Newbie2FT

I have two suggestions for improving the Glossary page that would helpfully greatly ease the path to understanding FlyerTalk for people like me who are relative newbies to the forums.

First, add a little form field at the top of each Glossary sub-page, so that people can request a definition to be added.
Something like this:If someone completes this form, it should go to a moderator responsible for reviewing it and adding a definition.

I recognize that if someone reads through the fine print on the main Glossary page (although not on the Glossary pages for each letter), there is a suggestion for emailing the term to be added. But composing an email is a more painful step that requires a lot more clicks, leaving the web browser, composing an email under a real name, etc. etc. That's a lot of friction for something that should be done from the Glossary page itself.

As just one example of terms that should be easily added, I was just reading a thread and tried figuring out what "RUC" and "GUC" meant. But they're not listed in the Glossary.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28668761-post11.html

Am I willing to take a minute and a half to type up an email in Outlook from scratch, asking for each definition to be added as I discover it? Nope.

Am I willing to take 10 seconds from the Glossary letter sub-page to request them as I find that it's not already listed? Yes.

I've encountered this problem with missing definitions several times this month. And because new people on here are regularly told to to "read the Glossary", I think the Glossary should be as complete as possible -- and that means making it easier for it to be updated.

Second, I think the complete list of IATA airport codes [and IATA airline designators] should be added as a separate sub-tab of the Glossary, not just as a separate page. Many times, posts in FlyerTalk mix abbreviations of programs, benefits, or annoyances with airport [and airline] codes, and the airport codes are not always indicated as such within the sentence structure. So it's not easy to tell what abbreviations are airport codes vs. user-made abbreviations.

The initial Glossary page could have a sub-tab developed for "All Terms Plus All Airport and Airline Codes."

That way, with a Ctrl-F / "Find in Page" search, a reader could type in any travel abbreviation and find out what it means. (The IATA codes would be in small print in columns at the bottom of the listing.)

I think that these two improvements would help people new to FlyerTalk and make it less confusing, and make it more likely for them to benefit and stick around.

Thanks for reading.

SanDiego1K

Welcome to FlyerTalk. That's a great first post, thinking about how FlyerTalk can be better. This is a solid suggestion. I'm going to tag a couple of the Internet Brands team to see what they think about the technical feasibility of this.

@IBobi @IBJoel

Newbie2FT

Hi @IBobi and @IBJoel - do you have thoughts on this?

IBJoel

Yes, we have asked tech to implement changes pretty similar to the ones you listed. Thank you for the input!

Newbie2FT

Thanks @IBJoel. Also, fyi - I edited my post, by also suggesting that IATA airline codes be added to the new single-page 'master glossary sub-page', in addition to the IATA airport codes.

Hopefully, that way, the "All Terms Plus..." sub-page would offer a one-stop, go-to resource that any abbreviation on FlyerTalk could be checked against.

IBThomasPartTwo