nsx

It's a long thread, but the internal trial was described:

The only missing information here is that IB was indeed able to give TalkBoard members access to the internal trial.

Kagehitokiri

my bad, i did not go back far enough. thanks.

there will probably be more threads like this >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...t-ft-like.html

kipper

In the process, now everyone has "likes given" and "likes received," even though that part of it wasn't discussed or mentioned that it would appear.

nsx

C'mon kipper, you know that the current internal trial was not designed AT ALL. It was just "turn on whatever the software already knows how to do". The point was to see what parts of that look useful and usable and what parts need to be changed. So tell us what you like and don't like, but don't shoot arrows at Carol for trying what was available to her without studying its features in detail, writing a full specification, and posting it here for pre-approval. That long process is what TalkBoard will do before we decide to do anything.

kipper

That's part of the problem. There's been no real thought given to any of this. It's all been, "Well, we'd do a trial, but we don't have anything to define what a trial would include. We don't have any idea of how to define success or failure, or what those would look like. We don't have any plan for if it's still about a 50-50 split."

Again, I ask, do you have a solid plan for any of this or is it all being made up and considered as you go?

JDiver

Let's please keep discussion respectful.

Nobody I'm aware of knows how this happened, though it's likely IB is looking at functions built into vB and erred in how they think it could be controlled.

It's Friday afternoon; that ups the level of difficulty.

Let's refrain from jumping to conclusions, blame assigning and ad hominem. Please.

JDiver, Moderator

goalie

^^^^^ WORD!

kipper

Does this mean I get a Tootsie Pop?

SkiAdcock

What's concerning is that in one of the threads in Omni lite someone mentioned getting a notification/went to his PM thinking it was a PM only to discover someone liked a post (he has no idea which one). I truly hope this isn't going to turn into Milepoint where you get alerts, click on them & the alert is to tell you someone liked one of your posts. What a waste of time!

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

I didn't see her shooting arrows at Carol, but addressing a lot of what you've said throughout the thread, which is very vague etc. It's because of that vagueness that some FTers rightfully have questions & concerns. To dismiss/deflect them is inappropriate IMO.

Cheers.

nsx

It's vague because we should be exploring all possibilities and their ramifications. I for one don't accept the proposition that if the current software can't do it, then we shouldn't consider asking for it. I especially don't accept the proposition that a particular ad hoc internal demonstration is the only version we can have.

Questions and concerns about features belong here. The more the better. What doesn't belong here is process discussion. The process is in the information gathering phase and feature discussion phase, not the decision phase.

I've said it before here, but I won't mind if we decide not to implement anything as long as we had a complete discussion (which we are having) and the decision is soundly based on that discussion. I'm very happy that we have learned so much already.

SanDiego1K

Goodness goodness goodness.

There has been discussion of a button that indicates a post has been helpful or smart or informative. There have been a lot of assumptions as to what it would look like and what functionality it would have. I had a review with key Internet Brands folks recently on various technical initiatives. I asked about this capability. I didn't want Talkboard consuming tremendous energy should we determine that massive development work would be needed to have this feature. I'd like a mobile platform first, thank you. It turned out they have a plug in that could be turned on. I wanted to see it without causing the disruption one would think had been caused by reading this and the Omni thread. Here are some constraints:

1. It could only be turned on boardwide. It couldn't be restricted to specific forums.
2. It could be restricted to categories of participants. Categories are admins, moderators, Talkboard members, FTers who have more than 180 posts, all FTers, and perhaps a few more.
3. As my thinking evolved, I decided to ask that admin, Talkboard, and Moderators be given the ability to "like" a post or to find it "helpful".
4. I asked those with the capability to use it only in the private Talkboard and Talkteam forums.
5. I apparently failed to make that request fast enough or bold enough. Some very innocently "liked" things in open forums.
6. An unintended consequence was learning that eveyone has two new lines in their profiles, showing likes received and likes given. Smart FTers quickly spotted that. And then began to wonder why FTer A had a like but FTer B did not. So we've learned that it can cause discomfort in that way.
7. No one asked for this but me. I'm a firm believer that this trial will help TB make a more informed decision.

I'll be asking IB to turn off the "like" ability next week. It was always my intent that this be a one week experiment intended to help Talkboard be smarter when considering the issue. It is not an attempt to be an end run on the current poll or the ongoing discussion. Me? I have no opinion for or against.

I hope this has been helpful.

Carol
Community Director

JDiver

Friends,

This was a test here "behind the walls" of vB's current capabilities, that's all. There have been unforeseen consequences insofar as some bits have oozed out under or around "the wall".

None of this has anything to do with the discussion and consideration process going on here at all. We may see these pseudo podia through the weekend for all I know.

There's a lot of speculation here, but what is under consideration and being voted on by those members who have an opinion about a "Helpful" button is still the real agenda.

I can't say much more because this is what I know.

Ah, I see the Community Director has posted, so we all have further information now.

Now, let's get on with civil, mutually respectful discussion and refrain from attributions and casting of stones.

JDiver, Senior Moderator

kipper

Or, as was said in The Wizard of Oz

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

JDiver

Exactly!

There's nothing up their sleeves except for more sleeves.

A bit like when the stage and house lights are dimmed and the stage hands move the furniture around - but we see some motion and hear the bumps and thumps.