Suggestions & Ideas you have for the Community

[launched]

Geir, that sounds good - maybe to clarify, just a list of the new posts in the last x amount of hours. I know the feature is enabled through bold links, which I just figured out, but a link where you could click on the new shit posted would be great! Or maybe that exists? It's my biggest hangup, really...

[launched]

And to be a nuisance - One more thing that I know would be great to have, and it wouldn't affect the current format one bit (Which I really like by the way):

A search function that returns results for members that actually posted music. I am growing to love all the people here and truly enjoy the included banter - just want to make sure I don't miss the real reason why we are here, either!!

[Bosko Schwartz]

64Guitars, I completely agree with everything you said, and I am glad to see I am not the only one here with this opinion.  Maybe if we get enough "votes," Pedro will decide to change it.

launched, I also like your idea of being able to search for MP3 posts by any member!

Thanks so much for the very in-depth thoughts and response!

YOU RULE, 64G.

              

[64Guitars]

Geir, that sounds good - maybe to clarify, just a list of the new posts in the last x amount of hours. I know the feature is enabled through bold links, which I just figured out, but a link where you could click on the new shit posted would be great! Or maybe that exists? It's my biggest hangup, really...

Way up at the top of the page to the right of your avatar, there's a link that says "Show unread posts since last visit". Or, bookmark this link for All Unread Topics. It shows all topics that contain posts you haven't viewed yet. By clicking on the heading of the last column ("Last post"), you can change the sort order so you can just check out the newest posts.

[launched]

Thanks 64G's - kind of stupid - right in front of me.

Now - is there a music only search return? I am surely RTFM'ing for this right now, but if in the meantime you see this post?

Thanks,

Mark

[64Guitars]

launched, I also like your idea of being able to search for MP3 posts by any member!

Me too.

At the bottom of each member's Profile page under "Additional Information" is a link that says "Show the last posts of this person". It would be nice if we could have another link under that which says "Show the last songs of this person". It would work exactly the same way except that it would only show messages that had an MP3 attached.

As a bonus, it would be nice if there was an icon underneath the member's avatar on each message (where it now shows icons for email, PM, etc.) which would perform the same function as "Show the last songs of this person" from their profile page.

What do you think Pedro? Is this possible?

Meanwhile, the Search page can be used to find someone's songs, although it's not ideal for that purpose. First, I should point out that there are two different searches. At the top of the page, just above the Main Menu, there's a basic search box. This is probably what most members use. But just below that, there's a Search item in the Main Menu. When you click that, it opens up a whole Search page with many options.

To find songs, you can type "mp3" into the "Search for" box. Under "by user", you can type the name of the member whose songs you want to find. The asterisk is a wildcard. So, for example, you could type "oldrot*" to search for oldrottenhead's posts.

At the bottom of the Search page, there's an area that says "Choose a board to search in, or search all". Click the '+' to the left of this to expand it. Uncheck "Check all" at the bottom, then check just "Post your MP3" and "Post Your MP3 - Collaborations only". This will help to limit the search and make the results more relevant. You could also check "Post your work" under "Other recorders".

As I said, this isn't ideal. It will also show posts that contain the word "mp3" but don't have any attachments, and it will miss posts that contain a link to a song stored offsite. For example, I've only posted a couple of MP3s, yet a search with my name returns 7 matches and none of them contain MP3s by me. However, for many members this search would return reasonably good results.

[Bosko Schwartz]

I didn't know the advanced search option was possible!  It may not be ideal, but it will work in the meantime.  Thanks, 64Guitars!!

[The Reverend 48]

As for my last post just before this, it looks like my suggestion to not have separate "Post Your MP3" sections for each separate Boss recorder brought this thread to a screaming halt ...

Why?  Am I alone on this island?

I agree with what Bosko just wrote.

i agree with boscko on this

No, Bosko, you're not alone. I made what I felt was a very strong case for this over a year ago.

https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/your-opinion/msg2562/#msg2562
(It's a long thread but I think it's worth reading the whole thing)

Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be against my ideas at the time. I think that's why Pedro didn't go ahead with his plan to include all Boss recorders until a year later. And I think it's why we now have sub-categories for each recorder.

But more than a year has passed since that earlier discussion and I think that some members may have a different view now. And, since all Boss recorders are now being supported here, I think people can see the problems with having separate boards for each machine. Maybe it's time to re-visit this discussion.

I'd like to see a single board for all MP3s, whether they're meant as collaborations or not, and regardless of which recorder was used. If I post a song that I consider complete, why should I mind if someone decides to add something to it and upload their own mix? Even if I don't like what they've done, my mix will still be there, and I've still got my original tracks and mixes on my BR and backed up on my PC, so it's not like they've ruined my work. And, in most cases, the added tracks only improve the song anyway.

I'd also like to see the General Discussion child boards merged into a single board. As I've said many times before, all of the BRs are very similar and users can learn a lot about their own BR by reading about the others. Also, the same sort of questions tend to get asked for each recorder - "How do I bounce tracks?", "What are v-tracks?", "How do I make a drum arrangement?", etc. It's a waste of time and storage space to keep repeating the same answers in nine different child boards when a single answer would suffice for all BRs. Any minor differences can be addressed within the message thread.

At the very least, I'd like to see the child boards reduced to these three (as I suggested over a year ago):

• 4-Track BRs - This would include the Micro BR and BR-532. If a new 4-track BR is announced, it would be added here.
• 8-Track BRs (memory card) - This would include the BR-600, BR-864, BR-900CD, and any future BRs that have 8 tracks (or more) and use a memory card for storage rather than a hard disk. It could also include the BR-8, although it uses a zip disk rather than a memory card.
• Hard Disk BRs - The BR-1200, BR-1600, BR-1180 and any future BRs that use a hard disk for storage.

I'd prefer to have just one Boss discussion board, but maybe the three boards above would be a good compromise for a while until everyone's had a chance to get used to it. Then we can discuss the possibility of merging those three into a single board. Even when there are a lot of differences (Micro BR vs BR-1600, for example) it's good to be aware of those differences. It will help you to make a better purchase decision when you upgrade to another BR in the future.


But the thing that concerns me the most about this site is the recent changes that made it impossible to add an MP3 to an existing topic in "Post your MP3" or even change the file that you originally uploaded. I think that needs to be fixed soon. Of course, if Collaborations was merged with the Post your MP3 boards, this would be necessary anyway since it's essential for collaborations.

And links to non-MP3 file attachments in older messages have been lost in "Post your MP3". For example, Hooper's very useful blank track chart (pdf file) is no longer available in this message:

https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br-b65/cowgirl-in-the-sand/msg3365/#msg3365

The file's still attached to that message, but members can't access it because "Post your MP3" ignores all attachments except the original MP3 file in the opening message.

Also, I think it's imperative to get links to offsite files working in the MP3 player. Many songs from older messages have disappeared because they were stored offsite.

AS 64 Guitars is a moderator and very experienced user of the equipment and this site, I think we should all endorse his ideas and move forward as I'm getting increasingly bogged down the sheer amount of activity on this wonderful site!

[Sprocket]

What about a classified section? For established members, post count considered or something to that effect.

I find alot of great deals, on used products Im interested in just by browsing the forums I frequent. Because its a forum of people with similar interests we all know the going rate for these products...so you get some great deals!

[64Guitars]

What about a classified section?

This was discussed in February and voted on. The vast majority of members who voted indicated that they don't want advertising of any kind here. It's hard enough keeping up with the posts already. And there are lots of other web sites where members can sell their stuff (eBay, craigslist, gumtree, etc).