Giveaway of the Day Forums » Topic: Front Page

Giveaway of the Day Forums » Topic: Front Page http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536 Giveaway of the Day Forums » Topic: Front Page en-US Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:02:38 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9714 Sat, 01 Sep 2007 01:52:23 +0000 Keilaron 9714@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Doesn't mean we can't improve it. :> I don't know, but that happens to me too, sometimes. I've missed a few great titles that way. Oh well. Theleecher on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9710 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:11:49 +0000 Theleecher 9710@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Take a look at the comments sections on some other sites, it could be a lot worse. It appears comments are spam moderated but nothing else. The comments are often the most interesting bit, some real gems turn up there. PS. Why does the really great stuff only turn up when I miss a day. Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9708 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:01:08 +0000 Keilaron 9708@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ They are? Where do you see that? Anyway... I agree with that, Face. I still think the comment section should be turned into a review section, though... if we lose people because they "can't comment", they probably weren't really interested in this place in the first place. I'd love to be able to see the logs and co-relate downloads with commenters... it's too bad there's no E.T. Phone Home when the software gets uninstalled, though, because that would show more accurate information. Oh well. At any rate... I think we're all agreed something has to change. If a poll can't be put up here, I can create one on my site. kirby145 on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9695 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:08:53 +0000 kirby145 9695@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ We apparently need to vote and make a decision on this seeing as the rating and comments sections are suspended until then Face on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9694 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:01:35 +0000 Face 9694@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ jwarsaw's comment brings up another option - a few questions which must be answered to access the comments section: ___ Y ___ N If this software performed as advertised, would you use it? ___ Y ___ N Does it perform as advertised? ___ Y ___ N Did you have any problems with installation or activation? ___ Y ___ N Do you feel it is worth the price? ___ Y ___ N Is the price appropriate? Please feel free to register and discuss your answers. Or something to that effect - whatever feedback would help the developers. That might guide some of the comments in a more useful direction. I'm not sure exactly how the developers determine the value of making their software available, but I would bet the amount of traffic the site generates is very important, "As neat or fun as that may be, the intent of this site is not to be a humour site. Whether or not the admin wants to stifle that is yet to be seen," so any change that discourages people from coming (or commenting?) must be carefully considered. Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9693 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:14:36 +0000 Keilaron 9693@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Also, <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/aphemo-15/#comment-61013">jwarsaw commented</a>: <blockquote cite="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/aphemo-15/#comment-61013">Perhaps GAOTD should have 2 voting percentages at top: First one: Did or Did Not like the software offering for personal reasons. Second vote: Rating of software after use: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down. It seems to me that all the comments today are the personal type. No one has taken the time to “use & review” the software itself, which I thought was the purpose of the thumbs up/down vote at the top. [...]</blockquote> Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9691 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:57:50 +0000 Keilaron 9691@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ <blockquote>I just thought pulling the reviews out would be a lot simpler than "teaching old dogs new tricks".</blockquote> Perhaps. However, it also defeats the purpose of the comment section because at that point you'd be taking out a good portion of the useful comments. <blockquote>And there might be some point in leaving the other comments there as they often play off each other - for a certain amount of comic reading each day. And some people have said they come by just for the laughs! Maybe admin doesn't want to stifle that(?)</blockquote> As neat or fun as that may be, the intent of this site is not to be a humour site. Whether or not the admin wants to stifle that is yet to be seen, but they have started filtering some more offensive/aggressive comments which I believe is part of the "humour" those people see. <blockquote>I do think you may have hit upon a solution for part of the problem, though - the site does nead a FAQ section - brilliant suggestion!!</blockquote> Thanks. I think I'd previous noticed that before, because I've got parts (very small parts) of a script written that was intended to post one long comment each day when the Giveaway showed up (gotta love cron!) that answered some common questions. Maybe I could complete it. Anyway, I think we could help out the admin(s) some more and come up with a FAQ for them to post (or at the very least, one for me to auto-post each day ;>). <blockquote>yeah... when those "cheeky" commentors comes here, you'll get alot of junk in this forums... :)</blockquote> That's what BuBBy and Lee and here for, and I dare say they do a good job. As I said, though, I'd expect the flow to be smaller than usual due to the registration process. alexiussg on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9682 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:58:32 +0000 alexiussg 9682@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ yeah... when those "cheeky" commentors comes here, you'll get alot of junk in this forums... :) Face on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9681 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:30:53 +0000 Face 9681@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Keilaron Thanks for replying - yes, I did mean start a thread here in the forums, such as "Reviews of ApHeMo 1.5: August 30, 2007" and of course the developers would be informed of its existence and the purpose, so they would know to look here, as some already do. I just thought pulling the reviews out would be a lot simpler than "teaching old dogs new tricks". And there might be some point in leaving the other comments there as they often play off each other - for a certain amount of comic reading each day. And some people have said they come by just for the laughs! Maybe admin doesn't want to stifle that(?) Anyway, they are the ones who are going to decide on any changes (or not) and I think we've all given them some good points to consider. I do think you may have hit upon a solution for part of the problem, though - the site does nead a FAQ section - brilliant suggestion!! Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9661 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:50:23 +0000 Keilaron 9661@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ <blockquote>I've posted within 10 minutes before. And people criticize it, but it is not impossible to run through a program in 10 minutes and decide whether it is decent or bad.</blockquote> Considering BladedThoth continuously does his in 15, I don't find that hard to believe ;> Some programs really are that simple, after all. Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9660 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:46:42 +0000 Keilaron 9660@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Face: No offense was taken, but I seem to be completely misreading that post; You said: <blockquote>"review the software" discussion could possibly have a daily thread here. </blockquote> I read that as "a daily thread in the forums". Am I misreading that? <blockquote>And as far as "changing the basic aspect" - why not, if it solves the problem? </blockquote> Nevermind, you're right on that one; It is, after all, the result of my own suggestion. <blockquote>You are absolutely correct when you say "reading those reviews would be too much trouble for most people". So why include them on the only page most people see? </blockquote> Because they influence whether or not people want to download the software, and it also makes it easier for the developers to see what people think of their software. By the way, the less downloads (although I'm not sure GaotD actually shows the number), the less popular a piece of software is... so a developer would know what's wrong, and just how critical it is to fix that problem. <blockquote>So how can we assume they would follow any new instructions? </blockquote> It isn't an assumption: I clearly said that in my opinion, the comment form simply shouldn't appear on the comments (or reviews) page: When someone wants to comment, they should have two buttons/two options. I'll repeat them here: The option of commenting / asking for help (explicitly mentioning activation problems here; this option pointing to the forums), and the option of reviewing (this option pointing to an extended comment form (e.g. dropdowns for various common review points, like 'ease of use')). Yes, it is still possible that people will "review" with short sentences like "not a giveaway just a trial", but there will be a LOT less for moderators to sort through. <blockquote>And what would you have on each product's page instead? A 'discussion'? What do you see on the pages right now? Just that, and they ain't pretty discussions either.</blockquote> <blockquote>Exactly! Leave it to them. Make that the appropriate place for what already lands there.</blockquote> Except that what I'm saying is that it's ugly and oftentimes not useful. I think that we ought to have some separate feature for suggesting alternatives to offered software... the current freeware library here is a little... spammy. <blockquote>Do we really want that here - where each comment could begin a new thread - simply because they are too lazy to glance at what has already been written (as is already evidenced, every day) or because they consider their statements "important" enough to start another new thread? I believe that would quickly dilute any serious discussions being held here and discourage many who come here now, looking for specific topics. Why destroy the one section that functions well? </blockquote> We do. It already happens on occasion. You see, registration is something most people don't want to do - because it's effort. This is why I'm suggesting the comments form be removed from direct view - it discourages the quick, mindless responses that occur. I believe it's been stated several times that the comments are meant for the software, anyway - so why not get rid of them and turn them into reviews, as I suggested? So in essence, what I'm saying is that we should remove that ease of use there, and things will clean up a bit. The forums won't be damaged that much - a bit, yes, bit not much. I think we might also benefit from a large "Activation didn't work? Read this..." button that points to a FAQ. Speaking of which... is there a FAQ anywhere on this site? kirby145 on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9651 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:39:15 +0000 kirby145 9651@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ I've posted within 10 minutes before. And people criticize it, but it is not impossible to run through a program in 10 minutes and decide whether it is decent or bad. Face on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9650 Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:48:40 +0000 Face 9650@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Keilaron, Thank you for your reply and truly no offense meant to you or to anyone else, but your response completely supports what I am suggesting. "Uh, no. Face, I've never seen a single review in the forums - asking for the reviews to go to the forums would mean changing the basic aspect ..." I never said there have been any reviews here, just "serious discussions", which is what I would consider these reviews we're discussing to be. And as far as "changing the basic aspect" - why not, if it solves the problem? You are absolutely correct when you say "reading those reviews would be too much trouble for most people". So why include them on the only page most people see? Many of them are looking for help with downloading and activating problems and the like and even clearly telling them to post those here (as has been done from the start) still doesn't make it happen. So how can we assume they would follow any new instructions? "And what would you have on each product's page instead? A 'discussion'? What do you see on the pages right now? Just that, and they ain't pretty discussions either." Exactly! Leave it to them. Make that the appropriate place for what already lands there. "I think those should go to the forums..." Do we really want that here - where each comment could begin a new thread - simply because they are too lazy to glance at what has already been written (as is already evidenced, every day) or because they consider their statements "important" enough to start another new thread? I believe that would quickly dilute any serious discussions being held here and discourage many who come here now, looking for specific topics. Why destroy the one section that functions well? clobermier on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9642 Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:51:38 +0000 clobermier 9642@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ I've been thinking a lot about this problem, and in going back to Lee's original suggestion, that might be the way to go, as well as adding moderators to the front page. The suggestion was to stop all thumbs up/thumbs down and comments until at least an hour after the giveaway has started. While that might be a long time for some pieces of software, it might help cut down on the ridiculous and inane comments we see all the time now. Maybe the comment area should say something along the lines of: "Please do not comment on this software until you have downloaded, installed, and tested it, or if you already own the software and would like to comment on it. All other comments, suggestions, and discussions must be written in the forums." I don't know. I'm tired, and I'm not sure there's any way to fix the mess. Maybe if the mess was slowed down it might be better. Cindy Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536/page/2#post-9638 Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:03:11 +0000 Keilaron 9638@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Uh, no. Face, I've never seen a single review in the forums - asking for the reviews to go to the forums would mean changing the basic aspect, and reading those reviews would be too much trouble for most people. And what would you have on each product's page instead? A 'discussion'? What do you see on the pages right now? Just that, and they ain't pretty discussions either. I think those should go to the forums - then the 'too much trouble' attitude would stop most of the quick comments. Face on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9600 Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:08:10 +0000 Face 9600@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ What I was suggesting (and I know I could have made it clearer) was that the "discuss the software" choice would go to the place it does now and the "review the software" discussion could possibly have a daily thread here. I know the instructions on the page now read: "Please comment only the software here. If you have technical problems or suggestions on our project, please leave us a note in our forums." But that page could be opened up to include technical problems, freeware alternatives and the mish-mash of topics that (as seen there everyday) there seems to be an interest in discussing. I would argue that discussions involving problems with downloading, questions about possible viruses (and the like) should remain on that page, where newcomers to the site, along with people new to computers can easily find what they need. That way the people who want to download, skim through what others have said and jot off a quick note won't have to change their behavior, but they will know where to go if they want to read the serious reviews. And the people who are interested only in reading the reviews and adding their own (along with the developers) will be directed here - where most of the serious discussions occur anyway. There have been notes in other threads here concerning the negative impression software developers (present and future) may get of the site as they sift through comments there and how they may think twice about offering more software. It may be best if they are directed straight here - as some have already figured out. I think you have to consider which group of people it will be easier to change the behavior of - and set it up to take advantage of that (which lets the rest continue with what they are already doing). Archangel on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9581 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:35:33 +0000 Archangel 9581@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ LOL It's funny with all the different slang. I belong to another forum that is owned by a british couple and being from here I'm a minority. Its neat picking up different terms (in english) what french, german ect use as slang. Thanks for the def. Lee on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9580 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:29:46 +0000 Lee 9580@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ I cover usually, from (GMT) 5 a.m. to sometimes 12 a.m. I may not be logged in, however, I do read every 20 minutes comments made here. So I could always cover GMT 8 a.m. to say 8 p.m. BuBBy usually covers Aussie time, so there needs to be some fillers, for the uncovered gaps. As for bagzee it's something I picked up as a child, meaning 'I want'. Archangel on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9578 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:00:17 +0000 Archangel 9578@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Hey Lee,,,,,,,,,is there a "British Slang made Easy" for us Americans? LOL I'm not familiar with "bagzee" either! The timezone thing is a good idea that way you'd have coverage around the clock but there is a big drawback. You'd have alot of moderators and there would have to be very well written guidelines to go by though. One might snip or remove when another wouldn't then there would be more gripping because GOTD wasn't fair. Lee on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9577 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:59:35 +0000 Lee 9577@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ clobermier I have no idea who moderates front page. I think we should have global moderators myself. I write this with respect to time zones. Myself, I am in one time zone BuBBy is in anohter and well... seems like we could do with 2 moderators in each time zone at least. I bagzee, ''Super Mod though'' :| Keilaron on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9576 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:34:42 +0000 Keilaron 9576@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ I think we're agreed on having to split the two by forcing a choice before showing the comment box. Yes? Archangel on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9572 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:29:58 +0000 Archangel 9572@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ The "discuss the software" option could redirect them to the forums where users could "ask a question" or get help if they have problems with the software. hmmm, doesn't that happen already :/ Not enough come here. I notice comments that are not comments everyday. You all have too. A forced link is another idea. BuBBy on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9570 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:03:15 +0000 BuBBy 9570@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ The "discuss the software" option could redirect them to the forums where users could "ask a question" or get help if they have problems with the software. hmmm, doesn't that happen already :/ Face on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9566 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:47:34 +0000 Face 9566@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Here's a thought: What if there was a choice offered as to where the person wished to post, such as - Our comments section has been split for your convenience. You may now choose to: ____ discuss the software ____ post a review (leading to two different pages) This would allow posts which weren't reviews to be edited out or moved to the other page. You could also require a person to register to use the second one, if desired. Most of the useless prattle and whining would probably end up in the first category by default (because it is listed first) and sounds more interactive and because the second one sounds more technical and "only for geeks" so they would tend to avoid it. alexiussg on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9564 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:01:35 +0000 alexiussg 9564@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ Wahahahaha! the <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/registry-easy/#comment-59182"> comment #12</a> scored a total of (-125) pts. But what the commenter said was quite true though. :) BuBBy on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9563 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 02:05:00 +0000 BuBBy 9563@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ <blockquote>Commentor #12 in today's section had the audacity to complain about it. Last time I checked, he had a -119 rating. </blockquote> Well the previous day, (Comment #7) I scored a -55 for saying "Banana Banana Banana" - so my comment was twice as useful (so far) as todays #12 (todays comment likely had more thought behind it, though) Of course, to the people "in the know" who follow the forums - my comment actually did have a useful purpose (in relation to this thread). I'd say if the (at least) 55 people who gave it the thumbs down we a little more widely read - that comment could've scored +100. ;) (Looking at the totals for the day - at least some users found "Banana Banana Banana" to be a useful review of the software). If someone had time - maybe a quick GreaseMonkey script to separate the +ve from the -ve. It would be a start.... headman on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9562 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:28:01 +0000 headman 9562@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ There was a time when I thought that moderarating the comments section must be some God-awful herculean task of epic proportions. Experience has shown me, however, that with a little practice you can fly right through it. The comments here have become so predictable and repetitive that you only have to skim over a few words to see if it's crap or not. If the admins don't want to deal with it I wish they would at least make an appearance to address the issue and give their opininions. I also agree with Archangel and others who say the "useful comment" system is garbage. Commentor #12 in today's section had the audacity to complain about it. Last time I checked, he had a -119 rating. The knob-heads walk among us. Nothing will save the front page except good old-fashioned, hands-on moderation. . Archangel on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9558 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:21:06 +0000 Archangel 9558@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ As the comments are moderated, couldn't the moderator simply delete all the useless comments e.g. this looks good..I'm downloading this etc, which make it obvious that the author hasn't even tried out the program? = italics I agree too. With proper moderation this will work. Then you can leave out the "Posters ratings". Thats a joke to begin with. Why rate a posters post? Let the mod's munch'em! emperor on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9554 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:18:22 +0000 emperor 9554@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ I agree that the scoring/rating/button pressing of the front page needs to be made more useful, as I find it tedious to wade through a lot of junk to find the pearls of wisdom, but I don't see how it can be down without a lot of hands-on input from the moderators. I see the need for some, such as myself, to get to the useful stuff easily, yet I also see the possibly conflicting need to generate site traffic. Therefore I would suggest, if it is at all practicable, that there be two pages for comments. There would be only one place for entering comments, with more explicit information about the purpose of the comments solicited, but the content would determine which of the two pages the comment appeared on. One page would be where the generally unhelpful 'I will definitely download this' type could appear, so that the commenter couldn't complain that their inoffensive comment was deleted, whilst the other page would be the one to which the review type comments were directed. Thus people could read the reviews for information on a dedicated page, and the other page for entertainment. Those who post for the sake of it would then still be able to see their name and be happy, but without cluttering things up for others. The review comments page should then be the one that appears with the download details. This way I think prgram developers will also be able to see the helpful criticism and encouragement in an easily accessible way and be able to see that people are taking them seriously and being supportive. The big question would then be, how to do the directing to either page with minimum effort. Those are my thoughts for what they are worth. clobermier on "Front Page" http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/1536#post-9551 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:00:20 +0000 clobermier 9551@http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/ BuBBY, when I saw that you'd posted "banana banana banana" I nearly spit my coffee out on the screen. That cracked me up. Lee, was it Sasha that monitored the front page before? That's one name I remember seeing a very long time ago, but I'm not sure if he were an actual monitor or someone who worked for GAOTD. Other than that, I have no clue who might monitor the front page, if anyone. Cindy