Improving SecretLeeds

[chameleon]

cnosni wrote: Some great ideas from Marcus,but im with everyone else viz rankings.There are frequent accustaions of a "Clique" on SL,and no matter what is said,the perception of some people is that there is such a "Clique".I wouldnt welcome any such rankning system,especially as Liits quite rightly pointed out that some of are best posters are infrquent contributors,those who come in and check the site out,probably daily,and when there is anything that intersts them they contribute.In fact if there is anyone who matches this profile then why not contribute your ideas,the more the merrier. Whole heartedly agree with Chirs on this one Duncan, dispelling this perception of 'favourites' and 'in-groups' is difficult and the accusations of this are, as longer standing members know, unfounded. To include the suggestion would be counter-productive to the founding pricople of evryone being equal, irrespective of the extent of direct contribution, or any other aspect relating to equality - everyone is welcome whatever the extent of their involvment is - all we ask is that people respect othewrs and their opinions, stay polite and avoid personal issues and confrontation and of course, ensure their posts and threads are directly relevant to Leeds in line with the site's introductory welcome message.

[chameleon]

Geordie-exile wrote: Another thing that would be handy is a 'next page' or arrow device when reading a multi-page thread. The numbers are quite tiny and hard to click on. Agreed Georie. Simple suggestion well-meant and not wishing to 'teach anyone to suck eggs', this is an issue some colleagues have at work, overcome to a large extent by slowing down the pointer speed     

[chameleon]

Duncan, was out yesterday and trying to catch up with the mountain of new info which has appearedNot sure if I've missed something or not but the search tool seem to b the same as alwyas, no changes in format or results.Still lots of Xs instead of images too.        EDITED:Thanks to Steve Jones, realise I had missed it and was only looking on the searh results page - eyes now wider open

[BarFly]

chameleon wrote: Geordie-exile wrote: Another thing that would be handy is a 'next page' or arrow device when reading a multi-page thread. The numbers are quite tiny and hard to click on. Agreed Georie. Simple suggestion well-meant and not wishing to 'teach anyone to suck eggs', this is an issue some colleagues have at work, overcome to a large extent by slowing down the pointer speed      I agree about having the arrows if possible. I access this site on a few different things including my phone (I'm sure I'm not the only one) and a nice arrow would be quicker to click than the small numbers.

[Phill_dvsn]

I too agree that the user rank or status isn't a good idea, it doesn't serve any useful purpose apart from set people apart. That's one of the negative aspects on urbex, or similar forums we don't want to see here.But one thing those forums do excel on is good housekeeping. Everyone knows what topics can be posted, and what topics are not allowed. When people join the site they agree to abide by those few simple rules laid out. Those rules are also laid out in the Help & FAQs section. It does save a heck of a lot of niggles on the forums later. Also duplicate, and dead posts have been allowed to make Secret Leeds a very big and confusing site for people to follow. You can have the same subject covered in detail 2,3,4, 5 times or more. I do think a better emphasis should be placed on housekeeping of the site to improve it. The exploration forums have moderators who have a specific task, each section like underground, industrial, transport e.t.c have a moderator who looks after that section. They keep duplicate threads together, close duplicate threads, and also remove them. On Secret Leeds we keep duplicate threads open. That allows people to add to them later, I think when it is obvious the same subject is covered better elsewhere, these dead posts should be removed. I just fail to see what the benefit is of having three or more threads covering the same subject is going. Surely it's far better, and far more interesting to have it all on one thread? Not only does it make the site easy to use, it also saves on wasted bandwith. It would be nice in my opinion to personalise the different sections on Secret Leeds. Perhaps give each section like 'ghost signs' underground, and lost pubs e.t.c they're own dedicated banners?If not a banner, then perhaps a suitable background picture, or picture added to the page? I think it would improve the look of the site by far.The P.M's will be a great addition, and long overdue on the site, but as Tasa has already said the need to be able to block people messaging you is a must to have with that option too. The facebook type ''likes'' or ''thumbs up'' don't really add anything to the site apart from give it a modern feel. I'm neither for or against them, if we get them then fine, if we don't...who cares I think the site should definitely have the facebook, and twitter ''share this'' option you get on most up to date blogs and social media websites these days.        Apart from the issue of posting pictures, to me the best way to improve the site is the housekeeping aspect.        

[cnosni]

Geordie-exile wrote: Another thing that would be handy is a 'next page' or arrow device when reading a multi-page thread. The numbers are quite tiny and hard to click on. near the top of the page would be a good place for a next button.

[jim]

I agree with your point that some threads need to be combined to keep them in a more orderly and more easily referenced condition Phill, but cannot agree that an increased number of moderators with responsibility for specific subjects is the way to go - with the best will in the world this would result in differing ideas on interpretation of the site's aims and regulation, and a possible increase in the fallings-out. I personally am very happy with the moderation we get, but could see that this might be improved on if members were invited and encouraged to ask mods to combine or edit certain threads or posts when unwieldiness or duplication etc is noticed. Hopefully this concept would improve matters without a "too many cooks" scenario.

[Phill_dvsn]

jim wrote: but cannot agree that an increased number of moderators with responsibility for specific subjects is the way to go - with the best will in the world this would result in differing ideas on interpretation of the site's aims and regulation, and a possible increase in the fallings-out. . I didn't really mean to appoint more moderators Jim, just have the ones we have a little better organised. I just feel that if we already have a topic like 'The Meanwood beck' Mitre pub, or dark arches featured on the site, it is very easy for a mod to add on the new duplicate thread 'This subject is already covered here (and add the relevant link to it)Let the old thread carry on, and delete the new duplicate thread. Surely that can't upset anyone? That's what moderators are supposed to do on a forum. Look after and keep things in order. If the moderator has a specific interest in a subject like 'pubs' then who better to know where that topic has already been covered?         

[jim]

Thanks for the clarification Phill. Good to find we are singing from the same hymn sheet.

[Phill_dvsn]

jim wrote: Thanks for the clarification Phill. Good to find we are singing from the same hymn sheet. Just to illustrate Jim, we have posts like thishttp://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messages.aspx ... =4593Which ok it might offend the original poster if it was removed. but it doesn't belong on Secret Leeds. It wasn't made clear to the original poster when he joined, and there are no Secret Leeds guidelines stating that effect either. That thread doesn't belong on the site, it's a closed dead thread, and in my opinion can only improve the site if it was removed. It's not adding anything of benefit to the site, it's only making it cluttered?If it were made clear what subjects are allowed, and that duplicate threads would be merged, then no one at all can feel any grievance can they? It's just basic guidelines and formats all forums use except S.L. It's this kind of housekeeping I think we need to sort out really.