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[Feedback Thread] How can WE improve on the PD forum? Suggestions welcome!

swilow said:
Lol, did you not read the title or first post? ;)

I think in Support someone has already suggested some new skin options, so maybe chime in there Aeon. Obviously, we're not gonna be able to change it for one FORUM on the BULLETIN BOARD.
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Offcourse not, that's not what I meant. I guess I had my definitions wrong. Is it even possible to change one forum it's skin from a bulletin board? And are you referring to the thread I made? Hmm, I'll check...

And seriously, I want an arcade :p I'll soo kick all your asses at pacman and asteroids haha
 
Regarding closing threads...

When a thread is posted which has been covered to death, or which doesn't fit the forum, we close it... that's just how it works. Either that or we move it. We will also merge threads into larger threads if that is appropriate (for example, when someone has a question about ketamine and they post a new thread called "ketamine tolerance"... if we didn't merge that into the Big and Dandy ketamine thread, we'd end up with 500 different threads which would make searching for information later almost impossible to effectively do).

I mean if you really feel like we close too many threads, let us know... but I feel like we leave way more threads open than we did a year or so ago. In fact I would often like to merge and/or close more threads that are just questions about a chemical that we have a B&D thread for, except if we don't catch them until they have a dozen posts, it gets messy to merge them in so we just don't. Were you here when Church was a mod? He was the most thread-closingest mod of all. =D
 
Nope, never heard of church and I'm glad. I kinda like freedom on forums I frequent. But there are so many threads that finding that specific thing you're looking for can be difficult if the search button isn't working like when you look up 5-meo-something for example and it's easier to just make a new thread.
 
^^ Yes, but it clutters up the forums and eventually makes it impossible to find anything.

I for one wish Church was still here... that was my favorite time for PD. He was a fantastic moderator. :)

No need to turn thread closing to keep a forum clean into a personal freedom issue... it's how we keep the forum from descending into total chaos. We have a Best of PD page which has links to the threads we have for every single substance. If you want to find something out about a substance, follow the link. If you have a question about it and don't want to bother reading about it in the thread (although it's better to do the work yourself), you can ask the question in the appropriate thread. It's not difficult. But it is difficult for the moderators to go back and clean up all the new threads that were posted that should have been posted somewhere else. And you mentioned it's difficult to find what you're looking for because there are so many threads. Well, that's exactly why we need to close some of them and merge some of them into other threads, because if we didn't there would be ten times as many threads and it would be even that much harder to find anything.

I mean, we get so many posts every day... if we let people post whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted, then this forum would be of very little use to anyone who was trying to go back through posts later on and learn something. This forum is here for everyone, not for just whoever happens to want to know something at the moment.

(Aeon Psyche, this was not really directed at you, you just brought it up, but I'm directing it at everyone. So please don't think I'm picking on you :))
 
He was the most thread-closingest mod of all
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And damn proud of it, he was I reckon :D I do wonder what the old guy is up to....?
 
Aeon Psyche said:
No, I understand completely. :)
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Also very glad you raised some points, it exactly what this thread is for...:) As I said, nothing will be taken personally if you have a criticism....I mean, I might snap a little, but I for one just like knowing people care about the forum. So thank-you :D <3
 
1) sticky index of the B&D threads
2) don't merge a thread into a B&D until it has run its course (ie off the front page)
3) create a meds interaction calculator script to use for all the dangerous combo questions
*cracks whip*
 
colors said:
1) sticky index of the B&D threads
2) don't merge a thread into a B&D until it has run its course (ie off the front page)
3) create a meds interaction calculator script to use for all the dangerous combo questions
*cracks whip*
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Yikes, I'll get working...;)

I'll answer/adress them one by one-

1- the best of PD link kinda serves that purpose; uness you mean as a basic thread at the top of the other 'uns. The probem with stickied threads, we have foound, is that they are starngely easlily overlooked....but thats not a bad idea.

2. Threads get merged in the order that the posts were posted; ie. if I were to merge a thread that had run from 1/05/08-5/05/08 (ddmmyy) with a B&D thread that had been running concurrently, the merged thread will appear out of order in the Big and Dandy thread; merging uses the post date and time to sort out the order a thread should be....
If you've ever read a B&D thread that has radnom bits that seem unconnencted to anything otherwise being said, its probably been merged in and "Bluelight" has 'helpfully' arranged it, out of apparent order, but still linear in time.

tl;dr version- merging a thread with another consecutively running thread places post in date order (NOT order posted), which can break up a the thread being merged into, and also render the merged in thread senseless and not in order.

Iy would be good if that somehow wouldn't happen, but posts are time/date stamped so it is what it is...

3. Could be very difficult to do- but if we have some willing helpers (cracks whip ;)), I'm sure something rough could be worked out. Though it woud have to be very explicitty advertised as being a rough guide only....

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I would just like to say that I really like this forum. It's got a great vibe, and I would hate to lose that good vibe by becoming rule-nazis. I think we all need to be conscientious of the fact that this forum is a community effort and we all contribute to its creation. Therefore, everything we write should be seriously considered before it is submitted. Also, we should thank our moderators more often, because PD has GREAT moderators, who do a great job, and are just overall pretty impressive people when you actually stop to read their musings.

I've stopped posting in most other forums on this site simply because this, I truly feel, is the best one. In fact, when I think of posting on BL, I think of posting on PD. I like the social thread, as it offers a nice little alternative to the lounge as a place to goof off, and its got a very friendly vibe. All in all, I would have to say that PD is a unique community on BL, a different animal than the other forums, and deserves to be treated as such. We mostly belong to a very specific and particular demographic, which tends to be not only brilliant but also goofy in our display of our brilliance.

I guess all I'm trying to say is this: let's be serious when appropriate, and make a conscientious effort to do so, but it would be a crime against goodness if we erased the spunky and light-hearted sense of humor from this forum. (BUNNY PICTURES ARE NOT A BAD THING!! =D)
 
Personally I used to find PD a great source of information. Over the last couple of years, however, I have found the quality of posts to go way down and the quantity up... so that I hardly use it to look anything up because there is so much crap posted inbetween the handful useful posts that it has all become just too tiring and, frankly, a waste of my time.

I don't know if it really has changed so much... maybe it's just that I have. But there is but little these days that I really find worth reading.
 
Ximot, by "low quality" posts, are you generally referring to silly/social type content, or to content that is on-topic but not of great quality (i.e. not advanced discussion of psychedelics)?
 
I think over the last couple years the 'introduction' to psychedelic questions has risen tremendously. I dont know why this is or what to think about it...but yes I miss when the majority of the posts were more advanced in nature comparing new psychedelics that just came out on the 'market' to other older 'benchmark' drugs.
 
personally, I am much more experienced with and knowledgeable about the classic psychedelic drugs, and have sampled far fewer novel compounds than me other moderater colleagues and also most of the bluelighters who post here, so honestly I have less to offer in that regard than some.

also, I think that one issue is that a lot of the questions and discussions that might be asked & had have already been done. this is not to say that our forum has "run it's course," but just that a lot of what could have been done has been done. fortunately it's availible. i think that's why a lot of the more experienced users here are starting to be more social and less oriented towards serious drug discussion. i don't think this is a bad thing,necessarily, but just a change. fresh infusions of new users are happening all the time, and ithink we do a pretty good job of keeping the conversation going, though. I have been around a lot shorter period of time than a lot of our regulars, however.

it is really nice to hear a lot of good feedback in this thread, and also I'm glad to hear what people have to say about what we could be doing differently. I am very open to your suggestions and hope to implement some of them, but also, you guys should "be the change you want to see" -- and I see a lot of you doing that, also. While we moderators have some power to implement things, ultimately, you guys are producing most of the content. And most of it is very good.
 
@SKL. both, kinda. I mean, if I am not in the mood I do not have to look into the social threads, and that's fine. What I mean is endless repetition of the same old info and heaps of "yeah me too" or "oh really" or "haha, funny!" posts that add nothing at all to the discussion and just make browsing the thread for information rather than out of boredom rather tiring.

Although, on occasion, when in a splendid mood, I have also posted pointless things in otherwise decent threads.ut I am,more often than not, a no-nonsense kinda guy. Perhaps because I use the computer at home rather than at work... I even tire of all the endless email-fw-jokes my friends who use computers in the office keep sending me.

Maybe it's just me, I have been in a long-winded process of questioning my drug use resp. my reasons for - and my experience of - drug use for quite some time now and I feel somewhat disconnected from the preoccupations that most folks on here seem to have. That's all.
 
Ximot, you bring up a good point regarding the short, one-line, pointless posts that are just an agreement or something and add nothing to the conversation. When Church was here, he would clean all of those out... not really say that people couldn't say them, but just understand that they'd be removed because they are annoying for people who don't come here often to try to read through to get information. I do think this is a good idea. Let me see if I can find the time to go through at least some of the Big and Dandies to clear out some stuff that doesn't do anyone any good. Finding that time will be hard however... probably the reason it isn't already done. :\

To posters - if you find yourself wanting to respond to a post with "hah, cool" or "yeah, I agree" or something, try to think of whether you have any other thoughts to add at all. It would help to keep the conversation flowing, as one-line responses like that don't really stimulate discussion. And then people would know what you think and it would be adding to the thread instead of making people wonder why you bothered to say it when they go back later to gather information. I'm not trying to say this is a new rule or anything, but just something to keep in mind. :)
 
^Just to add to what Xorkoth said. Let's all try to remember as well, that now that Alan has journeyed onward, the site doesn't have the multi-millionaire benefactor that it once did to pay for our server space; therefore, we have to make sure that everything we contribute is valuable input. Not only do those one-liner type posts clutter threads, they also waste server space and therefore money; as serious threads don't get pruned away like the social threads do. Always think to yourself if what your saying is worth the server space its stored on, because its not the limitless commodity that it once was 'round these parts.

edit--I don't know if we have a compilation like this already, but if we don't, we should compile a list of all the Big & Dandy threads (complete with links), and put them all in a sticky thread.
 
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^^ Good points about server space, yes. And yes, we have such a page with links... it's called the Best of PD page, and there's a large link at the top of the forum, above the stickies. ;)
 
I love bluelight but I think there is a lot of elitism and hate going on here. Some of this behavior is even tolerated and I know some people say some off the wall shit but I we aren't here to belittle people for their ignorance, are we? I don't think its such a big deal in PD but I do see people "hating" from time to time.
 
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