Horological Meandering

I've recently had two thoughts regarding this site that I thought to share:

1. It would be great if there was a feature to "like" or "dislike" someone's post without necessarily replying to it.  This might be a nice way to subtly tell someone that their post was appreciated (or not) without necessitating a reply and so a handy way to further improve communication.  Perhaps the number of opinions one way or the other could be noted subtly near the corner of the post.  I understand there are some social media sites that do or can facilitate this but I'm too disconnected with the modern internet "scene" to comment on their utility for this purpose.

2. Is it worth considering a feature whereby users could optionally support the site through say a three tier system (silver, gold, platinum, etc) and paying a voluntary annual due?  This would be completely optional but if someone is a supporter, it could be noted near their avatar - say where the stars are.  I thought of this recently because there seems to be quite a few lurkers and even avid readers that might love to "give back" or show their "regularity" through support.  On the other hand, those that regularly post contribute in other ways via content may chose not to or those that can not or wish not to don't have to, and so again, it's very friendly and very optional.  For this to work i think there would need to be some assurance of anonymity.

3. Perhaps we need a suggestion box?

I'm not sure this is a valid topic nor that this is the right forum so moderators, please act as appropriate - these are just a couple of personal thoughts.

All the best and thanks again for this site - if only I had more time to participate!

This message has been edited by AndrewD on 2010-09-30 05:39:39

The forum(s)  are only as strong as their members; moderators and lurkers, heavy posters and heavy readers.   

The stars for "Residence"  is ready for release.  A thumbs UP/Dowm - I like your post can be developed pretty quickly which is a nice touch also.

Membership support is always welcome and obviously voluntary is welcome and ready also.  The recognition "symbol/tagline" needs some thought so we can recognize the members but not overtly like gold/silver but a little more "for those in the know"  which need some fine tuning.

There are a few other items all in beta ad ready for release so grouping these all together would be nice.

Thanks for the is honest, kind and supportive post.

Best regards

Bill

 

Thanks Bill - its nice to see the site evolving constantly and I'm very much looking forward to the new updates; it's really a first class featured site. I agree that the contribution/recognition element needs to be done well and tastefully or subtly. If it passes the bar for implementation I'm sure it will be done well.

p.s. One more feature note - it would be great to be able to repost from one's gallery. So for example, while composing this post I could click and insert a picture from my previously uploaded gallery. If already a feature but I've not read the instructions, I remain ready to be slightly embarrassed. Best.
This message has been edited by Nomer on 2010-09-29 15:21:04

. . . I wouldn't be comfortable with a tacit rating system. My sense is that the culture of this forum would be corrupted if dissent was anonymous; a thumbs-down rating system could easily dissolve the civil and nuanced discourse we now enjoy. Nothing wrong with disagreement, but it should be explicit rather than implicit, in my opinion . . . cordially, Art

No message body

I suppose your post is a good example of this - rather than an anonymous thumbs down, you were able to communicate in a more effective way - so perhaps you have a point! Having thought about it I can see the negative effect it might have, even if not anonymous. In fact I now think the dissent element is secondary to what I think might be the main enhancement which is a quick way to note that you liked the post.

For example, perhaps there could be only a "X users liked this post" and that is either anonymous or better, you can see who (registered users only) quickly marked your post as a useful one. I thought about this because in my personal schedule I have found the ability to catch quick snippets of various posts (iPhone in the cab; a quick look at lunch; perhaps a few minutes during the evenings) but not the time generally to write thoughtful posts (well sometimes, but perhaps not often enough!). This would be a nice way to quickly say "Thanks". In any case, the site is great already; this is nuance. All the best.

I think that, referring to your first point, that it is up to everybody to post or react to anybody's post.

Posts don't always have to get some serious content, it may also be " light " or fun, or interesting ... There is no problem about that.

Reactions to a post are important, IMO, as they give us a feeling / feedback about what is of some interest for our attenders / guests.

As for your point 2, thanks a lot for the generous thought.

Indeed, food for thought.

Best,

Nicolas.

Thanks Nicolas - I suspect this site would have a pretty generous group of individuals. Let's see what happens when Bill rolls out the new features; I hope I'm right!

And there are occasional niche posts, even within our already niche interest in horology, that attract little interest but are still important. I have asked some of these questions myself, and even if they attract only one response I am not disappointed, particularly if it is a very specific issue that hasn't been answered before. This whole place is a tapestry of information.

Andrew

I'd like to see an improved index for the search function.

For example, lets' say I want to search  the forum by author for "polaris".  There are 2720 hits currently available. This is fine if the author I'm looking for starts with " A ".  However, I'm in a whole world of pain if the author I want starts with "M" or "T" .  You get the idea.

Similarly if I want to find pictures in my gallery or search my own past posts, I can do so  going back or forwards 1 page at a time.  It would be great if the index showed how many pages of past entries I had so I could jump to page 5 or page 55 or last page  (Thankfully I don't currently have 30000 past posts or photos).

Thanks.

Regards,

Richard.

1. If the answer or reply is just as simple as "like" or "dislike", it may give opportunity to the readers/posters not to express their more explicit passion and information which is the core spirit and motto of this forum.

2. To have an optional contribution is a good idea but to have tier system (as proposed) to show support may run the risk of splitting the "purists" in classes.  That is undesirable again in the spirit as a purist. 

That is merely my thought and concern.

Regards

Ling