Suggestions for SOFT 2010

[jackmann]

Membership /Music Made In Singapore

Hi Soft.

I suggest u to make membership to all composer music made in Singapore.

I believe it will help those musicians out there, sometimes thing happen last minute beyond our control. (circumstances)

This will assist them to look for each other easier.
Also be closer to each other, to get back up and support from membership
friends.

As it is please consider pertaining to this request.

cool thank you

 

[MarcusH]

Search Function

not sure if anyone brought this up but the search function within the forum (not the google search at the side, but the search box located on top) has a minimum character count.

when searching for brands like EMG, Vox, Ltd, ESP, no search results will be found even though they may be valid keywords.

+1 Agreed!

I wasn't allowed to search for "R&B" which is a valid search term. Clearly we don't want people slowing down the server by searching for words like "and" but if we're not allowed to search for words like Vox and R&B then it's gone too far.

BTW. Thanks for a great website :smile:

 

[mrekoj]

better verification for registration of membership ?
to prevent scammer scamming loads of crap.

 

[theliverevolution]

better verification for registration of membership ?
to prevent scammer scamming loads of crap.

Doubt it. Scammers are human, they'll still bypass the security. It only affects spambots, but not scammers.

 

[junkiemanxl]

I would like to see that users can embed youtube videos in thier post if possible. that would be a nice add on

 

[Gr3y]

have anyone mentioned mobile phone version of soft already?
an iPhone app for browsing soft would be really good! less zooming in of the crazily long page.Also, I'm sure advertisers would also like their advertisements viewable on mobile!

 

[kave]

Hi i have to suggestions. Maybe can personalize the member's profile into more details. Example what are the current gear or setup they're using. Guitars , Efx , Amps . How they run their efx chain. And music influences , cos i see people always asking one another abt their gear. So if could upload pictures would be perfect as well.

And further for example, when you click on a member , you can see what he's trying to sell , or want to buy. That would save alot of searching time.

Next i would like to have a black-list section. For softies , maybe categorize in buyers/sellers. Their nickname , phone number and reason why they should be blacklist. Sort of like a reputation thing that eBay is using. Yeah i hope these could be shown.

 

[theunknown]

kave: usually people write down their gear in their signature, there is also a photo gear gallery available. the pictures are all compiled there for discussions. i see that u dont have a signature. it's a useful tool.

also, for your profile, you can upload a pic. just one though.

also, having want-to-buy or want-to-sell, members can put links of the thread in their signature or write a visitor message regarding their sales for profile visitors to see.

junkiemanxl: embedding will sure slow down soft, imo. like the existing ones at the bottom of pages usually.

 

[Botakboy]

Yo Soft... please make a link to 'see your thread/post'
sometimes we need to check our thread for replies and etc...

 

[retardedrummer]

Can have a column which states the recent posts with the recent dates. and when its allowed to repost? Easier reference for seller or something. and bold YOU CAN ONLY REPOST AFTER 7 DAYS.
Cause up til yesterday then i realised reposting is after 7 days.
And GENDER!!! haha have a gender button.

Also, is it possible for a button which allows the seller to remove the thread once the gear is sold?

 

[soft]

Yo Soft... please make a link to 'see your thread/post'
sometimes we need to check our thread for replies and etc...

http://soft.com.sg/forum/profile.php?do=editoptions

Default Thread Subscription Mode
When you post a new thread, or reply to a topic, you can choose to automatically add that thread to your list of subscribed threads, with the option to receive email notification of new replies to that thread.

Select the option you want.

 

[manabopo]

For the WTS or WTB part, can indicate if it is Acoustic or Electric cos sometimes it does get confusing and messy. Maybe classifying it will be good.

 

[Rendezvous]

have anyone mentioned mobile phone version of soft already?
an iPhone app for browsing soft would be really good! less zooming in of the crazily long page.Also, I'm sure advertisers would also like their advertisements viewable on mobile!

i believe this is a good idea but not a great one.
i presume not all softies uses an iphone.
and this forum has many images,flash to be loaded.it will take too long for it to load a page in the phone.

But still would be cool if it has a mobile version.:mrgreen:

 

[theliverevolution]

James, this doesn't really call for a change in system, but I would like to request a bit more transparency.

I recently noticed that a particular forumer got banned, but no notice of why he was banned was ever released, which makes me doubt the basis for why he was banned in the first place

Perhaps, if possible, if you choose to ban someone, you would release a small post and state the reason why? It would make us understand why and, if by any chance it flouts the forum rules, then we can learn and ensure we don't make the same mistakes

 

[capt_oreo]

Since the formation of SOFT, this forum has came a long way.

It is now one of the top forums in Singapore and is known to others from other parts of asia and maybe further.

In view of the known 'branding' of this forum, there must be a constant upgrade of the forum to facilitate and highlight its core function which is 'a website dedicated to the local music industry'

In my opinion, soft has done much in this aspect. Such as the introduction of SoftTV. However, more can be done. Such has introducing a section dedicated solely for local music.

Also, I second the suggestion by CoNtAgIoUs which is to implement a template for Buy/Sell. this would not only make the forum neater but also prevent unwanted confusion.

As the buy/sell section is one of the most used and/or visited section of this forum, I would suggest the further classification of the section. For example, the guitars section can be further classified to 'Acoustic', 'Electric', 'Cases/Bags' and Accessories.

This would make the search for a suitable instrument or accessories of that particular range easier.

I would also suggest a comeback for the 'Reply' function in the buy/sell section.

Another suggestion would be for a 'DELETE THREAD' function. So that Threadstarters can delete unwanted Threads started by them without waiting for the administrator to do so.

Overall, SOFT has earned its name in the local music forum scene and will continue to do so in years to come.

Kludos to James and his team in keeping Soft running well.

Amen to the above....

 

[gutturalpiss]

a clearer sticky to show where to buy guitar products so the beginners wont ask repetitive questions again and again.

There is already a solution, and it's called "Wiki". So for 2010, make a note for yourselves as perhaps a new year resolution, help expand the wiki.

This reply applies to all other feature requests regarding stickies.

Gender. Hahaha.

Hahaha indeed.

On the internet, there is no such thing as gender. He/she bro/sis mean the same thing, just like "good day" means "good day/evening wherever you are". Females are not supposed to be offended, because if so, they should be offended at the man who created, or rather branched off, the term "woiman" from "man". That is why in science, when we say "man", it's understood to refer to "human", regardless of gender.

With all that crap said, it's simply a matter of placing an icon or adding an extension to the forum back-end =p

any chance we can have a search function that doesn't require a 30s interval between searches?

No. While this is easily done, the sole reason why this is the default in the back-end is because a period less than that is potential cause for server failure in processing the user request.

However, somewhere around 10 seconds may be OK.

not sure if anyone brought this up but the search function within the forum (not the google search at the side, but the search box located on top) has a minimum character count.

Again, technical limit. The back-end, MySQL, accepts only >= 4-character words. This is because any character lesser than that will tax the server, as there are literally millions of < 4 character sets the server has to search the database for. This could, again, lead to user request - no wait - even server failure.

---

All other requests and ideas are implementable (inclusive of adopting a different forum engine), or so I say.

 

[7earsDoFall]

Hello.

I've read through quickly the suggestions in the previous 5 page and I thought I would share my 2 cents as well.

Suggestions Pertaining To Buy&Sell

... set a template for the buy/sell section ...

I think this is a great idea but I understand that this might (or maybe not) require new a totally new database table to store the information (item, price, email, phone, etc...) in individual field columns.

Another way to approach this is perhaps to have a suggested "Buy Sell Template". What happens is that when a user creates a new thread in buy & sell, the textarea is automatically filled with the information labels (using javascript or php to check that this new thread being created is for buy&sell and then write this in):
Item:
Price:
....
So users can just field in directly beside these labels and delete any of them which they intend to leave this blank. This way it is more flexible and does not require any new database tables, etc...

But then again, it is also a good idea to set new database tables specifically for buy&sell. Since buy&sell ain't allowing any replies, the reply column showing the number of replies, & perhaps the last post column as well, should be replaced with another column(s) that is more useful.

Perhaps the buy&sell should be taken apart from the forum function and become a new stand alone all by itself like classifieds ads (but of course still integrated in soft)

I would suggest....
The posting of buy&sell ads page should allow users to select options (WTS, WTB, WTT, WTS/WTT, WTB/WTT, WTS/WTB). It should also allow users to select from a number of categories e.g. drums b&s (drum set, individual drums, accessories, drum materials (books&DVDs).
So what happens is that at the b&s page, where the list of ads are, put an OPTION panel just at the top of the ads list. e.g.
Check to see only...
[] WTS []WTB [] WTT [] Drumset [] Individual Drums [] Materials [GO]
This way it can serve users better without having them to search through engines and open every single results one by one to find what they are looking for.

Also, have a check box for sold on the editing thread page. Sellers check them when their items are sold. Then perhaps 'blacklist' the thread so that it shows up grey (and maybe the last few rows at the b&s ads list).

This is for easier reference for users so that they don't click on ads with already sold items (which is quite pointless to some extent). It also prevents server from listing expired ads at the front, which is a good thing to make this site efficient. But of course, I don't really suggest to completely destroy ads when the items are sold coz people like me like to surf around the buy&sell and see what items had been sold and at what price. It's really fun. lol!

Oh i suddenly forgot one more suggestion regarding b&s, will reply again when I remember...

Suggestions Pertaining To Main Site
the whole site overall in terms of layout could do some improvement to make it stylish. but then I have absolutely fine with the current layout (or clutteredness) since I do get to do what I want to do here, talk on forums, see ads... etc.. so I guess it's fine I do like our local ads btw, lets me know more of what we have in Singapore in terms of music.

The Music Shops link at the top left should allow a drop down like the Community link to "Guitar Shops" "Drum shops".. etc.. and then these individual links will take the user to the respective threads showing the shops.

Suggestions Pertaining To Forum
YouTube's comments allows users to thumbs up (&down). I suggest that we allow users to thumbs up good threads (esp How to threads & threads which contains answers to frequently asked questions) Then by adding an addition "No. of thumbs up" Column, users can click it to rearrange the thread listing to show the thread with the most thumbs up first, this way we can avoid getting sticky around the site. haha.

I hope I don't get confusing.

Thanks

 

[7earsDoFall]

oh yes, i remembered. regarind B&S the option at the panel should also have a checkbox for ads with photos - [] With Photo

And also... if revamping layouts, maybe can come up with a few for users to vote before implementing it. Would be better with a live preview rather than just a screen shot.

 

[fretness]

add some musical notes in the background Edit the background so it looks more modern and like you know BOOMZ

 

[shredded]

hi

how about having sub-categories for musicians wanted/available section.

just like our buy/sell section, we can further categorize into the different instruments.

perhaps we could put musicians wanted and available section together but with the different instruments

ie musician avail/wanted -> vox/drum/guitar/bass/keys etc.

in this way, the 'musicians market' section would not have too many categories if there were individual categories for both available and wanted. e.g. 1 section for vox avail and another for vox wanted.