From technology to politics to video games; these are the random thoughts of a geek with too much time on his hands
One Feature Only!
Published on October 4, 2007 By Zoomba In Blogging

Dear JU Faithful,

At the moment we are looking into what would be involved in an update to this site.  There's no question that it's been a while since it got some tender, loving care from development, and we're thinking we *might* have some time in the coming months to address this problem.

As we do these updates, we also might be able to sneak in one or two new features, if time permits.  So, we'd like to hear from you on what you would like to see added to the site in an update.  Here's how this is going to work:

  1. You get to make ONE feature request.  Only one.  Be specific
  2. It should be something you feel is a must-have function for the site
  3. It should not be "fix this feature that's been broken forever"  We're going to be fixing the glitches.  Think of new stuff.
  4. Keep it semi-reasonable.  Asking us to make the site 100% customizable isn't going to happen. 

There is absolutely no guarantee that all of the requests here will be added to the site.  We're going to go through the list of suggestions and see what we can actually accomplish when we set aside time for the project. 

Once the project is underway, expect updates on what will and won't be in the site.  For now, consider this the exploratory phase before we firmly declare anything    You folks have stuck around the site through thick and thin, so we want to give you a chance to throw in your two cents before we get started.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Oct 04, 2007
Recommend Article button, with a visible count for anyone to look at. You read an article, you like it, you can recommend it. One recommend per user per article. For example of what I mean, see the 'thumbs' feature on Boardgamegeek.com.

This would also serve as a good way to pick out which articles should be featured for the people who do that sort of thing.
on Oct 04, 2007
I think it would be nice to have a place to track threads/articles that you have replied to, without having to add it to the "watch list". Sometimes I forget which posts I have replied too and I have no idea is someone responds!
on Oct 04, 2007
Have that. In the forums, there's a 'My Replies' and 'My Posts' button next to the 'Watchlist' button.
on Oct 04, 2007
Well, yeah, but the feature I suggest would actually show somewhere how interesting/insightful the article was so we would know before we read it... Can we already do that and I just don't know how? My expanded proposition was going to involve simply converting those buttons into the recommend buttons.
on Oct 04, 2007
I find the entire blog/forum division confusing. I am often surprised why my comments are sometimes signed "Andrew J. Brehm" and sometimes "Leauki". I have no idea which setting to change to make the name the same in both cases or even how I can tell which case will happen.

For example, I just came to www.joeuer.com, was logged in automatically (as it should work), found this article, clicked on (6 comments) and wrote the this comment.

But I have no idea whether the author will be "Leauki" or "Andrew J. Brehm". Let's see...
on Oct 04, 2007
It's "Andrew J. Brehm".

Now I have had that problem in discussions, when I didn't even notice that my comments were posted under either name until somebody mentioned that they just figured out that "Leauki" and "Andrew J. Brehm" are the same person.

That would be my feature request: remove this confusion, use the same name no matter on which side of the (for me) invisible border I am.
on Oct 04, 2007
User created Polls.
on Oct 04, 2007
I like terpfan's idea.

But how about a signature feature. A spot at the bottom of your reply that can have some kind of phrase or quote in it of our choosing. Or just something we wanna write. Maybe even images and links.
on Oct 04, 2007
Instead of a watch list just list all the articles you reply to.

List them in descending order with the number of replies and the date of the last reply listed next to the linked article.
on Oct 04, 2007
I know we have the rating system...interesting insightful thing. But I'd like some sort of daily bar graph showing the top three articles rated by users. (If we could bring back the trolling negative score it'd be even better.)

That way we can see what articles are user rated the best...not just the ones who "get the most traffic." Flame wars get a lot of traffic but aren't always the most interesting or insightful kind of articles.

Does that make sense?
on Oct 04, 2007
I personally would like a feature that can reach out and bitch slap a troll when they are being over the top obnoxious.
on Oct 04, 2007

I know you don't want 100% site customization, and I agree that would be too much.  But enhancing the customization features we have is my #1 complaint about the site.  Apart from changing colors, every page just looks so generic and, well, ugly that it just doesn't feel personal at all. 

I understand blogs should be about the content, but the "same-ness" of the site just makes it boring and unappealing.

on Oct 04, 2007
ply By: ModeratemanPosted: Thursday, October 04, 2007I personally would like a feature that can reach out and bitch slap a troll when they are being over the top obnoxious.


! ROFL! I busted out when I read this Elie!! [and I'm at work!]


How about being able to search for your fav blogger? I.E., type the blogger name you're looking for into a serch box and have that site come up. I dislike the Index snce there are so many names, takes a while. Otherwise I go to the Forums and look at "my replies" or scroll through the Forum Site but don't always find who I'm looking for.
on Oct 04, 2007
But enhancing the customization features


I second that!
on Oct 04, 2007
An ignore user feature so's I can ignore all of the people that annoy me. 
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