Done! Ignoring threads and forums (New feature conversation)

[badhabits]

Maybe I am missing it (or it's wishful thinking), but is there a way to ignore entire threads? so it is never see again in feeds and new posts?

 

[TimWilson]

But now that y’all have created the Ignore feature, I don’t have to consider modifying my participation in the the word games (or any other thread, for that matter). Yaay, a win-win situation! I can be as annoying as I want.

No doubt, some folks have blocked you by extension by choosing to ignore the games threads, but I still think it unlikely that anybody would have blocked you.

There are a couple of Ignore addons available in the XenForo universe, but our favorite thing about this particular one is that it does indeed keep ignored threads and forums out of the What's New feed.

We don't yet have Google Analytics installed so I can't be certain, but it seems to me that it may well be that the majority of folks come in through the what's new function, whether by bookmarking their own what's new feed, the little lightning bolt, or whatever. (There's at least two other ways to get to your own version of what's new that I can think of, and there may be more than that.)

This was certainly the case at my previous gig, such that we eventually switched the places of the "home" and "what's new" routing, such that our landing page became the what's new feed, and the forums list was labeled as such, and you clicked away from the feed to find it. That actually makes a lot of sense to me. I think of home pages as dynamic, changing, and the forums list as a static thing that doesn't change. Why on earth would you have that as your landing page?

Whether or not that should also be the case here is a conversation for another day, but yeah, Jan, that's what it comes down to. The inability to curate the What's New feed was frustrating to a lot of folks. At the very least, being able to remove not just games, but also, say, food, guitars, and all the other non-ukulele stuff allows people to have the kinds of feeds they want to have.

That's the bottom line for everything that we're doing, making it easier for everyone to get what they want out of Ukulele Underground, without having to wade past anything that they don't want to get there.

 

[TimWilson]

Then here today I finally decide to click after all, based on ongoing responses, and whoa:
Super-valuable content, effective administration and implementation of yet more helpful tools, and a lovely conversation.

You raise an excellent point! I'll change the name of the thread to make it a little more inviting. I definitely agree, a delightful, insightful conversation that I'd like more people to see.

Thanks!

 

[Spieler]

My general procedure for reading UU is to hit New Posts and scan down the list for something I might be interested in. After reading what I want, I hit Mark Forums Read. This gives me a clean slate for the next visit. I use the same procedure for several other non-ukulele forums I visit regularly.

This is precisely how I handle forum visits myself-- also across various forums.
I have New Posts bookmarked as the entry point, open each thread-to-be-read in a separate tab, click Mark Forums Read, and proceed from there.

Er, Just Sayin', because seeing this simple approach written out, after all this time, resonates for sure!

~ S.

 

[TBB]

whether by bookmarking their own what's new feed, the little lightning bolt, or whatever

I like the little lightning bolt, but unless I’m being spectacularly unobservant (perfectly possible) it only appears on my phone, is there a way to get it on my ipad?

 

[badhabits]

I like the little lightning bolt, but unless I’m being spectacularly unobservant (perfectly possible) it only appears on my phone, is there a way to get it on my ipad?

I gotta use that...still in the habit of clicking the hamburger at the top then new posts...that's double the work!

Looks like it uses a bit of a different method...when using it this post came up at the top, whereas when you use new post buttons, either the one above the green line or via the hamburger, it (own posts) would not be included. NBD though, just an observation.

 

[Mike $]

Maybe there can be some kind of indication of who is the most ignored person on this site. Something similar to the "OP" notification on that person's Avatar. As an idea, UUMI (Ukulele Underground's Most Ignored).

 

[badhabits]

Maybe there can be some kind of indication of who is the most ignored person on this site. Something similar to the "OP" notification on that person's Avatar. As an idea, UUMI (Ukulele Underground's Most Ignored).

A "trophy"? Ignore points?

 

[Mike $]

A "trophy"? Ignore points?

Now we're talking.

 

[mikelz777]

The ignore functions are a true blessing on this site. There's a particular person who is enjoyed by many here but unfortunately I lacked that grace and the ignore function worked wonderfully in that case. The various word game threads didn't ever reach the level of annoyance for me but I know they're not something I will participate in in the future so it's nice to be able to ignore them as well.

 

[mikelz777]

Maybe there can be some kind of indication of who is the most ignored person on this site. Something similar to the "OP" notification on that person's Avatar. As an idea, UUMI (Ukulele Underground's Most Ignored).

A dubious honor! I'd hate to find out that it's me!

 

[TBB]

I gotta use that...still in the habit of clicking the hamburger at the top then new posts...that's double the work!

Looks like it uses a bit of a different method...when using it this post came up at the top, whereas when you use new post buttons, either the one above the green line or via the hamburger, it (own posts) would not be included. NBD though, just an observation.

I think if you hit “what’s new” you get all recently active threads, whereas “new posts” excludes any threads you’ve looked at and are up to date with. I might have that the wrong way round. I might also be completely wrong. Either way I’m pretty sure I’ve found the various options more confusing than I should have.

 

[Patty]

This exceptionally humble and lovely attitude is a reflection of why I am willing to wager any sum that you are on exactly nobody's ignore list.



Exactly this. The last thing we're interested in is anybody second-guessing themselves before posting...although then again, maybe some folks should. LOL A too-obvious-to-ignore joke notwithstanding, this really is the point. Forums, threads, and the people on them should be who they are, AND folks reading along should be able to curate their own feeds. To my mind, there's not only no conflict between those goals -- they're dependent on each other.

An example of the way this works in practice is that somebody on my Ignore list could be your favorite on the list of people you follow. Neither of those should necessarily influence how that Ignored/Followed person conducts themselves either way.

Having spent way too much time on social media feeds, I've also seen some people collect as much negative feedback as they possibly can, as some bizarro world affirmation that they're on the "right" track. I don't need to give you any examples do it? So also at the bottom of the list of desired outcomes is encouraging people who take pleasure and pride in stirring the pot.

More of a response than your compassionate question perhaps called for after Arcy's wise and insightful reply, but that's the additional context. Yes, as Arcy observes, the technology to expose this is difficult, but, based on what we've seen elsewhere around the web, we think that the outcomes are potentially unpleasant. "Ignore" is about pre-emptive de-escalation, removing potential (or proven!) annoyances from your browsing experience without causing new conflicts.

You are one eloquent dude, Tim. And a godsend to UU.

 

[Patty]

For me, the real eye-opener in all of this was discovering that other members were annoyed by the posts in the word game community. My first reaction was, “Well, why are they going to the General Discussion section in the first place, if they don’t like all the word game posts?” That’s when I realized that their process for finding/reading new posts must be different than mine. Presumably they are using the ”New Posts“ feature

Jan, this is me exactly. I don’t check out the site forum by forum. I just check out new posts, ALL of them. Now I can ignore threads that don’t interest me, which are always among those that don’t have anything to do with ukuleles. SOME of those non-uke subjects do interest me, but not all.

 

[ploverwing]

Maybe there can be some kind of indication of who is the most ignored person on this site. Something similar to the "OP" notification on that person's Avatar. As an idea, UUMI (Ukulele Underground's Most Ignored).

A "trophy"? Ignore points?

I'm pretty sure that Rob (Arcy) and Tim covered it well here:

Feelings would be hurt, and I wouldn't want to suppress discussion because you were afraid of being ignored. Likewise I wouldn't want anybody to feel that they shouldn't ignore some thing because it might hurt somebody else to be ignored. The point of the feature is to allow more discussion that isn't to everybody's taste.

Exactly this. The last thing we're interested in is anybody second-guessing themselves before posting...although then again, maybe some folks should. LOL A too-obvious-to-ignore joke notwithstanding, this really is the point. Forums, threads, and the people on them should be who they are, AND folks reading along should be able to curate their own feeds. To my mind, there's not only no conflict between those goals -- they're dependent on each other.

So we (this set of mods) are not likely, even if its intention is in fun, going to add a trophy or a tool to "recognize" those "most ignored", in keeping with the spirit of community.

 

[badhabits]

Pretty sure that was all satire...at least mine was

 

[ploverwing]

Pretty sure that was all satire...at least mine was

Not always easy to tell digitally, as I'm sure you know - especially since we are looking for suggestions here. Still worth the discussion, so that people know where we are coming from with whatever additions/deletions/modifications we're making.

 

[Jan D]

“Site Suggestions” has quickly become one of the threads I spend the most time at. It’s an illuminating place where we get to articulate our Forum-related dreams, frequently (and speedily) see those dreams come true, and it’s all done with a great deal of humanity, generosity, thought, support, and considerateness of others. And you couldn’t ask for a better cast of characters ~ especially our “Mods With Hearts” team

Kudos to all for helping make the UU Forum an even better place than it already was!

 

[Patty]

I took a deep breath and, though I felt a bit guilty, hit “ignore thread” on a good number of boring or annoying (to me, anyway) conversations.

So liberating! Haven’t felt this way since I threw out a year’s worth of New Yorker magazines that I was never gonna get around to reading.

In the process, I kept my eyes on the prize: “I’m here for the ukulele … I’m here for the ukulele … I’m here for the ukulele …”