetableStu said:

if their reason is that they have future plans to introduce some form of messageboard in floatplane (maybe something that meets in the middle between forum and "youtube comments") then I probably see why they're doing it o_o

But if that is their reason, then maybe they should actually communicate with us and tell us that! Or maybe, if they are actually doing something like that, we should still have access to the subforum until it's completed (which judging by the rest of Floatplane is probably not going to happen any time soon)

[harakiwi]

10 hours ago, usefuldiot said:

Didn't get auto billed for this months floatplane, cant access the forum page or repurchase my subscription through floatplane.com, just getting a "whoop's something went wrong, try again later error" after clicking purchase. Who do I talk to get this resolved?

I switched from PayPal to my CC. Now the subscribe button works. No whoops error.

[RozRocks]

The best part of LMG Floatplane was the forum part. The comments are great on the website, but the forum format is just better. I hope we can continue to have a forum post for each video moving forward. Please @Slick

[Giiman95]

Hi all. I have an update on the situation with the forum.

 

Per Floatplane Support:

“The sub forum is being closed so they can work on a player that is backwards-compatible with Floatplane.com (No ETA, unfortunately).”

 

I followed up and confirmed if the sub-forum would be coming back. 

“Temporary from what we last heard. Linus mentioned re-opening the subforum with a different player sometime in the future.”

 

@Colonelmortis mentioned that they closed the sub forum due to people who were not paying for access had access. At least now we know their is hope for the sub-forum.

 

Hopefully, with the support of the rest of the Floatplane members, we can convince the Floatplane team and LMG that the sub forum is worth their time.

[yolosnail]

1 hour ago, Giiman95 said:

Hi all. I have an update on the situation with the forum.

 

Per Floatplane Support:

“The sub forum is being closed so they can work on a player that is backwards-compatible with Floatplane.com (No ETA, unfortunately).”

 

I followed up and confirmed if the sub-forum would be coming back. 

“Temporary from what we last heard. Linus mentioned re-opening the subforum with a different player sometime in the future.”

 

@Colonelmortis mentioned that they closed the sub forum due to people who were not paying for access had access. At least now we know their is hope for the sub-forum.

 

Hopefully, with the support of the rest of the Floatplane members, we can convince the Floatplane team and LMG that the sub forum is worth their time.

Well they could have, in the mean time at least, let us keep access to the subforum without the player

[Giiman95]

1 hour ago, yolosnail said:

Well they could have, in the mean time at least, let us keep access to the subforum without the player

Basically, they were losing money and needed to stop the bleeding. Another member of the forum pointed out that there was a security flaw that was letting people access Floatplane on the forum without paying. I don’t know of a single company who wouldn’t try to stop that immediately.

 

That’s probably why it was terminated so quickly and without notice. It might even have been in their terms of service that they don’t have to notify us. It’s the nice thing to do, but they might not be obligated to. 

 

I know now my initial reaction and maybe even some of those of other Floatplane members might have been on the verge of outrage, but this new information is helping settle the issue.

[topgear1224]

The $3 a month is fine by me to support LMG who helped me build my first rig (X58). But paypal doesn't work on floatplane.com.

 

I trust you guys BUT kinda wanted that extra barrier between a "new" company and my card info.

 

I have never liked floatplane.com to be honest mostly because the engagement style I found on the floatplane forum to be much better for the discussions I care to have.

 

Please fix the PayPal intergration on floatplane.com so I can resubscribe, and bring back the subforum.

 

error i am recieving

 

"

Add New PayPal Account

 

Authorize with PayPal...

• An unknown error occurred. Please try again later.

"

[Jayl0cked]

2 hours ago, topgear1224 said:

....But paypal doesn't work on floatplane.com

" ....

I have no problems with Paypal..

[Jayl0cked]

I think people are just being extra complainy....
no disrespect intended I'm not sure I've ever heard LUKE or LINUS claim that floatplane is in beta ... its still more of an alpha release. Keep in mind this is a start up that just recently grew from 1 person, to 3 people, last year and I think they're about to be up to 5 people in the very near future. Many people have tried to make Youtube alternatives and have failed just ask Vessel. Just ask the dude whose name eludes me who claimed to have one ready to launch and then bailed very recently. Floatplane is a slow burn but I think if people hang in there it will be a big pay off for those people who want to have more of a tighter interaction with their favourite creators and support them as opposed to google. I think luke has the right approach and he is pointing the float plane in the right directions. Its just going to take his new staff time to pull together some of the back end stuff to support the important thing getting more creators who can upload. Then UI changes and upgrades to UI will come in due time.

[Zelgadis]

3 hours ago, Jayl0cked said:

I think people are just being extra complainy....
no disrespect intended I'm not sure I've ever heard LUKE or LINUS claim that floatplane is in beta ... its still more of an alpha release. Keep in mind this is a start up that just recently grew from 1 person, to 3 people, last year and I think they're about to be up to 5 people in the very near future. Many people have tried to make Youtube alternatives and have failed just ask Vessel. Just ask the dude whose name eludes me who claimed to have one ready to launch and then bailed very recently. Floatplane is a slow burn but I think if people hang in there it will be a big pay off for those people who want to have more of a tighter interaction with their favourite creators and support them as opposed to google. I think luke has the right approach and he is pointing the float plane in the right directions. Its just going to take his new staff time to pull together some of the back end stuff to support the important thing getting more creators who can upload. Then UI changes and upgrades to UI will come in due time.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jayl0cked. I am a newcomer to floatplane and LTT, they have made it clear that floatplane is still in the early development. Getting upset over inconveniencies, bugs or even "lack of communication" is silly. I pay money because I TRUST what I am putting my money into. So if something goes sideways, there is no harm in giving the feedback, but complaining about it just seems to be spreading negativity for the sake of it. We should all strive towards being positive in supporting the content creators we give our hard earned money to. 

 

[Huskycdn]

On 5/3/2019 at 3:49 PM, Giiman95 said:

Hi all. I have an update on the situation with the forum.

 

Per Floatplane Support:

“The sub forum is being closed so they can work on a player that is backwards-compatible with Floatplane.com (No ETA, unfortunately).”

 

I followed up and confirmed if the sub-forum would be coming back. 

“Temporary from what we last heard. Linus mentioned re-opening the subforum with a different player sometime in the future.”

 

@Colonelmortis mentioned that they closed the sub forum due to people who were not paying for access had access. At least now we know their is hope for the sub-forum.

 

Hopefully, with the support of the rest of the Floatplane members, we can convince the Floatplane team and LMG that the sub forum is worth their time.

 something doesn't add up if the sub forum is taken down to change the embedded player, and to stop people from accessing it who shouldn't  be there

 

than why do some people still have access at this time? is it closed or not?

[Huskycdn]

Just out of curiosity and to illustrate my point how audience engagement is better on the forum. I went through the last 8 videos posted on floatplane and only ltt member i saw post was linus (credit where credit is due thank you linus). If i missed anyone i apologize there are no indicators whether someone is an ltt member or not.

[Giiman95]

1 hour ago, Huskycdn said:

 something doesn't add up if the sub forum is taken down to change the embedded player, and to stop people from accessing it who shouldn't  be there

 

than why do some people still have access at this time? is it closed or not?

It’s closed to normal Floatplane members. The only ones who still have access are admins, mods and floatplane yearly subscribers. Yearly subscriptions only exist through the forum. This should only be temporary.

[LogicalDrm]

21 hours ago, topgear1224 said:

Add New PayPal Account

 

Authorize with PayPal...

• An unknown error occurred. Please try again later.

Have you tried talking to support before complaining about something like this? support@floatplane.com