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Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket
CB Updates --
CB Updates -- We Need Your Help!
Hey Chatterbox, it’s the admins. After the CB went down earlier this year, we’ve been working with the Webmaster to get the CB a shiny new upgrade. We’re in the early stages of info gathering right now, and we need your help!
Please share in the comments anything that you hope for in a new version of the CB. You can suggest brand-new features, but also include anything you really would like to stay the same. We want to consider all possibilities (even if we can't use all of your wonderful ideas) to create the best possible place for you! Comment by May 31st any new (or old!) things you might like in a fresh CB.
We can’t wait to hear from you.
--Admins
PS. An updated CB does not mean an update to our guidelines, so please know that suggestions that explicitly go against the guidelines will not be considered.
submitted by Admin, Cricket Country
(April 30, 2024 - 10:58 am)
(April 30, 2024 - 10:58 am)
Good point about the SIs and anon posts and stuff. Maybe there could be a "post anonymously" option?
Although accounts are honestly not a priority for me; I think it's a good idea but there are other things I feel are of more importance
(April 30, 2024 - 8:22 pm)
OH MY GOSH YES if there were accounts how could we possibly do SIs??? I hadn't thought of that. I am now even more against the idea of accounts than I was before XD
In theory the ability to delete posts would be really great, but it might lead to people deleting others' posts, not just their own...
(April 30, 2024 - 9:02 pm)
A Main Street section might be nice, but I do think even if we do get one, TM and CaC should be left in place, as they might be used for their original purposes sometime in the future... the CB is changing so much these days. Also, of course, TM is The Place for MCUs :)
(April 30, 2024 - 9:05 pm)
quick post while I can :)
Thank you so much for asking our opinions!!
- I do like Peri's Main Street idea; maybe also like a CB calendar/bulletin board there? Like, if people wanted, they could post CBversaries, birthdays, when admin appreciation week(?) is, maybe even deadlines for things... wait scratch that nvm there really is no point and yeah no ignore that idea please. I do like the check-in/check-out idea though!!
- I would rather not have accounts. I honestly think it would be an unnecessary feature, and just cause complications. How would they help with safety? I mean, the way I'm seeing this, it's basically you have a name, and a password with the name - that's what helps you get in, see posts, and use that name. But the CB's still public! Anyone can come in and make an "account"! And if we did it that way, then lots of names wouldn't be able to be used after... tops, SIs, and anonymous posts would be hard, as others pointed out, plus coming up with names that haven't already been used in general. And like some others said, I love that I can just pop in here without need for an account, and it is more welcoming and community-like I think without them :)
- I honestly like having pronouns in the age box, but that's just my sentimentality talking; pronoun boxes would be cool! But pleasee if so don't make them required bc some days I just honestly don't want to go through the whole thing of figuring out my pronouns :/ though wait I'm actually fine either way bc I usually just put "As Needed" :)
- I would rather not have profiles; see Poinsettia's reason
- a search bar feature would be cool!
- I loveee the CB's colors and general aesthetic/feel; pleaseeee keep this?
- I do love the CB's top glitches; I think it might be better to not have a new thread glitch to what I call ~the Backpages~ after the first comment though, because (argh I'm so attached to this glitch but I have to say this :( ) it is a tad annoying, and new CBers will often get really confused when their new threads disappear. Fixing this (if possible) could also avoid confusion e.g. if someone makes an MCU planning thread, it glitches and gets sent back, someone else makes another MCU planning thread, small things things like that. Though pros of that glitch include CB culture and having to go through other, long lost in time threads, to get to your thread, which is always cool :D ack I really do love this glitch though it gives so much personality and it's like everyone has such short attention spans nowadays bc of efficiency and stuff and I love how with the CB you have to wait and you have to put at least some effort in to get posts topped again and it's imperfect but it's comforting and am I ranting so long to a quick post and so long to sleep :p
- ooh, a fandom section might be cool! Ofc, adding too many sections would make it a bit... overload. But yes. :D it's like how we have BaB for books, but this one could be like for everything! Bc we're geeks :p
- having titles would be awesome!! That'd also be a good fix to the dreaded "..." title, so even when it strikes, we'd still have the title! Would be really helpful for ski lodges/stuff, as people said :)
- idk would videos be hard to put in? I think I remember when watching the CB anniversary videos that it took a lot of effort to get that up? But yeah, I really don't care about the videos. They might make the CB too flashy/loud anyways?
- I'd also rather not have GIFs (do you all say "jifs" or "ghifs" (if that makes sense)?); too flashy and too much like (mainstream??) social media :/
- the ability to put more than one picture per post might be cool...
- I'd rather not have a "top" button. I love seeing all the creative topping names everyone comes up with! :D
- more captcha options for more people would be great! Feiya requests that you please please please not get rid of her entirely though please; captchas are a part of CB culture!
-I think the ability to edit/delete posts without going through the admins would cause a whole lot of problems. In my opinion, it's a good idea in theory, but... no thank you :)
- would it be possible to fix all the formatting glitches?
olay, I think that's all... and even if it's not I just spent a whole hour on this and it's 11:00 on the dot and I still have to finish the MCU so bye tysm for reading this!
(May 1, 2024 - 1:01 am)
I agree with the more than one picture per post thing
(May 1, 2024 - 3:30 pm)
Adding on to accounts... there'd have to be a forget password button if we did that I think, and that means that without an email, anyone can just go in and change the password (and lock people out of their accounts)... right?
(May 1, 2024 - 6:05 pm)
But if we just turned chirp at cricket and this month into threads (as I suggested) that wouldn't be a problem. MCUs is a good point though, however Main Street would theoretically clear up other sections of the CB, and perhaps they could host MCUs instead.
(May 1, 2024 - 5:45 am)
thank you so much admin! I agree with other about the (optional) pronouns box, maybe friendlier captcha—I always get it wrong though that could be a me issue—and a search bar. also, maybe an option to hide replies?
I would vote for keeping the asthetic though, it feels central to cricket to me. thanks!
(April 30, 2024 - 10:25 pm)
uh, profiles would kind of mess up the whole aesthetic and setup of the cb. i mean, part of the fun of the whole thing is the accessibility and, like, open-forum nature of it. i guess it sounds cool in theory, but that wouldn't really be an update, it'd be a complete overhaul. i'm not the biggest fan of that idea, i guess.
also uh i don't have a personal email so setting up a profile would be an endeavor
(April 30, 2024 - 10:27 pm)
I was thinking you wouldn't need an email, maybe just a Username and a Password. A couple other people came up with an "Anonymous (isk how to spell that) post" So SIs would still be possible.
(May 1, 2024 - 10:31 am)
yes that was my thought also. lol im so sad because everyone's kinda hating on the profile idea. i kinda understand ig but i dont really get the whole 'social media-y' thing though. because like...i think its unique that the cb doesn't have accounts, but pretty much any website like this has accounts and its not like..social media. lol.
i was also thinking that the profiles could be optional, so if people really don't want accounts, they dont have to. i just think it would be way easier. like yes its a change, but it would be really nice to have all your work in place, and a short bio to tell people who you are. especially for new cbers, this could be a good feature.
anyway ill stop ranting but im so confused why everyone thinks profiles are unwelcoming? if you aren't required to make an account, there's no issue. and most websites dont require that.
(May 1, 2024 - 1:31 pm)
If people can also drop in without a profile, there has to be some kind of restrictor from them impersonating (that was the whole point of the profile idea)
(May 1, 2024 - 5:23 pm)
Hm. I'm just a bit confused on the whole account thing. If you don't need the email, can't anyone just go into the account and lock you out (assuming there's a forget password button)? And I don't understand how it helps with safety. Sorry you feel like everyone's hating on your idea(s) though, they're good ideas! I'm just sorta confused :)
(May 1, 2024 - 6:09 pm)
I’d rather not change the appearance of the CB that much, but Peri’s Main Street idea and a pronouns box would be nice. I also don’t think we should change Chirp at Cricket and This Month.
(May 1, 2024 - 1:13 am)
Here's an interesting thing my dad told me: a lot of websites have "post with your account" or "post without your account" options. If you post with an account, the site will track your posts and stuff. If you post without an account, you don't have to go to the trouble of making an account (people who just pop on here to see what it is and don't want to commit to going full CBer yet might like this; also considering the CB's intended use this option would be good should accounts be made) and can participate in SIs/make anonymous posts when you need to.
Of course, accounts would require a whole lot of reprogramming and stuff, so it'd be very complicated. But my theory is that if there was an option to edit/delete posts, it would only appear on posts made with accounts. Then only the people with those accounts would be able to edit/delete their posts.
So maybe if the CB were to have accounts introduced to it, that could help. Although I understand that accounts would mean a whole new setup to this site on your end, Admins, and it's really just an idea!
I love that there's the opportunity to make this place even better for future CBers. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of that, Admin!
(May 1, 2024 - 6:08 am)