Away for two weeks: back Mon Sept 13

Just a note to say I will be away on holiday for the next two weeks! A few posts are scheduled go up while I’m away, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails on Monday, September 13.

Here’s some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m off:

• Follow the TransLink Twitter account for updates on our service, plus breaking news
• Transit alerts can also be found at the TransLink alerts page
• Complaints, commendations, or other informational inquiries can be directed to TransLink customer service
• For our transit information line, call 604-953-3333
• And for an instant time machine to 1996, try this website! :D

A bit about the new comment rating system

Thumbs up or down?

With the Buzzer blog’s redesign on Monday, you may have noticed a new comment rating system on the blog. It’s a blog plugin called Comment Rating, and it now gives you the ability to go “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on other comments.

We put this in just so more people can quietly participate in discussions—however, I’ve discovered that Comment Rating actually changes the way comments are presented based on the ratings received! Well-liked, poorly rated, and hotly debated comments show up differently.

I wasn’t quite aware that this functionality was part of the plugin, so I think we should all just test it out to see if we like it. But for now, here’s an explanation of how the comments are shown with the new rating system.

Note, Mon June 28: After discussion below, I’ve decided to remove the “Dislike” function on the comment ratings. Ergo you can’t have “hotly debated” or “poorly liked” comments anymore, but you can be “highly rated” still. I’ve left the rest up below for posterity’s sake.

Highly rated comments

A highly rated comment.

Highly-rated comments get a pink background, and are determined by the following formula: (Likes – Dislikes) are greater than or equal to 4.

Hotly debated comments

A hotly debated comment.

Hotly-debated comments get an orange background, and are determined by the following formula: (Likes + Dislikes) are greater than or equal to 8.

Poorly-rated comments

A poorly-liked comment.

Poorly-rated comments get hidden! They are determined by the following formula: (Dislikes – Likes) are greater than or equal to 3.

I’m not totally sure whether these comments should be hidden… however, this has amazing possibilities for community spam moderation!

Update: After hearing from several people in the comments, I’m in agreement that these comments should NOT be hidden. So the threshold is now set to (Dislikes – Likes) is greater than or equal to 20, which hopefully should not be reached in common use.

For the future…

Feel free to keep me in the loop on how you think the comment rating system is going. Also, I am able to adjust the thresholds that govern which is a highly-rated, hotly debated, and poorly-liked comment, so we could do some fine tuning there as we see how things progress.

Redesigned Buzzer blog launches Monday: watch out for some downtime!

A mockup of the new Buzzer blog design!

Get ready to see a bright new Buzzer blog look on Monday!

We’re launching the redesigned Buzzer blog, which I must say is very pretty and much more functional.

The changeover will mean blog downtime on Monday starting at 9 a.m., and that might take a few hours depending on how things go.

As you all suggested, the new blog design is wider, incorporates the illustration and colours of the Buzzer print issue, and has more useful navigation tools, like related posts, next/previous post links, and a promo box in the right side.

And omg, we finally have a captcha to help fight spam!!!! Feel free to post links to your heart’s content now: I won’t have to approve them!!

Sadly, the ability to edit comments was too big for the scope of this redesign—it would require registration, which I’m loath to make you do—but the demand is duly noted, and should there be any more improvements scheduled in the future, I’ll certainly see what we can make happen!

Update, Mon June 21, 2:33 p.m..

For those interested, here’s a list of all the changes made to the Buzzer blog, besides the obvious overall redesign.

- Share/print/font size widget added (as suggested by Sean T)
- Captcha (to help stop spam)
- Next and previous items added to each post
- Related posts added to each post
- Free-form content box in the right rail (lets me suggest articles!)
- Weekly poll in the right rail (a suggestion from Rubai)
- Like/dislike function added to comments (more ways to interact!)
- When you click my name below a post, it goes to the About section

Away the rest of the week: back Monday, May 17

Just a note to say I will be away on holiday for the rest of the week. A few posts are scheduled go up while I’m away, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails on Monday, May 17.

Here’s some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m off:

• Follow the TransLink Twitter account for updates on our service, plus breaking news
• Transit alerts can also be found at the TransLink alerts page
• Complaints, commendations, or other informational inquiries can be directed to our customer service contacts and addresses, found at the main TransLink site
• For our transit information line, call 604-953-3333
• And for an instant sound effect, try this website! :D

The Buzzer blog named one of 8 essential transit agency blogs!

L.A. Metro's The Source blog has named the Buzzer blog one of its top 8 essential transit agency blogs! (Also: recursion!)

Wow — the Source, which is the blog from L.A. Metro, has named the Buzzer blog as one of its eight essential transit agency blogs!

Thanks to Fred Camino at the Source for putting us on the list — you should make sure to check out all the other blogs he’s listed, as they’re very interesting too. The Source is no slouch either, with tons of great posts on transit news, history and more!

Away today and Monday: back Tuesday, March 16

Just a note to say I will be away on Friday and Monday!

Sadly, this means I will be missing the beginning of the Paralympics — but I will definitely be back to cover the rest of it. If anyone catches any great photos of transportation around the Paralympic opening ceremonies or over the weekend, please do e-mail them to me: I would love to share them on the blog!

A few posts are scheduled go up while I’m away, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails on Tuesday, March 16.

And here’s some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m off:

• Follow the TransLink Twitter account for updates on our service, plus breaking news
• Transit alerts can also be found at the TransLink alerts page
• For any complaints, commendations, or other informational inquiries, please check out our customer service contacts and addresses from the main TransLink site

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• For our transit information line, call 604-953-3333.

Away today and tomorrow: back Monday, March 8

Just a quick note to say I will be away on Thursday and Friday this week!

A couple of scheduled posts will go up while I’m away, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails on Monday, March 8.

Here’s some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m away:

• Follow the TransLink Twitter account for updates on our service, plus breaking news
• Transit alerts can also be found at the TransLink alerts page
• Here’s our customer service contacts and addresses from the main TransLink site
• And our web form in case you have a commendation or complaint
• And for transit information, call 604-953-3333.

I’m out and about during the Opening Ceremonies

Yours truly, cycling the region to get you the inside scoop on transit and the Olympics.

Just a quick note to say I will be out and about in downtown Vancouver today to capture the big crowds on transit for the Opening Ceremonies!

Say hello if you see me: I have transit buttons and more goodies to share. (I’ll be wearing one of the bright blue jackets that Olympic and TransLink staff have received.)

Again, here is the post about the Buzzer’s plan for the Games period — feel free to send me your transit stories or photos or video!

I’ll also post updates at the Buzzer’s Twitter account if I’m anywhere interesting (or if something fun is happening).

The Buzzer blog’s plan for the Games period

Yours truly, cycling the region to get you the inside scoop on transit and the Olympics.

The Olympics will be on from February 12 to 28, and during that time, I’m planning to update the blog as much as possible—even on weekends!

I’m hoping to share stories on how our transit system is weathering the Games, plus capture the transportation experiences of our visitors and residents.

I’ll also keep you updated on any ongoing travel issues. (Here’s our online resources for real-time traffic info, too).

Share your stories

So, during the Games, please e-mail me if you have a story, photos or more to share on the blog! I’d love to know if you’ve started biking to work, or if you’re riding the West Coast Express for the first time, or whether you’ve spotted a celebrity or an Olympic athlete on the system :)

I’ll be out and about: what that means for you

As well, like most TransLink staff, I will be out of office and on the system during the Olympic period. I’ll update the Buzzer’s Twitter account if I’m somewhere notable, and please do say hello if you see me! I’ll have transit buttons to share and would love to hear how your Games experience is going.

One more thing: be aware that my capacity to answer questions will be more limited during this period. Almost all staff will be out as transit hosts or on other duties, so they won’t be as available to help me gather information about our system! I’ll also be out and about as much as possible during the 17 Olympic days. I will do my best to help you out though—I do know a wee bit about things!

Your comments welcome

And as always, feel free to let me know if you have suggestions for Olympic coverage, or other comments. You tell me what you want to hear about, and I’ll see what I can rustle up :)

Small tweaks to the participation guidelines

So the Buzzer blog has been up for over a year now, and it seems time to make some small tweaks to the participation guidelines.

Let me explain!

I think the discussion we have is great—you guys are super smart and I rarely ever have to moderate comments—so these changes are NOT intended to restrict or stop the conversations we have.

There’s only three tweaks to be made, and they’re really meant to cover unanticipated situations that didn’t quite fit the previous guidelines, or areas where I just missed something completely. (I should also mention these guidelines were used for BePartofthePlan.ca already.)

Basically, you know how I moderate now? Well, that’s how I’ll continue to moderate, and the guidelines will now explain what’s expected more clearly, based on a year’s worth of experience of what actually happens around here.

And here are the three changes, with explanations.

Read more »

Buzzer blog outage, Friday Jan 15 at 5 a.m.

Look out: the Buzzer blog will have an hour-long outage at 5 a.m. tomorrow, owing to a server being patched. Hopefully this will affect very few of you :)

Away for the holidays: back Monday, Jan 4

Just a note to say that I’m away for the holidays!

A couple of scheduled posts will go up while I’m away, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails on Monday, January 4.

Here are some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m away:

• Follow the TransLink Twitter account for real-time updates on our service, plus breaking news
• Transit alerts can also be found at the TransLink alerts page
• Here’s our customer service contacts and addresses from the main TransLink site
• And our web form in case you have a commendation or complaint
• Try Ken Hardie’s Twitter account — he’s our director of communications and tweets about key TransLink issues
• And for transit information, call 604-953-3333.

Happy holidays to everyone! See you next year!

Away this week: back Monday Nov 16

Just a note to say that I’m away this week. A couple of scheduled posts will go up though, and I’ll be back to answer your comments and e-mails next Monday, November 16.

Here are some handy links in case you need info/help while I’m away:

• Transit alerts at the TransLink alerts page
• Our customer service contacts and addresses from the main TransLink site
• Our web form in case you have a commendation or complaint
• Ken Hardie’s Twitter account — he’s our director of communications and will tweet about breaking news and service issues
• And for transit information, call 604-953-3333.

See you next Monday!

Reminder: Buzzer blog birthday meetup, tonight from 6pm to 9pm!

Happy birthday to the Buzzer!

Just a reminder that the Buzzer blog birthday meetup is tonight, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.!

There will be cake, buttons, cutouts, transit games, and more. Again, you guys are a huge, amazing part of this blog, and I’d love to say thanks in person!

The details:

St. Augustine’s, 2360 Commercial Drive
(Just steps from Commercial-Broadway Station!)
Thursday, October 8, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

(St. Augustine’s is the new name of the End Cafe, where we held our first meetup in February).

Three transit games will be played at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. Feel free to pop in and out and join a team as you please: it’s casual! (The games usually take about half an hour, so there’s time to chat in between.)

Once again, I’ll bring the cake and supply the munchies — you guys can grab your own drinks.

Again, the event should be a lot like the I Love Transit night held in February: see this post and this post for more on that event.

Happy birthday: the Buzzer blog turns one

The Buzzer blog turns one year old today – can you believe it?

After just one year, this blog has over 400 posts, over 3,500 comments, and a community of sharp readers who are a genuine pleasure to connect with.

So on this occasion, an enormous thanks to all of you for reading, commenting and otherwise coming here to share. (Remember, there’s a birthday meetup on Thursday, so we can celebrate together!)

For my part, I really must say I’m proud of the blog we’ve built together. Every day, I’m glad to help you find out what’s new and where you can learn more about us and our region’s transportation issues.

Plus it’s always great to listen to what you guys have to say about everything, and it’s super nice when the blog gets a compliment or two :)

OK now, cue up a nostalgic song, and let’s take a tearful look back at some notable posts from this past year.

Read more »