Splitting the "Dave's Garden" forum up

I had a great suggestion come in my dmail yesterday: split this forum into 3 separate forums:

1) One forum exclusively for suggesting the creation of new forums.

2) One forum in which bug reports, existing feature discussions, etc can take place.

3) One forum where I solicite feedback for future feature requests. (And only I would have access to create new threads in this forum).

I think it's a great idea as it'll make it easier for folks to track what's going on with the site and be a part of the planning processes as we move forward...

best,
dave

Good idea! Could number 3 be automatically put on everyone's list?

Neat idea - little off-shoots ;)

Dea

I like that idea, I think it'll help people stay in touch with what goes on and make things less confusing. I also love Joan's suggestion of making the new feature discussion forum automatically show up on people's watch list--otherwise some people may not figure out it's there. Then once they've visited the forum I guess they could manually unwatch it if they don't really care to participate, but if it's automatically put on everyone's watch list then everyone gets a fair chance to input on things and you won't run into situations where some people didn't know a change was being proposed.

I think that sounds good- but don't understand what is meant by only you would have the ability to add new threads? Wouldn't that limit the amount of new ideas come up with? :) or is that the idea.

It's an effort to make things less cluttered so that the membership has an easier time seeing what's coming down the pipeline.

dave

Great idea! Thanks to whoever sent the idea in.

So, after members suggesting possible changes or enhancements and digesting/discussing them in Forum 2, you would put those that are feasible and sensible in Fourm 3 for general discussion and feedback? Sounds worthy of Solomon. It might help you keep your hair a little while longer. ;~)

Hyblaean, Dave would only restrict forum #3 in his first post, above.

Yeah, I know- but forum 3 will be where the new ideas come in. I saw it as limiting our input for future features. For example, I'd requested about a week ago to be able to add word files in my blog or journal, the demand is not there, though. Only 2 other people saw the use for that. I love the idea that we can offer up ideas and it's sort of voted on. That way Dave doesn't have to make the decisions in a vacuum or deal with the kind of backlash that's happened with the last change. It's got to be really stressful. He can just say- hey, we voted on it- it's right here: #3 forum. You don't like it, talk to these people. I know that the ideas have to be limited, so people can follow what is happening. Perhaps the best way would be to send a private email to Dave, and if he thinks the idea is valid or something he can do, then he would post it for debate?
and I did send him a thank you note :) I just didn't post it here- really I'm not fussing- just remembering how he said in the interview that it was just his garden at first and then people started requesting stuff. That is how it grew into what it is now, through consensus. Though, now we might be too big to reach consensus? I dunno, just babbling :) sorry
I feel bad that we are all pushing him, but at the same time, I'd like some input, too. It's hard to strike a balance.

Maybe the forum suggestion forum could be for people to suggest either new forums or new features?

Good Idea

Paul

Maybe it should be:

New Forums:

#1 Member Requests- New forums and features. Discussion of current features could either go here or in forum #2

#2 Bug Reports, Site Problems, outages and hardware maintenance. Discussion of current features could either go here or in forum #1

#3 Dave's New Idea Forum

#1- I Have an Idea!

#2- That Idea Isn't Working For Me!

#3- What's the Big Idea?

;)

I like it, Michelle! Maybe with lightbulbs...

Ha! funny, I like it, too.

Dave, sounds good to me. #3 should help avoid negative chatter about any new treats coming down the pike from you. It could be called Fair Warning or Heads up. Patti

Sounds good to me. It's much more organized for Dave, which is the best feature.

Dave. Remember this is your baby. We don't need to have so much leeway.

I like the idea of Dave's Garden Forum "branching" out.. It's great being able to suggest and question and it's VERY refreshing to know our thoughts are seriously considered... and our ideas are actually implemented.. We are part of and help build "Dave's/our community".... we're fortunate to have a voice in the progression forward! I personally think the issue falls under "service". Dave is very member/community oriented and wants everyone interested to be informed. I do not envy his position and admire his drive to keep us content.
He does a wonderful job pleasing most of us, most of the time - that can't be easy, there are a LOT of us! -Best Regards, AuntB

Fantastic idea. This would make it much easier to track what's coming down the pipeline - I think someone already said that, didn't they :-)

--Ginny

This is a SUPER idea. This Forum is very cluttered and it is easy to miss out on something you want to comment on. The other thing I would add is - #4 I found a bug in PlantFiles. I find the current system of going to the plant, and then posting an error notice a bit clumsy. As an example - I found two errors last week. They are duplicate listings of the same plant:

1 Aeonium tabuliforme AND Aeonium tabulaeforme. IPNI lists tabuliforme so that is correct.
2 Aeonium canariense AND Aeonium canariensis. IPNI lists Aeonium canariense.

(yes these are REAL errors BTW) Being able to do this has allowed me to deal with 4 plantfiles records in the one post, which is, as far as I can tell impossible to do using the current system. If you don't want to implement this here in the Dave's Garden forum, how about a new forum called "Plantfiles Corrections" or something similar. You don't have to change the current system, which works fine if you only need to comment on one plant record, just augment it. Anyhow, that's my two cents worth, Kaelkitty.

Kaelkitty, you don't have to report four errors in that case - just two. Pick one of the duplicates from each sets of duplicates, click on "report an error" and under the inserted link, let the editors know that IPNI considers this a duplicate of [fill in the blank] Repeat for the other one and you're done.

That's MUCH easier on you and the editors than to look up the entries, catch the URLs, then go find a separate forum, start a new thread, paste the URL before it gets away from you, and describe the error you found.

For those who aren't handy with copying URLs, the "report-an-error" is a lifesaver for our editors. They no longer have to try to read someone's "driving directions" to find the entry they think contains an error. (As in life, some people give better directions than others, but having a good "map" (or in this case, a URL) takes us right where you need us to look.)

I do like the idea of having a notice on our homepage for new updates. Many times I come across discussions in forums about a new feature and many don't even have a clue that this Dave's Forum even exists that posts notices of these updates. Maybe a What's New forum or something along that line that automatically gets watched or somehow shown on our homepage so when these changes come along, people have a way of quickly clicking the link instead of searching for it among the long list of forums.

It's been a long day at work.... I just wanted to bump this back up to the top....

Forum DGF#1- Seedlings Nursery - members are able to post new ideas for forums or ideas on how to enhance an already well oiled machine

Forum DGF#2- Quarantine Corner - members can post individual/site related problems and reply

Forum DGF#3- Dave's Word - Only Dave can post AND he can talk about ANYTHING he wants to. (negative responses accepted in 3 word replies... ;) just kidding)
Have a peaceful evening!

That is fitting and clever.

It pays to watch this forum. Chewing the fat results in clever ideas...

I really like JoanJ's idea about putting #3 on everyone's list. Important news, like asking for input, needs to be seen by everyone, not just by those who checked the DG Forum at the right time. I've missed out on a number of things I would have loved to weigh in on.

Weigh away Victor. I couldn't help it.

I haven't put my two cents in yet because I suggested this idea to Dave. I think we will be able to find things easier. And Dave should be able to get his input when he needs it. I hope it works out.

"Weigh" to go, Elsie, THANK YOU! I agree also, #3-Dave's Word, should go on everyone's "watch" list, then IF they want to change it to "UNwatch" that is their choice. It would be like when the Pres gives an address and they break away from the regularly scheduled program.....- only we have the option to "change the channel and not watch". I have missed things too, cause they weren't "poking me in the ribs" or flashing lights in my eyes.. but I love to know what's going on in the community and have the opportunity to voice my opinion from time to time.

Good for you Elsie, it was a great idea!

The new divisions sound good to me!

I also like the idea of adding #3 to everyone's watched threads... perhaps because the DG forum gets a little cluttered at times, a lot of folks don't bother dropping by, and then there's this big hue and cry when changes are made... nobody's fault but their own that they didn't know it was being discussed, but having a separate forum for those discussions will make them easier to find.

I'm even wondering if there's a way to have the newest thread and its subject pop up on everybody's home page (yes, with the option to delete it for those who really don't give a hoot).

I like that idea too, critter - like Dave's Preview

I think if a newly created thread was put in everyone's watched threads Dave's first post would pop up as an updated thread. So we'd at least have to see (and maybe read?) that one, then of course we could choose to opt out if we wished.

Right... but watched forums just pop up with the person who posted most recently (which would always be Dave), so I was just wondering if there was a way for him to put in a subject line as part of the "new post" flag.

But yes, just putting that forum on everyone's watched threads would accomplish nearly the same thing -- once people realized that what the new forum was for and why they should click on a new thread there.