If you had the chance to start endless sphere all over again, what would you change?

[LeftieBiker]

That will do nicely!

[amberwolf]

When I see a shotgun spam attack, instead of deleting them, my immediate main effort is to ban the names as quickly as possible, since some of the posts are very rapid and they can post more faster than I can delete.

When doing spammer banning, please use Banhammer, instead of banning just names, becuase if you don't, then you leave all their spam posts and profile fields. It's much faster and saves the next moderator from having to unban the spammer just so they can then use banhammer to delete the spam and profile fields, etc.

[amberwolf]

The major thing I would love to see changed is support for disabled users.

Presently, if someone like me, with poor vision, can't read something, they have to either use Frank's 2000-inch TV or they have to use the browser +/- zoom function, which resizes EVERYTHING on the page, including images, icons, and wasted spaces, so then they have to scroll up and down and back and forth just to read a single post. And on some browsers, using the zoom function is per-tab, and some it's global, which is a problem when it causes all their other tabs to change zoom levels just to read a post on ES.

What really needs to happen is just to enlarge the *text* of a post, not all the rest of the stuff on the page, from a User Control Panel option. Then if they need other things larger temporarily, like buttons or images, they can use the browser zoom.

There are a number of other disability compensation improvements that would be useful, but simply having the above would be a tremendous help. Doing this sort of thing right from the start, having it integral to the forum instead of something tacked on later, would be a great way to help those of us who can't do some things as well as the rest of you (especially where the present problems with working around it interferes with the ability of us to help others as much as we otherwise could, in various ways).


The search function could stand a hell of a lot of improvement. The google search isn't useful in a lot of cases, because in many of them I already know about where to look, like in a particular thread, but google can't search just one thread, or just one member's posts, or whatever. So it returns so many results you need a search to find something within the search!



Spam control would be something else I'd love to see improved, such as integration of StopForumSpam and other checks, and the ability for moderators to choose (by default) to send our spammer-ban-info back to those places to help them help others, too.



I can give details on these and other ideas if they're desired, but I won't waste time and space with them if they're not.

[AngryBob]

First, I would make a mandatory rule that anyone who is a vendor or who works for a vendor must identify themselves as such.

Commercial products are part of the hobby, that means many have a profit motive, and THAT means many serious issues.

As for the "like" system, let me give you an example. Here is a new battery construction system, and 100 people "like" it. However, none of them has ever built a battery and most don't know a volt from a watt. They "like" because it has pretty colors. Here is a second, new battery construction system. Only 5 people "like" it, but one of them is a mechanical engineer, one is an electrical engineer, and another has built over a dozen battery packs themselves.

Which system is likely to be a better choice? Should newbs be using Curtis's methods?

Next, provide for the future instead of relying on the kindness of strangers. Donations do not work, if they did Justin would not have to foot the bill. A very small amount of selected advertising, coupled with ownership changed to a non-profit corporation, would secure the information and knowledge contained here for the future, and remove Justin from possible problems and conflicts which he should not be responsible for.

As for most of the other changes, to me it's a BOOK. I do not care what color the cover is or what material it is made of. I just want to read the BOOK. Buttons and knobs and icons vary dramatically everywhere, but words are the same thing every single time. "New and Improved" is just a different box to put the soap in.

[marty]

advertising

Careful with that word. Look back at history and ya see what happened in 2011.
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=30601

From my point of view. Advertising just clutters up the screen. When I go shopping for a new electric bicycle I want to read about other people's experience different electric bicycle's and not be bombarded with adds from the bike company who spent the most on advertising.

[marty]

Log out. See this:

not_have_permissions.png

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Hate it when I go looking for information on anything and I wind up at some random forum and some idiotic forum software decides that I "do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post" Sorry I am not joining that forum. I usually just keep poking around the internet.

Because I got a obsession with colors. I felt the need to take the eye dropper tool from Photoshop and take a close look at the reddish color in the print screen I created. With some RGB to HEX research I came up with #BC2A4D. Would like the ability to make text any color and not be limited to some color box.

color_box.png

[marty]

When I see a shotgun spam attack, instead of deleting them, my immediate main effort is to ban the names as quickly as possible, since some of the posts are very rapid and they can post more faster than I can delete. (edit, I now know how to use the ban-hammer)

I don't know if a 5-minute freeze of the site is possible, but that might be one item on my wish list.

One thing I would like is that the process to ban a user and then find their posts to delete them is fine on my laptop, but...when on my smart-phone the buttons are small and close together

spinningmagnets [banning]

The banning options link is too small, and too close to the name

[reset] [submit]

I have to scroll down to reach this option and they are too small and too close together. Even a small improvement would help on my tiny phone screen, with my hideously large fingers.

Are you sure you wish to carry out this operation? [yes] [no]

Also, the "yes/no" is too small and too close together

Find the internet forum and email spammers. Cut their heads off and put their heads on the mile marker posts along the throughway.
Happy Thanksgiving!

[Dauntless]

Hate it when I go looking for information on anything and I wind up at some random forum and some idiotic forum software decides that I "do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post" Sorry I am not joining that forum. I usually just keep poking around the internet.

Seriously you need to see some substance to the forum before you want to join. Why would anyone be motivated after that popped up?

[neptronix]

Presently, if someone like me, with poor vision, can't read something, they have to either use Frank's 2000-inch TV or they have to use the browser +/- zoom function, which resizes EVERYTHING on the page, including images, icons, and wasted spaces, so then they have to scroll up and down and back and forth just to read a single post. And on some browsers, using the zoom function is per-tab, and some it's global, which is a problem when it causes all their other tabs to change zoom levels just to read a post on ES.

I have reworked the frontend CSS of phpBB to have about 10-20% larger fonts because the default theme had font sizing that's more appropriate for the CRT 1024 x 768 monitor era. I ran into some hard limits with how the CSS/HTML was structured and could not get the fonts any larger without making serious sacrifices to the UI in some view modes.

I will attempt to push our next format a bit beyond that, as it would make things very nice for those with 4k-8k monitors, which will be common in the future. I cannot make promises beyond that because going past the frontend limits involves either making major sacrifices to the look for everyone else, or hiring a few full time ADA web development experts to re-engineer the entire front end. Neither are feasible options.

I have the 'frank's 2000 inch tv' version of a flat screen computer monitor if you want it, Amberwolf. It's a professional grade IPS monitor with high contrast and a resolution to size ratio that would work for someone wearing coke bottle glasses - 1080P x 28". PM me if you want it for practically nothing.

The search function could stand a hell of a lot of improvement.

Fingers crossed that our next platform is better in this regard. I bet it is.

Spam control would be something else I'd love to see improved, such as integration of StopForumSpam and other checks, and the ability for moderators to choose (by default) to send our spammer-ban-info back to those places to help them help others, too.

That's very high on my priority list. StopForumSpam's phpBB plugin has been broken until the last 2 months, so we never used it. The new platform has much better spam controls built in, and also, a stopforumspam plugin that not only actually works, but doesn't consume 100% of the server's CPU. Fancy that!

[amberwolf]

With some RGB to HEX research I came up with #BC2A4D. Would like the ability to make text any color and not be limited to some color box.

As long as you don't mind entering the HEX code for a color, you can simply select the text you want colored, then make it whatever color is quick, then change the HEX code to the one you want.

Not as quick and easy as a good color picker but realistically, there is not a typical need for fine control of text colors in most forum posts, so the precolored-box-picker method works for almost every occasion and is very simple for the average poster to use if they want non-default color text (typically for highlighting something specific in a post, where bold or italic or underline isn't sufficient or perhaps appropriate).

[amberwolf]

I have reworked the frontend CSS of phpBB to have about 10-20% larger fonts because the default theme had font sizing that's more appropriate for the CRT 1024 x 768 monitor era. I ran into some hard limits with how the CSS/HTML was structured and could not get the fonts any larger without making serious sacrifices to the UI in some view modes.

I appreciate any work done toward this end. Some of the places I've run across in searches for information I can literally go to the max browser magnification, and still have trouble reading everything, because their font sizes are so small. If I knew enough about the guts of browser/site interaction, I'd try to help...but I've looked at source of pages in my browser for ES and I don't know what most of the stuff is for or how it works. Until I learn that, I can only suggest ways it *should* work, but not really help implement it.

Not exactly relevant, but because it came to mind: One complaint I've heard from lots of people coming to me at work asking me to help them find something: On a phone you can't even tell there *is* text on those kinds of sites; at best they have "gray lines" (or dots) where the words are, and the only way to expand it is to "zoom in" with your fingers, and some of the sites (or phones, dunno which) go right back to default size as soon as you take your fingers off the screen to get them out of the way to be able to read anything.

I will attempt to push our next format a bit beyond that, as it would make things very nice for those with 4k-8k monitors, which will be common in the future. I cannot make promises beyond that because going past the frontend limits involves either making major sacrifices to the look for everyone else, or hiring a few full time ADA web development experts to re-engineer the entire front end. Neither are feasible options.

That I understand. I'm just putting out there that these are things that are needed, even if only for a small minority of users--though some of the improvements in getting them will probably help many other users in various situations, especially on mobile devices where it's already hard to read stuff.

I have the 'frank's 2000 inch tv' version of a flat screen computer monitor if you want it, Amberwolf. It's a professional grade IPS monitor with high contrast and a resolution to size ratio that would work for someone wearing coke bottle glasses - 1080P x 28". PM me if you want it for practically nothing.

I appreciate the thought; I'll PM you to discuss this part.

[neptronix]

Seriously you need to see some substance to the forum before you want to join. Why would anyone be motivated after that popped up?

I agree. That's an old feature that's hard coded into phpBB and it harkens back to the days that bandwidth was very expensive. That shouldn't be an issue on our old platform.
(ps i haven't signed out of endless sphere for 10 years so i probably forgot all about that.. )

[marty]

I have the 'frank's 2000 inch tv' version of a flat screen computer monitor if you want it, Amberwolf. It's a professional grade IPS monitor with high contrast and a resolution to size ratio that would work for someone wearing coke bottle glasses - 1080P x 28". PM me if you want it for practically nothing.

After ya get your "'frank's 2000 inch tv' version of a flat screen computer monitor" all packed up in a box. Auto body or appliance shops are good source of thick card board if you don't have the right size box. Make box with folded cardboard and tape.

Check shipping prices at FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Greyhound Package Express US Might be lowest price for big stuff like that. Need to drop off and pick up at the bus station.

Have you heard that FedEx and UPS will be merging? ...... The new name will be Fed Up

[Dauntless]

There would be two sections, but you can only ever access one of them:

One would be called The Echo Chamber. You automatically have everyone in ignore when you go in there. You only have to see YOUR OWN POSTS! And if you ever somehow decide you're not threatened by someone else's post, you can invite them to your own private Flying Monkey Bar. Only those you choose can post in your own private Flying Monkey Bar, just as only people they choose can post in theirs.

The other would be basically the same Biker Bar we have now. Except there would be that function where the second you click ignore you're kicked out of there and land in the Echo Chamber, never to hear from anyone again.

And no, I'm not kidding. In a perfect world. . . .

[LeftieBiker]

The Echo Chamber sounds like a good repository for long-winded trolls. Great idea.

[neptronix]

Echo chamber doesn't sound like a workable idea, although i found it funny.

There's another thread running about 'other toxic discussions'. Can you all do me a favor and point your feedback there and leave it out of here.

Side note, I am going to arrange with amberwolf to hook him up with some used computer gear. I have a decent amount hanging around from doing local IT work. And also, bumping up the font size on desktop views will be a priority too, not just for him, but for those crazy people that buy 24" 4k resolution monitors..

[neptronix]

First, I would make a mandatory rule that anyone who is a vendor or who works for a vendor must identify themselves as such.

Commercial products are part of the hobby, that means many have a profit motive, and THAT means many serious issues.

I have so much to say on how we can improve vendor relations! in general i want to encourage entrepreneurial pursuits while also separating the DIY activity and commercial activity a bit more and also clarifying what behavior is appropriate for vendors before they even start posting, because they often fall into bad behavior here. Clear identification of a vendor is super important!

This could be a whole nother thread on it's own. When we start to discuss ES 2.0 a bit further, i want to bounce a few ideas off the community's head and see what they like best.

As for the "like" system, let me give you an example. Here is a new battery construction system, and 100 people "like" it.

I agree, this is a problem on facebook/reddit/etc. And you also have people manipulating votes through this mechanism. I also have a lot of ideas on how to make this substantially better ( including writing an analytics engine that piggybacks on the database ), but i don't want to go into specifics until we see the capabilities of the software we're planning to use.

Next, provide for the future instead of relying on the kindness of strangers. Donations do not work, if they did Justin would not have to foot the bill. A very small amount of selected advertising, coupled with ownership changed to a non-profit corporation, would secure the information and knowledge contained here for the future, and remove Justin from possible problems and conflicts which he should not be responsible for.

I discussed basically this ( the nonprofit idea ) with Justin, because ES 2.0 has some major additional costs:
+ Software licenses that cost hundreds of dollars per year.
+ Going to 100% server hosted images, which will grow our file storage/bandwith charges exponentially and also create the need for a more complex server architecture.
+ More expensive/complex backup systems to handle the above.
+ Paying contractors to develop extensions.
+ Who knows what else.

Justin says he has no issue paying the extra costs for a much nicer forum. But i will still be thinking of keeping costs as low as they possibly can get so that in the event of ES losing it's funding, it could easily switch to another model of funding.

It is both mine and Justin's personal interest that a resource such as this be on the internet basically forever, so we are going to set up things even more solid than before.

[ebike4healthandfitness]

Enforce a rule limiting flame wars to certain OT topics. Encourage posters to proofread their work before pressing "submit." Add a dedicated forum (assuming there isn't one) for pre-built bikes like mine.

I agree.

This forum definitely needs a dedicated forum for pre-built bikes.

[markz]

Where are the forums that deal with pre built, mainstream ebikes?

MTBR forum has an ebike category.

I think once you start going down that road, then why not have a dedicated category for mainstream electric vehicles sold by big corporations. Why not e-watercraft, motorcycles. The list of ES forum categories just grew.

The thing is, ES users will just post those questions in the current selections of categories.

Enforce a rule limiting flame wars to certain OT topics. Encourage posters to proofread their work before pressing "submit." Add a dedicated forum (assuming there isn't one) for pre-built bikes like mine.

I agree.

This forum definitely needs a dedicated forum for pre-built bikes.

[neptronix]

I think a prebuilt ebike section would be a useful addon to seperate the DIY stuff from the not so DIY stuff.
We should also clarify what some of our existing sections should be for in the future too.

We are going to have an ebike-centric forum name when we move, so being everything to everyone in the electric world is a silly idea to even try.

Many other forums have perfected one niche category of the EV world since we didn't have the foresight to expand so i think it is not worth competing with them on that and turning this into a maxi-forum. We're capable of doing that but i think it would shift our character too much.

[spinningmagnets]

On the moderating pages, I would like the buttons to be MUCH larger and farther apart. They are not hard to use on my laptop, but ever since we had a few shotgun-spam attacks, I like to keep up to date with spam on my smart-phone every so often.

On the small screen of my average sized smart-phone, my fat fingers are "adequate" but...there is room for improvement. It's not vital, but...as long as you're asking...

[amberwolf]

If that's done, please make a separately-served mobile page vs regular browser page.

[neptronix]

spinningmagnets, i bumped up the size of most buttons for you here in mobile mode, just a little.. i would increase them more, but that would take the css layout into chaos. Only took 5 mins, so was easy to do.

You made a good point. My hands are on the small side, so i haven't tweaked the buttons as much as i should have.