Buffy ,'Empty Places'
A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.
Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych
It's one thing to know that active posters are only about 20% of the board population, but it's another thing entirely to see the proof.
Hunh. I had the opposite thought -- it seemed to me like I recognized about 80% of the usernames.
Also, if you look at the bottom of the screen, Gus built it from people who had posted in recently-closed threads. Total lurkers aren't on there.
I don't like the idea of a users list being available to non-members. IIRC, optimizing and re-activating the search function is already on the tech To Do list, so it's not really policy issue, is it?
I prefer pronounceable usernames, but it's not something I think needs to be codified.
And (to add to the confusion), I'd like to change my username (back) to Jessica, if there's a Stompy around to do it.
Done, Jess.
eta:
IIRC, optimizing and re-activating the search function is already on the tech To Do list, so it's not really policy issue, is it?
True, but I was specifically thinking of a user search rather than a content search -- in other words, "take me to the profile of poster x", rather than "show me all that poster y posted".
It seems like a distinct function to me, although I'd be interested to know if others don't see it that way. And I don't know if the load would be significantly less than the old search function, or even where we are on that right now, so the suggestion is subject to all kinds of caveats.
I think it's more a question of feelings than anything concrete. I just think that people who like being invisible might suddenly feel like they're being dragged into the light, which is kind of alarming.
Betcha even money more of them will look at the list, find their name and go, "Look! My name!"and move on with nary a thought.
Not trying to be facetious, but we can't cater to the most neurotic, and we can't cater to hypothetical feelings.
Also, if you look at the bottom of the screen, Gus built it from people who had posted in recently-closed threads. Total lurkers aren't on there.
That's where the 20% number comes from, LJ -- there are about 300 names on that list, and about 1300 registered users.
[Thanks, Amych. Off to change the tag now...]
And (to add to the confusion), I'd like to change my username (back) to Jessica, if there's a Stompy around to do it.
To subtract from my confusion, you're PMoon, yes?
eta... damn, too slow again. I need my own little time warp thingie.
Question about Aimee's ballot...
When we were going through all the set up, there was talk about what to do, if a ballot fell over a holiday, etc. I don't know how many people will be absent over Passover. I do know Wolfram is one, and expressed interest in the vote. When we had our discussions, did we ever decide to make accomodations for holidays, etc., or did we just talk about it, but not arrive at a conclusion.
Gah! All these people changing their names! Chaos! Confusion! Brain hurt!
I take my stand now: I will always ALWAYS be Miracleman!
...unless...Well, being called Captain Marvel would be cool...
...or Mister Mind. Or Dr. Sivana, what with the monkeys and zombies...ooh! Gargunza!
...make the bad thoughts stop...
t /natter
Not trying to be facetious, but we can't cater to the most neurotic, and we can't cater to hypothetical feelings.
Here's where I'm coming from, and of course, as I'm a moderately active poster I'd expect to be visible.
The culture of this board seems to me to place a high emphasis on privacy. While this could be subjective, the anxiety expressed when there's an influx of new posters and the much appreciated safeguards against spiders for a large part of the database confer this general assumption.
Publishing a poster list that doesn't require registration is a significant adjustment. Even though we're just talking about a list, and the info isn't confidential per se, for someone used to that protective screen of lurderdom, it can be jarring. (I have been that person in the past, for example, when I was being stalked. It's one of the reasons I'm still very cautious about using my real name on boards)
So, I don't think it takes neurosis to be concerned about this issue, nor is it coddling to consider it when coming to a decision. Particularly when we have a number of posters who do use their given names.
If it's important to make the change, I suggest posting in press to see if there are enough objections to generate a vote. Weary as I'm sure that prospect makes many of you.
I don't see that the benefit outweighs the potential issues, myself. Much as I appreciate the effort Gus put into coding it, I'd like to leave out an openly available list.
Looks like the tide is rolling away from the list idea. It was just a little nicety, anyway. I'll take down the example site, but hang on to the code that builds the display pages, in case some utility might emerge for it. If a "profile central" notion does come about, the names in the lists can easily be converted to links to the user's profile.