Dave, a few suggestions

Dave, I know this one was brought up already but would like to plug for it again. Plants in our journals being attached to Plantfiles photos like the Tradelist is. The pics are clearly marked as being someone elses not your own. I take tons of pics but still have many plants with no pics or new plants that won't bloom until the following year. It would be helpful to me for garden planning, trading, etc.

In our journal is there any way to lock the plants being filed by a different way than RID number? I don't use the RID numbers and would prefer the plants be listed alphabetically either by common name or genus. I know you can click on the heading to refile it but next time you go back it's filed by RID again. It's pretty monotonous doing it this way when you're on backwoods dialup, especially if you have a large journal. Also, would it be possible to have a copy button at the bottom of the catagory along with the change status, change category, and add an entry buttons? I don't keep up my tradelist and have Plants Available for Trade in my journal that I shift plants to from other catagories. Then I don't have a copy under their original catagory which I would like to have, and when I move things out of available for trade catagory I have to do it several times to get all the different plants back in their proper catagory. If there was a copy to other catagory button this would be so much better.

Is there any way we could have a print option that just printed the name of the plant with a thumbnail photo if one is available? This would be very helpful to me outdoors in the garden or doing local trades with people who don't have internet access or aren't members of DG.

Please let me know what you think about these ideas and if they're doable.

Thanks,
Lana

I agree, this would be most helpfull.

Donna

Great ideas Lana.

Another suggestion I forget to put above. When we post to a thread it would automatically put that thread on our watch list, if we didn't want to watch it we would have to unwatch. I sometimes forget to add to my watch list once I post and I'm afraid someone will be asking something about my post and I won't even know about it and never get back to that thread.

Lana

It seems like when I post a thread it automatically posts it to my watch list. In fact, when I first realized that it automatically did that, I thought it was cool. Love that feature, it's very sensible.

Lana,

I do that too! It can be aggravating when your expecting a message back.

When you start the thread it does automatically, but not when you post in someone else's thread.

I like to keep my list of watched threads rather short...so I would prefer not to have everything I post to automatically get watched.

Yes, but all you would have to do is unwatch it. If I post to someone elses thread I want to watch it in case someone has a question or issue about what I posted. It's very easy to forget to watch the thread. If you didn't want to watch it and forgot to click unwatch when you posted you'd be able to unwatch it the first time it popped up into your watch list. If you wanted to watch and forgot to click watch it's just gone unless you happen to come across that thread again. DG is so busy now with so many forums it's hard to keep up.

Lana

I would like a single line print out option too for my journal, that could be printed by genus. Patti

Lana--you're correct that it's very easy for me to go in and unwatch a thread that I didn't really want to watch, but it's also equally easy for you to go in and click watch if you want to watch the thread. So I guess it really comes down to whether there are more people out there who are like you who want to automatically watch everything you post to, or if there are more people like me who don't.

What I was saying ecrane3 is that if you forget to unwatch the thread you post to you're reminded when it pops up in your watch threads. If I forget to watch a thread when I post to it it's just gone with no reminder.
Of course the above only applies if my idea was implemented.

Lana

Yeah, but I would get really annoyed when my watched threads list ended up being 10 miles long because I wouldn't always remember to click unwatch, then I'd have to go through the extra step of going back into all the threads and unwatching them and I really don't have time for that. Maybe Dave could make it a preference you could set, where people who want threads they post to automatically watched could do it that way and people who don't could leave things as they are now.

That's a great idea, ecrane! Having it set up as a preference would be perfect :~)

Lana

I think it's great... and I love the new options in the Trade Tracker by the way...

Donna

ecrane3, the autowatch preference is finished! Go to My Info / Preferences to set your preference!

best,
dave

Cool! Thanks Dave!

Happily :)

So does this mean if you post to a thread that you didn't start it will be added to your watch list? I just tried it and it still said click here to add this thread to your watch list. So I guess just because I posted it didn't add it to my watch list. This was what I was talking about above. I sometimes forget to add a thread to my watch list after posting to it and miss replies to my post. Can that be added to preferences also?

Lana

It only auto-watched threads that you yourself start.

That doesn't solve my problem of not watching threads I respond to. Would that function be doable?

Lana

Lana,

The way it's setup is that once you reply to a thread, it instantly gives you a link to add it to your watch list.

Dave

I know but sometimes I forget to click on it then miss any replies. DG has gotten so large that most times I'm in a hurry trying to get though all that interests me. Sometimes I don't get back to that forum for awhile so don't see the thread again. Plus, I'm on backwoods dialup which doesn't help. I was hoping there would be a way that it would automatically put the thread you posted to on your watch list. ecranes' idea of putting it in preferences was great but guess we were talking of two different things. I'm talking about existing threads you post to and she's(I guess)talking about threads you start yourself.

Thanks,
Lana

No, I was actually talking about the same thing you were. I do like having the option to turn off the autowatch on threads I start too because I generally only start threads in a few forums that I follow regularly so there's no way I'll miss responses to my threads, but my original comments were a response to your idea of autowatching threads that you post to (but didn't start)

Could the button to "watch this thread" be checked at the same time the message is posted, instead of as a second step? I would really like this, too.

I'll throw in my $0.02 worth (which won't even begin to pay the tax on a cup of coffee...sigh.)

1) IMHO, if you start a thread, you ought to watch it, at least at the beginning.

To my way of thinking, it's illogical to start a thread and not want to read the reactions of others. So I'm not sure having this checkbox on our member's preference page is a good idea. If you want to turn off a specific thread after it's launched, that's fine - but a carte blanche to start threads and never return to them seems to be encouraging some odd and anti-social behavior. (But that's just my opinion ;o)

Thinking back to when Dave implemented the automatic "watch-all-threads-I-start", I recall that the impetus for this was from people who were frustrated because they would post a reply to the thread starter's question and the thread-starter never replied. Or they asked a question of the thread starter, and never got an answer, even though the thread-starter was still active on the site. (PF photos are a good example of a process that *really* needs the thread-starter to be alerted to new posts, even if they don't particularly care to discuss their photos - if we or another member has a question about that photo, the thread starter needs to be part of the conversation.)

2) I think the suggestion in this thread was to be able to automatically watch (or not watch) ALL threads you post to (not just your own threads.)

Personally, I'm with ecrane - I *may* want to watch a thread I posted to, but I want the discretion to not watch it, too. (Posting a reply carries a lot less responsibility than starting a thread. If I posted a question in someone's thread, then I'll probably care enough to watch for a response. If I just tossed in an off-hand comment, I may not.)

If we're going to have an off/on checkbox, it should probably be for that: to check (or uncheck) if I want to every post I make to add that thread to my watch list.

But if that box is unchecked (i.e., I don't want to automatically watch all threads I post to), I still think that threads we start should default to our watch list - I don't think that should be a user preference.

See what you get for $0.02?

Good thoughts Terry, I'd definitely have no problem if Dave wanted to get rid of the on/off switch for watching threads you start, that really isn't a huge deal. For me, I usually don't post in forums that I don't read thoroughly (and if I did I would make sure to put it on the watch list) so I don't think I would miss responses to things I posted, but I can definitely see that wouldn't be the case for everyone and I know it's annoying when you take the time to respond to someone and then they never come back to the thread to check in! But I'm definitely with you on watching threads that you didn't start, if that gets implemented it should definitely be an option that you can turn on or off since I think some people would find it very useful and others would not like it.

Agree totally Terry.

I can't remember the numbers of times I've forgetten to watch my own threads on 'other' (non-gardening) forums!! I love that feature here!!

I also would rather not have all threads I reply to be automatically watched either. I can certainly click myself if I want to watch a thread. Thanks!

My 2 cents!

Nicole

This message was edited Mar 30, 2007 9:59 AM

$0.02 here, $0.02 there, pretty soon we might have enough to buy a cup o'joe somewhere ;o)

I agree too, Terry. Maybe Dave could turn the on/off he already made to threads you reply to and not threads you started. I think that's what we were after. Among other things :~)

Lana

Another two cents coming....

I can't remember this and will have to post something to get the answer. I'll be right back...

I'm back. After posting, the options ask if I want to quit watching this thread. So if I'm not already watching it, it must ask if I want to watch it, is that right?

Once you've posted to a thread, you have to click a choice of what you want to do. If one option is to either watch or unwatch, to me that's very obvious. Just as obvious as return to the thread or the forum or the homepage.

The same goes for threads we read but don't post on. The option to watch or unwatch is right there at the end, in a different color from the other options. Maybe it would be helpful to click on "watch thread" before posting a reply. You can zip right back and add a post.

I guess I don't see the problem. But the suggestion to change Dave's change, as was just posted above mine, seems like it will help some folks who need it. So I'll vote to change the change.


This message was edited Mar 31, 2007 2:06 PM

nap, you must not have a forgetful mind that tries to do several things at once if it's that easy for you :~) Unfortunately it's not that easy for me to remember. Plus, sometimes you don't know you want to post until you've reached the end of a very long post and then all you're thinking of is posting about what you've read while it's still fresh in your mind. Then comes the thought of having to catch up on emails that have come in while you're reading that very long DG thread then posting your thoughts to it. My emails aren't just personal but also part of a dog rescue group I work with so need addressed regularly. Wish I had your mind that didn't forget things I'd be in heaps better shape :~D LOL Thanks, nap.

Lana

edited for my poor spelling

This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 12:33 PM

Good grief....

I've enhanced the autowatch to include replies, too.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, DAVE!!! My failing memory thanks you, too :~D

Lana