I'm not proposing to change the graphic design look of the site unless there are some obvious shortcomings.

I would recommend a paypal, or that sort of thing, that we could pay to. And then I would like to see a space somewhere (maybe lower down the scroll), where community members could pay for ads that talk about our projects. (For example, i would like to be able to raise money for my "action research" that directly helps kids...so some sort of ad would be worth my while...and how much would that cost??)

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia

Start by making the top row of pull-down menus span the entire width of the page and not the just the central column, so that you have room for two or three more buttons/menus.

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

"someone" mentioned putting the rec list/recent diary list on every page. Personally I like that idea, as I mostly seem to see them when they show up when I'm posting a comment. Like right now.

A short wish list of things I can think of right now:

1. A confirmation popup when a rating other than '4' is given. To eliminate accidental down ratings, and give people a second chance to think about what they are doing.
   
2. User definable macros. As I mentioned here:
   

This is something that could work better in so many ways. Let me throw out some thoughts on the subject.

User created macros. Scoop should allow users to create macros to promote the development of better text entry. We already have stuff like *some text* for bolding some text. I.e. one could define a macro to transform L{link, link text} to <a href="link"> link</a>, and many much more complicated things. One should probably disallow recursion. My first though is that a LaTeX like syntax might be convenient. Users would define macros in their settings view and they would be public. Add to this the possibility of keeping track of the number of users who have a macro implemented and we get a list of popular ones that people have found useful to be easily chosen from by those who don't want to create their own. Each time a macro is copied the original creator gets some mojo, thereby integrating it in the mojoconomy. Maybe with some depreciation over time to not create macro fat cats who got in at the beginning of the game and thought up all the easy ones.

by someone on Wed Jan 10th, 2007 at 12:17:30 AM MET

Could be very exciting as a kind of collaborative, collective evolutionary process on how posted text looks, and how we interact with the software environment.

I would love the opportunity to play with the guts of Scoop at some point. I can code alright, my talents might serve the community better here than on writing stories/comment, which I don't do all that much of.

i wish the rec button was at the bottom of the diary, so i don't have to scroll up.

when i give a 4, my space bar doesn't work till i click low on the screen, highlight some text, then it will work again.

anyone else getting this?

the other wish would be that the rec could be coded so it rated all the comments in one click.

say you'd given 5 '4's, and wanted to recommend as well.

the rec button would take care of the ratings too!

i also wish people used 2's and 3's more, it would be more textured and less codependent, imo.

since we got them!

or toss 'em out and just have an option to rec the comment or not.

seems cleaner somehow.

the text highlight bug is v. annoying, the others are minor.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

In the interest of continuity and free-flowing conversations, I'd like to see individual links to comments that are replies to my own comments. This is implemented on another scoop site that I use. They show up underneath the user box in the right hand column and disappear after I click on them or when I view the thread that the reply is in. I spend too much time essentially memorizing the appearance of my comments page trying to figure out if people have replied to my comments. Any replies to my comments over two days old are almost certainly missed. I think it would be particularly useful for a site like this where long, dense conversations often occur.

you are the media you consume.

How about a PDA version?

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

in Scoop, is the deeper collaboration capabilities.

By this I mean the possibility of also focusing on action: LTEs, Reports (the simplest froms) etc. ie 'Community to the Outside World' communications. This kind of activity tends to involve subgroups within ET = visible to all, but contributions mainly from 'experts'.

Afew has recounted his experiences of trying to collate comments, edits, multiple version of documents etc. I believe it was quite stressful - especially where there was a deadline. Add in graphics, videos, sound and other tools of communication, and the problem starts to grow exponentially. Apparently, such ET projects tend to go offine, because the project tools are not available.

I don't want to start the Scoop v new software debate again, but I have had some experience over the last year looking at online collaborative software. We've been checking the latest videoconferencing stuff, freely configurable workgroup forums, all sorts. I am thinking about the future, not today.

The most effective demonstrations have been of software that allow the formation of different work groups beneath a front end of what might be called a macro workgroup, very much like ET. ie a public community blog of self-styled experts/seekers. These workgroups have multiple levels of access, with only those tools that an individual's acccess level allows the use of, visible. These tools include the manipulation of master documents (meaning any data files not just text). In most cases that we saw, it was also possible to drag and drop almost and kind of file into a workgroup. There are usually instant messaging systems incorporated - like html real time chats, IM etc.

We've now identified the best solution for our SOS purposes. And we'll probably be partnering this company (Finnish) because our aims are very similar. But off the shelf, it is a big and (relatively to Scoop) expensive program, and you need a lot of server space because of file sizes. So it is not for ET yet. But in a few months we hope to have it up and running, so you'll be able to see how it feels and works.

I like the non-design of ET. It is simple and clean. But it is still largely text based. That means it offers only one method of communication. That suits many people, but not everyone. With a long career in films, and now other audio-visual media, I work in pictures and sounds. In the process of communication with an audience, hardly any text is used in the way we use it here - except at the beginning and end of a movie. Of course there is a lot of text used in the creation/production of a movie, but it reaches the screen in a translated form.

And that is really my point. The macrocosm of diaries and comments here cannot be copypasted into the outside world. It needs to be translated in order for it to work in a particular communication channel with a particular audience. But without the collaborative tools to easily acccomplish that, it is not going to happen - except where the communication channels most closely resemble ET, such as LTEs and Reports to bureaucrats. snark

BTW What I'd really like personally is a direct link to wikipedia ;-)
Never in my life have I spent so much time looking stuff up, as here on ET! In fact what I would really like is the ability to click on, or roll over,  any word or phrase in any comment or diary and instantly get a small pop-up with the first 5 lines of the wiki entry in it. The writer does not need to concern themselves with these links, of course - a widget would go out and look for them undercover.

You can't be me, I'm taken

There's an interesting anomaly that I experience with Safari 1.3.2 - my little menu (the 3 boxes under the main menu) jumps from side to side. Sometimes it is under the ET logo, sometimes where it should be over on the richt (viz). Strange...

You can't be me, I'm taken

Another thing I'd like is a permanent list of recommended artefacts from the media: books, music, movies, DVDs, sources of all kinds, as well as blog links. Some broad categories would need to be defined. When any category is full, it becomes just a category to click on to expand it.

I would not use the obvious categories, by seperating into media. My categories would be more like: standard stuff (that any educated open-minded person should be aware of), new stuff (keeping us all up to date with what is happening), political stuff, mechanical stuff (how to do it), curious stuff, personal stuff (recommendation is related to that individual), and I am sure you would have your own suggestions.

Each of the categories could contain links to any kind of media.

AND ANOTHER IDEA

Why can't we post visual art on the left under the banner? Max width would be say 50 pxls (whatever the column width is). Click on it to open a window and see it larger. The art would be self contained (unless linked to YouTube eg). It would not have to be attached to any diary.

I think it would be intriguing for passers-by, as well as fun for ETers.

Think of them as ads for culture.

You can't be me, I'm taken