2019 Forum Developments

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 10:48:32 GMT

Emoticon update. This platform comes with a huge selection of emoticons (under insert>insert emoticon), but a) I think the old ones were better, and b) there are too many now (so apart from anything else, the shortcuts are hard to remember).

The old emoticons are not ideal for the new website (because they are a different file format which doesn't scale). So I am now looking for replacements in the new file format and plan to all the default ones you can see, and just have the range we had before:

Happy
Very Happy
Surprised
Shocked
Wink
Sad
Very sad
Confused
Exasperated
Embarrassed
Cool
Angry
Innocent
Mischievous
Tired
Thumbs up
Star
Really very angry indeed
Sick
Thumbs down
Idea
Applause
Fingers crossed
Kiss
Raised eyebrow
Tongue-in-cheek
Frustrated

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 10:14:03 GMT

Francisco Gomez I am going mad. Ignore my last post. I just remembered that reactions did create a notification on the last website, so they probably should on this one too. I have added it to the snaglist.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 14:25:55 GMT

[quote userid="11493" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/site-support-discussions/28564/2019-forum-developments/218556"]Two people thanked me for my last contribution (it was a reply) but the bell notification didn't register it. I'm not sure if this is desired setting or something that's not working properly.[/quote]

Neither, actually! The notification system is part of the proprietary platform we use. Thanks and other reactions is something we built, and as far as I know, it doesn't integrate with the bell. But you make a good point. I think we should be able to add some other kind of notification of thanks. Will discuss with developers (but like Beats' suggestion, it will have to come after the first round of fixes, if I am not bankrupt already!)

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Francisco Gomez — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 14:20:28 GMT

Two people thanked me for my last contribution (it was a reply) but the bell notification didn't register it. I'm not sure if this is desired setting or something that's not working properly.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:52:08 GMT

Bob, no I don't want to lose that either. To make sure we don't, the planned format is:

Each discipline will have two forums - one is Expert Help, and one is Discussion. Plan is to have some Expert GPs plus referral practitioners who can answer questions in the former. But anyone will be able to tangent a question from Expert Help into the Discussion for a broader discussion.

It will all take a bit of trialling to see what works best.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Bob Russell — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:47:33 GMT

There are plenty of us on here with long periods of good experience of being a 'general vet'.

Clearly to prevent the frequent free for alls this has to be controlled but we have all been in the situation of 'having seen that before' and it seems a shame to lose that. Perhaps some sort of 'I can help' facility might be in order particularly until sufficient expertise is available.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:43:24 GMT

[quote userid="11493" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/site-support-discussions/28564/2019-forum-developments/218390"]I have always been somehow reluctant to show my qualifications in the site, I thought it to be a little arrogant. I feel now that there's a purpose for them so I will add them.[/quote]

I'm so glad you feel that way ... I was inspired watching Tim Berners-Lee talking about the importance of transparency in online discussions. Although he was talking in the context of 'fake news', I was thinking that it is equally important in the field of medicine of any sort. Knowing your level of qualification is absolutely essential in order for the reader to be able to put your opinions into context. I really feel this is the direction this community has to take. And of course we will still have an anon login for when people want to discuss sensitive issues. But for professional discussions, we really should be transparent.

I am sure I put CertAVP in there somewhere. It may not be categorised as you expected. Let me take a look and I will add it.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Francisco Gomez — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:31:24 GMT

I have always been somehow reluctant to show my qualifications in the site, I thought it to be a little arrogant. I feel now that there's a purpose for them so I will add them.

One of my qualifications is CertAVP. It was done in medicine (SAM) but I never did the synoptic exams. Many people in this forum know why.

I couldn't find just CertAVP in the drop-down. Can this be added?

It also might worth an option to add the languages you speak (in your bio, not in every post). It might be useful to people who can better exchange information in one language over another (rather than assuming this based on their names).

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 11:28:38 GMT

Just so everyone knows, I am now going to finish the setup for the new forums, adding an expert help forum in each interest section - BUT PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM YET! (I may find a way to disable them).

The new forums won't work properly appear till the site is upgraded. Not too far off now.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:04:13 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]Is it limited to the 2 lines of text?[/quote]

Yes ... you have to remember that my focus is on making sure this works on mobile phones too. There simply is not enough room to have people writing an essay about their service. It is instead meant to be a) Logo for building awareness / recognition. b) two lines of text either for contact details or for a link to a page with more info, or a both!

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Kate Richardson — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 14:55:41 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]I tried to keep as much flexibility on that front as possible. So the image could be an image of anything. The text could be whatever you want. So line one could be Cardiology Referrals, and line two could be www.heartvet.com / 0207 183 2377[/quote]

Is it limited to the 2 lines of text?

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Anthony Dennison — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 12:19:47 GMT

with that clarification, I think it looks good.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 11:16:32 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]I think the practitioner should be able to #design' their box them selves or have different options depending on what they would like to advertise- one might just want their practice logo and contact details, others might want a bit more info about the services they can provide?[/quote]

I tried to keep as much flexibility on that front as possible. So the image could be an image of anything. The text could be whatever you want. So line one could be Cardiology Referrals, and line two could be www.heartvet.com / 0207 183 2377

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]And what if there are multiple answers from different practitioners that the OP wants to verify as a marked answer? Will they all turn green?[/quote]

Yes, any answer which is marked as the answer by the OP will be turned green and branded.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Kate Richardson — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 11:05:05 GMT

And what if there are multiple answers from different practitioners that the OP wants to verify as a marked answer? Will they all turn green?

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Kate Richardson — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 11:03:11 GMT

In that case I think it's ok. It's not clear from your post that the wordy bit is the answer

I think the practitioner should be able to #design' their box them selves or have different options depending on what they would like to advertise- one might just want their practice logo and contact details, others might want a bit more info about the services they can provide?

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:51:26 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]is the lengthy worded bit about the referral practitioner or is it the answer they have posted??[/quote]

It's the answer they have posted.

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]Where will it appear?[/quote]

In forum threads. Specifically in Expert Help Q&A forums.

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]When will it appear?[/quote]

When a reply to a question is marked by the questioner as the answer, it is turned to green, branded with the logo, and displayed at the top of the thread.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Kate Richardson — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:42:38 GMT

Where will it appear? When will it appear? Difficult to judge it- is the lengthy worded bit about the referral practitioner or is it the answer they have posted??

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 07:18:48 GMT

Bump. Anyone going to give some feedback? Do you like the way this is heading?

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 12:39:56 GMT

.... and here is a sneak peek at the way in which we will be displaying a referral practitioner's details when someone verifies their answer to a question as being 'the answer' ... (Briar Dawn is just a random logo i used for the purposes of demo, and the practice's website / telephone number replaces vetsurgeon.org details).

If an expert has something else they wish to promote, other than referral services, that will also be possible by uploading a photo of something else, to replace the logo. And any words can be used instead of the url/tel number.

I hope this will prove a compelling reason for referral practitioners to engage on VetSurgeon, where they get proper credit for their efforts, as opposed to facebook, where they do not.

If you're a referral practitioner reading this, what do you think? By my way of thinking, there is hardly a better advertisement for your services than a nice helpful post, with your logo / contact details prominently displayed.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 11:21:11 GMT

Big moment!

I asked the techies to install the functionality for expert forums on this site immediately, so I can start configuring it in advance of the upgrade.

I have so far installed it in Dentistry here:

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/001/veterinary-clinical/small-animal/dentistry/f/252.aspx#id=

It lists all the old questions dating back a long time, which I think I will convert to discussions and move out of the forum, as I want to start afresh, and the old ones were open to everyone to answer, not just referral practitioners and selected GP members.

After much thought (and I fear this is going to annoy you Michael Woodhouse - I have decided that to start with, the expert Q&A forums need to be on a different page to the main forums.

The reason is that the offer something COMPLETELY different to the normal forum discussions, something which deserves to be 'bigged up' in its own right as offering real added value over facebook:

a) Replies from experts

b) No argy bargy, strictly on topic, strictly answers to the question

c) Transparency over the provenance of the advice you are getting ... full profiles of the people answering plus 'at a glance' info ...

d) Answers added to knowledge bank (this doesn't happen on this site, but will after upgrade).

I want this to be seen as a proper tool (if that's not getting confused with what people think I am), so it MUST be positioned separately to the main forums.

Michael, I appreciate you wanted everything in one place, and I am still open to that in the future, but I think as we launch the thing, it really needs to be separate for a while at least.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 15:27:51 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]Well, it was just a thought.[/quote]

I wasn't dismissing it ... just explaining that redesigning that widget would have to come after the site upgrade, rather than before!

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 14:27:25 GMT

Well, it was just a thought.

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 08:41:13 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

Are you sure you want white writing on a deep colour? It's harder to read so requires a typeface a couple of points larger, no?

I have no interest in what it looks like on a mobile phone, but I'd guess readability is even more important there?

[/quote]

Hmm - I am testing on mobile and haven't had a problem reading. You might be right, but this is an extension of an existing 'widget' (each element on each page is called a 'widget'), and changing the colour would involve a rethinking of the whole widget - which also controls start a discussion - and that would need to happen after we do the site upgrade (because there is too much else to do at this stage!)

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 19:58:40 GMT

Are you sure you want white writing on a deep colour? It's harder to read so requires a typeface a couple of points larger, no?

I have no interest in what it looks like on a mobile phone, but I'd guess readability is even more important there?

RE: 2019 Forum Developments

Joyce Whitehead — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 19:38:53 GMT

And to me.