Site Suggestions?

[MUScoop]

I thought I should start a thread for people to suggest what they'd like to see on this site

Some things that are already on the list
 - External news feed (RSS) display box. - Done!
 - Game previews (at top of forum) - Ready!
 - Live chat (for games) - Done!
 - User blogs (some hiccups on this one - sorry about the delay)
 - Cell phone alerts
 - Wiki for: (hiccups too - but coming soon!)
     - Basketball almanac / records
     - Marquette nickname history (Warriors tribute)

Some things we CANNOTdo
 - Create a threaded view (only topic view available).  This is a limitation of the forum software, and the way the back end database is organized (it's flat - hence 'linear' or 'topic' view).  However, as you've probably noticed, this forum software has a TON on features (and security) that you can't get elsewhere, so it really is worth getting used to the new look. 

Let me know of other ideas.  No promise we can take care of them all, but we'll certainly do our best.

[LastWarrior]

The features are pretty sweet!![/glow]

It would be nice if we can get some sort of news feed on MU.  ESPN has a feature called ESPN Local that returns all the newspaper articles written on a team.  I think there is a site out there that does it so perhaps you can set up a link?  Anyway... just an idea. 

Also, perhaps a "friendly" forum for MU tickets. 

Great work on getting this site up and running.

[NYWarrior]

the wiki is a great idea.......check out the wiki that the folks build over at SonsofSamHorn.com -- the Red Sox message board.  It could be a cool way to track scholarship status, player bios, coaching bios, info on opponents, etal. 

Here's a look at the SOSH site, http://www.sonsofsamhorn.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[SoCalwarrior]

The SOSH site is a great example of how we/you can make MU info accessible.

[MUScoop]

I love the wiki idea - the trick is in the integration with the forum software.  After a brief search on the web, there are some people that have successfully integrated this forum with MediaWiki, so I know it's possible - but may not be well defined.

[mu_hilltopper]

Concering the wiki .. does the software really need to be integrated with the forum?  A wiki is pretty standalone .. not sure how your server is set up.

I see you have chat listed about .. definately need a chat function, for in-game chats. 

This forum software is pretty great, though.  Indeed, a threaded view would be great to have.  With all the functions it already has, it's surprising it doesn't have that.

.. Also .. it'd be great to have news feeds about MU.  I have a nice list of 5-7 RSS feeds that basically contain every bit of MU news out there.  It'd be great to have a box that displayed those feeds automagically.

[Big Papi]

The site looks great.  Glad to see that you incorporated some of my ideas and the other suggestions sound fantastic. 

As a MU fanatic, I will always scour every available site and link that has anything to do with MU.  I have a feeling that this site will overall have the ability to satisfy most of my needs. 

Again if you need any help, just let me know and I will do my best to help out.

[MUScoop]

The only reason I wanted to integrate the Wiki was to keep editing to registered users of the forum - and let them use the same account.  However, I guess if editing is open (i.e. - no registration), that problem goes away.

An incoming rss feed box is a great idea, and I think easy to do.  PM me the feeds and I'll try to add it tonight.

[LastWarrior]

Don't everybody try to kill me at the same time but what about having Murf do a history of MU Basketball feature?  Look I know he can be a cranky old guy and he isn't always the most positive MU poster out there but he's got a great wealth of knowledge about our program.

Take a look at Murf dropping the knowledge on Scout...

http://mb33.scout.com/fmarquettefrm8.showMessage?topicID=13239.topic

Anyway, just a thought but can't say that I don't want to hear more!  He could be like the old guy at the corner spot in the bar telling us about the old days!! 

[mu_hilltopper]

Murf should be welcomed as anyone would be .. he's a mainstay of Marquette forum madness, even if controvercial.   The truth is, he's forgotten more basketball knowledge than most people have in their noodle right now.

[SoCalwarrior]

A Murf Blog would actually be a good idea.  At the very least, he incites others to respond to his comments.  Without him, there would be a lot less posts about MU basketball.

[SoCalwarrior]

I like the Yahoo news box.  Any plans for a Schedule Box?  How about Links?

[MUScoop]

A Murf Blog

I like that.  I'll try to get in contact with him.

Any plans for a Schedule Box?

Yes, that's in the works too.  There's a calendar we can enable, but was waiting until I had time to populate it.

How about Links?

You Bet. But why would anyone ever want to leave

[StillAWarrior]

I just want to be on record saying that I'm terribly offended by the site's logo.  Don't think that I don't know where that image came from!   

Thanks for putting up the site.  I can't wait to see how it goes.

[WashDCWarrior]

Love the new site.  Looking forward to posting here instead of JS Online where everythread becomes an MU vs. UW vs. UWM debate.

[MUScoop]

I just want to be on record saying that I'm terribly offended by the site's logo.  Don't think that I don't know where that image came from!   

What?!?! Oh...that!  It's just an indescribable squiggle.  Kinda' like an ink blot test, you only see what you want 

[Tampa Warrior]

Kinda' like an ink blot test, you only see what you want 

Heh, heh, heh.

[Chili]

Word, now I just need to add another link to my firefox quick links. Yippie!

[Big Papi]

I like the Yahoo news box.  Any plans for a Schedule Box?  How about Links?

I really like the Yahoo news box but it seems cluttered.

[MUScoop]

I really like the Yahoo news box but it seems cluttered.

OK, I've fixed that with a Javascript RSS mangler.  The problem is that it now relies on an external site...so if we run into problems I may have to go back to "cluttered".

Eh...I ran into loading problems in the first minute.  So it's reverted.  I'll keep working on it though.  Another other option is to make the box as wide as the screen, so each headline fits on one line.  But then it has to be at the top of every page and forces more scrolling down.

However, I'm also going to add a separate RSS feed page, with lots more news sources, for some one stop shopping.

[mu_hilltopper]

Any chance there's a parameter for "posts per page"?  Looks like it is set to 10, so for example this thread is 2 pages long, soon to be 3.

I think you should bump it to .. 25 at least.  Most find it annoying to need to navigate from page to page, but also, the overall load on the server goes down, since it's serving bigger pages, much less frequently.  And text (which is mostly what's on forum posts) compresses really well went sent.  It's the excess requests that kill the server.

(Many forums let you set that as a personal parameter .. this doesn't appear on this forum, so I'm hoping it's a global parameter.)

[MUScoop]

Any chance there's a parameter for "posts per page"?  Looks like it is set to 10, so for example this thread is 2 pages long, soon to be 3.

Yup, I thought there was a personal too, but couldn't find it.  I've changed it to 25 now.  But also, I enabled a "show all" if it goes beyond that (but only up to 40 - not sure what that means...guess we need a 41 reply post to find out)

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I'm not sure about the "time logged in" meter.  I don't know if I really want to keep track of how productive, er, unproductive I am.  

Could all of the side boxes be moved to one side, and users can minimize or open the ones they want up.  I feel kinda boxed in in the middle.

Otherwise, I like the site, and am looking forward to the "independent" feeling being away from Rivals and Scout.  Should be a cool corner bar feeling.

[rocky_warrior]

I'm not sure about the "time logged in" meter.  I don't know if I really want to keep track of how productive, er, unproductive I am.   

Could all of the side boxes be moved to one side, and users can minimize or open the ones they want up.  I feel kinda boxed in in the middle.

Otherwise, I like the site, and am looking forward to the "independent" feeling being away from Rivals and Scout.  Should be a cool corner bar feeling.

Enough of this dual personality MUScoop/Rocky stuff.  I can't handle it!
(note, I login as MUScoop to do the major admin stuff, which is why I maintain both...anyhow...)

Don't worry, I'll probably always be on top of the logged in list.  Think of it as notoriety

Boxes can be moved, but only under admin control right now.  I didn't want to make the left sidebar a mile long though. 

However, you CAN minimize them.  Up at the top next to the "Logout" button (assuming you're logged in) there are two minus signs.  Click them and PRESTO you've got a full screen display.  Also, all the boxes can be minimized individually with the minus signs on them.

[MUCrisco]

Perhaps a preview of the next team that we play would be cool.  I'd be happy to offer my thoughts on as many as I can. 

[MUScoop]

Perhaps a preview of the next team that we play would be cool.  I'd be happy to offer my thoughts on as many as I can. 

Excellent!  You'll notice you now have the designation of "Author" by your name.  I'll e-mail you with more details on how to use your new powers

For others, I do want to stress that this is a site "by the fans, for the fans" - meaning if you have a good idea, are qualified, and are willing to implement it, we'll do what we can to make it happen.

[LastWarrior]

Hey Guys... while enjoying my Saturday morning coffee, I had an idea on a prediction contest.  What do you think about creating a preseason game by game prediction contest.  This way, we can all predict who we think is going to win every game and at the end of the season, we can see who came closest to having the right wins & losses.  Not exactly sure on how we could do this though.

One other idea is to have a poll with every season game pinned on the prediction board and then have people go vote who will win each game.  It might be interesting to see the %'s on which games should be gimmes and which ones folks are worried about.  Obviously it's not going to be scientific but with enough people voting it should be interesting.

Let me know what you think and if you need help.

[rocky_warrior]

I really like the Yahoo news box but it seems cluttered.

Could all of the side boxes be moved to one side, and users can minimize or open the ones they want up.  I feel kinda boxed in in the middle.

Alright, to try and resolve both of these issues, I moved the stats box to the left, and the news box to the top (so each headline would have it's own line).  No more boxes on the right.  It causes more scrolling to read/post, but overall leaves more width for the board (which is the focus right now).  Also, you can minimize the news box if you like.

So much information to present, so little space.  If only I could convince everyone to upgrade to dual 19" LCD monitors

[mu_hilltopper]

Couple more suggestions.

1. Looks like the main forum page only has .. 20 topics.  I'd increase that to .. 40, especially in the beginning.  When first time visitors pop in, we need to show them there's a lot of topics being discussed. -- And indeed, two months from now, 20 topics will be like 1 day's worth of posts.

2. Better smileys!  These SMF ones are lame.  Rival's smiles were tired and few, but these are horrid!

Here's the best list of smiley's I've ever seen:  http://www.infinitifx.org/phpBB2/posting.php?mode=smilies

[MUScoop]

topics: fixed
smilies: I'll work on adding new ones...that hasn't been a high priority 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

thanks for the change rocky, I think it looks a lot better having the wider box for posting. plus the news/tickets/HH info/etc box at the top is good for the bam effect of something new.

plus the new chat room looks sweet.