Quote Alerts - Empty Closets - A safe online community for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people coming out

Lucky Panda · 4th Jul 2010, 09:45 PM

I was thinking that it might be a really cool feature/addition if EC would give you an alert or simple acknowledgment that you've been quoted in a thread or post. :] That way, people would know to look and see what any responses were.

**Owen** · 5th Jul 2010, 07:21 AM

I've had this very same thought myself. I hope it's possible.

**Ben** · 5th Jul 2010, 08:20 AM

Snazziness! I've passed this on to the Gods and I'm sure someone Godly will post in here shortly.

**Martin** · 5th Jul 2010, 09:00 AM

Hey,

EC has been given a similar hack, but it has never actually been implemented because it presents a few problems. The hack itself would display a table somewhere on the forum page displaying recent posts that you have been quoted on which shows the thread title, the link to the post, and the member who has quoted you. That is where a potential problem pops up.

The staff forums regularly use quotes to highlight posts that need discussing, and the hack does not exempt those posts from appearing on the table. For example, member Y posts an abusive thread that needs removing, member X reports it to the staff. That post report quotes the thread/post and displays it under member X's name, which then would appear on member Y's "Who quoted me?" table. The hack isn't able to tell the difference between a genuine quote and a quote made by the post report system so it would effectively remove the anonymity of post reports and could cause problems if members become aware of reports being filed against them by member X.

Furthermore, the staff forums often quote posts that need attention either because they are breaking the rules, or because it's a situation that requires private support/contact. In that case a member would see that staff are talking about them, would be unable to access the thread, and would likely start feeling rather paranoid or concerned that they are being discussed privately and are unable to see why.

The hack can be beneficial and useful to members, but from a staff perspective it is rather like a living nightmare. We would either need to completely reform the post report system and change how we deal with post discussions, or we'd have to explore whether the hack can be customised to fit our requirements. The latter option has other issues that I can't really go into as I need to discuss it with the other admins first (mostly because I am not technical on this and I don't want to comment on something I know very little about).

But yeah, that's the issues we'd face from a staff perspective.

**Owen** · 5th Jul 2010, 03:13 PM

Curses!

No One · 6th Jul 2010, 03:56 PM

I think it would still be interesting to look into it. EC hasn't really improved much lately, and it would be nice to see some new features.

AnneChaos · 9th Jul 2010, 07:24 AM

That would be really usefull! I'm always turning back to the topics seeing if someone quoted me, it would be really easy that way.

It's a shame it gives such problems :/

littledinosaurs · 9th Jul 2010, 03:42 PM

I would imagine that another problem would be quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes.

They would turn into compounding notifications and that would be another mess.

but it's a nice thought in passing.

4th Jul 2010, 09:45 PM	#1
Lucky Panda EC's unofficial Sailor Venus Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gaily gay. Out Status: Parents, Friends, and Facebook :D Location: Near Houston, Texas. Age: 18 Posts: 1,225 Join Date: Mar 2008	Quote Alerts I was thinking that it might be a really cool feature/addition if EC would give you an alert or simple acknowledgment that you've been quoted in a thread or post. :] That way, people would know to look and see what any responses were. __________________

5th Jul 2010, 07:21 AM	#2
Owen Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult EC Admin Gender: Agendered dude Orientation: Panromantic androsexual Out Status: Everyone and their mother Location: Massachusetts, USA Age: 21 Posts: 2,873 Join Date: Jul 2007	Re: Quote Alerts I've had this very same thought myself. I hope it's possible. __________________ "Stand firm for what you believe in, until and unless logic and experience prove you wrong. Remember, when the emperor looks naked, the emperor is naked. The truth and a lie are not sort of the same thing. And there is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza." -Daria Morgendorffer

5th Jul 2010, 08:20 AM	#3
Ben Was Invisible. EC Moderator Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out to everyone Age: 20 Posts: 3,705 Join Date: Jul 2008	Re: Quote Alerts Snazziness! I've passed this on to the Gods and I'm sure someone Godly will post in here shortly.

5th Jul 2010, 09:00 AM	#4
Martin EC's Red Queen EC Admin Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Some people Location: Merseyside, UK Age: 21 Posts: 8,047 Join Date: Nov 2007	Re: Quote Alerts Hey, EC has been given a similar hack, but it has never actually been implemented because it presents a few problems. The hack itself would display a table somewhere on the forum page displaying recent posts that you have been quoted on which shows the thread title, the link to the post, and the member who has quoted you. That is where a potential problem pops up. The staff forums regularly use quotes to highlight posts that need discussing, and the hack does not exempt those posts from appearing on the table. For example, member Y posts an abusive thread that needs removing, member X reports it to the staff. That post report quotes the thread/post and displays it under member X's name, which then would appear on member Y's "Who quoted me?" table. The hack isn't able to tell the difference between a genuine quote and a quote made by the post report system so it would effectively remove the anonymity of post reports and could cause problems if members become aware of reports being filed against them by member X. Furthermore, the staff forums often quote posts that need attention either because they are breaking the rules, or because it's a situation that requires private support/contact. In that case a member would see that staff are talking about them, would be unable to access the thread, and would likely start feeling rather paranoid or concerned that they are being discussed privately and are unable to see why. The hack can be beneficial and useful to members, but from a staff perspective it is rather like a living nightmare. We would either need to completely reform the post report system and change how we deal with post discussions, or we'd have to explore whether the hack can be customised to fit our requirements. The latter option has other issues that I can't really go into as I need to discuss it with the other admins first (mostly because I am not technical on this and I don't want to comment on something I know very little about). But yeah, that's the issues we'd face from a staff perspective. __________________ The blue whale ejaculates up to 40 gallons during sexual intercourse, but only 10 gallons enters the female. Do you still wonder why the sea tastes salty?

5th Jul 2010, 03:13 PM	#5
Owen Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult EC Admin Gender: Agendered dude Orientation: Panromantic androsexual Out Status: Everyone and their mother Location: Massachusetts, USA Age: 21 Posts: 2,873 Join Date: Jul 2007	Re: Quote Alerts Curses! __________________ "Stand firm for what you believe in, until and unless logic and experience prove you wrong. Remember, when the emperor looks naked, the emperor is naked. The truth and a lie are not sort of the same thing. And there is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza." -Daria Morgendorffer

6th Jul 2010, 03:56 PM	#6
No One Eternally Male Crazed! Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Unofficially out to everyone but my family. Age: 18 Posts: 1,021 Join Date: Oct 2008	Re: Quote Alerts I think it would still be interesting to look into it. EC hasn't really improved much lately, and it would be nice to see some new features. __________________

9th Jul 2010, 07:24 AM	#7
AnneChaos __ Regular Member Gender: Female Orientation: just sexual ;) Out Status: I like to randomly tell my friends :) Location: Lisbon Age: 16 Posts: 264 Join Date: Oct 2009	Re: Quote Alerts That would be really usefull! I'm always turning back to the topics seeing if someone quoted me, it would be really easy that way. It's a shame it gives such problems :/

9th Jul 2010, 03:42 PM	#8
littledinosaurs J'essaie de Parler Français! :] Full Member Gender: Garçon Orientation: Bisexuel Location: Nouvelle-Angleterre. Age: 21 Posts: 2,351 Join Date: Sep 2008	Re: Quote Alerts I would imagine that another problem would be quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes. They would turn into compounding notifications and that would be another mess. but it's a nice thought in passing. __________________ Âllo Là