Give a list of journal styles a user has used

[aedifica]

Title:
Give a list of journal styles a user has used

Area:
account management, styles

Summary:
Say you want to change your journal style to a really cool style you used a while ago... and now you have no idea what the style was called. Wouldn't it be great to be able to see a list of styles you've used in the past?

Description:
This hasn't been an issue for me on Dreamwidth yet, but I bet it's only a matter of time (I just ran into it on LiveJournal). Say you want to change your journal style to a really cool style you used a while ago... and now you have no idea what the style was called. Wouldn't it be great to be able to see a list of styles you've used in the past, so you don't have to page through all the styles and try to remember exactly what it looked like?

This could be a link called "[user name]'s Theme History" from the "[user name]'s Current Theme" box on the Select Journal Style page. The link would go to a page with a list of styles that have been used on that journal before. (It would be extra cool if each style named on that page included a link to the style, but even just the name would be helpful.)

Possible drawbacks: one more thing for Dreamwidth to keep track of. Also, when Dreamwidth starts getting more custom styles created by users for other users (modifications on site styles), I'm guessing this list I'm proposing would only be able to display the name of the site style that was the base for the custom style.

(P.S. I am confused about the difference between styles and journal themes, so if I've misused either term that's probably why.)

Poll #4641 Give a list of journal styles a user has used

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 52

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
23 (44.2%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
10 (19.2%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
3 (5.8%)

(I have no opinion)
16 (30.8%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[travelingmonkey]

I think I'd only find that useful *if* it retained the customizations that we made to it also. I wouldn't really care about just seeing the names of previous ones.

[piscinarii]

+1

[moonvoice]

+1

[0jack]

I'd find that highly annoying as I tend to test-drive styles before I keep them. I might use five or six styles over a week before finding one that I like. I could see allowing a favourites list for styles, if that was possible, which might be easier to track, because the user provides the input.

[moonvoice]

Oh a favourites list is a great idea. I'm like you, I test drive styles and wouldn't like to see the bulk of them in a 'previously used' list.

[azurelunatic]

Hmm, I wonder if a two-part list would be helpful?

At the top, favorites, sorted by ... something. Name? With useful links, including preview and ability to remove favorite status.

Then, below, a chronological list of the styles/themes used, complete with full date-and-time stamps, ability to modify (add/remove) favorite status, links to the parent style, maybe even links to search for other things of the same name (like when the same color scheme is offered for different styles) and preview links.

This could be paginated if necessary, because if you try on a lot of styles, that page could get long. Ability to sort the list by duration might be key.

Notes might be nice as well, such as "Don't try this one again until they fix the [thing that drove you up the wall last time]", because I know that on LJ I used to try styles that I really liked the look of, realize they didn't have something I needed, drop them, and then forget why I didn't like them, try them again...

[cesy]

This sounds great.

[twisted_times]

This sounds great.

Seconded! I do'nt tend to screw around with my loayouts that otfen, but it would be nice to add notes, or maybe even implement a rating system (1 to 5 starts, like in Amazon reviews - would that be OTT)?

[sorchasilver]

This would be really useful - I changed my journal layout several times recently (after I accidentally lost the imported layout from LJ that I had had since I made this account, argh!) and I found it really hard to keep track of what I'd tried.

[matgb]

This strikes me as a big usability thing, for one simple reason. There's already a list of all the styles you've used. At least, there is for paid users, free users probably don't get the store of the history displaying, although the history is never deleted (as my paid status lapses regularly).

Your Styles

So my 'with changes' is to roll this up with the discuessed plan to completely overhaul the 'advanced' area UI, and move the same list of styles, with some prettiness added, into the main customise area.

Given there's a limit of styles per account level, this could be applied to the list, and it wouldn't take much to add a field into the Wizard layer witha text box saying "I didn't like this one because" or "this is the unfinished one with the blue and pink colour scheme" or whatever.

@OP specifically, if you didn't know the Your Styles page existed and it solves your problem for you, that's cool, however that you didn't know it was there is a problem in and of itself.

And I really need to get the mockup done of how I'd like the UI to work for that area...

[cesy]

This sounds good to me.

[turlough]

+1

[aedifica]

The Your Styles page is pretty much what I was looking for, yes! But I agree that the fact that I didn't know about it is a problem (especially since I'm reasonably familiar with Dreamwidth!)