Forum Improvements #2 - Your Feedback Needed

Question

Suthish just suggested a few great ideas and we are thinking to implement them. Here is a list of new features.

1. Add a Forum Moderator user type. We can pick a few 5 to 10 moderators on the forums. Their profile will show a Moderator icon
2. Add Moderators link at the top of the forums, their roles and responsibilities. A moderator can modify, delete, close and do other things to a post. Also can send a message to a user.
3. Automatically notify a post if it was answered but answer was not accepted to user.
4. After 5 days, automatically notify user about their feedback on answers and vote (thumbs us) and accept answers. If no response came, close or archive thread automatically.
5. A confirmation message before delete a post. There should be no physical delete from the database if deleted by a member or moderator.
6. Add Most Recognized Members hand picked by Admin, Editors, and Moderators. Will have a different logo than the top members.
7. Add Legends - Members who does not care for prizes, awards or anything else. More than MVPs and others. These members are legends. They also work behind the scenes.
Anything else we should do for moderator?
8. Insert Help Links - As I type an answer, I should be able to search the site and if possible answer is already there as an article, blogs, or forums, I should be able to insert that right away.
9. Show maintenance message if site or forums are being updated or down for whatever reason.
10. Move a Thread - This option can be used by Moderators to move a thread to other categories including College Projects etc.
11. Convert a Thread - This option will allow moderators to convert a thread into an Article
12. Request an Article - New Forum Category
13. Sticky Threads - not sure what this is?
14. New Threads (unread threads) - When you visit forums, we can display new threads with a different icon, so users know which threads are new since they visited last time.
15. Bad Word filter on forums, comments, blog comments
16. Editor - Image Upload does not work in FireFox 4
17. Lighter version of the page (less HTML and JavaScript). Replace rich controls with lighter
18. Make forums load faster
19. Forums Category Moderators - Each forum category will have a moderator. When a question is posted and the post type is a "suggestion" or "idea", in that category, an email will go to the moderator.

Andrew Fenster · Answer

I'm not very active in answering questions on the forum but I have a few thoughts. It seems the emphasis on scoring each person's contributions to the forum does more harm than good. The competition for points drives people to answer as many questions as possible even if they do not know the subject well. Then they follow up to request that their answer be marked as the accepted answer. They get a point for doing this even though it's annoying. If your moderators start deleting posts from people who are competing for points you can expect complaints. I think you should consider putting less emphasis on the whole point competition. You can still hand out prizes but do it more like the MVP prizes -- let a group of judges decide each month. As for moderators deleting questions that are spam advertising or just plain unintelligible that seems helpful.

Praveen Moosad · Answer

How about implementing bad words filter. Not just in forums but on every comment posted by user in articles blogs etc. Seen many post where user post hate messages in comments.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Yes we have it already. I forgot about seeing it. Yes it can be a hassle for regulars. The main problem is that (in other forums) it usually is more difficult than I prefer to find the first non-sticky thread. For the C# Corner forums it is less of a problem since we have the combined list of all threads from all forums and unless the combined list shows the sticky threads those of us that look at the threads regularly (using the combined list) will seldom see the sticky ones.

Raja Krishnamurthy · Answer

Some the things which I think would add value to this forum are: 1. Reply to Reply Feature so that it forms a tree structure - If we have a bunch of answers going back and forth then we need a way to specify that we are answering to that particular reply. This visual cue (tree structure) would make it pretty easy for others to follow too. 2. Comment on Reply Feature - We have so many experts who are giving amazing solutions but there are times where they could go wrong on a simple syntax error. Instead of adding another reply if there is a way to comment on a reply then it would be great. This would also be very useful to get clarifications on a question rather than doing a reply. 3. If a question is being made a favorite does the author of that question / post get points? There are cases where a good question can become a wiki. Some open ended discussions like HTML 5 implementation / WCF Performance Tuning Measures etc can be made as wiki. 4. Is there a way to penalize a reply by which the author loses points (-1) - This could be very useful when people give reckless answers. Hope the above makes sense

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Good suggestions Suthish and Frogleg. I will add them to the list. Suthish once I finalize how we are going to implement them I will share with you few TOP guys to keep you in the loop. Cheers!

Frogleg · Answer

Another idea is a code snippet section I depend upon snippets with my bad memory(age) We should be able to upload snippets into categories - strings gdi whatever

Suthish Nair · Answer

We need to improve Ask a Question section. Because lots of questions posting in wrong sections by selecting from drop down list. Members not mentioning which .net framework windows or web application etc are using in their threads. Thread Some time its facing difficulty to give an answer getting confused what answer to post. Another one is the subject text box validation people entering like Help Help Me etc.. Hoping future release will take care of these..

Suthish Nair · Answer

How will Point 11 works? Who will convert these threads to Articles? We can merge Point 11 with Point 12 asking the poster to convert it into articles. We already have sticky threads i was actually talking about Point 10 (above threads). For Point 14 we need different icons for Unanswered Answered (presently this not global icon viewed only to member whose post got accepted) Closed Deleted Duplicate.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Ahh .. got it Sam. We have this feature already! This feature is available to Editor and Admin only. When you post a new thread there is a CheckBox Keep on Top. That keeps a thread at the top. I was think in more creative way to make it like Sticky Notes where no matter where you are on the forums you will see Sticky Threads listing in the Right side bar in a Sticy Notes look and feel :) I guess we can add this feature when an Editor or Moderator edit a post and make it sticky. The only problem with Keep on Top is for users like us who are on the site 24/7 it gets boring.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I am not sure what you are asking for Mahesh; are you looking for samples of what a sticky thread is? If so then just look at the MSDN CodeProject or CodeGuru forums or most any forum of any subject. There are usually threads that are stuck to the top of each forum. They usually are where rules are put and guidelines about what the forum is for and not for and sometimes relevant news announcements are put there.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Good ideas guys! I added them to the list. Frogleg  can you send me a URL of sticky threads?

Suthish Nair · Answer

Mostly in forums people don't care to explain the threads with more details or informations. Allowing or using above posted threads (like Frogleg said sticky threads) will more readable to outside worlds and those looking for assignments with codes (they only needs code ). Above threads are 80 - 90 % understandable i think so. I don't know how this will effect our website in a good or bad way. At least we can say we have College Assignments module/section . These are not articles or blogs or resources a different room in a house for new comers. Experienced members can upload there codes also kind of open source.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Suthish I have not looked at those threads closely but they look good. I think it would help if someone spent some time summarizing and explaining the concepts. For the purpose of suggesting projects it would help if a clear and concise description was written. All of that would take time but good articles take time to do. I have in the past suggested the idea of a forum for suggesting / requesting articles. Those threads could be posted as suggestions for articles. Also I often see articles with a lot of code and very little explanation. It is much easier to post code than it is to post a clear and concise explanation of what the code does and how it works. If the author of the code does not do that then it would be worthwhile for someone to write another article.

Frogleg · Answer

Yes Suthish I agree - what about sticky threads Quite a few forums have these now and they may seem to stand out more than articles in the left pane

Suthish Nair · Answer

#Idea (might helps new members - like projects assignments etc) Thread1 Thread2 Thread3 Above threads are so good will help members those looking for college projects assignments etc.. But we need to store these threads to a new section or location so can be easily accessible. So to an extended we can help those looking for college projects assignments etc.. Like this we can also have great thread section which will be selected by Admins Moderators etc..

Suthish Nair · Answer

Can you explore more about the details so others also can give inputs. I was posting above message on another thread by mistake saved here.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Add Most Recognized Members

Amit Choudhary · Answer

Really productive and healthy discussion..

Sam Hobbs · Answer

The advantage of a hierarchical (tree) view is that it makes it easier to make it clear what a reply is a reply to. We seldom if ever have threads that get as big as some I have seen in other sites but if we do then a hierarchical view could certainly make a thread more useful. I agree that it is difficult to implement in a manner that allows use of the tree yet does not clutter the page. Microsoft seems to have a lot of difficulty implementing a tree view for the MSDN. If it can be done then I think it is worth doing but it appears to be not as easy as most of us would like.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Good points Suthish Raja Sam and Andrew. All features have their pros and cons. We just need to find the best solution that works for all. Andrew: For points system I think we need to keep it. But we need to give points only when an answer is accepted. We had a feature Thumbs Down and that was for the answers they were bad. But we removed it because it was not working properly. We will put that back and one user can only Thumbs down 1 time per post. Too many thumbs down (say 10) will send a warning message. We will also make Accept Answer feature more visible and send bunch of remiders. Raja: I like your suggestion about Reply Type. A Reply can be a type - Answer Suggestions Comment etc. Sometimes I myself and Sam posts suggestions but they are not direct answer to the question. Tree Structure - This feature is not a good idea because it is very costly. Unless everybody agrees and it adds value! We had this before but having a tree structure on high trafficked website adds lot more processing. Duplicate Links: We can make forums smarter. When a user posts a new questions we can filter similar questions and ask him if this is a duplicate of the previous posts. Overall good feedback. Let them coming. In next couple of days I will compile a complete feature list and we can dicuss what everybody things and we can start implementing them eary next week. Cheers!

Andrew Fenster · Answer

MILDLY frustrating. VERY mildly frustrating. And only for a moment. I'm not so sensitive. But everyone likes recognition. That's only normal.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I am sorry that you feel bad about losing out on points. People that regularly volunteer to help are not obsessed about points. Probably people that care about points that much have gone away. There is not enough reward here just for points.

Andrew Fenster · Answer

Sam I certainly understand your point. If you spend the time providing an answer you want some sort of recognition. I've provided about 15 answers now and only one or two were marked as the approved answer. I find it somewhat frustrating even though I have no interest in the forum prizes and have no intention of competing for a prize. Still the point system doesn't fix this. If anything it makes it worse. Now I'm not only unappreciated I'm also losing out on points. It seems like you could reward or recognize the people who are helping with the forum without using a system that encourages people to obsess about their point count.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Andrew: If instead of a member requesting that a reply be marked as an answer what if a moderator were to do that? Would that help? Note that recently most of the posts that are like that are made by Suthish and Suthish has requested that there be a way for him to be identified as a moderator. As for being annoying you have not experienced the frustration of voluntarily spending time trying to help someone and then it is not recognized. Until you reverse roles you can't understand. Raja: As for a question being made a favorite this web site makes it relatively easy for anyone to submit an article so your suggestion for  a good question can become a wiki  has been implemented years ago except the articles should contain good answers not good questions.

Suthish Nair · Answer

I think the Forum is the heart point of C# Corner now. Lots of new members getting joined. So lots of work for moderators those who interested in spending time. The basic points said by Sam and above listing needs to take it into account asap. Initially when i joined forums that time also they are giving away prizes and i can say better than other communities. If we going to restructure it with creating much worse than it really is . Most of the members like prizes thats why they are here.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Ok thanks Sam! The only problem with rules/guidelines is people just don't read them. What we can do is compile a few important rules/guidelines and send them in each Forum notification goes to users when they register post a question or get a reply. This will be a polite message at the bottom of the notification.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Note that the automatic notification is the type of thing I suggested months ago and is probably still in the forum suggestions forum or whatever it is called. There are many other suggestions for the forums but since you are limiting this to just those that are related to moderators some suggestions I haved made in the past are that we need forum rules and for the rules to be visible and/or accessible. Also we need to have a way to conveniently reference (using a link or a rule number or whatever) a rule such as no duplicate posts. The rules don't need to be called rules; some of the guidelines could be  First look for relevant articles in the web site   Be specific   Ask about only one thing per thread  and  Try to reduce your code to the minimum required to reproduce the problem . I think the need for moderations can be reduced if the rules can be made more clear and one of the rules is that members are requested to (politely) remind other members of the rules when relevant. It is important that it is clear that moderators or other members are expected to request compliance. You must expect some people to get ugly without that.