Author Topic: Forum Ideas  (Read 299685 times)

Physics

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #50 on: February 17, 2012, 08:59:56 AM »
Ahhh.. I just made another change around here that I hope you all like as much as I do.

I increased the number of posts displayed per topic page from 15 (requiring you to page back and forth to read a conversation), up to a more reasonable 999. Now you can simply scroll up and down to read through the conversation, the way your web browser was designed to work!

Web sites that split things unnecessarily into pages are a serious pet peeve of mine!

I agree with other posters this is awesome.  The only thing to keep an eye on is as this forum gets more popular, this decision could have big implications on your bandwidth usage (and hence hosting costs).  It shouldn't be a big deal, but if you have a popular thread with a bunch of attached images, it could be needlessly inefficient to load all of them every time for every viewer.  Viewers with slower internet connections might also appreciate an option to dial that back.

Personally I love 999, I have a fat internet pipe and I agree it is much more convenient.

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #51 on: February 17, 2012, 09:03:19 AM »
Viewers with slower internet connections might also appreciate an option to dial that back.


OOOOhhhhhh yeahh.  That'll be a problem for mobile users.

Well if a mobile solution is set up (like Tapatalk) it won't be a problem, except for those still on 14.4k dialup at home.  :D
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Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #52 on: February 17, 2012, 09:29:06 AM »
Permission Question: Should some of these boards be closed to guests?  I'm wondering specifically about the new "Journals" board.  Let me know what you guys think.

Physics

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #53 on: February 17, 2012, 09:33:44 AM »
Permission Question: Should some of these boards be closed to guests?  I'm wondering specifically about the new "Journals" board.  Let me know what you guys think.

Tough call, maybe do that as an experiment.  I agree the journals section would be a good place to start.

adam

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #54 on: February 17, 2012, 10:54:16 AM »
Permission Question: Should some of these boards be closed to guests?  I'm wondering specifically about the new "Journals" board.  Let me know what you guys think.

Tough call, maybe do that as an experiment.  I agree the journals section would be a good place to start.

I have seen where you can make the content of a forum public, but mask the screen names, locations, and signatures of the people posting so it still looks somewhat anonymous to guests.


edit: Personally, before I start putting in actual numbers, I would want to see it locked to members only.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2012, 11:16:12 AM by adam »

catalana

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #55 on: February 19, 2012, 03:16:47 AM »
Smilies please!  I like smilies  :-)

Miamoo

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #56 on: February 20, 2012, 02:47:28 PM »
Oh putz Mrs. MM I just tried to start a new discussiom on foraging.  How do I move that over to saving money on food?  I would really like some responses as I'm trying to learn more . . .

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #57 on: February 20, 2012, 05:24:40 PM »
Oh putz Mrs. MM I just tried to start a new discussiom on foraging.  How do I move that over to saving money on food?  I would really like some responses as I'm trying to learn more . . .

I moved it to the Ask A Mustachian forum for you.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

td

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #58 on: February 21, 2012, 12:11:13 PM »
It would be nice to have a place to introduce yourself to the community. Maybe a stand alone category would work for this?

I think the Welcome to the Forum place is perfect for that.  Since that area is less active, it will probably become a General Discussions / Welcome area.  I could make a sticky for introductions - does that work?

Thank you! It is nice to see suggestions being acted on.
If at all possible, will you consider securing at the very least the Journals section of the forum from Google and other web crawlers?
I think many people here won't want that to be too easily found depending on how much detail/identifying information is given. Personally, I don't like having to worry about how much information I am giving out that could be used maliciously, although you can never be too careful in this day and age.

dinko628

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #59 on: February 21, 2012, 03:16:15 PM »
What do people think about the possibility of some sort of job board or something? MMM's post about stickers and hiring an underworked mustachian sparked the idea. I'd much rather work with/for another mustachian than some idiot who's going to be undedicated and putz away his newfound fortunes.


It might be good to put up things if anyone has them...

td

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #60 on: February 21, 2012, 05:29:30 PM »
What do people think about the possibility of some sort of job board or something? MMM's post about stickers and hiring an underworked mustachian sparked the idea. I'd much rather work with/for another mustachian than some idiot who's going to be undedicated and putz away his newfound fortunes.


It might be good to put up things if anyone has them...

I'd like to see Mustachian job postings as well!
That's got potential.

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #61 on: February 21, 2012, 06:15:38 PM »
What do people think about the possibility of some sort of job board or something? MMM's post about stickers and hiring an underworked mustachian sparked the idea. I'd much rather work with/for another mustachian than some idiot who's going to be undedicated and putz away his newfound fortunes.


It might be good to put up things if anyone has them...

I'd like to see Mustachian job postings as well!
That's got potential.

Can that go in the Ask a Mustachian section?  I feel with all of us so spread out (some in the same state, but very few in the same cities), it will hardly have any posts, and the more areas, the more e board clutters.  It would be okay for online work, I suppose, but with the prices of virtual assistants and such, I'd feel bad paying a fellow reader a low wage, nor would it be Mustachian of me - or them - to do so.

Or maybe that idea could be combined into the buy/sell/trade section... Make it a classifieds section, which could include bst and job postings...
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

jahoga

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #62 on: February 22, 2012, 06:41:11 AM »
What about a referrals page?

I know many of us use online services, including brokerages, etc.

We may as well help each other out if we can, right?

Occasionally a moderator on some forums I've been on is not really a fan of this sort of thing, so I just wanted to put it out there.

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #63 on: February 22, 2012, 09:35:50 AM »
What do people think about the possibility of some sort of job board or something? MMM's post about stickers and hiring an underworked mustachian sparked the idea. I'd much rather work with/for another mustachian than some idiot who's going to be undedicated and putz away his newfound fortunes.


It might be good to put up things if anyone has them...

I'd like to see Mustachian job postings as well!
That's got potential.

Can that go in the Ask a Mustachian section?  I feel with all of us so spread out (some in the same state, but very few in the same cities), it will hardly have any posts, and the more areas, the more e board clutters.  It would be okay for online work, I suppose, but with the prices of virtual assistants and such, I'd feel bad paying a fellow reader a low wage, nor would it be Mustachian of me - or them - to do so.

Or maybe that idea could be combined into the buy/sell/trade section... Make it a classifieds section, which could include bst and job postings...

Great idea!  That is the intent of the "Mustachian Marketplace" forum, so you can put job postings there.

Here's the description: Connect with fellow readers to make deals. Buy, sell, and trade goods, services, and even jobs. And help build your network of fun people to work with both before and after Early Retirement.

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #64 on: February 22, 2012, 09:36:30 AM »
Oh putz Mrs. MM I just tried to start a new discussiom on foraging.  How do I move that over to saving money on food?  I would really like some responses as I'm trying to learn more . . .

I moved it to the Ask A Mustachian forum for you.

Thanks for doing that Arebelspy!

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #65 on: February 22, 2012, 09:37:27 AM »
What about a referrals page?

I know many of us use online services, including brokerages, etc.

We may as well help each other out if we can, right?

Occasionally a moderator on some forums I've been on is not really a fan of this sort of thing, so I just wanted to put it out there.

That should go under Reader Recommendations: What products and services do YOU use? What about books and educational movies or videos? Share your good and bad experiences, and learn from others.

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #66 on: February 22, 2012, 09:43:59 AM »
It would be nice to have a place to introduce yourself to the community. Maybe a stand alone category would work for this?

I think the Welcome to the Forum place is perfect for that.  Since that area is less active, it will probably become a General Discussions / Welcome area.  I could make a sticky for introductions - does that work?

Thank you! It is nice to see suggestions being acted on.
If at all possible, will you consider securing at the very least the Journals section of the forum from Google and other web crawlers?
I think many people here won't want that to be too easily found depending on how much detail/identifying information is given. Personally, I don't like having to worry about how much information I am giving out that could be used maliciously, although you can never be too careful in this day and age.

I've set the Journals section as not viewable by guests.  The category doesn't even show up to outside users, so unless you're registered and logged in, you won't see it.  I did some testing and it seems to work great.

When a user that is not logged in tries to view journals, they get this message:  "The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you.  Please login below or register an account with The Money Mustache Community. "

I'm not sure about the web crawlers... I'll look into that.

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #67 on: February 22, 2012, 09:45:05 AM »
Smilies please!  I like smilies  :-)

Hmmmm... anyone else?  Both MMM & I are anti-smilies which is why we removed them.  :)

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #68 on: February 22, 2012, 10:41:37 AM »
Smilies please!  I like smilies  :-)

Hmmmm... anyone else?  Both MMM & I are anti-smilies which is why we removed them.  :)

I'm torn.  Some can be okay, but the ones that are too "cartoonish" annoy me.  It's hard to find a good set that doesn't look ridiculous, so I'm tend towards not having them.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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dinko628

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #69 on: February 22, 2012, 01:34:06 PM »
I'm torn.  Some can be okay, but the ones that are too "cartoonish" annoy me.  It's hard to find a good set that doesn't look ridiculous, so I'm tend towards not having them.


I'd have to agree. Some of the other forums I'm on go above and beyond the basic cartoon smilies to have animated ones, words, etc., and it just gets really gimmicky and looks unprofessional. I usually scoff at such things.

I don't think aside from your good old-fashioned text smilies would be appropriate for the level of badassery of this forum ;D. (Plus, text smilies allow for improvisation, like I just did there)

Fizzer

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #70 on: February 25, 2012, 01:16:01 AM »
First of all, thanks for the forum! I think it's a great addition to the MMM blog.

Is site bandwidth a big problem? The 192kb max attachment and 128kb max individual attachment seem a little low these days.

Atlas

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #71 on: February 29, 2012, 05:02:10 PM »
I didn't read through this whole post, but a ctrl+f did not show any use of the word "favicon", so my suggestion is to update the favicon.ico for the forum to match the MrMoneyMustache.com one.  Or at least something besides the default.

Looking forward to participating in the forum!

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #72 on: February 29, 2012, 05:30:31 PM »
First of all, thanks for the forum! I think it's a great addition to the MMM blog.

Is site bandwidth a big problem? The 192kb max attachment and 128kb max individual attachment seem a little low these days.

Hi and welcome!  Those are just set to the default setting.  We can probably increase them if needed.  I'm not sure if anyone has used attachments yet...

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #73 on: February 29, 2012, 05:31:20 PM »
I didn't read through this whole post, but a ctrl+f did not show any use of the word "favicon", so my suggestion is to update the favicon.ico for the forum to match the MrMoneyMustache.com one.  Or at least something besides the default.

Looking forward to participating in the forum!

Welcome!  Yeah, I've been meaning to change it.  Thanks for the reminder!  I'll search around to see if I can find where that's done.

Bakari

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #74 on: February 29, 2012, 05:54:13 PM »
I have an idea which I don't think has been mentioned yet.

A section for philosophy, politics, thought experiments, and flights of fancy.

I have an idea for a post on the application of mustachian principals society wide, but it doesn't really fit into any of the existing categories.

zinnie

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #75 on: February 29, 2012, 07:59:22 PM »
There doesn't seem to be a multi quote- am I just not seeing it? I'd like to be able to respond to multiple posts without having to copy paste to a separate sheet first.

And I second the smileys! Sure, there are a lot of cheesy ones but there are also a lot that are very useful for conveying your point without writing an essay.

Brett

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #76 on: March 24, 2012, 07:51:33 AM »
I agree with Zinnie, a multi-quote function would be so useful. It's a right pain copying and pasting quotes, multi-quote would go down a treat. :)

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #77 on: March 24, 2012, 08:31:21 AM »
I agree with Zinnie, a multi-quote function would be so useful. It's a right pain copying and pasting quotes, multi-quote would go down a treat. :)

When you click reply (or click quote to start a reply), under the box for your message is the whole thread.  You can click "insert quote" next to each post to pop in a quote from the different replies.

That should do exactly what you two are looking for, unless I'm misunderstanding/mistaken.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Brett

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #78 on: March 24, 2012, 10:21:47 AM »
I agree with Zinnie, a multi-quote function would be so useful. It's a right pain copying and pasting quotes, multi-quote would go down a treat. :)

When you click reply (or click quote to start a reply), under the box for your message is the whole thread.  You can click "insert quote" next to each post to pop in a quote from the different replies.

That should do exactly what you two are looking for, unless I'm misunderstanding/mistaken.

Well aren't you just brilliant. I hadn't scrolled beyond the message box until you mentioned that. Thank you.

grantmeaname

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #79 on: April 05, 2012, 12:32:54 PM »
My favorite forum has a "First unread post" button at the top of each thread. When I revisit a thread I've been into before, it lets me jump down to the part that's new. I think it's sorely needed here...

DC

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #80 on: April 05, 2012, 01:15:47 PM »
If any thread you've visited recently has a reply you can go directly to the part you haven't read yet by clicking on the "New" orange button. It's not the solution you're looking for but it's as close as it gets:)

grantmeaname

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #81 on: April 05, 2012, 01:20:55 PM »
Actually, that totally addresses my problem. It offers the same functionality I had wanted. I can just middle click all the New buttons and read a bunch of threads that way!

Mrs MM

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #82 on: April 05, 2012, 01:48:44 PM »
If any thread you've visited recently has a reply you can go directly to the part you haven't read yet by clicking on the "New" orange button. It's not the solution you're looking for but it's as close as it gets:)

Thanks!!  Glad you guys figured it out so I didn't have to do anything.  :)  I wouldn't have known where to start anyway.

Mactrader

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #83 on: April 05, 2012, 01:56:39 PM »
Ahhh.. I just made another change around here that I hope you all like as much as I do.

I increased the number of posts displayed per topic page from 15 (requiring you to page back and forth to read a conversation), up to a more reasonable 999. Now you can simply scroll up and down to read through the conversation, the way your web browser was designed to work!

Web sites that split things unnecessarily into pages are a serious pet peeve of mine!

The downside to this is if you load up a thread, it marks it as read even if you haven't had a chance to read all 999 posts. Is there a way to have it so you can mark an individual post as 'read through here'? I have seen it done (very well, at that) on other message boards. Then you just jump right back into where you left off rather than trying to either quickly consume everything that's new, or remember it was that you were reading!

Also, I can't seem to find the setting to specify my time zone, keep having to add 3 hours to everything!

DC

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #84 on: April 05, 2012, 02:12:35 PM »
Thanks!!  Glad you guys figured it out so I didn't have to do anything.  :)  I wouldn't have known where to start anyway.
No worries. I'm more or less at ease with this forum because I moderated a forum with features very similar to this one.

DC

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #85 on: April 05, 2012, 02:15:54 PM »
Also, I can't seem to find the setting to specify my time zone, keep having to add 3 hours to everything!
I'm not sure if the link will work: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/profile/?area=theme;u=17
If it doesn't, follow this: Profile -> Account settings -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #86 on: April 17, 2012, 08:46:23 PM »
Forum idea: change the "Welcome" thread to a forum where each new member starts their own thread to introduce themselves.

Having one big thread as it is currently is interesting and fun to read, but it discourages replies and responses.  The only posts that seem appropriate in there are introductions, so replying to someone is out of place. Conversations would get mixed, etc.

I've mentioned this before, but the latest reply in that thread reminded me again.

The latest person to post ended their comment with this:
I've been reading MMM since the first articles and have shared nearly every article with friends and family. Looking for help/advice :)

It's posts like this that make me wish the welcome structure was set up a little different here.  I want to offer a comment on his post, but it doesn't really fit in that thread.

A better idea, IMO, is a welcome forum where a thread like that is a sticky, but individuals are encouraged to start their own thread to introduce themselves.

The early-retirement.org forum does it this way:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/

Here's their sticky about introducing yourself, to give you an idea:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/read-this-before-you-introduce-yourself-27621.html

Then people could actually say "Welcome" back to the individual and comment on their situation.  They'd have their own individual thread for their personal situation.  Like a beginner stepping stone to the journal part of the forum, where one can track their progress.

That seems much better to me, personally, than one big thread that is now up to 99 replies, but no actual meaningful dialogue  and no way to actually welcome people.  As the forum grows, and that thread does, it'll just become a beast.  Better to start to create individual threads now.

Further, it'd be a good way to grow the community, as people would get more engaged, getting their welcome post commented on, instead of (seemingly) ignored.  I just went through the Welcome sticky and 9 people (almost 10% of the people who had posted in that thread) only had a single post, that one single post was all they ever made. 11 more only had two posts, and another 7 had 3 total.  So of the 99 replies, 27% of them have posted 3 or less times.  The welcome is one of te most crucial times to make people actually feel welcome, yet I feel awkward doing so with the current setup.

Thoughts?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Daley

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #87 on: April 17, 2012, 10:27:49 PM »
I second arebelspy's suggestion, Mrs MM. The welcome area does need to be more... welcoming.

We're also starting to hit critical mass in some of the subforums and have been getting duplicate threads over and over (like the "what sort of car" and assorted bike threads in the Ask section). There have been a lot of excellent, fat info packed threads on several subforums that are starting to get lost in the shuffle and duplicated to lesser success. You might want to start considering using the sticky thread feature for some of the more common topics and useful threads to help keep the info better organized.

Final thought... I don't know about others feelings on the subject, but there are times where I'd think the Ask and Share subforums might work better as a unified section. After all, they're both about catch-all, general knowledge sharing at their fundamental core.

napalminator

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #88 on: April 18, 2012, 12:20:29 AM »
bikes and cars are pretty popular subjects.... with enough traffic they could probably support their own forums.

ShavenLlama

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #89 on: April 20, 2012, 01:04:25 PM »
How about a Lady 'Stash category? Gardening/ food category? :)

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #90 on: May 29, 2012, 08:56:14 AM »
Here's an idea I've seen on other forums: A "Hall of Fame" section for the best posts.

Some posts by Mustachians are so epic - helpful, insightful, and brilliant - that they should be preserved in a separate thread for all to read, rather than get buried.

The way I've generally seen it work is when someone makes a really good post, someone nominates it for the hall of fame, and if it's seconded and agreed by enough people, a moderator copies the post into the HOF subforum.  Only moderators can post there, but everyone can read it, and easily go to it for reading the best posts of all time.  OF ALL TIME.

I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

dancedancekj

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #91 on: May 29, 2012, 09:07:08 AM »
Yo Arebelspy, I'm real happy for you, Imma let you finish...

But I second the Hall of Faming idea

Daley

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #92 on: May 29, 2012, 01:30:09 PM »
Here's an idea I've seen on other forums: A "Hall of Fame" section for the best posts.

Very yes. I even found a pre-existing plugin for SMF to do it with.

Also, we still need some thread stickies with or without topic voting. *cough* >.>

grantmeaname

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #93 on: May 29, 2012, 01:45:46 PM »
I don't know... my other forum implemented upvoting and downvoting for frontpage comments and it got waaaaaay catty. It seems to be pretty unproductive, at least over there.

Daley

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #94 on: May 29, 2012, 02:06:30 PM »
Perhaps, but we're a pretty civilized community here, even in our discourse. Besides, the plugin lets you disable downvotes. Hard to be catty when you can only give people props.

grantmeaname

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #95 on: May 29, 2012, 02:08:21 PM »
That would be a great improvement over what the other site has! Upvotes only has the potential to really be useful and helpful.

arebelspy

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #96 on: May 29, 2012, 04:24:14 PM »
I wasn't even thinking of something as complicated as that, although some "thanks" type systems an thumbs up stuff are kinda cool.

I was just thinking something very simple, when there's an epic post that will quickly be lost (it's in the middle of a thread that will be buried in a week), someone recommends it for the HOF and we make a copy of the post to save, so one can browse the HOF and read brilliant posts packed chock full of Mustachian wisdom and content.

Something fancier would be fine too (as long as we avoid issues grant points out, as systems with "voting" often lead to groupthink... Thus why "thanks" systems can be good, avoids that), but that's separate (and possibly compatible with) the simpler idea I'm thinking of.
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Jake D

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #97 on: May 29, 2012, 08:14:25 PM »
Thanks for clarifying the "New" posts thing. I came hear just to request a "show first unread" button.

Jake D

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #98 on: May 31, 2012, 06:17:04 PM »
Is it possible to change the system so that after posting a reply to a thread, I am returned to the thread? Getting bumped out to the forum home page is a bit jolting.

Rich M

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Re: Forum Ideas
« Reply #99 on: May 31, 2012, 06:25:51 PM »
I know Rick Steve's has a travel show on awesomeness, but how about a travel forum?  We could share frugal things in our cities for others and help them save a shootload on their next trip!