suggest forum mods and member tutorial mods

[Admin]

Somehow I am missing the "Mark All As Read" button - I can only mark a single topic as read but not entire category.

I recently removed several buttons that almost no one used as a method to improve forum loading performance. I am actually surprised anyone at all used the mark all as read button!

I am certainly using it. 

Ok, I re-added it just for you

[frodo]

hi, i can bookmark forum pages but not tutorial pages because there doesn't seem to be a button. could you put bookmarking buttons on the tutorial pages as well please?

[want2learn]

I know this threads getting old but:
1. Thanks for the mods so far.
2. would it be possible to create a section solely for beginners and the $50 tutorial ?
just a thought.

[pomprocker]

I know this threads getting old but:
1. Thanks for the mods so far.
2. would it be possible to create a section solely for beginners and the $50 tutorial ?
just a thought.

I second that motion

[want2learn]

You could also move the beginner stickies there as most beginners wont look in the misc. section straight away.
Thanks

[mihies]

Ok, I re-added it just for you

 
I am happily clicking "mark all as read" many times each day 

Thanks

[Admin]

I just installed this mod:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1535

It basically just plays a 'You got mail' sound file whenever you get a new PM. It will only play once per session.

Any objections? Anyone like it?

You can turn of the audible sound in your profile, if you don't wish to use it. Or if you absolutely hate it let me know and I'll remove it.

[Canabots]

I enjoy it.

Pretty decent voice too, not robotic or anything (it lightens my day  )

[Webbot]

I tend to use 'Bookmarks' to remind me about the posts that I want to reply to. So thats great for monitoring stuff that I want to send out.

But it would be good to have a similar thing for topics I am interested in seeing new replies to. Once I make a posting then I get emailed if there is a reply to the topic and I can find it using 'New replies to your posts'. But sometimes I don't have anything to say - for now - but its a topic that interests me. eg the SoR Scope thread.

So it would be useful to able to place a 'Watch' status on a topic so that I get notifications, or can easily find, new posts to a watched thread - even if I've never replied to it.

[Admin]

Webbot, have you tried the 'Notify' button? (the one with the satellite dish)

[Webbot]

Webbot, have you tried the 'Notify' button? (the one with the satellite dish)

You're several steps ahead of me - as always! Doh !

[izaktj]

A rep system 

[Webbot]

Hey - we now all have a 'Helpfulness' figure. Cool.

Edit - They seem to be called Karma points. Admin has spent too long in the East !!!

Please dont list our 'Waistline measurements' 

[Admin]

A rep system 

http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=6862.0

[Admin]

Hey - we now all have a 'Helpfulness' figure. Cool.

Edit - They seem to be called Karma points. Admin has spent too long in the East !!!

I think out of anyone here, you'd be the biggest proponent of this new system. You complained a lot about the 'post count' system, and I agree that its a poor way to determine someones 'helpfullness.'

izaktj ended up triggering a thought in my head that reminded that the forum had a 'karma' system (yeap, they call it 'karma'). I checked into it and turns out it was a simple add on.

As long as no one abuses it I'll probably keep it here.

The most amusing part of the system is that it's technically meaningless, but it makes your ego work hard to keep it up

[cooldog]

i noticed that www.instructables.com has all there instructables in PDF format to download...  maybe a useful idea for the member tuts

[Admin]

i noticed that www.instructables.com has all there instructables in PDF format to download...  maybe a useful idea for the member tuts

But you can simply download PrimoPDF, a program I use all the time to print to pdf.

[Joesavage1]

Somehow I am missing the "Mark All As Read" button - I can only mark a single topic as read but not entire category.

I recently removed several buttons that almost no one used as a method to improve forum loading performance. I am actually surprised anyone at all used the mark all as read button!

I am certainly using it. 

I havnt been here that long, lol

[madchimp]

Perhaps a little more oversight on the tutorials section? I went through and was checking them out and some of them are really nice and you can tell a lot of work went into them. Others are more of a incomplete blog that are in no way shape or form a tutorial. A tutorial would lead to a finished project that can do something no matter how basic. Some may think I'm being harsh and I understand it takes time to complete a project but you usually can't create a useful  tutorial of something you have yet to do. I also think it detracts from the hard work that went into the complete tutorials.

[Webbot]

i noticed that www.instructables.com has all there instructables in PDF format to download...  maybe a useful idea for the member tuts

But you can simply download PrimoPDF, a program I use all the time to print to pdf.

The other way, on Windows, is to create a dummy postscript printer ie install the driver for a postscript printer, in your app choose this printer and select 'Print to file' (if there aint the option then it does work), print the file, you now have a postscript file. Use a freebie like Ghostscript to convert the postscript into PDF. I'm sure PrimoPDF is more slick.

[Admin]

Perhaps a little more oversight on the tutorials section? I went through and was checking them out and some of them are really nice and you can tell a lot of work went into them. Others are more of a incomplete blog that are in no way shape or form a tutorial. A tutorial would lead to a finished project that can do something no matter how basic. Some may think I'm being harsh and I understand it takes time to complete a project but you usually can't create a useful  tutorial of something you have yet to do. I also think it detracts from the hard work that went into the complete tutorials.

Webbot was the first to bring this issue up, and I completely agree.

However oversight is a problem. I can prevent a tutorial from being paid public before I review it and quality check it, however:
1) a lot of work on my part
2) prevents the community from helping out during rough drafts
3) will discourage people who are slow writers
4) the rules I set are good, but its up to authors to follow them

A potential option is that I can unpublish the incomplete tutorials (not delete). But I might come off as a bully admin, so I'd still set up permissions so that the author and republish without a re-review from me. (more work on my part, but a good compromise perhaps?)

[Webbot]

Sounds like a good solution to me

[dunk]

why not just make a menu that only links to the tutorials people think are any good.
you can still include the full list somewhere but have the title page only link to the complete ones.

dunk.

[madchimp]

I understand not wanting seem like a bully, I wouldn't want the job of overseeing the tutorials either. Maybe even something as simple as a way to distinguish the finished from the incomplete tutorials. That way people can tell without actually having to sort through all of them. Maybe even some how make it where if the incomplete ones aren't updated within a certain generous time frame they get unpublished. That way we don't end up with a bunch of derelict tutorials and once implemented it could be an automated form of oversight without the need of constant input on your part.

[airman00]

Maybe even something as simple as a way to distinguish the finished from the incomplete tutorials.

Authors could click a button to "publish" or leave it unpublished

[Webbot]

Trying to make 'sense out of chaos' is always hard.

If you make the 'helpful tutorials' more accessible, then they will be accessed more, and will be more highly ranked as being more helpful. Self fulfilling prophecy. And 'helpful' over what time frame? Are new tutorials, only recently accessed, more/less helpful that another that has been live for years but seldom accessed.

I think that the choice of 'publishing' by the author is good. When I do my tutorials I'm always conscious that I'm editing 'live' content that people may be reading/downloading. So a 'publish it now that Im happy' button would be good. But thats just to do with short-term content editing.

That way you could remove tuts that have not been edited for 90 days and are not published.

But its a double edged sword in other ways. People give their own time to contribute and may not have the time to finish the tutorial. BUT there may be some little gems of info in there. In which case there is no way but for Admin to decide whats good/bad even if unfinished.

There is certainly some rubbish out there which hasn't been updated for ages. But often with large hits as 'the subject' is of interest but having viewed the tutorial you soon realize that its incomplete.

So you cant use hits (as people may be hooked by the subject but not the content), you can't use the last modified date (it may be old but may be perfect), you cant use votes (if i can spend time voting my tuts to the top of the list).

Needs addressing - but needs a bit of thought.

No answers - just widening the problem 

[SmAsH]

Perhaps a little more oversight on the tutorials section? I went through and was checking them out and some of them are really nice and you can tell a lot of work went into them. Others are more of a incomplete blog that are in no way shape or form a tutorial. A tutorial would lead to a finished project that can do something no matter how basic. Some may think I'm being harsh and I understand it takes time to complete a project but you usually can't create a useful  tutorial of something you have yet to do. I also think it detracts from the hard work that went into the complete tutorials.

i second this, maybe put the most completed tutorials at the top?

[Admin]

Alright I did it, I unpublished the incompletes and sent an email out. There were like 15 of them.

I even found spam!

[SmAsH]

wow, thanks that looks way better and admin, i just felt like asking but i keep getting this message with the tutorial pages: You are not authorized to access this page. why is this?

[Admin]

and admin, i just felt like asking but i keep getting this message with the tutorial pages: You are not authorized to access this page. why is this?

Good question. Mostly because I don't see what you're talking about
What link gives you that message?


Also, new features have been added - yyyaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!!

First, SoR now supports not just YouTube videos, but also videos from:
Google Video
Flickr
YouTube (playlists)
MetaCafe
ImageShack
PhotoBucket
Yahoo Video
Facebook
BBC News

I can get it to support videos from other sites too if demand is high enough.

Second, a new way to add video (the old way still works) . . . just post the link to the video in a thread, and the forum will auto-detect it for embedding. For example:

I like girls who dress like robots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHKJeGC2BgI

Will give you this:

Gundam Robot Expo Thailand