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Changes to the
Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket
Changes to the
Changes to the Chatterbox
1. First of all, threads 3+ months old should be automatically deleted so that the forums don't get too clogged up. I really don't need to scroll to the bottom of CaC and see that there are thirty pages of threads. After about page six the threads all were last replied to 6+ weeks ago. It will make the Cricket servers run a heckuva lot faster to get rid of threads that were last replied to 3 months ago or longer. If you want to keep a thread alive, you can just post on it and bring it back to the top.
2. Account-type sign in should be added. Right now, these posts can be Google searched and found. I really do not want someone in Russia reading what I wrote about birthday celebrations. We should be able to create accounts on here (one per person), log in, and THEN view posts. It would be an extra step, but it would be greatly increased privacy. We should also have multiple "screen names" (but a limited number) per account.
3. Following the next one, being able to edit your own posts, hide ones you don't want to see, restrict ones to certain users, and so forth.
4. More options for formatting posts and comments, e.g., strikethrough, underline, different fonts and font sizes, more emoticons 
, and stuff like that.
5. Again, following number 2, be able to see posts we've read and posts we've not read and differentiate between them.
6. Be able to set a title for posts instead of being the first thirty characters of the post plus a ... after it.
If you have any more suggestions, please add them. And please tell me what you think of these ideas. I'm hoping at least a few of them will go through in real life. This will be posted across all forums minus Blab about Books.
Admins, please don't shorten this. I thought for a while about these changes.
submitted by Timothy C., age 12, classified
(October 2, 2009 - 3:08 pm)
(October 2, 2009 - 3:08 pm)
No! No changes to Cricket! I for one, would not be allowed to be on here, if I had to create an account. Even if you only had to make a username and password, I'm not usually allowed to register for those things.
(October 2, 2009 - 6:37 pm)
Number one: no. I am all for an archive or something of that sort, but I don't think they should be deleted. I pretty often dig through trying to find a really old thread for one reason or another. Is there any way a search engine could be added instead?
Number two: no. Why do you care if some Russian dude reads this? It really doesn't matter. You have no proof that I am who I say I am. For all you know, I could live in Alaska, be a middle-aged male, and make a living by carting dead seals in from the ice floes. Besides, (no offense) who could possibly want to read the stuff we have on here? Accounts would just make it awkward and time-consuming. Besides, it would be quite the hassle for the Webmaster or whoever to set up a
whole user interface, plus it would rather discourage new people.
Number three: Edit your own posts? Definitely. Delete them, even. Restrict ones to certain users - I don't want accounts, but private messages would be nice on occasion. Still monitered by the Admins, of course. There's nothing I have to say that I couldn't say to all of you, though. It would mean we could have a "pen pal" over the Cricket website. That would be nice - there are a couple of you I want to get to know better.
Number four: Eh, maybe. I haven't needed any of that yet, but it could come in handy.
Number five: That would be nice.
Number six: Yes. BaB has this, and it would be really nice on the rest of the Chatterbox.
-EH
(October 2, 2009 - 6:38 pm)
@Emily:
Number one: no. I am all for an archive or something of that sort, but I don't think they should be deleted. I pretty often dig through trying to find a really old thread for one reason or another. Is there any way a search engine could be added instead?
Search would be a nice part.
Number two: no. Why do you care if some Russian dude reads this? It really doesn't matter. You have no proof that I am who I say I am. For all you know, I could live in Alaska, be a middle-aged male, and make a living by carting dead seals in from the ice floes. Besides, (no offense) who could possibly want to read the stuff we have on here? Accounts would just make it awkward and time-consuming. Besides, it would be quite the hassle for the Webmaster or whoever to set up a whole user interface, plus it would rather discourage new people.
It wouldn't have to be a whole new user interface. Some posts would be visible to the public, others people would have to sign in to view. You just type in a username and password and you can view those other posts.
Number three: Edit your own posts? Definitely. Delete them, even. Restrict ones to certain users - I don't want accounts, but private messages would be nice on occasion. Still monitered by the Admins, of course. There's nothing I have to say that I couldn't say to all of you, though. It would mean we could have a "pen pal" over the Cricket website. That would be nice - there are a couple of you I want to get to know better.
But you would have to prove that you were you to edit your own posts. This would require an account or some other form of identification. I could say I was Nathan to view a post that Kenzie wants only the real Nathan to see. So private conversations would require real proof of who you are that only the real you would know.
Number four: Eh, maybe. I haven't needed any of that yet, but it could come in handy.
It could, like right now...
Number five: That would be nice.
And we should be able to mark certain posts as read without reading them.
Number six: Yes. BaB has this, and it would be really nice on the rest of the Chatterbox.
Good. At least one of my suggestions has been approved by someone else. Admins, what say you for this one?
-EH
(October 3, 2009 - 11:57 am)
3. Yes, yes, good point and everything, Timothy, buuuuut I would never have a private conversation (haha) with Nathan... It would get far too deadly. FAR too deadly. We'd both be screaming at each other brutally, knowing that nobuggy else would see. Hee, hee, at least I would! :)
(October 7, 2009 - 6:59 pm)
Yeah, I pretty much agree wiht you, Emily H..
(October 3, 2009 - 12:33 pm)
Yup.
(October 3, 2009 - 2:17 pm)
Same here, except I don't mind if the old threads are deleted. Do we really need to be able to read them? Some only have one comment, and there is no point to keeping those. It gets pretty annoying, having to look through all 50 pages or whatever for meany threads that run off!!! :D
(October 3, 2009 - 2:35 pm)
Yeah, I'm more or less with Emily and Lovely Mathilda* on this one.
*Because I'm too lazy to type everything out... Lovely Mathilda should suffice.
(October 3, 2009 - 5:41 pm)
Heehee. That's fine, Mary Liz, that's fine. :)
(October 4, 2009 - 6:18 pm)
Although I'm all for #4, more fonts, text options, size, and color,
NO!!!! Don't delete 3+ month old posts! I like archives, and in my opinion the only post that should be deleted are the ones 4+ months old without any replies.
I agree with Emily H, it would discourage new people to have to set up an account, and why should we ask the Admin to do something drastic like that when it's hardly neccesary?
On the other hand, a search engine would be quite nice and very handy.
Are you having trouble finding old threads? Go to the top of the list of threads, and above the subject line column, click the button that says, "subject," and the threads will be alphabetised. Then you can at least look through them in a sequential manner.
(October 3, 2009 - 2:10 pm)
1. No! As an original Chatterboxer, I would be heartbroken if the first thread I ever made was deleted, or the the threads where I met Kimmie and Emily L.
2. No. We wouldn't get many new people. I mean, people who have heard of the Chatterbox, but aren't waaay too interested would come to the site and leave when they see that they need to make an account (cuz it's a lot of work).
3. Edit, yes. Hide, sure. Restrict? Ehh, no. I don't know. I think it would be kinda weird. And it probably wouldn't work if we didn't have accounts.
4. Sure! :) Course, I don't think we should be able to change fonts, because I think it'd sort of make the Chatterbox look kinda tacky. Either we stay with verdana, or change over completely to century gothic. (:
5. Yeah, that's a good idea.
6. YES!! :D
Aaaaand, I think the Chatterbox needs some sort of search engine thingy. Maybe, when we make a thread, we can enter it's topics, so when people search something like "pets" or "feet" or "evolution", they'll get an appropriate result. :)
(October 3, 2009 - 5:43 pm)
@Kenzie:
1. No! As an original Chatterboxer, I would be heartbroken if the first thread I ever made was deleted, or the the threads where I met Kimmie and Emily L.
I see your point of view, but that doesn't change the fact that it slows down the servers a lot. The best option would be to put them in an archive that runs on a separate server machine.
2. No. We wouldn't get many new people. I mean, people who have heard of the Chatterbox, but aren't waaay too interested would come to the site and leave when they see that they need to make an account (cuz it's a lot of work).
I see your point.
3. Edit, yes. Hide, sure. Restrict? Ehh, no. I don't know. I think it would be kinda weird. And it probably wouldn't work if we didn't have accounts.
Some kind of verification would be needed.
4. Sure! :) Course, I don't think we should be able to change fonts, because I think it'd sort of make the Chatterbox look kinda tacky. Either we stay with verdana, or change over completely to century gothic. (:
I HATE century gothic.
5. Yeah, that's a good idea.
Thanks for the moral support. :)
6. YES!! :D
I'm glad to see your enthusiasm.
Aaaaand, I think the Chatterbox needs some sort of search engine thingy. Maybe, when we make a thread, we can enter it's topics, so when people search something like "pets" or "feet" or "evolution", they'll get an appropriate result. :)
(October 7, 2009 - 3:00 pm)
Hahaha, at first I thought you were the Admin!! The italics made it confusing. :):) But, tell me, how could you possibly hate Century Gothic?? Please don't tell me you like Time New Roman!!! *gags* :)
(October 7, 2009 - 7:02 pm)
How about Gigi? ;)
By the way, Timothy, were you elected to the board of Admin? You seem to be making decisons for them.
(October 14, 2009 - 12:03 am)
@ Emily: I wish... but what do you mean? have some of these changes gone through?
(October 15, 2009 - 3:10 pm)