Changes I'm thinking about in the near future... consultation

Classifieds. They're swamping the site, and whilst useful they are noisy.

Reputation/Comments. I kind of want to think about how to make better use of this, they're a weird thing and I think I can do better with how they're implemented.

Typography & design. This will change, get used to it.

Mobile site. I really want to do away with the mobile site, and this ties into the design piece & typography.

Classifieds

Removing them would be dumb, they're an integral part of the site.

What I think I'm going to do:

• Filter classifieds out of the searches by default UNLESS you've selected to see everything in your UserCP.
  
• Make it so that ALL classifieds must have a prefix, it won't be possible to create a thread in the classifieds forum without one.
  
• Make the quick searches more prominent, but also give a "Create New For Sale Listing" on the For Sale search to make that more obvious.
  
• Massively simplify the rules, put them in one place, encourage use of PayPal (non-Gift) if not meeting face-to-face.
  
  
  

What I'm pondering over:

• Promote the use of GoingGoingBike for non-fixed/singlespeed stuff, discourage use of the forum for geared bikes.
  
• A very basic review system for purchases, though this is a major piece of work so would not be done this year.
  
  
  
  

Reputation/Comments

I'm thinking of abolishing the current system which is too cliquey and instead replace it with reddit/digg style upvote/downvote buttons.

In doing so I'd remove all limitations on the use of it (no more "spread your love" messages) but will take the sum of upvotes and downvotes per comment to do something else... the something else would be that individual posts that receive an abnormally large number of downvotes would have the font size reduced and the font colour faded closer to the background, and the ones upvoted would have the font size increased slightly.

I'm wondering whether this would help encourage the good posts, and discourage the bad. To allow the community to show through the rendering of posts which ones it collectively think are good, and to allow those reading the threads to spot the ones that everyone finds most helpful whilst skipping quickly the ones that are less helpful.

I'd obviously work to add some intelligence to this to prevent it being gamed, and obviously I wouldn't tell you what that was (so that you couldn't game it).

Typography & design

The font will change. Most markedly, the font size will not be set at all. It will automatically be set to the default font size for your browser, and I can tell you now that this will be larger than what it currently is. Additionally the rest of the fonts will be set relative to the default font size.

So... post content will be considered to be browser default size, and meta stuff will just be 75% of browser default. When this takes effect it will appear that pages are way longer and that the fonts are massive, in actuality YOU will have control over your preferred font size and I will be selecting default suggested font faces to make the text really clear.

Design, we're going to be going to a darker background to lighter text, but at some point in the future will offer a variant of the light background with dark text. It will change though, and this will be a good thing (it's fugly right now).

Mobile site

Why do we need one? I used to have one, but then the phones became better and so I upgraded it. Then the phones became better so I upgraded it. Now it just looks kinda crap as the phones could easily deal with the full site if it weren't so cluttered and ugly... so once the redesign cleans things up I will be looking to simply remove the mobile site altogether and leave you with the fully functional site looking a lot better on mobiles.

As part of this, the redesign to the full site will focus on making pages load faster and be lighter in weight. It also means that on a full desktop PC the site will look simple and spacious. A bit along the lines of the Deviant Art forums, but cleaner still.

Anyway, thoughts and rumblings appreciated.

RE Classifieds, you could just delete threads any older than say 6 months, especially ones that have sold the item(s)

I've often wanted to delete my own threads where I've sold stuff. Maybe we could 'flag' them once sold then you or hippy could just delete?

Good idea ^

The old ones are useful for knowing what things sold for, and it's not the number in the system that is a problem but the sheer volume of new ones going through the system. The problem is "after a day not visiting the forum I click New Posts and it's nearly all classifieds"... deleting old ones would still mean that new content is buried beneath the volume of new and recently bumped classifieds.

What I would rather do now that classifieds are so huge, is to basically partition the site a little. So that it's possible to participate in the debate and conversation without being hit with all of the classifieds stuff.

On the flip side, if you're in the market and want to buy and sell, it should be possible to get the classifieds minus the chit chat.

I'd also split the LFGSS twitter so that one account tweeted new classifieds, and the other tweeted conversation and debate. So that was more useful too. As well as splitting the RSS so that was also available as separate feeds.

Basically: Real content is king, and the classifieds shouldn't dilute it. Old classifieds aren't diluting new content, new classifieds are.

Reputation/Comments

leave as is or **get rid **completely, no rep/rating system.
It gets in the way and encourages twattery. whatever you develop it will be abused and played with and you will be making the same problems again within 6 months.

If folk have got something to say, say on the thread, or stfu and go and do something useful like a watercolour of a pig.

Could you set automatic pms / emails to people after a week or two to ask if they have sold what was in the thread and a button in the email to close it?

After 4 or 5 reminders it could automatically close it as well.

Could you set automatic pms / emails to people after a week or two to ask if they have sold what was in the thread and a button in the email to close it?

After 4 or 5 reminders it could automatically close it as well.

That's a good suggestion, and yes this is possible.

Changing font size on up/down votes may seem like a good idea, but it would be damn ugly to look at and would increase eye fatigue.

Partionoing the classifeds is a good idea, but dont limit what can be sold as the site has become invaluable for picking up bits, and i wouldnt want to discourage people from posting stuff up

leave as is or **get rid **completely, no rep/rating system.
It gets in the way and encourages twattery. whatever you develop it will be abused and played with and you will be making the same problems again within 6 months.

If folk have got something to say, say on the thread, or stfu and go and do something useful like a watercolour of a pig.

Completely agree with you on this.

The old ones are useful for knowing what things sold for, and it's not the number in the system that is a problem but the sheer volume of new ones going through the system. The problem is "after a day not visiting the forum I click New Posts and it's nearly all classifieds"... deleting old ones would still mean that new content is buried beneath the volume of new and recently bumped classifieds.

This isn't really true as most people delete the prices things sold for...i moaned non-stop for a day to get this changed then forgot about it all. A retrobike-esque rule requiring all prices to stay on classifieds would be needed, otherwise its pointless keeping old adverts...

[*][...] discourage use of the forum for geared bikes.

Do not like.

^ This

If we're gonna go down that route then you should ban BMX threads, trickbike threads and Bike Polo threads

How about making the classifieds available to forum donors only or to people with a certain number of posts, it could potentially prevent another "Russell Thamer" saga.

I think that the changes to the Classifieds would be good. As people have pointed out, there are a lot of old classifieds so thinning them out would be useful.

Is there any scope for increasing the requirements for starting a classified ad? There are likely to be lots of people who have only ever joined to post a single Classified ad with no further contribution to the forum. (That is just my personal impression rather than something possibly borne out by the site stats)

As an example: increase the post count requirement (say 50+) or make donations mandatory for posting classifieds.

Would that cut down on the general background noise from the random classifieds and make them somewhat meaningful again?

Not sure what you're aiming to achieve, to make the classifieds less of a pain or focus more on discussion, but perhaps worth considering.

Here we go again blaming the rep system; changing it didn't make any difference to the tone or content of the forum last time and it won't this. Keep it as it is, change it, scrap it, nothing will change. Rep and comments are not the problem, they never were.
If it is cliquey and people are rep whoring - which I always thought was a bullshit notion anyway - then there will be a new clique who are large-font whoring. And you'll have the same complaints that people get big fonts for being funny when it should be about being helpful blah blah blah....

Darn you jaw. Just ahead of me.....

Interesting note on classified threads (and ideas for thinning them out): I've tried to bump classified threads when they're dedicated to the same topic. In fact, I did it yesterday, and got one PM and no replies (looking for road shoes/pedals/cleats). I then started a new thread (which covered one aspect of the bumped thread, but was more specific - SPD SL pedals) and got 15 replies.

It seems to me that the classifieds section is one area where new threads, on the same topic, should be allowed.

Geared bike discussion in a geared bike section of the forum? Pro race discussions, sportives, banter etc etc. if you aint in to it - set to ignore (If it is indeed possible to totally ignore posts from a certain topic??)

Would the forum get anything out of directing non fgss classified ads to Going Going Bike, seeing as they're a commercial enterprise?

I only ask as if not it may be preferable to work with another existing classifieds forum (not necessarily an actual forum) where members won't be paying out a percentage of their sale.

Could the classifieds be partioned so that stuff that is sold can still be viewed, but not as part of the current classified threads?

Here we go again blaming the rep system; changing it didn't make any difference to the tone or content of the forum last time and it won't this. Keep it as it is, change it, scrap it, nothing will change. Rep and comments are not the problem, they never were.

I beg to differ...

If you scrap it lots of things will change, there won't be loads of posts which simply say "repped" any more for a start.

I don't know what you mean by "the problem" (but I suspect it has fascist leanings) If David thinks there are problems within and because of the rep systems then I think it's best abolished rather than redesigned, that's all.

People will still say "repped" even if they haven't pushed a button. Much the same as "reported for internet bullying"

If we are banning geared bikes will we also ban anything else non fwss bike related?

Should the name be changed to lfwss?

A fixed gear means the wheel is jammed on a fixed wheel or ss bike

What I'm pondering over:
discourage use of the forum for geared bikes.

Unless it's to represent it on Rapha rides! ;]