Author Topic: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)  (Read 99697 times)

Offline miscme

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #80 on: 09/02/2016 04:10 pm »
The user avatar's are loading in http mode and that prevent's me from seeing the green padlock of trust.

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #81 on: 09/02/2016 04:14 pm »
Thanks. We'll get on that. Everyone should have a green padlock. Otherwise it just isn't cricket ;)
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Offline Joaosg

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #82 on: 09/04/2016 06:26 pm »
Chris an important implementation would be an SSL certificate for the forum (subdomain would be cheaper than all domain and subdomains).

Google values SSL on their rank and it is a good idea for security reasons also.

Don't know what version of Wordpress we are using (hope it's updated) but there are a lot of awesome off the shelf themes that with some proper customization could really step up the news site both in terms of functionality and design, and all of them are now responsive so they can adapt to mobile devices.

Very interested in the Wordpress stuff. My thinking is to mirror what we use right now and play with themes etc. Rather than work in the current CMS in case I mess up current articles ;)

Per the cert, I thought we had sorted all of that out?

Talking about this? (The s in the URL)?

Ohh.. There is a SSL installed, but it isn't redirecting the http:// to https://, it should be redirecting everyone to the https format. Using a simple .htacess redirect should do it!

You can read about it here: http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/ssl/how-to-force-https-using-the-htaccess-file
It's just adding that to the htacess of the site/forum.
Also what miscme said is right.

About the wordpress, since you use the built-in editor of the wordpress without any special code a new theme shouldn't become a problem to old articles, but we could always start a new folder in beta.nasaspaceflight.com and test everything and receive feedback from L2 users (at first) for instance
« Last Edit: 09/04/2016 06:27 pm by Joaosg »

Online MP99

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #83 on: 09/04/2016 09:44 pm »
Ok I confess, for reading the forum I mainly use tapatalk on my mobile. Why? Because it's the easiest way to see which of the myriad of threads I follow across the site have new posts since I last read them. It's also very quick to jump into the relevant point in those threads. It also helpfully lists new threads in the subforums I subscribe to and I can easily add/remove subscriptions.
I used to use email notifications but my inbox just clogged up with 100s of messages, with no clear overview and it was a pain to constantly switch between email and browser.
So in my ideal NSF 2017 there would be a way to do this within the site itself. There's no question that reading the web version is nicer. The issue for me is finding the content I want to read.

If you want a list of all your subscribed threads with "new" buttons, just go to Profile / Modify Profile.

Edit:- this is on the desktop site.

Cheers, Martin
« Last Edit: 09/04/2016 09:46 pm by MP99 »

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #84 on: 09/10/2016 04:26 pm »
Right, not enough hours in the day.

Call for help on one of the projects....anyone very savvy with Wordpress CMS, so we can do that experiment with the article layout? I'm worried I might break something if I fiddle with it too much ;D

Fire me a PM if you're that person.

--

That's sorted and in work :)
« Last Edit: 09/19/2016 12:13 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #85 on: 09/19/2016 12:13 pm »
Going to set up a L2 reception area as the payment merchant is now a lot easier and welcoming to any form of online payment (rather than the old days where it really wanted you to join paypal). Will do a payment tutorial and a new overview landing page :)
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Offline Rocket Science

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #86 on: 09/21/2016 12:50 am »
I really enjoyed the Aerobee-19 article. There is so much spaceflight history to choose from, perhaps we can make this a regular ongoing feature on NSF? :)
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #87 on: 09/21/2016 12:52 am »
Going to set up a L2 reception area as the payment merchant is now a lot easier and welcoming to any form of online payment (rather than the old days where it really wanted you to join paypal). Will do a payment tutorial and a new overview landing page :)

And that's complete (and will be built organically as we go).

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=79.0

I really enjoyed the Aerobee-19 article. There is so much spaceflight history to choose from, perhaps we can make this a regular ongoing feature on NSF? :)

Yeah, if we spot good anniversaries they make them newsworthy. I certainly enjoyed reading that one!
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Offline Kaputnik

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #88 on: 09/21/2016 10:36 pm »
Some great ideas- I love the "arrivals & departures" board for upcoming launches.

Massive, long, rambling threads are a daunting read. I try not to skip ahead but it can be hard to find the time to read thousands of posts. And some people don't even try to catch up, but just wade in by posting something which already been discussed to death a few pages back- which just exacerbates the problem.
I don't really know how to address this. Ideally it would need some sort of regularly updated summary. But perhaps a feature where you could temporarily view only certain posts (e.g. posts by your chosen favourite users, posts that have been liked, posts which have generated x no. of replies) would serve to improve the signal:noise ratio and make catching up on huge 100+ page threads more managable.
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #89 on: 09/21/2016 10:39 pm »
Yeah, I'm thinking of a plan of "section leaders", where they - people with a big interest in the subject  - can edit the opening post and link key posts, provide one stop summaries linking to the point in the thread where something was updated, etc.
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Online catdlr

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #90 on: 09/21/2016 10:53 pm »
Yeah, I'm thinking of a plan of "section leaders", where they - people with a big interest in the subject  - can edit the opening post and link key posts, provide one stop summaries linking to the point in the thread where something was updated, etc.

I'm very much favor what Kaputnik suggested.  I would like to suggest that if a member likes a particular topic, then they could hit a new button on the bottom of the page along side the Reply, Notify, etc with one that's labeled "Favorite Topic".  Then at the top of the Forums page toolbar, an addition button, alongside "Unread Topics", labeled "Favorite Topics" would only populate the threads that user is interested in (thus the user manages what they would like to view and read.  Of course, NSF would have the update the user database to make that happen, but your doing this so far with the "Notify" option already.   The original "Unread Topics" could be renamed "All Unread Topics".

I too spend way to much time looking just for the topics I'm interested.  I would rather have a means to manage what I'm interested.

Thanks, and as always, this is such a great site, no matter what become of it.

Tony De La Rosa
« Last Edit: 09/21/2016 10:54 pm by catdlr »
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Offline GeneBelcher

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #91 on: 09/24/2016 06:14 pm »
I skimmed this thread and didn't see this mentioned, so sorry if it already was.

Multi-quote ability.

Instead of seeing multiple posts in a row from the same person because they are quoting and replying to different previous posts, the multi-quote function allows you to select multiple posts at once and then it includes them all as separate quotes in one reply. Would help clean up the long discussion threads.

A perfect example of when this is useful is right here in the 2nd AMOS-6 discussion thread. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41252.msg1587924#msg1587924

jongoff has 8 reply posts in a row, plus a 9th pointing out the other 8. That could have been just one post if the multi-quote function existed.

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #92 on: 09/24/2016 06:18 pm »
Jim also does that sometimes. It's not the fault of the site. It's the fault of an overly chatty member ;D

And the multiquote is available, but Jon simply didn't use it.

I'll merge some posts. And done, it's now four posts. And to be fair, had he done all that in one post, people would be complaining about such a long post with lots of quotes, so the balance is now right.
« Last Edit: 09/24/2016 06:22 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Lar

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #93 on: 09/24/2016 06:22 pm »
I skimmed this thread and didn't see this mentioned, so sorry if it already was.

Multi-quote ability.

Instead of seeing multiple posts in a row from the same person because they are quoting and replying to different previous posts, the multi-quote function allows you to select multiple posts at once and then it includes them all as separate quotes in one reply. Would help clean up the long discussion threads.

A perfect example of when this is useful is right here in the 2nd AMOS-6 discussion thread. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41252.msg1587924#msg1587924

jongoff has 8 reply posts in a row, plus a 9th pointing out the other 8. That could have been just one post if the multi-quote function existed.


Multiquote exists now, you just have to add one post at a time and remember that you have to leave the cursor in the bottom, the quote you click gets inserted wherever the cursor is, I think. (or maybe always at the bottom)

Yeah, I'm thinking of a plan of "section leaders", where they - people with a big interest in the subject  - can edit the opening post and link key posts, provide one stop summaries linking to the point in the thread where something was updated, etc.

I'm very much favor what Kaputnik suggested.  I would like to suggest that if a member likes a particular topic, then they could hit a new button on the bottom of the page along side the Reply, Notify, etc with one that's labeled "Favorite Topic".  Then at the top of the Forums page toolbar, an addition button, alongside "Unread Topics", labeled "Favorite Topics" would only populate the threads that user is interested in (thus the user manages what they would like to view and read.  Of course, NSF would have the update the user database to make that happen, but your doing this so far with the "Notify" option already.   The original "Unread Topics" could be renamed "All Unread Topics".

I too spend way to much time looking just for the topics I'm interested.  I would rather have a means to manage what I'm interested.

Thanks, and as always, this is such a great site, no matter what become of it.

Tony De La Rosa
I think "section leaders" doesn't require as much technical change to the sw, Fine grained filtering of only certain threads to only certain posters is not something this board software has, I don't think...
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Offline GeneBelcher

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #94 on: 09/25/2016 03:23 am »
Jim also does that sometimes. It's not the fault of the site. It's the fault of an overly chatty member ;D

And the multiquote is available, but Jon simply didn't use it.

I'll merge some posts. And done, it's now four posts. And to be fair, had he done all that in one post, people would be complaining about such a long post with lots of quotes, so the balance is now right.

Multiquote exists now, you just have to add one post at a time and remember that you have to leave the cursor in the bottom, the quote you click gets inserted wherever the cursor is, I think. (or maybe always at the bottom)


Ahh I see. Sorry about that. It's not setup at all how I've more seen it done before so I didn't even notice. Cool deal. If only I actually posted enough to use it. :)

Offline Kaputnik

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #95 on: 09/25/2016 09:50 am »
Fine grained filtering of only certain threads to only certain posters is not something this board software has, I don't think...

Is there an 'ignore list' function? It would act along similar lines, but in reverse. My idea is that you see a 100+ page thread and can just see posts by, e.g., Jim, HMXHMX, JonGoff, and whoever else you choose and know is worth reading. But you'd need it to be something that you have to actively select and perhaps only available on threads over a certain length, and which turns off again by default.

I have no idea whether the forum software could support such a thing, but, heck if we can put a man on the moon...

I also like the idea of a favourite threads or topics list, as mentioned above. As much as I would like to follow every thread on the forum there simply aren't enough hours in the day. In fact I believe Jim only manages it because he has been cloned multiple times as part of a government rocket scientist breeding program.
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Offline Star One

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NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #96 on: 09/25/2016 11:24 am »
Fine grained filtering of only certain threads to only certain posters is not something this board software has, I don't think...

Is there an 'ignore list' function? It would act along similar lines, but in reverse. My idea is that you see a 100+ page thread and can just see posts by, e.g., Jim, HMXHMX, JonGoff, and whoever else you choose and know is worth reading. But you'd need it to be something that you have to actively select and perhaps only available on threads over a certain length, and which turns off again by default.

I have no idea whether the forum software could support such a thing, but, heck if we can put a man on the moon...

I also like the idea of a favourite threads or topics list, as mentioned above. As much as I would like to follow every thread on the forum there simply aren't enough hours in the day. In fact I believe Jim only manages it because he has been cloned multiple times as part of a government rocket scientist breeding program.

I would be strongly against this idea as if you only saw posts by certain posters that would run the risk of both missing posts that might be interesting by other posters and losing the overall context of certain threads. It also runs the risk of acting like an echo chamber where posters only read posts in certain topics like policy for example where they already pre-agree with a particular viewpoint rather than actually seeing any posts that might present a dissenting one. Which in my view is a dangerous avenue to go down and something on social media that has led to entrenched and infantilised public debate, not something I would like to see take root here.
« Last Edit: 09/25/2016 11:30 am by Star One »

Offline Kaputnik

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #97 on: 09/25/2016 12:20 pm »
I 100% agree with your concerns which is why I would not suggest this filtered view as a default or permanent setting.
However, catching up on long and fast moving threads is not easy, leading many people to simply not bother and to wade in with their 'new' idea which was debunked ten pages earlier. The Amos 6 failure was a good example- by the time I was able to get to a computer, it was already at about 50 pages and growing about as fast as I could get time to catch up with it. So my own approach is to skim through the posts and only concentrate on those that look sufficiently interesting.

My ideal 'filter' would work something like this:
- only available on threads above a certain size (e.g. 20 pages long)
- has to be actively enabled by the user each and every time they view an eligible thread
- the entirety of the first page, and the most recent page, are not filtered
- all posts which have generated X no. of quoted replies are not filtered
- all posts from moderators are not filtered
- (possibly also all 'liked' posts not filtered)?
- the user can select additional posts as they choose, from other named users. Perhaps a suggestion list of memnbers known to work in the industry could be included as a default position on this.

With this approach, moderators would be able to control the discussion and perhaps provide summaries along the way in the knowledge that these would be read.
The idea is to improve the signal to noise ratio and to prevent threads becoming clogged up with newbies asking the same thing over and over again.

Perhaps the filter could be disabled on threads that are not especially fast-moving, even very long ones, as the point of it is to allow people to catch up in a reasonable period of time. And of course users would always have the absolute option of not turning the filter on in the first place.

All moot if the software does not allow it...
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Offline Star One

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #98 on: 09/25/2016 01:53 pm »
I 100% agree with your concerns which is why I would not suggest this filtered view as a default or permanent setting.
However, catching up on long and fast moving threads is not easy, leading many people to simply not bother and to wade in with their 'new' idea which was debunked ten pages earlier. The Amos 6 failure was a good example- by the time I was able to get to a computer, it was already at about 50 pages and growing about as fast as I could get time to catch up with it. So my own approach is to skim through the posts and only concentrate on those that look sufficiently interesting.

My ideal 'filter' would work something like this:
- only available on threads above a certain size (e.g. 20 pages long)
- has to be actively enabled by the user each and every time they view an eligible thread
- the entirety of the first page, and the most recent page, are not filtered
- all posts which have generated X no. of quoted replies are not filtered
- all posts from moderators are not filtered
- (possibly also all 'liked' posts not filtered)?
- the user can select additional posts as they choose, from other named users. Perhaps a suggestion list of memnbers known to work in the industry could be included as a default position on this.

With this approach, moderators would be able to control the discussion and perhaps provide summaries along the way in the knowledge that these would be read.
The idea is to improve the signal to noise ratio and to prevent threads becoming clogged up with newbies asking the same thing over and over again.

Perhaps the filter could be disabled on threads that are not especially fast-moving, even very long ones, as the point of it is to allow people to catch up in a reasonable period of time. And of course users would always have the absolute option of not turning the filter on in the first place.

All moot if the software does not allow it...

I can see where you're coming from, but from purely my personal viewpoint I wouldn't ever use that kind of system but I get that some might prefer it. I didn't know if this could be done but once busy threads dropped below a certain pre-determined level of daily posting such options should then be removed from the thread as they would no longer have a use for any viewer. Also that the number of threads at any one time that such filtering would ever be applied to would be very strictly limited.

Offline Lourens

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Re: NSF Master Plan for 2017 onwards (Help create it)
« Reply #99 on: 09/27/2016 09:58 pm »
You mentioned aesthetics, so I think I should post this here. I created a design refresh for the front page and the articles a year and a half ago, based on the current logo. I shared it only privately with Chris back then, but it still looks nice to me, and this seems to be the opportunity to put it up for everyone. There's a frontpage and an article. Note that these are mock-ups, it would take quite a bit of coding to actually integrate this into the site and make sure everything works properly.

I seem to recall working on a responsive version of the front page. I tried to do it completely with CSS, no JavaScript, and got quite far but didn't quite make it IIRC. I'll see if I can dig that up tomorrow.

I've been very busy with a new job and I haven't had time for even reading the forums in months, so I can't offer any help building the new one, but if anyone wants to develop it further into something, go right ahead :). Here is a zipfile with the whole thing for convenience.

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