Site Suggestion: Ping Box

lykhaos117 • 28 August 2015 at 2:26 PM

#pingbox

So with the new pinging rule, some people are glad they don't get spammed with ping notifications while others like pings and/or wish they could ping people to get their topic going. Here's an idea that might make both groups happy.

Suppose there were a Ping Box button under the text box for posts that, when clicked, would automatically ping the five most recent people who posted in the Livepulse who are still online. There could be an option under Preferences to enable Ping Box pings so that only people who like random pings would receive them. The default setting would be that Ping Box pings are disabled so that only those that really want them will get them and people who don't know about this feature won't get overwhelmed. This setting can be turned on and off. Also, it prevents people having to open multiple tabs to see who's even on the Livepulse.

EDIT: Thank you everyone so far for your support, and thanks in advance to future posters! ❤️ Also, to prevent abuse, there could be some sort of mechanism that prevents the Ping Box from pinging the same person multiple times. For example, if users A, B, C, D, and E were pinged by user F on the Ping Box and all of them responded but user E and then another user clicked the Ping Box, then user E wouldn't be pinged again for the same topic. Also, the Ping Box can't ping users who've already posted on the forum.

Special thanks to @lenamilove for bringing potential issues to notice. 😃

EDIT 2: Also, Ping Box pings will have a separate type of notification from normal pings so that people can tell the difference. Additionally, after the initial Ping Box ping for any given forum, users have the option to block theirselves from receiving further Ping Box pings from that forum to prevent multiple notifications from the same topic in case they've already posted on it or aren't interested.

Credit goes to @funyarinpa for this part.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

firelost • 28 August 2015 at 2:29 PM

@lykhaos117
Great idea! 😊
@Ian
@jazzyleia
@mastergemma
@orderedchaos

fakeworld • 28 August 2015 at 2:42 PM

@lykhaos117
This would be very helpful, considering that some people, like myself, actually like receiving these type of pings. 😊 You have my support.

firelost • 28 August 2015 at 2:45 PM

@fakeworld @lykhaos117
I also enjoy pings. 😊

funyarinpa • 28 August 2015 at 2:55 PM

@lykhaos117

I like this idea 😊

I'm one of those who like being pinged to random topics and think they are useful for promoting user events and suggestions. I think it was unfair to choose completely against random pings when there are so people people who like them and use them fairly (Only using livepulse pings once or twice a month and only on important topics or those that really need more recognition).

sorrow • 28 August 2015 at 3:30 PM

@lykhaos117
you have my Support. I strongly dissagree with the new rule, I don't find the point of posting or having fourms anymore .-.


I find this a great Idea and I hope it happens, for I love getting Pinged, I find getting pinged an easy way to learn new things, and meet new people.

lenamilove • 28 August 2015 at 4:57 PM

@lykhaos117 I agree, I don't think all random pings should be punishable. It's rather fun to be pinged, I like to see people's ideas.

I'm only worried that people may abuse the ping box and use it for every single post, or to rub an advertisement in people's faces: "Look at me/my trades/my creature suggestion!" and getting twenty other users to slam on the ping box too :/

Also I feel like it may lead to one person getting multiple pings on the same topic. Maybe you could almost "block" certain topics or users from using your username on the ping box?

I'd love this, but it could get really annoying if people overused it :/

lykhaos117 • 28 August 2015 at 5:06 PM

@lenamilove

Thank you so much for your input! 😊

Maybe there could be some sort of mechanism that prevents the Ping Box from pinging the same person multiple times? For example, if users A, B, C, D, and E were pinged by user F on the Ping Box and all of them responded but user E and then another user clicked the Ping Box, then user E wouldn't be pinged again for the same topic. Also, the Ping Box can't ping users who've already posted on the forum.

Would that solve those issues?

raitonchidori • 28 August 2015 at 5:08 PM

@lykhaos117 you have all my support. I really don't like this rule, it's unfair with users that use the forums. Nobody needs to go in a topic If they don't want, but is it really bad to receive a notification? You don't have to click If you don't want, it will disappear in seconds... I see no problem at being pinged, but yeah, your idea would be useful for those who dislike the pings.

lenamilove • 28 August 2015 at 6:45 PM

@lykhaos117 Oh, no problem dear!
I think that would definitely help prevent overuse, I like it. 😊

kschr26 • 28 August 2015 at 10:22 PM

@lykhaos117 You have my support, I like having random pings😃 and I feel that pings are needed, maybe to show others opinions or promoting events😸

funyarinpa • 30 August 2015 at 5:07 PM

@lykhaos117

Or if the 'ping box' pings and 'normal' pings gave different notifications. 'Normal' pings, which we know the users would be interested in since to get them they would have to be already involved in a topic, would display as usual- but 'ping box' ones would give a 'yes' or 'no' to being pinged about this topic again, maybe on another page?

The 'not responding' idea is good, but this seems easier and gives the user the option of trying out the topic or looking into it to see if they want further pings first.

...If that makes sense?

Edit: Only just noticed that you put that users who already posted won't be pinged again...that makes my idea much more confusing and less necessary XD

lykhaos117 • 30 August 2015 at 5:13 PM

@funyarinpa

It makes sense, and that's a great idea! ❤️ Let me update the start post, and I'll give you credit. 😊

chocolatechip • 30 August 2015 at 5:14 PM

@lykhaos117
I'm with you, I think it's a great idea, but the ping box should only work with one ping per topic, so everyone on this topic can't ping the same person a million times.

ida92 • 30 August 2015 at 5:15 PM

@lykhaos117 I really like this idea 😊

lykhaos117 • 30 August 2015 at 5:29 PM

@polaroid

What do you think of this? 😊

polaroid • 30 August 2015 at 5:30 PM

@Lykhaos117

I think it's very cool 😃

mlpnko159 • 30 August 2015 at 6:20 PM

@lykhaos117

It's a nice concept, but I think the eggcave staff would have a hard time implementing this cuz the reason they made the "no random pinging" rule was to stop people from bumping their topic, using pings as an excuse. And I understand that, since the idea is to let topics that the eggcave community doesn't want to see anymore, die out I guess (I worded this a little weirdly, kinda too harsh, but it still keeps the same point). It's kinda like beating a dead horse or however that saying goes.

But don't get me wrong, I do enjoy pings myself, but this idea could be abused since it would ping people who you know wouldn't be interested in the topic you made, but since they didn't disable the pinging feature since they enjoy pings or some other reason, they'd still get pulled into the topic.

So the idea is nice, but I don't know if the eggcave staff would totally agree. After all, they made the rule to stop bumps, and this would go against their original plan. And I don't know if everyone understands that the point to then rule was not just to stop from annoyingly pinging people, but to again avoid bumps. But ya know, I'm not them, so I could be wrong.

lykhaos117 • 31 August 2015 at 6:39 PM

@mlpnko159

Don't worry, you don't sound harsh! I'm actually very grateful for your input. ❤️ I reread the blog post and the Site Guidelines. The blog post seems to point to the rationale being that people don't like random pings whereas the Site Guidelines also mention not to ping people for the sake of getting the topic on Livepulse, so I guess it's a bit of both.

I came up with this idea with the intent of allowing users to give random pings without bothering those who don't like them, but if topic bumping were also a major reason for the ping rule, then I think I should amend this idea so that Ping Box pings don't show up as posts but just send out notifications to avoid the topics showing up on Livepulse without actual posts. What do you think of that idea? 😊

Lenamilove and Funyarinpa addressed some loopholes, so I added some edits that, if this could be implemented, people won't receive multiple Ping Box pings for a single topic and can block themselves from getting Ping Box pings for certain topics. That would prevent abuse.

I wish a moderator would address whether topic bumping or notification overload or both was the primary reason for the ping rule... ;_;

Orderedchaos • 3 September 2015 at 12:25 PM

@lykhaos117 The primary reason for the update was spam. People were using "livepulse/random pings" just to get their topics on the Livepuse. Which is not allowed. Posts should add to the topic not just be a list of pings with some sort of preemptive apology or "ping more people" tacked on. That's not really helpful or adding to the topic. People can get their topics on the Livepulse and noticed without resorting to spam.

Notification overload and and people getting angry over being randomly pinged factored into the decision but, as was stated earlier, the primary concern is spam.