The Dragon's Lair

NEW WATTPAD UPDATE +SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WATTPAD CREW

GAH!!! NEW UPDATE!!!

And this time it's not one you will easily see...

Because they updated the Wattpad create screen: where you write your stories. As a result, I declare the "old" Wattpad officially dead.

As with last time, I will discuss the hits and misses of this update.

What Isn't Good

So the main premise of the update seems to be a redesign of the Create screen to match the new look of the reading screen. As a result, the first thing I saw when I open create today? BAM! A blinding wall of white. It seems the recently Wattpad is set on removing all the nice colors from the screen.

Next I must look at the new "Save & Preview" button, which is really annoying. Why can't I just save without looking at the preview? I fully believe "Save" and "Preview" should be two distinctly separate buttons. And also, I need something like the red box that turns green in order to ensure that my work was saved. I hit the "S&P" several times while writing this, and nothing happened so I got worried.

Also, the things that were formerly on the sidebar (Options: cast, external link, dedication, visibility) are now hidden in the "..." button at the top. I feel like that these sections are important parts in creation and should be prominently shown to the writer, not hidden in a little corner of the screen.

And also, be very careful with the "@" feature in the formatting bar to the left. Pressing it adds this: "@[mention a user]". Useful for adding a direct link to another user, but as I found out several times, once you press the "@", the thing is really annoying to get rid of. You have to type in some text, hit ENTER, then you can erase it.

And lastly, this thing is glitchy. Sometimes it doesn't save, and sometimes I lose all of my formatting. Please try to fix these issues.

And I just found out, the Create page is inescapable.

What's Good

You can preview what it will look like.

The text you type is easier to read.

That's it I guess...

Suggestions

Considering how things have gone in the past, I will not ask for a complete reversal (though it would be nice). Instead, I will offer some suggestions for things you should change in any area of Wattpad, in addition to suggestions already made above.

1. Add more lively colors. A whole lot of white gives Wattpad a very drab feel.

2. Can we please get an underline feature?

3. Create a way to get out of create...

4. Make the extra create options and the table of contents more visible and accessible.

5. Someone has suggested to keep the old Wattpad format, but implement the new features if possible.

6. Fix the bugs and glitches please.

7. Try to listen to feedback from Web/PC users. Not many of us like these updates if you pay attention.

I would also like to note that I have read the official reasons why Wattpad has been updating (see external link), and I would also like to comment on that.

I feel that it is a wrong justification to change the PC version of Wattpad to please app users. The app community is the app community. The PC community is the PC community. To change one to please the other is ridiculous to me.

And also, just because Wattpad hasn't updated in a decade does not mean it needs to. I don't recall In-N-Out adding a bunch of new items to their menu, yet the places are almost always teeming with costumers. In-N-Out stayed simple, and I think Wattpad should too.

P.S. For the nostalgic among us, a pic of the old Wattpad create mode above.

P.P.S. I don't know if the external link works, so to get to what I was mentioning, go the Wattpad profile, click the New & Updates book, and read the chapter titled "April 16, 2015 - Why Is the Wattpad Website Changing?"