new idea... any support?

[EJFan]

i sent this information to the "site feedback" and to our wonderful mod... but i thought i'd bounce it off the members to see if it gains some steam. there are two thoughts i had about new forum features:

1. a special icon for threads a user has posted to. we have icons for "hot" threads and i thought why not have a different icon for threads we have posted to... that way it would be easier to identify them and check back to see if there's any following up to be done.

2. a new forum for "new member introductions." i've seen this in other message boards and it works well. it gives newbies a place to introduce themselves and it gives seasoned users the chance to get to know people without relying purely on their profile and post-count (which has taken on far too much importance lately).

any comments? can it happen? are they good, functional ideas?

 

[bisexplicit]

Bravo. Excellent ideas. I would love to see them implemented.

 

[Eilan]

I agree. Good ideas.

 

[bisexplicit]

Oh, by the way, since I see that you are an Elton John fan...how cute is it that hes getting married?

 

[Little Bird]

The first dugesstion would be quite cool, but the mods are limited to the settings this kind of message-board offers. Never saw it anywhere else, so I don't think it would be possible to do here...

 

[EJFan]

The first dugesstion would be quite cool, but the mods are limited to the settings this kind of message-board offers. Never saw it anywhere else, so I don't think it would be possible to do here...

i've seen it. though i don't know where i saw it and i don't know which software is in use in either case. i'm guessing that if there's a burning envelope icon there can be an icon that's, for example, an envelope with an arrow through it.

thanks for the encouragement, eilan and bi... now if only i had the necessary mystical lit-powers. lol.

 

[silverwhisper]

EJfan:

about the special icon: i frequent another forum that uses the same software and on that forum if you hover your cursor over the folder icon for each thread, it will tell you how many posts you have in the thread.

i'm not as sure re: a new forum. now, i consider myself a n00b here, given that i haven't been here long, but from what i can see, each forum has its own unique dynamic and so attract certain users but not others. therefore, new users will have to re-introduce themselves each time they venture into another forum, wouldn't they?

ed

 

[Halo_n_horns]

I think the first idea is more of a "I could take it or leave it" kind of idea for me, but I do like the second idea, although would the newbies want to be singled out like that when they come in?

 

[Undomiel]

I agree with the singled out thing for newbies. Also it would get pretty boring after a while with loads of topics entitled "Hi, I'm new here!". Especially since a lot of people probably register and post once or twice.

But the icon thing would be good.

 

[Ezzy]

1. A special icon for threads a user has posted to. We have icons for "hot" threads and I thought why not have a different icon for threads we have posted to... that way it would be easier to identify them and check back to see if there's any following up to be done.

2. A new forum for "new member introductions." I’ve seen this in other message boards and it works well. It gives newbie’s a place to introduce themselves and it gives seasoned users the chance to get to know people without relying purely on their profile and post-count (which has taken on far too much importance lately).

Any comments? Can it happen? Are they good, functional ideas?

Comment

1) To check on threads you have posted to, you can always left click on your user name and then "find other posts", the hover idea mentioned by silvermhisper, I have seen used in other forums and is a better way to go in my book.

2) It won't remove very many "Hi, I'm a newbie" threads, in fact it may even increase the "Hi, I'm a newbie, but I have a burning question that I have not researched at all, and you regulars will flock to my first or second thread and entertain me with your answers" threads.

I think the newbie thread idea is a good one, perhaps we could have it include all the sticky threads that we (I) feel all newbie’s should know about, before we (I) can fully accept them as useful, less irritating, more relevant members of this wonderfully diverse society we call Lit.

We could cover things like "How to search," "How to spell check," "How to write grammatically," and we could make them post 20 posts there, before we let them loose to do anything else but read, on the forums that we know, love and post on.

My real feelings are that newbie’s with silly questions are second class citizens of most sites anyway, and to force them onto another forum will not free this one up at all, and I am really not sure, many more experienced posters would hang out an the newbie board, and it is only the interaction between newbie’s and oldies that makes the newbie’s less "new" and the oldies less "old."

Just my 2¢.

 

[Quoll]

What about a sticky answering all those oft repeated questions.
Why can`t I have an AV?
Why am I still a virgin?
...........................custom title?
Does size matter?
Etc etc.....

Perhaps titled along the lines of "Read before posting"

 

[SweetErika]

What about a sticky answering all those oft repeated questions.
Why can`t I have an AV?
Why am I still a virgin?
...........................custom title?
Does size matter?
Etc etc.....

Perhaps titled along the lines of "Read before posting"

I vote for that idea, adding "search and read The Blank Manual first" to the list.

 

[Lynxie]

I'm torn about having a special forum for newbies. On the one hand, they may find it useful. It's somewhere to hang out and meet people before you join the full madness that is the Literotica Discussion Board.

On the other hand, however, there is a good chance that not all new posters would utilize such a forum. The way I see it, the good doobies that visit the new forum and read the stickies are likely to be the ones we'd never have a problem with anyway. The ones who don't bother to read before they post the same post that's been posted six times on the main page, along with the Trolls, are bound to just barge right in to the regular forums and keep on posting their repetetive and oftentimes asinine posts (That's 5 posts in one sentence...go me!). I'm just not convinced it would actually be a beneficial tool for the Lit community.

However, if you could make it so anyone who just joins is automatically sent to a page with FAQs (i.e. the current FAQ plus some of what's in the Blank Manual...or at least a link), it might be a bit more useful. Picture it: A newbie creates an account and logs on; the next screen they see would be a detailed FAQ page where they can learn how to post and other important information. Maybe if they were introduced to it from the start, new members would be more apt to use it when they had questions in the future. Just a thought...

As for the icon to mark threads you've posted on, I love it. Right now, we can only see threads we've read (i.e. the non-boldface threads on the list). We can subscribe to a thread if we want, but sometimes it's not really worth getting an email for it... a "You've posted on this thread" icon would be the perfect happy-medium.

 

[Eilan]

How about making all newbies pass a test, just to see if they've been paying attention?

Here are some sample questions:

You don't get an avatar until you
a. have 50 posts.
b. piss off 20 Litsters.
c. have 100 posts.
d. publicly profess your love for porn.

You lose your Lit virginity when you
a. participate in a Lit orgy.
b. have anal sex.
c. get into at least one argument on the GB.
d. have 30 posts.

 

[Undomiel]

c and d. i'm a good newbie! Well I've been here 4 months ish but thats still new to me cause I haven't posted a lot.

 

[Quoll]

How about making all newbies pass a test, just to see if they've been paying attention?

Here are some sample questions:

You lose your Lit virginity when you
a. participate in a Lit orgy.
b. have anal sex.
c. get into at least one argument on the GB.
d. have 30 posts.

All of the above

 

[Eilan]

c and d. i'm a good newbie! Well I've been here 4 months ish but thats still new to me cause I haven't posted a lot.

You are QUITE the good newbie!

I lurked around this place for so long that I pretty much had the board dynamics figured out ages ago.

All of the above

Now HOW could I have forgotten that?