Please get rid of the signature line option when you get around to architecting® the 'Edit Profile' section.
YES! For compulsive readers (like moi) it is crazy-making.
Keep Enigma! Sometimes it has me laughing out loud with its suggestions and unintentional double entendres. And what would we kvetch about without it?
Could the "Helpful Hints For Newcomers" thread be taken out of its present location and incorporated somehow as a click-link?
How you'd make it possible to save sent-and-received PMs is way beyond me. At present I just copy then paste in a folder located in My Documents. Otherwise I just send them off with a cheerful "Bon Voyage!"
I may be alone in this -- Could you make a first name required in the Personal Profile? The rest left as is except as noted above re ID line.
Personal preference re Links to other word sites : I tried word sites for a year before finding AWAD and AWADtalk. Did not find any as interesting and easy to use and full of such terrific folks as this one. Have no objection to providing them, I will probably check them out and return confirmed in my opinion that the nicest, kindest, most informative, intelligent, and mannerly folks are right here. An informal chat room? ... Hmmmm.... doesn't the PM option serve that purpose?
Oh! Please! Keep the preview option AND the Thread Mode. I cannot, despite best attemps, follow that "other" option.
Well that's all from this non-techie Threadnodist! Respectfully submitted by your High Priestess wow Affectionate Aloha to all.
when you get around to architecting® the 'Edit Profile' section.
I don't know how much "architecturing" will actually happen to AWADtalk except for appearance. That depends on what kind of options came with purchasing the discussion board. Anu didn't write this board, he apparently bought it from a company that makes them, so I don't know how much control he has over it.
As for things I can control, don't worry about me making the page take too long to load, I just have a simple modem as well. I haven't really decided which of the designs I like more yet. With the second one, the box colors can be changed more easily, but the boxes also restrict how much text there is on the front page.
wow's suggestion to add Jo's 'helpful hints for newcomers' as a link is a good one -- though many of those hints are included in the FAQs, I don't think all of them are. This brings me to a question:
Jazz & Max, are y'all talking about who will do what and what goes where? I would not want many of the features of Max's page (especially the photographs!) to be added to the AWAD site. Maybe this is obvious to those of you involved, but I wanted to state it, anyway
and further stating the obvious: wow, a chat room is different from PMs in that it is Real Time® - that is, we type as we speak. As it were.
Whether or not the Helpful Hints becomes a part of wordsmith.org is Anu's decision. We don't want to put Max out a job, though. I think it would be at least a good idea to provide a link to Max's site so newcomers can become more acquainted.
I'm not sure if this audience could support both a discussion board and a full-time chatroom. A chatroom would probably tend more toward just talking about the weather and if there were AWADtalk quality discussions, they wouldn't be able to be read by all because they would just pass on in real time.
Nearly forgot ... it is obvious but ... keep whatever it is that shows there are new entries in a categoy and the new posts within a category's thread. Thank you the boxes also restrict how much text there is on the front page.
This is not a bad thing. Think headlines. David Brinkley once said that anyone conversant in English should be able to reduce any story to seven words. Hmmmm. Admit it - You'd be bored without a challenge.
keep whatever it is that shows there are new entries in a categoy and the new posts within a category's thread.
I believe that's a default and we can't (and wouldn't want to anyway) get rid of it. I think Anu is mainly looking for suggestions for the whole of wordsmith.org rather than just the board, of which he has little control.
Your design is excellent: pleasant to look at, easy to interpret and soothing. I have no trouble reading from the color scheme as interpreted by my box, but I do wonder with Marianna if higher contrast between background color and text might not be helpful for those with vision problems.
we need a smilie which I cannot describe as other than the shit-eating grin
Good one Sparteye! Very handy, that! As for the raspberry Thwaaaat emoticon, a "picture" of a real raspberry berry shouldn't be too difficult... and when first available should yield some interesting uses! I'd like an emoticon of a musical note. An eighth to be precise. That's a filled in circle with a stem and a flag. There is the old request for a Namaste emoticon, remember? Namaste is a gesture of respect or greeting, or thanks, wherein the hands are placed palm-to-palm and brought to the face so that the thumbs are about at the chin.
I have taken time to give this some serious thought. I like the second design much better than the first. I am still of the opinion that having the etymology and quotes on the same page as the word and the definition is better. But--you know, as it stands now, the opening page of Wordsmith.org does not include a word of the day, and the Word A Day mailing does not include an opening page of Wordsmith.org. What about just continuing to keep them separate? Links, of course.
And something else I really, really like about the current opening page of Wordsmith.org is this paragraph: The music and magic of words -- that's what A.Word.A.Day is all about. This is the Web site for the mailing list A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), which sends a vocabulary word and its definition to the subscribers every day. It doesn't necessarily have to stay exactly the same, but not only does it give an explanation for the first-timers, it adds that perfect homey touch. It sounds friendly and inviting, and I think will lead folks right on in.
I definitely vote for keeping the creator's picture!!! [starry-eyed grin emoticon]
I'll also put in another plug for Atomica, even though it does fall short of the OED, because it is SO handy--you don't have to leave the page you're on. It is at least a decent resource: what it doesn't have, it can google or search the internet, and do maps, and more. http://www.atomica.com/
>I definitely vote for keeping the creator's picture!!!
I just have to throw a spanner into the works on this one. I assumed that anu's picture was just a placeholder for whomever the upcoming chat guest was to be (thus the phoney date). correct me if I'm wrong, jazzo!
I also prefer the second design -- even cleaner and crisper, but creative and unique. Reminds me of Mondrian and Frank Lloyd Wright. Really well done, Jazzo.
Then, too, I have a great deal of faith in the younger generation's abilities!
Jackie : Your suggestions, as always, capture all that is good about the Board ... I nominate you for the rank of Guiding Light! Are you listening, O Great and Powerful Anu?
tsuwm reminds us we still need one (desperately) for irony, in the literal sense
Amen! How about one eyebrow raised? That could be useful in many wry ways...
And Jazz - I want to join the legions of your cheerleaders. The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked in a fabric store... you're certainly making more impact on a wider community with your efforts! Thank you!
Jazzo - your second look is great also - I'd be happy hanging out at either place.
One tiny little thing - where you have the word of the day, and the more link - perhaps you could put more about today's word?" This may not fit, but something, that makes clear what you're offering more of would be helpful to new visitors to the site.
Jazz's V.2 Jazz, can't thank you enough for your efforts. While I liked the colors of your first version (I may be a minority here), I like the second version better overall -- I find it much easier to read. Great job.!!
Tsuwm: I assumed that anu's picture was just a placeholder for whomever the upcoming chat guest was to be (thus the phoney date). correct me if I'm wrong, jazzo!
Yes, this is true, and the little box labelled chat could be used for something else, such as a brief about Anagrams.
Fiberbabe: The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked in a fabric store...
Well, my real jobs are working at a little shaved ice (sno cone type things) business down by the Loveland bike trail and working on the new website for my (former) school district.
Byb: I liked the colors of your first version (I may be a minority here)
If it would be preferred, I could fairly easily incorporate the colors on the first design into the second.
In e-mail Anu confirmed to me that there is little he can change with the board options other than color schemes, so some of the suggestions can't be incorporated. He did, though, think that it would be a good idea to add a section for the helpful hints.
Other than that, we're still collaborating on a design.
Don't know if this lies within the practicable possibilities of the software, but I would DEARLY like a change to the Search capabilities. The trouble is that even when you have located the specific post you were looking for, locating the thread which contains it can be a nightmare since it probably has a different title, and as they are stored only by 'last access' and the info you have from the search function is the 'creation date'.
So what I would like is the addition of a 'view by creation date' for all threads, toggled between this and normal mode. Alternatively, I woud look for extra info with the found material on a Search: tell me what the title of the thread is, not just where it's stored.
As this coming year's coracle of chat slides over the Niagara Falls of verbiage, this ability to dig out reference to previous discussions with greater ease will become more important, I think.
EDIT: Do'h! Just realised for the first time that I can achieve what I want, by opening the post after the search, then clicking on the toggle to flat-mode display. Sometimes even just asking the question makes the brain actually work!
I have mentioned previously that it would be very nice to access to past sent PMs, to avoid embarrassing inability to recall what I said to whom. Also I suspect that I am not the only one ignorant about some of the terminology used about threads, flat vs threaded, causes of "wide screen syndrome" etc. A discussion of these topics ought be included in instructions for inexperienced members.I remind myself of the poor soul turned down for promotion because he had had one year's experience twenty times.
2, b: http://home.att.net/~lovelandjazz/wordsmith/index2.html This is a modification on the second one, now in HTML format. It incorporates some of the suggestions made here. My favorite so far. Six images on front page.
i kinda like the last one, particularly because there's no reference to this board being a "chat" room, since it's clearly denoted as a "Bulletin Board". perhaps i've just run into a few weird places, but (heh, i'm realizing the hypocrisy of this as i type, given the prurient nature of some recent threads) it seems like whenever you throw out the word CHAT to the general public, they get a distinctly different impression than that which we'd probably want to have as our draw (those of you who've visited the mlive site may know what i'm getting at; i always feel a strange compulsion to wash my hands after i've passed through that open forum on my way into the nice safe AWAD room ). the way the third option is set up, folks looking for 'singles chat' will likely click on AWADchat and find it empty, and only those looking to post queries and such might venture here.
i like all of the layouts, in different ways, though. great job, and applause to both you and our Beloved Anu.
Jazzo- The second version is my favorite also, although I could certainly live with No. 3. I look forward to the New Look, whatever the final decision. Congrats on some very fine work!
Caradea- I couldn't agree more about mlive, from the first time I signed up and the notice appeared that someone-or-other was "checking my profile." Felt kind of sleazy . Nor sure, however, I get your point about the Board being referred to as a "chat" room on the earlier versions - All 3 include both AWADtalk and AWADchat but none calls AWADtalk a chat room - or did you mean just because the latest version actually uses the term "bulletin board," leaving no room for misinterpretation?
I don't really see this reference you're talking about, but the little blurbs in #2b can be changed to say something more desirable, if you'd like. Also, when there isn't a scheduled chat the box could be changed so say something about Anagrams, or some other feature.
Also, I didn't mention in my last post, all of the colors in #2b are browser compliant hi OT! and because I used basically the same colors in #3, those are as well. I also think these colors will fit with the board better.
Really like the last one, JazzO. Have one reservation : about the word "Chat." It has developed a pejorative connotation in Cyberworld. Could it be changed? Perhaps to "Interviews?" (asketh the former reporter? As that is really what it is, an interview, except that instead of one reporter the members are the interviewers/reporters and Anu the Editor. Whadda ya think?)
*yes*, wow... i think something like LiveTalk would perhaps be more descriptive. i've always thought the names AWADtalk and AWADchat seem almost reversed; it always takes me a second to figure out which one to click on when i'm heading to the Board.
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I think it would be at least a good idea to provide a link to Max's site so newcomers can become more acquainted.
). the way the third option is set up, folks looking for 'singles chat' will likely click on AWADchat and find it empty, and only those looking to post queries and such might venture here.
. Nor sure, however, I get your point about the Board being referred to as a "chat" room on the earlier versions - All 3 include both AWADtalk and AWADchat but none calls AWADtalk a chat room - or did you mean just because the latest version actually uses the term "bulletin board," leaving no room for misinterpretation?
