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missing replies - Carol - Jul 23, 2017
I keep forgetting to subscribe to the threads when I post, so when I log in there are no messages reminding of the threads I posted in, and I don't remember the names of the threads. This means unless the thread is listed in Today's Posts, it is lost to me. This does not seem to be a problem for long term members, but it could be a problem for new members, and increasing the activity of the forum might be a good thing? Forums that automatically list the threads a person post in are easier to use and a change in knowing which threads we have been active in may increase the activity of the forum? I have disappointed often by my failure to find the activity that I would like to see.
RE: missing replies - Secular Sanity - Jul 23, 2017
(Jul 23, 2017 07:29 PM)Carol Wrote: I keep forgetting to subscribe to the threads when I post, so when I log in there are no messages reminding of the threads I posted in, and I don't remember the names of the threads. This means unless the thread is listed in Today's Posts, it is lost to me. This does not seem to be a problem for long term members, but it could be a problem for new members, and increasing the activity of the forum might be a good thing? Forums that automatically list the threads a person post in are easier to use and a change in knowing which threads we have been active in may increase the activity of the forum? I have disappointed often by my failure to find the activity that I would like to see.
You can find them in your profile, but you’re right, it would be nice to have them available at the top of list in the portal. I don’t like the word 'portal'. I prefer 'recent posts'. I also don’t like having to scroll through the entire new posts. I’d prefer to see only the titles.
I think that if Stryder would agree to change 'respected members' to 'members only', it would encourage people to join. Maybe if it was visible to all but required you to login when you clicked on it.
People like perks, but the like button is too Facebookish. Stryder mentioned having a few contests before. A 'winner’s circle' topic could be pinned in the member’s only area. If he could arrange for a 'good answer', a 'good question', and a 'good topic' button, but with having the results show up only in the members only category as best answer/topic/question of the month. That would add another log on the fire.
We could also toss in an 'ask a member' question series. Just a thought
RE: missing replies - Syne - Jul 23, 2017
Really? Why on earth would you use the Portal link when there are View New Posts and View Today's Posts links...which both do only show titles.
And the bookmarked link I use for this site is Subscribed Threads in the user control panel. That way I see all the new posts in threads I've posted to...as long as I'm automatically subscribing to threads.
RE: missing replies - Secular Sanity - Jul 23, 2017
(Jul 23, 2017 08:33 PM)Syne Wrote: Really? Why on earth would you use the Portal link when there are View New Posts and View Today's Posts links...which both do only show titles.
'View New Posts' and 'Today Posts' only show when you're logged in. I'm not always at home and it's a pain in the ass to login on my iPhone. I've only done it once or twice at the most.
RE: missing replies - Syne - Jul 23, 2017
I don't bother to read posts unless I plan on replying (even if I don't end up doing so)...which would require logging in anyway.
RE: missing replies - Secular Sanity - Jul 23, 2017
(Jul 23, 2017 09:04 PM)Syne Wrote: I don't bother to read posts unless I plan on replying (even if I don't end up doing so)...which would require logging in anyway.
Really? Well, I like the way Sciforums is set up with the 'recent posts' because it shows up even when you're not logged in, and it's not simply today's posts, it's all the recent ones organized by the date.
RE: missing replies - stryder - Jul 24, 2017
(Jul 23, 2017 07:29 PM)Carol Wrote: I keep forgetting to subscribe to the threads when I post, so when I log in there are no messages reminding of the threads I posted in, and I don't remember the names of the threads. This means unless the thread is listed in Today's Posts, it is lost to me. This does not seem to be a problem for long term members, but it could be a problem for new members, and increasing the activity of the forum might be a good thing? Forums that automatically list the threads a person post in are easier to use and a change in knowing which threads we have been active in may increase the activity of the forum? I have disappointed often by my failure to find the activity that I would like to see.
Automatic subscription was initially used by a previous version of the Mybb software, however in the 1.8 design they decided that it was causing too many database accesses as a default feature, so they removed it. I didn't check this at the time of installing the software since it's common for forum software to have the feature within the user options pages.
Since this was a problem, I've uploaded a plugin to allow an autosubscribe feature in your user options that will automatically subscribe based upon what settings you pick (by default it's disabled) It won't hunt down old threads before adding the plugin (you can still use the site search to do that) but it should do the job you require of it.
RE: missing replies - stryder - Jul 24, 2017
(Jul 23, 2017 08:14 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: You can find them in your profile, but you’re right, it would be nice to have them available at the top of list in the portal. I don’t like the word 'portal'. I prefer 'recent posts'.To lessen the chalkboard sound (or grating teeth) I've renamed "Portal" to "Recent Activity".
The P****l was originally placed on the site to get around the problem of what happens when someone is logged out. I originally stopped the internal search engine from being used to lessen how much of a process overhead it can become if bots kept trying to scrap the site. The problem was disabling the search engine when logged out, also meant that it would be difficult to query any new posts/threads without logging in.
The Portal allowed a feed output of what was new to be made to get around search queries. (You can actually get an RSS output for read only that you can use in email programs like Thunderbird. Although you can post responses via email and it only shows you to the first post of the thread)
Quote:I also don’t like having to scroll through the entire new posts. I’d prefer to see only the titles.The idea of the posts being written out in full was to still allow the content to be spiderable. If it was just a title and link then if anyone was to search it would have to exist in just the title or link (although saying that decent search engines will follow the links to spider the contents anyway, it's more for the poorly behaved/created ones) and to give the site some bulk with keyword frequency.
Quote:I think that if Stryder would agree to change 'respected members' to 'members only', it would encourage people to join. Maybe if it was visible to all but required you to login when you clicked on it.
The term might well have been a Freudian slip in regards to what the initial envisionment was for the particular group/subforum, however this was during the consideration of a self-moderative forum where members could work together to stop bots or abuse. Since the method of Like/dislike was eventually considered to not be an effective method to self-moderate (mainly from the concerns of abuse) it was dropped, but some of the legacy framework (such as naming conventions) was left in place.
(The idea was those that were "respected" and therefore trusted enough not to abuse would be apart of that group. however since the scrapping of that direction, it's a defunct group name)
That being said, there can be a different between member levels applied. The question that might be raised there however is what would be criteria for entry?
Quote:People like perks, but the like button is too Facebookish. Stryder mentioned having a few contests before. A 'winner’s circle' topic could be pinned in the member’s only area. If he could arrange for a 'good answer', a 'good question', and a 'good topic' button, but with having the results show up only in the members only category as best answer/topic/question of the month. That would add another log on the fire.
We could also toss in an 'ask a member' question series. Just a thought
Competitions/Contests I'd considered before however the problem is working out a sufficient prize with a proper contest in mind. Legislatively Competitions and Contests can actually be a bit of a quagmire since in any Electronic contest there's suppose to be clearly written rules, deadlines, legal speil and in some instances the ability to post (Those telephone number contests you find on television are suppose to offer in the UK a postal way to submit to the contest. Most of the time the postal submissions end up having to be done in their own draw as opposed to the main one, which actually means if you use the post method of entry, you actually increase your chances of winning in theory, since not many people realise they can post to a contest) There is then the question of if there is a monetary alternative since this adds tax questions to both the prize giver and receiver etc.
There is then the point of the prizes themselves, unfortunately I haven't quite got to the point of materialising things from nothing just yet (Some Newtonian ruling about energy not being created or destroyed). So to gain prizes I either need to pull the funds from my own pocket, gain a partnership with various firms that are willing to allow a few free samples to be used in contest or to work out some way where the site can earn a little revenue just to fund such ventures.
The problem with the latter point is that I don't want to the membership to believe that they are only here to be cashcow (As I don't personally make money from the site.) If the membership allowed the site to attempt to fund itself in such manner, it could then re-invest any earnings in promotions activities, prizes and some upgrades.
RE: missing replies - Secular Sanity - Jul 24, 2017
(Jul 24, 2017 06:51 AM)stryder Wrote: To lessen the chalkboard sound (or grating teeth) I've renamed "Portal" to "Recent Activity".
Sorry, but it was bugging me. The word 'portal' is just sort of cheesy.
Thanks, Stryder. Much obliged!
stryder Wrote:The term might well have been a Freudian slip in regards to what the initial envisionment was for the particular group/subforum, however this was during the consideration of a self-moderative forum where members could work together to stop bots or abuse. Since the method of Like/dislike was eventually considered to not be an effective method to self-moderate (mainly from the concerns of abuse) it was dropped, but some of the legacy framework (such as naming conventions) was left in place.
(The idea was those that were "respected" and therefore trusted enough not to abuse would be apart of that group. however since the scrapping of that direction, it's a defunct group name)
That being said, there can be a different between member levels applied. The question that might be raised there however is what would be criteria for entry?
I don’t think that you’d need to create higher levels. People just want to be included. If you simply changed it to members only, requiring a login, curiosity would work in your favor. A privilege to hidden content is a perk.
stryder Wrote:Competitions/Contests I'd considered before however the problem is working out a sufficient prize with a proper contest in mind. Legislatively Competitions and Contests can actually be a bit of a quagmire since in any Electronic contest there's suppose to be clearly written rules, deadlines, legal speil and in some instances the ability to post (Those telephone number contests you find on television are suppose to offer in the UK a postal way to submit to the contest. Most of the time the postal submissions end up having to be done in their own draw as opposed to the main one, which actually means if you use the post method of entry, you actually increase your chances of winning in theory, since not many people realise they can post to a contest) There is then the question of if there is a monetary alternative since this adds tax questions to both the prize giver and receiver etc.
There is then the point of the prizes themselves, unfortunately I haven't quite got to the point of materialising things from nothing just yet (Some Newtonian ruling about energy not being created or destroyed). So to gain prizes I either need to pull the funds from my own pocket, gain a partnership with various firms that are willing to allow a few free samples to be used in contest or to work out some way where the site can earn a little revenue just to fund such ventures.
The problem with the latter point is that I don't want to the membership to believe that they are only here to be cashcow (As I don't personally make money from the site.) If the membership allowed the site to attempt to fund itself in such manner, it could then re-invest any earnings in promotions activities, prizes and some upgrades.
Does Facebook offer a monetary prize for people with the most likes? No. Why would you think that you have to offer a monetary prize? It’s not really a contest with monetary prizes. It’s more like a poll with social capitol. A form of human acknowledgement and psychological feedback. It’s a way to assert your opinion with just a click of a button and it works well.
If it's possible to set it up where each new topic had a thumbs up (good topic) button, and each response had a thumbs up (good reply) button, where the results would tally up and appear only in a monthly announcement in the members only section, working similar to Facebook’s like button, it would provide the social capitol and another interesting little perk for participating members.
Also, if you agree to notifications when joining, PhysicsForums sends (missing you) emails out with the latest hot topics every three months or so. Same with Quora, Houzz, Pinterest, Khan Academy, etc.
RE: missing replies - Carol - Jul 24, 2017
A perk I would like to see is an agreement about the importance of being respectful. Unfortunately, I have some names associated with, what was for me, very unpleasant post and that limits my participation in the forum.
I have changed my subscription function and I am curious how it will work for me. This is fun and thanks for the options.