AppleVis Website September 2025 Updates

Dear AppleVis Community,

AppleVis is continuing to evolve. We wanted to take a moment to share some recent updates to the AppleVis website over the last couple months:

• Deleting Comments:
  • It is now possible for users to delete their own comments. Below each comment that you have posted, along with the 'Edit' link, you will now find a link for 'Delete'. When activated, you will be taken to a confirmation page. Press the 'Delete' button on this page to delete the comment.
  • Whenever possible, we suggest using the 'Edit' functionality rather than 'Delete'. This is because completely deleting a comment will potentially leave any future comments to the discussion out of context. For example, if you post an answer to a question, someone replies to you, and you subsequently delete your comment... The other person's reply will still be there and may reference your comment that is now deleted.
• OpenAI Moderation API:
  • To help ensure that AppleVis is a safe and welcoming place for everyone, we have today begun testing the use of OpenAI's Moderation API to augment our content moderation efforts.
  • The purpose of evaluating Moderation API is to see if and how it can augment our manual moderation efforts--nothing more. AppleVis is open around the clock, and it is impossible for our team to monitor the site in real-time 24/7/365. If someone starts posting explicit or harassing content in the middle of the night, for example, it is our hope that the model would catch that and not allow those posts to go through. We are evaluating this technology to determine its strengths and limitations.
  • In broad terms, the model behind OpenAI Moderation API checks for harassment, hate speech against people because of a personal characteristic, or content that is elicit, violent, discussing self-harm, or sexual in nature. The above link takes you to Open AI's Moderation API documentation if you wish to read the full list of content and the accompanying descriptions.
  • If a post is flagged, it will not be published and the user will be notified.
  • While we wish it weren't so, we fully expect that the model behind Moderation API will not always get things right. If you submit a post /comment and it is rejected, and you believe your content complies with our Forum Guidelines, please send us a message via our Contact Form. In your message, please be sure to include the full and complete subject line and body of the post which you were trying to submit.
• Forum Name on the Homepage:
  • For forum topics on the homepage, the name of the forum is now displayed in parentheses along with other information about the post.
    • We are aware of the need to have this information displayed on subsequent pages when accessing the "More Apple Posts" link. Our appreciation to the users who flagged this. We hope to have a resolution soon.
• Menu Redesign:
  • We have redesigned the main menu of the website. Each menu item is now an expandable button, with links to various sections of the website.
  • Account information is now easier to access and can be located by navigating to the bottom of the Main Menu and expanding the 'Account' submenu/button. When logged in, you will have a 'My Account' and 'Log Out' links. When not logged in, the Account submenu will contain a link to login.
  • We would appreciate your input on navigability of the menu, items included, item placement, etc. While the main design of the menu is fixed as part of our website's theme, items included, and where we place what, can easily be changed.

We appreciate and welcome any and all feedback on these changes.