breatheheavy

Awesome! How did you do this? Does it track clicks? 

Hey fam, would you guys find short links for our IPS forums to be useful?
So instead of pasting a long link, or using Bit.ly (for example), a plugin/app is created that generates a short URL for your board. 
Bitly just started capping how many links you can create in a month on their free account. 
Thoughts? 

This is because there are a lot of opinion based threads here. I don't think "Like" is a good reaction when you want to agree or support what has been said in a thread but currently the only agreeable reaction. 
Like is a broad (and at least for me) a very default way for people to respond/react to something that they simply think was a good read.
In some cases I would like to actually agree with what the member is saying or support it with a +1. To me agreeing versus liking something will give me a better way to show my appreciation to a members post.
An example a cute joke in the middle of an opinion thread would get a like or a 'haha' but something that brings up good points can get my 'agree'.

I had to take mine offline temporarily while I look into something 😕 Sorry bout that. It's a great app but I have found it a little more difficult to make sales when there isn't a guest option (where the person isn't required to become a member to purchase something). 

Interesting! 
Not 100% sure how I feel about floating anything 😂 How can we make that even more simple? 
If there was a plugin to make conversations threaded, I would throw my money at it. That to me seems very interesting and would increase engagement! I'm not loving linear threads where it's pages and pages of replies when they could be simplified to be one or two pages. 🙂
Thanks for replying to my topic. @Rikki

Hey team, 
I had several ideas...
1.) What would it look like if the entire quick reply form was moved from the bottom to directly underneath the Topic starter's post.
2.) Additionally, a quick reply form would appear when quoting to someone's comment. 
3.) Truncating replies.
I think it's pretty interesting how on Reddit, you can follow a chain of replies. Whereas in IPB, it's a long list of thread. I imagine for someone casually browsing they'd be overwhelmed with the amount of replies to sort through. I would love to explore options on how to display comments so that things are simplified.  

I'm not super fond of the idea of having to scroll all the way to the bottom of a topic to reply. 
 
I wonder if it would make things easier for users to reply.
Making things easier/more efficient = more engagement! 
Have any ideas to make replying easier? Any thoughts on how to lay comments out so there is more content in-view per scroll? I'm interested to hear what the community thinks.

Anyone interested in circling back on this threaded reply idea? 😬
I love this concept because you can directly see someone's reply versus scrolling page to page to page. If we could see members' replies directly under the original comment that'd be 🔥 
It also means a lot more content could fit on a single page. 
Thoughts? 

🙏 
I would say most comments are respectful and kind, but there's still work to do. It's still an initiative I'd like to pursue (even if I'm in the minority right now ;]) 
As I'm sure all community leaders can relate to, people are going through tough times right now. It's important to me to have an uplifting community corner on the Internet. So while some may think this idea is a nuisance, I personally think it adds value. 
I love the Random Act of Kindness idea you mentioned. I have done things like that in the past and it's fun, but it's not a sustainable solution to have to manually do that every day. BUT, your mind and heart are in the right place! That's the vibe 👏 
No worries, I understand. I would imagine if it was implemented in the core, that it'd feature an "on" or "off" option. But either way I hear you 🙏  😉 

if things get out of hand, let them know that the team will be watching closely:
Or even use the new 4.5 thing: Per Topic Post Approval.

@breatheheavy

Maybe instead of going this route, you can simply create a banner that you could place on your forum, basically reminding people to be kind to others when posting, see if that helps to make a difference at all. As @Davyc mentioned, let them know a good heated debate is always welcomed, just for them to remember to stay respectful.

If people are using the Members Shop system, maybe try a 'Random Act of Kindness' yourself, and tell people you will go around the forum and donate points to people who you feel are posting in a way you appreciate.

There are literally tons of things you can try to increase the good vibes on your forum, if you are willing to. Just curious, percentage wise, about how many of them are posting negative or offensive content? I know you have a good size community.

The part about the ads only came to me after the fact. My original intention is to keep my community as positive as possible. That’s most important. But the community does need to generate revenue to be sustainable. 
I didn’t anticipate so much pushback 😅. This isn’t a one-size fits all solution. However I think for me as a community leader it would enhance my forum. It sounds like it won’t for you and I respect that. 🙏

Therein lies your problem. 'you think it would enhance your forum' - have you asked your members what they think of this solution towards politeness?  After all, asking on here is one thing and you have had your responses from a few who have taken the time to respond, but what about your members? They are the ones who are going to have to live with this if you are able to implement it.  I believe their feedback would be more valuable to you than any on here.
As for this idea to stop people in their tracks and make them think before they post, it has the potential to stifle their desire to respond; emotions and passion are essential to good debate, these elements are what 'make people think' - this doesn't mean they have to be offensive, that's what your rules are there for, to remind them what is and isn't permissible. If anyone steps over the line, then you and your moderators are there to step in and do the job you're there for.  You have an inbuilt warning system, use that instead of penalising the many for the transgressions of the few.
Personally, if this was implemented in the core and it was not optional, I would go elsewhere for my community software.  I would not impose this on my members, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, it's your site, your forum, you do as you think best, but this is definitely not for the core, ask a developer to make this plugin/app for you, but I really would ask your members first if they believe this to be a good idea.  Do a poll, so they don't even have to say what they think 🙂
 

Utopia
We are not the same and that is ok - what is positive for me - that not mean that should be positive to some another or opposite!
Better to have some functionality plugins!

This isn't the right forum for that. This is for suggestions and feedback for the core platform.
You may think "clicking a heart" before posting will not be a hassle but in UX design you want to make everything the FEWEST clicks possible. Adding clicks is a hassle and is difficult and is not good UI.
Client lounge or General Chit Chat is better for something like this.

Nailed it!!!
I disagree. It may be a nuisance to some, but to those that want the community to be a positive place, I imagine they'll welcome this with open arms. Also keep in mind this isn't a required plugin lol so any community owner who doesn't want to use this can feel free to pass. 🙏 
If people check the box and continue to be icky members, it'll be a lot easier to suspend or ban them because they displayed a blatant disregard for the rules. 

Hey Invision, hope you're having a great December.
So, I had an idea.
One of my main missions this year was to elevate the culture in my forum and make it a kinder place. I feel like I have achieved success in that regard, however I still see comments that I find pretty questionable despite the warning points system, moderators, rules etc that are in place.
My idea is to develop a Kindness plugin.
There's a lot that can be done, and I'd love to hear your guys' feedback, but the first thing I'd like to have this plugin do is create essentially a little check box that the member must select that essentially says "This comment is kind" before they can successfully hit the reply button.
Yes, they could still write something negative or rude and check the box and post it, but I would like to see how that plays out. I do think psychologically it would be more difficult for people in general to say, "yes this is kind" when they know it isn't. 
I thought of starting with simply changing the language of "Submit Reply" to something else, but think that might be a little clunky. 
What do you guys think? I'm open to suggestions of course! Thanks =]

The 'Kindness' plugin is basically a captcha step that someone would take, BEFORE posting a reply or comment. Since it would simply be a checkbox placed right next to the 'Submit Reply' button, it really isn't any extra work for the user to do. It would only take a fraction of a second to do.

The idea behind this simple checkbox is this, "Before posting this comment, are you ensuring that when read by any other member of the forum, it will not be taken as being offensive or  aggressive? If not, then please proceed with the post". Something like that, from my understanding. It's pretty much just a reminder for people to think before they post.

 

Hey Invision, hope you're having a great December.
So, I had an idea.
One of my main missions this year was to elevate the culture in my forum and make it a kinder place. I feel like I have achieved success in that regard, however I still see comments that I find pretty questionable despite the warning points system, moderators, rules etc that are in place.
My idea is to develop a Kindness plugin.
There's a lot that can be done, and I'd love to hear your guys' feedback, but the first thing I'd like to have this plugin do is create essentially a little check box that the member must select that essentially says "This comment is kind" before they can successfully hit the reply button.
Yes, they could still write something negative or rude and check the box and post it, but I would like to see how that plays out. I do think psychologically it would be more difficult for people in general to say, "yes this is kind" when they know it isn't. 
I thought of starting with simply changing the language of "Submit Reply" to something else, but think that might be a little clunky. 
What do you guys think? I'm open to suggestions of course! Thanks =]

I do like the idea. As long as the checkbox is right next to the 'Submit Reply' button, I don't see it being a problem. Also, if they click 'Submit Reply' but have not checked the 'Kindness' box, then they will see a message letting them know that they first need to make sure their comment is kind, and they need to check the box confirming so.

 

I think the concept is moderately interesting but I certainly wouldn't want to "accept a terms of service" every time I submit something, at least not personally.

I like this as well.

Hey Invision, hope you're having a great December.
So, I had an idea.
One of my main missions this year was to elevate the culture in my forum and make it a kinder place. I feel like I have achieved success in that regard, however I still see comments that I find pretty questionable despite the warning points system, moderators, rules etc that are in place.
My idea is to develop a Kindness plugin.
There's a lot that can be done, and I'd love to hear your guys' feedback, but the first thing I'd like to have this plugin do is create essentially a little check box that the member must select that essentially says "This comment is kind" before they can successfully hit the reply button.
Yes, they could still write something negative or rude and check the box and post it, but I would like to see how that plays out. I do think psychologically it would be more difficult for people in general to say, "yes this is kind" when they know it isn't. 
I thought of starting with simply changing the language of "Submit Reply" to something else, but think that might be a little clunky. 
What do you guys think? I'm open to suggestions of course! Thanks =]

Hey Invision, hope you're having a great December.
So, I had an idea.
One of my main missions this year was to elevate the culture in my forum and make it a kinder place. I feel like I have achieved success in that regard, however I still see comments that I find pretty questionable despite the warning points system, moderators, rules etc that are in place.
My idea is to develop a Kindness plugin.
There's a lot that can be done, and I'd love to hear your guys' feedback, but the first thing I'd like to have this plugin do is create essentially a little check box that the member must select that essentially says "This comment is kind" before they can successfully hit the reply button.
Yes, they could still write something negative or rude and check the box and post it, but I would like to see how that plays out. I do think psychologically it would be more difficult for people in general to say, "yes this is kind" when they know it isn't. 
I thought of starting with simply changing the language of "Submit Reply" to something else, but think that might be a little clunky. 
What do you guys think? I'm open to suggestions of course! Thanks =]

Omg. I did this and now it's working 😭
Thank youuuuu!!! 
 

Pretty cool idea!!