Ideas ???

[Torq]

Looking for fresh new ideas to further improve the site. Most everyone seems to like the new 'format', and the categories break down.

Next is going to be "archiving" some pages of threads. Note: These archives will still be on the boards and accessible to all. The reason is to simply "clean-up" pages and pages of old antique threads.
Example General Talk has 78 pages of threads dating back to 2003. Alot of threads with little or no posts. Plan to archive multiple pages (NO deletions) simply to streamline things. Will catergorize / archive based on dates of post in threads.

Any and all ideas will be reviewed and considered, Examples: colors? topics? stickys? sections? titles? areas? anything?

Thanks all

T

[jeanne]

Just an idea off the top of my head: A newbie section? Similar in concept to newbie munches itf. A place for useful, basic information about the life - ift and online - with perhaps a few of our own "experts" sharing their early experiences - an informal mentorship almost. I'll have to think some more about ways to structure it, what to include...perhaps there are others here who have some ideas? Please share! :)

[_ID_]

With The archive thing, it would be useful if it were searchable.

Would also like the colors of the forms to be customizable. Like a skin, force default colors of texts so I can read them, other than what people think looks good.

Would like the search function to enable a drop down suggested results like yahoo and google suggest are doing. For example, if I type into the search box

flog, the drop down would expand on the word typed, and as the search term narrows so does the results:

Flog (6,000 Posts)
Flogging(1,000 Posts)
Flogging in a scene (10 posts)

So on and so on.

Not sure if it does it now, but would be handy if the results were shown by the most recent entry.

Would also be handy if we could have the option of turning off having to view signatures. I don't want to read someone's sayings, and links to their stories every time they post. It's clutter.

[annie]

With The archive thing, it would be useful if it were searchable.

Would also like the colors of the forms to be customizable. Like a skin, force default colors of texts so I can read them, other than what people think looks good.

Would like the search function to enable a drop down suggested results like yahoo and google suggest are doing. For example, if I type into the search box

flog, the drop down would expand on the word typed, and as the search term narrows so does the results:

Flog (6,000 Posts)
Flogging(1,000 Posts)
Flogging in a scene (10 posts)

So on and so on.

Not sure if it does it now, but would be handy if the results were shown by the most recent entry.

Would also be handy if we could have the option of turning off having to view signatures. I don't want to read someone's sayings, and links to their stories every time they post. It's clutter.


ID...

You can turn off signatures now. Go to usercp, edit options and it is about 3/4 of the way down on the page under "thread display options." You can turn off ava's, signatures, and images.

Thanks!
Annie

[Thorne]

Would also like the colors of the forms to be customizable. Like a skin, force default colors of texts so I can read them, other than what people think looks good.

A little tip I've used: If you can't read the text (dark blue text on a black background doesn't work with eyes as old as mine) highlight the text by dragging your mouse cursor across it while holding down the left button. Works for me.

[blythe spirit]

So, where are the archives? I was looking for something the other day and it totally disappeared.

I guess my suggestion would be to make it easier for lame people like me to find things.

[Torq]

Ok a couple of quick responses.

First off the "Archives" I spoke of have not been created as yet!!!
When they are they will be located on the boards, under each catergory, as a section. Example: The BDSM, Dominant dungoen, Submissives, switch etc archives will be located as a section under BDSM Cafe. They will be fully accessible and searchable.

jeanne: Re newbie section good idea will work on it, Thanks

ID: The custom colors you asked about I don't beleive can be done, will double check though, good idea. Also trying to update the current search features as well. Thanks.

Please keep new ideas and improvements coming

THANKS ALL

T

[Alex Bragi]

Yes, I like the idea of archiving old posts and perhaps a few others too. Announcements about people being away, going on holidays, or leaving the site permanently maybe relevant at the time, but can they can certainly be archived soon afterwards.

[annie]

I think we should have a little subforum area somewhere that is a "Notice" area-- a place where people can post that they are leaving/going away for a bit/have a new dog/cat/pig/sub.... whatever... but somewhere that's dedicated to that so that the posts aren't clogging the boards after they are no longer actionable...

*wonders if posting in the thread will work better than offering my suggestion in person to the Big Guy... waits....*

Just PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't put it in Site Announcements...

*wonders if my begging in the thread will work better then simply slapping delia for starting something... :D*

[Qmoq]

ID...

You can turn off signatures now. Go to usercp, edit options and it is about 3/4 of the way down on the page under "thread display options." You can turn off ava's, signatures, and images.

Thanks!
Annie

I didn't know that! Thanks annie!

As for suggestions to the forums... only if it's possible, I'd like to be able to ignore threads when I click on new posts. For instance, I'm not interested in the Poetry or most of the Fun and Games threads, yet when I click on "New Posts" I have to wade through them to see the juicy stuff. It'd be nice to be able to ignore them.

If it's tricky though, I don't mind the wading. I certainly wouldn't kick up a fuss and throw my toys in the air if it didn't happen!

Q

[_ID_]

I didn't know that! Thanks annie!

As for suggestions to the forums... only if it's possible, I'd like to be able to ignore threads when I click on new posts. For instance, I'm not interested in the Poetry or most of the Fun and Games threads, yet when I click on "New Posts" I have to wade through them to see the juicy stuff. It'd be nice to be able to ignore them.

If it's tricky though, I don't mind the wading. I certainly wouldn't kick up a fuss and throw my toys in the air if it didn't happen!

Q
I would like to second the ignore entire sections proposal.

[annie]

I would like to second the ignore entire sections proposal.

And I know WB asked for something like that a while back as well, (just to give it a 3rd)

[annie]

I was thinking we should put it into The Library Cafe --> Gen Talk. It isnt a Site Announcement really... I mean... yeah, it isn't a site announcement.

And if I don't get my slap, then what DO I get?????

Title of best slut on the forums? (And initially my spelling was a typo and it was "title of the beast slut on the forums")... *goes off wondering which title she should get.... :D*

[thepast]

Beast slut? errr... no. BEST slut? errrrr no. There are many who are far sluttier than I... but I digress...

If I am not mistaken, and VBulletin (these forums) runs off the same type of program that other VBulletin forums do, you have to include or exclude entire forums to ALL users "view new threads"... In other words, T would have to exclude all f&g threads from EVERYONE'S "view new threads" thing... I could be wrong though... *goes off in search of the big guy...*

[Ozme52]

I didn't know that! Thanks annie!

As for suggestions to the forums... only if it's possible, I'd like to be able to ignore threads when I click on new posts. For instance, I'm not interested in the Poetry or most of the Fun and Games threads, yet when I click on "New Posts" I have to wade through them to see the juicy stuff. It'd be nice to be able to ignore them.

If it's tricky though, I don't mind the wading. I certainly wouldn't kick up a fuss and throw my toys in the air if it didn't happen!

Q


I would like to second the ignore entire sections proposal.


And I know WB asked for something like that a while back as well, (just to give it a 3rd)


Or... a sort option in our 'User CP' so we can get our lists ordered by 'forum' or 'last poster' or 'post originater' instead of just by 'post order.' That would eliminate the "wading" and still give us the opportunity to glance through entire sections.

I would love a couple of additional sorts... in the Member list for example. First... to be able to sort by some of the other fields such as gender or orientation or location.

One way, would be to have a selection list similar to the alphabet option. I can narrow the list down to names starting with a single letter... and then sort the results by the columns provided. If I could ask for orientations that begin with a letter, or locations by letter, I think that would be slick.

[Torq]

THANK YOU to all great ideas,, Will be looking into any that can be done.

Keep em coming

Thanks Again,

T

[drusilla]

Something that i know would make my life easier at least would be having an option to 'view first unread' post in a thread. My fav. author's message board is the same format as this one and it's got that option, it really saves lots of time when you frequently visit the same thread to look for replies.

[_ID_]

Something that i know would make my life easier at least would be having an option to 'view first unread' post in a thread. My fav. author's message board is the same format as this one and it's got that option, it really saves lots of time when you frequently visit the same thread to look for replies.

Thats already enabled. Right above the first post of the page. It says view unread. Left side, above the avtar. Can post a pic of the link if need be.

[Thorne]

Thats already enabled. Right above the first post of the page. It says view unread. Left side, above the avtar. Can post a pic of the link if need be.

One problem I've had with this is that it seems to reset at some arbitrary time. I've been browsing the forums, knowing that there are other unread posts that I want to see and suddenly, for no apparent reason, everything will now be marked as read! Something that will retain unread status at least until I close down the browser would be better, I think.

[drusilla]

Thats already enabled. Right above the first post of the page. It says view unread. Left side, above the avtar. Can post a pic of the link if need be.


hmm, i must've missed it!

Nevermind!

[Phantome]

I like the archiving idea, and I like the new separtion of categories and sub-categories- it makes it easier to find the stuff I'm interested in.

I still would like to see another color scheme. If customizeable colors can't be done, what about pre-set skins? I can't imagine that the programming needed to create skins is nearly as difficult as going with full-on individual customization. You could create (for example) three or four skins that are pre-set and concrete. Then we would be able to pick which one we like by going to the user CP and clicking our choice. It would be as close to customizing as possible, and I think would satisfy a lot of folks.
-Phan

[drusilla]

hmm, i must've missed it!

Nevermind!

Ok, so I've been popping through a few different threads and short of this one, I don't see the "View First Unread" anywhere else...is it just late and i'm apparently too tired to see what's in front of me?

[Ozme52]

scroll up to the top of this page....

look on the left side just above Torq's name.

It's in orange, just under the word 'reply'

[Thorne]

Ok, so I've been popping through a few different threads and short of this one, I don't see the "View First Unread" anywhere else...is it just late and i'm apparently too tired to see what's in front of me?

It's only going to appear for those threads where something has been posted since your last visit here.

[Nikita]

Hi Torq,


Any and all ideas will be reviewed and considered, Examples: colors? topics? stickys? sections? titles? areas? anything?

Thanks all

T

What should "Overall Most Popular Stories" mean?

I apologize for the length of this post, however, it's necessary to illustrate the issue. Below is a link to the post that I made,

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/forums/showpost.php?p=489227&postcount=11

On the home page, this link,

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/site/library/list.php

shows different categories of stories by 'rating.'

Quote:

Tiger's quote

"The script counts the number of readers to each story and the stories with highest count will be in the "Overall Most Popular Stories". The "Recent Popular" is determined by the counts of current month."
Overall Popular Stories: the most popular stories of all time

#1 Slave Girls in Bondage, 33 votes! (8/10, 33 votes) (Total 528126 readers)

His statement is supported by this list, however, as a reader, I'd like to read the Highest Rated stories. It is the third link from the top of the list.

For illustration purposes, if I click on

It lists stories

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/stories/list.php?pos=0&sortby1=average&arrange1=DESC

#1 A Slave's Road, Neil has (10/10, 23 votes) (Total 141366 readers)

#5 The Weekend, Sardonicus (129 kb) (10/10, 29 votes) (Total 102423 readers)

#102 Communications Skills 4: Lip Service, subtle (10/10, 3 votes) (Total 16601 readers)

#103 Work Home Balance, Georg Kinaski (10/10, 10 votes) (Total 19767 readers)

Maybe I'm looking at this from a completely wrong perspective, but, from my calculations, I'm not sure what the rating system takes into account. How do these numbers justify their position?


Quote:
Tiger's quote

The stories can also be listed according to the ratings. It's hard to combine the story clicks and ratings to get a overall score, unless someone can come up a reasonable way to calculate.

Based on the description of how Overall Most Popular Stories are calculated, his statement shows the system does not count these stories in the same manner. The system seems to count the stories as something other than this

He further stated,
"The reader is counted only when he/she clicks in a chapter or the full text page."

#1 141,366 divided by 23 votes is an average of 1 vote per 6146.3 readers -- fewer votes in relation to more readers

#5 102,423 divided by 29 votes is an average of 1 vote per 3531.8 readers -- more votes in relation to fewer readers

another case in point

#102 16,601divided by 3 votes is an average of 1 vote per 5533.6 readers -- fewer votes in relation to more readers

#103 19767 divided by 10 votes is an average of 1 vote per 1976.7 readers -- more votes in relation to fewer readers

In summary, for this category, the stories that appear higher on the rating scale have fewer votes with more readers that those that are lower on the list that have more votes with fewer readers.


Tiqer's quote
The stories can also be listed according to the ratings. It's hard to combine the story clicks and ratings to get a overall score, unless someone can come up a reasonable way to calculate.

My suggestion is to consider using the calculation method above for Highest rated scores and leave the hits out of the equation.

I understand the necessity of calculating hits per story and/or author. If one doesn't exist already, another system calculation account could provide those statistics. The way it stands, it is irrelevant to the reader and authors to include hits in this category unless, the hits are reported as a separate category. That last sentence is just my opinion.

Please consider not only the readers' point of view, but also, the writers'. This category is a report card that is determined by the objectivity of the audience, rather than the reviews, which are subjective by nature.

Thanks for all the work you do. Filling Rabbit's paws has to be daunting not to mention, a thankless job.


Nikita

[Ozme52]

Is there a way to automatically put pointers into attachments so that once I open the first of a set, there is a handy "First-Previous-Next-Last" set of buttons.

[yullie]

Hmm... my ideas in here is : can we have bdsm checklist ? so ppl can see in each profiles what they like n dislike, better than keep asking one by one... like sir russel's checklist... thanks

[Widget]

Hmm... my ideas in here is : can we have bdsm checklist ? so ppl can see in each profiles what they like n dislike, better than keep asking one by one... like sir russel's checklist... thanks

I suggest you do the questionnaire and then put a link to your answers in your signature or profile so it can be read if people want to.


http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9385

[Faibhar]

As for "archiving", the Stories section seems to be all in order.

However, the newish format appears to have deleted most of the "authors" sections by design, or..? For those attempting to write and post, this seems to be an admission.

With due respect,

Faibhar

[Ozme52]

How about adding sound files to the types allowed for upload? Nothing that would auto-play mind you... Anything that would require a click to listen.

[Torq]

FYI , For all,, Thank You all for your suggestions. With the upcoming holidays, I will be looking into making a few of these changes/additions after the Holidays.

Again Thanks and keep em coming,

Be Well
T

[Draco]

Quick idea for you. Would it be possable to make it so that if you go to save a chat, the system does not log you out when you do?

[annie]

Quick idea for you. Would it be possable to make it so that if you go to save a chat, the system does not log you out when you do?

The easiest way to prevent, until a better solution is found, is after clicking on the save chat icon on the screen do not save it directly from there. Copy and paste it into a word file and save the word file. That prevents you from getting booted and yet you still obtain the desired information.

[Torq]

Just an FYI folks,, started to set-up and move areas to the new "archive" sections,, ALL these areas are still available to ALL and if I see threads coming "active" we'll move em back to the regular section !!

Thanks for your patience

Be Well
T

[_ID_]

Would it be possible to have the thread auto reacivate if someone were to bump it or post to it?

[blythe spirit]

Where is the new archive section located? I don't have a map and don't see it listed at the top of catagories from which to choose.

[Torq]

ID Crew, If someone posts in the Archivesit will still show on main, If thread is active enough I'll move it only takes a sec, can't set it to "auto" move

Blythesprit, The archives are located at the bottom of each section, no map required, LOL.

Thanks
Be Well
T

[blythe spirit]

Yipppppeeeee, I found it. It's under the dirty pictures. Okay - so I hesitated for a bit before going further, shoot me.

[Torq]

FYI The archives are done for now,, Have left approximate 1 years worth of threads/posts/etc.
The archives are at the bottom of each section and contain each sections threads.
Any threads from archives that become "active" can be relocated to main area as needed.

Thanks
\
Be Well
T

ps. still working on the new thread posts, and others. More to come.

[drusilla]

Quick thought that just came to mind. Maybe it'd be a good idea to have a part of the forum for newbie's. i don't specifically mean newbie's to the site but newbie's to the lifestyle, i've run into a couple of them in the chat in the past couple of days and i think having an area that they can ask newbie questions, be it about the lifestyle or about the site might be helpful. Sometimes people are shy and afraid to ask questions and potentially be ridiculed, maybe this would alieviate that?


Just a thought.

[thirst]

Drusilla,
Great idea - I was one of the newbies you "counseled" and I'm appreciative. It is a bit intimidating at first for a newbie, in front of the vastly more experienced masses.

[Draco]

Maybe would could have newbi mentors. Not trainers per say, just people who are good at helping new people feel more comfortable in this new enviroment.

[thrall]

Hello Torq

first off....the site looks great.....good job

the question if have is about the edit and report "buttons" being so close together in the Visitor Messages area..........is there any way to put them at opposite sides of the screen???.......

thanks
thrall

[Razor7826]

The story submission and updating systems should be altered to allow the updating of story codes and the summary. By my understanding, it is necessary to reupload every single chapter in order to add or delete story codes, and this has lead to significant problems with some of my stories.

[Tojo]

Just an idea off the top of my head: A newbie section? Similar in concept to newbie munches itf. A place for useful, basic information about the life - ift and online - with perhaps a few of our own "experts" sharing their early experiences - an informal mentorship almost. I'll have to think some more about ways to structure it, what to include...perhaps there are others here who have some ideas? Please share! :)

That sounds a good idea to me- I'm concerned about how many new people post in Personals before they get any info. Perhaps there's a way to 'encourage' them to read some relevant info before making a thread.

Sort of what to watch out for, a guide to writing the intro, what to expect etc.

I'm always concerned that new people are being preyed on by sleazes, burned badly & leaving the lifestyle for good. Sure it's always going to happen, but it'd be nice to do something to help.

[underwhere]

The story submission and updating systems should be altered to allow the updating of story codes and the summary. By my understanding, it is necessary to reupload every single chapter in order to add or delete story codes, and this has lead to significant problems with some of my stories.

Similar in scope to this idea, and one I've been thinking a bit about as I continue working on my stories, its quite possible (perhaps even likely) that different chapters or sections of a longer story might require different story codes. For example, one could have a light playful scene in one chapter and a darker more serious scene in a different chapter. (If its in the same chapter, there is no problem with choosing multiple story codes to reflect that for that chapter if there is more than one level of scening going on within that story.)

So I guess this leads to a question: As it exists right now, do story codes apply across the entire story, or are they kept separately for each part of a story submitted? If its the former, I'd recommend instead the latter, and if its the latter, forget I posted this and simply acknowledge that for me. :)

[Torq]

FYI To answer the questions,, Story codes are for the entire story, not individual chapters. Once story/codes are input they remain in order to change the 'story' would need to be re-posted.
Thanks
T

[Razor7826]

Yes, I know they are for the entire story, not for individual chapters. However, there is the section that says:

"The following fields are optional:
(please do NOT fill the form below unless you want to update the information)"

and lists sections for a new summary and new set of story codes. Is this information just trashed when it is submitted? Is there really no way at all for the admins to update either without having to re-upload the entire story?

[neitsyst2]

My goodness! The more i read the more i understand the kind of work that must go into putting together the site that we all enjoy so much. Thank You, T & T and staff, not only for all the work You do but for allowing input from us as You go. What a monumental task it must be to change things like colors, buttons, and wording at our request just to improve the site small bits, to our liking. It takes a dedicated team of people who are invested in their project to do so. My best to You, Your staff, and any sanity that this girl and her friends may have left You with!

[lucy]

First let me say "dito" to what neitsyst2 posted above. Thank you all very much.

Then i have a suggestion: It would be kewl when members profiles had a link to all that member's stories (in case she/he submitted any) or a note saying that he/she didn't.

And if that feature already exists i'm sorry, i looked hard but didn't see it.