Improving PF: A Call for Member Input on Upgrades and Growth

  • Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date
In summary: keywords may carry more weight in a search query. Maybe thread-titles can be modified by them to avoid vague titles like "Please help me answer this question".Seriously love the site, but don't exploit the features enough to give much of a critique. The people are sound on the whole, and the forums are exhaustive and intuitive. Gold star... premium membership... top notch... prem-

How would you rate PF?

  • Great

    Votes: 54 72.0%
  • Good

    Votes: 19 25.3%
  • Average

    Votes: 2 2.7%
  • Poor

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Very Poor

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    75
  • #1
19,412
9,961
It's been a long time since I asked for a collective opinion, but since we are preparing to upgrade this would be a good time. The PF staff and I work extremely hard to make PF a special place, day in and day out. We try to create a balance of quality and productive discussion, but within a light-hearted and positive atmosphere. For the few members that do let us know of suggestions and opinions you have about PF we appreciate it. The rest of you I hope will participate in this thread because every voice is important. I think we can all agree PF has come along way, but on the other hand I feel PF is just scratching the surface and we want to know how you think we can move forward. So some topics of discussion could be the features of PF, how we handle speculative posts, overall enviroment, quality of posts, staff responsiveness, balance of forum topics, new features you want, PF guidelines, ads, and in general what can we improve on.

This is also a good time to remind members to tell everyone you know about PF. Word of mouth is very important. If you're back in school tell your teachers and professors. If you're a teacher or professor tell your students. In fact if anyone gets their professor or teacher to sign up I'll give you premium membership
 
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  • #2
I think you all do a great job here. I have told a few friends, and others who seemed like they would be interested, about pf, not sure if any have actually checked pf out though.
 
  • #3
I think it's great here! I can't think of anything off-hand other than the few new smilies we've requested. :biggrin: Otherwise, it seems we just need to see how some of the new forums and policies settle out as they get used more and adjust as we go. For example, it'll probably still be a bit of time before we shake all the bugs out of dealing with the new IR forum guidelines, but despite a slow start, we have at least gotten a good start now that sweetser has set the bar for the quality of posts we expect there.

The important thing is continuing to grow and adjust with the needs of the membership. The new history forum is a great example. I think there were requests for something like that in the past, but at the time, there was limited interest (or at least nobody really spoke up to support the suggestion when it was posted), so the time wasn't right, but as new members have come along and interest has gathered, and suggestions came in for ways to make a forum that combines multiple topics of interest to members, voila! A new forum is born!
 
  • #4
First, i want to say that I have a good time on these forums... maybe spending too much time. I enjoy thinking about problems that students are stuck on and try to address misconceptions. It's great when my attempts and those of others help the student see it for him/herself. (I'll make a mental note of it and keep it in my bag-o-tricks.) It's also nice to see someone contribute a clever solution. A great learning experience all around.

I personally would have liked LaTeX support in the journals. In that way, one can keep notes for one's own use... or as a reference for others. It might also be a private place to store (i.e., "postpone for continued editing later") a post that is being written [as is available in the blog].

Another improvement may be away to characterize threads for easy searching later. Maybe some relevant keywords could be given by a mentor, advisor, or HW-helper. Such keywords may carry more weight in a search query. Maybe thread-titles can be modified by them to avoid vague titles like "Please help me answer this question".

Personally, I think "Special & General Relativity" is a Physics topic, not an Astronomy and Cosmology topic.

(I was actually planning to tell my students about PF... but stuff happened. Maybe next semester.)
 
  • #5
Loving it! I've told my tutor and she signed up. Unfortunately she won't tell me her user name... and... and... some of this post may deviate from the truth slightly. That aside, can I get free premium membership?

Seriously love the site, but don't exploit the features enough to give much of a critique. The people are sound on the whole, and the forums are exhaustive and intuitive. Gold star... premium membership... top notch... prem-
 
  • #6
robphy said:
Another improvement may be away to characterize threads for easy searching later. Maybe some relevant keywords could be given by a mentor, advisor, or HW-helper. Such keywords may carry more weight in a search query. Maybe thread-titles can be modified by them to avoid vague titles like "Please help me answer this question".

Adding keywords sounds like a good idea; whether it's possible to implement is a whole different issue of course. I'm not so sure about modifying the title...a student may have trouble finding their own thread if that was done. It would be nice if anyone replying could add keywords so the mentors wouldn't have to do that for every post if the person posting it didn't add it (just do this in Homework Help...in the other forums, there is usually enough information in the post for a search to pull it up). Even if it was something simple like "kinematics" or "inclined plane" to categorize questions as they answer them. If that was done, then we could encourage students to search by keywords for similar problems they could use for further study/practice if they need it.

OT: Have you found a new place to call home and continue your studies for the time being?
 
  • #7
Moonbear said:
Adding keywords sounds like a good idea; whether it's possible to implement is a whole different issue of course. I'm not so sure about modifying the title...a student may have trouble finding their own thread if that was done.
I was think of something like this:
OLD TITLE: "Please help me answer this question"
NEW TITLE: "Please help me answer this question [atwood machine]"

Moonbear said:
OT: Have you found a new place to call home and continue your studies for the time being?
Yes. I've returned to Syracuse. Thanks for asking.
 
  • #8
I wonder who rated this forums as 'average'
 
  • #9
Moonbear said:
I think it's great here! I can't think of anything off-hand other than the few new smilies we've requested!

I'm sure that request can be taken care of :biggrin:

I personally would have liked LaTeX support in the journals

I'll talk to warren to see if this can be accomplished elegantly.

Another improvement may be away to characterize threads for easy searching later.

I agree, but this is really dependant of the members and unfortunately I feel most really don't care enough to take the time to think of a solid title.

I wonder who rated this forums as 'average'

I hope this person voices their opinion since they obviously think we can improve and must have some ideas.
 
  • #10
I voted "great" because the quality of PF has shown to be "great" overall. That so many scholars and highly-esteemed people all gather here is something that a lot of communities lack, and is PF's signature feature. I believe the quality is high also because of the comfort and familiarity of our members. The daily operations of PF will always include homework assistance, but as an aside, we managed to create a very warm and friendly environment with each other. The emotional attachment aspect is something to be very proud of as I'm sure others feel the exact same way.

Keep it up. :)
 
  • #11
Its still the best science/physics forum on the web! Everyone does a outstanding job.
 
  • #12
Greg Bernhardt said:
I hope this person voices their opinion since they obviously think we can improve and must have some ideas.

It's just "average" as a philosophy forum, Greg. So don't sweat it!

<ZapperZ runs and hides>

:)

Zz.
 
  • #13
I think PF is great. :smile: I don't have any suggestions for the people or policies, but I can think of some features...
It would be nice to be able to select which forums are included in the New Posts search. Maybe it could be added to the options to exclude News Reporter and Usenet posts?

How about a 'best of PF / hall of fame / FAQ-in-progress' section where we can collect those threads containing especially good explanations, discussions, answers to FAQs, etc. that are currently getting buried? Something like the Links section and GD's Classics thread. I imagine the benefits are pretty obvious. For quality control, perhaps members could nominate threads to be included in the section, but a staff member would have to approve them before being added. It could be a list of linked (possibly amended) thread titles organized just like the forums. ??
 
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  • #14
honestrosewater said:
How about a 'best of PF / hall of fame / FAQ-in-progress' section where we can collect those threads containing especially good explanations, discussions, answers to FAQs, etc. that are currently getting buried? Something like the Links section and GD's Classics thread. I imagine the benefits are pretty obvious. For quality control, perhaps members could nominate threads to be included in the section, but a staff member would have to approve them before being added. It could be a list of linked (possibly amended) thread titles organized just like the forums. ??

I like this idea
 
  • #15
I think this forum is great, I visited some other science forums and didn't like them alot. But you know since it's a very busy forum, I have some problem to check all the threads and find my favorites. And I have to admit that I dislike the HW part, although it's very useful. :shy: Anyway I think homework helpers and the mentor of that part are doing a great job and are really patient. :smile:
And I think social sciences forum is too quiet, but it's not starnge since here is a physics forum.
 
  • #16
For starters, it's a great board - even if you don't change a thing!


Some nice-to-haves:

unsub from whole fora. Would make browsing New Posts easier, if I didn't have to wade through the politics and world affairs or whatever threads.

ability to view threads I've been participating in. Currently, I've got to use search to look for all posts with me as a participant. And/or it'd be nice to have an address-line URL for this, since I do that a lot.

a more intuitive place for latex summary. I use it a lot, but really, just the basics is fine for me, not the whole PDF. Currently, I have to search the FAQ, which spits out a URL - not even a live link, just dead text, which I must then copy and paste into the address field.

Some slightly easier quizzes maybe? They are all way over my head.
 
  • #17
DaveC426913 said:
ability to view threads I've been participating in. Currently, I've got to use search to look for all posts with me as a participant. And/or it'd be nice to have an address-line URL for this, since I do that a lot.

We've got that, and in fact you can easily find posts made by anyone. Click on any username you are interested in (on any of that user's posts, or in the "Currently Active User's" list). You'll be directed to that user's Public Profile page, and on the left you'll see "Find all posts by (username)" and "Find all threads by (username)". You'll get the most recent 500 of each.
 
  • #18
Dave,
You can also use the Subscribed Threads link in the Quick Links menu at the top of each page. You can bookmark the page too - I do. You can manage your thread subscriptions in the User Control Panel (I think by default you are automatically subscribed to a thread in which you post, but you can change this in Edit Options); And if you're reading a thread that you want to subscribe to, just pull down the Thread Tools menu at the top of the thread and click Subscribe to this thread.
 
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  • #19
There's one thing not (yet ?) present on PF, and that is "online courses". I had some experience with that on superstringtheory.com: one was a course I followed (Peskin and Schroeder) and one was I organized myself (Sakurai). We tried another course on Zee. There was also a course on superstrings in which I didn't participate, but they followed Polschinsky.
I thought that the basic idea was outstanding: a group of people willing to study a subject take up a book (known to be "a reference") on it and study it chapter by chapter, doing the problems, and discussing the contents (their problems with the material etc...) under the "leadership" of someone who has more experience with the material (but who doesn't need to know everything about it either).
However, on superstringtheory.com, there were quite some technical problems (server problems, database that got bungled up, etc...) and not enough features that we have here on PF (like attachments of pdf and so on) ; the other problem is that such a course often dies out, once the material starts to be a bit more difficult. Also, for ONE discussion leader, it is a LOT of work !
Of course, in the appropriate forums you can ask occasional questions about difficulties you have with a passage in a book, or a problem or so ; but it is difficult to get a thread going on about reading a book together.
In fact, several people here on PF did participate in one or several of those courses (even a mentor :-) ; I think most of them had some interesting return from it even though they all died a premature death (the courses, not the people!) There are some remnants of some of those courses on a few web pages I set up for the occasion.
I remember Patricia Schwarz (webmaster of superstringtheory.com) doing a lot of work to get it up and running, but she had several technical and other problems, and a million things to handle, and she was probably a bit too ambitious from the start. I think she dropped finally the idea of online courses (haven't heard from her since a long time).

So I was wondering if in the long run, such a thing could be considered. Just an idea.
 
  • #20
I voted good. This place is a great learning tool with lots of knowledgeable people from different fields but I would like to see a more vicious crackdown on crackpottery esp. in the physics section. Perfectly legit threads often get cluttered with arguments about well estabilished physics. For reference see the SR and QM forums. Not that I want to oppress the rights of some people to be wrong but as I and I believe most of the users are here for educational purposes that can easily lead into people getting very wrong ideas about physics.
 
  • #21
Yeah, more online courses and/or book discussions could be cool. I think Tom did the online course thing (the differential forms link in his signature), and hypnagogue has been leading an in-depth book discussion in philosophy. I've thought about trying to round up some people to work through some books with me, but I didn't want to commit myself to something I wasn't sure I could finish. :smile: But it might be easier with a larger group, better structure, or more experienced leader. Do they make good resources when they're finished?

Actually, I just ordered a book, Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler (yeah, I've finally decided to learn linear algebra). I gather that it's pretty basic stuff and many of the members here already know it well. Could this be a good book or subject to try an online course with?
 
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  • #22
some forum-browsing links

As others have mentioned, you can link to
https://www.physicsforums.com/subscription.php?do=viewsubscription&folderid=all [Broken] see what you have subscribed to.

Here's one that I use to find all new posts "of immediate interest to me" (since my last visit)
https://www.physicsforums.com/search.php?do=getnew&exclude=41,49,138,33,20,14,5,146,147,96,95,93,143,92,112,97,85,84,83,82,86,106,105,102,101,99,113,80,78,69,68,71,110,66,122,65,64,12 [Broken]

There's also the https://www.physicsforums.com/search.php?do=process&replyless=1&replylimit=0&dontcache=1 [Broken] near the bottom of the homepage.

These last two links are "searches", which can only be done by you once every 30 seconds.
 
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  • #23
My rating was "good". The quality is excellent. People are great, science is good.

But

But

I hate :grumpy: not being able to my graphs, etc, in any forum other than "General discussion". A picture is worth a thousend words and I'm not good at words and only a few people seem to click on links. I frequent several other forums that do not restrict the [PLAIN] feature which is much more comfortable. I passionately plea to enable it everywhere to obtain the status of excellent.
 
  • #24
Andre said:
My rating was "good". The quality is excellent. People are great, science is good.

But

But

I hate :grumpy: not being able to my graphs, etc, in any forum other than "General discussion". A picture is worth a thousend words and I'm not good at words and only a few people seem to click on links. I frequent several other forums that do not restrict the [PLAIN] feature which is much more comfortable. I passionately plea to enable it everywhere to obtain the status of excellent.[/QUOTE]

Why not use the attachment feature? It creates thumbnails of the graphic.
 
  • #25
Greg Bernhardt said:
So some topics of discussion could be the features of PF, how we handle speculative posts, overall enviroment, quality of posts, staff responsiveness, balance of forum topics, new features you want, PF guidelines, ads, and in general what can we improve on.
I just ask myself sometimes "what would happen to Einstein if he was a PFer?". I know it's really funny and I also know that almost all those members who claim their ideas are groundbreaking (and when a mentor close their thread, they think that's because others aren't superinteligent like them to understand their new theory), are totally wrong, but well I'm just curious to know that! :blushing:



This is also a good time to remind members to tell everyone you know about PF. Word of mouth is very important. If you're back in school tell your teachers and professors. If you're a teacher or professor tell your students. In fact if anyone gets their professor or teacher to sign up I'll give you premium membership
I'm going to invite my professors to PF through email. I'll do it because I think it could be really useful for them and I'll ask them to talk to their students too. And I think PF can send invitation to famous physicists! :rolleyes:
 
  • #26
You missed one, Greg; there should be an 'Excellent' category just above 'Great'. About the only thing that bugs me a bit, (although it's less prevailent now that I have access to a PC as well as the Mac), is the inability to view some of the pictures. Is there some way that all posted ones can be translated into something like maybe jpeg's? There are also some links that won't open for me, but I assume that they're beyond your control.
As a lazy bugger, the only other request that I'd put forth is an 'Export' feature on PM's so that I can move them to my Documents file rather than have to cut and paste each one separately. I like to keep them because I have a lousy memory, but my inbox keeps clogging up. :redface:
 
  • #27
Danger said:
As a lazy bugger, the only other request that I'd put forth is an 'Export' feature on PM's so that I can move them to my Documents file rather than have to cut and paste each one separately. I like to keep them because I have a lousy memory, but my inbox keeps clogging up. :redface:

Goto your main PM screen, goto the bottom right and you'll find:

Download all Private Messages as :
XML | CSV | Text
 
  • #28
Danger said:
As a lazy bugger, the only other request that I'd put forth is an 'Export' feature on PM's so that I can move them to my Documents file rather than have to cut and paste each one separately. I like to keep them because I have a lousy memory, but my inbox keeps clogging up. :redface:
I saw a feature in http://www.imdb.com which let you to send a copy of your PMs to your email, at first I thought that was really cool but I don't care about that since I delt almost all my PMs. Why should I save them when I never get back to read them? It sounds like being a hoarder. :wink:
 
  • #29
Greg Bernhardt said:
Goto your main PM screen, goto the bottom right and you'll find:
Oops! :redface: I never even saw that before. I'd tried using the one that says 'move to folder', but it still stayed in the system and took up space.

Lisa! said:
Why should I save them when I never get back to read them? It sounds like being a hoarder. :wink:
I am a hoarder; it's part of the package with ADD, but that's not why I do it. As I said, my memory sucks. If I can't refer back to previous messages, I might end up repeating questions or forgetting something that someone has told me. That especially applies to you and SOS, where a single conversation can cover a dozen separate PM's and go for a couple of days.

Now, is there some way to make the thing quit asking if I want a receipt and then deleting the message if I say 'no'? :grumpy:
 
  • #30
Danger said:
Now, is there some way to make the thing quit asking if I want a receipt and then deleting the message if I say 'no'? :grumpy:
If you hit "cancel" when it asks you if you want a receipt, the message will send, it will not delete. I know, it's confusing.
 
  • #31
Thanks, Evo. I guess that explains some of my double messages. When they disappeared, I retyped them and hit 'yes' because I didn't know that they'd been sent.
 
  • #32
I rated it "good." PF is one of the most congenial forums I've been to that still has in-depth discussion, and it also has some of the most knowledgeable posters I've seen at any forum (outside of the Tolkein and language scholars over at One Ring).

There are several categories of suggestions that I would make:

1) Technical
  • Enable the tags in every forum and enlarge the allowable file size for attachments. I know it's a bandwidth issue, so perhaps you could run some sort of pledge drive above the normal contributor option. On a side note, I'll be back on the contributor list soon enough.
    [*]While everyone else is asking for more smilies, I would personally like an option to not see any in the posts I view, sort of how one can turn off avatars and signatures and all that jazz.
    [*]When one uses the screen interface to format text, rather than inserting the tags manually, formatted text always goes to the bottom of the post. If it would be possible to have the text insert where the cursor is placed, that would be nice.
    [*]When one views the RSS feed for the entire forum, it would be nice if the forum title was displayed along with the thread title. Also, this might just be my problem, but the clock on the RSS feed is six hours ahead of the forum clock.
    [*]A pared-down skin offering would be appreciated, something without the header and graphics on the index pages.
    [/list]
    [b]2) Content[/b]
    [list]
    [*]Everyone else has already suggested this, but a thread directory of some sort would be nice. GD has the GD classics thread; I'd like to see something like that in every forum. A good template for this is the Jedi Council forums (I know I'm making a real geek of myself referring to this [i]and[/i] the Tolkein forums), where they have a stickied directory of all the major threads at the top of every forum. P&WA could use this in particular, where a lot of the same topics are brought up over and over again.
    [*]I think the course threads idea is a good one, and I'd second that (kudos to honestrosewater). Including a directory of short tutorials, like the intro to formal logic that Tom posted (I think ZZ might have something like this in his journal) at the top of the forum index with the other links might be a good idea.
    [/list]
 
  • #33
Evo said:
If you hit "cancel" when it asks you if you want a receipt, the message will send, it will not delete. I know, it's confusing.
Yes, good point. It would be better if it read "no" instead of "cancel" so people would know they weren't canceling the sending of their PM if they didn't want a receipt.
 
  • #34
loseyourname said:
P&WA could use this in particular, where a lot of the same topics are brought up over and over again.
Great suggestion! I could create one like the GD Classics. Will you help me with it?
 
  • #35
Evo said:
Great suggestion! I could create one like the GD Classics. Will you help me with it?

Send me a PM over the weekend to remind me and I can help out.
 
<h2>1. What is the purpose of "Improving PF: A Call for Member Input on Upgrades and Growth"?</h2><p>The purpose of this call is to gather feedback and suggestions from members on how to improve and grow the PF (Physics Forums) community. This includes potential upgrades to the platform and ways to attract new members.</p><h2>2. How can I contribute to this call for input?</h2><p>You can contribute by sharing your ideas, suggestions, and feedback in the designated thread on the PF forum. This thread will be monitored by the PF team and all contributions will be considered for future improvements and growth strategies.</p><h2>3. What types of upgrades are being considered for PF?</h2><p>The PF team is open to all types of upgrades, including improvements to the user interface, new features, and enhanced community engagement tools. They are also seeking suggestions for ways to make the forum more user-friendly and accessible.</p><h2>4. How will the feedback and suggestions be used?</h2><p>The feedback and suggestions from members will be carefully reviewed and considered by the PF team. They will use this input to inform their decision-making process for future upgrades and growth strategies. Your contributions are valued and will help shape the future of PF.</p><h2>5. Is there a deadline for submitting my input?</h2><p>There is no specific deadline for submitting your input, but the PF team encourages members to share their thoughts and ideas as soon as possible. This will allow them to consider and implement changes in a timely manner. However, the thread will remain open for ongoing input and discussion.</p>

1. What is the purpose of "Improving PF: A Call for Member Input on Upgrades and Growth"?

The purpose of this call is to gather feedback and suggestions from members on how to improve and grow the PF (Physics Forums) community. This includes potential upgrades to the platform and ways to attract new members.

2. How can I contribute to this call for input?

You can contribute by sharing your ideas, suggestions, and feedback in the designated thread on the PF forum. This thread will be monitored by the PF team and all contributions will be considered for future improvements and growth strategies.

3. What types of upgrades are being considered for PF?

The PF team is open to all types of upgrades, including improvements to the user interface, new features, and enhanced community engagement tools. They are also seeking suggestions for ways to make the forum more user-friendly and accessible.

4. How will the feedback and suggestions be used?

The feedback and suggestions from members will be carefully reviewed and considered by the PF team. They will use this input to inform their decision-making process for future upgrades and growth strategies. Your contributions are valued and will help shape the future of PF.

5. Is there a deadline for submitting my input?

There is no specific deadline for submitting your input, but the PF team encourages members to share their thoughts and ideas as soon as possible. This will allow them to consider and implement changes in a timely manner. However, the thread will remain open for ongoing input and discussion.

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