WebJunction - Group: Site Feature Requests

RE: New Group Activity

2008-11-17T18:28:56Z

Hi Kathleen. Great suggestions. I'll make sure they are captured on our list of feature requests.

RE: New Group Activity

2008-11-14T19:15:34Z

Also making sure we can Add as Friend anyone in the group - from the show all panel - directly from the group. A fast way to meet others who joined the group that we aren't yet friends with.

RE: New Group Activity

2008-11-14T19:13:45Z

Regarding group activity - I would love to be able to "email everyone in the group" in one step. Kind of a Group Listserv! Is this already on the enhancement list?

RE: Embed feature for PPTs, Media, Images, Etc.

2008-11-04T03:35:01Z

Thanks Chrystie. We're actually looking at more robust ways to handle media. For example, this platform will handle uploading almost all your media needs. But as of now, we're a little short on the actual _playing_ (within the site) of those same items.

We'll keep working on it!

RE: New Group Activity

2008-11-04T03:33:50Z

Thanks Chrystie. I'll add that to the features update list. It's a good suggestion but because of other development priorities it's probably not one we'll see right away.

New Group Activity

2008-10-28T22:36:37Z

I am in several groups at WJ and I manage a few of them. I would like the ability to see new group activity on My WJ page in the Groups portlet since my last login. This would help me more effectively manage the groups that I facilitate and I wouldn't have to visit all of them to see if there's new activity there every time I login.

Embed feature for PPTs, Media, Images, Etc.

2008-10-28T22:35:08Z

I would more proactively post my own stuff here (especially PPTs) if I were able to embed them in my blog or other web places. I post here, but then I have to repost to slide-share and that's a drag.

RE: Link in Friend Request Email (Redux)

2008-09-18T02:37:37Z

Thanks for the comment, Gina. And great timing, too. We've just discovered that same icky "loop." The functionality that you should expect falls into your #2 example -- the link takes you directly to "your" profile page (instead of the person who friended you) where you can approve this and any other pending. We're working on scheduling this fix for an upcoming install.

I'll also make note of #1 as something to look at the next time we are reviewing the overall functionality of the Friends component I can see how that really would streamline the process for some of our members.

Thanks again for your feedback!
-Tim

Link in Friend Request Email (Redux)

2008-09-17T16:14:36Z

I appreciate the WJ staff fixing that little link in the Friend Request Email. That link now takes the recipient to the requestor's profile. This is a huge improvement.

However, I realized the other day that it can cause a series of Friend Requests. When I receive my Friend Request Email, I follow the link to the requestor's profile. Unfortunately, there is no link there to "approve request." Instead, I end up clicking on "Add as Friend." So now the requestor gets a request back and so it goes until one of us figures out we should, after getting to the requestor's profile page, go to "My WebJunction" so we can "approve the request."

My suggestion is to consider one of the following:
1. The link in the email just automatically approves the friend request (a la LinkedIn),
2. The link in the email takes the recipient to their own page where the friend requests are waiting so they can be approved with minimal clicking, or
3. The something is on the requestor's profile page (where we are currently linked) to automatically approve the request from that individual.

Thanks for considering it. Just trying to limit the clicking.

G.

RE: Better path/breadcrumb info for deep links

2008-08-29T17:25:26Z

Sheila,
Thanks for documenting this so thoroughly. I believe you've uncovered a bug. I'm quite sure the intention is to maximize navigation via activity in the social features eg. browse from the discussion thread you find in someone's public profile to the documents and overview of the topic area.

Thanks again,
JP

Better path/breadcrumb info for deep links

2008-08-29T16:55:37Z

I find myself using other people's profile pages and MyWebjunction as my primary access points for WJ content, which I think is part of the intent of the more social functionality of WJ. I find my way to content through the people who interest me.

However, I find that many links from others profile pages and from MyWebjunction will take me to a specific discussion or document that really interests me, but when I try to figure out if the specific discussion or document is part of a larger top area or group area I am at a loss to find out what those might be.

Today's specific example is:

In my updates list, I see this entry for 8/28/08:

Michael Sauers created the discussion thread "Troubleshooting WiFi".

I know that the link for "Troubleshooting WiFi" is bad (see recent post in Help & Support Discussion) so I follow the link to Michael Sauers personal profile and get to the correct link for "Troubleshooting WiFi" in Michael's Activities list.

When I get to that page I assume that there may be something on the "Overview" or "Documents" tabs, but when I click on them, I end up on the WJ global homepage.

Perhaps this has something to do with how and where Michael created the discussion, but similar things seem to happen to me when I follow other links in personal profile activities lists of others as well. The same goes for following this link in Laura Crossets public profie:
Laura Crossett replied to the discussion thread "RE: Welcome to wp4lib!".

Maybe what I am experiencing is a bug rather than a missing feature, but either way, I want to be able to make use of personal profiles as a means of navigating not just to specific items of content, but to areas of content in general.

all the best,
Sheila

RE: Search topic hit links increased size

2008-08-12T21:55:25Z

Welcome, and thanks for the feedback, Eric. I'm compiling a list of search interface requests and I'll add this to the collection.

-Tim

Search topic hit links increased size

2008-08-09T16:49:47Z

Please consider making the search hit links a little bigger in font size

RE: What's New

2008-08-08T01:17:52Z

Thanks Robert -- While think that allowing discussions (and group conversations) to take place at topic page level where members are directly engaged, it does make it rather difficult to get a 20,000' view of what's happening on WebJunction. We're working on some ways to automatically gather all this dispersed information in one place but in the mean time check out features like the new group link list Jennifer has been updating on the member center homepage:

Again, thanks for your suggestions. We'll get there!

What's New

2008-08-07T22:10:27Z

Maybe I just haven't found it yet on the new webjunction, but I would like to see a page listing what is new on the site since my last login. New postings, new topics, new articles, new groups...

On the old webjunction forum you could see at a glance new topics and replies. It was very easy to follow with the color-coded list bullets in the subject listings. I miss that.

I finally figured out that My Webjunction does include some of this relating to the stuff I have created or subscribed to. But it would be nice to see it for stuff I haven't participated in yet, but might if I only knew about it.

RE: Time zone settings in profile?

2008-08-06T20:56:37Z

Thanks Robert. We're working on this. I've also reported your issue to support.

Best,

Tim

Post your suggestions for new or improved site features here!

2008-08-01T21:55:22Z

Welcome to the group, folks. I'm using this space to collect ideas from our community that will help shape the next round of development for the WebJunction site. Please add your thoughts-either in an existing or new thread.

Keep in mind that requests here may not show for weeks or even months (if at all), so:

If you have a need for immediate assistance, please visit the Help and Support section of the Member Center.
If you think you have a found a bug, visit the feedback discussion.
Be sure to utilize the Frequently Asked Questions document. If you have suggestions or answers, make sure you post your comments there!

In this forum, ll try to comment on your ideas (feasibility, timeline, etc), as well as keep you up-to-date on our development plans. We'll also be using and updating a feature updates document that will provide insights on coming (monthly and farther out) site builds.

This forum might shake out into a more formal process down the road, but this should hold us for now. Again, enjoy exploring the next WebJunction; I welcome your ideas for the next-next WebJunction!

RE: Real Social Networking tools!

2008-08-06T17:01:10Z

Bill Drew:
Linking or cross functions with other social networks. RSS feeds that work correctly in Google Reader. Greater interactivity and ability for the user to change arrangement of their page and to add gadgets to it.

Integrations with other social networks are part of the long-term wish list for WebJunction, as we all use a variety of them and it would be great to try and link them together in some fashion. However the initial focus obviously is on getting our own site and functionality right, so integration has taken a backburner.

RSS feeds in Google Reader - good feedback, I hadn't personally tested that. If you have a specific feed or scenario you tried that didn't work, would you mind emailing it to support@webjunction.org? It's how we're tracking and prioritizing any fixes.

Page layout and gadgets - This is a yes and no sort of thing. While we do offer the "My WebJunction" functionality it's a long way from a truly customizable homepage like NetVibes or iGoogle offer. Closer (in spirit at least) to a LinkedIn or FB home page, minus the 3rd-party FB applications option. Again, on the wish list but for us, baby steps first.

RE: Who's online

2008-08-06T16:50:58Z

Thanks Robert -- This one is definitely on my radar, but with all the key UI and performance features it's probably going to take a back-burner position for now. It took facebook about four years to get chat and friends -- I'm pretty sure we can do better than that

RE: My Webjunction page controls

2008-08-06T16:40:47Z

Thanks for the great suggestion, Robert. I agree that expand/collapse is only part of the picture. We'll add this to the features request list.