Very occasionally, I'll stop by Jeff's blog. Very occasionally, mind, because it's not something that usually occurs to me to do. Jeff, for those who don't know, is one of the founders of StackOverflow, and perhaps more relevantly to us, Discourse. I am still trying to get my head around the logic of some of the things Discourse is doing, and I'm not convinced that it's quite the 'next generation' of forums that he's pitching it as. I strongly dislike some of the directions taken.[1]
But he has some very interesting thoughts I'd like to add.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/listen-to-your-community-but-dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-do.html
I believe this is something we do, and I believe it's one of the problems SMF has had, and as far as I know still generally does have.
We try to invite all kinds of thoughts and suggestions. I don't promise to implement anything. But I promise we'll look at what's suggested, no matter who suggests it, and if it makes sense to us we'll build it.
And we don't go off and build huge systems for minor features. We won't go building huge major features unless we think the need for it is justified. That doesn't mean we won't build things, it means that if you want to see it implemented, give us a reason to do it. "Because it's cool" isn't really enough.
And yes, we will be honest about things we won't do. There's a lot of things I've made very clear I will not build myself, and that I won't allow into the core, and I'm pretty sure Nao has said the same.
The other nugget I want to share, is http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/12/web-discussions-flat-by-design.html
We've had discussions about threaded topics, and putting aside the technical matters, there is a major usability aspect to it, and I believe it's partly why I avoid Reddit because I have no freakin' idea what the hell's going on at any given time >_<
But it's certainly food for thought. I'm going to just leave it here for now and let people have at it before I weigh in with my $0.02 on where I see it going.
But he has some very interesting thoughts I'd like to add.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/listen-to-your-community-but-dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-do.html
I believe this is something we do, and I believe it's one of the problems SMF has had, and as far as I know still generally does have.
We try to invite all kinds of thoughts and suggestions. I don't promise to implement anything. But I promise we'll look at what's suggested, no matter who suggests it, and if it makes sense to us we'll build it.
And we don't go off and build huge systems for minor features. We won't go building huge major features unless we think the need for it is justified. That doesn't mean we won't build things, it means that if you want to see it implemented, give us a reason to do it. "Because it's cool" isn't really enough.
And yes, we will be honest about things we won't do. There's a lot of things I've made very clear I will not build myself, and that I won't allow into the core, and I'm pretty sure Nao has said the same.
The other nugget I want to share, is http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/12/web-discussions-flat-by-design.html
We've had discussions about threaded topics, and putting aside the technical matters, there is a major usability aspect to it, and I believe it's partly why I avoid Reddit because I have no freakin' idea what the hell's going on at any given time >_<
But it's certainly food for thought. I'm going to just leave it here for now and let people have at it before I weigh in with my $0.02 on where I see it going.
1. | For example the reputation aspect as being effectively a sort of power control, because it actually encourages elitism and cliquism than not. It's why I long since gave up on contributing to SO. |