Heads Up and Member Feedback - Your opinions on the future of the site :)

^ huh? i can assure you it is, and if you don't agree, please hit the report button.

p.s. except in the lounge.
 
B_U_M_P



Question - for n00bs and lurk3rs primariliy, but what have you found that works well for the site (navigation, organization, searching, structural stuff) and what totally sucks ass? Still time to make your voice heard on these kind of things while we're trying out the settings for the next upgrade.

Thanks.
 
I found out recently that you can copy your journal entries to a text file, which is awesome, but it didn't include comments, which blows.

not sure if that option is there and i did it wrong, but if it's not, it'd be cool to include (not sure if anyone else would care though)
 
Here are a couple of ideas I got from another forum I frequently visit, don't know if these have been discussed yet but maybe I can contribute something.

- Have special accounts were you pay a small amount of money (like €5/month) so you can get special privileges (sp?) like a bluelight.ru email adress.
- Join the Google ads program to generate extra money and give the memberships mentioned above an ad-free site. It could be a small ad at the top of the site.
- Paying/donating members could have some sort of indication next to their name after a certain amount of money paid/donated. Same principle could be used with nickname changes or a bigger PM inbox/Gallery/Journal. That way it would appeal to more people.
- Make a mega thread in which all people who are banned are listed, including the reason and the duration.
- Add temporary or theme forums like the Olympic games or America votes.

Just some (maybe crazy) ideas I found to work on a bigger forum than BL (one forum alone has almost 35.000 threads and around 1.470.000 posts, the forum has around 80 subforums. Usually there are a couple of thousand members online at any time)

Hope my ideas give you at least a good laugh ;) but seriously paid membership accounts can bring in a good amount of money, maybe give those accounts to helpful people as well. :)

Peace o/
 
Good points - thank you. We recently set up a donation system, since we need it to fund the site, and we actually are entertaining ideas on what 'perks' we can and should tie to donations. I fully expect something to be arranged like that in the future (either privileged access, or a little bling, or something)...but yeah, concept is being refined.

Temp forums...could be worth doing - right now we write it off and say 'it has a home already' (or sometimes the regional forums each carry their own flavah), but that doesn't really create an opportunity for mixing and sharing by people already settled into their cozy forums. I'd expect a site as large as the one you mention would have a problem like that as well. An idea worth kicking around a bit more.

On the banning list, probably not going to do it, but it doesn't hurt to consider it. We understand the questions and confusion that arise for people who just see an account banned without explanation but it usually it is pretty self evident (we've a strong system of cutting people more than enough slack and warning them directly to change, and it is usually publicly obvious what they were doing wrong). There is the opportunity to educate others on what not to do...but it should be apparent. There is the opportunity to explain why a particular individual was removed...but we prefer not to air someone's dirty laundry and give them a chance to leave with some respect (some then choose to cause a stink, at which point they force us to expose their mistakes).

Hey, any and every idea is worth discussing. Keep 'em coming :D
 
Anything happening with my incredibly fantastic suggestion regarding "name change = money"?
 
^
TheLoveBandit said:
Good points - thank you. We recently set up a donation system, since we need it to fund the site, and we actually are entertaining ideas on what 'perks' we can and should tie to donations. I fully expect something to be arranged like that in the future (either privileged access, or a little bling, or something)...but yeah, concept is being refined.
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remember that the site is being run entirely by volunteers. further, the admins are working on a site upgrade right now and, as tlb indicated 3 days ago, the suggestion has been noted. nothing's going to happen overnight.

alasdair
 
Underneath the Online/Offline Status there should be a Mood: ____ option so you know how a Bluelighter is feeling that day. It would useful in TDS so you would know how to formulate a response according to how they are feeling and it would be nice to have in The Lounge so you could try to cheer up a sad Bluelighter with a funny post or go easy on the jokes and trolling with a Bluelighter because they were feeling bad about something. It would be great because you would be able to better communicate with a Bluelighter knowing how they were feeling (You know they are high, so you would answer a harm reduction question in simple terms for them) and sometimes its just nice knowing how a Bluelighter you care about is doing at the moment. You could have a range of moods from apathetic, to high, to trollish, to sober, and to Zany. I think it would be neat, just shooting a random idea off.
 
^in the lounge, it could also double as an indicator of who is ripe for assrape as well.
i support this idea, but for entirely different reasons.
 
guineaPig said:
^in the lounge, it could also double as an indicator of who is ripe for assrape as well.
i support this idea, but for entirely different reasons.
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I was thinking that as well lo. It could be very fun to have in The Lounge and would be very useful in the focus forums. :D
 
ClubbinGuido said:
Underneath the Online/Offline Status there should be a Mood: ____ option so you know how a Bluelighter is feeling that day. It would useful in TDS so you would know how to formulate a response according to how they are feeling and it would be nice to have in The Lounge so you could try to cheer up a sad Bluelighter with a funny post or go easy on the jokes and trolling with a Bluelighter because they were feeling bad about something. It would be great because you would be able to better communicate with a Bluelighter knowing how they were feeling (You know they are high, so you would answer a harm reduction question in simple terms for them) and sometimes its just nice knowing how a Bluelighter you care about is doing at the moment. You could have a range of moods from apathetic, to high, to trollish, to sober, and to Zany. I think it would be neat, just shooting a random idea off.
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Excellent idea cg, if the admins actually take this idea into consideration I have no problem doing the coding for this feature. :)
 
LiLc said:
Excellent idea cg, if the admins actually take this idea into consideration I have no problem doing the coding for this feature. :)
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Thank you. How does LiLc know what coding is?
 
^ LOL

I've done php script programming and HTML programming for over 7 years.
 
Impressive resume is impressive.

Can you put some code in that will make Bluelight blow up if they go to swing the ban hammer at me?
 
re: name changes

Name changes for staff have some perks, presumably...especially if you joined up with a name you regret years later, orseems really plurry and silly.

BUT, when names are changed, it does get a bit confusing figuring out who the hell you are. Most staff have been around a while, and might be a drawcard for old lurkers and posters to come back and participate.

But there will be less recognition of familiar screen names and less interest in the site from those people if they don't know who these "new people" are.

So :
Hoptis said:
What sort of cost do people think would be appropriate for a name change?

I'm all for ideas like this, though it's more a funding issue but it's a relatively easy thing to do for an admin and it's a good, quick way to bring funds in.
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If the person in question changes names and has brought a lot of interest into the site, its probably a good idea to have a previously known as: blahblahblah subtitle, as screen names are how you are identified by the wider public. More public, more interest, more money.

If you come back to BL after spending 6 months or a year away, and don't know who the hell you all are, don't recognise who the new mods are and are wondering what the hell is going on, are you likely to stay?

Also: there has always been a blanket "NO" to screen name changes, reason universally being that you can't, too bad, everyone else will want one too, don't be a sook etc etc. To turn around and say its easy for an admin to do is stating whats obvious already, but it is a bit two faced.

Just my 2c. Maybe individual titles or a sig that is paid for would amount to the same thing but not change the known identity of the staffer- so people can actually find their posts.
 
ClubbinGuido said:
Can you put some code in that will make Bluelight blow up if they go to swing the ban hammer at me?
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hmmm, i now have some brilliant ideas =D
 
zephyr said:
re: name changes
Also: there has always been a blanket "NO" to screen name changes, reason universally being that you can't, too bad, everyone else will want one too, don't be a sook etc etc. To turn around and say its easy for an admin to do is stating whats obvious already, but it is a bit two faced.
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My understanding is that the answer was just "No" rather than "We can't".... I don't think it's been that it's too hard to do, but, like you said, if you allow one you should allow all, and then it's the volume that makes it hard to do.

It's a small distinction but one which does mean it's not really two faced.
 
^ Thats true it's not that its "to hard" cause it's quite simple but... if the admins did one person, they would have to do it for everybody that PM'ed them and asked for a name change :)

Plus it would get awful confusing trying to figure out who is who after name changes.
 
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