Today (Dec 6) we are announcing an update to the List pages on the IMDb desktop experience. This update is part of the broader site changes announced recently (https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/upcoming-changes-to-several-imdb-features-du6man1opd5q0). After in-depth discussion and examination, we have decided to simplify the features and functionality for lists. We have merged “compact view” and list editing into a single Edit experience. In that one view, you can now modify your text and add, copy, delete and move items. We have also pulled List actions (edit, export, settings) together into a 1-click menu (the 3 vertical dots on the top right of the page). You will now also find two new options in the Refine menu: ‘In Theaters’ and ‘Keywords.’ Tech constraints on the new system prohibit us from continuing to support drag-and-drop from the Edit view; we appreciate your understanding. For more information about Lists, see the IMDb Help Center.
Karen, Official Rep
Posted 10 months ago
Peter, Champion
If regular lists can have added refine features, why can't the ratings list have any?
Peter, Champion
Didn't get a reply to this. It's an honest question.
bderoes, Champion
You probably want an official reply, as do I.
An interesting tidbit that emerged somewhere in this thread: the Ratings are in a separate "system" than the lists. That's why adding the personal rating column back into the Export is taking so much longer than the director, release date and url did.
I also wonder why the presentation of the Refine options is so different on Watchlist & Checkin than on custom lists. And why is their Export option down at the bottom of the page instead of under a 3-dot button at top? These notions have nothing to do with back-end infrastructure. Unless they are designed to hide the fact that we have fewer Refine options on WL and C, which could be due to backend data structure.
An interesting tidbit that emerged somewhere in this thread: the Ratings are in a separate "system" than the lists. That's why adding the personal rating column back into the Export is taking so much longer than the director, release date and url did.
I also wonder why the presentation of the Refine options is so different on Watchlist & Checkin than on custom lists. And why is their Export option down at the bottom of the page instead of under a 3-dot button at top? These notions have nothing to do with back-end infrastructure. Unless they are designed to hide the fact that we have fewer Refine options on WL and C, which could be due to backend data structure.
(Edited)
Peter, Champion
Thanks. I have no particular understanding of the technical issues, it just seems odd.
sv, Official Rep
We recognize that this isn't ideal, particularly for those with many lists, and we plan to iteratively update it as this is an important piece of the IMDb experience.
(Edited)
bderoes, Champion
@sv, Official Rep
Please clarify to what you were responding in this comment:
http://email.getsatisfaction.com/wf/click?upn=Gf15zKkQ5xF-2FJchx2RlboEZCOWJo71NP9bexmc7o9m-2Bb0WYK-2...
Please clarify to what you were responding in this comment:
http://email.getsatisfaction.com/wf/click?upn=Gf15zKkQ5xF-2FJchx2RlboEZCOWJo71NP9bexmc7o9m-2Bb0WYK-2...
We recognize that this isn't ideal, particularly for those with many lists, and we plan to iteratively update it as this is an important piece of the IMDb experience.It is attached to Peter's reply:
If regular lists can have added refine features, why can't the ratings list have any?To which I also had a lengthy comment/question about Refine options looking very different on custom lists versus Watchlist and Checkins.
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled They changed the way lists are made.
They changed the way lists are made. I put all of my lists in alphabetical order, but now I can't do that. I can't figure out a way to move list items around and they got rid of viewing the list in alphabetical order. Why would they do that?
They changed the way lists are made. I put all of my lists in alphabetical order, but now I can't do that. I can't figure out a way to move list items around and they got rid of viewing the list in alphabetical order. Why would they do that?
Okay, they just added back the ability to view it in alphabetical order. But still, I would like to be able to move list items around effortlessly. Not have to type in a number. One of my lists is 1,000+ entries long and I'm not even done making it. I can't go back and forth to see which number a new entry would be, that takes five years, when it uses to take 4 seconds. At the very least I GUESS I could ask people in the list description to view the list in alphabetical, but I would much rather have it already be in that order thanks to me.
bderoes, Champion
When you view a list in alpha order, they provide numbers. That's new and possibly helpful.
Then again, if you're trying to be old-school with the alphabetizing, and ignore the leading A and The, you will just need to page through your list in Edit mode to find the homes for the new additions.
If we can't have drag and drop back, then I think it would be helpful if hitting <Enter> while in the Position box would trigger a Save Reordered List, rather than having to scroll up to the top where that link is. And this would be just like the Advanced Search, where <Enter> within a free response box triggers the Search to commence.
(I actually alphabetized a 50-entry list before posting this, and found the alpha-order copy I had tiled in a second window was too cumbersome to scroll through, because it doesn't have compact mode!!!)
Then again, if you're trying to be old-school with the alphabetizing, and ignore the leading A and The, you will just need to page through your list in Edit mode to find the homes for the new additions.
If we can't have drag and drop back, then I think it would be helpful if hitting <Enter> while in the Position box would trigger a Save Reordered List, rather than having to scroll up to the top where that link is. And this would be just like the Advanced Search, where <Enter> within a free response box triggers the Search to commence.
(I actually alphabetized a 50-entry list before posting this, and found the alpha-order copy I had tiled in a second window was too cumbersome to scroll through, because it doesn't have compact mode!!!)
Jack, I found that frustrating too that we could no longer click and drag, but instead had to type the numbers. More frustrating is now I can't move item around at all. I can add movies to a list, but it automatically goes to the end and can't be rearranged. Are you still able to make such modifications by typing the number?
bderoes, Champion
I just Edited my list of 1781 titles, and moved the last entry to position 1681. HOWEVER, it did NOTHING if I left the comma in the number. It ONLY moved when I deleted the comma.
Yeah, I eventually figured this out on my own, but thanks for the reply. It just seems intuitive to type edit the number in the format they had. I was editing a long list myself and I was in the 900s when the click-and-drag format left, so initially I did the number thing when I didn't have to worry about a comma. It was once I surpassed 1000 that things became problematic.
Any chance we can edit the fields that are exported to Excel? I really appreciated being able to sort by Director and by Release Date, but those fields no longer appear in the export.
bderoes, Champion
I definitely used both those fields in Excel, especially the full Release Date, not just the Year.
Me too.
Those fields are NOT of interest to me but my rating is. Impossible to tell from exported lists what titles I've rated or not rated.
The drag-and-drop system worked perfectly and very easily but now it's gone because of tech constraints. Why was there ever a need to change the lists in the first place? There was nothing wrong with the way the lists worked before. And "simplifying" the lists created problems where there were none before now. You also forgot to mention about getting rid of the "views" feature on the lists.
I can't believe they drastically changed the lists feature. That was my favorite thing on the site. They are horrible now. The drag and drop feature was so easy to use. Why would I want manually type in numbers. So disappointed with this change.
bderoes, Champion
bderoes, Champion
Export not longer sends Your Rating data!
Dan Dassow, Champion
I've confirmed that exporting a title list no longer provides "You rated" data. These are the data fields exported.
- Position
- Const
- Created
- Modified
- Description
- Title
- Title Type
- IMDb Rating
- Runtime (mins)
- Year
- Genres
- Num Votes
- position
- const
- created
- modified
- description
- Title
- Title type
- Directors
- You rated
- IMDb Rating
- Runtime (mins)
- Year
- Genres
- Num. Votes
- Release Date (month/day/year)
- URL
bderoes, Champion
(Dan posted while I was composing this. Mine adds a bit info, so I won't remove it.)
Interesting: On the Your Ratings page, the Export function is part of the 3-vertical-dot menu button. And the file includes our ratings and all other columns we got 2 days ago.
But when Exporting a custom list, indeed the following 4 column are missing:
Director
Your Rating
Release Date
URL
Another difference: they now capitalize all the column headings.
And under title type, it says
"movie" instead of Feature Film
"short" instead of Short Film
"video" instead of Video
"tvMovie" instead of TV Movie
I pulled both exports just now, not comparing today with 2 days ago.
Interesting: On the Your Ratings page, the Export function is part of the 3-vertical-dot menu button. And the file includes our ratings and all other columns we got 2 days ago.
But when Exporting a custom list, indeed the following 4 column are missing:
Director
Your Rating
Release Date
URL
Another difference: they now capitalize all the column headings.
And under title type, it says
"movie" instead of Feature Film
"short" instead of Short Film
"video" instead of Video
"tvMovie" instead of TV Movie
I pulled both exports just now, not comparing today with 2 days ago.
(Edited)
Another change is that documentaries are now shown as "movie" in column Title Type and not as "Documentary" as before.
When using export function you get the original Title and not the AKA title for your specific country that you have chosen in the main setup. Mening that the title name in listing function and export is not the same. This needs to be fixt as all other things listed by user bderoes above.
I miss the single line compact view so much I decided to just export my data & use/manage my own database from now on. Thus avoiding any future downgrades being forced upon me. That's when I noticed that my ratings (Your Rating) aren't exported in the CSV file!?!?
I'm just hoping this is an oversight by the developers & not a conscious decision by management to try & keep people locked in to this service that's becoming less useful with every update. I'm afraid if I haven't got access to data I've input, that's what it's starting to look like.
I'm just hoping this is an oversight by the developers & not a conscious decision by management to try & keep people locked in to this service that's becoming less useful with every update. I'm afraid if I haven't got access to data I've input, that's what it's starting to look like.
(Edited)
bderoes, Champion
I don't think IMDb has acknowledged our reports of missing columns from the new List Export.
You can still retrieve your ratings on spreadsheet, though, because that Export has not changed.
Then learn to use the Excel (and Open Office) vlookup() function to merge them together, preferably with the title id not the title itself as some movies reuse titles,
OR, procrastinate trying to merge the data, and hope IMDb restores the List Export to include your rating.
You can still retrieve your ratings on spreadsheet, though, because that Export has not changed.
Then learn to use the Excel (and Open Office) vlookup() function to merge them together, preferably with the title id not the title itself as some movies reuse titles,
OR, procrastinate trying to merge the data, and hope IMDb restores the List Export to include your rating.
Dan Dassow, Champion
FYI: You may need to sort the ratings spreadsheet by title ID. Excel's vlookup() function requires that the index key for the source list is in numeric or alphabetic order.
bderoes, Champion
Actually, not. There's a 4th parameter, and when set to 0 (false), it finds the target in an unordered list. Effective in both Excel and Open Office.
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Some of these changes are really poor. The drag-drop is gone and was incredibly handy, views are gone and it's still not possible to move an item from page 3 to page 1 easily within the same list. Also still need a refine function for ratings, the only workaround is to advanced search films you've seen. Ratings could do with more sort options.
(Edited)
bderoes, Champion
How was it easy to move a title from page 3 to page 1 before? Wouldn't you have to go to the title's page 3 location and enter a new location number? You can do that now.
Frankly, the addition of sorting ability WITHIN Edit mode gives more speed for editing items currently at the end of a long list, since you can just reverse the order of the list instead of slogging to the last page, one page at a time.
Frankly, the addition of sorting ability WITHIN Edit mode gives more speed for editing items currently at the end of a long list, since you can just reverse the order of the list instead of slogging to the last page, one page at a time.
I said it's still not a feature to easily move something from page 3 to 1
bderoes, Champion
Well, it seems better to me. On the prior system, when I put in the new location number, sometimes it would go and sometimes not. Today the few I've done have gone correctly.
How would you design the system to make it easy?
How would you design the system to make it easy?
Well, it seems better to me. On the prior system, when I put in the new location number, sometimes it would go and sometimes not. Today the few I've done have gone correctly.It also seems to register a change immediately (no lagging). At least that aspect is improved. Just imagine the endless frustration if they left the previous "sometimes the change will register and sometimes not" with drag-and-drop removed.
Yeah the number changing was temperamental before.
"How would you design the system to make it easy?"
Endless scrolling in edit mode only so I can load my whole list and then drag and drop from/to anywhere, or a drag and drop in the older compact style edit mode with bare minimum info that isn't likely to freeze.
"How would you design the system to make it easy?"
Endless scrolling in edit mode only so I can load my whole list and then drag and drop from/to anywhere, or a drag and drop in the older compact style edit mode with bare minimum info that isn't likely to freeze.
Jen, Champion
Can't reorder items on a list. Can't use simple formatting on a list. :(
(Edited)
bderoes, Champion
You can reorder using the numbers. We 'only' lost drag/drop.
I suspect the formatting of descriptions is a bug that'll be fixed, since they replied to an early poster that they were looking into it.
I suspect the formatting of descriptions is a bug that'll be fixed, since they replied to an early poster that they were looking into it.
The numbers are a dreadful means of reordering a list. If you want to reorder more than one item at once, then you need to calculate how the items above will affect its positioning. And that's when the numbers system even registers, which, for me, is practically never.
bderoes, Champion
I _think_ the number reordering is reliable now. I've only done a few, but none have balked, while I did some earlier this week that wouldn't go until the nth try.
And yes, you either need to start with the bottom-most move first and work your way up, or Save a few changes at a time. I too used drag/drop for close moves because of that.
On the plus side, I love having the title link active in edit mode. Many a time I've added a title and needed to look at that title while still editing.
And yes, you either need to start with the bottom-most move first and work your way up, or Save a few changes at a time. I too used drag/drop for close moves because of that.
On the plus side, I love having the title link active in edit mode. Many a time I've added a title and needed to look at that title while still editing.
(Edited)
Jen, Champion
I know the numbers work. But if you have a list that is more than 15 options it's quite time-consuming.
The only thing I wanted improving in terms of list management was making it easier to move, for example, item 406 to position 1102. And you couldn't even do that correctly. We sacrificed drag and drop in order to gain... what, exactly? My list of over 1300 items still doesn't feel any easier to reorder (and reordering is an essential part of my whole project).
Sure, the new interface looks better. That's almost objectively true. It massively increases the width of the comment space, which is great in my case. There are some good and overdue changes here but it's hard to get excited when we've lost more than we've gained.
I'm probably unique in that the removal of the view counter still bothers me more than anything else. Restore that and I can just about accept the rest. I'm in friendly competition with other people with similar lists and the view counter thing has wrecked all the fun.
Sure, the new interface looks better. That's almost objectively true. It massively increases the width of the comment space, which is great in my case. There are some good and overdue changes here but it's hard to get excited when we've lost more than we've gained.
I'm probably unique in that the removal of the view counter still bothers me more than anything else. Restore that and I can just about accept the rest. I'm in friendly competition with other people with similar lists and the view counter thing has wrecked all the fun.
(Edited)
bderoes, Champion
I agree that the view counter had value. Every once in a while I thought it was time to dump a certain list, but found it was still being accessed. Now I'm blind on that.
Under the prior version, I found reordering by number very unreliable. The few tries I made today were spot on, vast improvements over the sometimes it goes, sometimes not of old.
I just moved an item from 213 to 51 and it did the right thing. What are you doing that gets bad results?
Under the prior version, I found reordering by number very unreliable. The few tries I made today were spot on, vast improvements over the sometimes it goes, sometimes not of old.
I just moved an item from 213 to 51 and it did the right thing. What are you doing that gets bad results?
After further experimentation, I have to agree that I'm finding the results of long-distance movement more reliable and predictable than before. I still think the loss of drag and drop is an annoyance for short-distance reorganisation - for some people, this might be massive - but moving a few items up and down was never where list management truly sucked.
Now I just want my damn view counter back!
Now I just want my damn view counter back!
Dan Dassow, Champion
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
Bert,
It appears that the title search for episodes no longer works for title polls.
I was able to add episodes to a title list by using the title ID of the episode.
For example:
Test: Can One Still Enter Episode Titles
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls027355779/
Regardless, the search function does not currently recognize:
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
Bert,
It appears that the title search for episodes no longer works for title polls.
I was able to add episodes to a title list by using the title ID of the episode.
For example:
Test: Can One Still Enter Episode Titles
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls027355779/
Regardless, the search function does not currently recognize:
- Episode Titles
- The title ID embedded in a link
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
I only started doing lists this year, but one list relied on the ability to add episode titles. It's a disappointment and handicap to me now that that ability is gone.
bderoes, Champion
it's not gone. my how-to post appears RIGHT under this at the moment. Here's a copy/paste of the gist:
On the title page of an episode, the + icon still brings up my lists, from which I could add the title.
Pasting the code tt0583484 into the add box and hitting enter brought up the title of the episode, which I could then add.
I agree that searching in Edit mode doesn't work at the moment.
On the title page of an episode, the + icon still brings up my lists, from which I could add the title.
Pasting the code tt0583484 into the add box and hitting enter brought up the title of the episode, which I could then add.
I agree that searching in Edit mode doesn't work at the moment.
bderoes, Champion
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
I tried a few things; here's what worked & didn't for me.
On the title page of an episode, the + icon still brings up my lists, from which I could add the title.
In a list's edit mode, typing the name of the episode into the add box did not find it.
Pasting the code tt0583484 into the add box and hitting enter brought up the title of the episode, which I could then add.
I always found the search function within Edit mode to be more limited than searching from the top of a title page. This is even more limited than before, but it is still possible to add an episode to a title list.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
I tried a few things; here's what worked & didn't for me.
On the title page of an episode, the + icon still brings up my lists, from which I could add the title.
In a list's edit mode, typing the name of the episode into the add box did not find it.
Pasting the code tt0583484 into the add box and hitting enter brought up the title of the episode, which I could then add.
I always found the search function within Edit mode to be more limited than searching from the top of a title page. This is even more limited than before, but it is still possible to add an episode to a title list.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Can I no longer put single episodes of TV show on my lists?.
This has been very helpful. Thank you.
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Changes to Lists.
The list function recently changed, and it is definitely for the worst. The layout is hideous and counterintuitive, and you've made it significantly harder to move change the list order. Furthermore, adding items to the list has been changed in such a way that makes it more inconvenient. I spend a lot of time using the list function on your site, but these new changes make me want to stop using it. I don't know why you did it, but it's really frustrating and if you insist on keeping it the way it is (which you really, really shouldn't), I would at least like to know why.
The list function recently changed, and it is definitely for the worst. The layout is hideous and counterintuitive, and you've made it significantly harder to move change the list order. Furthermore, adding items to the list has been changed in such a way that makes it more inconvenient. I spend a lot of time using the list function on your site, but these new changes make me want to stop using it. I don't know why you did it, but it's really frustrating and if you insist on keeping it the way it is (which you really, really shouldn't), I would at least like to know why.
Col Needham, Official Rep
Thanks for the feedback. This change is part of a large number of updates going live at the moment. For an explanation, please see https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/upcoming-changes-to-several-imdb-features-du6man1opd5q0
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled List and Ratings Sorting System stripped.
Previously, when viewing your ratings or lists you would be able to organize titles by year, name, recently rated, ect., as well as apply filters such as, "Only feature films", but now the system has been stripped back and very minimal for no apparent reason. You are no longer able to view titles in a compact order, which now makes it challenging for me to look through titles because i have so many rated. I would like it to go back to the way it was before the seemingly unnecessary changes.
Previously, when viewing your ratings or lists you would be able to organize titles by year, name, recently rated, ect., as well as apply filters such as, "Only feature films", but now the system has been stripped back and very minimal for no apparent reason. You are no longer able to view titles in a compact order, which now makes it challenging for me to look through titles because i have so many rated. I would like it to go back to the way it was before the seemingly unnecessary changes.
Col Needham, Official Rep
Please see the "Refine" option at the top of each list. For example:
Other searches, filters, sorts and views for lists and ratings are available via advanced title search at http://www.imdb.com/search/title
Other searches, filters, sorts and views for lists and ratings are available via advanced title search at http://www.imdb.com/search/title
Both on my own list, and while reading the lists of others, there were two modes I used:
*Alphabetical order.
*Order by birth date.
Now I can't use either one, and can no longer make sense of lists.
*Alphabetical order.
*Order by birth date.
Now I can't use either one, and can no longer make sense of lists.
Col Needham, Official Rep
Thanks for the feedback. You can still sort in this order using advanced name search at http://www.imdb.com/search/name -- see the "Lists" section towards the bottom of the page; other filter and sort options are available too (and results can be bookmarked).
Sorting the specific user's list and sorting your own name search--are two VERY different options.
The list pages were fine the way they were before. Also, there was no reason for you to shut down the character lists.
Col Needham, Official Rep
The character feature has been retired so it was not possible to retain character lists, sorry. Please see https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/changes-to-imdb-characters
