Ignore Thread/User Functions - Requests

[Ian]

So there isn't a 3rd party Add-on that covers what I'm really looking for based on previous suggestions for the "Ignore Thread" function, which isn't a feature included in the software. The previous version on the old forum worked just OK, but I know there were some issues people had that I want to solve this time. Ignoring a particular thread itself is relatively easy. It just got me thinking about the user ignore function and I figured I'd bring it up at the same time.

As a result, I've spent most of today looking at the code in order to create an option we can tailor around what we all would like to see, and I've got it figured out well enough to start putting it together.

I think the big thing is to make sure people have the option to view a thread that might be a game day thread, or another "official" thread that may or may not have been started by someone on their ignore list. So what I was thinking is adding a field after you select "Ignore" that allows you to choose text that would disable it under that criteria. IE: Contains "Game Day Thread" or something to that effect.

Needless to say, I wanted to get some feedback from people so I can code it properly. So please take a moment to throw out any suggestions you might have so I can make sure I get it as close to what everyone wants as possible.

 

[Joker]

I've never used the "ignore" function. I've lied numerous times to certain people telling them they are on my ignore list, but that's just reverse psychology on my part to get THEM to put ME on their ignore list. I firmly believe that an "ignore" feature diminishes the life of a message board...I mean "I come to a message board to ignore messages" seems counterintuitive to me. I will admit, I DO have extremely thick skin and some of our members fall to the sensitive side for which the ignore function provides a measure of comfort but...in the long run, that which should be ignored is the blatant advertising threads and other crap extraneous to being an NFL/Patriots fan.

I'm sure Fnord will disagree with this post but I do not care. I'm ignoring him...

 

[Deus Irae]

I think the big thing is to make sure people have the option to view a thread that might be a game day thread, or another "official" thread that may or may not have been started by someone on their ignore list. So what I was thinking is adding a field after you select "Ignore" that allows you to choose text that would disable it under that criteria. IE: Contains "Game Day Thread" or something to that effect.

vBulletin (at least with the addons I have) handles it by having the ignored person's thread still show up, with the thread title and all, and the original post being blank, since it's from the ignored. That way might be easier than having to target specific threads. It might even be a way to allow the ignorer to access his account functions to, for example, turn off the "full ignore" and going with this sort of "partial ignore" option on game day if he can't find a GDT without doing so, and then turning it back on the following day.

But I don't know if that would be making more, or less, work for you.

 

[luuked]

I think the big thing is to make sure people have the option to view a thread that might be a game day thread, or another "official" thread that may or may not have been started by someone on their ignore list. So what I was thinking is adding a field after you select "Ignore" that allows you to choose text that would disable it under that criteria. IE: Contains "Game Day Thread" or something to that effect.

What I think would be most straight forward is to have all threads that are supposed to be "official" (e.g. Pre Game Thread, GDT, Post Game Thread, Other Games, maybe a separate Bucs Game Thread so the other games can still sustain conversations while Tampa is playing..) either created in advance by an admin (or script directly on the DB) which decreases the likelihood dramatically that those will be missed by people due to ignore function shenanigans. They can be created a whole day ahead and then just locked until when it makes sense to let people in.

Alternatively maybe you could use various tags for "official" threads (e.g. NFL GAMEDAY DISCUSSION, TRAINING CAMP ect.) and put them on a whitelist that overrides individual ignore functionality. Actually I'd suggest making a tag labeled "OFFICIAL" (or whatever) because I feel like when there is a major injury or a big trade and a thread is posted by a third party the same visibility issues could still apply. This way you can make a thread visible by just slapping the "OFFICIAL" tag (or whatever the name is) on it to make sure its visible.

Personally, I was always thinking that what would make the most sense is to have the user ignore feature only apply on a posting basis, but let threads (including their titles) created by anyone still show up. Essentially the equivalent of running the jscript involved in the "show ignored threads" function by default when browsing the board. If someone still wants to ignore an entire thread they can use the explicit "ignore thread" functionality for that.

In other words opt-in for filtering user postings, opt-out for filtering threads.


Since you have to do the heavy lifting yourself I won't bother you with additional ideas (e.g. muting someone for 24h instead of a straight block) because lets focus on getting the fundamentals right first.

Thanks for all the improvements.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Posters can ignore other posters manually. No?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Never used Ignore User to best of my memory (quiet fnord) but I do use Ignore Thread a lot for inane threads to clean up my display and make good threads easier to find. Haven't used IT much or at all in last few weeks. Used it lots months ago. luuked has some good thoughts about weekly Mod initiated standard OFFICIAL threads. I find it annoying to have several threads poorly named that are about the same thing just because someone wants to see their name on the front page.

 

[p8ryts]

So there isn't a 3rd party Add-on that covers what I'm really looking for based on previous suggestions for the "Ignore Thread" function, which isn't a feature included in the software. The previous version on the old forum worked just OK, but I know there were some issues people had that I want to solve this time. Ignoring a particular thread itself is relatively easy. It just got me thinking about the user ignore function and I figured I'd bring it up at the same time.

As a result, I've spent most of today looking at the code in order to create an option we can tailor around what we all would like to see, and I've got it figured out well enough to start putting it together.

I think the big thing is to make sure people have the option to view a thread that might be a game day thread, or another "official" thread that may or may not have been started by someone on their ignore list. So what I was thinking is adding a field after you select "Ignore" that allows you to choose text that would disable it under that criteria. IE: Contains "Game Day Thread" or something to that effect.

Needless to say, I wanted to get some feedback from people so I can code it properly. So please take a moment to throw out any suggestions you might have so I can make sure I get it as close to what everyone wants as possible.

I miss the what