New improvements in the making

[DidierKlein 729]

Thinking about how to identify different skills maybe something like this:

with a number of stars representing the current level going from 1 to 5 maybe. But maybe instead of being incremented by the community involvement it would be set in the profile by the user itself

 

[Titus 170]

Plugins could be "DAID APPROVED"

And succes stories "SANDER APPROVED"

:mrgreen:

Without kidding, I like the idea of Ultimaker looking at designs and saying: This is good stuff! Like Blecheimers fans, or Robberts feeder.

 

[SandervG 1,521]

I could start an entire label on the new forum..

If you want to apply your story for Sander Approved, click here.

If you want to apply for Sander Care, click here.

 

[LePaul 324]

:mrgreen:

Without kidding, I like the idea of Ultimaker looking at designs and saying: This is good stuff! Like Blecheimers fans, or Robberts feeder.

 

Exactly ^^

I've only been in 3D printing for 2 years, I see a lot of things out there for the UM/UM2 and wonder if I should try those. Perhaps a more experienced member of the community or a staff member...it would be nice to know what items are beneficial or harmful to the operation of these printers.

I understand that experimentation is highly encouraged here, so many will print the item, try it, and decide for themselves I guess what I am hoping for is something similar in effort as the printing guide some members put together, to help debug common printing issues.

I see a lot of fan shroud modifications yet know how essential it is for that to work as designed by UM. However...if there is one UM thinks is BETTER than theirs, that I would like to know. And the list goes on

 

[printerfan 5]

Please do not add badges or any "rewards" system for posts, as mentioned before, it will lead to irrelevant posts being made to bolster one's rating. I do not feel this forum needs an "extrinsic motivator" to get people to post, people are here because they are passionate about design and technology. Passion is an "intrinsic motivator" that does not need an external driver. I encourage you to read the Cognitive Psychology literature in regards to introducing extrinsic reinforcement to a system that was already sufficiently maintained by intrinsic reinforcement; in a short words, it ruins the system by altering the perceived value of the intrinsic motivator...

 

[SandervG 1,521]

@LePaul, I understand what you are saying, but there are some practical issues I see there.

First we don't have time to test all the hacks and add ons.. We could try some.

I mean; I have Roberts feeder mounted on my Ultimaker as well. But printing all the alternative feeders everyone designs is impossible, especially if you expect a thorough review.

Then, what works for one user, or what work for me, doesn't mean it will work for you.

When making it Ultimaker approved we automatically drive people to our support team I think when something isn't working.. don't you think?

For both issues, and to stimulate interaction, what do you think of a Community Approved, or something in that range?

For example, remember the Ultimaker Original Bowden https://www.youmagine.com/designs/bowden-clamp-for-ultimaker-hot-end-v2? I would not approve this because I think a; it is not a necessary hack (never found myself in the situation of needing it, and I have printed plenty). and b; I can see it creating more issues then solving it by squeezing/deforming the bowden tube, so messing with the inner diameter, plus depending on the movement of the head, the angle in which it enters this clamp can also be steep and create friction.

But at the same time, I see plenty of people who swear by it.

@Printerfan, the most common resistance I hear is the fear for people starting to post irrelevant posts who no-one wants to read. I still don't think that is actually going to happen, but I do am open for discussion. Dunno if you read the entire thread but the goal is not to get as much posts in the forum, or as much activity, but relevant information. Stories of what people are making, etc. And maybe badges, or gamification in total sounds a bit juvenile... So therefor if we would introduce 'labels', lets leave the amount of posts out of the scope. And focus on the things mentioned before.. relevant content.

 

[Labern 774]

We also want to give more recognition to those community members who actively contribute to Ultimaker and its community.

 

I guess you don't have to make this a public thing. You could just send out an email to those people thanking them for there valuable input into the community.

 

[SandervG 1,521]

We could also light a candle and send happy thoughts

Part of the gain is other users can also see which users contribute in what area and in what frame of reference a comment can be valued. What is someones field of expertise and interest.

Giving recognition is something else then giving thanks.

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Ask again close an Ulti-evening, I am sure we can find one somewhere.

The like button can stay, perhaps the amount of likes a person gets can be of meaning (it is measured now too, look at your profile in the green block).. but since the fear of pollution / irrelevant posts is existing we could ignore plain post-count.

 

[Titus 170]

What about a rating ratio between post count and liked post(or posted marked as solution as described in another post above).

Say

(10*solution + likes )/ postcount

And then add stars where the two grey dots are now(under your portrait).

This way spamming is punished, and writing good things is promoted We do need to find suitable coefficients...

I'll ask again close to an Ulti-evening(when will there be another ?)

 

[SandervG 1,521]

We are still hesitating between 2 options..the week before christmas, so 5 weeks after last edition instead of 6. Because we figured during holidays no one would show up. Or the 27th, because it is holiday and more people will show up because they don't have anything to do the 27th.

You have a point, but I don't know if that is programmable.. I will suggest it.

 

[nallath 1,123]

I don't see why that would be a problem to code.

 

[donmilne 2]

If we're talking about improvements to the forums my #1 priority would be making it easier to edit posts, ideally in plain text phpBB format since the "smart edit" feature consistently makes a mess of my post. #2 priority would be to make it easier (and possible!) to directly attach images and zip files to messages.

Personally, I have little interest in forum seach - I always use Google anyway. I also have no interest in a rewards system, and IMHO messages should continue to be displayed in date order, rather than according to some dubious ranking system.

 

[Nicolinux 288]

Hi,

here are my suggestions:

 

• Fix search.
  
• Fix the way photos/media are attached to a post (it is still a hassle for such a simple task).
  
• Add gravatar support.
  
• Make quoting posts suck less (multi quoting does not really work, one has to cut/paste the "quotable box" several times).
  
• Highlight new posts better not just the box on the top right.
  
• Trim the number of sub forums - there are way too many and some are almost empty.
  

 

As for the ranking system, I don't see any problems with it. Look at the reputation system of http://stackoverflow.com. I think they did it just right. It is not the number of posts that count, but rather the quality of them expressed through votes.

 

[peggyb 171]

when using the 'view new content' it would be great to block some of the sub forums. like other languages.

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

and please make the functionality work on a smartphone, stuff like directly adding a photo from smartphone would be practical.

 

[Titus 170]

Oh Sander, one more thingie:

I usually open subfora in new tabs, by clicking with my middle mouse button. But in the subfora that consist of two lines, for example " Ultimaker International - NEDERLANDS", there is a little white space between UM I and NETHERLANDS, causing me to miss my click :oops: Is that fixable in the new forums :mrgreen: ?

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Oh Sander, one more thingie:

I usually open subfora in new tabs, by clicking with my middle mouse button. But in the subfora that consist of two lines, for example " Ultimaker International - NEDERLANDS", there is a little white space between UM I and NETHERLANDS, causing me to miss my click :oops: Is that fixable in the new forums :mrgreen: ?

 

From all suggestions this is has to be the best one. If only we had a ranking system already

 

[Labern 774]

don't know if has been mentioned before but multiple device logins (at the same time) would be nice.

 

[Titus 170]

Also, these days there are some bugs in the forum:

 

[Titus 170]

Got another one:

This somehow always occures in the Cura subforum

 

[IRobertI 520]

I want the ability to post forum wide announcements. This would give the Ultimaker Admins the ability to post a notice at the top of every page of the forum letting people know of important things. Like, for example, the current mayhem with the orders/accounts due to the system change and what's happening with that. It would save time for both the support and the end users as the information would be right there in everyone's face.

There will of course be those that are legally blind that will miss it (I always find it a bit funny how people manage to find the tiny little "Report" link and put their replies to a thread there instead of the gigantic Reply box at the bottom ), but still.

 

[welchpype 0]

Great forum post.Really thank you! Want more.

[Titus 170]

Oh Sander, mobile version of the forum ?

[SandervG 1,521]

Oh Sander, mobile version of the forum ?

 

Definitely a good point!