Browse Forums Ideas Box 1 Jul 05, 2010 11:18 am I've seen (and asked it myself) this question way too often - "Where are you located?". I've seen some lengthy discussions which were cut short and to the point as soon as the OP finally states where is s/he located. It's getting more and more frustrating that people need to keep asking this and so many people not wanting to say even the State they are in. So (rant over), who wants to support this petition to make the Location mandatory for all new AND existing members? I'm asking the Forum Admin to make this change happen as a priority over all other potential changes that they might be negotiating. Potential solutions 1) The solution should force the member to specify a valid, real location (and not something like "here where I am now" or suburb name only - for example, there is Flemington, Croydon, etc. in both Melb and Syd). The correctness of the location could easily be enforced by providing a drop down list with States only. 2) Or, the same list could additionally contain all the major/capital cities in each state (for hopefully obvious reasons - % population and the fact that such list wouldn't be too long at all) - this is in case only 1 field will be made available for specifying the Location. 3) Obviously, the Admin could decide that they would provide 2 fields for specifying location - perhaps something like I mentioned recently in a related thread http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=34713: ... Location. Agree that it should be mandatory. Or, even going one step furhter (and ignoring for a moment any issues with storing and sorting more data), I think the location could even be 2 separate fields. First field (mandatory) to be a selection (drop down list) of the States. A second field (non-mandatory) could be a free form entry of a more specific location just like now (eg. Sydney, Newcastle, NW Sydney, Blue Mountains, My Laptop ...). For all new members, make the new drop down State list mandatory. For all existing members, make it mandatory on first logon (after new version is released, obviously). I would do this even if the second field already has some value because not everyone knows where is, for example, Scheyville National Park (not to mention new suburbs or suburbs which exist in more than 1 city). 4) ?? I think the option 2 above would give us plenty to start with. Whatever happens, it would be nice to give us some feedback on this and any plans on how to addrress this! Thanks in advance My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 2Jul 05, 2010 2:21 pm In theory, I agree with mandatory locations - say state of Australia or other - there are a few posters from overseas - eg New Zealand, one was from Russia. Then an optional area for more specific location,(town, suburb etc) or for those creative posters who like to put things like "at my computer desk" I dont agree with making city/town mandatory - this is alright for those in capital cities with millions of inhabitants but would be potentially identifying for those of us in relatively small country towns. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 3Jul 05, 2010 2:44 pm I think option 2 would be a good compromise. Personally I don't have a problem with not having people's locations on their profile. It goes nicely with the whole anonymity thing that internet forums are all about, and I am happy enough to preface my suggestions with "if you are in Melbourne, I'd suggest....". Also, if someone asked for suggestions for, say, a tile supplier, and I saw they were from (say) Darwin, I might refrain from replying, thinking that my supplier wouldn't be in Darwin, but they might have a branch there that I don't know about, so my post MIGHT have been helpful after all. if you know what I mean. But it seems other people do have a problem with people not posting their location, therefore I'll vote option 2, as a nice compromise hopefully people won't have a problem with making public which state they are from. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 4Jul 05, 2010 2:58 pm Option 2 sounds like a good compromise to me. Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 7Jul 05, 2010 4:46 pm Great idea. Stefan Building the M3tr!con Liberty 42 at Stonecutters Ridge. The New Build Blog - "Life, In Progress." Stonecutters Ridge Community Website | My photos Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 8Jul 05, 2010 5:17 pm Everyone who is locationless is from Brisbane in my opinion. I'll give them my opinion as if they are from here. If not, oh well they'll look pretty funny ranting to their builder about something that is totally wrong in their state. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 9Jul 05, 2010 6:03 pm Helyn In theory, I agree with mandatory locations - say state of Australia or other - there are a few posters from overseas - eg New Zealand, one was from Russia. Then an optional area for more specific location,(town, suburb etc) or for those creative posters who like to put things like "at my computer desk" I dont agree with making city/town mandatory - this is alright for those in capital cities with millions of inhabitants but would be potentially identifying for those of us in relatively small country towns. This sounds like a vote for option 3 ... Yep, they could add "Overseas" (or similar) in the mandatory list of states+major cities and then the user could write "Russia" in the second (optional) field Still, who knows if any of this would ever be implemented ... I know that some other forums have it as mandatory and some actually simply have a drop down list of all countries in the world! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 11Jul 05, 2010 7:09 pm Lex Helyn In theory, I agree with mandatory locations - say state of Australia or other - there are a few posters from overseas - eg New Zealand, one was from Russia. Then an optional area for more specific location,(town, suburb etc) or for those creative posters who like to put things like "at my computer desk" I dont agree with making city/town mandatory - this is alright for those in capital cities with millions of inhabitants but would be potentially identifying for those of us in relatively small country towns. This sounds like a vote for option 3 ... Yep, they could add "Overseas" (or similar) in the mandatory list of states+major cities and then the user could write "Russia" in the second (optional) field Still, who knows if any of this would ever be implemented ... I know that some other forums have it as mandatory and some actually simply have a drop down list of all countries in the world! I thought I was only voting Yes or No - assuming Yes gets the go-ahead, out of the possible solutions, I favour 3) - compulsory state/other country (dont give people the option of "Australia" ) : gives people option of adding more, either clarifying their real location or adding a quirky fictional place "tearing my hair out" : etc. Is that what you mean? Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 12Jul 05, 2010 7:48 pm You are right H. - the voting is simply for Y/N on having the location mandatory or not. As you can see, several people have then gone a step further and commented on what would they like to see as the actual screen solution (provided that Y is adopted and that admin takes any notice of these scribblings ) - which is great - pitty it's not us to define the solution in detail, but at least we can dream of it My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 13Jul 06, 2010 10:24 am H1 are really on the ball..... NOT! Well as from today, I have resolved...... If I read a post asking a question, and they have no location in their profile, my response will be.... " Sorry, but I may be wasting my time answering when I don't know your location. Please edit your profile to include where you are located. Only then will I be happy to offer a response." Feel free to do likewise! Ash. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 14Jul 06, 2010 10:41 am but...wouldn't you be wasting more of your time just by typing that out and replying at all...? why not just say "if you are in WA...." and go on with your reply as per normal? if it doesn't help that person it might still help another person reading. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 15Jul 06, 2010 12:23 pm To be honest, I can't comprehend why would people be reluctant to state their location in their profile in the first place. I am probably missing something, as I can't figure how can stating my state (NSW) or even my major city (Sydney) cause me any problems with privacy (if privacy is the concern). A few people went ahead with creating their build threads, posting pics of their house, identifying their builder, stating their location somewhere else in some post in some other context, but are still not updating their profile ... perhaps just an oversight and not so much the fear of being easily identifiable (by what I see as a generously broad location)?! If house facade doesn't identify the owner (and especially to their builder), how can a blank location protect the privacy of their identity (if it is privacy that is the concern) Perhaps the question to ask is - Why? (why wouldn't one want to display their location) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 16Jul 06, 2010 12:27 pm Nup. This has gone on too long. Its about time people got the message that questions are very regularly ambiguous unless they are read within the CONTEXT of their location. Doing as you say (Donuts) is to capitulate to a forum that is not addressing this issue. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 17Jul 06, 2010 4:58 pm See I really cannot stand this type of "directive". Altho' I have my city in my details I don't think that we should "have" to include it. If I were to ask for information regarding something then I would ask for information pertaining to my actual area (well actually I would probably just confer with Suh LOL!!) Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 18Jul 06, 2010 5:30 pm Kyton, no probs! As I said "feel FREE to do likewise".... which equally can be taken as "feel free NOT to do likewise". The thing is, its a CONSTANT annoying fact that people absent mindedly post questions which can't be properly answered unless location is mentioned. Sure, some include their location in their post, but more often than not, they neglect to, and the circus begins again! There is NO good reason to not make it mandatory. If someone is so paranoid about anonymity, they could easily put a false location in their profile. Clearly though, this would be counter-productive if they get answers that are not helpful (which would be their own problem). Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 19Jul 06, 2010 8:39 pm Getting tired of people with 1 or 2 posts and this sort of topic "What landscaping" "Airconditioning HELP" "URGENT - MY builder did this" And none of them have profile locations or bother to tell you where they are in the topic So I updated my signature.................. Re: Petition to address The most frequently asked question 20Jul 06, 2010 8:58 pm Quote: as I can't figure how can stating my state (NSW) or even my major city (Sydney) cause me any problems with privacy (if privacy is the concern). I dont have a problem stating my state - this has been in my profile since I joined. I do have some reservations about stating my town - as I said before, this is alright for those in major cities - could be an issue for those of us in country towns. Yes, granted, I may of occasionally mentioned my town in specific posts but thats not the same, to me anyway, as haveing it on every single post Ive ever made. (and Ive made thousands ) So I dont think mandatory locations should go any further than just the state you are in. 9 24956 Thank you. That is really helpful. Once we get the place done and passed for OC we can upgrade in the future once we get back on our feet and not paying mortgage and rent. 4 5875 The worst thing you can do is sign a building contract without a pre contract review. Over the years many people have come to me with disputes where they just signed… 0 8476 |