Website Suggestions

@abhishek-fg9tRh • Oct 26, 2024

Oct 26, 2024

1.4K

- How about introducing "Best Answer" option ?
The CEan who asks the question has right to vote for "Best Answer" to whoever's answer he/she finds "most-helpful".
If CEan who posted don't vote for best answer then after 3 days the CEan with maximum likes will be best answerer as default.

- This "Like" button looks so Facebook-ish. Why don't we bring something distinct in our forum.Something related to "CrazyEngineer".I know many CEans will come up with crazy ideas.

- How about automatically arranged posts as per number of likes recieved ?
This will certainly make easier for CEans who will search for already posted questions.

- What about replacing "follow" word with something else. "follow" is very negative word for us,Engineers.
I know CEans can suggest some better replacement to "follow".

Some mentioned changes here are not that BIG, but it will bring small small changes which will lead us to something bigger & better forum.

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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 1, 2012

Your wish, sir, is our command. Not all, but a few changes are definitely coming. What's it with 'follow'? It's a pretty regular word.
Abhishek Rawal

@abhishek-fg9tRh • Dec 1, 2012

The_Big_K
What's it with 'follow'? It's a pretty regular word.
Last 5 words of this sentence irks me.
CE is not "regular" like other,right 😉
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 1, 2012

I'm only saying, that 'follow' is used for 'following' a member. I considered replacing it with 'Lead' but that would make us look totally odd 😁. I'd appreciate suggestions.
Ramani Aswath

@ramani-VR4O43 • Dec 1, 2012

The_Big_K
I'm only saying, that 'follow' is used for 'following' a member. I considered replacing it with 'Lead' but that would make us look totally odd 😁. I'd appreciate suggestions.
The issue may be that the word follow may have a meaning indicating that the follower subscribes to the views of the one being followed. If the intention is to indicate that one is 'following' that is tracking, keeping an eye on or monitoring what the other has to say, perhaps we can use the more neutral 'tracking'.
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 2, 2012

Hmm. 'Follow' is the most commonly used word that means one gets updated with the news feed of the people they're following. It comes from 'Twitter'. I'm not sure if 'Track' would make more sense.
Ramani Aswath

@ramani-VR4O43 • Dec 2, 2012

The_Big_K
Hmm. 'Follow' is the most commonly used word that means one gets updated with the news feed of the people they're following. It comes from 'Twitter'. I'm not sure if 'Track' would make more sense.
I am not bothered about the word 'follow' so long as it is not Kapil (not the cricketer, the one that was hacked) that I follow.
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Dec 2, 2012

I would Suggest Add as a friend if we are going to replace follow !
Jeffrey Arulraj

@jeffrey-xA7lUP • Dec 2, 2012
Two common things used in forums instead of 'like'
- Helped Me
- Thank you
Follow is more like online social networking So it can be replaced by some thing more of techie like I will go with "Track". But the new changes have to be analysed before any new comments Big guy Eager to see the new face of CE.

PS: Post the release date of it if possible buddy
avii

@avii-TGGs8o • Dec 7, 2012

1. I agree with Best Answer & most liked feature. Here's what I suggest :

For best answer thingy, we can also have Solved, Unsolved, Unanswered tags.
-Initially thread will be having Unanswered tag.
-As soon it gets first reply, it should to change to Unsolved.
-Only OP can change it to Solved if he is satisfied by first reply or subsequent replies.

2. There is a new link next to Watch Thread, called Arrange. By clicking on it it should let users to view threads in different manner. Based on no. of likes, votes etc.

Few other suggestions.
3. Min 50 characters on forum post is NOT COOL.

4. CE VoiCE. I have mentioned about this somewhere earlier & I will say again. VoiCE concentrates mostly on technology news which can be found from top tech sites. If I am getting such content from elsewhere why would I have to check VoiCE ? Moreover these sites have iPhone apps, twitter handles so that I get news earliest. By the time I visit CE it's already OLD. Stale.

VoiCE should concentrate more on educational articles, engineering & science articles.

PLEASE do not post such news articles which one can get from TOP tech sites. I assume CE is a Engineering sites for Engineers, not some technology site. According to me the current homepage articles which are NOT cool are :
iPad launch in India [I mean seriously?]
iPhone T-Mobile
Toshiba Jelly Bean

etc etc

Some interesting news which I read somewhere recently :
Smartphones will be developed with Emotional Intelligence
Some guy at Waterloo university built a most complex simulated brain. Named it Spaun [or Shaun, don't remember exactly :-/]

However opinions may be different, what I find intriguing may not interest you. But I say again, make it less technology news & more engineering science news site.

Though CE #-Link-Snipped-# has some quality content & small talk interviews are awesome.

5. Too many sub forums IMO.

6. I get just notification in email that there's been a reply on thread I am watching, not actual content. Atleast first few lines would do.

7. Lastly quality of content. Honestly, we just have 180K members not equivalent content. Though it would take a lot of effort from active members to change the scenario. Invite your friends, invite experts, ask them to reply & share on social networking sites.

PS - These are my opinions & may be different from your view point 😀
avii

@avii-TGGs8o • Dec 7, 2012

EDIT : it's name is SPAUN, built by Chris Eliasmith. Read more here : #-Link-Snipped-#
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 7, 2012

avii
1. I agree with Best Answer & most liked feature. Here's what I suggest :

For best answer thingy, we can also have Solved, Unsolved, Unanswered tags.
-Initially thread will be having Unanswered tag.
-As soon it gets first reply, it should to change to Unsolved.
-Only OP can change it to Solved if he is satisfied by first reply or subsequent replies.
We discussed this earlier. I personally like to know the status of the thread even before I read it. However, not all questions are questions and answers unlike the tech-support forums where this system is commonly implemented. Some are plain discussions. We had implemented this long ago - and found that users were so confused that we had to disable it. It's one of the suggestions I have on my notepad.

avii
2. There is a new link next to Watch Thread, called Arrange. By clicking on it it should let users to view threads in different manner. Based on no. of likes, votes etc.
I think this would be very useful. We're in the process of rolling out new system of rating the threads. It should give us a lead.

avii
Few other suggestions.
3. Min 50 characters on forum post is NOT COOL.

We implemented this for a reason. The idea being - if your response is so short - is it worth adding? Our new system will solve the problem of saying 'thank you' and 'like it' or 'useful'. There's a thread dedicated to discuss this.

avii
4. CE VoiCE. I have mentioned about this somewhere earlier & I will say again. VoiCE concentrates mostly on technology news which can be found from top tech sites. If I am getting such content from elsewhere why would I have to check VoiCE ? Moreover these sites have iPhone apps, twitter handles so that I get news earliest. By the time I visit CE it's already OLD. Stale.
I totally agree with you. In fact, this has been one of the point of discussions internally for a long time now. The focus will be on covering less of the gadget related news and more of engineering (rather engineers related) news. We're also going to experiment with posting more - but shorter posts which give the essence of the topic. No one really likes to read long articles.

avii
5. Too many sub forums IMO.
We removed several sub-forums in the recent times. The resources sections were removed because they were dysfunctional. We might do some more reorg early next year, but not in this month for sure.

avii
6. I get just notification in email that there's been a reply on thread I am watching, not actual content. Atleast first few lines would do.
We had to switch it back to 'title only'. People would reply to those emails that'd land in admin mailbox. Unfortunately, not many members know how to effectively use the community forums. On other hand, we may allow people to respond through email - but that takes away the total 'community' experience away.

avii
7. Lastly quality of content. Honestly, we just have 180K members not equivalent content. Though it would take a lot of effort from active members to change the scenario. Invite your friends, invite experts, ask them to reply & share on social networking sites.

PS - These are my opinions & may be different from your view point 😀
We stopped flaunting our registered member count long ago. We're in the social networking era and a lot of people, unfortunately don't know how to use forums. We tend to simplify the system, but the challenge remains.

Our existing members can definitely help us reach newer levels. I hate to admit it, but we totally failed to introduce the things we had planned this year. Managing the revenue & development proved to be a bigger challenge this year than last year. Things are moving, but not as fast as we'd love them to.
anuraadha

@anuraadha-57t1B5 • Dec 12, 2012

The search option can be enhanced with keywords. This will help in knowing the technical terms that are used.
anuraadha

@anuraadha-57t1B5 • Dec 12, 2012

Yes. It is available. I thought I cannot get the keywords. I got it. Thank you.
lal

@lal-R60Xjx • Dec 13, 2012

#-Link-Snipped-#
Can this be removed, the confirmation message when liking some posts.
"Are you sure you want to like this post?"
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 14, 2012

lal
#-Link-Snipped-#
Can this be removed, the conformation message when liking some posts.
"Are you sure you want to like this post?"
We don't ask for confirmation when liking a post. Could you please tell me where exactly are you noticing this message?
ISHAN TOPRE

@ishan-nohePN • Dec 14, 2012

anuraadha
Yes. It is available. I thought I cannot get the keywords. I got it. Thank you.
The problem is with your computer. It happened with me while accessing CE from internet cafe.
lal

@lal-R60Xjx • Dec 14, 2012

The_Big_K
We don't ask for confirmation when liking a post. Could you please tell me where exactly are you noticing this message?
Oh! So that happens just with me? 😐
It does not show up always. But sometimes when I click the like button, I'm first redirected to another page asking for my confirmation - "Are you sure you want to like this post?". There would be a button "Like post" below that question. I have to click it to register my 'Like'. Will try to take a screen cap if it happens again.

By the way, I use a mobile browser mostly. That shouldn't be the reason, right?
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 14, 2012

lal
Oh! So that happens just with me? 😐
It does not show up always. But sometimes when I click the like button, I'm first redirected to another page asking for my confirmation - "Are you sure you want to like this post?". There would be a button "Like post" below that question. I have to click it to register my 'Like'. Will try to take a screen cap if it happens again.

By the way, I use a mobile browser mostly. That shouldn't be the reason, right?
I've tested this on standard android browser, chrome on android and safari & chrome on iOS. Works pretty well. Which browser are you using? I'm thinking this is a Javascript issue. Do you have JS turned on on your browser?
anuraadha

@anuraadha-57t1B5 • Dec 14, 2012

Issue
The problem is with your computer. It happened with me while accessing CE from internet cafe.
Yes. You are right.
lal

@lal-R60Xjx • Dec 14, 2012

The_Big_K
I've tested this on standard android browser, chrome on android and safari & chrome on iOS. Works pretty well. Which browser are you using? I'm thinking this is a Javascript issue. Do you have JS turned on on your browser?
Oh yeah, busted! The problem arises when using Opera Mini. Since it renders webpages in a remote server, it doesn't have complete JS support. So that must be it. I remember, I didn't face such a problem when using Opera Mobile (it had full JS support).
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 14, 2012

I don't use Opera, but you might just try that 'turbo' thing off. It might solve the problem.
Abhishek Rawal

@abhishek-fg9tRh • Jan 18, 2013

I have small suggestion which can enhance the look of CE GUI.

We have quote bubbles on left-side of every main thread eg : Announcement,Electronics|Electrical,Civil|Structure,Chillax,Software|App,etc.
Why don't we assign each of these with different icons ?
For eg : In Computer|IT section there should be symbol of computer,In Civil section,symbols of buildings & infrastructure - On left of chemical section,symbol of pippettes & burettes 😉

This is not "important" but this surely gonna make website look cool,which will attract more people 😀
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jan 18, 2013

That's a nice suggestion. I'll try and find relevant icons, but would really appreciate if someone can find such icons for us; please make sure that the icons you find can be used for commercial purposes.
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Jan 18, 2013

The_Big_K
That's a nice suggestion. I'll try and find relevant icons, but would really appreciate if someone can find such icons for us; please make sure that the icons you find can be used for commercial purposes.
How we can design our own ?
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jan 18, 2013

godfather
How we can design our own ?
Well that's always a great option. But we'd need someone with design perspective. #-Link-Snipped-# does amazing job with that; but he's seriously busy, I guess.
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Jan 18, 2013

The_Big_K
Well that's always a great option. But we'd need someone with design perspective. #-Link-Snipped-# does amazing job with that; but he's seriously busy, I guess.
I will post some drafts. As I am learning Inkscape now a days.
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Jan 18, 2013

Here is one Draft for Electronics branch.

#-Link-Snipped-#
Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jan 18, 2013

Please upload the image directly to our server than hotlinking it from any website 😀. We'd need better colours and two copies of it - one when there are unread posts (darker/different color) and one when there are no unread posts 😀.
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Jan 18, 2013

The_Big_K
Please upload the image directly to our server than hotlinking it from any website 😀. We'd need better colours and two copies of it - one when there are unread posts (darker/different color) and one when there are no unread posts 😀.
I am not able to upload file that's why linked it to another hosting site.
Yes I will try to make it colorful.

I have another Idea we can use the badges that ET had designed for blogger. What you think?

#-Link-Snipped-#

We have to do some modification to make it in Icon size but I am talking about the background that is created by ET.
ISHAN TOPRE

@ishan-nohePN • Jan 18, 2013

godfather
We have to do some modification to make it in Icon size but I am talking about the background that is created by ET.
Like a watermark background?
Harshad Italiya

@harshad-ukH5ww • Jan 18, 2013

Issue
Like a watermark background?
Yeah ! I am not sure about it but we can make something like that.