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gwannouncements

GardenWeb needs your feedback!

gwannouncements
11 years ago

Hi everyone,

As you may have noticed, we've been sprucing up the site a bit. Among other things, we've added new ways to upload photos and email notifications of post replies. We are still cleaning out cobwebs and weeding some areas of the site, but we are also working on some bigger projects like a better search engine (yay!) and a mobile app. We'd also like to get some feedback from you. What enhancements or additions would you like to see? What do you love? What do you hate? Think big and small!

We can't promise the moon, but please know that we will read and consider every one of your ideas and suggestions. We appreciate your loyalty and dedication to our site and we know how important your community is to you. Help us make it even better!

Please use this post to offer your feedback. But, as always, you are welcome to contact me directly by clicking on my profile page.

Best regards,

Tamara Amey

GardenWeb Community Manager

Comments (11)

  • emcd124
    11 years ago

    I really like the option to have email replies. A search engine would be a great idea, but I would also like to really recommend you take a look at google's help forums and how they operate: when someone types in a new question it automatically has a space where is searches for similar questions from the past and brings up some previews. This performs an important function of keeping the same questions from getting repeated.

    Small easy-to-fix that drives me utterly bonkers: Every time I try to edit my lists of what I have to exchange and whatnot, I have to google to find the instructions for where to FIND that information, because it is absolutely buried in an otherwise depersonalized looking footer as "member pages." That link to my page should appear more prominently under my own profile, and be easier to get to and see in other people's profiles when I click on their names in a forum.

    The other thing I would LOVE but may be harder to code up in a redesign is something where I can "favorite" certain forums so that I get a personalized GW homepage when I land (a bit like iGoogle used to work) where I get quick links to my favorited forums OR (even better) little boxes for each favorited forum that previews the three or five latest posts. Then in my personalized GW homepage you could also have a section in a sidebar where users can toggle between the view of my most recent posts that I originated OR the most recent posts that I replied to. (as a sort of example, paradox interactive's forums allow you to find a view of these results if you search under your profile, but having them readily available on a homepage would be great and really improve my ability to monitor my own activity and followups)

  • emcd124
    11 years ago

    Two things I forgot:

    1. PLEASE get rid of the advertising at the top of the page that expands and contracts, moving all the below content with it. Either have it as an overlay that does not affect the positioning of the stuff below it, or have it static. It is annoying to be trying to click on a particular link but then VOOM the ad opens or closes at the top and you have clicked on the wrong thing because all the content shifted.

    2. Please give us an option to edit our own forum postings, and to be able to delete our own questions we originate (at the very least if there's no follow up responses).

    I also threw together a depiction of what I"m talking about above. In a more perfect world I"m envisioning content that you can expand or contract at will, and perhaps the ability to re-arrange your favorited forums display any way you want in drag and drop functionality (like iGoogle).

    {{gwi:1034561}}

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    11 years ago

    Ditto

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    11 years ago

    Personally, I would like to have the ability to edit my previous posts. This is already an integral part of some other garden sites. It is nice to be able to make corrections, and to make additions (such as adding photos or links) without making a new post.

    It would also be nice to have a control panel that allows the user to easily insert links into the text, rather than the single link presently provided at the bottom of the post. While it is possible to do this now, it requires the poster to have a knowledge of hypertext protocols... which not everyone has. Same goes for posting multiple photos. Think "user friendly".

  • jimster
    11 years ago

    Ability to edit already posted replies is high on many GWers list of suggestions. That could pose a problem though when a previous post is modified, making subsequent references to it invalid. Kinda difficult to explain. Do you see what I mean?

    I have been a member of a forum where previous posts were editable but, IIRC, it included a way of documenting the uneditted version. As I recall, it was somewhat messy.

    I think it is preferable to put up with the inconvenience of no editting in order to keep everything totally chronological.

    Jim

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    11 years ago

    "I think it is preferable to put up with the inconvenience of no editting in order to keep everything totally chronological.

    I agree with your reasoning, Jimster. If it were not for the fact that strictly chronological posting pushes popular threads quickly to the GW-imposed limit, I would support keeping the system as it is.

    But I'm sure you would agree, it is nice to be able to go back & correct typos (or incorrect info) which might have made it past the initial review. It stinks to have a moment of stupidity indelibly documented for all time. ;-)

  • jimster
    11 years ago

    On another forum someone suggested allowing edits but with a short time limit. That may be the best option.

    Jim

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    11 years ago

    GW should also correct whatever glitch is causing/allowing repeat posts, I've been seeing them a lot lately.

  • jimster
    11 years ago

    I have no idea how those multiple posts are occurring. I hope it can be fixed.

    Jim

  • gwannouncements
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi everyone!

    You asked and we listened. Today we are very excited to be debuting our newest feature -- post editing! To use this feature, go back to the post you wish to correct and you'll find the link under the 'My Clippings' links on the right side of the page.

    I want to give a special shout out to all the testers who tried to break the editing tool. ;) Your feedback was insightful and invaluable. Thank you!

    You may have also noticed that we adjusted the login cookie awhile back so that you should not have to login repeatedly.

    Stay tuned -- we have more cool things in the works!

    As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

    Best regards,
    Tamara

  • jimster
    11 years ago

    It seems that I cannot edit the Subject of Posting. No biggie, but I could have used it today on another forum.

    Jim

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