Run ATS for a day!

Ok, I got your attention with that title, so you quite possibly have something in mind that you'd like to change about ATS.

What is it? I am of the opinion that the new ATS Council needs a good agenda to follow if it's ever going to get anywhere, and that agenda comes from you- the members.

What do you want us to do?

Are you happy with the T&Cs?

Is there a forum that should exist but doesn't?

Is there a chatroom that should exist but doesn't?

Are you happy with the new member's application system?

Do you have a REALLY ambitious idea- like a print news letter and know how we could make it happen?


Anything, everything. Hit us with it. We're sitting in that forum having a shadow-puppet contest (not really- but I don't think I'm allowed to brief on actual council events) and we need YOUR voice. We don't make the decisions- you do. We just make it happen for you.

I have an idea. How about a minor "applause" button for members? Doesn't give any points, no awards or anything (so it's different from WATS), just something a little quicker than a U2U for a good post. Maybe even make it anonymous or something. There's a lot of times when someone posts something that makes I completely agree with, and I personally don't want to just reply with just "I agree." There isn't really anything to add to the thread, and although a U2U would allow for discussion if necessary, often there isn't any need for further comment. Have it tie in with a particular post so the person knows what they got it for, and make it optional to say who "applauded" them.

Well, that's my only idea for now, but I do threaten to bring more along as they come

make it cheaper to get into the really above top secret forums... im itching to get acess or just have someone tell me its really not that great...

"inspiringyouth
Member

Registered: 6/20/2005
Location: Oklahoma

Mood:
Member is on ATS now.

ATS Points: -113"

I'd make it so your points couldn't go below zero But seriously. How about a really "secret" topic. If you want something thats RATS it shouldn't be advertised and available for easy access. I could just lay down some points and be right in. That isn't Really Above Top Secret. That is just Secrets For Sale.

Hmm, the minor applause button actually sounds like a decent idea. I'll take that one to the council and see if they would like to recommend it to SkepticOverlord. I have to make it clear that the council doesn't have much direct authority- our job is to be a collective voice so that ideas like this will be heard by those who have the authority to make it happen.

Despite our limitations, rest assured that we are here to help, and that we can be effective. Hopefully we will be able to push this idea forward .


To inspiringyouth- RATS really isn't that great. I got bored with it and stopped paying my membership just because I never saw anything worth responding to there. All the same, I will do some brainstorming on the subject. There actually is a fairly good reason for the cost of RATS- we try to keep it out of the reach of casual browsers so that it is a secure setting for semi-sensitive information. For example if I had information about my employer and was afraid of being sued for libel if I just posted in in the regular forums.

All the same, if we can come up with another way to bring safe RATS access, we can present it to the powers that be and see what they think. I'd appreciate your help in dreaming up ways to keep RATS selective without relying to heavily on points.

Another quick suggestion, one that has probably been brought up a few times. Single forum or thread subscriptions. We have the RSS feeds for the whole board, but sometimes we're really just wanting to keep up with a single thread. I know having an email notification whenever something's been posted would be a ton of bandwidth and server clicks that could be much better used elsewhere, but maybe allow an RSS feed for a specific forum. I don't imagine that would be too much of an added strain on things. Could be wrong though.

Brilliant thread title.........awsome way to gather ideas!

I wish I had thought of it......

Great ideas surge your way with this cool way of asking I bet!

My only idea is a spell checker, if that helps any....... Being the worst spleller person onn da hole bord......

I am wit u RivurGodis. I got my edukashun in Indyana and they never lernt me no cerekt inglish.

Since this is a php based system SO should be able to install aspell & pspell and recompile with the pspell support. I like offering up work for Skeptic. lol

Originally posted by inspiringyouth
im itching to get acess or just have someone tell me its really not that great...

Do not be in such a rush so as to 'post for points'. The content in the 'secret' forum is basically the same as the content in the regular forum, of a 'higher calibre' tho. Its primary purpose, from what I understand, is to 'seal' that forum off from search engines, like google or msn, etc. So if you rush to get get points to get there, well, you're going to be dissappointed.

I like the 'applaude' idea. It would be easier than a U2U and you could just type in "I really enjoyed your post" and it would send it to the person.

I would prefer to just run ATS for one day....

Oh the sweet, sweet, SWEET changes I would make. And you all know who you are!




There is no friend anywhere - Lao Tse

I just started a thread about the age of ATS members .It would be nice to know the age of a member while in a discussion. Just a thought

Originally posted by inspiringyouth
make it cheaper to get into the really above top secret forums... im itching to get acess or just have someone tell me its really not that great...

i can tell you now that its very unlikely that will happen, it has been brought up lots of times before in the past and we always end up at the same result.

Make it so you can edit your purchased titles! It's so annoying to have to rebuy them.

Originally posted by Voice_of Doom
I would prefer to just run ATS for one day....

Oh the sweet, sweet, SWEET changes I would make. And you all know who you are!

There is no friend anywhere - Lao Tse

Dear voice of doom, it is my responsibility to regretfully inform you that Council Bill CB123456-7, also known as the "screw the council act of 2005" has been stricken down by a vote of 7-0.
Please feel free to submit additional proposals.

Originally posted by Azure Twilight
Make it so you can edit your purchased titles! It's so annoying to have to rebuy them.

I can mention this for you, but frankly I'm not sure that it will carry. Titles are fairlly inexpensive- I know they don't seem to be for the first couple of months, but in a sense that is the point. When a member has been around and begun to sort of establish a recognizeable character on ATS he can use the points he has earned on distinctive items like that. That's why they aren't just free to begin with. They are sort of a thing to look forward to and to enjoy when you have them, and having to work your way up to them is sort of gratifying- I know. I was doing it just a year ago.

All the same, it isn't my place to cast immediate judgement on your suggestions, so it will be passed on to the councilman who I assisst- EastCoastKid.

In the interest of showing you all that your ideas have been taken under consideration, and that members should continue to push the council for the changes they desire, I would like to report on the progress made on the ideas so far:

MCory1: The "minor applause" idea was defeated in a short debate in the council because the council believes that it would be a redundancy to the WATS vote which members already wield. However I am in the process of compiling an improvement suggestions proposal which will include several minor changes requiested by members which if voted into action, will ask SkepticOverlord to add several features. Among the requests in this "bill" will be an automatic U2U notification when a member recieves a WATS vote.

Inspiring Youth: Because there is a valid reason for the cost of RATS access, the council cannot move to reduce this cost until alternative means of access control are suggested. I personally believe that any alternative system will be just as heavily criticized as the current cost- for example we might require a member to have x number of posts, or to go through an application process, or whatever else- and while members who are low on points would benefit, many others might be inconvenienced even more.

I am willing to act unilaterally to help members get into RATS if they have something that really belongs in RATS however. I can use the applause function to help members get the required points- as long as they actually have something to say in RATS. (I'd probably get in trouble if I helped somebody get in and they ended up being a troll, or if I let a bunch of people in who never post, so I am going to very careful about who I help in this way)

So here is my offer- I can reduce the initial buy-in price of RATS by 20% by giving you 4 applause- a onetime gift of 1,000 points. To be eligible, a member should have been here for at least 6 months, not already have 5,000 points, and send me an email at [email protected] including a link to a thread or reply of his that he is proud of, to show his quality. If any member dishonors this program by causing problems in RATS, I will stop helping people in this way.

I know that's not exactly handing it to you on a silver platter, but the powers that be have decided that it's not supposed to be handed over that way and I can't just ignore their decision. I will help as much as I can though.


About the RSS Idea MCory1 gave- to be brutually honest I have never paid much attention to that area and I don't fully understand what you are proposing- and nobody has volunteered to explain it to me, although I did post it in the council forum. Perhaps you could submit it through the suggestions button at the top of the page- councilors have access to that forum- it would be a great way for you to explain your idea directly to the council as well as to the mods and SO.

About a spellchecker- I'll put that in the proposal I'm cooking up. It would be a wonderful advantage for our members.
That being said, I've always had bad luck with server-side spellchecking programs. There are client-side ones that you can install which will display a button on your browser window and allow you to quickly not only spell-check but check word definitions, and they can be downloaded for free. They also have features the server-side ones don't. You can teach them new words and tell them to always ignore certain things. I will see if we can start and sticky a "utilities thread" in the board questions forum that includes links to free downloads of things like spellcheckers, word counters, etc.


Then about editing custom titles- I'm sorry but it looks like it's just way too small of a problem to justify the change, and it is a small status symbol of sorts for active members. Afterall, it only costs 500 points for the first line, and racking up points is relatively easy- here is the point policy
www.abovetopsecret.com...

You get an average of 10 points for posting something, and an average of 15 points if somebody replies in a thread you started. A low to medium activity member (averaging 3 posts a day and 1 thread of his own every week would be my definition of that- it would probably take you about 30-40 minutes each time you signed on, which is nothing compared to what a lot of people spend here) but a member who was about that active could afford to completely revamp his miniprofile with new colors and a new title for 1,000 points on a monthly basis, or even every couple of weeks if he was the type who gets many replies and the occasional applause.

I am going into this at such length because it feels bad for me as a council staffer to tell somebody we're not going to act on their idea, but these things really are perks for activity and the whole point of our point system- we give you a miniprofile to show everybody who you are, and when you're active we give you points so that you can tweak that profile and be a bit of a character if you want. The point really isn't just to rack up a huge cache of points to make you look impressive. The longer a member is here, the more I think they stop paying attention to points. You get to know the key players in the community and appreciate their quality and character. Being smart, funny, constructive, etc is far more important than racking up points.




Now come on, keep bossing me around. the council needs a good kick in the chops to get things moving, and it's going to take an agenda full of good ideas to do that.

These are some great ideas! The Council is looking into differant suggestions and the plausability of them all the time!

So I am bumping this thread to do some MORE fishing.........keep the ideas coming folks, keep them coming!

Remember ATS is your site, and administration wants you to have the best experiance possible here, so ALL comments are welcomed!

Do you think it would be possable to have a IM button so it would make disscutions between two members easyer while your in a thread.

Also how about a ATS email system so you can have a email address like [email protected] or [email protected]

Just an idea, let me know what you think

Hiya,

Originally posted by picklewalsh
Do you think it would be possable to have a IM button so it would make disscutions between two members easyer while your in a thread.

There is a chatroom facility, U2Us and I believe you can put AOL/MSN type details in your profile which will appear at the bottom of posts. Do build it into the board any other way would be incredibly difficult.

Also how about a ATS email system so you can have a email address like [email protected] or [email protected]

We used to have a member email system - but it has been stopped now (for new users at least). As you can appreciate it uses a lot of resources (if 1000 members have it then that's 5gb space with the current 5mb allocation each) and appears to mainly get full of spam.