New forum options

[Nielo]

Taking the lead from Ronald, I am posting this poll to test what people think of the new options and whether they think they will use them or not. The poll is open and anonymous so feel free to say what you think.

[Flyingpigs]

I am sure there are others like me that don't know anything about the options and therefore will not use them - but its not because I don't like them, I am just not interested in anything beyond the most basic forum and therefore don't investigate all its functions.

Technology for me is only a means to an end. I have a very techie husband who gets excited about such things and tries to promote my enthusiasm but alas it only serves to alienate me.

I am sure they are all great for those interested - please do not interpret my lack of their use as that they are no good - its only my indifference showing through.

[Charles Phillips]

Ah, difficult questions. I don't like the reputation option, but that isn't to say I won't use it.

If the tags are well implemented and easy to search (as on sites like Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing, or Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures - I Can Has Cheezburger?), then they are quite wonderful. However, I'm rather of the opinion that this site has too limited an area of subject interest for them to be necessary, and the current search (Italy Magazine Forums) facility is quite good if you choose your search terms carefully.

[ronald]

As I tried to say in the last post there are some features that may not be that useful or that used but there is no reason to remove them and others that may also interfer. I think reputation is the only one that may interfere.

As for Tags - I think that used correctly they are fantastic. There are so many different categories that you could never have just the right structure of forums (e.g. pets and travel, pets and vets in italy). Tags allow you to create categories on the fly.

But as many have said at the end of the day the main point is the pure and simple forum functionality

[Steve Graham]

I'm new to the forum, so the latest facilities are no more unfamiliar to me than everything else. I think that tags may turn out to be useful if they are widely used -- and that probably depends on some reminders to begin with.

I can't see myself using friends much, or at all. I'd like to think that I'm friends with everybody here! If I discovered that I shared a common interest with someone, we might want to swap occasional messages, but anything else would be outside the scope of the forum.

Groups, however, may be a more generally useful mechanism: everyone living in Le Marche or those running a certain type of business, for example.

Overall, I give a big thumbs up to the forum and its implementation. I've already gained much useful information (and entertainment!), and I check for new posts every day.

[Nielo]

It looks like you are right Ronald and the reputation option is the least popular, although it is less open to abuse than the grazie button.

[Stefanosjb]

I am very sorry but I have been in Italy for 2 months and have been reading about these changes that have taken place with the forums. In a nutshell, what are they? Grazie

[Nielo]

I’ll have a go at describing the changes, secure in the knowledge that if I get it wrong someone will correct me.

Groups ; There is a new facility where you can either start a new group or join one of the already formed groups. To have a look at what is available click on Groups at the top of the page. Some groups are invitation only and therefore guests can not see what is posted there, but others are open for all to see. I think the general idea is for people with special interests to get together and chat without cluttering up the forum. If you look you will see that there are groups such as UK TV, Puglia, New buyers in Calabria etc.

Tags: If you look at the bottom of the thread you will see an ‘edit tags’ button, if you click on it you can add a tag which will flag the thread up in a certain sector. For example if a thread is about the cost of plumbing, it could have a tag for plumbing, renovations, bathrooms or whatever. If you are looking for something in particular you can click on the tag on the left bottom of the thread and it will bring up all other threads, which have been given the same tag. At the moment it is not very useful because not all the posts/threads have been tagged but in time it will enable people to search for topics more easily.

Reputation: If you look at the top of a person’s post on the right hand side you will see what looks like a set of scales, if you click on this you can vote someone some reputation. The more reputation a person gets the more little green squares show up under their details. As people grazie your posts it gives you points and only when you have gathered some grazie points can you then give someone some reputation. I believe that having voted someone some reputation you can not give them anymore until you have voted for other people. It is not possible to take reputation away if you think someone has posted rubbish.

Friends: If you go to your control panel you will see that you have the option to add friends. In order to do this you must send a request to that person to become one of your friends, if that person accepts, then they will be displayed on your personal profile and you will also appear on theirs. You may also receive a request from someone to become their friend and you have the option to accept or refuse their overtures of friendship.

There are a few other changes, for example if you visit someone’s personal profile you can leave them a message. This message is visible to anyone visiting the profile so should not take the place of Private messages where the message should be viewable only by yourself and the person you are messaging.

Hope this helps

Ronald, I’ll expect a cheque in the post!

[Nielo]

What has happened to Social Groups? After an initial flurry of activity they seem to have quietly died!

[Gala Placidia]

Perhaps we are a bit lazy and we tend to go stright into the new posts in the Forum without looking at what goes on in other sections. I confess doing just that. Today was the first time I had a look at the Groups and my move was prompted by your message, Nielo, and also the results of the poll. I have not joined any groups as yet.