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Forum Changes Coming (Opinions Requested)

Edward Skira

Edward Skira

http://skyrisecities.com
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We're going to making some changes to the forum in the coming months. While we're at it I'd like to see what you folks would like to see changed. What bugs or bothers you about the current setup that we can fix while we are making said changes.

I'd also like to see what you think would make the site an even more valuable tool. I'm not just talking about minor changes but bigger ideas. Say we had unlimited resources, what could we add to the site editorially or feature wise, that would make it huge. No idea is too crazy to be expressed here.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'll repost what I had in another thread here. What would I do?

1) More moderators. (Read: Active users)
2) Start actually enforcing the Rules of Conduct. Particularly on the newbies, which seem to really not be reading that thread.
3) Demote moderators who are not active on UT.
4) Clean up the forum. Go through the entire P & C forum, and move old threads of completed projects. Maybe delete a couple of rarely used forums. Open up a suggestions thread to see what users want, and pin it to the top of each forum. (You already implemented this suggestion, obviously as I'm posting in it)
5) Make it so nobody under 10 or 15 posts can start threads.
6) Move the Real Estate forum up a few spots in the list to maybe the third one. Below Buildings, Architecture & Urban Design, and above Toronto Issues. Or maybe a better segmentation of the forums and subforums.
7) Get rid of the renders forum. Instead, for each P&C thread make a post containing relevant information for each project. Maps, addresses, renders etc. Move that post to Post#1 of the thread if that is possible. That way, any important information on the project can be seen in the very first post of the first page of each project.
8) Ask for volunteers to help out with #7. I'd happily pitch in.
 
Though I actually think the present structure of UT is pretty good I have a few suggestions that could improve it.

1. Make it eas(ier) - clearer - to remove photos (and some text) when replying to a post. It is annoying to see a response that repeats huge photo files and the comment is then only "Great pics" or "cool".

2. Improve the indexing a bit - it is not always easy to find a post again and maybe allow searching WITHIN one thread - some threads are terribly long and I understand why the same questions keep coming up!

3. Do not increase the number of moderators more than absolutely necessary and avoid mods who cannot overlook grammer and spelling errors (or variations). Mods should deal with "Forum organisation - merging threads etc - and keeping the discussion fairly civil. Much as I would like some posters post less (or to post more substantial comments), I don't see how one could actually do this.

4. Allow users to create a list of threads they want to monitor more carefully or threads they simply never want to see.

UT is a great forum and those who organise and 'control' it are to be commended.
 
There's already a way of doing that. At the top of the column where all the thread titles are listed there's two little underlined links (Thread / Thread Starter). Clicking on Thread sorts by thread title.

I don't know how practical it is, or if there's the post volume to make it worthwhile, but I'd like to see a moderating system like what slashdot uses. Give users karma to allow them to rate posts, and then people can have a setting that says they only want to see posts rated 1 out of 5 or better. It seems like it's always the same people making the same useless comments, so that sort of system would still allow them to make the useless comments without forcing everyone else to read them.
 
1) have image placeholders in posts so the page doesn't jump around as pictures load. maybe there's some vBulletin add-on that can accomplish this?

2) i posted a solution to the "ads blocking the search function" problem a while ago over here: http://urbantoronto.ca/showpost.php?p=259917&postcount=20

3) don't break current forum topic links or user settings if you upgrade the site.

4) make the website more wheelchair accessible.

5) have the forum as one sector of the website. the index page of the site can have a link to the forum and other things such as:

UT news!

UT video!

UT podcasts!

UT image journalism!

***UT thread map! (see 7)

UT wiki!

the above six can be part of the forum (as in just regular threads) but the difference is that they are so important that they are featured on the index page of the site. for example, when drum takes a bunch of new pictures of the dufferin jog elimination, this would fall under the "UT image journalism" category and can link directly to his post in the thread on the issue. on the index page, there would be a little preview and short description of his latest update that links directly to his post.

i'm sure we can anticipate which posts would be breaking news material so mods can add these to the index page.

6) a resources page link on the index page. the resources page would contain instructions on how to URL shorten, how to upload videos, how to upload pictures and the relevant links to these services.

7) ***ability to have geo-located threads. for instance, a geo-located thread regarding the "west toronto diamond grade separation" would be seen on a google maps mashup page on the forum. people can go to the maps page on the forum and look for a thread based on geographic location.
 
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First thing I must say is that this is a fantastic resource and community as is.

I am grateful to Ed and others who who directly help behind the scenes as well as other contributors for what this has become.

So the most important thing, after I say Thanks, is to say please be careful not to damage what's good!

That's said, my 2 cents, on what I might do w/carte blanche

1) I would clusters the main forums differently. Something like...

Section 1: Projects, Architecture/Design etc, Infrastructure - Toronto
Section 2: Same as above - Suburbs (Peel/York/Durham)
Section 3: Everywhere else
Section 4: All things political (Toronto Issues/Provincial Issues/Federal Issues/World Issues)
Section 5: All things Other: (Retail/Events/Photos)

There's no magic to that; I quite like the existing set-up, the version I propose would just organize based on theme a bit more; and create a suburban section.

2) I would make it easier to u/l and post photos (I'm sure its not complicated, but somehow despite 400 posts and 2 years I can't get it right! LOL, so any change that makes me feel less dopey is good! :eek:) I'm thinking of a 1 button process (U/L and Add photo to thread, push this).

3) I suggested the links section ages ago to Ed and he was kind enough to add it. But it sits there under used. And I got to thinking.
What about changing it into an urban resources section. (not a thread); instead additions could be made by email/suggestion box to Ed/The Mods.
The idea would be to post weblinks but also walk-in addresses of sources of urban info.

Example:

Current Planning:
City City Planning Application Status, this link
City of Toronto Agendas - Community Council - This link
City of Toronto - Committee of Adjustment - This link

Public Space Issues:

This Forum - Duh!
Spacing - www.spacing.ca

Urban Environment:

Task Force to Bring Back the Don - Web address
Friends of the Don East - Web Address
Friends of the Rouge - Web Address
Greenbelt Alliance

Etc.

With various additional categories linking photo archives, current/old maps/cycling links/ etc.

I think it would be a great resource or people!
 
Perhaps I'm a creature of habit, but I hate when sites I regularly visit change. There's something to be said about the comfort of a website and knowing how to navigate it without thinking. It seems to me that a lot of the suggestions are about organization beyond what we currently have, and I fear that it might be overdone.

I also feel that a wiki and any of the extra bells and whistles would go unused simply because that's not what this site is about. In my experience with some other Message boards, when they've tried to extend beyond their original function, those extra features tend not to be used simply because we aren't in the habit of using them. This causes them to die off.

I don't want to see Khristopher's suggestions 1,2,3 & 5 because I think they're rather strict. This place doesn't need heavy moderation and we're all adults here who can moderate ourselves. Yes, threads do go off-topic occasionally but they always get back to the point eventually and I feel there's nothing wrong with some tangents because usually they reach that point for a reason.
Also, if someone new comes here looking for information or wanting to discuss something important to them, and they want to start a thread about it, then let them! It doesn't hurt anyone and it's not like we're being spammed with hundreds of newbie threads. Essentially this is a place that promotes community, education and discussion and minimum thresholds do nothing to promote any of those ideals. If we were Nexopia then I'd say okay, but there's nothing wrong with someone joining to ask a question about something they feel we might have the answer to.

One thing I do agree with is making it easier to find threads. Especially in the P&C section, where there is so much going on that it can take a few scans to find the thread you're looking for. As much as it's easy to go to the search function, I think it would be great if there was a type box at the top of the section where you could just type in a keyword that caused all unrelated threads to disappear. Optimally, as you typed the number of threads would decrease, so if you were looking for Murano, typing "M" would give you just threads with M in the title, then "Mu" would give you threads with just Mu and so on. It'd just save time not having to go through the search function I guess.

Ultimately, I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I think this site is in good shape, so drastic changes aren't necessary.
 
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I agree. I think the forums are pretty great as they are.

One thing I've found useful for larger web forums, though, and that might work here, is an "off-topic" or "chit chat" forum. Sort of a catch-all for all off topic or jokey posts between people. When people start derailing a thread in P/C with banter about how their used to be the cutest cheese shop right near this location or a weird dicussion about whether architecture can be "Kantian", their posts can be moved to that forum in the form of a new thread.

General Discussions sort of meets this need, but could do so more.
 
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