New Message Board

[Barbara S]

   Thanks so much Michael for all your work on the message boards!!  I know how difficult it is to manage softwear that is no longer supported.  Your efforts make this a great place for our donor community!!

[Orchidlady]

Really nice! Just wish you could drop the "newbie" term!

[Michael]

Really nice! Just wish you could drop the "newbie" term!

We can! We have up to five different levels we can specify, based on the number of posts people make. Everyone, including yours truly, is starting out as a "newbie" because we don't have any posts. Your level rises from "newbie" to "jr. member" after 50 posts, then a "full member" at 100 posts. A "senior member" has posted at least 250, and a "hero" member is more than 500. But we have the ability to change the terminology and message thresholds. We also don't need to use all five levels. Or we can just turn off this rating feature.

So... what should we do? Should we have ratings based on number of posts? If so, what do you think we should call our different levels of contribution?

Thanks for the feedback! 

[Sarah in Maine]

So nice to see the forum back live!  I know its a good thing, I just need to get used to the changes (I'm a bit curmudgeony like that!)

My opinion on the labels:  I think having three levels of labels for (1) a very small amount of posts, (2) average number of posts, and (3) very high numbers of posts is fine. (I don't see the benefit of five different levels for frequency of posting.)  But what would be more meaningful is if there was a way in the profile to designate:  (a) pre-donation, (b) w/in a year post-donation, (c) w/in 5 years post-donation, and (d) long-term post donation.   Becasue someone could make 500 questioning posts, rude posts or medically wrong posts, and the "hero" designation really wouldn't fit.  In my opinion, I assess the value of the comments based on where in the time-scale of pre/post donation the posters are at.

Thanks so much for all of your work on this new forum, Michael & team!

[Michael]

Sarah,

I do think there's value in showing how much someone has been contributing, but I agree that we don't need a lot of different levels of recognition. Maybe bronze, silver, and gold or something like that.

But, as you point out, there isn't a direct measure of the quality of those contributions. There's a feature on this message board called "karma" that allows users to rate the popularity of a given user's posts. You can either "applaud" someone or "smite" them (or not rate the post), and the scores are shown for each user. (An option is to show must the net score.) Is that something that would be useful?

One concern I have about "karma" is that it might chill certain honest responses that might be unpopular.

Anyway, thanks for the input. Keep it coming!

[Michael]

But what would be more meaningful is if there was a way in the profile to designate:  (a) pre-donation, (b) w/in a year post-donation, (c) w/in 5 years post-donation, and (d) long-term post donation.

How about a field in the profile to specify the date of your donation? I just added that and have it configured to show up below the number of posts (look below my avatar to the left). It's an optional field, but if someone fills it out, then you know how long it's been since their donation. Good addition? Other ideas?

[Clark]

Any thoughts on my change of the participation frequency labels?

[Michael]

So everyone is aware, John modified the membergroup names and post counts as follows:

New member!                           0
New correspondent!                 1
Active correspondent              10
Very active correspondent    100
Heroic correspondent          1000

What's your reaction? Suggestions?

[Karol]

I sometimes look to see how many posts the member has on a forum - it gives you the same idea - but labels are ok I suppose.

[WilliamLFreeman]

Michael, Clark, & Karol,

Thanks for getting the "newbie"    Board up-n-running.  (I just had to see the "Roll Eyes" emoticon looks like in a message!)    I like the "Message icon" -- although I have to stop to think which one to choose, the icon itself is a succinct way to convey part of the post (as I want to convey with the "thumbs up" icon on this post).  I REALLY like being able to see [below the draft reply] all the posts to a thread when writing one's reply!!

My suggestions:

   1.  I agree with Sarah - please consider dropping "heroic" as a label, and three categories of # of messages sent.  Thus, a modification of John's 4 categories total would be to have 4 categories total: (I suggest the highest number category be for "100+" -- that's a lot!) -- new member, new correspondent [1-9], active correspondent [10-99], and very active correspondent [100+].  BTW, I would like to see us "welcome" the correspondent after his/her first post.

   2.  More important, I think, is whether you can construct almost seamless links from original Message Board to this 2nd generation, [currently] newbie, Board.  I am concerned that some people have Bookmarked or Added to Favorites (or equivalent) the older Forum's webpages, or will receive from a friend the older URLs, or will do a websearch & get out-of-date info.  Specifically --
      A.  Could you have a banner [or something similar] for the older entry webpage ( https://livingdonorsonline.org/cgi/dcforum/dcboard.cgi ) giving the new Board with a link to its registration webpage?
      B.  Could you do the same for the major subsets of the older Forum (Living Donation Forum, ... In the News, Prayer Circle, etc.)?
      C.  Could you do the same for the Log-In for the older Message Board?
      D.  Could you add info and link to the new Board & its registration in the post itself for "Changing to a New Message Board on February 14"
( https://livingdonorsonline.org/dcforum/DCForumID7/7402.html ) -- for those who do not notice banners but go right to the post?
      E.  Finally, could you add a new post to the older (now Archived) Board, being the top post on the list, titled something like " * This Form is for archived messages only. To read current board, go to [link] * "

QUESTON:  How do we set up an automatic "signature" to be the last line of our posts and replies?

THUMBS UP!! -- all 3 of them  

Bill - non-directed living kidney donor, Nov 24, 2008, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle

[Orchidlady]

I'm sorry Michael - didn't mean to create more work for you with my comment. What John has come up with is just fine, but agree with the others in dropping "heroic" and leaving at the three levels.

Don't know how anyone else feels, but the "karma" option (reps - whatever) is not one that I have really liked on other boards. I would not expect it to occur here, but I have seen where people have misused such a system. This is a very healthy forum where all views and opinions are welcome and discussed with respect.  Members shouldn't have to be worried about the slinging of "smite" arrows when posting a differing opinion.

Thank you again, Michael, for all you do. This has obviously been a major undertaking to revamp the board, and we really appreciate what you have done for us and future donors to come. Great job!

[Michael]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

We'll modify the ranking system on posts. We've never been about rankings or hierarchy at LDO, so I'm thinking we'll go with a two level system--one signalling someone's first post (so we can welcome them, in addition to responding) and then everyone else. For the same reason, we won't turn on the karma system. You can get a sense of how long someone has been on the board by looking at the post count that appears on the left with each poster's profile.

As far as the transition from the old board is concerned, the plan is to set up the site so it automatically redirects anyone using the old board's web address to the new board. Frankly, I'm not sure if the redirection will work based on subsets of the URL (e.g., by forum), but we'll find out tomorrow! 

Messages from the old board will still be accessible (I think...), so you should be able to find an old note, copy the URL, then copy that link to a note in this board. We're still having major problems with that board (including a new one because the folder structure of the new server is different than the old server). We'll have a project this week to address those issues. It matters because it affects someone's ability to search for messages. It's just my way of giving everyone a "heads up" that you may have challenges finding old message for a while. Who knew this transition would be so much fun! 

Bill: you can add details about yourself, as well as a signature line, by clicking on the Profile button, then Forum Profile Information in the column to the left.

Sarah: I'm right there with ya concerning being a little slow to adopt change. I mean, we've been using message board software that's been unsupported for five years (an eternity in Internet time). Why? Hmmmm.... Could it be the old man who runs the board is resistant to change? 

All: we open up tomorrow to the world at large. Let me know if you have any last minute suggestions. I suspect I'll be busy making additional fixes once we get everyone on board. Thanks for your support during this transition!

[WilliamLFreeman]

Michael,
   You are still a youngster.  [10+ days ago, I had to endure my 70th birthday, complete with its announcement on the street-billboard for the Lummi Nation Fitness Center (put there by a blabber-mouth whose full name I will not disclose, Barbara!) on Kwina Road, the busiest street for Lummi people.]
   However, I think Fr. Pat makes us both look like springsters!

[Turtle]

loolin good! 
Great Job everyone!

[Kid Sister]

Wow!  Great job on the new forum!  Thanks to Michael and all who contributed to the new message board!  BTW . . . I agree with the "1st post/all others" classification system - as well as not using the "karma" feature.  Our purpose should be to listen, support, share, and encourage - not judge.

Happy National Donors' Day to all of my fellow donors!