"Gold" membership - good idea?

[David Bailey]

Would people be interested in a "Gold" membership level, with lots of funky new features (don't ask me what features, I'm just thinking idly here)?

[robd]

Would people be interested in a "Gold" membership level, with lots of funky new features

Funky features?

How about gold members get a 'no refusal or your money back' guarantee for dances with SilverFox? Hang on, I'm not sure the PayPal servers could cope with the deluge....:D

Or the ability to be invisible from forumites you don't enjoy dancing with in real life as well as online :rolleyes:

[Genie]

Would people be interested in a "Gold" membership level, with lots of funky new features (don't ask me what features, I'm just thinking idly here)?

I suppose that would depend on the funky new features and how much extra they would cost. I think it'd be an idea though :) I'd consider it.

[David Bailey]

I suppose that would depend on the funky new features and how much extra they would cost. I think it'd be an idea though :) I'd consider it.
Weeelll.... I dunno, but how about some level of control over threads you create? I'm sure a lot of people would love to share the whole joy of the moderation experience.

Actually, I've no idea what else is possible, feature-wise; someone technical should be able to suggest something however.

[Genie]

I don't think that would be such a good idea. Mod powers should stay with Mods. Too much scope for things to go wrong if you start dishing out part mod. powers to people who pay for it.

I'm not sure what else is available either, or what is possible. Some suggestions - custom handle/title, a different colour name on the right (from the orange/red it is), Golden Rep Power, Access to a special Golden Members section (not sure what you'd put in it though), special emoticons, ability to edit and delete their posts in any forum section... ok, I'm out of suggestions right now. If any more occur, I'll come back.

[David Bailey]

I don't think that would be such a good idea. Mod powers should stay with Mods. Too much scope for things to go wrong if you start dishing out part mod. powers to people who pay for it.
I think you missed the "For threads they create themselves" part - you can make an argument that if you create a thread, you could have some responsibility for (and interest in) keeping that thread on track.


I'm not sure what else is available either, or what is possible. Some suggestions - custom handle/title, a different colour name on the right (from the orange/red it is), Golden Rep Power, Access to a special Golden Members section (not sure what you'd put in it though), special emoticons, ability to edit and delete their posts in any forum section... ok, I'm out of suggestions right now. If any more occur, I'll come back.
They all sound like interesting suggestions. :clap:

EDIT: I've moved this debate to a "poll" thread, to see what people think.

[Gav]

Weeelll.... I dunno, but how about some level of control over threads you create? I'm sure a lot of people would love to share the whole joy of the moderation experience.

Actually, I've no idea what else is possible, feature-wise; someone technical should be able to suggest something however.

Coooool. I could delete every comment DJ makes on threads I created. :rofl:

Only joking DJ, please don't delete all my Comments.....:flower:

[David Bailey]

Coooool. I could delete every comment DJ makes on threads I created. :rofl:
You wouldn't miss anything.


Only joking DJ, please don't delete all my Comments.....:flower:
Blimey, you've got way too much time on your hands, and this is me saying it...

Seriously, if you create a thread, you might want the opportunity to steer it a bit more - what do you think?

[Lory]

Seriously, if you create a thread, you might want the opportunity to steer it a bit more - what do you think?

You can just leave all the posts that agree with you or say 'luvvy' things about you and delete the rest! :waycool: :D :rolleyes:

[David Bailey]

You can just leave all the posts that agree with you or say 'luvvy' things about you and delete the rest! :waycool: :D :rolleyes:
Hey, I do that anyway (err, oops, did I say that out loud?)

But the point is, if you did that to a thread, it'd just die because people wouldn't contibute to it, would they? Or am I assuming too much?

[Rhythm King]

But what about Platinum membership? Gold is so gauche dahhhling :whistle:

(And then you'd need Black, for the seriously well-heeled...)

[foxylady]

But what about Platinum membership? Gold is so gouache dahhhling :whistle:

(And then you'd need Black, for the seriously well-heeled...)

?????? A method of painting using pigments mixed with gum ?????

Or did you mean gauche dahhhling ????

[Rhythm King]

Just testing to see if anyone actually reads my drivel :wink:

Meanwhile, off to paint town red

[Gav]

You wouldn't miss anything.


Blimey, you've got way too much time on your hands, and this is me saying it...

Seriously, if you create a thread, you might want the opportunity to steer it a bit more - what do you think?

Seriously, NO!

Some people would abuse it, many more would complain about abuse and it'd all get silly in no time.

[Beowulf]

on another forum I use they use the same software as this one but have no timeout on edits. so you can go back after 10 mins, 15 mins, a week , a month or a year and still edit your posts.

Although this seems like it would mis-used it tends not to be. People tend to use it to update the first page of posts to include new information etc to allow people to get salient facts without trawling through pages and pages of forum. You can only edit your own posts, not those of others.

Also the ability to edit attachments would be nice. Hasn't happened to me but I know some users cannot attach any more images to the forum as their allocation is used up. Old pics etc (not in the gallery) could be deleted.

Also that forum allows us all to change our user title. Registered User etc.. without moderator intervention. Obviously you cannot change your title to Moderator etc.

These things .. dependant on price for gold membership.. I would probably sign up for.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Would people be interested in a "Gold" membership level, with lots of funky new features (don't ask me what features, I'm just thinking idly here)?
"thinking idly" theres a caption/tagline/slogan for ya :)

other than that, i have no comment on whether levels of membership is a good idea or not, stupid though it is :)

[azande]

One of the few features I would probably pay for is the ability to ignore individual threads and not whole sections of the forum...

[MartinHarper]

I want the ability to turn off the adverts for Blaze/Escape/Xmas ball. Oh, and the forum mood ring. Would that be a feature offered to Gold members?

[TheTramp]

I want the ability to turn off the adverts for Blaze/Escape/Xmas ball. Oh, and the forum mood ring. Would that be a feature offered to Gold members?

To be honest, I don't even notice the Blaze/Escape stuff at all. I noticed the Christmas Ball stuff at first. But not any more.

I did notice the forum mood ring. Don't see the point of it though. Especially considering that you can vote on it multiple times, one after another. But I'll probably get used to ignoring it pretty quickly :whistle:

[Genie]

I want the ability to turn off the adverts for Blaze/Escape/Xmas ball. Oh, and the forum mood ring. Would that be a feature offered to Gold members?

:yeah: They are very annoying.

[Caro]

I'd be interested, depending on what 'plus' are offered.

How about having the ability to:
- comment on profiles?
- see who has looked at your profile? (or is that too big-brotherish?)
- decide (if you want to) to keep old signatures on your old posts? (i.e. so that when you update your signature, it doesn't update all your old posts with it)
- decide to keep old avatars on your old posts?
- send neg-rep without removing points (people get too emotional), so that you can say you disapprove of something without upsetting people? - or choosing how many points you want to affect to it (doesn't concern me and my tiny rep power though :rolleyes: )

[Gav]

I'd be interested, depending on what 'plus' are offered.

How about having the ability to:
- comment on profiles?
- see who has looked at your profile? (or is that too big-brotherish?)
- decide (if you want to) to keep old signatures on your old posts? (i.e. so that when you update your signature, it doesn't update all your old posts with it)
- decide to keep old avatars on your old posts?
- send neg-rep without removing points (people get too emotional), so that you can say you disapprove of something without upsetting people? - or choosing how many points you want to affect to it (doesn't concern me and my tiny rep power though :rolleyes: )

All sound like good ideas to me. :respect:

[Genie]

I'd be interested, depending on what 'plus' are offered.

How about having the ability to:
- comment on profiles?
- see who has looked at your profile? (or is that too big-brotherish?)
- decide (if you want to) to keep old signatures on your old posts? (i.e. so that when you update your signature, it doesn't update all your old posts with it)
- decide to keep old avatars on your old posts?
- send neg-rep without removing points (people get too emotional), so that you can say you disapprove of something without upsetting people? - or choosing how many points you want to affect to it (doesn't concern me and my tiny rep power though :rolleyes: )

Why don't you just send a PM instead. You can say you disapprove of something without affecting their rep points?

[Caro]

Why don't you just send a PM instead. You can say you disapprove of something without affecting their rep points?

sometimes I'd want something stronger and quicker than a PM, and that doesn't really call for a reply. 'blank' neg-rep as I've called it would send a stronger message than just a PM, and would be less personal.

[Beowulf]

How about the ability to hide area's of the forum, you know, if you're not interested in the take it upstairs area etc you could hide it away. A bit like the feature we have at the moment where areas are not reported in the New posts list but actually hiding a thread/ a sub thread / whole group from the front page?

[David Bailey]

How about the ability to hide area's of the forum, you know, if you're not interested in the take it upstairs area etc you could hide it away. A bit like the feature we have at the moment where areas are not reported in the New posts list but actually hiding a thread/ a sub thread / whole group from the front page?
What, like the "ignore" function for browsing you mean?

[Caro]

How about the ability to hide area's of the forum, you know, if you're not interested in the take it upstairs area ...

I'm assuming this is a purely hypothetical example... :whistle: :rofl:

... coming from somebody who's sent at least 2 threads upstairs but seems suddenly (http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/showpost.php?p=313249&postcount=9) oh so prude :rolleyes:

[spindr]

Ability to hide all posts with less than say 9 words (excluding quotes) or more than 5 smilies (unless there's a useful hyperlink).

SpinDr

[Beowulf]

coming from somebody who's sent at least 2 threads upstairs but seems suddenly (http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/showpost.php?p=313249&postcount=9) oh so prude :rolleyes:

hey just because I send threads up there, it doesn't mean I want to read them afterwards. I'll have you know as anyone who knows me will tell you* I'm a sweet and innocent young(?) chap who would never consider stooping to such low topics intentionally :blush: :innocent: :innocent:

(* Pssst Gadget, Twirly, Genie, Freya et al.. the Cheques are in the post! keep Shtum ok?!) :wink:

[David Bailey]

Anyway, going back on-topic, I've come to the conclusion that "thread editing" is something a lot of established users would like.

As an example, I've been hacking around my "Forum Photo Week" thread - I've added a poll, and I've renamed it, as the concept has changed and evolved. A hypothetical "Gold member" would, I think, find these functions very useful - certainly I do.

Collating other suggestions so far, the ones I like are:

"Own thread" editing functions
No timeout on edits. so you can go back after 10 mins, 15 mins, a week , a month or a year and still edit your posts.
The ability to edit attachments
More control over user bylines, and colours / styles of names displayed on posts
Ability to control the amount of rep points given (+ve and -ve)
The ability to retain a history of your previous signatures / avatars
Ability to leave comments on profiles and see who has looked at your profile


I dunno how feasible any of these are, but I reckon some may be a bit more tricky than the others.

I also think "gold" memberships should only be offered after a certain "get to know you" time period - for example, 6 months / 500 posts after being a Silver member. This would hopefully avoid any major abuse of these functions.

What do people think? Is that a worthwhile proposal?

[Beowulf]

What do people think? Is that a worthwhile proposal?

Yup sounds very reasonable to me, and I know that points 1,2 and 4 are already supported by the vBulletin software (unsure about point 3 as none of my other forums allow attachments. But I would assume there's a mechanism for it somewhere)

Like the idea of limiting it to people who have been here for a while. , with x posts, y rep etc etc

[Caro]

(stuff)


and why not the 2 profile related suggestions I made:
- ability to leave comments on profiles
- ability to see who has looked at your profile



I also think "gold" memberships should only be offered after a certain "get to know you" time period - for example, 6 months / 500 posts after being a Silver member. This would hopefully avoid any major abuse of these functions.


I need 27 more posts then :rolleyes:

[David Bailey]

and why not the 2 profile related suggestions I made:
- ability to leave comments on profiles
- ability to see who has looked at your profile
I didn't like them :na:

[Gav]

I like both of Caro's ideas. :flower:

I don't like the own thread editing idea. Maybe if the system could automatically add notes to say what has been done, so that thread owners can't just make changes invisibly.

As above really, I only like the idea of no timeouts if the fact that it has been edited is recorded and displayed automatically. Currently if I choose not to put a reason for editing, it doesn't even show as having been edited.

All the rest seem good.

So where's the date/time stamp for this edit? Ah, there it is! :D

[Genie]

I'm not sure giving the user control over a whole thread (even their own) would be a good idea. But control to edit their own posts within said threads, such as adding polls and changing titles, sounds like a good idea to me. As long as some Gold Member doesn't come along and start editing my posts to suite them, just because it was in their own thread (and if I am not a Gold Member, I can't edit it back). Potential for misuse.

Some of these ideas would only benefit users who have been around for years and post every day (such as keeping old signatures and icons), or have a lot of rep points to destribute (+/- choice when rep-ing).

Any suggestions that would benefit everyone, regardless of how long they've been around?

The ability to edit posts with no time limit would be nice, and the control over bylines and colours etc would be a nice feature too. Those are the only two features I would really go for, so far.

[David Bailey]

I like both of Caro's ideas. :flower:
Blimey... OK, OK. I'll add them to the list.


II don't like the own thread editing idea. Maybe if the system could automatically add notes to say what has been done, so that thread owners can't just make changes invisibly.
What's your concern? That people will invisibly modify other's posts? That doesn't happen now - edit history is always displayed. Moderators can also view deleted posts etc., so I imagine that level of view could be provided also if required.


IAs above really, I only like the idea of no timeouts if the fact that it has been edited is recorded and displayed automatically. Currently if I choose not to put a reason for editing, it doesn't even show as having been edited.
No, that's only within a short period of time (2 minutes? something like that) - to allow for immediate correction of typos, basically. After that period, editing history is displayed, for all edits.

[Juju]

Not sure about the profile stuff.

I suspect I've looked at a fair few profiles, seeing as I don't really know anyone, it helps me get to grips with who's who. Also, sometimes I'm looking for a thread, can't remember what it was called, but I can remember who posted on it, and so on. However, if I thought it was going to be noted down every time I did it, I wouldn't look at them at all - wouldn't want to be mistaken for a stalker or anything....

Also hate the idea of anyone leaving comments on mine.

[spindr]

Being able to recall a sent, but unread PM might be useful for some?

SpinDr

[Twirly]

DJ - why don't you put the collected ideas into a poll and see which ones are the most popular? You might not like some, but they may be the ones your paying public most want, and so most likely to make your scheme work. I'd also suggest you indicate what sort of cost you are thinking of - no point in doing the development if it's too expensive for the folks on here.

I'd very careful about the editing posts feature. Forum I was on last year you could do this whenever, but it didn't show you'd edited it. Talk about flame wars! This place is as peaceful as a buddhist monastery by comparison. People who did it denied it and others got seriously upset, then threads would generate into "you changed that post you lying toe-rag" "no I didn't you deranged harpy", etc. Pantomime stylee.

[David Bailey]

DJ - why don't you put the collected ideas into a poll and see which ones are the most popular?
Yes, that's the plan, and that's why I was trying to assemble a preliminary list. Even of ones I don't like. Probably a new thread...


I'd also suggest you indicate what sort of cost you are thinking of - no point in doing the development if it's too expensive for the folks on here.
I have zero idea of the costs or of the benefits - I'm not involved in the money side of things, that's up to Franck.


I'd very careful about the editing posts feature. Forum I was on last year you could do this whenever, but it didn't show you'd edited it. Talk about flame wars! This place is as peaceful as a buddhist monastery by comparison. People who did it denied it and others got seriously upset, then threads would generate into "you changed that post you lying toe-rag" "no I didn't you deranged harpy", etc. Pantomime stylee.
I guess I'm just biased through working in a collaborative Wiki-based environment, but then that did have proper version control (and that's the main concern, lack of version control).

Also, in case this is unclear, I'm in no way proposing to let Gold Members edit any post on any thread - just to be able to perform certain editing functions on their own threads. Renaming threads, adding polls, and possibly moving / removing off-topic posts.

Ideally, I'd hope that this would encourage people to take some ownership and responsbility for the threads they create, which would of course take some of the work away from the moderators.

Perhaps I'm being a crazy idealistic fool though...

[LMC]

Perhaps I'm being a crazy idealistic fool though...
Remembering the company I worked for in the 90s where you didn't dare leave your desk even to get a coffee without locking your machine (or return to find that some very amusing colleague had used your ID to send a dodgy e-mail to all 10K people in the company address book), yes, perhaps you are.

I'd be worried about people editing my posts so they said what I didn't intend.

Hang on... the moderators can do that :eek: ...

Seriously though, if someone "new" could immediately pay up for Gold Membership and have all those extra editing goodies, it might cause mayhem.

[David Bailey]

Remembering the company I worked for in the 90s where you didn't dare leave your desk even to get a coffee without locking your machine (or return to find that some very amusing colleague had used your ID to send a dodgy e-mail to all 10K people in the company address book), yes, perhaps you are.
Version-control systems. They are your friend, trust me :)


I'd be worried about people editing my posts so they said what I didn't intend.

Hang on... the moderators can do that :eek: ...
But even then, there's already a visible record of any edit.

And if someone gets a reputation for excessive editing of other people's posts, no-one will post on threads that person creates, so they'll feel pretty lonely talking to themselves all the time.


Seriously though, if someone "new" could immediately pay up for Gold Membership and have all those extra editing goodies, it might cause mayhem.
Yep, that's why I think there should be a "get to know you" phase, after Silver Membership - say, 6 months and 500 posts, triggers an invite to the Silver member to see if they want to upgrade.

I said that a few posts ago.

And again, I repeat for the hard of understanding, this editing would only be is only on their own threads. it would not be on any threads created by other people.

That's the fourth time I've said that now - is that part of my text completely invisible or something?? :rolleyes:

[Caro]

Just out of interest, what's Franck's stake on this gold membership thing?
I mean, is it something he even considers ? :whistle:

[LMC]

Version-control systems. They are your friend, trust me :)
Hmmm, but would people bother looking at the previous version?


And if someone gets a reputation for excessive editing of other people's posts, no-one will post on threads that person creates, so they'll feel pretty lonely talking to themselves all the time.
:yeah: - but that's not much comfort if you've already had your fingers burned by misrepresentation by that person.


Yep, that's why I think there should be a "get to know you" phase, after Silver Membership - say, 6 months and 500 posts, triggers an invite to the Silver member to see if they want to upgrade.
OK, you got me there, I missed that bit, sorry :blush:


And again, I repeat for the hard of understanding, this editing would only be is only on their own threads. it would not be on any threads created by other people.

That's the fourth time I've said that now - is that part of my text completely invisible or something?? :rolleyes:
In reverse order:
1) no, not at all, it's there in black and grey (I'm using the Grey theme)
2) I'm blonde, OK? Seriously, I did get that bit (first time too, quite proud of meself) - but frankly, I would avoid posting on a thread created by a Gold member unless I was absolutely positive I could trust them. I'd just like to make it clear that I'm not to be trusted. I might have a mischievous fit at some point and misrepresent people too in an almost certainly vain attempt to be funny. Don't invite me to be a Gold member (cue Austin Powers theme), I'm far too irresponsible.

[David Bailey]

Just out of interest, what's Franck's stake on this gold membership thing?
I mean, is it something he even considers ? :whistle:
Dunno. Ask him :)

However, I imagine, if it's something that could be structured to provide more revenue to help defray running costs of this forum, whilst offering more potential options for users, and without significant development costs, that he'd be open to suggestions, as he always has been so far.

[Gav]

So would gold members be able to edit other people's threads? :D :na:

[David Bailey]

So would gold members be able to edit other people's threads? :D :na:
"Your reputation can go down as well as up"... :whistle:

[ducasi]

Some of what has been asked for (and some of what's been tentatively offered) I don't think is possible in the vBulletin forum software. In particular, I don't think these are possible...

The ability to retain a history of your previous signatures / avatars
Ability to leave comments on profiles and see who has looked at your profile


One interesting possible "gold" feature I saw mention of was the ability to create "invitation-only" threads – basically you could create threads that only you and your friends could read and post on (besides the moderators and admins. ;))

Thoughts on this one?

[Juju]

One interesting possible "gold" feature I saw mention of was the ability to create "invitation-only" threads – basically you could create threads that only you and your friends could read and post on (besides the moderators and admins. ;))

Thoughts on this one?

Cliquey in the extreme. That's my thought.

[Caro]

How about the ability for gold members to know who has read their own threads (and only those ones), in addition to how many 'hits' they had? Might help to monitor the thread they have created...

By the way Ducasi, I do think as well that 'invitational' threads are very cliquey and not a great way to encourage friendliness / more networking on the forum.

[David Bailey]

How about the ability for gold members to know who has read their own threads (and only those ones), in addition to how many 'hits' they had? Might help to monitor the thread they have created...
I'm fairly sure that isn't available as a standard feature, so that would be impractical I suspect.


By the way Ducasi, I do think as well that 'invitational' threads are very cliquey and not a great way to encourage friendliness / more networking on the forum.
Yeah, but it'd keep you riff-raff away.

Seriously, the Chat Room is only available to Silver Members, and I've not seen any cries of "Evil Clique!" around. There is (used to be?) a Taxi Dancer section also. So why not have other forum areas reserved for putative Gold Members? Or is it the "invitation" side of things you'd object to?

[Feelingpink]

...

Seriously, the Chat Room is only available to Silver Members, and I've not seen any cries of "Evil Clique!" around. There is (used to be?) a Taxi Dancer section also. So why not have other forum areas reserved for putative Gold Members? Or is it the "invitation" side of things you'd object to?Is the reason there isn't an "Evil Clique" outcry because on a day-to-day basis, it isn't obvious that there were/are hidden forums such as the taxi dancers or Scottish only?

What would the Gold Members talk about anyway ... their gilt? :whistle:

[David Bailey]

Is the reason there isn't an "Evil Clique" outcry because on a day-to-day basis, it isn't obvious that there were/are hidden forums such as the taxi dancers or Scottish only?
Or, possibly, because people accept that different levels of memberships have different levels of privilege? That's kind of the point of paying to be a Silver Member, after all.

But hey, feel free to start an outcry :)


What would the Gold Members talk about anyway ... their gilt? :whistle:
The same thing that Silver Members talk about I imagine, i.e. 90% rubbish.

[Feelingpink]

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if you don't know you are missing out, then you're not going to protest - and that has nothing to do with accepting or otherwise the perks of various membership levels.

Hey, are you going to change your "Moderator without Fear" tagline? Didn't you like the results of the poll? :whistle: Or will it turn into "Guy without a job" if you spend any more time on here? :wink:

[David Bailey]

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if you don't know you are missing out, then you're not going to protest - and that has nothing to do with accepting or otherwise the perks of various membership levels.
Good thing no-one's told you about the "Everyone but Feelinpink" forum then, whew.
Oops. :na:


Hey, are you going to change your "Moderator without Fear" tagline? Didn't you like the results of the poll? :whistle:
I've been hampered by having forgotten.

[MartinHarper]

What would the Gold Members talk about anyway ... their gilt?

One possibility is as an anti-stalker thing. If a forum is only viewable by Silver/Gold people, then everyone reading has to have paid Franck some money, which might make people feel safer talking about more private stuff, or sharing personally identifiable information, or talking about where they are going to be.

[Genie]

What would the Gold Members talk about anyway ... their gilt? :whistle:

They'd talk about the Silver Members, of course *wicked laugh*

Seriously, I don't know. Most of the stuff talked about in the Chat room has been day-to-day natter. Some of it amusing, some of it serious. I guess the Gold Members could have a section and decide for themselves what sub-sections they would like to see. It will, after all, be 'their' section.

[Will]

Is the reason there isn't an "Evil Clique" outcry because on a day-to-day basis, it isn't obvious that there were/are hidden forums such as the taxi dancers or Scottish only?

What would the Gold Members talk about anyway ... their gilt? :whistle:
Has the "Scottish Only" forum been pulled now then?