Last Rated/Active Column Added to Beer Lists

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Dec 27, 2021.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Check out: End of Year Site Updates

    ###

    Anyone who's been on BeerAdvocate for a while knows that I occasionally like to shake things up around here with updates. It keeps things from becoming stagnant by applying new ideas. Some of them stick and become the norm, while others generate valuable feedback and evolve overtime.

    As for this update, it's something that I've been wanting to apply the last couple of years: Put more focus on recent beer rating activity to help with discovery. First, last week I added a field to the beer database that tracks the last time the beer was rated. It updates when the beer is rated, a user rating is deleted, or a mod updates the beer. No big deal. Simple update. And it's now displayed under the beer notes section on the beer's page.

    But, what if we applied it elsewhere?

    Brewery Beer Lists
    Example: As of this post, Firestone Walker has:
    • Active: 149 beers rated within the last two years
    • Inactive: 53 beers not rated for at least two years, which will remain inactive until rated or retired
    • Retired: 200 beers tagged a discontinued / no longer brewed
    (Click the links to dig into the lists.)

    You'll also notice a new, sortable column named "Last Active." This date will either be the last time the beer was rated or the date the beer was entered if there's no ratings. By default, brewery beer lists are sorted using this date to support the overall purpose of this update.

    Beer Style Lists
    The Last Active column has also been added to the beer styles section, and sorted on it by default. For an example, check out German Pilsner. You can still sort by number of ratings (the previous default), but this update makes these pages a bit more dynamic and you'll be more likely to stumble upon something new as a result.

    Notes:
    • Last Active is the server date (UTC), but I hope to eventually apply the viewing user's timezone to it.
    • Why two years as the active/inactive split? It was the consensus amongst the mod team.
    Shaking Things Up
    I'm exploring applying the last rated field to the Top Rated lists to constantly keep 'em fresh and help to eliminate inactive beers, as well as some other applications.

    More to follow...
     
  2. snaotheus

    snaotheus Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,924) Oct 6, 2008 Washington
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  3. beerjerk666

    beerjerk666 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,155) Aug 22, 2010 Florida
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    I like it!
    More was to sort is always awesome.

    Hoping to soon be able to sort our own individual user data, too. :grin:
     
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  4. Harrison8

    Harrison8 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,285) Dec 6, 2015 Missouri
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    It looks like the 'active status' is reflected in beer profiles now too, unless that was always a feature...?

    For kicks, I was trying to see how many 'inactive' beers fell onto different state's top lists. Not to ask for more and more, but my first suggestion with this new feature is to implement it to 'top' lists. Understandably, these beers will probably be more 'active' than others as people try to complete the list. It'd be interesting to see how often these beers are being ticked though. May be especially telling for retired beers surviving on state or style lists.

    Appreciate the update, @Todd
     
  5. ChicagoJ

    ChicagoJ Grand Pooh-Bah (5,247) Feb 2, 2015 Illinois
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    Love these changes @Todd !

    The two year cutoff makes sense, to avoid much reshuffling for annual releases, and also for beers people cellar.

    I will hopefully get to entering my huge backlog of ratings the first half of 2022, looking forward to having all my data online.
     
  6. Beer_Economicus

    Beer_Economicus Pooh-Bah (2,698) Apr 8, 2017 Ohio
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    This seems like a great idea. Phenomenal. Love it. I was just talking with another member about how few people rate the Bourbon County beers anymore compared to years past. He spent awhile going through the data. This type of additional should make all that data much easier to gather and set up.

    Thanks @Todd
     
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  7. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    So, at least for me, this is going to make finding a specific beer on a brewery's list more difficult. When I go to the brewery page, the beers are no longer alphabetical, so that I could scroll to the letter the beer name starts with, I'll have to actively scan each beer, until I find it. Which will be a huge PITA when in a store looking to see if I've had a beer or not.

    Why not just enter the beers name?, I hear y'all asking. Have you noticed how many beers have the same, or very similar, names? The beer you're looking for might be buried several pages deep. it's always been quicker and easier to go brewery>beer than to just enter the beer name.
     
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  8. gatornation

    gatornation Grand High Pooh-Bah (10,388) Apr 18, 2007 Arizona
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    All you to do is single tap name icon On top and it will go to Alphabetical.
     
  9. Harrison8

    Harrison8 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,285) Dec 6, 2015 Missouri
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    The 'Name' column still sorts alphabetically. If you select it, it'll revert to #, A-Z. Select again, and it'll reverse. Default is now "Last Active" though, as opposed to "Name".

    Edit: @gatornation beat me to it. But if anyone knows how to run a ctrl+f search on a brewery page via mobile, I'm interested. I love that feature when at my desktop, but lack that fine tuning when on mobile. May help expedite for BBThunderbolt too.
     
  10. gatornation

    gatornation Grand High Pooh-Bah (10,388) Apr 18, 2007 Arizona
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    I do see however more duplicate additions of newer beers being added because the default is now last active.
     
  11. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    It's new (as noted in my post).
     
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  12. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Another perk of the update, I guess. Beer Tools > Propose Edit :wink:
     
  13. Harrison8

    Harrison8 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,285) Dec 6, 2015 Missouri
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    And you addressed my comment in my first post via your opening post too.

    Some times reading is tough....
     
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  14. Sheppard

    Sheppard Grand Pooh-Bah (3,516) Mar 16, 2013 Massachusetts
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    Really like this change as far as being able to see new beers/new breweries that are doing work that may have less attention than the mainstays. Is there a way to have this on the state/local level? I realize that you can look at local reviews currently, but I like the list format of this change more.
     
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  15. Harrison8

    Harrison8 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,285) Dec 6, 2015 Missouri
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    If you're at a computer, you can run a 'ctrl' (or 'command') & 'f' search. It brings up a search bar for that webpage. If you do this while the 'all' list is active, or where you'd enter a new beer name, you could search keywords of the beer name to insure it has not been added.

    Personally, I do this so I don't have to scan lists to verify the presence of a beer. Of course, this only works if you're adding beer at a computer. The latter is why I usually add a few new beers to a brewery while at a computer if I know I'll be visiting that night.
     
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  16. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Interesting idea. I'm definitely going to give it some thought.
     
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  17. Sheppard

    Sheppard Grand Pooh-Bah (3,516) Mar 16, 2013 Massachusetts
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    All I can ask for.
     
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  18. Rug

    Rug Grand Pooh-Bah (3,454) Aug 20, 2018 Massachusetts
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    iPhone or Android?
     
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  19. Harrison8

    Harrison8 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,285) Dec 6, 2015 Missouri
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    Android, but if it's possible for Apple, it may be helpful to share that information with others here too.
     
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  20. Rug

    Rug Grand Pooh-Bah (3,454) Aug 20, 2018 Massachusetts
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    Wish I could help you personally my friend, but I can certainly share for other iOS users. On a brewery page, select all to get the full list. Tap the share icon on the bottom middle of the screen (square with an up arrow) and scroll about halfway down til you find an option that says "Find on Page". Then it works just like ctrl+f on desktop
     
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