March 25, 2004

Previous: Favorites Only and Reader’s Passwords

More Favorites Changes

Happy Friday,

I feel sorry for women in our culture.

Our entertainment mediums constantly bombard us with images of an impossible standard for female physiques. We see it constantly – in advertising, television, movies, music videos, magazines, the tags on underwear at T.J. Maxx, on and on and on. It’s no wonder there are women in our society who always feel physically inferior. How are they ever supposed to achieve the hair/face/body that the latest supermodel is sporting?

From when they’re little girls, we’re constantly pushing images on them – this is what your hair should look like, this is how white your teeth should be, this is how your makeup should be done, this is how your abs, butt, thighs, chest, neck should look. And if you don’t adhere to those standards, then you need to get HELP. Who’s saying this to the men of our society? (and don’t start with me about Hair Club for Men and Fitness Celebrity John Basedow and all the messages in my Inbox telling me how to “increase” my manhood – those are things that are birthed of the male’s own internal insecurities, not insecurities that are externally applied)

Could a female singer succeed if she looked like Kid Rock? Could a male singer succeed if he had the talent(?) of Jessica Simpson?

Our culture tells its females that they need to be shoved, stamped, and pressed into that perfect mold – and if they don’t fit, there must be something wrong with them. When they don’t fit, they have millions of images of what they can’t be, stored up in their conscience for the express purpose of making them feel like a failure.

If only somebody could come along and tell the female side of our society that they are fine just the way they are – and better yet, make them believe it.

I hope everybody is enjoying the end(s?) of their week(s?). I don’t know the proper way to structure that sentence, but I’m sure somebody will tell me (one of the beauties of running a site full of thousands of writers).

I read back through my last entry, and I have to agree with several noters who said it gave them a headache. I hope to do better and be more clear on this one – I’m not writing this one after midnight, so I figure I’ve got a shot at it.

Anyways, a problem with the implementation of Favorites Only entries on Monday was that people’s Favorites lists weren’t being updated and bolded when a person posted a Favorites Only entry. In other words, if I posted a Favorites Only entry, and you had me on your Favorites list, your Favorites list would not show that I updated.

I’ve fixed this so that now if you can see somebody’s Favorites Only entries, they will show up as updates on your Favorites list. However, if don’t have access to somebody’s Favorites Only entries, you will see their latest public update on your Favorites list.

Yeah – that’s real clear.

I’m working on some other changes to Favorites, and one is that the list will now show you the title of the diarist’s latest entry, instead of the old link that just said “latest entry”. However, (and this is important, because I will still get mail about it) the entry titles will not be populated retroactively – which means you will only see entry titles for diaries that are updated after today. If they haven’t updated since this change, you will see the “latest entry” link on the screen. There are more than a million entries in the Favorites table of our database, so it is impractical to go back and update the old links.

Another change I am working on which will be implemented soon is a checkbox on the Favorites page, which will let you select whether a person on the list is allowed to read your Favorites Only entries. Many people wrote saying they didn’t want to include everybody on their Favorites list in their Favorites Only entries. I can see the point of this, so I’ll be adding that in the next couple days.

The DiaryMaster

diarymaster, you rock…but you’ve gotta stop saying “anyways”.

wow, talk about a snowball effect…..

Jessica Simpson can at least sing. You should change that name to Britney. She can’t sing.

THanks for all the changes you’re making. They’re great.

YOU ROCK! I guess I will have to figure a way to name this tot after you now. heck..we met on this site after all so we will figure some way to add it in there

This is very clear! I like the latest change, only certain ones being able to read Favorites only entries. I actually thought of that and was thinking along the lines of an A list and a B list. Have you given any thought to the idea I presented – a drop down list that would let you put an entry in a chapter, but leave it out of the entries by Date View? More>>>

cont’d>>> That would allow me, for example, to have a chapter on my Diet and Exercise routine without having those entries clogging up my Date View entries. I think it would be great! Thanks again for all the work you put into this wonderful site!

Ok.. not to be a pain or anything.. but if you can create a checkbox to select which favorites can and can’t read my favorites only entries… why can’t you create a checkbox to select who can and can’t read my private entries? Just a curiosity… not trying to be a prick.

>>If only somebody could come along and tell the female side of our society that they are fine just the way they are – and better yet, make them believe it. << Hey, you just did! Really well written, and I love the message.

I tried to add someone to my faves list and got an error

well, hi. it’s nice to sort of meet the guy that created this beautimous site. “end of the week” by the way. Well i just wanted to say hello and that my name is Danielle. If you’d like you could leave a note on my diary, i’d apreciate it. How old are you? I know it’s a personal question but i hope you don’t mind answering. Well i must go, thanks. Have a wonderful spring break. Ta.

it may be just me…but i change my front page often…i think itd be conveinient to have a Edit Front Page button on the My Diary menu…

To the entry in your Personal Box, amen!

this is great!! thank you!

everybody = singular group. so. sentence = “i hope everybody is enjoying the end of their week.” since you said someone would tell you. 🙂

Other people have to believe that women are “just fine the way they are” before we’ll start believing it. Unfortunately it seems (not saying it’s a fact) there is a smaller portion of people that believe we’re ok the way we are than there are of the ones who want us to all look like models. I like the new favorites feature! (being able to be selective about who reads the faves only entries

thanks so much, the check list was a feature i was really hoping for but i couldn’t think of a way to get it so only certain people on your favorites could read it. Thanks!

That check box sounds AWESOME. RYB: It starts at birth. It’s the mother’s that do it. It’s like when a abuse survivor becomes the abuser. It was done to them & they go to their mother’s for advice on childcare and so end up doing the same thing to their children. We are at once frilled & ribboned. Later come Beauty contests & barbie dolls to aspire to be. It really is a shame.

Don’t you think it’s funny that Jessica used to be such a Christian girl, and now all we see are boobs? Not to say that she can’t show it off, but something tells me that she was pushed a smidge at one point. Now she’s really enjoying it though.

I just wanted to comment on your side notes that I have seen it applied to men, too. With women, it is tons worse, but “Fat Bob” still follows Robert Smith to this very day. But as a female who’s recently lost a lot of weight, I struggle with not wanting to care about image, and yet needing to – women are almost worse than men on judgments too!

RYN: Got it. You know I will!

BRAVO – I am loving your little “box o’ insight” – I find I am agreeing with you wholeheartedly thus far — keep it coming 😮 )

Wow, you seem to think of everything. It’s kind of fun seeing what new feature will be added next. Keep it up!

no “s”

Very cool about the option stated in your last paragraph. You are doing a fabulous job. Thank you.

I really liked your entry…

Good job!:)

‘m not sure if this is what I’m supposed to be writing to you, but… I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re awesome. OpenDiary is getting so much better lately, and I really appreciate all your hard work. =)

May I post what you wrote in your little side-box-thingy-there in my journal? 🙂

so do the titles of the entries appear on the diaries of all your favorites, or only if that diarist also has you as a favorite?

i try not too listen to all that bullsh*t. and i think its working quite nicely 🙂 theres too many things wrong with society.. the image of women just being the tip of the iceberg.. its a real shame, dont you think?

Not all females are that blind….but I agree, most are. It’s sad, the image they feel they must achieve to be perfect. No one’s perfect, but no one’s imperfect either. The Almighty

I’ve noticed that even though I’m on my friends favorites, her favorites only entries aren’t counted on my favorites screen.

Ends of their weeks. Both ends and weeks are plural so putting an s on them both is proper. 🙂

cool! isabel

Kudos on your sidebar comments. I agree whole-heartedly with what you said about women. If only more people believed this.

Thank you. 🙂

more troubles with my “buzzle” diary. sorry for being so annoying :s when i try to read my notes it opens up the page but then instead of the notes it just says: Microsoft VBScript runtime error ‘800a0005’ Invalid procedure call or argument: ‘Left’ /notelist.asp, line 249

Hi! My diary is working again! Thanks for your help!

wow, things just get more & more complicated.

In response to the whole women made to feel bad part of this, I don’t think you should feel sorry for these types of women concerned with their image. The media doesn’t force them to believe it, they encourage them to. It’s a shame some women are stupid enough to listen to the garbage the media throws out. I’m female, and I for one don’t listen to the media. I do what I want to do instead…

Make up and clothes are not going to improve my life. I’m proud not to look like those women because to me that would be conforming, something I try to steer myself away from.

nice change by adding the title to the lastest entry on favorites. That was a good idea! Thanks.

DM, if we write an entry, and we delete it, how come we’re still on top of our friend’s favourites list? moreover, the deleted title is reflected on the favourites list. can you help clarify or check? thanks.

Hey. Im really impressed with what youve done but I have a question. My tool bar hasnt shown up for about a week or more. I dont know whats wrong. Just wondering if you could tell me what to do to fix it or something. Thanx a ton and I love OD. I’ll have 1000 entries soon! yay. Well yes thats off topic if you could help me with my missing tool bar I’d love it. laters. xx.

i have a question… when i write a poem in my diary, the diary double spaces it for me…i have seen some other diary entries from my friends, and they have single spaces for thier poems…is there a way i can make it single spaced…?…

hello diary master…….ummm..I don’t know if I note you or what, but my diary is really frusterating me…I can’t even write an entry…..

did anyone ever tell you what a freakin genius you are? well if not, today is the day! you are a genius! I love all these fav only features and the chapter stuff and if I knew how to used the box thing i would… i love this place!

Is there a reason why in my favorites your diary shows up as being last updated 1/1/1900?? The Almighty

I was so confused by this change — I thought people were changing their diary titles with every entry. or I was going mad. helps if I come here first.

i was wondering…when a person is leaving a note…on the note screen, the diary doesnt show the diarist’s age…is there a reason for that?..

well i was gonna leave a note saying that you should have it so only certian people from your favs can read it but hey your already gonna do that so…cool…haha…well just wanted to say THANK YOU…i love OD…well ok buh bye…

I thank you for your comments on the female society of this nation. It’s so true.

F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F U C K F

Thanks for the explanations and keeping us updated! What you said about the females is true. I’m glad you discovered it. Thanks! We live in a male-dominated society, and it’s nice that some males see it. Though I’m a female, I don’t really care about physical appearance. That is only the surface. Personality is the priority.

Hi, is there any way you can find out how the diarist Brush Strokes (MaVlast) is? he said he was sick in mid-Janaury, and someone came on saying he had pneumonia. His friends are worried.

Just want to leave a note thanking you for all of the hard work you put into this site for our enjoyment and expression…

I have a request. Please can you add a feature to notes that allows you to delete a note you have left on someone else’s diary? Right now the only person who can delete a note is the diary owner. It would be nice to be able to delete your own notes too. Thanks,

tell me if i am bothering you with too many notes…i just wondered if there could be a gaming Diary Circle put up anytime soon…

wow, that little bit about women in society today really made me think, being a woman myself and all. thanks.

Your daughter giving you fits? LOL Thanks for the vote of confidence. I, too, find myself in that spot while I look at new things to wear. I’m re-building my wardrobe since having my daughter. I’m rebuilding because I’m actually smaller than I was before her. 🙂 So, I understand what you mean. Thanks for the rant. A lot of us appreciate it. 🙂 KT

Are you still working on a check box on the favorites page so we can write a favorites only entry that doesn’t necessarily go to everyone on our lists?

Maybe this is a dumb idea but would it be possible to when you set a readers password to only let them have access to certain entries?

How close are we to getting the checkbox on the Favorites page??? Or is that going to be just for OD plus???