Some forum suggestions

Hi jMar

Further to what Steve H said: 'always a lot of views and little participation' in this thread

http://www.macprovideo.com/forum/logic/logic-pro-express&id=5641

I've been thinking about how to help macprovideo forums become an even greater community where Logicians will share experiences and tips and want to hang around more...

Here are some of my suggestions:

...perhaps a rethink of the 1000 points = a free tutorial policy. Could be brought down to 500 points.

Original Posters should be encouraged to give feedback to help provide an easy way for those searching in the future to identify useful posts. This could be much in the same way that eBay provides a 'feedback form'. Although I like the current system with the thumbs up and down it is sometimes hard to see on some screens.

Or even a 'post of the month' could win a macprovideo tutorial or a third party sample collection?

A specific place in the forums where users can contribute techniques, tips, presets, apple loops, logic project files would be cool too. It'd definitely get people returning more often.

Also, would be great if we could post pictures in our posts. As you know, a picture can paint a 'problem' into a possible solution that others can see more easily!

Would be nice if users can have their own identities (via an avatar - perhaps it could be a choice from a selection or open to using one's own pictures).

I'd also like to add Colin's idea that there be a specific place where support files can be downloaded for certain tutorials.

I hope some of these suggestions are useful.

Cheers

Rounik

Thanks Rounik for including my presets idea.

To elaborate: These are (generally) small files and could be very useful, instructive and generally of interest - referring to presets, channel strips or whatever are used by MacProVideo instructors.

I imagine there could either be a special download area for these files. Otherwise, files related to bought Tutorials could show up in NED.

Regards and best wishes to everyone for 2008 - Colin

Excellent suggestions! I would especially like being able to post pictures. As they say, a picture is worth thousand words. It would be easier to explain some concepts this way.

Also, being able to specify what software (and what version) we are using in our profile could be a time saver. Knowing if a forum user is on Logic 7 or 8 just by looking at his profile would be very useful!

[quote:1687]Also, being able to specify what software (and what version) we are using in our profile could be a time saver. Knowing if a forum user is on Logic 7 or 8 just by looking at his profile would be very useful!

Yes! Great idea! It's already useful being able to see the OS version posters are running and working out their local time from the Country information ;-)

My one reservation about being able to post pictures is from my experience on other forums I've been on where extremely hi-res pics are posted that require a lot of horizontal and vertical scrolling to see the whole picture. Great if you have a 20" screen - not so convenient for macbook users!

If it could be implemented in a way that there was a maximum resolution size or they could be resized after being uploaded that would be great.

Rounik

[quote:7638]
If it could be implemented in a way that there was a maximum resolution size or they could be resized after being uploaded that would be great.
Rounik

Absolutely!

If I am speaking out of turn, y'all just let me know. But it seems to me that y'all are trying to over-complicate what should be a very simple solution to the picture problem.
Why not have an icon series linked to each account?
For instance my icon series would be
White iMac w/ FCE HD 3.5
FCP 6.0 W/ Aperture 1.5

This would tell you just about everything y'all need to know and take up very little space.

Tell me what y'all think when y'all stop laughing at my ignorance.

Pete

It's a good idea. I'm definitely not laughing!

Only thing is if a forum member has multiple mac's & uses multiple pieces of software.

...although maybe I'm over complicating things now?

;-)

Rounik

If somebody is having the same software problem on multiple Macs, then the Macs ain't the problem. Sweaty feet are going to stink no matter whose boots they are in.

[quote:38318]Sweaty feet are going to stink no matter whose boots they are in.

LOL!

Yes, I see what you mean. I think it might be important though, because some users may be using PPC and not INTEL based macs or vice versa or perhaps a combination of both. Also, despite using multiple mac's myself I do use different versions of OS X.

...regardless, I'm going to stop there, leave this for Martin and go and change my socks ;-)

Another idea for the forum:

A 'stickies' style post that can be placed at the top of each sub-forum. This could contain important info to help troubleshoot on various issues depending on the application. It could also contain info such as 'latest news' / New Updates..., New Videos etc

For example I almost missed the fact there is a new Logic Video in production(!): Logic 404: Producing Electronica.

Cheers
Rounik

I was thinking... how about a "General Discussion" forum where we could discuss things that are not necessarily related to software issues. Just a thought... what do you think ?

I like the idea Christian!

What did you have in mind? quite an open 'general' forum or something still music/video/technical based?

Hi Rounik,

I was thinking about a general music and video forum... not necessarily technical. Some friendly place where we could share ideas with each other. :-)

And by the way, I really like your avatar suggestion!

Hey guys!

All great suggestions, and I agree with a whole lot of them. We will be working on improving our forums in the near future. Keep an eye out for new and exciting features. And keep the suggestions coming! (Yes, I do actually read these posts ;) )

Also, the stickies feature has recently been implemented. Stickies are listed in blue at the top.

Hey jMar!

Thought I'd take this opportunity to say Hi!

Yeah, I noticed Gosia using a sticky in the NED forum. It works really well.

I'm really liking Christian's idea of a general / chill-out / non-technical area of the forum....
& the ability to upload pictures, perhaps even video? Or perhaps a series of pictures into a slide show. Would be very useful when describing an issue or a solution methinks.

Cheers!
Rounik

I've added a General and Gear sub-section in the General forum.

Thank jMar! That was fast! :-)

wow! Very quick... thanks jMar!


Cheers
Rounik

No problem guys. Please make sure these new forums are moderated. The general forum could get out of hand real quick if not looked after.

Another idea came to me today:

a 'private message' or 'email' button. This could be useful when forum members want to upload a Logic or other file to www.sendspace.com or similar when help is needed. By using 'private message' only the intended recipient would be able to view the uploaded file's address.

I can see issues already with this idea - so perhaps it would be easier and safer if there was another system which users could use to invite particular members to have access to viewing / downloading an uploaded file/project?