Site Feature Wish List

[may71]

There are some features that SF doesn't have that I wish it did, though I appreciate that adding features might be costly or difficult. Maybe other people would like some feature changes or additions, so this thread is a place where you can post about that.

Wish #1: It's pretty common for members to multi-post on their own thread, and to be the only one to reply to their thread. This is often an indication of the intensity of what they are experiencing and their need for a reply, but doing this bumps the thread off the unanswered threads list, and if the member posts many times it looks like other members are already supporting them (I usually skip threads with many posts on it). So the wish is that threads the only have posts from the OP of the thread don't get bumped off the unanswered threads list.

So my guess is that the software currently counts the number of posts on a thread to determine if the thread is unanswered. If instead it counted the number of members posting on a thread, then it could only bump threads off of the unanswered thread list if the number of members posting on a thread was >1.

From a programming perspective, probably not that hard, but any kind of change in site software has to involve some level of effort and difficulty.

 

[I_waste_everything]

I would like a togglable time identity fulfillment function whereby we could set some date of our choosing to show to us as our year of joining suicideforum.com, from which our activity and posts, only to ourselves, would be shown with time and date relative to that chosen time identity fulfillment date.

Say if I set the date I want to join to February of 2010's, let's say the 2nd and "2011", when I'm thinking about looking up "suicide forums" on the internet to join, but retreat so toxically inward and I'm so frazzled that I can't indulge my freedom to even do that, then a post I have, for current record keeping purposes, posted three days after joining, would be timestamp'd at "February 5th, 2011". I could click on it to reveal a date closer to what, unfortunately, is the failure-lateness that I chose in this attempt.

This would only be to ourselves; it wouldn't affect what our timestamps look like to anybody else. And the option would be there to click on the date to toggle on/off the same date that everybody else sees. As well as to toggle the whole thing off and/or reset the date in question on our profile pages.

 

[I_waste_everything]

An alternative; an optional "reason to live" text list. We could input anything we want, meant to be descriptions of reasons we continue to push through in this surrounding, separate them with a comma or Enter-space, pick a time interval- 2 hours, 4 hours, 8, so on- and if we log on after that interval has passed, a little popup box comes up and shows one of those listed items. An X button would be there to dismiss it. And it could be toggled off in the user menu if we get tired of it or want to put it on hiatus.

 

[ClassicsFan]

I would like the ability to edit my posts after a certain time limit.

 

[I_waste_everything]

I would like the ability to edit my posts after a certain time limit.

I agree with this. It's fair that there should be a time afterward that it can't be edited for accountability purposes. However, after there's been plenty of time to fault a post if it's broken some rule, I see no harm in the option to reinstate its maker with the right to edit it.

 

[LumberJack]

I have been kind of waiting for someone on staff to comment on whether it’s do-able to customize the software that runs the forum. My understanding is that it is a pre-built platform, called Xen-foro or similar, that is customizable with respect to the forum and subforum structures, but not regarding logic around user controls.

My worry is that putting together a “wish list” of things to make is going to create an expectation that these things are even possible. @may71 ’s OP recognizes this, but as this thread grows, I’m wondering who manages this, and what other users are going to experience when they find out that something that seems trivial to them is actually a huge lift that is flatly impractical.

Spoiler: longer explanation

Satisfaction is the difference between reality and expectation, so if an expectation is greater than what can be achieved, then the user is disappointed.

The part to bear in mind (in software development in general) is that it is a more than trivial effort to maintain a code base as a living document- in other words, somebody has to do the maintenance. So, assuming that SF doesn’t have the funds to pay a developer to build and maintain customizations, who is that someone? By using a pre-fabricated design, the operators of SF can rely on Xen-foro to do this, but the price tag for individual one-off (meaning for SF specifically and not in the generic product) features is almost certainly prohibitive.

I know from my experience in the leadership of a nonprofit that volunteers, especially techies, are notoriously unreliable. Life happens and people’s circumstances change that affect their availability. So there needs to be a succession plan for code maintenance, or it goes dormant for a time, then something breaks and nobody can fix it because the original coders are long gone.

Breaks are not just due to bugs that can be fixed by the same coder, but also things change over time, e.g., new security vulnerabilities crop up, or the amount of content exceeds the amount that the current database system can manage, so it’s not just a “one and done” to make something happen.

This is a risk that has to be managed if we want to build out brand new features on the fly. In fact I would be happy to throw some code together to make new functionality, but there is the question of what happens after I am no longer available when updating the code becomes necessary.

 

[Angie]

Thanks for your post @LumberJack

The current SF platform is not highly customizable, and while I think its ok to "wish", members need to know that many of these wishes are impossible with what we have now. I, of course, am not the expert, @Freya and @Walker are and could definitely explain better than me!

 

[may71]

My worry is that putting together a “wish list” of things to make is going to create an expectation that these things are even possible. @may71 ’s OP recognizes this, but as this thread grows, I’m wondering who manages this, and what other users are going to experience when they find out that something that seems trivial to them is actually a huge lift that is flatly impractical.

Yes, but one can always imagine that anything will lead to trouble. Imho, the worst case scenario would be that someone wishes for something, and then it gets explained to them that making this change for a variety of reasons can't be or won't be done.

The best case scenario is that something on the wish list turns out to be both easy to change, and creates a lot of value for the forums.

As long as no one expects unlimited amounts of time and money to be directed at making these changes, or even admins responding to the wishes, everything should be ok. It could be more of a rant thread I guess.

By using a pre-fabricated design, the operators of SF can rely on Xen-foro to do this, but the price tag for individual one-off (meaning for SF specifically and not in the generic product) features is almost certainly prohibitive.

So for example, let's say an SF admin sent Xenforo the following message:
"Dear Xenforo,

When a member posts on a thread that they started, it gets bumped off the "unanswered threads" list even though they're the only one who posted on the thread. Could you change the software so that the number of posters on a thread has to be >1 before a thread gets bumped off?

Ok thx
Your Customer,
SF "

This is something that likely a problem for other forums too, and the code to change it is presumably easy to change. Xenforo might completely ignore the request, or it might take it to heart and make the change. Either way, messaging Xenforo about this is probably not a herculean task.

A wrinkle in this is that for diary entries, you'd only expect one poster on the whole thread, so in that case you would want threads to be bumped off the "unanswered threads" list when there was more than one post. If that problem couldn't be addressed with a software tweak, I'd be happy to post "." or similar to bump diary threads off the list.

A change like this would be valuable because more than one new member has poured their heart out on a thread, then multiposted on it. I and other members end up skipping the thread because it looks like it has been answered, but then the OP disappears, usually commenting about how nobody cares and that they were just screaming into the void.

 

[may71]

@LumberJack

Also, some changes could be accessible purely through available administrative settings. My guess is that the edit window would fit into that category.

That said, the short edit window presumably exists for a reason, so the benefits of extending it would have to be weighed against the benefits of keeping it the same.

 

[I_waste_everything]

Hi. I have just realized one more website feature suggestion, bevekashah:

1.) A "list of drafts" feature, where we can go to our profile and see all of our in-progress drafts for threads we begin writing comments for but have yet to post. I for one start writing for threads, then have to go for work or I choke up because of the heft and/or I second guess what I want to say.

This way instead of needing to go manually find all drafts-in-progress, we can simply pull up a list, click, and re-read the thread before continuing, or revising, etc., our answer.

 

[I_waste_everything]

Looking at my Inbox, I didn't see a button to search my private messages for keywords.

If it's there and I missed it, I'd like to know where it is. But if I'm right and, as it seems to me, there is not a "search" function for our inboxes, I'd like there to be one please.

I just remembered a sentence fragment I have had in some conversation I've had, and want to search for it in my direct messages. But since I find no search function yet, I have to look in each convo I have, one at a time, for it. Not insurmountable, but inconvenient, especially if it's about something, and/or someone we must check in a hurry.

 

[may71]

there is not a "search" function for our inboxes

Correct, I think

I'd like there to be one please.

I agree.

 

[Dude111]

Im wondering if you guys would consider unblocking HTTP?

This is not a banking site and some of us have OLDER BROWSERS that cant get here..

I am on some sites that allow both http and https

hipforums.com/forum (Xen1)
spiritualforums.com/vb (VBB)
emaildiscussions.com (VBB)
vogons.org (I dunno what this SW is called )

You can easily adjust the HTACCESS file so it will allow older browsers to stay HTTP and it wont affect anything else... (The SSL will stay the same for those who want it or have newer browsers)

Thank you.. We love it here1

 

[blu3]

since its not possible to delete your posts once published I wish there were a way to archive posts or make them private. For example, to have the option to move your own posts to a private section that is only visible to admins and yourself, similar to "Ask the Staff"

 

[may71]

I wish there were a way to archive posts or make them private

There's a "Member's Private Diary" forum:

https://www.suicideforum.com/community/forums/members-private-diary.9/

You can't see it on the SF community homepage, because it's a sub-forum so it isn't listed there.

 

[blu3]

There's a "Member's Private Diary" forum:

https://www.suicideforum.com/community/forums/members-private-diary.9/

You can't see it on the SF community homepage, because it's a sub-forum so it isn't listed there.

I mean after making them and posting them elsewhere, like an archive

 

[Dude111]

You mean kinda like being able to soft delete it right? (So only staff can see it)

 

[AnHeroTransGirl]

I wish there was like a semi-private diary. That way I can say what I did/what happened today and get input from others in regards to it in case I need help with something or some red flags/problems I'm not seeing happen.
EDIT: Disregard, that already exists. Whoops.