ATS, BTS, What would you like to see in the future?

Originally posted by conspiracymaster
every member gets a profile page where they can share information about themselves with others!!!

For 1000 points you can purchase an ATS Blog.

can we have a dedicated poll forum please?

a) yes
b) no

JFK section

Has this website thought of making a section strictly for JFK conspiracies. It seems to be a major topic for this site and we usually just put it under political conspiracies, but i believe it gets enough attention to have its own place. thanks

not sure if this has been suggested before (probably has) but how about a spell checker for our posts? I am often typing words in to google to check them. I have seen some much more basic threaded post pages which do not include half the features ATS has yet still has spell checkers!

Many thanks and sorry if its been suggested before but I think you guys really need to sort one out!

I would like to see an ATS convention. Little get-together for the members to meet in real time. Don't have to dress up like Trekkie conventioners do (although that could be amusing too)-just one, huge ATS convention/discussion. Could inspire all sorts of ideas for the forum. Lots of "lurkers" that don't always post but I'm sure they, too, have their opinions/ideas.

Insolubrious,

Mozilla Fire Fox. The newly released 2.0 version does have a spell checker installed in it. It is by far one of the greatest assets, and does a lot for one's posts on ATS. I had installed the google tool bar awhile back to help out with some words, but with the Firefox, it's use is obsolete. I highly recommend it if your looking for a quick spell check while writing your posts.

I looked in other forums & i noticed something.If somebody creates a thread that talks about a hard drive with 1 terabytes,but there was already another thread that talks about the same topic,then some Mod would "merged" the 2 threads together.It got me thinking,should the threads here on ATS,BTS & AP(former PTS) that talk about the same topic should be merged as well?
I'm not sure if this idea was already tried yet in the past,but if it did,then i wonder why it didn't work out.
If this idea is new then it would be quite useful to see in the future on this site.
Maybe we could show a network of threads that talks about the same topic so we can see all of the merged threads.

I posted the following in the UFO's room, and someone mentioned that it might fit well here. I am sending it on as a recommendation.

I was wondering if the moderators had thought about splitting this board into two boards: one for just discussing sightings, pictures, and whatnot, and another discussing disclosure and other "earthly" aspects of the topic. I was also curious to see if there was popular support for such a split.

Often, I want to read posts about disclosure or something, and I have to wade through a number of sighting and picture threads. I think ATS might be more organized by splitting the board. On the other hand, both of the topics seem to be closely related in a number of cases; UFO sightings naturally have implications on disclosure. I am throwing this out to see what people think.

1. Integration with google earth kml files, so that you can post geocodes with new articles. This would be great as well as working with google earth, you could also integrate with google maps to provide locations for all important discoveries, and should also only be an extra table in the database

2. This could also extend to a proximity system allowing users to be notified of events within their selected radius, great for UFO reports etc, but also for bird flu exclusion zones (if and when they happen).

3. ATS Defcon - kinda like the doomsday clock, but updated by the mods to reflect the climate of the board. With email notifications.

4. Video podcasts

5. Subscription get rid of the annoying adverts system

6. Situation X download area, or even a WIKI allowing survival information to be posted / voted rated in a manor where if it all does go flipside up, can be downloaded in a matter of mins.

that all i can think off at the moment.

oh, Live streams, like an ats style live podcast show

I have yet another suggestion for ATS, and one I think would be very
popular.

An ATS Instant Messaging system, not like a chat system, but an IM
system itself.

ONe made to correspond to Windows Mac and Linux.

That way members using all those systems could talk to eachother
on a commone IM system.

how about the ABOVETOPSECRET/BELOWTOPSECRET/PTS etc etc.. Conferences / Seminars...... or the ABOVETOPSECRET School... ? ..
I love the instant messenger idea too..
umm.... A school ....
oh did I mention a school? .. that'd be way cool.. [sarcasm]it'd be like hogwarts[/sarcasm] (not)

and maybe an animated sarcasm thing... ? .. I'm fresh out, for now..

This isn't a neccessary thing,but it would be quite unique & maybe helpful to see this happen.
We members can achieve 3 status (Writer,Fighter,& Scholar),but I would like to see another status called "Debunker".

kudos on the spelling check thing... excellent idea... excellent tool.. good looking out..

umm *cough* school *cough* ... anyone think its a good idea? a university type facility? .. obviously tweaked towards the ats standards..


I also agree with the instant messenger idea..

but ... I think it should be more geared towards multiple person chat.. like seminar type thing.. with video conference capabilities.. different rooms for different subjects ... like the religion / conspiracy / politics / etc.. etc..
and somehow rig it so it makes money (ads) .. and pay mods to maintain it and plan "classes" or interactive interviews... something like that.. this is just a quick thought.. if I sat down for longer I could come up with something that would work quite well..

[edit on 1/25/2007 by PuRe EnErGy]

One thing I think would be cool, maybe it's possible, and maybe not?

Why do we have to log into 3 different sites here? Why can't one log in cover ATS/BTS/PTS??

Oh how I would ... Oh So Love.... For there to be a PENALTY for people who don't do a search before they post a DUPLICATE thread. It seems like every time I log on I see another duplicate thread. My guess is that the points system has something to do with this. People fishing for points post without looking first. I think that there should be a points penalty of... Oh.. Say 10 points for duplicate threads and a U2U warning.

Duplicate threads only water down the discussion and make it difficult for newer members to find their way around ATS.

It used to be if you were on the MyATSfavorite page and clicked on a subject in a misc. forum to read when you were done and hit the back arrow it brought you back to the same place you were when you left - now it brings me back to the top of the page and I have to scroll down to where I was (if I can remember which forum it was in) and continue on from there -- a small thing I know but it is annoying. I haven't changed anything on my laptop so I figure it must be with the site.

thanks

Terapin,

My opinion the subject. Duplicate threads are a consistent issue on the board. However, on a board of this magnitude, duplicates are completely inevitable. I do not think it is fair to assume that members can actively, and extensively search the archives to determine if a prior thread on the subject exists. Sometimes it is necessary to rejuvenate a discussion with a new thread. Sometimes we have a thread, say on 9/11, that has been discussed countless times on the board. Issues like this would definitely fall under the umbrella in which you have mentioned. But at the same time, threads exist that have been created in the past, that are exploring new components of the discussion. This discrepancy is leaving some serious gray area in the matter which may lead to controversy over the governing of the issue.

My rule of thumb on the matter is:
1) Post a link to the pre-existing thread
2) Reply as if a previous thread does not exist
3) Don't Reply

Pointing fingers at members who may, or may not of taken advantage of the search function, is not really going to solve any problems. We can not govern who does and does not take advantage of the function, which leaves us unable to enforce the issue.

If you see a member who is consistently creating threads that already exist, maybe we could contact them via u2u to give them a heads up on the search function. I've done it in the past, and I've had it done to me in the past. Communication between members is what separates this site from the rest. Staff and members alike are willing to go the extra mile.

Rather than ridiculing, we are willing to help. So as much as I agree, I see a problem in the governing of it. I prefer to see members educated on the search function rather than punished for their lack of research. It is not always a viable option. Pre-existing threads may not be uncovered through the search function.

[edit on 25-1-2007 by chissler]

I would like to see the point system fixed; but this is something that you guys already know. When I purchase something with combined points, it takes away from my BTS points. The problem is, I only have 3 BTS points! Afterwards, I had something like -30 points. The algorithm for spending combined points needs to be fixed so that points can't go lower than 0.

can we have napkins now? ... some of the new features are starting to make me horny... are they supposed to do that? ..

The new video options are amazing.. It's going to really benefit a lot of users who have a hard time finding some of the things the researchers / members of ats/bts/pts find ..

I wish this was a job sometimes..

what about the idea of an events announcement forum where members can post upcoming things going on in and around their areas.

this can be anything from demonstrations/marches, conventions, lectures etc and i'm sure members would learn about things going on they may never have heard of anywhere else.