We get lots of ideas for features. From MUDS. Via customer service. We
even come up with some of our own! Prioritizing which to implement, and
when to do so, is often difficult. We'd like to just go ahead and do
them all at once, but you can probably figure out why that won't quite
work. :)
One of the factors we use to prioritize
these enhancements is the number of users who are likely to benefit
from, and would actually appreciate having, the potential enhancement.
This may mean that, unfortunately, a good idea that only a handful of
people would really use may get pushed back a bit. It's not
inconceivable that, from time to time, we may misjudge demand for a new
feature or enhancement.
Owing to this (and in
recognition of the collective awesomeness of everyone in MUDS) we're
going to try opening up this process a bit; we'll be calling it
What's Next? You
Decide! Every once in a while, we'll post a short list of
five items from our big list -- things we don't yet have specific plans
or timeframe for implementing -- and give you an opportunity to vote
for your favorite. Whichever one receives the most votes will make into
an upcoming release!
This doesn't mean the other
four won't ever be implemented; we just want to see which feature
should be the priority.
So without further ado, here
are the first five enhancements. Read the descriptions below. Vote
above. Then feel free to leave a reply, explaining why others should
also vote for your favorite
feature.
Preview minus
Spell-Check The current preview automatically
spell-checks your post... in English. If you write in another language,
the spell-check feature may suggest corrections for words that you've
spelled correctly! And even if you post in English, the spell-check may
sometimes flag abbreviations or slang that don't need correcting,
altering the formatting of the preview. We know this can sometimes be
annoying. This enhancement will provide you the option to preview
without spell-checking.
Default Access setting for
'Post-via-Email' When you currently post via
e-mail, your content will be posted for "Everyone." While you
can already post a draft via e-mail and later share it with your
preferred access control, this enhancement will enable you to set your
own default setting, like "Contacts" or "Network" for all future
posts-via-email.
Resizeable description boxes in compose/edit
dialogs Just like we do on the Ajax-based reply
boxes, this will allow you to make the "Description" boxes larger or
smaller when posting various types of content to
Multiply.
Reply privately to author of multi-recipient personal
message When you reply to most types of posts on
Multiply, you're given the option to either post a reply that anyone
who views the entry can see, or reply privately to the poster via a
personal message. But when replying to an existing personal message
sent to a few people, your reply goes to all recipients. This option
will let you choose to reply all recipients, or just the sender of a
multi-recipient personal message.
Create recurring calendar
events If you want to add a regularly scheduled
weekly or monthly event to your calendar, you currently need to create
a new calendar item for each recurrence of the event. This enhancement
will allow you to enter the event once and set it to recur at certain
intervals.
Tough decision, eh?
We know they're all good, but which one do you want
the most?
n.b. I know this is MUDS and new suggestions are the
lifeblood of the group, but I'd like to politely ask if we could please
keep the comments on-topic... in other words, related to the post and
the suggestions contained within. If you'd like to suggest a new idea
or bring up a different, MUDS-relevant topic, please create a new post
and do so there. Thank you. :)
1 doesn't affect me. 2 doesn't affect me. 3 i'm not sure i even understand. you mean when composing? if so, i don't care. or do you mean in the finished post. not sure i care there either. 4 nah. i could always send a PM to the person if i don't want to include my reply where the rest could see it. 5 this is the only one that even remotely looks like something that would help me.
i do like the preferential voting idea. that sounds interesting.
3 i'm not sure i even understand. you mean when composing? if so, i don't care. or do you mean in the finished post. not sure i care there either.
Here's an example. When you are creating/editing a photo album, the box for entering the album "Description" is only about four lines tall. If you've got a long description to enter, it might be nicer to be able to expand that box. Same thing would apply to all the other content types.
Here's an example. When you are creating/editing a photo album, the box for entering the album "Description" is only about four lines tall. If you've got a long description to enter, it might be nicer to be able to expand that box. Same thing would apply to all the other content types.
ok.
i can see where i'd have liked that on occasion. (like when writing reviews.) what i tend to do is flip back and forth between appleworks and multiply. i'll work on the text in appleworks, cut and paste it into multiply to see how it will look, make a few changes, cut and paste it back to appleworks, etc. i suppose it would be better to do it all here on multiply.
but to be perfectly honest, of all the things i'd like to see changed on multiply, none of these 5 would have hit my top 10 (or maybe even my top 20) list.
given that there are a lot of non-english speakers on multiply (and few of them might be on muds) i'm fine with giving tsuihark my vote (although i already entered one). i really don't care about the others all that much and if i were a non-english speaker i'd probably bound my keyboard on more than one occasion if i kept getting reprimanded inappropriately by a spell checker.
but to be perfectly honest, of all the things i'd like to see changed on multiply, none of these 5 would have hit my top 10 (or maybe even my top 20) list.
but to be perfectly honest, of all the things i'd like to see changed on multiply, none of these 5 would have hit my top 10 (or maybe even my top 20) list.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: A simple "Who's Online Now" feature/sidebar (Just on the particualr group you are browsing) would improve this site by leaps and bounds.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: A simple "Who's Online Now" feature/sidebar (Just on the particualr group you are browsing) would improve this site by leaps and bounds.
why?
i know who's in a group at the same time as me by their responses. Live Replies updates a post as soon as it's made without having to refresh the page.
if people are in the group but they're not replying to anything, then why would i care if they're even "in the group"? they're just lurkers and obviously not someone i could have a conversation with.
No, no, no, no, no......Why would I send a reply (or msg?) to someone who I don't even know is THERE??? It's fine & dandy if you are already 'bantering' with someone, or somebody KNOWS you are there, or if it's just a casual type reply that isn't 'time-relevant' and can be later viewed, but otherwise...you would have to go down the member list and check-and-see if they are online, or type some group msg to the effect of: "Uhh...Is anyone there? Uhh...who is there"? (See what I mean? On other sites/servers/groups/whatever, there is a simple sidebar on there telling you which members are currently online. The 'live reply' is fine and dandy, but it doesn't really cover this.)
P.S - And as far as 'lurkers' go, perhaps more 'lurkers' would actually feel a bit more compelled to engage in banter/conversation, if they knew who was currently browsing that group???
Wouldn't actually work regarding anyone viewing me... My tabs are open in several groups sometimes... while I'm not even at my desk. (Uploading for instance.. or called away) Many are showing "online" at MP, and not actually here..
Why would I send a reply (or msg?) to someone who I don't even know is THERE???
because i want to have a good conversation with people. so it doesn't matter if they're there right at the moment or not. i will post my thoughtful addition to the discussion and when they are available they'll post theirs.
if they were on right at that moment and i knew that because their name was listed somewhere, how would that change our meaningful discussion? it might make it take place more quickly. but it would be the same discussion.
but what it sounds like you're looking for is something more like an IM system. there are a lot of those already available. i'm not sure why multiply would add that to their site. most IM conversations i have involve a lot of "hi. you there?" "yeah." "whatcha doin?" "nothin. you?" "nothin. i'm bored." "me too." in other words, they don't tend to be all that meaningful.
looking for a bunch of names in a group so you can message someone means you don't really care WHO it is you talk to. you just want to talk.
if you wanted to talk to someone specifically, you could easily go to their homepage and see if they're online at the moment.
No,no,no,no...(Dantcer, you make somewhat of a valid point and I hear. As do you Meg.)
I'm not after an "IM type environment" (well, not in the conventional sense at least, but perhaps SOMEWHAT.) And I don't desire to msg. just any Joe or Jane on the Web. However, every other forum I belong to, has this simple feature, and it DOES serve a purpose. Perhaps I am in the minority, but I can say emphatically and unequivocally that I am not the only one that thinks Multiply should add this feature. As a matter of fact, a few of my friends/acquaintences have literally gone so far as to completely deep-six it because of such.
Peace & Respect...(swigs quad-espresso and downs a Xanax...)
Have you ever used a thread as an IM feature? Start a thread, include all that you wish to.. send the pm, and just leave it open or minimized. It live updates.. Works just as well as my messenger client does. Since I use gmail with the notifier, It actually dings me when a post is added to it. So I can be doing something else while others are typing in the pm thread.
bizzack wrote on Mar 11, '07, edited on Mar 11, '07
Dantcer...I truly appreciate the advice, and I kind of have a crush on you, but the proceeding information kind of made my head hurt. (i.e. I'm sorry, I consider myself a bit more intelligent than the 'average joe', but I'm perhaps looking for something a tad bit more simplistic/streamlined/user-friendly???)
Anyways, let me read what you suggested again, and thanks for responding.
* Also.. Incidentally, while I don't find this to be a MAJOR issue personally, the search engine here is not very 'intuitive'.
Incidentally, let me briefly 'introduce' myself...
I'm in my 30's, work in marketing/advertising, and am also a part-time musician/composer and Boxing writer of all things. I'm also somewhat of an 'entrepeneur' (sic?) although I am certianly not a billionaire or multi-millionaire. (I'm only a millionaire...alright, I'm not that either! LOL)
Anyways, quite frankly, I find this concept/site neat and intriguing...but just not very 'user-friendly'. I know there are others that feel differently, but everyone I have shown it to has basically thought the same thing. I think it has potential, but...(???)
dantcer wrote on Mar 11, '07, edited on Mar 11, '07
Nice to meet you :) And I know there are many here that would like an additional IM feature in Multiply. Some would never use it but I think the majority would. But for now, the closest thing there is, is a pm thread, with as many names as you wish in there (which can include contacts and non contacts alike).
Also, you don't have to leave that thread open. You will be notified of a new pm when someone replies to it on your message board summary, or you can use a fast email client with a notifying feature that will also tell you when you have PM's if you set your email preferences to do so.
Perhaps a live notifier of Pm's might be in order from Multiply in their future? That would definitely be awesome (like google's notifier for their mail for instance)
My issues with the search feature, is simply that I'm hoping Multiply will consider including at each personal page and each group, a search feature that works solely within that mp site or group. That would be outstanding!!
Multiply always has potential! And what keeps people here, are that they listen to their customers (that's us) lol They have to work within their own confines, (and the law as well) But I'm impressed with their R & D and that's just what I know about it. There's a lot more to Multiply than any of us are privy to. They will continue to evolve to meet customer's needs and wants, and there will be no lack of customers. Can only one blog site meet everyone's needs and all of them. No way. It's not possible. We are all too finicky about what we need and want. So what works for one, won't work for all. But from all that I've looked at, Multiply is at the top of the "best" list.
Remember though, the one who starts a PM thread has the power. They can delete the entire PM when done, or remove and add names to it as it goes along. So I suggest never say anything in a PM you wouldn't want everyone to know. It's not as private a venue as one might think.
My suggested order of priority: #3, #5, #2, #4 and #1. 
