Bright And Shiny Future: Part 3 of Many!!!

Wondir: A Bright And Shiny Future: #3 of MANY!*
* or how to muck things up without really trying…

As you have noticed by now I’m doing this 1 trillion page post piece by piece.

Got a lot of GREAT responses that deserve responses, so here I rant on about a few more….(Poor Matt, Allen and the rest of the Wondirful staff at Wondir for having to follow all this)

Some Wondirful Wondir mod wrote in with this…

“On the Admin Site, I would like the ability to plug in a Wondir ID and see all the user's questions and answers. (Sometimes I see a post complaining about another user. I end up searching every single question and answer looking for that user's offensive post. If another moderator got to it, then I can search for it and never find it!)”

To me, this is a definite 10! I’ve been there and done that too many times. Give me the abusers WGuest number and I can see what’s been said and done. This should also include deleted posts and if the person or email addy has been banned before. It would make it simpler for Mods to be able to track trouble-makers and perverts. *Gasp* Yeah I’ve run across a few but not too many YET…

The same user/mod offered this idea:

“When logged in as a moderator, some right-click features would be great. From the Wondir site, it would be great if I could right-click on a question and choose to re-categorize, then be offered the categories, and select. I could buzz right down the board and get stuff in the proper categories.”

I agree here, to re-categorize stuff on Wondir is just a PITA. I gave that up months ago. The filtering system gets most things right but a lot of times it really mucks things up and you sit there in a category and go “Hmm…..what made it put THAT here????”

As I said in my previous reply, no filtering system designed yet is perfect but…why not shoot for it now? And if you can’t…why not make it easier on those that can and would be reorganizing things?

This same resourceful mod offered the idea of letting mods know when other mods are online at Wondir.

Anyone think Wondir ought to just hire this mod? LOL

I love this idea, and when a post gets deleted I can message the mod if I have Q’s about who, what, when, where, why and how….well we know how….so pass on that..

This brings me to another post…err, posts and a few private emails I’ve gotten. Mods cover your ears cause you might not like this one…

A few people have mentioned this, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And is PISSES ME OFF TO NO END! (Originally I had ticked in there, but no, it’s MUCH more than that now that I think about it…Grrrrr!!!!)

Posts that are not there when I click on them. And I mean posts that are for real, serious, meaningful and not in offensive language or off-color.

I’ll give you an example. I was in an on again/off again posting with a girl one night and I noticed that several of her posts were getting deleted almost instantly.

If that wasn’t bad enough, this girl was in an abusive situation at home and needed help instantly, not to have to repost 100 times.

Then, if things were not bad enough, her account was blocked 4 or 5 times under a WGuest account. Finally I had to resort to giving out my email addy, not like I haven’t done that a million times before, but this time it was forced out of me by someone deleting posts and accounts.

It seems occasionally we have rouge mods at Wondir. Mod’s who wheel a little bit of power and let it go to their heads and think they know what is and isn’t proper for Wondir to answer, a child to ask, or a user to post.

GET OVER YOURSELF! You aren’t THAT FLIPPIN’ IMPORTANT!! And if you feel the need to be…then…..GO SOMEPLACE ELSE!!!

Wondir is about Questions and Answers. Wondir is about reaching out and helping others. Wondir is about a community that comes together and helps those in need.

As has been said on my blog…

"Sometimes it takes a village, or more precisely, someone in the village who can help you," Dr. Matthew Koll, founder and CEO of Wondir.

And Matt has a great point there in reference to this post…if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem…

You don’t like it…move on to the next question you like. We all have that choice, we can ignore anything we choose to, if we CHOOSE to…

Rogue Mods choose to decide what the rest of the community is allowed to say and answer. If you can’t be a tiny bit open and objective, RESIGN your Mod status and go hang out in a Yahoo chat room! You’ll be more useful there!!!!!

I despise censorship in all its forms unless it gets racist, sexually explicit or just plain senseless.
Wondir is driven by people answering Questions. Openly, honest and truthful.

Just as I hate people that answer a question with “Google it” or “I don’t know” just to get their ratings up…I hate even worse the people that abuse their powers to help…turning them into powers to hinder.

As a mod, your job is to keep the boards safe and clean (by standards accepted within the community).

You don’t decide whose opinion is right or wrong, you don’t say who can ask what question unless it is put in foul language or seductive phrases, you don’t decide if a person should or should not have an abortion…you give opinions, without causing the person to be offended and run screaming from Wondir to some place more safe and users friendly)

My true feelings be known, I would love to see the Mature and Religion categories deleted. They are the cause of most of the wars and problems on Wondir. Wondir is not a debate board, it is for answers…give yours…back it up…cut the bullshit….and move on!

Don’t sit there and delete an answer that is different than yours unless it is clearly wrong (Hint: KNOCK IT OFF IN THE RELIGION CATEGORY!) or offensive (Hint: KNOCK IT OFF IN THE MATURE CATEGORY!)

This in and of itself is reason for knowing who the mods are that are on and what they have done. And I believe that all users, registered or not should have the ability to see who the mods are and what they/we have deleted and WHY.

Which brings me to my personal rant for this post…

Short and simple: When a Mod deletes a post they should be required to give a reason WHY!
This cuts through all the BS and gets right to the point. Same way with banning people. Let me see their history, let me see the post where the complaint came from..let me decide from there!

Enough for now….

Bring it on!!!!

Be safe, be HAPPY…but most of all…..be YOURSELF!!!

Bond Hunter ~ Ken

Google Talk!! It's Here!! It's Free!!! It's...ummm

Had to get this baby first thing.

Google, the true key to internet search,has finally unveiled its long needed and wanted Google Talk!!

Here's a Link

http://www.google.com/talk/

You need to have a Google GMail Account to get it, but good news...

I have 50 invites and will send them out to any of the regulars on Wondir free of charge, simply send me an email with your Wondir name and email account so I can send it to you.

There are a few links to news stories about Google Talk (personally I think GIM would have been a better name) (Or GYM for Google, Yahoo's Master!)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1851348,00.asp

http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.cfm?newsid=4271

Wondir's Growth - 2 Million Questions and Answers!

Pop on over to Wondir's blog and see the amazing growth over at Wondir.

Wasn't that long ago the number was 1 million...6 months later its DOUBLED!

Hey Buddy, Can Ya Spare $4 billion?

Google to raise 4 billion with another stock issue....plus word of a mysterious "communication tool" Can anyone say "GIM"?

New Google Desktop Beta!

It's finally here and it's FANTASTIC!

Just downloaded it today and can't stop playing with it.

Bright And Shiny Future: Part Deux!

Bright And Shiny Future: Part Deux!
Ideas For Wondir’s Future Growth*

* Or “How To Muck Things Up In One Easy Blog Post!”

O.K., here goes everything…this is where I prove to you once and for all just how dumb I can be.
As we all know, Wondir is going to change over time, everything has to change in order to adapt to new environments and new situations. Anything that doesn’t adapt becomes extinct, with the exception of Microsoft.

I’ve blogged on here previously about get a bunch of ideas down for feedback to Wondir as well as for use in future posts on here.

I knew you would all have great ideas, we Wondites tend to be like that!! ;)

The first and to me probably the easiest issue to handle is “Adding Paragraphs” to Wondir posts.

When I first got to Wondir, this probably more then anything really irritated me. I spend time typing and making sure everything was separated into neat little segments that were east to read and held related or semi related information and lo and behold…it posted like a letter from an 7 yr old on speed!

Where’d all my breaks go?

And more importantly why did they go wherever they went?

I can see some sense in not having the breaks, it takes up extra space and it is open to abuse if you get some idiot who posts two words and adds 50 spaces in between them. But there has to be a way to allow them and limit them to just one page break for “X” number of words.

So

I

Can’t Post

Like

This???

So there’s my rant on “Paragraph Breaks” Should be easy to add if there is not a good reason for not having them, which we don’t know yet but I know Allen, Billy or Cindy, maybe even Matt will let us know, Gotta love it when you get personal response from the head honchos and you get it fast…these guys are GOOD!

Onto issue two: HTML Links…

Another issue that bothered me when I first came to Wondir was that when I posted and added a web site link so the person could go see where I was getting my information from, it didn’t create an automatic HTML link, one someone can just click on instead of having to cut and paste it into their browser, a think I hate to do because if I only have one browser open it causes me to leave the site I’m currently on.

What I’d like to see implemented at Wondir is clickable links. Ones that open in a new browser, not take me away from Wondir. I’ve gotten several suggestions about that.

But, in being fair, Allen did write me and tell me that Wondir use to have them but they were abused at times. Now we all can imagine what types of places “certain” people would send others to. So I clearly see why it is not in practice today.

What I’d like to see is if there is a way to get them back. Even if it is only on a limited basis to Moderators or other “TRUSTED” regulars.

I hate to sound like I’m talking about a Class System, but face it people, some people just can’t be trusted with too much power, like the ability to add links to god only knows where. But in the case of Mods and Regs I would think there are some out there that can be trusted to wield this mystical power.

The solution to abuse is loss of Mod rights, or banning the Reg that abuses the power. Now that would cost Wondir time in checking on complaints (another “Report Abuse” linky..”). but in the end it would help build a better system. Though I do believe that those people that get the right to use HTML links should all be taught how to look for spy-ware and programs that automatically install.

Another issue that was brought up was an interesting one. The ability to type in a question ID number and pull up the question. Now I’m horrible with remembering numbers so this doesn’t help me out at all, others may want to keep track of their favorite questions, something I do on a limited basis using “My Favorites”.

If something like this was implemented, I’d like to see it set up like the links suggestion, where it would open in a different browser so as not to disrupt my main screen on Wondir. (You should note here that while on Wondir I usually average about three other browsers open and both my IM programs running, usually for private sessions, so I’m use to being distracted by multiple windows and browsers…)

Ok, next rant…

The Filtering System: It’s been suggested, several times both here on my blog and in personal conversations with different people that the Wondir filtering system doesn’t catch a lot of the stuff it should, but I lay down this challenge, find one that does work all the time…filtering technology is like that of voice recognition software, it’s only as effective as the people who use it.
When posting a question, Wondir users are offered the chance to place their questions in a wide array of boards. Most opt out to let Wondir put it where they think is best. Now most of the time, and I’ve looked at this posts on most of the major boards I post to, Wondir does an effective job of getting stuff where it belongs.

On to the next gripe…err, suggestion:

As User suggested: It would be great if when a member were suspended, that the registered e-mail address would be blocked as well. I know it is easy to get a new address from somewhere like hotmail, but I think it would cut down on people who get suspended just signing right back up.

BRILLIANT!!

I, personally have too many email accounts, and I know how hard it is to get one. Hell it takes forever to get through the BS that Hotmail and Yahoo and the others make you fill out…if I was to be a TROLL, I’d get tired of being banned and having to apply for new email accounts just to troll….and it is better than an all out ISP ban, like what Dal-Net tried with the AOL spammers a few years back, all their ban did was reduce real accounts. So I back this suggestion 110%!!!

This same user also suggested that multiple accounts be tied to one email address. Hmm…well I’m not a fan of multiple accounts but here’s my best…

Ok, suppose for SOME reason, WAY beyond my grasp, I decided that I wanted to spend ½ my time on Wondir being Mr. Good and ½ my time being Mr. Joke…can I have everything tied to one email account?

Personally, I’d say no. Now hear me out….Wondir is not some Yahoo Chat Room, you can’t have an identity for hitting on girls, an identity for hitting on guys and one for being Mr. Clean…What is the problem? Why the multiple accounts? What is the need? Do you have split personalities? Alter-Egos?

Get over it…either be yourself or admit you aren’t acting right cause your meds need to be adjusted.

Wondir is designed to be a place people can go to for rock solid advice and information. Not someplace where the same guy is going to answer your question 3 times under three different names.

Why do you need three accounts? Why can’t you just have one account and do what you are supposedly here to do…ask and answer questions? I’m all for banning multiple accounts, especially when one or more are being abused or used to up the ratings and ranks.

Basically people, it boils down to this, BE YOURSELF! That’s ALL you will ever be and if you can’t be honest about that with people a billion miles away from you then you seriously need help to stop hiding whatever it is you are hiding!

On the old Dal-Net we banned those people, Wondir should do the same.

Bright and Shiny Future Update: #1

I just wanted to let everyone know I have read all the posts as well as the emails that have been sent to me personally and I am currently working on a reply article.

This is currently an EXTREMELY busy time of the year for those of us in the "vacation resort" business and I don't have lots of time to work on it or to be on Wondir right now, but it is coming!

I knew the Wondirites(c) would come though with a long list of Wondirful ideas.

Just to let you know, Allen and Billy, both from Wondir read the responses you give here, as I'm sure others at Wondir do too. Wondir has a fantastic (can't keep using the Wondirful..it gets old at times) staff who listen and respond to our needs, wants and gripes...

Keep posting what you like, don't like, need, want or just think might be KEWL to have!

As always, the people who come to Wondir continue to impress me with both their caring and their wisdom. Together with a great staff, we can continue to make Wondir Wondirful! (sorry, had to do it!)

Keep the ideas and suggestions coming, they will ALL get heard...err, read and responded to...since you already know I can't help but throw my two cents in!

Till then...Be Safe...Be Happy...but most of all....BE YOURSELF!

A Bright Shiny Future!!

Wondir’s Future: What Would YOU Like To See?

* Note: Yes, I’m still working on the Wondir Blogging Article. So Don’t GRIPE!

As recent poster asked if some of us could add a little input to an article he is writing for the New York Times about Community Search Engines like Wondir or the old Google Answers.

Now what I’d like readers here to do is make this the longest and thread Blogger has ever seen.

Imagine a year down the road, two years down the road, even five years down the road. How would YOU see Wondir? What improvements would you like to see? What features would you like to see? Got a category you want added?

Well this is YOUR chance to add to the Wondir that is Wondir! Voice your opinion!

Tell me what you’d like to see added to, taken away from or enhanced at Wondir!

Want a better WIM? Want more Moderators? Want better filtering? Want better category placement? Voice your opinion!

Tell me what you want and I’ll see it gets to the guys that count!

Make a good plea for what you want and why you see it as needed on Wondir and I’ll back you up. If you think it’s a good idea to have at Wondir let me know, I’ll probably agree with you. But if you don’t voice your opinion you’ll never get heard.

So post what you like here or feel free to email me at BondHunter@gmail.com and I’ll pass it on to the staff at Wondir?

Now we all know there’s things we would love to see either added or updated on Wondir! This is your chance…maybe your last chance…why not post a suggestion or two, or a whole page!!!

Don’t be shy, aim for the bull’s-eye!!

Tell them what you REALLY think needs to be updated! I know these people listen.

If you want it, suggest it. If you want it and DON’T suggest it, then please don’t be one of the first to complain when it isn’t set up. Trust me, Wondir listens to it’s users and regulars. So, VENT, SUGGEST, OFFER IDEAS!

Till later…Bond Hunter over and out…love you all! Be Happy, Be Safe, but MOST of all…BE YOURSELF!!!