Christian Goodreaders discussion

I created a couple of new folders this afternoon and moved all of the unfiled (previously marked as 'general' folder) to specific folders.

If you would like a folder created, or have other suggestions for placement of articles, please let me know and I'll try to accommodate your requests.

As a reminder, when saving a new post, always pick a folder, or the GoodReads site for our group gets cranky and can't always find your post.

Blessings,

Jon

We don't want GoodReads cranky. (That's our job.)

Ron wrote: "We don't want GoodReads cranky. (That's our job.)"

lol

LOL!

I'd like to address a request to the authors in our group in particular. When you post a comment announcing a time-sensitive giveaway offer or special price, could you please delete that comment after the offer has expired? (That's much like taking down expired paper notices on public billboards, so they don't get cluttered.) Otherwise, Banner or I have to take time to do it (which we'd rather spend in more constructive ways). Thanks for your cooperation!

Unlike networks such as Facebook, Goodreads is unique in that it's oriented towards books and reading. Members want to focus on and experience friendly discussion about books and reading, and that's true of this group as well, where we want that sort of discussion in the context of our shared Christian faith. But for several years, we've also had “Theological discussions” and “Current issues” folders, in which the threads were not about books but rather about controversial subjects (which are not the sort of subjects most members want in this setting). Some discussions on these threads have been very constructive; but others have devolved into acrimonious exchanges that neither glorify God nor edify anybody, but which instead replicate the abuses of secular social media.

In response to some feedback from the group, and our own prayerful reflections, Ron and I as moderators have decided to add the following sentence to our group's rules: “Members are asked to refrain from creating threads, or making comments, that present arguments on theological 'disputable matters' (Romans 14:1) or on strictly political controversies.” This is not being applied ex post facto, and we aren't deleting anyone's comments (except for one thread recently deleted at the request of the person who posted it). But we have deleted both of the folders mentioned above, and moved most of the threads they contained to the archive, closing them to new comments (except for some individual threads which don't pose problems of this type, and which were simply relocated to other folders).

Our hope is that this change will provide for a more satisfactory and rewarding experience here for everyone. Members are encouraged to think about, and discuss, serious topics of this kind with fellow believers in our local churches, where these conversations can take place in face-to-face settings which provide for a healthier dynamic, and in the context and under the authority of the called pastoral and teaching ministry of the church (Ephesians 4:11-12).

AN ALERT for anyone who logs in through FACEBOOK:
From tomorrow on, you won't be able to do that anymore! The alternatives are through Amazon, Apple or your email. Since I don't log in that way myself, even though the notice is dated Nov. 6 (it apparently only comes up if and when you try to log in that way), I only found out about this today, through a post by one of my Goodreads friends.

Obviously, many people don't log on through Facebook; and some of those who do apparently got a notice about the change some time ago. But since my friend did not, and only learned about this today, she's making the attempt to alert others; and so I'm also trying to post this in all the groups I'm a member of where it hasn't been announced, to avert potential log-in problems for anyone else who might have been missed when the announcement was made.

Just to give everybody a heads-up, Ron and I have discussed the schedule of our annual group read. If there aren't strong objections on anyone's part, what we've decided to do for this year (and if it works out well, permanently) is to move the read from November to August. The earlier time frame will remove a conflict with a group read in another group (and possibly with other reads as well, for other members). Does anyone have a problem with this idea? (I'll cross post this as well on the "Common reads" thread.)

Works for me!

Thanks for that feedback, Jessica!

August is great.

By now, most members of this group are probably aware that Goodreads no longer e-mails us notifications of comments on discussions we've taken part in. But you may not be aware that they also no longer send those notifications to the little bell-shaped icon on your Goodreads toolbar, even if your account settings request them to. (As usual for the Goodreads management, they never bothered to notify anybody about that change.) However, there is a way to restore those toolbar notifications.

At the bottom of every discussion thread in every group, and at the bottom of every review, there is a little box that says "Notify me when people comment." If you click it, notifications of those comments will again come to your toolbar. But you have to separately click the box for every individual discussion and review for which you want to follow comments. :-( (Going forward, my suggestion is that whenever you post a new review, you click the box as soon as your review shows up on screen.)

Here are some tips for coping with the gutting, last year, of Goodreads' former notification system (from another Goodreader, but shared with permission):

To receive notifications on your reviews:
After writing and posting your review, place a comment in your comment section, then click the notify me box before posting your comment. It is the only way you will receive notifications when someone leaves a comment on your reviews.

To receive notifications on your own status updates:
Once you post a status update, immediately go to your profile page. Locate your status update. Click "See Status". Once there, click the notify me box and then place a comment on your own status. This will ensure you will receive notifications if someone leaves a comment on your status updates. Same thing goes for when you post pictures on your profiles or in your group's photo section.

To be able to follow updates on a friend's review or status update:
You will need to like their status updates or reviews from your updates feed page first, and also post your initial comment to their status and reviews from your updates feed page as well. This is the only way that the notify me box on their postings will stay checked, and to ensure you get regular updates on their postings whenever they or someone else leaves a comment there.

To stay updated on group posts:
Sometimes your notifications will not come through. This is not going to be corrected by GR. No matter how many times you adjust your settings for groups. To make sure you are up to date on all group happenings you will simply need to make sure you are reading all group emails sent to you by your moderators.

You will also need to begin to make an effort to go directly to your groups' homepage(s) whenever you are on the platform. From the homepage, click on the discussion board link. This will show you every group section's new post and thread in that group. Simply click on the red numbers of the threads that you are following. You will see every new post in that specific thread.

Unfortunately, the notify me box is no longer working on Polls. Only the creator of that poll will see when you comment. You are no longer able to get a notification after you post a comment on a poll and check the notify me box. Once you leave the poll page, that box becomes un-checked. There is no work-around for this. If you want to stay informed on comments on polls, or videos posted in your groups, you will manually have to go to that poll yourself, in order to view them.

Make sure that you also are logging in and out on whatever device you use, every time, when logging into GR. This is the only way that GR will track your profile activity properly and keep you up to date on your most recent activity.

These steps are the only way you will continue to make sure that you are an active and informed member of your groups and this community platform as a whole.

Below, I'm passing on another tip (also from a fellow Goodreader, and shared by permission) dealing with the Goodreads phone app, and how you can, if you want to, access the Goodreads desktop version from your phone instead. (A caveat: I'm not familiar with the app from personal experience, though I've often been told, by people who are, that it's less functional than the desktop version.)

"If you are using the Goodreads App, then don't.
The App makes it very difficult to navigate groups and communication on here, among other things. If you are on your phone, uninstall the App first. Then go to the Goodreads website and log in directly onto the site by phone. After you log in scroll to the very bottom of the page to ensure that you are on the desktop version and not the mobile version. Once you do this, you will be able to navigate this site as if you are working at your desk or your laptop.

If you are not currently using the App, still check to make sure that you are on the desktop version and not mobile version when logged in. Once you switch to desktop, it will stay that way every time you log in and out. If you are currently on the desktop version, then you will only see the option "Mobile Version" if this is the case then don't change anything because it means you're already using the desktop version. If you see "Desktop version, click on it. This will then put you on the desktop version.

If you follow these steps correctly then you will be able to see all things on this site as if you were on your laptop or PC.

Save the Goodreads website as a shortcut to your home screen on your phone. This way you'll always have quick access to the website and log on and off as if you were still using the App."

One more tip (again, from a Goodreads friend, and shared with her permission), this one dealing with how Goodreads calculates the time when you were "last active" on this site"

"There is another site glitch that is affecting the personal profile status of its members. This glitch is in the area where it states when you joined GR and when you were last active on the website. Those of you who actively log on and off every time you visit the site, shouldn't be affected by this. Those of you who use the App or who stay logged in on the website itself, without ever signing back out when you leave the site, will see this issue.

Those who are affected- It is only showing the last date that you actively log on. So even though you have been consistently on the website, your last active status may show that you were last active back in September, October, November, or even further back; depending on when you last actively signed into/out of your account. This began back in June-Aug of 2024. As some members are showing they were last active back in June, even though they've been on the website consistently since June. To avoid this affecting your accurate account status, moving forward, just log in and out of your GR accounts every time you visit the site. This will reset your status for you and keep it up to date as long as you're logging in and logging out. This will also cut down the likely hood of your accounts being hacked as well.

This is also true for Moderators. As on the groups you moderate, after (60) days of not being active on the site, it will show your last active date of logging into GR on your group's homepage next to your profile picture. Which will in fact affect if your members think you're currently active on the website or not.

In a new development that apparently just started this afternoon, in any new discussion thread that you create in any group, the "Notify me" box no longer works. Even if you check it properly, the program will uncheck it after you close the window. (This was reported to me this evening by a fellow moderator whose information I know to be trustworthy; but I also confirmed it by creating a test thread. :-( ) It appears that (at least so far) older threads are not affected yet.

I have not reported this to the Goodreads management as an accidental glitch that they might wish to correct; but at this point, I have no reason to believe that it actually is one. It seems to be the latest in a series of unannounced policy changes, all of which underscore the reality that, in order to stay abreast of all developments in your groups, it's very important to check the group home page regularly, or at least to frequently click the "speech bubbles" icon on the Goodreads toolbar.

After a lot of bad news, there's finally been a good development! It's been confirmed that the glitches for notifications have been corrected. Your notification boxes are now working as they should on all status updates, reviews, polls and new threads created within groups. You will need to continue to check those boxes to remain informed of new posts or updates; but the good news is that these boxes are now remaining checked, once you've clicked on them. Hopefully we won't encounter this disruption again (but please do remember the workarounds, just in case we do!).

As an unrelated tip, for some time, many Goodreaders have complained that their update feeds don't show updates from all the friends whose activity they'd like to see. Some of this can be due to shortcomings in Goodreads' algorithms; but there actually is a function you can use to help with this, if you're having that problem.

Whether you know it or not, in the eyes of the Goodreads program, you have two kinds of friends, the regular ones and "top'" friends. Every time you accept a friend request, or you friend request someone and they become your friend, the program automatically checks them as a "top friend" for you. At that time, you can uncheck it; but if you didn't do that, their input may get prioritized in your update feed.

If you want to prune your "top" friend roster, go to your friends list. Once there, click the edit button at the top. Here you will see the option to either select or deselect someone as a top friend. You need to do this on EVERY page of your friends list. Once you've done this, click the Done button at the top and move on to the next page.

You can also customize your updates feed. On your homepage, select the customize icon button at the top of your updates feed, (you'll see this button right above where your updates begin). It will look like this once you click on it:

UPDATES........................Customize (you would click this)

UPDATES FEED PREFERENCES:

Content:
(What types of updates you see):
-Book updates only
-Reviews only
-Everything

People:
(Whose updates you see):
-Goodreads community
-All friends and people I follow
-Top friends and people I follow
-Top friends only

This gives you some input on what types of updates you see, and who you see them from. Hope this is helpful!