Michelle's profile
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17.2K Messages

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310.6K Points

Friday, July 22nd, 2022 8:34 PM

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IMDb Name Page BETA OPT-IN

IMDb Name Page BETA OPT-IN

English | Français | Deutsch | हिन्दी | Italiano | Português | Español

 

Before launching IMDb’s redesigned Name Pages (coming soon!), we want to provide our valued users with a sneak peak, and extend an opportunity to provide feedback between July 22, 2002 and early August 2022.

We hope you enjoy these latest improvements, and thank you for continuing to make IMDb the world’s most trusted source for movie, TV, and entertainment content.

Thanks as always for all of your feedback – please feel free to post your questions or comments to this thread.

— The IMDb Website Team

51 Messages

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948 Points

2 years ago

I don't know if in other languages, but in Portuguese the biographies of actors do not show the ones written by the fans, just a generic description of the person.

1 Message

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66 Points

2 years ago

As someone who works in television and uses the site regularly to maintain my credits so that future employers can easily look up my work history and to look up credits of others I may hire or work with, I find the new design incredibly unhelpful.

I want words, not pictures, and I want them to be easily grasped in one view with minimal clicking.  Now there's too much space, too many graphics, too much going on.  There is a reason why most people want resumes clean, simple, and on only one page; we get tired and irritated flipping around. We want everything at a glance and now that's gone. It would be more helpful to send someone to a LinkdIn page than this.

Now every page looks the same. Someone with 600 credits looks just as impressive as someone with 6. And no one has the time or patience to look at pop ups for a list of their episodes under a television title.

The graphics are fine under the "known for" section, but when it comes to the meat of someone's career, you really just want a list so you can really take in all that they've done.  It no longer looks user friendly and two columns seriously muddies the timeline.  People read lists either left to right or top to bottom, not a mix of the two.

Side Note for all versions of this site - How are the "Known For" credits chosen on either the old or new? There seems to literally be no metric for it. The titles under my name are old, random, and not in any way what I am "known for" working on.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@renitajenkins​  Thanks for the feedback and for trying the beta.  The site is optimised for consumer customers, not professionals, sorry.   IMDbPro should provide better options for your needs, including control over your Known For credits (otherwise, this article describes their selection). 

There are some changes in the pipeline which address most of your other concerns — please see https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e0407ac998636027adbcb8&replyId=62e2e0f327c9e55d81c71c01

For additional background on how we arrived at this design, please see https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e591f927c9e55d81c798d9&replyId=62e6b0d71b2f176c00131e50 

Hope this helps. 

785 Messages

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15.2K Points

2 years ago

I usually don't leave feedback, I disliked the new homepage a couple of years back but kept quiet just made sure to never visit it ever again by entering through title pages only, as for most other things you can get used to them eventually. Amazon recently merged Comixology with it's main site and broke it so bad it did not work at all for around 3 months, a time in which I forgot about the site and have never used it since, I'm only assuming it's functional nowaday. So these 'great ideas' don't always work out.

Now I get to this, got the beta last week before this thread even existed (I looked for it to see if people were as horrified as I was, I just caught up now), I lasted 5 minutes of exploring before my eyes started to feel like I could no longer focus them on the messy page I was looking at, it's just a pure chore to look at, I knew we were getting this no matter what, my contributing ground to almost a stop I was so downhearted, but at least I can use it as a reason to greatly reduce or completely retire from contributing, already my friends and family have all ditched IMDb in favour of easier to look at pages like Google & Wikipedia (people want simple) and I don't know who I'm even doing this for anymore, seems like advert money for a corporation rather than for the people who like to look up Film & TV.

Sorry to be negative but I just despise it completely and had to say so, if you never see me again, this was the reason why. All the best to the great staff who helped me out over the years and the accurate contributors who care(d) about the site.

2 Messages

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70 Points

2 years ago

I wanted to give feedback about trying their new IMDb format  when I quickly  went back to the old version  I HATE the new format   I don't need to see the pictures of  each movie the actor was in.   wastes  way too much  data  and screen space  making it much harder and longer to look up older roles  etc.     Personally I think this new format is a step back  instead of an improvement.   

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled there is no section for contacting IMDb with feedback

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@revkarleeThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 

82 Messages

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3K Points

2 years ago

Just my two cents: No.

When I check out a person's profile I like to get the information in one glance without distraction. This new design basically screams "look here" and "click here". Also, in the old version the credits were basically presented like a list, with one credit per line. This was practical and effective. In the new design, there are now two credits, so you are constantly jumping from left to right. In addition, due to its size limitation, the posters are more irritating than a help.

Sorry, like with the title redesign a few years back, this is just wrong. I understand that the technical backbone needs to be updated, but this design change is just unnecessary. The new design, once again, looks like some UX agency went haywire.

As others have said: ask the members and get feedback on what they like/don't like before you make radical changes like this.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@Elwood_Blues​  Thanks for taking the time to try the beta and for your feedback.  I have just provided an update above which you may find helpful. 

As others have said: ask the members and get feedback on what they like/don't like before you make radical changes like this

Yes, this is exactly the purpose of this beta, sorry if that was not clear.  In addition, the design has been based on extensive customer research, including detailed analysis of feedback provided on Sprinklr and via the IMDb help desk. For example, people have been asking for years for things like adding names to lists; posters; the IMDb rating; their own rating; a simplification of the episode listings; more international support; better accessibility; all features of the desktop view to be added to the mobile view; and more.  Taking all of this into account, multiple designs have been presented to and tested with groups of customers with all levels of experience of using IMDb. The resulting design tested off-the-charts positive across the customer groups before we even started to build anything. 

It would be good to know which other entertainment (or otherwise) sites you visit on a regular basis as this will help the UX team understand the points of reference for your feedback.  Thanks. 

82 Messages

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3K Points

@Col_Needham​ Thank you for your explanations. Good to see that you are planning to have a more scaled-down version for those users who want that.

You mentioned that a majority of users who have switched to the new design have chosen to keep that design. Have you considered to get their feedback, e.g. via a pop-up or a survey invitation (via mail)?

A site I regularly visit for entertainment news is https://www.darkhorizons.com/all-stories, as you can see a very sleek, no-nonsense design.

5 Messages

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224 Points

@Col_Needham​ re. "It would be good to know which other entertainment (or otherwise) sites you visit on a regular basis"

For me, any other movie/entertainment website I visit is random per-topic, usually reached through web searches and references at Wikipedia. However I often skip visiting sites that I have learned have excessive or intrusive ads (ads in general are fine), autoplaying video, and similar annoyances, and prefer those that are more lowkey and/or serious in nature and appearance.

The only site I visit specifically is basically only Wikipedia, which has the huge benefit of being fast to load, non-flashy and most importantly; information dense.

While I acknowledge that the chosen design was rated highly (and honestly any modernized look compared 1:1 to the current would probably do that for most people), did that testing include usability testing?

I'd also be curious about the weighting between gaining new users and keeping the existing (and perhaps especially the contributing) users, i.e. when looking at the ratings of different levels of experience, as you say.

I'm possibly biased, but scrolling through the comments, as I see it, most complaints are about decreased information density, despite the new design being wider. And just overall less easy to parse. Which was exactly the same complaint levied towards the change of the title pages about 5 years ago.

43 Messages

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672 Points

2 years ago

The New page is NOT as easy when looking at previous credits. The existing page is easy to visually skim previous credits. The new look is clumsy and distracting. Leave well enough alone please - or - give me an option to keep the current look.

Thank you,

M Paliobeis

5 Messages

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126 Points

2 years ago

Is this a "database" or a game where we have to hunt and peck for the information we are looking for?  What is wrong with a simple list, IMDB?  Why do you seem intent on destroying one of the greatest resources on the web for movie lovers? 

Not everyone is looking up information on a phone.  Some of the world still uses computers FFS.  Why is everything made for a mobile interface with a touch screen.  You have the money, do like a proper web designer and make a mobile version that is separate from the actual web version.   Stop cutting corners that make this site unusable for people that actually want to still use their computers and an actual physical keyboard. 

Why is everything truncated, hidden, and in a drop down list now?  What happened to web design? 

If it isn't broken, stop trying to "fix" it.  Worked fine before, now it's an ugly, clunky mess to navigate through, just to find the information that was so easily accessible before.  

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Why is IMDB dumbing down everything?

43 Messages

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672 Points

@emjay86​ I strongly agree!

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@emjay86​  Thanks for taking the time to try the beta and to comment here.  I have just provided an update above which hopefully will help here. 

2 Messages

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70 Points

2 years ago

I have been an IMDb zero for over 25 years. In fact, I am retired from shore business and value the information that IMDb has consistently provided over the years. But I absolutely hate, loath this new format for the actor credit pages. It used to be you could see all of an actors credits in a list view by just scrolling down and clicking on the bio information for more details. This new format makes everything harder to see, particularly on a phone or an iPad and it’s basically “information clutter.“ I don’t need the poster of the film or TV show next to every credit. If I wanted more detailed information I would go to the page for said film or TV show. All this new format does is make everything harder to access and more complicated to find. Please give us the option to revert back to the old page view.  

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled New Format for actor bio and credits

43 Messages

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672 Points

@Zandiman​ You are correct!

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@ZandimanThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 

6 Messages

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130 Points

2 years ago

In the new format of IMDb the age calculator seems to calculate all ages by subtracting birth year from this year or year of death in the case of individuals who are deceased.  This means that if we haven't reached the subjects birthday yet this year his or her age is presented as a year older than it is.  Ditto if the person died before his or her birthday in the year of death.  The old format didn't have this problem.  

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Age calculator doesn't work properly

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@DBMcA​  Thanks for the bug report.  This is on the list of known issues which we will be addressing. 

13 Messages

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194 Points

2 years ago

The redesign has destroyed IMDB as a quick, research tool.  Those responsible apparently never used it to look up all the movie credits of a performer.  For example, finding the acting credits of David Canary on the TV series Bonanza which would take seconds are now impossible to find. Shame on you!  

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled imdb redesign

43 Messages

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672 Points

@barrpub​ I agree. In addition, it is a cluttered mess. This new look needs to be scrapped.

Champion

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5K Messages

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118.1K Points

@barrpub​ 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0133597/

I didn't see it in the first set of cards, clicked the 25 More link, and then used ctrl-F in Chrome to find Bonanza in his credits.

Then click on his character name, and you can scroll through 90 episode titles.

I think I would have needed ctrl-F on the old/current view as well, because I didn't remember the years involved.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@barrpubThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 

13 Messages

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194 Points

@bderoes​ Thanks for your response...but your link is to the old, soon to be replaced, design.  I was responding to the new design in which this is apparently not possible. 

Champion

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5K Messages

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118.1K Points

@barrpub​ 

No, the link was not to the old design. The same link works for old and new designs depending on which _you_ have active.

Here are screenshots of the new design:

click on the character name to get:

(edited)

15 Messages

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304 Points

2 years ago

@Col_Needham​ I'm very confused. All of your responses have merely responded to specific issues such as how many credits are shown without a clickthrough. Why aren't you addressing the huge underlying issue of why IMDb's developers have changed not only the code base but also the user interface?

Why is the previous "Name" UX--which suits the needs of both casual users and your essential contributors--being abandoned? If there's a reason for that, those of us on this forum certainly can't see it. The whole point of modern software platforms is that they offer flexibility in how information is presented; we're long past the days when hand-coded HTML restricted our design choices.

You started IMDb because you saw that people appreciated having a way to reference (and cross-reference) actors, directors, movies, TV shows, etc. And you welcomed other Usenet users to contribute to that effort. Shouldn't it still be the mission of IMDb to make it easy for fans to both add information to and retrieve information from the system??

This comment was created from this reply

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@patty42​  Thanks for the additional feedback ...

The whole point of modern software platforms is that they offer flexibility in how information is presented; we're long past the days when hand-coded HTML restricted our design choices.

This is a fair point and we going to take this challenge back to the name page team to see if we can add a more tabular filmography view as an option. The point of the beta is to gather feedback and ideas like this.  The comments from you and other customers has been very useful in shaping the next steps.  

Hope this helps. 

604 Messages

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13.6K Points

@Col_Needham​ Col, thank you so much for listening and for agreeing to discuss this with the name page team. Obviously I hope they agree to do it, but even if they don't, at least we'll know that they have given it serious consideration. I think I'm not the only one who was concerned that with the deadline of "early August" fast approaching, the new name page might go by default, with only minor bug fixes being possible after that.

I think a good starting point for the format and content of a contributor's name page would be the current name reference view. It has served us well over the years and we are all familiar with it.

Assuming it goes ahead, if we can be any more help as its user requirements are being specified and it is being developed, let us know.

If at all possible, can you retain the current name reference page format (warts and all!) until its replacement is up and running, to avoid any "gap in the middle" problem once "early August" happens.

Again, thanks for listening!

(edited)

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@martin_695862​  Just on this point ...

I think I'm not the only one who was concerned that with the deadline of "early August" fast approaching, the new name page might go by default, with only minor bug fixes being possible after that.

Ah, the dates refer to the beta period, not the launch date. The beta will be running until early August at which point everything will revert to the previous look irrespective of whether you are opted-in to the beta or not.  We have actually not set a launch date as it depends on the feedback plus the number of new bugs detected. Since there is plenty of feedback already and several gnarly new bugs, we have quite a lot of new work before launch.  Even when we launch, it will be a slow rollout over a long period of time while the testing continues. 

I understand where the launch confusion originates as the FAQ on the launch is a little too keen (but still vague at least) so I will point this out to the team.

Hope this helps. 

Champion

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14.3K Messages

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328.7K Points

@Col_Needham​ 

Perhaps there should be a link to the help page in this thread and in the general help site.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@Peter_pbn​  Good point, thanks.  We have let the team know.  The beta will be ending next week so the original thinking was not to add a direct link on help.imdb.com, but there may be even more questions when it is no longer accessible. 

1 Message

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60 Points

2 years ago

Just given this a try but it's not very intuitive. 

It needs an option to view everything as a list, similar to what it's currently like. I can't easily see the projects I'm looking for on a paritcular page, especially as it's not even in chronioligical order. It would be handy to options for a 'compressed view' which can still have posters but is presented more like a list, and an option to change the order of the titles; either by release date or alphapbetically for instance.

604 Messages

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13.6K Points

@98lwatso​ " it's not even in chronioligical order"

At a quick check for one particular actor, comparing old format versus new format, it looks as if the order of the titles is the same (reverse chronological) in both formats, if you allow for the new format being two columns so the order is row1/col1, row1/col2, row2/col1, row2/col2 etc.

I admit that I was looking to see if there were any titles that appeared in the old list that didn't appear in the new one (I always try to "break" something new when I'm testing it!), and I was surprised (and pleased) to see that there didn't seem to be any. Of course with the new format I had to click "More" many times to advance to the next group of titles.

Of the various problems with the new format, I would rate them (most serious first):

- the "More" links: there needs to be an option (preferably a sticky user-specific option) that displays all the credits (both movies and all episodes of a TV series) at once; increasing the number of options per "More" link is not the solution (note that, Col!), because any finite number is the problem

- the way in which the right-hand "More to explore" column is now displayed: previously if the browser window was narrowed, that column was simply truncated at the right hand side, but now it wraps below the filmography, "trapping" the "Update" button at some arbitrary place on page between the end of the filmography and the start of the "More to explore", rather than keeping this button close to the bottom of the page. This means I have to scroll up from the bottom to hunt for the button - waste of time

- the two-column "Known for" and "Actor" sections: I would advocate losing the "Known for" altogether and listing purely in reverse-year order

(edited)

Champion

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14.3K Messages

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328.7K Points

@98lwatso​ 

and an option to change the order of the titles; either by release date or alphapbetically for instance.

Such options are still available in the menu (All Topics -> Credits)

43 Messages

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672 Points

@martin_695862​ OR... scrap the whole New page and keep things as they are. Seriously, are these designers for real? Do they know how absolutely awful the New page is? Why would they make navigation more difficult? Why would they make information less clear?

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@98lwatsoThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 

8.4K Messages

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175.3K Points

2 years ago

@Col_Needham​ 😀

Have You and the Staff looked at the episodes lists on New View ??


Maurice Benard
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001939/

Actor: TV (13 credits)
General Hospital (TV Series)
Sonny Corinthos
Show all 2,935 episodes

New version
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=1&u=/name/nm0001939/

   See More \/

Go Back
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=0&u=/name/nm0001939/

- - -
  
Victoria Wyndham
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0943920/

Actress: TV (4 credits)
Another World (TV Series)
Rachel Davis Cory
Show all 2,757 episodes

New version
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=1&u=/name/nm0943920/

   See More \/

Go Back
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=0&u=/name/nm0943920/

- - -
  
Frances Reid 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0717265/

Actress: TV (48 credits)
Days of Our Lives (TV Series)
Alice Horton
Show all 3,016 episodes

New version
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=1&u=/name/nm0717265/

   See More \/

Go Back
https://www.imdb.com/preferences/beta-control/?e=name&t=0&u=/name/nm0717265/

- - -


More samples (Old Views only)

ACT_1
Mon, Jun 15, 2020
[ Staff: Add episode count ? ? ]


Add episode count to total 'Actor: TV credits' not just count TV shows
This would be more accurate account of the actor's work
like ?
Actor: TV (79 TV shows,  ___ episodes)


https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/staff-add-episode-count/5f4a7ca18815453dba0cffe6

.

(edited)

13 Messages

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194 Points

@ACT_1​ The film credits are bundled and selective rather than simply in generally chronological order.  Difficult to find the film credit you seek.  For example, "David Canary" was a regular on Bonanza for several years...but is no where to be found in his film credits grouping.  Really an unusable design for this bassic purpose.  

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@barrpub​  It's right here once you expand the acting credits (as noted separately the number of credits displayed by default is part of the beta):

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0133597/ 

Hope this helps.

3 Messages

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80 Points

2 years ago

Please, Please, somehow allow the other format as an alternate! Looking up the Acting credentials of someone who has appeared in 250 TV shows and Movies used to be so easy and with the new format it's insane! Even if the old format was 12 years old, it was working just fine, and the new format does not. On a scale of 1 to 10, Old format, 9, new format, less than 1.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@TopcatThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 

13 Messages

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194 Points

@Col_Needham​ As the poster points out, it is almost impossible to locate certain specific film credits easily, if at all.   I can see if your new design were the first design, but to replace a functional product with a defective design is a head-scratcher. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Employee

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178.3K Points

@barrpub​  Thanks, but this is an opt-in beta preview of a work-in-progress for feedback; nothing has been replaced. 

13 Messages

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194 Points

@Col_Needham​ There may be hopes of new revenue streams from the new design but apart from that, it's just  pretty to look at  but far less useful. 

13 Messages

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194 Points

@Col_Needham​ Col.,I fear with all the time and effort devoted, chances are you will go forward with the new design(particularly if trhe designer pitchs the new $$$ opportunities. 

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@barrpub​  The (new) context at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e591f927c9e55d81c798d9&replyId=62e6b0d71b2f176c00131e50 might be helpful. 

It would be good to know which other entertainment (or otherwise) sites you visit on a regular basis as this will help the UX team understand the points of reference for your feedback.  Thanks. 

1 Message

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60 Points

2 years ago

The two-column, image-heavy way of presenting credits is abysmal. I come here to do research, not to browse. Lists provide information densely at a glance; with the new format one needs to cover much more ground going back and forth in terms of screen space. To my mind, an option to toggle between list-view and image-view (and a preferences option so as to get one's preferred view as default) is absolutely vital.

Having to click several times to completely load longer filmographies makes it worse. An "always show all" preference is needed.

I do like the option to choose which roles (director, writer, etc.) are to be displayed. That cleans up the page considerably. I would love an option to choose roles and then display all of the selected credits chronologically (e.g. I tell the site to show writer, director and producer credits and then I'll get a list that goes: 1977 [writer credit], 1978 [director credit], 1979 [writer credit], 1980 [producer credit]).

I also like that single episodes from a series don't bloat the filmography anymore, as long as they remain just one click away.

Employee

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7.2K Messages

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178.3K Points

@CreatureThanks for taking the time to try the beta and to share your feedback.  There are details of some upcoming changes to the new design at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-name-page-beta-optin/62db09f1e232bb632089ba01?commentId=62e2c60527c9e55d81c713c9&replyId=62e2dd17c998636027ae4ca3 which address your points