Picking Your Brains

[penicillin]

John, I like your mention of security. I have read that mentioned here before.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that has had dodgy emails that appear to come from members here. But are crap.

The same thing happened to me soon after I joined. I disabled direct email messages, but allow PMs. When appropriate, I give my email address to others via a PM.

To disable email from strangers who join PenTurners.org, go here:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/profile.php?do=editoptions

Scroll down, and uncheck "Receive Email from Other Members".

 

[penicillin]

Jeff, JT just reminded.me that at the last changeover, it was a very tough job for you. Is there anything that the general membership can do to lessen your load?
For instance, would there be any benefit in us downloading our own albums and re-uploading after the change? I know I have tons of pics and could take the opportunity for a bit of house cleaning.

Just let us know what would help.

Thanks

The migration will cost a lot. Donate money. See this thread:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f435/look-what-i-did-159325/

 

[jttheclockman]

Jeff, JT just reminded.me that at the last changeover, it was a very tough job for you. Is there anything that the general membership can do to lessen your load?
For instance, would there be any benefit in us downloading our own albums and re-uploading after the change? I know I have tons of pics and could take the opportunity for a bit of house cleaning.

Just let us know what would help.

Thanks

The migration will cost a lot. Donate money. See this thread:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f435/look-what-i-did-159325/

Just a little side note you may want to read. You do as you wish and I am sure donations will always be welcomed. But read in particular post #14


http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/server-concern-158860/

 

[Darley]

I don't know if we can do it but about posting short video 20 to 30 seconds in pen presentation and jigs forum

Is that possible ?

 

[skiprat]

John, I like your mention of security. I have read that mentioned here before.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that has had dodgy emails that appear to come from members here. But are crap.

The same thing happened to me soon after I joined. I disabled direct email messages, but allow PMs. When appropriate, I give my email address to others via a PM.

To disable email from strangers who join PenTurners.org, go here:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/profile.php?do=editoptions

Scroll down, and uncheck "Receive Email from Other Members".

No, that's not what I want or meant. Getting emails is ok, it is fake emails that 'appear' to come from members but have malicious links in them. Almost like the innocent senders email address book has been hacked.

Jeff, JT just reminded.me that at the last changeover, it was a very tough job for you. Is there anything that the general membership can do to lessen your load?
For instance, would there be any benefit in us downloading our own albums and re-uploading after the change? I know I have tons of pics and could take the opportunity for a bit of house cleaning.

Just let us know what would help.

Thanks

The migration will cost a lot. Donate money. See this thread:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f435/look-what-i-did-159325/

Mmmm.....I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I believe that I am a fully paid up member. :wink:

 

[jeff]

I don't know if we can do it but about posting short video 20 to 30 seconds in pen presentation and jigs forum

Is that possible ?

The media module (gallery) has that ability. Might take a bit of time to implement, but we'll add that to the list.

 

[stuckinohio]

I think I'm pretty informed about what's good and not so good about our forum software, but I'd like your input. How about a few words about the following:

1. What feature would you really miss about the forum if it wasn't available?
2. What feature do you really wish we had?
3. What do you like best and least about the layout of the front page?

OK, I'll start:

1 - The PM System
2 - I wish the forum was usable on a mobile browser because I don't really like TapaTalk.
3 - I like the multi column layout with the widgets (tags, users, stats). I wish it had more popups on hover. Like hovering over a username to see information.

1. I don't want to lose any thing!

2. I would like the ability to "tag" someone in posts. For example - in some forums you can place a @ in front of a users name and they will get a notification that you mentioned them in the post. Very handy feature.

3. for whatever reason I don't go to the home page. Not exactly sure why not?

 

[jeff]

1. I don't want to lose any thing!

2. I would like the ability to "tag" someone in posts. For example - in some forums you can place a @ in front of a users name and they will get a notification that you mentioned them in the post. Very handy feature.

3. for whatever reason I don't go to the home page. Not exactly sure why not?

User tagging is a feature. Just like Facebook. But better, because it's here :biggrin:

The homepage isn't too enticing now, but it will be much easier to keep it fresh and interesting.

 

[stuckinohio]

Nice! Do we just insert the @ before a users name?

 

[maxwell_smart007]

As long as it's desktop friendly, I'll be happy...to many websites become 'mobile friendly', and that makes them unreadable on a computer..

Thanks again for the gargantuan behind-the-scenes effort that you perpetually make to ensure that this website is both functional and progressive, Jeff!

 

[jeff]

Nice! Do we just insert the @ before a users name?

That I am not sure of, but it's a good guess.

 

[stuckinohio]

Nice! Do we just insert the @ before a users name?

That I am not sure of, but it's a good guess.

Well, I tried that and I don't think I worked. Could be
# I suppose?

 

[jeff]

Nice! Do we just insert the @ before a users name?

That I am not sure of, but it's a good guess.

Well, I tried that and I don't think I worked. Could be
# I suppose?

You tried it where? We don't have that feature yet. We're still on the old forum software.

 

[stuckinohio]

Nice! Do we just insert the @ before a users name?

That I am not sure of, but it's a good guess.

Well, I tried that and I don't think I worked. Could be
# I suppose?

You tried it where? We don't have that feature yet. We're still on the old forum software.

Ah, There's the confusion. When you said we had it already, I thought you right now rather than the upcoming version!

 

[jttheclockman]

I am wondering if it is possible to have a system where it is possible to flip a photo weather in a test area or even after they were posted in a thread. With the use of more and more camera phones being used and people who do not know how to use them and they post photos sideways it makes it difficult to view them. Maybe the system can be so the OP can do this or maybe so the viewer can do this. Something needs to be done with this because we see it more and more. Now I have read before that at times the OP does not see it happening and for some reason it is the forum software that does this. If this is true can this be corrected??

 

[MRDucks2]

I believe the thumbs up/thumbs down type of rating for individual posts would be beneficial. Most posts would get thumbs up but when we begin to get out of sorts as individuals, the ability to give a thumbs down from the membership would help our new membership realize the response may be outside of the groups norm.

Also, the vast majority of my interface is through a cell phone, only going to the computer when most necessary for additional function. As such, the mobile device interface is quite important.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[jeff]

I am wondering if it is possible to have a system where it is possible to flip a photo weather in a test area or even after they were posted in a thread. With the use of more and more camera phones being used and people who do not know how to use them and they post photos sideways it makes it difficult to view them. Maybe the system can be so the OP can do this or maybe so the viewer can do this. Something needs to be done with this because we see it more and more. Now I have read before that at times the OP does not see it happening and for some reason it is the forum software that does this. If this is true can this be corrected??

I understand the frustration. It seems like every device has its own convention for image orientation. There are some rules, but sometimes it's a crap shoot.

There are some basic image editing tools built into the new media gallery. You can crop, rotate, watermark, and flip images on the server. That's only in the media gallery, however. The image editing when uploading directly to a post is limited to resizing the photo, no rotating.

It is easy to insert from your gallery into a post, so the trick will be to upload to the gallery, edit the image, then insert into a post. I just tried editing and inserting and it's really easy. There might be an add-on that provides some additional image editing features when uploaded to a post, so I'll keep my eyes open for that.

Hope that helps!

 

[jeff]

... or maybe so the viewer can do this...

One more thought... I don't know about other browsers, but on Firefox on my desktop I use the Rotata and Zoom Image add-in. You right click on any image and you can rotate and zoom. It doesn't persist through reloads of a page, but it's handy.

 

[jeff]

I believe the thumbs up/thumbs down type of rating for individual posts would be beneficial. Most posts would get thumbs up but when we begin to get out of sorts as individuals, the ability to give a thumbs down from the membership would help our new membership realize the response may be outside of the groups norm.

Also, the vast majority of my interface is through a cell phone, only going to the computer when most necessary for additional function. As such, the mobile device interface is quite important.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

I'm torn on the thumbs down option. I don't like to see piling on just because someone has an unpopular opinion. That's what I see happen on Facebook, and so I'm tempted to avoid it here. Maybe we'll have a poll. From a technical standpoint, the upvote/like and the downvote/dislike features are there and can be enabled/disabled by forum.

For someone posting content that is outside the norm, a gentle nudge from a moderator is all that should be needed. Speaking of moderators, the new software has some really nice moderation features and I'll be recruiting some additional people to help in that area. I'm expecting explosive growth here on the new platform :biggrin: so Andrew will need help.

 

[jeff]

As long as it's desktop friendly, I'll be happy...to many websites become 'mobile friendly', and that makes them unreadable on a computer..

Thanks again for the gargantuan behind-the-scenes effort that you perpetually make to ensure that this website is both functional and progressive, Jeff!

It's very nice on both desktop and mobile devices. The theme is "responsive" and adjusts the presentation to match the device it's being shown on.

 

[jttheclockman]

... or maybe so the viewer can do this...

One more thought... I don't know about other browsers, but on Firefox on my desktop I use the Rotata and Zoom Image add-in. You right click on any image and you can rotate and zoom. It doesn't persist through reloads of a page, but it's handy.

Well Jeff here is my thought. What you are talking about requires the OP to be kind and conscious to do those things and not give us excuses about their phone doing it. If someone makes a complaint about it there is this sensitive factor that rears its ugly head and people get annoyed. I was hoping as a viewer we could do it on our own. It is annoying each and every time it is done.

 

[jttheclockman]

A question on the thumbs down thing, would the name be associated with the thumbs down as it is with the thumbs up here. If you go that way I believe the name should be attached.

 

[jeff]

A question on the thumbs down thing, would the name be associated with the thumbs down as it is with the thumbs up here. If you go that way I believe the name should be attached.

On the new forum these things are called "post reactions", similar to how Facebook does it. It'll be completely self-explanatory when you see it. In the lower right corner of the post, you'll see a "like" and "reply" button.

You can just click/tap the button to give a like (or remove the selected reaction) but to access other reactions you can hover over the link (or tap and hold on touch devices) and a tooltip will be displayed with other reactions.

In the lower left corner of a post, you'll see a short list of reactions and the associated icons.

Clicking that pops up a page where you'll see who gave what reaction.

These reactions are configurable and extensible. So maybe I'll add a "golden pen" as the highest compliment that can be given :biggrin:

 

[jttheclockman]

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

 

[Chief TomaToe]

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

 

[jeff]

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

 

[jeff]

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

There are a lot of user engagement features coming, especially for mobile devices. Things like push notifications when someone mentions you in a post, etc.

 

[jttheclockman]

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/

 

[mark james]

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

There are a lot of user engagement features coming, especially for mobile devices. Things like push notifications when someone mentions you in a post, etc.

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/

I'll add just a thought, and it is my opinion only.

I would hate for any system of "awards, points, silly icons" to be available for "recognition" of simply posting answers, replying to threads, and creating threads. This will lead to some folks simply bumping their post count for silly self-esteem reasons.

Yes, I understand that this is important to some folks, but sheesh... I would hate to see efforts being expended simply to get the "Golden Pretty Pen" award for the "whatever" criteria.

Our current process of "likes" is a good starting point for logical appreciation for useful photos/information. I'm certainly not against newer formats, I just hope it will not morph into a contest for "Icon Awards" below our name.

 

[jttheclockman]

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

Jeff, I'm REALLY liking that post interaction feature. It may sound silly to some, but I think it adds depth to engagement that is typical of modern social media platforms.

The "Golden Pen" reaction would be absolutely perfect for the show off your pen forum. Not just a compliment for anything, but a compliment for those awesome pens. It would make this website even more unique.

There are a lot of user engagement features coming, especially for mobile devices. Things like push notifications when someone mentions you in a post, etc.

Will there be trophys too for various things you do on the site, like donating, asking questions, answering questions, getting a gold star. And also earning corny names the more posts you make?? I belong to a scrolling site that does this and it is weird but there are those that love it. Look forward to our new digs.

Those features are available in the new software. "Reputation points" can be earned for answering questions, etc. I'll need time to see which features would be enjoyed here. Tell me the name of your scrolling site and I'll have a look at how they do it.

"User titles" been available with our current software (called "promotions" here when they change based on post count), but we've never used them.

https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/

I'll add just a thought, and it is my opinion only.

I would hate for any system of "awards, points, silly icons" to be available for "recognition" of simply posting answers, replying to threads, and creating threads. This will lead to some folks simply bumping their post count for silly self-esteem reasons.

Yes, I understand that this is important to some folks, but sheesh... I would hate to see efforts being expended simply to get the "Golden Pretty Pen" award for the "whatever" criteria.

Our current process of "likes" is a good starting point for logical appreciation for useful photos/information. I'm certainly not against newer formats, I just hope it will not morph into a contest for "Icon Awards" below our name.

I will say this on the site I mentioned it does not even get mentioned and never comes into play. It was something the owner of the site started. There are no rewards or prizes.

 

[BigShed]

I would like to be able to to scroll through photos attached to a post, not having to close one photo and then click on the next.


I would also like to select more than one photo at a time for upload, doing one at a time is very time consuming.


Even better would be not having to resize photos before upload but for that to automatically handled by the forum software.


Would hate to lose New Posts.

 

[jeff]

Answers below:

I would like to be able to to scroll through photos attached to a post, not having to close one photo and then click on the next.

That'll be standard

I would also like to select more than one photo at a time for upload, doing one at a time is very time consuming.

Yes. (You can do that here now)

Even better would be not having to resize photos before upload but for that to automatically handled by the forum software.

Auto resize will be provided

Would hate to lose New Posts.

A new posts feed will be provided

 

[edicehouse]

1. I would say the PM feature.
2. Increase the size of photos.
3. I like that it is simple and several available features.

 

[pshrynk]

I have been on for a where the "reputation" function was used and silly names applied to new levels. We called it "karma". It was fun. As moderators, we had to turn it off on occasion when there was a karma war going on. After the karma was turned off, the members usually got back to a more tidy approach to things. Mostly it was just for fun, though.

 

[Herb G]

The ability to delete a post up to 24 hours after posting would be a great help.
It would prevent a problem after someone is drunk posting, or in a bad mood, etc.

 

[edicehouse]

FOUND IT!!! I was trying to find this the other day and couldn't so I messaged Jeff the following:

So I am at work and don't have time to search for the forum update idea thread. But one idea is when you subscribe to a thread can there be an option for it to be a private message also/instead of an email? Me personally, at work I have so much email, I find I am bad about cleaning my personal account, and miss stuff.

The second I just realized when I went to send this, in the PM section, it seems that the control panel may clutter up too much, most of your web based mail, other forums (the ones I remember) didn't have change password and all that on the PM section. Not a big deal just noticed the PM options are the 4th thing down in the PM screen.

NEW:
A forum I was on one time had a Live Chat feature, I don't know if that would be worth putting on here or not.