Collecting ideas & suggestions: What can I do to help improve the forum?

LaurieLovesLearning

I would like to know what in our community forum space could possibly be improved. I have been doing a lot of work on this, and have found some great ideas, but know I could potentially do more.

Is there something that you think could make it easier to navigate our forum? Do you understand how features work? Have I covered everything that you might have had issues with? Have you seen something somewhere that you thought was brilliant and could be integrated here?

I really appreciate the openness you all have and the experience & wisdom all of you possess. I think drawing on these traits is important if we are going to help continue build our custom community together to make it the best we can.

Marjory Wildcraft

You are doing an awesome job @LaurieLovesLearning !

I really loved the treasure hunt you had a while ago.

LaurieLovesLearning

Aw, thanks @Marjory Wildcraft. I try to give my best to everyone here.

The treasure hunt was fun. It was a learning experience for sure, because I'd never organized something like that before. I might have to think on something new. A scavenger hunt for certain plants might be the way to go next time, or a photo contest (I still like that idea).

I see that some people enjoy the plant ID thread, so something like that, altered for contest purposes may work as well.

dipat2005

I really enjoyed the mystery plant thread. I have an awesome picture to share. I just need to dig it out!

JodieDownUnder

@LaurieLovesLearning maybe something along the lines of a weekly theme on the forums as well as all the usual questions/observations. Example- weather, people write in & talk about weather related examples in their part of the world. Or baking- what you’ve been up to in the kitchen this week or growing food- what you’ve been doing in the garden this week etc.

We could put up a topic for consideration & you can pick what it will be or the theme etc? Certainly don’t want to put any more pressure on you.

LaurieLovesLearning

@JodieDownUnder I asked for ideas so I can have an idea what all of you might like to see. We all make up this community and I would like it to remain attractive to all of us here, plus perhaps draw some more folks into our community with something fun, unique & engaging.

As I am able, I will see what can be made to work and see what might be a future project. 😉

To be honest, I've been really busy overall, but there are slow times coming at some point (so I hope). That's when I will play with some of the ideas.

VermontCathy

One minor issue has annoyed me for a while, and I think your tech team may be able to fix it easily.

When I click on one of the emails from TGN that takes me to a specific post, it lets me read the post, but I can't reply without logging in.

If I log in, I am dropped back in the home page, not the forums.

If I click on the link in the email, I am taken to the post, but I do not show as logged in!

The only way I have found to reply is to navigate by hand back to the appropriate forum, and then reply there.

On other forums, it's usually possible to log in from the post display, refresh, and then still be on the page with that post and able to reply.

Anyone else having this issue?

LaurieLovesLearning

@VermontCathy That is an important thing to bring to our attention. I'm not having issues like that, but if you are, there is a good chance someone else is also experiencing it.

Do you log out when you leave the forum?

I find that I only periodically have to sign back in, and don't have to jump through hoops like you've had to.

I'll pass this on. Hopefully someone can get to the bottom of it.

VermontCathy

I flush my browser history frequently, including all login cookies, for security reasons. That means I have to relogin to all the sites I use almost every time.

nicksamanda11

Doing great sister!

SuperC

Construction ideas for hummingbird houses and perennials that they enjoy.

A recipe for making: Birch Bark flour, or Pine Bark flour, or Acorn Flour.

How to harness pig manure to provide heat for your house throughout the cold months.

I like the scavenger hunt idea :)