Watch in trouble?

[wiretripped]

I will work on a fix where all registered user with something like 50 posts and up don't have to go through the verification. Dunno when I will get to that though.

That would make it less painless for us plain users.

The advantage of doing it in this way is that it is sent to a list which can be seen by multiple team members.

If the submitted news gets displayed in a list, I take it that contact form does not just generate a mail, but also stores the submitted data in the db somewhere?
If that is the case, then it might make sense to open a filtered view of that (as in, the unprocessed items) to us registered users. That way, people can see what others have submitted, which might eliminate some of the double stuff you undoubtedly receive.
Just an idea.

EDIT: Though, on second thought, you might need a dedicated "submit news" form for that. You wouldn't want to give everyone access to what gets submitted through the "contact us" form.

 

[Korplem]

As for the Watch - I don't know if there's a "net positive". It keeps me busy at work during quiet times, and I sometimes manage to convince myself that I contribute something of value.

A lot of the time, though, it seems like a massive waste of time and energy.

I'd like to think you contribute something of value while massively wasting time and energy.

 

[Myrthos]

If the submitted news gets displayed in a list, I take it that contact form does not just generate a mail, but also stores the submitted data in the db somewhere?

It is send to a mailing list, which in turns sends individual mails to the members on that list, so it is not in the database.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Yeah well I submitted a few news but man it's hard to guess whether the letters on the capcha for the contact form are caps or not, lol.

 

[Thrasher]

So true. After all these years you'd think the captcha team would fix that terribly annoying lack of difference between caps and no caps. If you guess wrong all your text is lost in the message to the site.

 

[pibbur who]

.

pibbur who was going to write something arrogant and overbearing, but decided against it. And who thinks captchas are annoying, especialy the guess-what-we-mean-here ones.

 

[txa1265]

So true. After all these years you'd think the captcha team would fix that terribly annoying lack of difference between caps and no caps. If you guess wrong all your text is lost in the message to the site.

Which is why I copy my replies before submitting ... Lost too many blog posts and comments in the past

 

[Gorath]

Same for me. Unless I'm 100% sure I press CTRL +A followed by CTRL + C.

 

[Thrasher]

Same for me. Unless I'm 100% sure I press CTRL +A followed by CTRL + C.

I do that too, but Having to do that makes it even more annoying. If you're truly interested in getting more community suggestions, make it easier to use.

 

[Gorath]

Myrthos already explained his plans further down.

 

[Thrasher]

That doesn't address the problem with Captcha.

 

[Kostas]

One of the forums I've been to has a lobby system where people submit basically new threads in a "news lobby" subforum, other users upvote (or ignore) them and admins promote the well formated and interesting ones to the front page.

Of course I can't see that servicing the frontpage traffic that the Watch has been used to lately in terms of items a day, and it would probably diminish the "report as soon as possible" culture that's been around.
Just throwing the idea out there really.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

One of the forums I've been to has a lobby system where people submit basically new threads in a "news lobby" subforum, other users upvote (or ignore) them and admins promote the well formated and interesting ones to the front page.

Of course I can't see that servicing the frontpage traffic that the Watch has been used to lately in terms of items a day, and it would probably diminish the "report as soon as possible" culture that's been around.
Just throwing the idea out there really.

Well the problem with "karma" communities such as Reddit is that the system can easily be abused to bury unpopular topics.

 

[joxer]

Definetly can as reddit community downvoted Gabe Newell recently when shitstorm happened over paid mods.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

There have been such systems for a very long time, Slashdot is probably the oldest one. I never liked it, I always thought it fostered elitism and orthodoxy. As if certain topics of views were inherently superior and others were unproper. Hacker News is another site that is supposed to harken back to Slashdot's old days and there is no burying of posts at all. Everyone is on equal footing as they are supposed to be.

 

[Alaric]

I'm still very much willing to leave, if I get the sense that it's something that's generally wanted. No hard feelings whatsoever.

As someone who (as a lurker, of course) frequently disagrees with you and opines that your arguments at times border on the pedantic, I have to say, please do not leave! Unlike some of those who have argued with you, I have never once seen you say something so repulsive as "If you don't like it then don't come to the Watch". The Watch is a better site for the all of the debate, and much to your credit, you do not let your emotions get the better of you.

I think Couch did a great job posting news here and I benefited greatly from his hard work over the years. When I first heard he started his own forum, I was briefly tempted to join. I barely have time to read one forum and still play RPGs though, and in the end, I read the watch for the diverse opinions and the (mostly) mature discourse. I'll stay until that is no longer true.

 

[Myrthos]

The fix is in. All registered users with at least 50 posts can use Contact Us to send us a message without the Captcha.

I hope that helps.

 

[Thrasher]

Thanks, Myrthos!

 

[lostforever]

The fix is in. All registered users with at least 50 posts can use Contact Us to send us a message without the Captcha.

I hope that helps.

As the saying goes "Give an inch and they take a mile", if someone is logged in why not auto fill in their name and email address as well? pretty please

 

[Myrthos]

You're a tough crowd to please.