Forum Improvments - What would you like?

Avatar for FindAPhD

There have been a few posts about the improvements you would like to see on the Forum. We're now listening. PMs and an edit function will be introduced soon. Anything else? Keep it sensible please!

H

Free sausage sandwiches (including veggie ones)

Avatar for FindAPhD

Whilst this is obviously still a "sensible" suggestion, it's not quite what we were after...

J

What are PMs?

J

Thanks for listening. I thought this day would never arrive. Could you please post this thread to the main section, because here in the Off-Topic not many people ever look around.

We would like a function where we can have little profiles next to our usernames, for example with age, research field and so on, but of course voluntarily. Also, it might be good to see how many users are currently reading a thread, then a function to make our own little surveys, if possible. And PM (Private Messages) and editing, of course.

N

I'm not sure if and how that would be possible, but you sure need some measures against spam. Also I don't remember seeing any guidelines/terms of use for new users? Maybe that would help limit spam and irrelevant topics...

N

Juno: Private Messages ;)

J

Thanks Nadia

T

now everytime I post a reply, it opens a new "add a message" window, and can't see the previous replies at the same time. can you fix this?

J

Good point, TomFinland. And at the same time, can you please provide an option where it is possible to reply with citation, i.e. the text of the previous poster is automatically included in the reply post? Standard nowadays in most forums.

K

Hey, thanks for this thread!

My suggestion is about the size of messages/word limit. While I realise it's important not to have people writing essays on here, it's infuriating when you get a message saying it's too big. A 200 word limit is quite short if you're trying to post a constructive reply. Also I often still get a red line saying "your message is too big" even when I've got it below 200 in Word!

S

What I would find very helpful: The possibility to jump straight to the last page of a thread, rather than having to click on the thread first, then click on "last page". Or, even better, the possibility to jump straight to the first new message in a thread (new as in, not yet read - or new since last visit)

S

also: that when you open the front page, you can see which topics have had replies since the last time you were here, or since the last 24 hours.

currently, when i go through the forum i start at the top of "latest messages" and work myself down until i reach contributions that sound familiar. it's a bit of a waste of time - i need to open and read through the first thread that does not have any new contributions. with this improvement that would not be necessary.

on another forum i know, i feature which i also find nice (but not essential) is that those threads in which i have previously posted appear in a different colour. that way i can keep up with replies to my contributions easily.

R

I definitely think, as others have said, that editing, PMs, longer posts, being able to quote other posts and being able to see all posts as you are posting a reply would be great!

Also, it would be good if the 'off-topics' section appeared in the 'latest messages' section... as jouri said people overlook this section and it is a pity!

Finally some basic text-editing functions (e.g. bold, italics) when replying to a thread would be nice!

H

So we want to go from a Ford Fiesta forum to a Ferrari Forum?

9284