Do they roll out software modifications regularly on Fluther? When were the last software updates installed and what were they?

Google Custom Search is pretty recent.

And the @fireside feature.

How recent? 6 mos? 1 year?

Both of those are probably less than two months old.

The Blog knows all:

New Greetings!
Posted February 19th, 2009

Dr. Searchington, I presume?
Posted February 4th, 2009

@fluther
Posted January 7th, 2009

Spicing up the sidebar
Posted December 13th, 2008

In response to users?

I’m pretty sure, I mean, they admit it—the previous search sucked. But also probably in response to where they want to take the site.

More likely, in response to company roll-out plans, budgeting and technical efficiencies.

Do they poll users BEFORE they change things? How responsive are they to user requests? How are they handled?

Feel free to PM Ben or Andrew, but remember it is a company that has to balance costs against user (and their own) desires.

Andrew is currently working on some very cool stuff that will greatly improve and clean up the replies section. I’m really looking forward to seeing it roll out. They’re working on things all the time, it’s just case of what makes the cut. Don’t forget IM support; that was a pretty huge update.

@Mr_M Andrew and Ben are constantly talking about things that users have suggested. They read everything.

I think enough users are reporting the inability to get a response when they click on “Answer”, (causing them to clear cache) for Fluther techies to look into.

I also question the “question limit”. It probably should be increased. Fluther needs more questions. When someone is on a roll, they probably shouldn’t be SO limited.

(And before someone asks me if I tell waiters where the restaurant tables should go, my answer is NO, I know nothing about it. I bet Chef Gordon Ramsey does, however. But I VERY WELL might tell the waiter the place needs more staff. And that their website is flawed. I know a lot about that.)

I didn’t know there was a question limit?!? But lately I have been thinking there should be a limit on repetitious answers by the same person.

Limiting them to 12 questions seems like a good number in my mind. I do not believe Fluther needs more questions from the same individual in a 24 hour period, versus soliciting contributions from a diverse selection of folk.

I have yet to see a case where a user is “on the roll” enough to warrant taking up a good chunk of the front page of this site.

I also know a lot about websites, seeing as I’ve been making them for more than two thirds of my life and have been essentially breathing the internet for a good portion of that time. But I disagree with your suggestion. What does that say? It says that not all ideas are agreed upon by all people. I do not intend to stiffle your request, but it’s important to note that not everyone’s ideas should or can be implemented, and ultimately it’s at the discretion of the website owners what to do with their site.

So far, Fluther is the best site in terms of soliciting user feedback and implementing it or elements of it. They value our suggestions, but they don’t have to consider nor implement them just cause one user thinks so. Such is the timestamp issue.

Facebook has a heavy hand with regards to updates and features, I mean they’ve changed the layout majorly twice now in a very short period of time. It seems only now they are listening to people making a big uproar about the sudden and mandatory changes.

@Cardinal , yes there IS a limit. I get stopped almost every day.

@dynamicduo , you’re absolutely right. You can NOT implement everybody’s request. But since you know so much about websites then you know, too, that user’s requests often get implemented only when more and more users request it, give sound reasons for it, and are consistent and repetitive with the request. Conversely, I doubt that many users would know enough to suggest that Fluther techs might want to look into why at least three people in the last week or so are having cache problems. Would it make my request bad if I were the ONLY one who suggests it? Don’t think so.

And what I’m talking about with the question limit is that there are times I’ll post a question and it will be AGES before someone posts another. As you know, that is not a good thing. If I could add a question or two more (and remember, you don’t see ALL my questions together), wouldn’t that be better then just a dead website that doesn’t change for a long time?

Holy cow, three people? That must almost be a whole 0.5% of the site’s daily contributing userbase! Call teh web policez!

The guys here do a freakin’ awesome job of running the site and listening to feedback. Perhaps you should be contacting them directly if you feel passionately about usability and technical issues.

The question limit is most likely to go down, not up.
You should try to understand the business model.

@benseven , er, I can’t remember the last time I had to clear my cache before my recent experiences. Apparently the other two users never have either since they didn’t know how to do it. The fact that I had to do it a few times in the past week or so with Fluther only, and the fact that OTHER’S are having the problem with Fluther only, I’m SURE the site techs will look into it to see if there is any problem on their end BEFORE it escalates.

But you proved my point, actually, in that many users would NOT know enough to suggest it. Thank you.

So, other words, you’d like to flaunt the fact you have web experience publicly through the medium of a question on the site, instead of letting the guys know through useful channels which they can act on. To further re-enforce this jackassery, you decided to claim that I know nothing? I know how to clear my cache, sure – I also know how to provide feedback to site admins in a useful and constructive fashion without seeming like a wad, something which perhaps I could write you a tutorial on?

@fireside , it’s like this. In the restaurant you like to talk about, if the menu never changes but stays exactly like it is all the time, day in and day out, people get bored with it and go to another restaurant. Then you loose business.

@ benseven,I didn’t claim you know nothing. You clearly demonstrated that YOURSELF. Thanks again.

Good work dude, good work. You really managed to recover from looking stupid there. Now why not drop the guys a message via the contact form and stop pretending I give two hoots about your ‘Executive Administrator’ status. The channels are there for a reason.

I’m sorry I can’t say the same for you. Bye!

There are very valid reasons to limit the numbers of questions allowed. Swamping the site with questions will subsequently swamp the servers (Fluther doesn’t have unlimited server capacity, unlike, say, Google). This will lead to a very slow (and irritating) experience, in addition to the likely dilution of the overall quality of the site. Both “features” are helping Fluther be successful, which I doubt Andrew and Ben want to change.

@Mr_M – I think it is funny you chose to answer my restaurant analogy in this thread, when it was actually posted in your last thread where you were complaining about the site.

But since we are discussing it here, I would again strongly urge you to understand the business model. You seem to think that by coming here and asking questions, you are somehow a patron. Have you ever purchased anything off the ads that are on the site?

Again, this is a private company who is allowing you to visit as a guest.
If you want to go somewhere else, I doubt that would really disturb Fluther’s bottom line.

Oh, and I have never once had to clear my cache to browse Fluther and I am on almost every day. Maybe you and the other two people you talk to need to look into upping your RAM or cleaning out your registry.

@fireside I wouldn’t bother, you’re only going to get some snidey I’m-smarter-than-you-yet-don’t-know-how-to-find-the-chat-room-on-my-own reply about how three people having cache issues is a huge deal for Fluther’s userbase and must be looked into immediately. Some people aren’t worth the trouble.

@benseven – i hear you on that.

Clearly I NEVER said that the number of questions should be unlimited. That concept would be ridiculous to even entertain. Hardware is finite. Certainly MINE is! If you think I ever said that, you have to read my post above over again.

This site is a great site. But this site can be VERY slow to move at some points, as everyone knows (I’m not talking “response time”. I’m talking “activity”). Like I said, there are times I’ll post a question and it takes AGES before someone else does too. Eventually, I get bored waiting and go to other sites. Other people are doing this, too. This isn’t good. That’s how a site looses users. I know for a fact that some users ARE turned off by it. When Askville got slow, people were turned off there as well for the same reason. It’s like a radio station that goes dead suddenly. People change channels and, sometimes, like the NEW channels better. There have been times when I wished I could add one or two more questions. Not all the time. Not even a LOT of times. Just sometimes.

The question limit is less about preventing a denial of service attack and more about making sure that someone only asks the very best questions they have in their head; not every question they have. Fluther is and always will be quality over quantity, in terms of both users and activity.

@fireside , I’ve NEVER complained about the site. You look at every criticism or suggestion as a complaint? Don’t you even KNOW that the site INVITES this??? Isn’t that why there’s a “CONTACT” button at the the top of the page? For feedback? I’ll give you the answer: YES!

Out of curiosity, who are YOU to tell anyone they’re not a patron of this site? Who are you to ask me if I’ve ever bought anything? Or to tell me I can go somewhere else? Let me tell YOU where you can go.

And maybe the problem IS on our side. And I’ll know that when more and more variables are removed, ex., Fluther problems. Why would three users have hardware problems only as far as Fluther is concerned? I was on Askville for two years and never had that problem.

And @benseven , I’m sorry you don’t feel I’m worth the trouble. But I never brought in ANY credentials. YOU brought in my background. I did not.

And I DID find the chat room by myself. I posted about it and someone answered me. Duh.

“Isn’t that why there’s a “CONTACT” button at the the top of the page?”
Yes, that is right, but you seem to prefer the “Ask a Question” feature.

“who are YOU”
I’m nobody, who are you? Emily Dickinson

“I get bored waiting and go to other sites.”
Again, understanding the business model will add some perspective.
Check out the traffic if you are so concerned with the lack of activity on the site.

But don’t get me wrong, I think your passion for wanting Fluther to be the best it can be is admirable, just a bit misdirected.

@Fireside, nothing misdirected about it. Before I contact Fluther powers-that-be with a software modification request, I want to know if OTHERS feel the same way. If they DO, it adds weight to my request. If they don’t, I might decide not to propose it no matter how strongly I feel about it. Stay tuned for a question about moving the “STOP FOLLOWING” button to the bottom of the page (which I feel is where it NEEDS to go but maybe most do not).