ZooChat v4 suggestions

What about an "agree" and "disagree" button, similar to the like button?

 

Agree buttons are normally fine; but I've seen massive headaches caused with disagree/dislike buttons. Basically even though its a button and even though it hurts no one when its used, people get REALLY irate with them.

Some people will use them as a passive aggressive way to vent at someone; disagreeing with their posts even if there is obviously nothing wrong with them. Others will get really irate if anyone disagrees or dislikes their post and will call them out on it. Often it can escalate within an already disrupted thread; but sometimes it can be the cause of the disruption in itself.

Honestly I wouldn't want a disagree/dislike style button. I think such button functions should only ever be used for positive reinforcement of behaviour rather than negative.


I also think that such buttons, if too many, can sometimes stifle conversation. People get lazy and click "like/dislike" without making a post which sometimes results in them not starting or furthering a conversation.

 

I'm not sure how practical this idea is, but for zoos that have long term residents or are likely to stay there for life, would it be possible to have them listed in a sticky at the top of their news threads? Maybe have a little background info and link to a photo or two in the gallery?
There is so much info buried within the forum and I don't mind searching for things myself, but I am terrible at retaining information. I could probably start making notes myself, but there are other members who ask if there are any particular characters they should be aware of when visiting a collection for the first time.

 

Not sure it if was suggester already, but, could Zoochatters have some kind of button for see a compilation of all the Gallery images that they marked as Liked?

 

It would be nice if zoo galleries were split into "animals" and "enclosures". So for example, you would see this:

San Diego Zoo - Animals
San Diego Zoo - Enclosures
San Diego Zoo - Other

That way it would be easy to find which enclosures have been covered and which ones haven't. It would also clean up the gallery a little. The "other" would be for pictures of restaurants, statues, ect.

 

Impossible to do such a task with the hundreds of thousands of photos already uploaded into the hundreds of zoos of the Gallery.

 

Somehow I've only just come across this discussion.

I may not be overly active "discussion wise" on the site, but do visit every day to get the latest updates. The new features look promising; as do some of the suggestions! (especially being able to see all the photos you have liked previously/the ability to bookmark).

I do think that limiting what new members can post would be very off-putting... We could loose out on some fantastic people who are yet to join the site. Personally, I would have felt a little disheartened if I was put in that position...

Otherwise, I really appreciate all the hard work and will continue to use and support the site. Thank you

 

Make the photo captions more prominent (as they were before the latest upgrade).

Split media into two separate tabs: 1) photos/illustrations and 2) videos.

That's it - thanks for all your work Sim!

 

Maybe in the resource section we should have zoo information so when someone is going to a certain zoo, there is a guide to the place.

 

Now that it's December, here is one more thing I thought about. This time of year, Zoochatters hold competitions like 'Thread of the Year 2018' and 'Best ZooChat Photo 2018'. It would be cool if there was something at the top of the page that proclaimed it as such. For example, "CGSwans Flies North for the Winter" won the 2017 Thread of the Year competition. If this feature gets included, it would say "This Thread is the 2017 Thread of the Year above the thread title.

 

I have a feeling this isn't possible in the current software, but I'm going to ask anyway just in case. I don't mind actual technical limitations being explained to me.

From viewing a topic on a specific zoo, there is no link to conveniently jump directly back t the zoo's filter/section. The top categories will be listed above the thread (Forum -> Region -> Country/State) but the zoo/facility itself is listed as a static tag in the title, which is visually very useful, but denies convenient access to the filter/tag/category from within the topic. If you go back to the Country/State, you can select the zoo you're looking for information on just fine. The old ZooChat had the zoos as straightforward categories so it was easy to go back; I am not questioning the change but bringing it up for contrast that it is a feature we once had.

Would it be possible to implement the ability to select the filter to more easily view other topics within that facility filter or something along those general lines?

 

I would like to see mobile aspect of the site improved. I do most of my zoochat time from the mobile side, rarely do I use the computer unless I’m uploading pictures cause it’s way easier on the computer then on the phone. But I addressed that in another thread.

One thing I would like to see is improved search capabilities. Countless times I search for a thread only to get scores of photos in my results. I have to go back in and do an advance search and even still have to sometimes scroll through mulitiple posts to find a the thread I’m looking for. If there is a way to showcase a thread/photo section easier that would be helpful. An example would be if someone search “milwaukee zoo,” the three threads (active threads) would come up first and maybe the photo gallery section would as well. Then have include parts of threads where milwaukee zoo was mentioned below the threads and gallery. The reason for the suggestion is that one thing I’ve experience and seen is that people are posting a lot of duplicate threads only to have it moved or told that it’s discussed somewhere else, plus when I’ve search for things I’ve gotten the kitchen sink of information when only I was looking for a specific thing.

Otherwise what I’ve seen looks good and will be a better experience. Personally, I would like the search abilities to be easier, easier uploading of photos from mobile device and overall mobile device experience.

 

I would possibly like to see a "popular threads" section, where the latest, most responded threads show up.

 

Here's a suggestion:

Instead of a 'random media' section on the front page, you could have some of the highest rated photos on the site appear (similar to what eBird does on their home page). We could keep the random media as a link on the media page (like a random page button on wikis).

 

Also, imo there should be a requirement that when media is uploaded at least one tag should be added. It would make finding related photos much easier.