Update the Forum layout

@Ranjith - We normally keep the contest threads sticky until all the prizes have been sent out - which is why they are sticky for a long time. We don't want anyone to think we've forgotten about them! If we have a seperate category for contests like Hemal suggested, that solves the problem.

I feel that having two categories titled "Off Topic" and "Miscellaneous" would be reduntant... can you think of any threads which deserved to have a new cateogory?

Loading the smiley dialog box takes time - I agree! I'll see if there's a workaround. Will also look into having the option to resize the reply textbox.

Renie replied to some of your points and i will do for some of the rest :)

I have no memory of the preview button so don't know how it functions and cant check now because the editor does not work on my iPad. Having said that, if ur facing the issue as you explained, then this surely is a problem.

To resize the text area, if you are using latest browsers like Chrome or FF, then you will find highlighted right corner which you can pull and expand the text area.

The resize works for replies to threads but not for threads. See this page: http://www.indiblogger.in/forum/post_topic.php

hmm, guess its a limitation of the TinyMCE editor then. nonetheless, I hope Renie and team are listening to this as well. 

I think it also acts as a reminder to others on why any threads be deleted. Or if someone's thread has been recently deleted they would go straight to this thread.

About the twitter users, this thread can certainly go since all profiles now have twitters handles for all profiles.

One needs to accept what you've said regarding the Edit button. Even I started checking my replies for typos before hitting the reply button. But still, sometimes, they just creep it without my notice.

+1 for point no. 2. Even I'm of the same opinion but since most of the members here are against giving links, I never wanted to be  a lone man supporting those who give links (reasonably ) . 

creep *in you mean

Monthly forum heroes - that sounds good!

Good blogging related threads made sticky - that problem should be solved once the IndiPolice have more powers on the forum.

I support on the link building, and as Animesh said too, it shudnt be taboo. Arti, thank you much for your reply.

And I agree with his other comment that people often take advantage of this which is the pain point here. I have always promoted link sharing fir the purpose, but not creating a purpose for link sharing. Many a times people suggest in their own smart way links to their own blogs and while others who share own blog links to help some also get the same treatment. The difficulty is how to judge them, and once its done to control emotional (read angry) replies from those. Hence some control is actually required. I was on another forum and wanted sign up for making a comment... While signing up, there was a lengthy form I had to fill and 4 questions I had to answer after referring their rules and regulations. Its still a very big forum in India with more than 30k members. If I compare IB with them, IB is 110% less strict!

The Newbie thread can be interesting if other members are constantly active there... It is like a chain of fire, ignite it once and it will keep the fire on forever... But we oldies should become the fuel!

I forgot to add this last night:

As for the layout, I am too of the opinion that Contest threads are the ones that are most popular with members these days and hence it makes a strong case for its own section. Which is what you see on my image I posted above as well. 

@Renie: Thanks and good work! Looking forward to the changes! Also, just wanted to add as an afterthought in the case for the monthly heroes -- please do spare a small corner, somewhere... for the 'all timers' as well

@Hemal: Agreed with what you say on the contest bit, makes sense.

Coming back to the link sharing bit, well... I feel, one of the ways to take a call on ambiguous threads could be to let them stand instead of bringing them down with a conclusion. This way the thread stays open for the general members and a call can be taken on it's authenticity based on the "response". It's like "Janta ka faisla"   ... that also saves the IndiPolice of taking it on their shoulders every time. If the thread generates interest positively, the thread can remain. If not, then the due course of action can be taken by the IndiPolice.

I believe that there are some things in this forum that have set it apart from the rest of it's counterpart and made it so attractive for all of us. Care should be taken to retain the essence of a place while also moving forward at the same time. Anyways, whatever it is... here's to a bright future ahead!

@Arti thanks :) 

I am still of the opinion that some sort of control is needed to contain and may be we can consider public opinion, but it would come with its limitations too. A custom voting fuctionality needs to be developed (ala Like / Dislike) which can be invoked by a moderator if S/he feels its required. We surely want to build a cohesive environment, but not with loosing the importance of the forum. At times some may not see at the long term view - the shorter term view would become more obvious - beating the purpose of improving the platform for future. I am not saying its a not a good idea, infact its a super idea for this platform where bloggers have more say always.. when we go ahead with this, we will need to keep the limitations in mind...

Hemal, actually what you are saying is something very different than what I was wishing to covey  My bad, I should have been more clear in my reply...

I wasn't indicating towards any voting kind of replies (as in Likes/ dislikes) by members on whether the thread should remain open or not. In fact, I feel that would not be a viable option at all to be put into practice, as you yourself have rightly said.

What I meant by "response" ... was the ‘general response’ that members give once we see the topic of a thread – the normal replies a topic or a thread generates. The kind of interest generated can help you accordingly decide on the nature of the thread and this way, it also becomes the voice of the community and not the IndiPolice alone. All this, I humbly suggest, only for those unclear topics where the IndiPolice might be facing a dilemma in deciding on the reliability. Otherwise, you always have your controls to play with and do the needfuls :)

I think I understood pretty much the same you wanted to convey first time 

I am still of the opinion that some sort of control is needed to contain and may be we can consider public opinion, but it would come with its limitations too. A custom voting fuctionality needs to be developed (ala Like / Dislike)...

Sorry if it was me who was not clear. 

I was suggesting that we would have to have something like a like/dislike to get a sense because without a proof that a topic is not going into the forum it will be difficult to convince in general. Plus, it also leaves an option for possible biasness from IndiPolice's side which, as you well know, has been questioned time and again. Or we have a general "Report" button and show the count of number of people who have reported the thread as something that is against the rules/ethics on which the IndiPolice can take action. Without something that can validate the action of IndiTeam or IndiPolice, it will be a lot difficult to judge a thread for removal and justify it. 

Thanks Hemal, I guess, we were just looking at the same thing but with slightly different perspectives. I do get the link now.

I think we already have a report button in place. I wonder who gets the notification though after someone clicks on it. I like the idea of report count being visible to all, I think this can help credit a certain weight in the confidence of both, the IndiPolice as well the thread creator. It can be like an additional tool beneficial for all.

Oops! Please ignore the last two lines

Hmm, there is a clear warning on Inditalk which is comfirtable ignored. But, in this case, if it is a pop-up, may be of some use. I personally feel that unless there is a provision of penalty, nothing would work. On that note, the last suggestion (temporary flagging) seems to be useful. But again, what should be the criteria of flagging? I won't suggest sutomation. Why don't we have a report user option here?

The warning on IndiTalk doesn't look like a warning at all. The colours are too cool.... :-)  The warning will be more effective if it is displayed in a brighter colour only when the user posts a link. The message containing the link should be sent to IndiChat only after the user clicks some button like 'I understand' or something similar. 

The current message looks more like a statuatory warning found on cigarette packs and in films when people indulge in drinking and smoking.

Why automation? IndiBlogger has sufficient number of moderators and as per my observations, all of you log in to IB atleast once a day. :) And yes, there should a report button over there too. Not many would get the thought of going to the 'Contact Us' page.

Off topic: Why is everyone adding the word 'Fool' to their profile names? A few days back,  Pramod and now Animesh? New trend? 

Well said Arti, and the exceptions can be requested to the mods and Renie becoming the supreme judge :P

But i want to drift your attention to a broader perspective. While you are allowed to participate in such threads by sharing links, some mis understand the freedom of link sharing across the forum. The inevitable question they pose in front of mods is why are they allowed to share links. Akin politics in India or elsewhere, people question others action more than to themselves. Once they do that, the mods automatically become the fanatic guys in their eyes, leading to heated arguments and trolling. You have seen much of that already, haven't you.

In fact, extending this on similar lines - Indiblogger frequently approves blogs many times just so that people can attend Indimeets (i have read on the meet page for requests for approval so they can attend meet with some friends). Now why approve blogs only because they are created so they can get free lunch/dinner and some goodies??

@Ranjith - Timing! As of this moment, we have a crawler running to check every blog in the directory. We'll do another verification pass after a month, and automatically remove all dead blogs. Once that's done, we'll do the same for the posts on IndiVine.

@DS - With regards to blog moderation, we do give priority to the bloggers in the city where we are having a meet, but we only approve the blogs which comply with the guidelines. Are there any instances you could point out? We've rejected many blogs which were created specifically for blogger meets.

Hey Renie, thank you very much for all your replies on this thread.

I was concerned too of the resolution but thought it still might fit in. I was using 1400 on my monitor. But for smaller resolutions, can you guys could do a liquid layout where the divs are vertically aligned based on the width of the browser available for the page. You can take call based on the analytics for IndiBlogger, discount resolutions for tablets. Speaking of tablets, how about doing a tablet app? Which means people accessing IB on tabs can adv the app or else be directed to the mobile version (which needs an upgraded layout for sure). Too much ask? :)

About the edit button, if feel 2 mins max be enough because it has possibilty of being edited after someone's response. Or as you suggested, lets keep 5 mins but adding a reason for edit mandatory like at starting the thread. This will help identify edited comments.

For rest all, thank you! I also liked the idea of the increased controls for mod.

Eeh, the formating on iPad is not working - mobile site is too light for an iPad though Hey Renie, thank you very much for all your replies on this thread.I was concerned too of the resolution but thought it still might fit in. I was using 1440 x 900 on my monitor. But for smaller resolutions, can you guys could do a liquid layout where the divs are vertically aligned based on the width of the browser available for the page. You can take call based on the analytics for IndiBlogger, discount resolutions for tablets.

Speaking of tablets, how about doing a tablet app? Which means people accessing IB on tabs can adv the app or else be directed to the mobile version (which needs an upgraded layout for sure). Too much ask? :)About the edit button, if feel 2 mins max be enough because it has possibilty of being edited after someone's response. Or as you suggested, lets keep 5 mins but adding a reason for edit mandatory like at starting the thread. This will help identify edited comments.For rest all, thank you! I also liked the idea of the increased controls for mod.

Still struggling to get the right formating.

Eeh, the formating on iPad is not working - mobile site is too light for an iPad though 

Hey Renie, thank you very much for all your replies on this thread.I was concerned too of the resolution but thought it still might fit in. I was using 1440 x 900 on my monitor. But for smaller resolutions, can you guys could do a liquid layout where the divs are vertically aligned based on the width of the browser available for the page. You can take call based on the analytics for IndiBlogger, discount resolutions for tablets.

Speaking of tablets, how about doing a tablet app? Which means people accessing IB on tabs can adv the app or else be directed to the mobile version (which needs an upgraded layout for sure). Too much ask? ;)

About the edit button, if feel 2 mins max be enough because it has possibilty of being edited after someone's response. Or as you suggested, lets keep 5 mins but adding a reason for edit mandatory like at starting the thread. This will help identify edited comments.

For rest all, thank you! I also liked the idea of the increased controls for mod.

Hey Aryaansh, that sounds great esp. for a tech challenged person like me but how would it be different than the category of 'Platforms and addons' that we already have?

Having a category is a different thing .....where people post when they have problem related to something .

We can let people know on our own about the latest conventions , stuff and other options that they can caary out in their efforts to blog ...which we lack i believe as most of us care about just SEO optimization not about what else can we do with our blog , like efforts in enhancing it ...

Making them be aware of some terms in the web development which we usually come across ..The news is that this semester i had a subject related to web-development which did opened my mind on the vastness of it and thought how can it be used to enhance blogs and others too be aware of it .....

Its totally their choice if they wanna implement it on their blog or not .

but creating such stuff on a platform like indiblogger where many of us have so much talent in us ...can help increase activity on this site and for this purpose i recommend taking help of many tech bloggers who blog about such implementations

they ll have an exposure and a way to increase their viewership too ..a win -win situation on both sides

we can do it on a week-basis ...

@Arti he is talking about something similar to a Newsletter! :) 

@Aryaansh A page where we can update the lastest happening in the web world which can be beneficial to newbies. I like the idea, but there are already so many sites that give the same information outside IndiBlogger and tech bloggers some among members of IndiBlogger. My only challenge is "should this information be redundant here"? Because IndiBlogger forum is a place to interact, not only for technical discussions but otherwise too. Not every one comes looking for a technical issue on IndiBlogger. I believe the focus should be on more engagement between people than involving too much technicals, unless its absolutely required. 

@Hemal Shah

a kind of newsletter but our focus would be on 

facts related to blog

understanding the SEO operations.

Scripts that are supported on various platforms available ...

the most common codes to the most common widgets and

the list goes on........

i am just requested you and all to club it on one platform that would increase the activity on site and also help the newbies and non-techies.

As not all of us here are geeks nor from a computer related background.

Sounds great but what I feel is that the aggregation of stuff mentioned here is more suited for IndiVine. For ex. A search for “widget codes” in Indivine leads us to all the related posts in one place. Similar results can be achieved by keying in the other terms also.

I agree with Hemal where he says - forum is a place for interactions, more towards having a conversation about these articles rather than simply reading and understanding them for which we already have an IndiVine.

It was just a suggestion :)

We can do well without it too that seems .....:)

welcome bud!

mods ought to be allowed to edit other people's posts as well :P

Coming soon dude!

Awesome!!

Edited in 140 secs to spare too!!

Hey Renie - there should be a message that this particular post has been edited - if not making reasons for edit mandatory... what say?

yep! works perfect!

Renie, the Last button does not get highlighted when we are on the last page. Can we do something about that?

That's awesome! I will try checking with a few people I know...

This surely is helpful Renie! Way to go, let me check this out.

That's wonderful and I don't mind going to public profile to send an Indimail. Afterall in most of the cases, it will be required to inform about some thread on the forum for which one can easily click on member's profile, so not a big deal.

Now the million dollar question, how to test it! Volunteers required 

Hemal, those people should not be in your network

And yes, please also update the description of the thread. You need to add this new feature there

@Animesh

yes i get you! I can also check for the people who have added me to their network but I have not added them - thus there is no mutual connection - the main criteria for any blogger to be able to use IndiMail.

And yes, i will update this development on the description of the thread at the drop of the hat, at the momemnt a bit busy.

Hemal, what's the update? Were you able to send mail?

@animesh @renie

Yes I was able to send IndiMail to a random user. 

its part of the functionality. You get best of both worlds here :P

Yeah, I noticed it too few days back. And you are right, we should be redirected to the current page

hmmm, i didnt notice that but good catch @Arti & Ani :)

I also feel that the General and Off topic should be hidden (or come out with some good design of the forum as Hemal suggested). Also, comments on the threads under General and Off-topic should NOT be counted for deciding Forum Heroes.

why not simply remove forum heroes? Do we really need it? Its gauged by number of posts as it is..

Agree with TS here. Do we really need Forum Heroes?

Yes it is needed. We all geeks may prefer not, but to inspire participation, it definitely does its job!

A lot of people here like it because it gives them a chance to showcase.

Now for people like you,  Animesh, and me, we have participated in many threads and people who are part of the thread do know us well. However others who are not a part of these conversations hardly would know you unless you are active on IndiTalk. 

Newbies draw a lot of inspriation from the top 10 Heros. The instantly relate to the Forum Heros when they contribute to their threads or interact with them on other threads. Its a huge morale booster. The new format now is instead of all times, it will be on monthly basis. 

Drawback of this would include people posting crap which is known already. But the key for the platform is to inspire the bonding. we will, time and again, find miscreants and as IndiPolice we will have our job to do. 

Newbies draw a lot of inspriation from the top 10 Heros

One needs to agree to this statement. When I was new here, the people who figured in that list and were still active on IndiBlogger were Hemal, Pramod, Arti and Mohini. ( The others were never seen on the forum; even today ) Each one of them have a unique quality. All of Hemal's replies are well thought, backed by reason and he reacted in a calm way even when the thread was on fire. One can see friendliness and a sense of joy in Pramod's replies. Arti welcomes newbies with a smile and helps them get acquainted with IB. And Mohini's replies are interesting and inspiring- a lot to do with spiritual things.  

Now, I like that list because I am seen in it most of the time.