feedback on the site

[khakipuce]

How about a +/- button per user per post. So for each post each user views they see a + and - button, they get one chance to click one of the buttons, once clicked the buttons disappear for that user for that post.

+ means the post is positive/contributing

- means the post is negative/detracting from the topic

At a certain -ve threshold the post is shown collapsed - i.e. just a single line with poster and date/time. If you want to view the post you can expand it.

 

[langcliffe]

Now we just need a list.

Here's a starter of ten:

cap 'n chris    8463 posts
Peter Burgess    6841 posts
graham    6696 posts
whitelackington    5645 posts
SamT    4544 posts
Les W    3052 posts
AndyF    2612 posts
bubba    2485 posts
paul    2194 posts
darkplaces  2009 posts

 

[ChrisJC]

I like the + / - idea. If everybody thinks Peter spouts excessive shite, then it will rapidly demote his output. Or otherwise.

Chris.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Now we just need a list.

Here's a starter of ten:

cap 'n chris    8463 posts
Peter Burgess    6841 posts
graham    6696 posts
whitelackington    5645 posts
SamT    4544 posts
Les W    3052 posts
AndyF    2612 posts
bubba    2485 posts
paul    2194 posts
dickplaces  2009 posts

I said ACTIVE users - that's more difficult to assess. You need to do a bit of work to see whose rate of posting is highest over, say, the last 6 months. Another way to do this is to do a "view posts" for each user, go back 10 pages and see what date the oldest post is. The ones with the most recent posts are the ones who have posted most often.

 

[Peter Burgess]

I like the + / - idea. If everybody thinks Peter spouts excessive shite, then it will rapidly demote his output. Or otherwise.

Chris.

What will possibly result is a "war" of ratings between different factions. That's not very friendly.

 

[graham]

The problem with all these ideas is that people come to a place like this for different reasons and they use it for different reasons. Thus any artificial method of trying to control posting rates will fail because it will simply be imposing a single, or at best a very narrow range, of reasons for posting on what is actually a diverse community.

Me, I come here for a variety of reasons, for information, news, gossip and many other things, depending on need, mood and inclination.

And I don't rabidly correct other people's spelling and grammar in their "carefully crafted" posts. The thing that started that long and rather silly thread was a light hearted two word comment on somebody else's one word and light-hearted post. The over-reaction was absurd and is, in my view, one thing that is definitely wrong with this place at present.

 

[Hughie]

I like the + / - idea. If everybody thinks Peter spouts excessive shite, then it will rapidly demote his output. Or otherwise.

Chris.

With all respect, Chris (and Khakip.), it's a shite idea, and been tried before under the "karma" banner. Incredibly judgemental. The guys oop north took it quite seriously, whilst us southerners gave it the credit that it richly deserved. It didn't last long, thank goodness.

Wonder whatever happened to "New Phil"?

Still, it amused us for a while. 

 

[langcliffe]

cap 'n chris    8463 posts
Peter Burgess    6841 posts
graham    6696 posts
bubba    2485 posts
paul    2194 posts
dickplaces  2009 posts

I said ACTIVE users - that's more difficult to assess.

That is very true, but the underlying point I was trying to make was a little more subtle.

 

[Elaine]

I don't like the + or - idea. It seems to much like being publicly judged. And is sure to have some inadvertant/deliberate bias behind the +'s and the -'s.
Some recent posts on this thread seem to imply that spelling and grammar criticism is a regular thing. I wasn't aware of that - maybe I don't read all of the threads.
And as to a list of all that I like about this forum;

Useful up to the minute information
Interesting reading
Some very funny posts
This little smiley thing   

 

[Peter Burgess]

cap 'n chris    8463 posts
Peter Burgess    6841 posts
graham    6696 posts
whitelackington    5645 posts
SamT    4544 posts
Les W    3052 posts
AndyF    2612 posts
bubba    2485 posts
paul    2194 posts
dickplaces  2009 posts

So how about making the same subjective assessment to all posters, regardless of how busy they are or have been? One of the worst crimes of modern journalism and comment is selecting statistics to suit your opinion.

Of this unpruned list (speaking objectively of those other than me), all have made valuable contributions, even the one under a control order. The loss of him of 2009 posts was, on balance I think, a loss to this forum. Lots of valuable, friendly and positive members went with him, either completely, or stopped posting nearly so often, much to the detriment of trip reports and the like. Surely the lesson to be learnt from pruning out those who don't fit is not that it encourages new growth, but that it causes further decay, while those who remain get more and more morose in their cosy little world, wondering where all the colour has gone to in their sad lives. First they went for the Jews, etc etc etc.

 

[cap n chris]

Godwin's Law kicks in, before this has even reached three pages. A new record? 

 

[Peter Burgess]

Nazis were not the first to go for the Jews by a long chalk, Chris!

 

[exsumper]

Yes possibly a record?. Peter's allusion is a valid one though; there is too much moderation and censorship on this forum. I might not agree with a lot of W/L's views, but I don't think he should be under a control order. I also feel that  anonymous complaints shouldn't  be allowed either; If you don't like the post why not complain openly?.  Only today a joke of Chris JC's was removed, merely because it was a bit non PC. I probably wouldn't have liked it, and might have been offended.  Although I'd like to make my own mind up on that score please . Any attempt to limit the number of posts per person, would just make a nonsense of any debate. 

 

[kay]

What I like about this forum:

Lots of cave info, and people who will answer questions. And search facility turning this into useful archive.
Ability to see new posts only (another forum I post to doesn't have this facility and it's a right pain)
Moderation - Rhys, who makes his moderation evident, and moderates with common sense (I'm not really aware of the other moderators as individuals)
Lots of general chat and argument - the general chat brings me here every day, which means I see the cave info a bit quicker. If it wasn't for the chat, then I might log on only every couple of weeks or so, or perhaps only when I had a specific question.
General lack of unpleasantness (this thread excepted), foul language for the sake of it, racial unpleasantness etc

Don't know if this is a technical possibility - is it possible to personalise your view so that  when you hit  'unread posts' you have the option of not being shown posts in "Idle chat"? Then if those of us who post a lot could be self-disciplined enough not to post "idle chat" type posts in the other areas, those people who would like to see this as a caving-only forum would see only the caving bit, while the rest of us could carry on chatting.

 

[bubba]

How about a +/- button per user per post. So []for each post each user views they see a + and - button, they get one chance to click one of the buttons, once clicked the buttons disappear for that user for that post.

+ means the post is positive/contributing

- means the post is negative/detracting from the topic

As has been said, something similar was tried with the karma system. Unfortunately it quickly descended into childish tit-for-tat voting and so made the system useless.

How about the more you post the lighter and smaller your font becomes?

Why should somebody who posts a lot of good posts be penalised?

Don't know if this is a technical possibility - is it possible to personalise your view so that  when you hit  'unread posts' you have the option of not being shown posts in "Idle chat"? Then if those of us who post a lot could be self-disciplined enough not to post "idle chat" type posts in the other areas, those people who would like to see this as a caving-only forum would see only the caving bit, while the rest of us could carry on chatting.

It is possible to exclude certain boards as a feature of the forum software...but it won't be acceptable to the new owners. This is because when they introduce advertising you could just block all the advertisers posts at the same time.

One thing you can do however, is go to say, "Idle Chat", then use the box on the right to select all, then mark as read. You can then go back to the main unread posts page with those posts excluded. It's not a great solution but it works.

 

[Goydenman]

I like the different categories that are now available.
I like technical tips and hearing news of finds.
I think the modertation is about right

Would like us all incl myself to tell others not just about finds but what sort of work we are doing.
Would like us all to encourage more people to join the forum and less people dominate it.
Would like members to talk more about possible ways to achieve win-wins that would influence the caving community in and beyond the forum in finding more cave (digging) and conserving them.

 

[anfieldman]

Personally I really like the forum. I don't post as much on here as I used to due to a number of reasons such as too much work to do (this equals less caving unfortunately) but I also feel that the majority of posts descend into childish arguments. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and people have to respect them, unless of course they are offensive, racist, homophobic etc which we have seen on here quite a few times.
Like many people I know a lot of the cavers on here personally but I also know a lot of other cavers who tell me that they cannot stand the forum and they have looked at it a few times and found it difficult to find the decent information amongst the bollocks.
Nowdays I have a quick look for any news (this is THE quickest place to find it in my opinion) and post the occasional comment but that is it.
The moderation is spot on I think and the Shit Heap is a good idea. I just wish some people would not insist on commenting on every thread thinking they are funny as fk.  If it wasn't for that there would be a lot more people on here.

 

[kay]

It is possible to exclude certain boards as a feature of the forum software...but it won't be acceptable to the new owners. This is because when they introduce advertising you could just block all the advertisers posts at the same time.

One thing you can do however, is go to say, "Idle Chat", then use the box on the right to select all, then mark as read. You can then go back to the main unread posts page with those posts excluded. It's not a great solution but it works.

It's very obvious that there are a lot of people who don't like those of us who use ukc for idle chat. Equally, those of us who do chat, I think, value the facility. What if we all agreed to confine non-serious posts to "idle chat"? (if necessary, starting a new thread in "idle chat" to continue something that had originated elsewhere). Then the problem would be making it easy for people to avoid "idle chat" if they so wished.

Is it possible to use different fonts/highlighting for different areas? If the Idle Chat posts showed up differently in the least of "unread" then it would be easy to avoid. All you'd need then was for an easy way for the "idle chat" posts to disappear from the "unread"" list after a certain length of time...

 

[Peter Burgess]

If you don't like the post why not complain openly?.

That's what I do. But when I do, it's only my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree with it, despite what a certain rude gentleman might say. The anglo-saxon abuse I and others get for doing so is par for the course. Fair enough. T'was always thus in the world of debate.

 

[teabag]

I usually use the site to read about new developments and what's going on in areas I'm interested in.  I rarely post but I use the site a lot.  I don't care if people want to use the site to chat, I am capable of just selecting the topics I am interested in from my unread topics and I enjoy the site as a whole.  I think there are probably lots of people like me but you won't hear from us - so you must be doing a good job.