Amara asked that we put suggestions etc. here, so maybe this thread can serve that purpose. I would really like to see a VIEWS counter for threads because I think a lot of forum users use it as a measure of interest. When a forum has no VIEWS counter it seems maybe they are trying to hide their lack of use. And also I'd like to see some information on how to do basic markup. Nice forum!
[sticky]
Desired Features, Changes, Problems, Comments on this forum
(473 posts) (60 voices)-
Editor
Moderator/EditorExcellent suggestions. Comments:
> Edit/delete one's own posts.
You can edit, but not delete. Contact moderators@kurzweilai.net if you need a post deleted.
> Avatars.
Now working, as you can see. :)
- Chat room.
Looking into it. Any comments on Shoutmix? http://www.shoutmix.com/main/features.php?
- Sub-forum for LAR/singularity/transhuman skeptics.
OK, I'll add that now as a forum and we can figure out later where it should end up.
- FAQ
OK, will do.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/Editor- Views counter
Checking into it.
- how to do basic markup
Allowable markup shows at the bottom of the Reply box. I'll post a verbose version.
Posted 2 years ago # -
TrueAndroids
MemberMy avatar was actually automatically pulled from my Wordpress blog. Also, I agree with you - there could be a quoting function to discuss things in depth. Also I just noticed that when you click on a thread it doesn't take you to the last post. .......EDIT: Ok I do see that there is a "latest reply" button to click on at the top of the page, after you click on a thread.
Posted 2 years ago # -
{i}Pan~
MemberI wonder if their ought to be a sub-forum for news items.
Although I guess they could be posted in whatever forum is most relevant to the subject of the news, there tend to be so many news posts (even ones that are not posted in the news section on the site) that it almost seems as if a "current events" sub-forum is a good idea....just thought of this as I found an interesting article on Google....gonna post it to the old site for now.....
cheersPosted 2 years ago # -
Zoosh Badlegs
Memberhi, i mentioned this on the other forum and i don't want to go on about it too much but i really think that less is more when it comes to the number of subforums on here. In my opinion one of the main things that makes a forum successful is the feeling that it's a busy place. If it feels busy, it will become busier! It's much easier to do this with a small number of subcategories that have a large number of posts in than having a large number of subcategories each with hardly any posts in.
^
Broad categories will make the place seem much livelier. Maybe something along the lines of:
^
General/Main (this will be just like the original forum but without the topics below included)
Space/Cosmology/physics etc
Economics/Entrepreneurs etc
Miscellaneous
^
The site is looking good though by the way.Posted 2 years ago # -
exapted
MemberWhen I press Alt+Control+H it takes me back in my browser. I use that to delete the previous word, in other words I use it all the time. I'm just curious if it is really necessary to ruin the experience for those using lots of emacs keybindings. Probably not an issue for most, but a big deal to me. Thanks.
Posted 2 years ago # -
exapted
MemberI am honestly not sure whether I think there are too many subforums or not. But anyway there are a few I would not be very interested in:
[1] Skeptics, Acceleration Deniers, Anachronists, & Luddites
[2] Random / Uncategorized - at least eliminate one of these?
[3] New Media, Entertainment, & Games / Games & Entertainment - seems redundant.
[4] Politics & Ethics of Science & Technology / Promise or Peril? - These are highly related, perhaps the same topic at different distances.
[5] Human Enhancement / Virtual and Augmented Realities - How about transhumanism & human-computer interaction/integration? Also consider combining with categories in [3].
[6] Biomedical breakthroughs & Life Extension / Biotechnology - Why not combine these?
[7] Nanotechnology - I think it is a great idea to have a subforum for this.
[8] Cognitive Science & Neuroscience - great.
[9] AI & Robotics - also good, but I am sure there will be some posts that could be in this subforum or others. But that's ok.Also I think you should change the ordering of the subforums according to popularity or meaning, and make text more readable.
I'll add more comments as I think of them.
Thanks. I do like what I see.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/EditorI restructured the forum categories in an attempt to implement the ideas presented here and on MindX. Thoughts?
Posted 2 years ago # -
TrueAndroids
MemberPersonally I like it better. Easier to read. Ultimately I would hope for fewer (maybe 2) Read Me First sub forums, and I'd like to see Science/Technology raised to the top position. And Uncategorized should go to bottom, if at all IMO :)
+
EDIT of course you could leave the educational category at the top, if you are trying to attract such associations.Posted 2 years ago # -
{i}Pan~
MemberI guess the thing to keep in mind is that categorization is for navigation: if it helps you find what you're looking for faster then it's doing what it's supposed to. If you can find another way to help people navigate, then it's unnecessary. Obviously, it's all a balancing act.
The point isn't to separate every topic, but to make it easier for people to find, without having to wade through tons of other stuff to get to it, so if there's a more efficient way of implementing navigation (such as search for keywords; but this has it's own problems), then you can get away with less categorization.Posted 2 years ago # -
PDCÖ LXVIII
MemberIf there’s going to be a category for Skeptics, Acceleration Deniers, Anachronists, & Luddites, then it’s only fair that you should have the opposite. There should be a category for those who peddle euphoric delusions about a much faster rate of acceleration than RK has proposed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/Editorare there any plans to include things like the ability to embed youtube videos and to quote others without doing the whole copy and paste thing?
YouTube added to list. Re quote others: please explain what you mean. Something better than the blockquote used here?
Posted 2 years ago # -
In my experience, with too many sub-forums. You tend to get people posting in a "general" forum and then all else dies, since it's too many places to go look for posts. Since we dont have THAT much traffic / posts on the old forum I don't see all the categories will "fill out" ?
I really do think the best way to go about it, is to have few sub-forums and then later add if there's need for some specific topic, rather then start out with 10 where some will never get used and just steal time when you go looking for posts.Also keep in mind the experience all us old timers on mind-x are used to here, NO subforums and not a single sub category! Start out easy on us please :)
Last note, the URL light-blueish color really isn't easy on the eyes! Especially when put on bright white / light grey..
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/Editorlight-blueish color really isn't easy on the eyes
Agreed. I've been trying to convince our css programmer that it's not just me. I just asked him again to fix it based on the comments here.
Re the forum design, I've been holding off to get different viewpoints, and it seems that most users want a minimalist structure. So I just changed it to the following. Please test and let me know if it needs to be further changed:
- Read me first <-- These are more like FAQs, so it seems better to have subforums here (but I'm continuing to test that assumption)
- Main Forum
- Other forums: These are here as a test -- not active
Let me know how that works.
- Amara
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/EditorBlue text has been darkened. Let me know how it works for everyone.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Courtney
MemberHi Guys, Great job so far on the new website!
1.) It's not as easy to read as the old one so far. Maybe having a border color helps and bigger bolder letters.
2.) Here is an idea for the forum. Have one main post page like the old one.
Allow the poster and users to tag the post so it it goes to one of the sub forums for easy reference BUT it also stays on the main forum page. If the post contains info that is relevant to many sub topics it can be tagged by anyone to be listed there as well as on the main topic page. That way you still get the cross hybridization, melting pot mixtures that stimulate new synaptic growth:))
Posted 2 years ago # -
Zoosh Badlegs
MemberIs it possible to put date and time at the top of each post like on mindx?
quoteRe quote others: please explain what you mean. Something better than the blockquote used here?/quoteyes, im talking about one of those quote buttons that sits at the bottom of each individual post that does everything automatically for you. Also, it puts the name of the quoted poster, plus the time and date with the quote too.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks, the new blue is a little better. I am uncertain if it's the font or just my monitor that makes it just that.. "like feeling 1% off" or whatever :)
Will check when at home too.Regarding the categories I've seen suggested a "flat forum" which I understand as a single board? I think that you might want a few still, just not 10-15.
There's still a few very broad topics that could do with categories. Why not use Ray's own Singularity topics? The fields he wrote will together bring us the singularity?
Artificial Intelligence
Bioengineering
NanoroboticsHmm I could have sworn there were a 4th one, can't remember from top of my head..?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm glad the admins are finally getting around to upgrading Kurzweilai.net, but I think you've made the mistake of jumping from a totally one-dimensional forum to one that is hypercompartmentalized. There are too many subforums. I suggest you simplify it to the following:
Admin Announcements [only admins can post here]
Forum suggestions, questions and comments [admins publicly respond to users here]
General discussion [anything serious goes here]
-Sticky thread entitled "New Member Introductions"
Biotechnology and genetics
Nanotechnology
AI and robotics
Space and cosmology
Other tech and science
Politics, current events, society and ethics
Entertainment [movies, TV, music--mostly related to tech like Avatar and Caprica]
Mad Science [funtime for Mind-X crazies to post whatever crap they want--aggressively police rest of forum for crap and move it here]Each subforum listed here should have no further subforums within it. Look to this webpage for a good example of the sort of layout I'm advocating: http://www.worldaffairsboard.com
Posted 2 years ago # -
exapted
MemberJust an update on what I posted above:
"When I press Alt+Control+H it takes me back in my browser. I use that to delete the previous word, in other words I use it all the time. I'm just curious if it is really necessary to ruin the experience for those using lots of emacs keybindings. Probably not an issue for most, but a big deal to me. Thanks."Actually when I press Alt-Control-H it takes me to the home page for Kurzweil AI (beta). I don't see the point.
Posted 2 years ago # -
exapted
MemberI think you can turn of keyboard shortcuts in WordPress (I think this is based on?) under forum profile or something (admin).
I am pretty sure the keyboard thing is WordPress specific.That didn't work. Keyboard shortcuts are disabled in Wordpress Admin->My User->Settings and it's still happening.
And by the way the user profiles look good.Posted 2 years ago # -
I see that empty lines are trimmed
we need empty lines in our text. we can make things more visible leaving empty lines between ideas.also it will be nice to be able to reply to a specific post and the reply to appear under that post? like in the old forum.
also the possibility to sort posts by date and threadCheers
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/EditorRe blank lines: I just reminded our programmer.
Re how to see HTML code: as noted below the Reply form: "You can also put code in between backtick ( ` ) characters."Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/EditorTwixly said: There's still a few very broad topics that could do with categories. Why not use Ray's own Singularity topics?
That's the basis of the subforums, which are named based on core concepts in The Singularity Is Near and correspond roughly to the key topic categories used throughout this beta site.
Posted 2 years ago # -
These are constructive criticisms because the stuff on the new site is great, though still not as cool as MINDX.
1. it's too complicated.
James called it way over kill. Google had a heck of a lot of stuff on its search page but its tucked away with subtle links. you are dealing with users who have high IQ's and you can be subtle.
2. It doesn't show when I'm logged in or not obviously.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
is an example of what not to do on a home page. Slow load, complex over detail etcThe forum has a fast load which is great but it impossible to find detail immediately.
If you know where it is and are used to using it its good.
the cleanness of the site is fantastic.
4. it doesn't seem possible to follow arguments like on mindx
each now post seems to just list under the very last one?
I may have misunderstood this, but if its true, links make no sense and have no continuity..
inavigate around at the moment becaiuse its beta but i cant imaine doing theis in the future!
Posted 2 years ago # -
{i}Pan~
MemberRequest that the AUTHOR/OP of a thread be able to ban specific users from POSTING in that thread, but not from reading it.
Also, on a side note, are we going to get some different fonts/typefaces?
Edit: The more I think about this, the more it seems like this single idea may do more to reduce flame wars than any other single idea. It gives the OP a feeling of 'territory' over their own threads, and would be a reminder to people that if they are disrespectful inside someone ELSE'S thread, then they may be excluded from participating in it.
Of course,there is the chance that some may use it as an attempt to squelch simple disagreement' however, anyone is free to start their own thread on the topic, so I don't see it as a big deal.Posted 2 years ago # -
exapted
MemberEdit one's own posts.
You can already. See "EDIT" below your post above this.
Avatars.
Create a Wordpress.com or gravatar.com account with an email address associated with your gravatar that is the same as the one you use here.
Chat room.
Great idea.
I would like to be notified by email of answers to my posts?
This isn't quite the same, but you can get a good RSS feed reader that checks for updates often enough, and there is an RSS feed for each and every thread. See "RSS fee for this topic" below the last post on the page.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Editor
Moderator/EditorThanks for all the suggestions.... studying and passing along to our programmer.....
Posted 2 years ago #
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