Suggestion: Stickied Threads

[Zephyrus]

I know that a lot of us are used to having to scroll through a page or two of newer threads before we get to a Recommendation Thread or Update Thread in various forums.

I was talking to a moderator about the possibility of stickying certain threads, such as PC's update thread, and various other recommendation threads to keep it up there for everyone to see. I feel it would make it easier and more enjoyable for users to find recommendations on new stuff to read across various forums.

Moderator action: Changed the poll question from 'Stickies: Good or Bad?' to 'Stickies for rec/update threads?' At time of change 2 votes had been cast for yes - by Latewave and Zephyrus

-chronodekar

 

[chronodekar]

And I'm the mod he was talking with.

First off - I approve of the general objective. i.e. to make it easier for people to FIND popular/important threads. But that right there is what makes the whole thing seem redundant to me. Most of the time (just scanned the different sub-sections) those threads would have been updated just a day ago and would be near the top of the list anyway.

Something that I personally don't like on other boards is the endless list of 'stickies' across different sections. They just waste space that I'm not interested in reading. I'd rather preserve stickies for things that are important, like forum announcements or the such which we NEED everyone to pay attention to.

So, as a compromise, I'm thinking of making an "Important threads" topic under the general/announcements and just sticking that SINGLE thread. Go there, and you'll find a list (and links) to the different recommendation/update/idea/suggestion threads across the different sub-boards.

I'm willing to maintain the thread by updating the links as necessary. Would keep the forum neat and tidy IMO.

Please note; neither idea has been discussed with the rest of the admin/mod staff and we're still collecting suggestions here. I'm hoping for something everyone will be comfortable with.

-chronodekar
PS:Zephyrus - wouldn't it be better to change the poll to ask "Stickies for rec/update threads?". The current "Stickies: Good or Bad?" is misleading, IMO. After all, I like stickies, but have a disagreement with this idea.

 

[half baked cat]

I am going to vote no simply because too many stickies is bad. If it is one to three stickies, I am fine with it. And those should be things like rules or other threads that do not get posted in a lot, but should be extremely easy to locate.

 

[Zephyrus]

I am going to vote no simply because too many stickies is bad. If it is one to three stickies, I am fine with it. And those should be things like rules or other threads that do not get posted in a lot, but should be extremely easy to locate.

The stickies would be for Update Threads, Rule Threads, and Rec Threads ONLY.

That's my personal opinion, anyway.

 

[onigiri]

you just make the problem the opposite. having to scroll to get past other threads to get to ones of interest.

 

[ArchfiendRai]

I like the idea, except I have one change.

Add the Fic Search threads as well.

So that would be recs, updates, and searches. Period. Nothing else.

 

[Watashiwa]

The purpose of a sticky is to keep a thread visible, either to draw attention to it, or to keep from additional threads on the same subject from cluttering up a board. As such? One sticky with links to everything is a great idea. Consider this approved. @[chronodekar], grab another mod team member and work together on this.

 

[ArchfiendRai]

I would suggest against creating a new thread for the purpose of linking important threads. Simply sticky-ing the three I mentioned would be enough, I think. They're the three most needed threads in each fandom. Particularly the search threads. Back in oTFF we had a new thread created to find a fic every few weeks, before content started to die.

 

[chronodekar]

I would suggest against creating a new thread for the purpose of linking important threads. Simply sticky-ing the three I mentioned would be enough, I think. They're the three most needed threads in each fandom. Particularly the search threads. Back in oTFF we had a new thread created to find a fic every few weeks, before content started to die.

In general, I think everyone can agree that there are certain important threads in each fandom. What we seem to have a disagreement with is HOW those threads should be highlighted. And other 'important' threads can come up too; for example, I feel that the general 'ideas' thread need to be highlighted - people can have similar notions about other threads

After a night's sleep, I'm thinking of trying out both ideas -

1. I'll start making a thread in the general announcement section linking to all the 'important' threads.
2. Let someone who's posted in this thread so far, suggest one or two popular fandoms for me to 'sticky' the important threads (and link to there of course!).

We can try it out for say ... a week and see how things turn out. Wata has already given approval for a single sticky, so I guess that will stay, but I'm curious to see others reactions. Not everyone follows the 'suggestions' section on a regular basis after all.

Will wait a day or two to see if the other mods/admins have disagreement with the 'experiment' before implementing it.

-chronodekar

 

[PCHeintz72]

I'm not against sticky for specific threads or categories of threads. As long as it is not overused. A member should not be able to, a mod should though.

I am against a thread merely listing other threads on the forum. I feel it would be pointless. as none of us all would have the same list. If someone wants to track something bad enough, they can either subscribe or direct link it themselves.

In my eyes, ones that might qualify are

individual section (inside and outside restricted in no particular order).
- search
- recommendations
- updates
- image thread

General fan fiction section
- recommendations
- updates
- image thread
- miscellaneous ideas

General
- Computer help thread
- Daily Things

 

[Zephyrus]

I'm not against sticky for specific threads or categories of threads. As long as it is not overused. A member should not be able to, a mod should though.

I am against a thread merely listing other threads on the forum. I feel it would be pointless. as none of us all would have the same list. If someone wants to track something bad enough, they can either subscribe or direct link it themselves.

In my eyes, ones that might qualify are

individual section (inside and outside restricted in no particular order).
- search
- recommendations
- updates
- image thread

General fan fiction section
- recommendations
- updates
- image thread
- miscellaneous ideas

General
- Computer help thread
- Daily Things

As fun as the image threads are, I personally don't think they're "important" enough to sticky.

 

[chronodekar]

I've made (and stickied) the main 'link' thread here,

http://thefanfictionforum.net/showthread.php?tid=19675

Also; not directly connected to this suggestion, but GH sticked a few threads in the comic section here,
http://thefanfictionforum.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=45

What is your opinion on seeing something like that across EVERY sub-section? Personally, I think its a waste of space, but I'm not exactly sure why GH stickied those there (need to ask him).

-chronodekar

 

[Amberion]

No, just no to stickies.

Not only that, a stickied thread should also never be a thread where people can post in. It should only be used for things like rules, who the staff are and such. And then, they should be closed so not more posting happens in them.

 

[PhoenixFTW]

Personally, I don't really like more than 3 or so stickies on a page; more than that and it just gets cluttered. As such, I wholeheartedly approve of the important/notable threads thread.

 

[Watashiwa]

What I was considering for stickies is one thread in every talk section that links to the other "notable threads" of that section, as per chrono's master list in the admin business. Would that work?

 

[chronodekar]

What I was considering for stickies is one thread in every talk section that links to the other "notable threads" of that section, as per chrono's master list in the admin business. Would that work?

I call dibs for setting this up. B)

Though, even if everyone agrees, I think I'll wait till the forum re-arrangement discussion is done before starting on it.

-chronodekar

 

[Watashiwa]

Go right ahead. Just lock the threads so that people can't comment; if they want to request that a thread be added they should PM one of us.