Toolhaus.org
Negs/Neutrals: Why limit the output?
By default, the Negative/Neutral Feedback Tool limits the output to 1000 "items" - negative or neutral feedback, with or without any attached replies or follow-up messages. Why?
To keep the output below a reasonable size
A page with 1000 feedback on it (some with replies and follow-ups) is approx. 1.5 Megabytes of output. That's not only a lot of information for you to read, it's also a lot for your browser to load, and to store in your cache (also known as Temporary Internet Files). Most pages on the Web are much smaller, usually under 300kb. Even eBay works to limit the size of their pages, by limiting the number of feedback items per page, just as they do when browsing eBay's item listings, or when listing a seller's items for sale.
A thousand items gives an accurate picture
Once you've scanned the thousand most-recent Negative and Neutral feedbacks that a user has received or left, you've probably learned everything you need to know. Did the majority of the FB come from a small number of users? Did the FB recipient respond? If so, how? Think about what you've learned by reading these items, and ask yourself - "Will seeing more than 1000 items change the conclusion I've drawn?"
"Popular" feedback listings draw a crowd
It's fairly common to want to share a user's results, whether via e-mail or on a chat board or discussion group, on eBay or elsewhere. "Wow, check out how many negs this person has!" While we're thrilled that you're spreading the news about our tool, that often results in dozens or hundreds of people all trying to see that user's jumbo-size list of FB. Putting a limit on the output means that everyone will get a chance to see the results within a reasonable amount of time.
To reduce the load on the server
Those of you who remember a previous version of the Negs/Neutrals Tool may recall that it was shut down when it overloaded the Web server. We're trying to keep the load on the server to a minimum, both by improved programming techniques and by imposing a voluntary limit on the tool's output.
Fortunately, there's no need to make this a mandatory limit, which is why the tool has a checkbox to allow over 1000 items in the results. If you need the complete results for a user with over 1000 items, you should feel free to check that box and load the full results. All we ask is that you put a little thought into your actions!
Make with vi whb@toolhaus.org
Last modified Friday, 15-Feb-2008 18:34:12 EST