DonationCoder.com Forum

News and Reviews => Official Announcements => Topic started by: mouser on December 04, 2006, 11:11 AM

Title: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on December 04, 2006, 11:11 AM
Now's your chance to have your voice heard - what changes would you like to see take place on DonationCoder.com in 2007?

Ideas large and small are welcome.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Gothi[c] on December 04, 2006, 12:02 PM
- More developers
- More game development stuff
- More C++
- Some cool forum visualization tool thingie

[edit]
- More cross platform developers and programs
- More open source developers
[/edit]

But good job sofar! :)
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: gri on December 04, 2006, 02:05 PM
Now's your chance to have your voice heard -
what changes would you like to see take place on DonationCoder.com in 2007?

Ideas large and small are welcome.
-mouser (December 04, 2006, 11:11 AM)

I would like to have no conflicts..
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=6152.0
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: app103 on December 04, 2006, 06:16 PM
I'd like to see some member written articles...maybe a series of some sort.

Things comparable in quality to this (https://www.donationcoder.com/Articles/One/index.html) well written one.

These would be great additions to the blog and might get the blog some attention.

Might be nice to see the return of the podcasts too.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: cranioscopical on December 04, 2006, 11:39 PM
I know this is DonationCoder but I always like to see others' views on hardware. People here are such a savvy bunch that, to me, their opinions count for more than those of most reviewers. It's always good to hear from people who actually use stuff.

Having said so I realize that, in terms of peripherals, I bought 2 new monitors, a 500GB HDD, a laser printer and an ink-jet this year and never even thought to comment on them.  Would anyone else even have been interested?
Oh, yes, and I'd like to win something at least once a month, please ;)
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Deozaan on December 06, 2006, 05:22 PM
Might be nice to see the return of the podcasts too.
-app103 (December 04, 2006, 06:16 PM)

Yeah what happened to the podcasts? I don't care if they're short because not many members are participating, and I loved being able to submit my own content--I just had a period of time when I moved and didn't have internet access for a few months so I could no longer submit anything.

Programming School is neat, too, but schools typically teach you how to do something and then give you an assignment. I'd like to see some tutorials or links to tutorials that will teach the concepts. For someone who has never programmed before, getting used to the "grammar" and syntax of code can be a bit tough just going from the help files, which are usually meant for reference.

EDIT: I'd also like an option on the forum to ignore a post so that it never shows up under my Unread Messages. Some topics just don't interest me and I'd like to not have to click on them or mark them as read every time someone posts just to clear my Unread Posts screen.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Josh on December 06, 2006, 05:38 PM
I would like to see more forums that allow discussion that isnt centralized around the coder. Yes, this is donationCODER, but, as pointed out above, there is such a vast amount of knowledge here that its a shamre that we are limited to the living room to discuss various topics. Such things could include hardware, gaming, software, etc. This could all be under one specific forum with subforums underneath.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Veign on December 06, 2006, 06:24 PM
To remedy the situation with non-coding / software topics maybe a new domain could be opened for Hardware.  This way DonationCoder stays pure to its intent and purpose.  Staying pure may give more credibility to DonationCoder and therefore attract more authors / developers who are willing to donate which in turn brings in more users.

Just a thought, what ever thats worth...
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on December 14, 2006, 07:55 PM
I would like to see some form of "Kudos" we can click on in every post, both positive and negative.  They are completely anonymous and can only be entered once for each member.  Democracy in it's purest form.

Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on December 14, 2006, 09:02 PM
Oops, I forgot...  There might even be some form of tangible reward, via "Cody Credits" or something like that.  
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Ruffnekk on December 19, 2006, 03:44 AM
First off, I think FarmSteader's idea about Kudos is very good, although I fear it might refrain people from donating real credits, defeating the purpose of the site. The concept works though. The same principle is used on another forum I visit regularly, www.tek-tips.com. Any user can flag a post as very helpful, and the author will receive a star for it. I have gathered around 25 stars and it feels good and it motivates you to help other people better.

My own ideas about improving www.donationcoder.com:

1. I've posted this before in another topic: I'd like to see a section where coders in particular can post FAQs, tutorials or 'Tips-n-Tricks' dealing with subjects or language elements they are proficient in. These posts can be about programming in general or a specific language topic.

2. I'd like to see an option where I can be notified of an important post by the staff. This could be any new topic in the 'Official Announcements' board. If you put this option in the profile settings and enable it by default, then all users will be notified of new topics like this one. This will, in my opinion, greatly improve the feedback on the site with regard to user opinions. For whatever reason, some users cannot or will not browse through each forum board regularly and therefore miss important threads.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on December 19, 2006, 04:56 AM
Thank you, Ruffnekk.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on December 19, 2006, 05:51 AM
There is a feature built into the smf forum system called Karma, which might do partly what you want, but the last time it was brought up it was decided against here.  We could consider it again..  It's a somewhat controversial feature since it can become like a popularity contest..

More on karma feature: http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=104.msg124#msg124

But maybe we could figure out a way to "niceify" it..
for example:
Give each person 1 unit of karma to give away each month for each month they are active on the forum. eliminate the ability to negative rate people.  So all you can do is positive rate them.  And only allow supporting members to give karma, to prevent people from signing up just to give out karma..
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on December 19, 2006, 05:52 AM
I'd like to see an option where I can be notified of an important post by the staff.

i like this idea too, and maybe a central page where the most important posts can be seen all together, regardless of section.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Ruffnekk on December 19, 2006, 05:58 AM
i like this idea too, and maybe a central page where the most important posts can be seen all together, regardless of section.
-mouser (December 19, 2006, 05:52 AM)

That would also be nice, to have one central location for important messages.

But maybe we could figure out a way to "niceify" it..
for example:
Give each person 1 unit of karma to give away each month for each month they are active on the forum. eliminate the ability to negative rate people.  So all you can do is positive rate them.  And only allow supporting members to give karma, to prevent people from signing up just to give out karma..
-mouser (December 19, 2006, 05:51 AM)

Yes I definitely think users should not be rated negative, even though they may deserve it sometimes :P But seriously, rating negative raises the overall feel of competition and that is something you should avoid. Rating only positive will drive people to help others better and they will feel good if they are appreciated for it. There should be no ratings or rankings, except maybe a one-time-a-year award like FarmSteader proposed.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Byte on December 19, 2006, 07:13 AM
I'd like to see a hardware section, personally.  I know it's donationCODER, but in order to code, don't you have to have hardware to code with, and on?

Just my $0.02 - I'd prolly be more active here if there were a dedicated hardware section.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: app103 on December 19, 2006, 07:33 AM
Having all the hardware posts buried in the Living Room really isn't that good for finding what you want when you are looking to see if anybody has made any comments on something specific you are planning on purchasing.

It would have been nice to find this discussion (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=3937.0) before I made my decision. It would have been nice to hear what people had to say about it and see if they could have come up with better alternatives that would fit my requirements/budget.

Just adding a General Hardware Discussion section right under the General Software Discussion board would do the trick. It really wouldn't be changing the focus of the site...It would just make the info easier to find without having to sift through all the posts about flash games, cool websites, and other yummy distracting stuff.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Arjen on December 19, 2006, 08:01 AM
I don't think there are topics that can't be discussed (like hardware, or whatever), but I think this site should not try to do everything. It should stay focussed on its "mission" (although not obsessively).

Some suggestions for improvements:

Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: rjbull on December 19, 2006, 10:28 AM
I'd like to see an option where I can be notified of an important post by the staff.

i like this idea too, and maybe a central page where the most important posts can be seen all together, regardless of section.
-mouser (December 19, 2006, 05:52 AM)

Most of us already receive the short-form newsletter by e-mail.  Why not add "important posts," announcements etc. to it?



Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on January 01, 2007, 03:26 PM
One thing I would really like to see implemented on DonationCoder.com are some resources to help our regular members get some exposure for their websites and projects.

Maybe a special page where members can list their projects, or offer their computer-related services (web design, programming, art, etc.).

I am a bit reluctant to re-implement stuff that surely is done much better on other job posting sites, so we should think hard before doing anything elaborate.  It might simply be better to add stuff to just link to users profiles on another site.

Another idea: Rather than (or in addition to) putting google ad boxes on the site, we could show random boxes with info about member sites.

I think this internet of ours is becoming too much a matter of the giant businesses which are overflowing in money to buy publicity and attention, and then the rest of the population which can't get noticed.  I'd like DC to help out in it's own tiny way to bring some attention to projects created by normal people.  Anything we can do to advance that i'd be very interested in.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Deozaan on January 01, 2007, 03:28 PM
I want to see more games created by DC members!
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on January 01, 2007, 03:35 PM
I want to see more games created by DC members!

Me Too!!! SO GET STARTED#&*(*%$%$
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Gothi[c] on January 02, 2007, 10:51 AM
<tease_mouser>

 
  Me Too!!! SO GET STARTED#&*(*%$%$
 

    I want to see mouser finish his thesis and Ph.D in 2007 :P

</tease_mouser>
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Wordzilla on January 02, 2007, 11:05 AM
I want to see mouser finish his thesis and Ph.D in 2007 :P
-Gothi[c] (January 02, 2007, 10:51 AM)

Hah, I get it!

Spoiler
You MUST be one of his professors!  ;D

Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: kyrathaba on January 19, 2007, 06:24 PM
I'd like to see a section where coders in particular can post FAQs, tutorials or 'Tips-n-Tricks' dealing with subjects or language elements they are proficient in. These posts can be about programming in general or a specific language topic.

I second the motion.  I'd be willing to contribute some screencasts I'm making for a couple of C# sites.  They're going to be a series of C# tutorials for the ultra-noob, progressing into more advanced topics gradually.  And of course, I'd love to be able to benefit from tutorials put up by other users. 
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: tinjaw on January 21, 2007, 05:26 PM
I'd like to see an SMF mod that provide me with an option in my profile to block every posting made by gri and every posting that is a reply to a posting by gri.

*** This is not a joke or a troll ***

I am seriously losing my patience with all of this and I am already visiting DC's forums less often and am starting to think about implementing some filters and not reading the random posts that often unveiled some interesting gem I wouldn't have seen otherwise. This would also mean visiting the forums indirectly via web watcher or some equivalent instead of directly, as I do now.

SO, if there exists a MOD for SMF that allows members to block all posting of chosen member(s), please install it on DC.com.

* update * I will make a donation to anybody who can find such a mod and provide the info to mouser to install it.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on January 21, 2007, 05:47 PM
The Proxomitron is very effective for this *if* you know how to use it well.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Wordzilla on January 22, 2007, 02:41 AM
I'd like to see an SMF mod that provide me with an option in my profile to block every posting made by gri and every posting that is a reply to a posting by gri.

*** This is not a joke or a troll ***

I am seriously losing my patience with all of this and I am already visiting DC's forums less often and am starting to think about implementing some filters and not reading the random posts that often unveiled some interesting gem I wouldn't have seen otherwise. This would also mean visiting the forums indirectly via web watcher or some equivalent instead of directly, as I do now.

SO, if there exists a MOD for SMF that allows members to block all posting of chosen member(s), please install it on DC.com.

* update * I will make a donation to anybody who can find such a mod and provide the info to mouser to install it.
-tinjaw (January 21, 2007, 05:26 PM)

I cannot agree with you more, Tinjaw. I also find myself in desperate need of such a mod for filtering out every post made by gri and esp. any post that contains link to his so-called "forum". I'm reluctant to ignore the whole forum section (SMF Forum Mods) here but I'm finding gri's posts getting increasingly (and sometimes extremely) disturbing and annoying, so what can I do?  :(

(And as one of the Global Moderators here, I really don't think it's appropriate for me to ignore any forum section as a whole.)


To Farmsteader, Tinjaw, and Mouser:

Since I'm not at all familar with such mods and tools, I really would like to thank you all for your efforts! :Thmbsup:


- anderson
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on January 22, 2007, 03:18 AM
I will add the ignore mod this week if at all possible.
There is another possibility - perhaps I can modifiy the ignore mod so that all it does is mark all posts by that person as automatically READ.  How would that be?  Then you wouldn't notice them unless you really went looking.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on January 22, 2007, 04:18 AM
I tried to just do this locally, but I have a snag due to my lack of experience using regex.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: rjbull on January 22, 2007, 05:39 AM
snag due to my lack of experience using regex.
-Farmsteader (January 22, 2007, 04:18 AM)

Basic tutorial on Regular Expressions here (http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xbd/re.html)

I'm pretty sure there's an O'Reilly book on just that topic.  Otherwise, the Aho, Kernighan and Weinberger book "The AWK Programming Language" has a good section on regular expressions.

Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on January 22, 2007, 05:42 AM
Do you know if the Proxomitron ingests A,W & K?
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: rjbull on January 22, 2007, 10:47 AM
Do you know if the Proxomitron ingests A,W & K?
-Farmsteader (January 22, 2007, 05:42 AM)

Sorry, can't help you further.  I've never used Proxomitron.

I've found it irritatating that regexps are entered rather differently on the command line than they are in an AWK script, wrapped up in colons instead of forward-slashes, or whatever.  That's probably a hangover from conversion from Unix, with differences in the way the shell handles awkward characters.  As an aside, WebSite-Watcher has a nice wizard that takes much of the donkeywork out of assembling regexps.

Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CodeTRUCKER on January 22, 2007, 10:53 AM
Worth looking into and thanks for the regex link.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Clive on February 21, 2007, 12:18 AM
I've just been going backwards through the Best of Blog and am wondering if it would be possible to have page links e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4 etc rather than "read older"? There's lots of stuff back there that I'd like to catch up on, but it's a bit tedious always having to start at the newest (on each visit, not session)and work slowly back.

Thanks,
Clive
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: mouser on February 21, 2007, 12:25 AM
Thats a good idea Clive, i'll put it on my todo list.
ps. It's nice to hear that someone read's the blog!
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Clive on February 21, 2007, 03:59 AM
Mouser,
The collective brain has been of great assistance to me either solving a problem directly or pointing me ,often unknowingly, to a solution.
A salute to everyone who takes the time to post & to you for the your dedication to your ideals.

Clive
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: CWuestefeld on February 21, 2007, 07:45 AM
Maybe a special page where members can list their projects, or offer their computer-related services (web design, programming, art, etc.). ... Another idea: ... we could show random boxes with info about member sites.
-mouser (January 01, 2007, 03:26 PM)
I like this, especially the "another idea". It seems to me that it's not really advertising. It's almost "fun information" about the community, that might be better targeted to the rest of the community than, say, google ads (although it may need to be policed for abuse).

FWIW, I'm not worried about the censorship angle that's been discussed here. For one thing, this is a private site and not subject to the 1st Amendment. But more importantly, we're not talking about gagging anyone, simply allowing individuals to be selective about what they consume. There's no obligation for me to listen to what someone else says.

Regarding karma, I would mention that /. uses karma, and I refuse to read that site anymore due to the density of offensive flaming, vapidity, and knee-jerk contrarianism. I don't know if these facts are related at all, but it bears considering. Perhaps if only paid members can award karma, the need to put your money where your mouth is would avoid the /. cesspool.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Curt on March 10, 2007, 06:43 AM
- what changes would you like to see take place on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
-mouser (December 04, 2006, 11:11 AM)

I would like View Profile (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/Themes/Dc2/images/icons/profile_sm.gif) to offer the search:
"View all posts written by this member",
result sorted by (time (: date) and) threads.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Lashiec on March 12, 2007, 11:08 AM
The only one I can think of now is this one: Instead of showing "You have x messages" in the top window, why not showing "You have x new messages". I think is quite logical, and it doesn't make me go wondering: how many messages did I have last day?

I also join the increasing force demanding mouser to finish his Ph.D ALREADY! ;D
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Ruffnekk on March 12, 2007, 11:12 AM
AFAIK that is already the case when you have a new message...

The only one I can think of now is this one: Instead of showing "You have x messages" in the top window, why not showing "You have x new messages". I think is quite logical, and it doesn't make me go wondering: how many messages did I have last day?
-Lashiec (March 12, 2007, 11:08 AM)
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: cranioscopical on March 12, 2007, 04:12 PM
I also join the increasing force demanding mouser to finish his Ph.D ALREADY!
Forget the Ph.D, what about those bookshelves?
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Curt on March 17, 2007, 12:45 PM
Also I would like you to add Skype.

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Wordzilla on July 20, 2007, 04:49 AM
I would like View Profile (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/Themes/Dc2/images/icons/profile_sm.gif) to offer the search:
"View all posts written by this member",
result sorted by (time (: date) and) threads.
-Curt (March 10, 2007, 06:43 AM)

What if you click on "Show Posts" on the left of the profile page of the user?
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Curt on July 20, 2007, 05:13 AM
Yes, Wordzilla, but still the result is sorted by date only, and if you are to quote what it was mouser wrote some while ago, then you will have to search through hundreds and hundreds of posts - because you couldn't remember excatly when or where he wrote it, but you think that most likely he wrote about it when we talked about this or that - narrowing the places / pages you'll have to search through.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Curt on July 20, 2007, 05:25 AM
- but the upcoming of "Search DC from your desktop" will take away the need for all this, I imagine.
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Curt on July 20, 2007, 06:03 AM
I'd like to see an SMF mod that provide me with an option in my profile to block every posting made by gri and every posting that is a reply to a posting by gri.
-tinjaw (January 21, 2007, 05:26 PM)

From the connection I think I can understand what a "gri" is. But my dictionary had no idea - and I have no idea - why it is "gri". So before I might be blocked I would very much like to know the translation of gri ? please!
 :tellme:
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: Wordzilla on July 20, 2007, 06:06 AM
From the connection I think I can understand what a "gri" is. But my dictionary had no idea - and I have no idea - why it is "gri".
-Curt (July 20, 2007, 06:03 AM)

Well I hate to bring this up but if you are curious, go to our SMF Forum Mods section (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=61.0) and experience the full power of gri.  ;)
Title: Re: What changes would you like to see on DonationCoder.com in 2007?
Post by: app103 on July 20, 2007, 06:11 AM
From the connection I think I can understand what a "gri" is. But my dictionary had no idea - and I have no idea - why it is "gri". So before I might be blocked I would very much like to know the translation of gri ? please!
 :tellme:
-Curt (July 20, 2007, 06:03 AM)

This is gri (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=53969) and these are his posts (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=53969;sa=showPosts).

But you really won't appreciate the full effect unless you see it in the SMF section (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=61.0), as wordzilla mentioned.