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Discussion: Have Your Say on New EC Features!

Discussion in 'Empty Closets Help and Feedback' started by Hawk, Mar 26, 2021.

  1. Comrade

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    There should be a 'funny' section. I think it'd be a nice addition for the 'General' chat.
     
  2. Spartan 117

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    Thank you for all your feedback!

    Just to clarify, we don’t intend on changing anything that currently exists! But we have been thinking of ways we can extend our reach to help more people who might not be comfortable with talking on a forum.

    Just because we mention things doesn’t mean we’ll definitely do them either!

    Can I ask what people think of EmptyClosets.com: the website (not the forum)? Is there any information or features you’d like to see there? Articles etc.?
     
  3. Comrade

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    I'd like to see Empty Closets have a blog.It could give advice.
     
  4. Comrade

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    There should be a list of the most active users :grin:
     
  5. QuietPeace

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    It says this
    But the other information is not optional. I had to give my exact location and the birth assignment is required.


    Also, sometimes people ask about how to come out as trans and are referred to the coming out letters section, but there is not a single example of coming out as trans. (I cannot help though, I have not written a letter and my coming out was a nightmare)
     
  6. Really

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    I think that’s what Notable Members is, isn’t it?
     
    #26 Really, Apr 7, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2021
  7. Comrade

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    No, not technically
     
  8. Kyrielles

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    YES to all of the above aside from Birthday notifications that would be no from me or should be optional.
    I enjoy a good podcast now and again, but I’m also picky and judgmental of what I listen to. (Haha just being honest) I would maybe give the podcast a try though.

    As for social media I do use certain platforms, but only to communicate with family or old friends and to keep up with the news of the world, so I probably wouldn’t follow or join on any social platforms. I kind of enjoy the privacy of this website and being able to be open not as myself. Haha.
     
  9. Chip

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    Video has been on our wish list for at least 5 years, and will, hopefully, eventually be happening. We do have the capacity to serve it without using Youtube.

    Transcripts are a pain. Automated transcription software is getting better and better, but is still only about ~90-95% accurate... which sounds great until you actually try to read a raw automated transcript. So transcriptions would have to be manually reviewed/edited, which is a huge pain.

    We discussed some sort of curated collection (TED-like presentations) and also a section with more casual, less polished video, marked separately so people could choose.

    One thing to remember: By definition, the folks using EC in its current form are the ones who are fine with what we have (near 100% text-based, simple, few graphics, etc.). And in the universe of web users, that accounts for (no joke) about 2% of web users. So what we are trying to do is find a way to add features and services that will attract some of the other 98% of users, but without losing what we have. Thus, anything we add will likely be an addition, and for the most part in a separate section from the existing Xenforo message board.

    We're almost certainly going to have to upgrade to Xenforo 2.x, which has now been out for several years, because they are discontinuing support for the 1.x version we currently run. And the new version does have some additional features that will be nice (it also doesn't look a whole lot different than the current version). But that's a massive undertaking, as the current Xenforo is very highly customized to meet EC's needs, and the new version requires that nearly all of those plug-ins be rewritten. But it's on the list to be done... at some point :slight_smile:
     
  10. QuietPeace

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    As a multiply disabled person I am acutely aware that accommodations are difficult and that most organizations and even individuals do not care and just "throw us under the bus".
     
  11. Chip

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    Don't get the impression we don't care and are throwing people under the bus.

    We are an all-volunteer staff of about 10, all of whom have other commitments, and we manage a community of 90K members, with no grant money, income, or other funding save for a small number of donations that barely cover our (considerable) IT, server, bandwidth, and upkeep costs. We are open for suggestions as to who should do said human transcriptions, and how we should fund the cost of the transcriptions.

    It is comments like this that have discouraged us from adding additional features and services.
     
  12. QuietPeace

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    @Chip I am sorry my statement was more out of frustration with really everything that I encounter, not just with this site etc.

    I would volunteer to help but having a hearing impaired person try to do transcriptions really would not work.
     
  13. Lin1

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    I am for extending the reach of EC past the Forum. I am a long standing member of EC and I personally think EC has outgrown its current form and that its current form is outdated. I get why EC was built the way it was and it should stay that way for the people who appreciate the format. But I would rather join a FB/Social Media group or something.

    I personally understand the safety and security elements and anonymousity but I personally find it annoying that users, cannot decide how much they share about themselves.

    I just think that EC has a format that suits mostly a very young audience and then drive its older, long-standing audience away from it after a while, hence why unfortunately, I see very little of the veterans I met 5 years ago.

    I love EC but I do think it needs some modernization while keeping its spirit as its one of the only places on the internet I feel is genuinely a safe space and where most if not almost all people are genuinely nice and good hearted.
     
    #33 Lin1, Apr 8, 2021
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2021
  14. QuietPeace

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    I think that it is clear from the answers that "you cannot please all of the people all of the time".

    There are people who very clearly want new and slick stuff and people who very much want social media while others like myself need a nonslick appearance to be able to read it at all and avoid social media like the plague.

    As far as the video stuff. Just because I cannot use it does not mean that the majority of people would not. If it cannot be produced like the TED talks where the person is using a script with slides and such (which actually makes the transcript easy at least in the original language) then even with a transcript I would not watch/listen/read it. One issue I have with people doing Youtube videos or "interview" format is the lack of organization and so it is full of pointless "filler" and even reading it is too much for me. However, just because I cannot use something does not make it useless for most people - the fact that social media exists proves that I am in a minuscule minority, the fact that youtube videos/smartphones/ultraslick sites/dating apps&sites and all the other "modern" things also show that I am a dinosaur and just need to crawl into a cave.

    I would like to make it understood that I LIKE EC as it is with maybe only a few tiny tweaks. Many of the comments have made me fear that most (maybe only many?) people want EC to "update" to all the slick stuff that makes most online places hostile to people like me and that would make me sad as I would simply have to quit.
     
  15. Chip

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    I don't think you have to worry about EC (or, more precisely, the discussion community part of EC, which is the only part that gets any traffic) is going to see any significant change, other than the relatively minor upgrade to the newer version of Xenforo, with some added functionality, and possibly some options that would allow greater interaction with the rest of the internet. All of the other things being discussed would go on the front end (where the articles and basic information that haven't really been updated for a decade live.)
     
  16. StillHorny

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    Please consider a "column" space where members can post opinions, experiences, meaning of life ponderings, reactions to current events, etc. I, for one, would not commit to a blog but there are things on which I have opinions, etc, I'd like to post. This would be separate from the forums.
     
  17. johndeere3020

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    Live Chat would be cool
    Options for correcting spelling errors on posts (guessing I am the only 8 fingered typist here)
    You Tube, yep
    Other Social Media, for me meh, but for most other people, yep
    Kinda of miss the old games section from years ago, I know, I know
     
  18. Lesbee

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    1. I'm a senior web developer & would be happy to contribute to the frontend work, and I agree open source is a great way to get more contributors!
    2. My biggest wish for the site would be speed/interactivity. Often when I click on a link, it just hangs, most of the time indefinitely and a reload doesn't always fix it. (I too used to be logged out all the time, but that was because I was using incognito and always opened links in a new tab, so each new tab started off logged out. Now that I'm out to everyone, I don't use incognito so that issue is less annoying for me, but I could see how that might frustrate some users.) If the responsiveness issue was fixed, I wouldn't care if nothing else was ever updated on the site (though maybe a few UX improvements to make things clearer, but I'm on the side of a clean/simple UI).
    3. That said though, as a bonus, I too would enjoy live chat, and personally I'd be very unlikely to use social media, video, podcasts, or want extra notifications, though if video or podcasts were available I might use them if transcripts and speed settings were also available (I listen at 2x but prefer to read than listen) -- and I'm happy to contribute to manual transcription editing as well!
    4. TBH I haven't looked much at the homepage, so I don't even know what's available there other than the link to the forums. :grin:
     
    #38 Lesbee, Apr 12, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2021
  19. Suitsme

    Suitsme Guest

    Firstly I want to thank the admin team, I know how difficult it can be to run a forum, and there is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes.

    I personally think the attraction of a forum like this is that it keeps social media such as Facebook, Twitter etc firmly away. Most people are incognito/not out and therefore wouldn’t be able to participate through their social media where their friends and family are.

    A chat facility on forum would be great as it would give an opportunity to get to know other members in a group scenario. I’ve been on similar forums in the past with chat enabled and whilst serious matters can be discussed, it’s also paved the way for more light hearted banter.

    I have no idea if it’s possible on such a forum but would it be possible to change the way we upload images? It would be nice to be able to just upload an image from our own computers/phones, straight onto our messages here rather than having to upload onto a host site and then paste a link here.

    Aside from that, it’s a fab forum!
     
  20. Lemony

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    Facebook have a new thing that in certain groups you can most anonymously, something to think about?