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Forum Thread

Upcoming iterative improvements to Redesign Deal Details Page, Search Experience/Engine and Homepage

15,905 9,608 September 30, 2024 at 03:55 PM
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+18
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Thread Details

+18 Deal Score
55,309 Views
Dear Slickdealers,

I'm Vitaly, I run Deals and Community Operations at Slickdeals, and I'm excited to share some important updates with you.
Some of you may know, some may not, but Slickdeals will turn 25 in November which is a dinosaur age of the internet, having started in 1999. Reaching 25 years is a remarkable milestone for any company. However, with this longevity come challenges, particularly in maintaining and updating our legacy technical infrastructure. We have recognized that our current system limits our ability to rapidly introduce new features without major wholesale changes and provide the best possible user experience in small iterations.
Some of you may have noticed recent updates to our web and mobile web experiences. We received a lot of feedback on them, and deeply appreciate the active participation of so many of you including @Gamerdude369, @clubclock, and @Inbox just to name a few. Your insights, both positive and critical, are invaluable in shaping the functionality of the platform.
Current Challenges

Through conversations with our community and new users, we have identified several challenges in our current product
  • Limited deal volume: While we have a good number of daily posted deals by users and staff, many users find them repetitive, in the same/similar shopping categories, and not covering broad shopping needs. The best deals often disappear too fast, and many feel that personalization should be more effective in surfacing relevant deals for them.
  • Outdated / Complex user interface: New users find our current design overwhelming and difficult to navigate while many of our tenured users continue to prefer the efficiency of the Classic experience.
  • Divergent user needs & preferences in search: While power users leverage search for in-depth price analysis and product research referencing older and expired deals, newer users primarily want to see live offers, as they are shopping in the moment with deals that are actually available to get right now.
Upcoming Improvements

To address these issues, we are working on a new Slickdeals experience that aims to retain core functionalities while also introducing improvements, including:
  • Redesigned search experience: Featuring both grid and list views, enhanced filtering options, and the ability to interact with deals directly from search results.
  • Enhanced search engine: With a focus on better relevance and prioritization of fresh deals.
  • Slickdeals Scout: A new feature that expands our community deal offerings by scanning popular retailers for price drops, with an option to show/hide these results in search.
  • Improved Deal Detail page: Focused on quick access to key deal information, and new features like comment threading and Giphy integration.
  • New Homepage experience: A clutter-free experience including a feeds-based navigation, featuring the beloved Frontpage (default), Popular Deals, Hot Deals, and a dedicated For You tab with personalized deals
Rollout Plan and Beta Phase

We're implementing these changes gradually over the next couple of months. Here's our rollout plan:
  • Improved Deal Detail Page:
    • Rolling out to select Slickdealers starting Monday, September 30, 2024
  • Search Experience and Engine:
    • Currently in testing with select users with plans to roll out by the end of October
  • Homepage Features and Improvements:
    • Introduced in a phased beta release.
    • Small groups of users will be randomly selected to participate.
    • Gather feedback and refine features before full release.
Your input is crucial during this beta phase, as it will help shape the evolution of these new features.
Temporary Limitations

We recognize that this transition involves some temporary limitations:
  • Search filters: We're actively working on porting over existing filters and exploring new ways to help users discover deals.
  • Expired deals: We're exploring ways to make this valuable historical data more accessible and understandable for all users.
  • Community features: We need to continue to enhance functionality for voting, commenting, and posting deals. This remains a priority for the near-term updates.
Our Commitment to You

As we navigate these changes, we commit to:
  • Actively seeking, and valuing and incorporating your feedback
  • Striving to preserve and enhance existing functionalities and efficiencies while improving the overall user experience
  • Providing regular (monthly) updates on significant changes
We Want Your Feedback

Your feedback is invaluable. Please share your thoughts and experiences:
  • Reply in this thread. We are watching Smilie
  • Use the blue feedback button at the bottom right of the screen
  • Email us at [email protected]
Again, we are committed to reviewing all feedback and making decisions that balance the diverse needs of our community. While we may not always get it right immediately, your input guides our improvements.
Thank you for being an integral part of the Slickdeals Community. We're excited to embark on this new chapter with you.
Sincerely,
Vitaly (redsolar)
About the OP
redsolar | Staff Pro Admin
Inside Slickdeals Joined Jul 2003 Slickdeals Staff Help Is On The Way :)
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4,545 Votes Submitted
15,905 Comments Posted

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Joined Feb 2020
A monkey could do my job
> bubble2 118 Posts
42 Reputation
iBigDave
10-01-2024 at 08:19 AM.

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank iBigDave

10-01-2024 at 08:19 AM.
Please Please PLEASE display the date of the post at the top.


ie: iBigDave - +5 Deal Score - 1,279 Views - 2 Comments - 10/01/2024 Date Posted
3
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Joined Mar 2005
Crazy Hip Guy
> bubble2 1,515 Posts
532 Reputation
jrlcopy
10-01-2024 at 03:12 PM.
10-01-2024 at 03:12 PM.
1. IF you want us to really use the points/CB system built into SD, you need to be competitive with the other sites. SD is where I've been the member the longest, but it feels like it's dead last compared with the other CB sites.

2. Emails > HTML Emails. (See attachment 1)

These " You are subscribed to the thread" emails are circa 1999 with only being text based. And how GIANT these URLs are in the emails. Can we not revise these?

3. Can we revise how this BB uploads images? The Attach Files > Upload Files > Close Window; 3 step process is a bit much for 2024. (See attachment 2)
Reply
Last edited by jrlcopy October 1, 2024 at 03:16 PM.
Joined Jan 2008
King of Deals!
> bubble2 2,860 Posts
5,352 Reputation
Pro
Tinkleondabeach
10-01-2024 at 07:13 PM.
10-01-2024 at 07:13 PM.
Would love to see some high level transparency of the privacy policy, e.g. into what goes into the personalization algo of personalized promotion: e.g. what third party services are used to track our browsing history across websites, what information is stored from third parties when it comes to product retargeting, etc.

Also: is ditching the vBulletin CMS backend on the roadmap?

Any updates on community contributions? Do we plan to kill that soon and should we redeem my remaining credits?
Reply
Joined Apr 2024
Product Manager at SD
> bubble2 112 Posts
18 Reputation
Staff
RhutworksatSD | Staff
10-01-2024 at 09:05 PM.
10-01-2024 at 09:05 PM.
Quote from iBigDave :
Please Please PLEASE display the date of the post at the top.


ie: iBigDave - +5 Deal Score - 1,279 Views - 2 Comments - 10/01/2024 Date Posted
Thanks -- On our backlog for the next sprint-- will come back in the next few weeks.
Quote from jrlcopy :
1. IF you want us to really use the points/CB system built into SD, you need to be competitive with the other sites. SD is where I've been the member the longest, but it feels like it's dead last compared with the other CB sites.

2. Emails > HTML Emails. (See attachment 1)

These " You are subscribed to the thread" emails are circa 1999 with only being text based. And how GIANT these URLs are in the emails. Can we not revise these?

3. Can we revise how this BB uploads images? The Attach Files > Upload Files > Close Window; 3 step process is a bit much for 2024. (See attachment 2)
1 & 2 -- you're right, we'll keep those on our backlog and notifications definitely needs an overhaul. For 3, if you'll use the Redesign, in the new Deal Details Page, you'll be able to attach images from within the comments.
Quote from Tinkleondabeach :
Would love to see some high level transparency of the privacy policy, e.g. into what goes into the personalization algo of personalized promotion: e.g. what third party services are used to track our browsing history across websites, what information is stored from third parties when it comes to product retargeting, etc.

Also: is ditching the vBulletin CMS backend on the roadmap?

Any updates on community contributions? Do we plan to kill that soon and should we redeem my remaining credits?
1. Of course. For the personalization algorithm, we've had the "For You" experience for several years now which shows you deals you might like based on deals you've previously viewed. Our Terms & Policies are here. https://slickdeals.net/content/list/slickdeals-terms-and-policies/?peid=51ebaf23-19dc-4f51-9d15-1f5358036f27

2. There's a lot required to sunset vBulletin, and I don't think we're quite there yet. Part of this launch is to slowly migrate some of the core components. However, our primary focus to make sure that we're helping users find a great deal; ideally, we want to make you want the new experience and not have to force you along on the journey.

3. Community contributions -- This is something we will want to build on & improve probably in 2025. We'll be sure to make an announcement if plans change.
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Joined Mar 2013
L8: Grand Teacher
> bubble2 4,080 Posts
460 Reputation
SKV4m
10-01-2024 at 09:21 PM.
10-01-2024 at 09:21 PM.
​I cant wait to be shilled even more. All your Baseus are belong to us.
3
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Joined Feb 2011
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,937 Posts
676 Reputation
ArseneWenger
10-02-2024 at 07:28 AM.
10-02-2024 at 07:28 AM.
Remember that color is your friend, don't opt for color neutrality/greytones in any redesign of visuals just because it might look nice. Color helps people's eyes focus quickly on different parts of pages and makes interfacing a lot easier.

Also, it would be nice to rank staff members on the quality of their posts so they think twice about what they are about to shill. I get that you guys take kickbacks and that's how some really crappy no-name retailers end up with approved deals posted by staff but there is a major quality issue with this website now as a result. I automatically am skeptical of staff posted deals as a result.
2
Reply
Last edited by ArseneWenger October 2, 2024 at 12:47 PM.
Joined Jan 2005
L3: Novice
> bubble2 264 Posts
680 Reputation
grazzhoppa
10-02-2024 at 08:36 AM.

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank grazzhoppa

10-02-2024 at 08:36 AM.
For desktop users:

I am unfortunately one of the first users to be forced into the redesign of the forum post. Appending ?v=1 to URLs to get the original, easy-to-read design is being overriden now server-side.

If anyone is interested, here are CSS overrides that you can use to strip away a lot of the irrelevant information being forced into your eye-line.
Unfortunately, there is no way to automatically fix Slickdeals now HIDING the original post.
They literally strip away the original post's content from the page until you click a button, which then dynamically loads the original post onto the page.

Screenshots/previews of the final result attached to this message. This is for desktop-width users only. On narrow screens, it will probably look worse than the new Slickdeals default.

Click image for larger version

Name:	original-post-forcefully-hidden.PNG
Views:	159
Size:	480.0 KB
ID:	16264350

Click image for larger version

Name:	comments-full-width.PNG
Views:	98
Size:	209.5 KB
ID:	16264347

Code:
/*==UserCSS==
@name     SlickDeals Re-color and Re-layout and Re-size
@version  1
@grant    none
@namespace      slickdeals.net
@include        https://slickdeals.net/*
@include        https://slickdeals.net/*
==/UserCSS==
*/

/**************************/
/*  INDIVIDUAL DEAL PAGES */
/**************************/
.dealDetailsPage {
  display: flex !important;
  flex-flow: row wrap !important;
  max-width: 100% !important;
}
/* move irrelevant information to the bottom of the content area */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsPage__card.dealDetailsPage__card--priceIntelligence {
  order: 999;
}

.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsPage__card {
  padding-top: 0;
  padding-bottom: 1em;
  border-radius: 0;
}

.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsPage__main {
  row-gap: 0;
}

/* Hide redundent and visually distracting link */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsOutclickButton { display: none !important; }

/* Move the pictures of the item out of the primary eye-line */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock .dealImageGallery {
  order: 999;
}


/* get rid of the grid layout in the page header */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__content {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row wrap;
  row-gap: .8em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__dealInfo {
  width: 100%;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__extraInfo {
  width: 100%;
  color: #999;
  font-size: 1em;

}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__dealTitle {
  width: 100%;
  font-size: 1.8em;
  line-height: 1.3;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__price {
  width: 100%;
  padding-bottom: 2em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__socialInfo {
  width: 50%;
  flex-grow: 1;
  margin: 0;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__shareVoteContainer {
    /*width: 50%;*/
}


.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__shareVoteContainer {
  justify-content: flex-end;
}

/* Shrink obnoxiously large price information */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__finalPrice {
  font-size: 1.5em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__listPrice {
  font-size: .8em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__savings {
  font-size: .8em;
}



/* move irrelevant social information out of primary eye-line */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock .dealDetailsMainBlock__vote {
  order: 999;

  /* This has 3 interactive components. Stop making it look like a single large button.*/
  border: none;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsMainBlock__commentsNum {
  color: red;
  font-weight: bold;
}


/* Move the most relevant information to the top (the original user-submitted post) */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__content {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row wrap;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsOriginalPostDropdown {
  order: -1;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsOriginalPostDropdown__bar {
  border-bottom: none;

}

.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__originalPost {
  padding-top: 0;
}

.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsOriginalPostDropdown__title {
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2.5em;
  color: red;
  border-bottom: .1em solid red;
  padding-bottom: .25em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsOriginalPostDropdown__icon {
  color: red;
  height: auto;
  width: 1em;
}




/* Hide irrelevant "editor's notes" */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__editorNotesInfo {
  display: none;
}


/* Condense unimportant staff-provided information */
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__editorNotes,
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__bodyHtml {
  font-size: .75em;
  margin-top: 2em;
  border-top: .5em solid black;
  padding-top: 2em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__bodyHtml {
  width: 60%;
  flex-grow: 1;
  padding-right: 3em;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTab__editorNotes {
  display: none; /* simply get rid of it. completely irreleveant information. */
  width: 30%;
}


/* Condense controls for irrelevant information*/
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTabs__header {
  font-size: .8em;
  font-weight: normal;
}
.dealDetailsPage .dealDetailsTabs__tab {
  padding-top: .2em;
  padding-bottom: .2em;
}

/* Hide redundent input form at the top of comments, that will rarely be used */
.dealDetailsPage .commentsSectionV2 > .leaveACommentV2 {
  display: none;
}

/* hide stickied, visually distracting "feedback" button */
us-button {
display: none !important;
}



/********************/
/* Comments section */
/********************/
/* hide irrelevant "top comments" section */
.commentsSectionV2 .featuredComments {
  display: none;
}


.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentV2__rightColumn {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row wrap;
}

.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentContent {
  order: 1;
  width: 80%;

  padding-top: 3em;
  padding-bottom: 2.5em;
  padding-right: 2em;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentActions {
  order: 2;
  width: 20%;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentFooter {
  order: 3;
  width: 100%;
}

/* Condense mostly irrelevent comment-author's meta-information */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentAuthorV2 {
  width: 100%;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentAuthorV2__details {
  width: 100%;

  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row wrap;
     justify-content: space-between;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentActions__popover {
  order: -2;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentActions__replyButton {
  order: -1;
}
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentAuthorV2__detail {
  font-size: .8em;
}

/* shrink obnoxiously large emoticons */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentReactionCounters__reactionIcon {
  height: 1em;
}
/* move emoticons as far off the eye-line as possible */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentReactionCounters {
  align-self: flex-end;
}

/* Remove visually emphasis on the username - its not important */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentAuthorV2__username {
  font-weight: normal;
}
/* Restore normal emphasis on the comment content - the most important information of a comment */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentContentHtmlBlock {
  color: black;
}
/* Remove obnoxious "Timeline bar" */
.commentsThreadedCommentV2 .commentsThreadedCommentV2__timelineBar {
  display: none;
}




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Joined Jun 2017
L2: Beginner
> bubble2 46 Posts
14 Reputation
klammore
10-02-2024 at 08:38 AM.
10-02-2024 at 08:38 AM.
Couple of items -

1) Can you bring back the ability to browse all deals for a particular store/seller? For example I want to see all posted deals on items from Home Depot, not the current generic 30% coupons.

2) Can you have the iOS app team enable/check the box in the appstore that allows you to run the iOS mobile app on MacOS? The gallery view for the forum is the most useful way to browse newly posted deals, as you get the title and image so you can quickly determine if it's something you are interested in before clicking into the post.
1
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Joined Apr 2020
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 881 Posts
240 Reputation
Pro
Ludwigger
10-02-2024 at 10:50 AM.
10-02-2024 at 10:50 AM.
Some feedback:

- Some of the forums have almost died.
Tech Support during a re-design seems that it got buried in the menu structure. It could also be that there is just less interest, but that may be driven as well by the menu structure.

- Also can one report a spam/offensive/needs attention post on PC or android? In the the post or thread, not by email.

- The rep point system seems pretty useless.

- Everyone, I hope, understands that you need to monetize your product, but less shill deals would be nice.
Reply
Joined Jul 2006
Wheeler n Dealer
> bubble2 1,315 Posts
464 Reputation
FrozENFyRe
10-03-2024 at 01:33 PM.
10-03-2024 at 01:33 PM.
Hey what the hell? Just because you're doing another redesign and messing with something that's been working forever now doesn't mean you have to remove tags again.

Tags are gone again. Why? Why remove something that's either very useful or neutral for all of us?
Reply
Joined Dec 2019
L2: Beginner
> bubble2 493 Posts
58 Reputation
Ned_Peters
10-03-2024 at 01:40 PM.
10-03-2024 at 01:40 PM.
I don't understand why the constant changes to his website, you must have some very bored IT people.
1
1
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Joined Oct 2009
L4: Apprentice
> bubble2 445 Posts
162 Reputation
DKNY14
10-03-2024 at 05:44 PM.
10-03-2024 at 05:44 PM.
For deals that don't start until a future date, how about giving those users who are interested a way to create a reminder? Perhaps an email and a web/app notification or popup?

The deal OP can set a start date in the deal posting itself, and the system would automatically send the reminder to everyone who subscribed to that deal.
Reply
Joined Apr 2024
Product Manager at SD
> bubble2 112 Posts
18 Reputation
Staff
RhutworksatSD | Staff
10-03-2024 at 09:28 PM.
10-03-2024 at 09:28 PM.
Quote from ArseneWenger :
Remember that color is your friend, don't opt for color neutrality/greytones in any redesign of visuals just because it might look nice. Color helps people's eyes focus quickly on different parts of pages and makes interfacing a lot easier.
Yes, noted. One area that we want to bring this back in the search experience as we've seen a lot of feedback around how color can be used to differentiate how good a deal is.
Quote from Ludwigger :
- The rep point system seems pretty useless.

- Everyone, I hope, understands that you need to monetize your product, but less shill deals would be nice.
Quote from ArseneWenger :
Also, it would be nice to rank staff members on the quality of their posts so they think twice about what they are about to shill. I get that you guys take kickbacks and that's how some really crappy no-name retailers end up with approved deals posted by staff but there is a major quality issue with this website now as a result. I automatically am skeptical of staff posted deals as a result.
The rep point system is intended to play a role in increasing post quality, but agreed that it's not working as intended. We want to look into this in 2025 as a broader investment into our community.
Quote from FrozENFyRe :
Tags are gone again. Why? Why remove something that's either very useful or neutral for all of us?
Quote from klammore :
1) Can you bring back the ability to browse all deals for a particular store/seller? For example I want to see all posted deals on items from Home Depot, not the current generic 30% coupons.
Tags are coming back soon. We'll also be introducing autocomplete so you can jump directly to a brand/category page from search. And you'll also see collections directly on the DDP so you can view a sample of deals from a category, brand, or retailer.
Quote from DKNY14 :
For deals that don't start until a future date, how about giving those users who are interested a way to create a reminder? Perhaps an email and a web/app notification or popup?

The deal OP can set a start date in the deal posting itself, and the system would automatically send the reminder to everyone who subscribed to that deal.
Great idea -- noted for future work!
Quote from Ludwigger :
- Also can one report a spam/offensive/needs attention post on PC or android? In the the post or thread, not by email.
You should be able to use the "Report" button under the Deal Details to flag a post or Hit the 3 dot menu to Report a Comment. Email [email protected] and we'll get you sorted if you can't find it.
Reply
Joined Mar 2021
New User
> bubble2 3 Posts
10 Reputation
Ashu007
10-04-2024 at 07:19 PM.
10-04-2024 at 07:19 PM.
Suggestion to devs : can we add price comparison like Google shopping does to check all the other rates by each deal , this will help users a ton and they will stay at this webpage.
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