Suggestions for the Site

[Todd]

Hey everyone...I'm putting this forum up for any suggestions anybody has to make the site better, and I'll accommodate to the best of my inability. I'll start with two.

1) That really annoying tag that says "Administrator created this page" is going to cost a monthly fee to get rid of. Once I see that the site is moving and is useful to everybody I'm happy to pay it.

2) The Google advertisements will cost another monthly fee to get rid of which I'll also be happy to do once I see that the site is moving and its actually useful to people.

Anything else, please suggest it, and we can have a running discussion here.

[Charity]

It would be such a shame to miss out on all that those wonderful ads have to offer.... like,"Catching Mr. Right." :)

[Todd]

That is funny...fair enough Charity, I'll back off then 8-)

[Todd]

Hey Larry...great to meet you at Dean's place...I presume you answered your own question? 8-)

[Todd]

Hey Larry...you have to write in the actual code in the comment box you'll have it....so like with a youtube video you'll notice that it has the code that you need to copy to imbed a video...its the same with any picture or such...not very user friendly maybe...but I can take a look at that if that's something that's important to you.

[Lynnie]

I was thinking about the friends tag Todd - I would like to think of this as a social network where some kind of kinship is assumed or implied between the members - therefore I have decided to refuse all friend requests as I see it as a kind of 'look how many friends I have' popularity box which is one of my criticisms of other networking sites such as facebook , myspace etc........
what do you all think
your friend
Lynne

O MY FRIEND IN WORD!
Ponder awhile. Hast thou ever heard that friend and foe should abide in one heart? Cast out then the stranger, that the Friend may enter His home.

(Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)

[Charity]

Lynnie, I like the way you think! I would hate to see this site become a popularity contest as well, which is why I haven't visited myspace in a very long time. There is definitely a type of kinship on this site because we are all striving towards the same goal, a better understanding of our beliefs. I am the type of person who, for the most part, does not enter a friend request. I won't deny a request because most of those requests stem from what I've shared on this site, and it's nice to know that what I've shared has touched somebody. To me those people are my "safety net", people who I know I can turn to with a particular problem or question, and not be afraid of being judged. I know it may seem silly, but I'm still somewhat cautious of what I say and who I say it to, simply because I've been subject to aforementioned judgment. My friends list gives me a sense of security, it gives me an idea of who I can trust, absolutely and without any doubt. On the other hand, just because someone on my friends list doesn't mean I don't trust them. Actions speak louder than words for me, but it's still nice to have that "safety net". It's also rather convenient to just go to my page, click on a picture, and get to a particular person's page. I do agree in that Soul Talk should definitely not be viewed as a popularity contest. I would hope that the people on this site understand the site's true intent, and not debase it in such a way.

[Todd]

Hi Lynnie, I would tend to agree with you on principle that kinship is better assumed or implied within members as your default rather than the contrary. Charity also makes some good points that sometimes you want to have immediate access to one of the people whose blogs you follow or who you tend to comment on their page more frequently or that maybe for some there is that sense of that safety net given the fact that anybody can join this. I'll look into options for the whole friends thing...the basic premise is to be able to be notified of people who you happen to be interested in following more closely (aka associated interests) as opposed to any sort of a mark of achieved like would be in a popularity contest. Thanks for the suggestion...I always love it when somebody will challenge a basic assumption of how something needs to operate. Let me also think about it a bit and see what else I can come up with.

[Lynnie]

I love consultation! I had not thought of Charity's points and they are good points - There is something about other sites where I feel really uncomfortable about displaying the number of friends I have - and being asked to nominate 'top friends' etc - but perhaps this does not apply here?

I really enjoy the fact that we can all think about it together...........

I am starting to read around the forums and I think this is gearing up to be a lovely place to discuss , learn , chill - so thanks for it !

Lynnie

[Sara]

I would like to humbly suggest that perhaps in the 'latest activity' section instead of knowing X left a comment for Y - that perhaps the groups or the discussions are flagged as having been either created or a new comment added - e.g. suppose I post a new discussion titled 'Bottled Water' under SoulFood - the Latest Activity Board would state - SoulFood - new discussion, and if say person X was to start another discussion say 'Eggs' on SoulFood, then the Latest Board Activity would state 'SoulFood - 2 new discussions'. Now suppose I add a comment to 'Bottled Water' in SoulFood, the Latest Activity Board would state - 'SoulFood - Bottled Water - new comment'. The group and the discussion would be clickable so you can go straight to the group/discussion.
What do other soultalkers think?

[Sara]

teeheeh no I've not - but my meaning for the Latest Activity updates was to remove who added the comment - just the fact a new comment has been made to that discussion group - I don't think it adds anything to know person X or person Y added 'Bottled Water' to SoulFood - what is important that a new discussion group has been added - this way when half a dozen people comment on a single topic - it would state 'six new comments' against the name of the topic - not X commented on 'bottled water', Y commented on bottled water' 'Z commented on bottled water' - that way there is more room on the Latest Activity board so you can quickly look at the new things that have occurred since you last logged on - make sense?

[Sara]

oh and can we please edit our comments we leave on blogs - like we can when we add comments on discussion boards / forums - i.e the 15mins time we get to edit our comment.

[Sara]

Just a quick suggestion to put out there for SoulTalkers - would a 'SoulChat' be useful? i.e. allow people browsing to communicate with us in real-time. I am/was hesistant to suggest this as there are loads of programs that already let you do this - but at the moment you all know who is 'online' - would be be useful if you could 'Chat' with other people also online at the same time. Might be a good way of those are new to the site to quickly learn how to use it or those new to discussions of spirituality to explore in real-time with someone.
Just an idea - I'm easy with it either way.
I love the music addition btw.