Scratch

Some cool ideas here...I really like the idea of being able to focus other's attention on a specific project for any given Scratcher.   Kind of like being able to feature your own work...in a limited sense!

What if you could assign attributes to a project either as it was being submitted or after it was on the web?  You could set the ones needing help to "Needs help" and they might show up in a special queue either on the front page or elsewhere.  They might also float to the front of your My Stuff area and have some kind of visual flag near their thumbnail image. 

Another attribute that you might set could be "My Profile" which would mark a project that tells a bit about you and could serve as a mailbox project.  Maybe another attribute could be "Invisible" to hide projects that you didn't want seen yet but that you wanted stored on the web.

archmage wrote:

-Reward helpful users with points (or something like that) to create an incentive to help people

Hmm..... This could have to do with that helpfulness system...

Karma ratings would just take up too much time for the Scratch Team...

And moderators and curators should be picked for their responsibility and good judgement, not for getting good karma points.


About the original suggestion: I like it - it'd help promote projects that deserve something, yay! 

Thanks for reading and the good ideas.

This idea is not about GOOD projects or scratchers getting attention/recognized/fame.
(That may happen sooner for helpful/diligent scratchers because they can focus other people's attention/help where they need it, but that's not the primary goal.)

This idea is about:
- lowering the number of clicks and typing to ask for help.
- making it easy to find other people that need help.
- making it easy for newbies and veterans to let others know they need help and where they need it.
- making it more efficient to reciprocate helpful comments.


Because people can see your request for help next to your name, by leaving helpful comments, more will see that you need help and be more likely to help you.  (so I don't think moderation/karma points are needed for this.)

I think "help" could also be, "try out my new project I just finished". 
If I look at and leave a helpful comment on yours you'll be more likely to look at and comment on mine.

paddle2see wrote:

...being able to focus other's attention on a specific project for any given Scratcher.   Kind of like being able to feature your own work...in a limited sense!

Right!

paddle2see wrote:

What if you could assign attributes to a project either as it was being submitted or after it was on the web?  You could set the ones needing help to "Needs help" and they might show up in a special queue either on the front page or elsewhere.  They might also float to the front of your My Stuff area and have some kind of visual flag near their thumbnail image.

Good idea, there may also be other attributes/flags.


I hope this will be as simple as possible to implement and for scratchers to use.

archmage, juststickman, illusionist,
Yeah, 'karma points' done right would assist in moderation and recognizing 'helpful' users.  (slashdot is a good example.) But it's not quite the idea I'm suggesting here.

billyedward,
Those are good steps.  But it's not always obvious to new users and a slow process to help/get help.  People you help may or may not be online or even want help.  And the 'show and tell forum' is not intuitive or dead simple to find.  People that are already popular and know the system get most of the attention and help.

Hopefully this idea reduces the "getting help" steps to:
1. Flag your project as needing help and type a short question or request.
2. Help others in the recently flagged projects list so that your question/request gets more exposure.
As you comment, your question and a link to your project is put next to your name.
If you're helpful, people will be more likely to click and help you.
3. Profit. 

Again, this is about making it easier to help and get help.

Thanks!

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-05 15:07:43)

Lucario621 wrote:

I like the idea though - a lot! It's just like a forum sig, except it's generally only for advertising scratch projects, and it's for the main site    This idea has lots of potential!

Yeah, I guess it is like a signature!      ...for directing others to a project you want help/attention to.

The other important part is the page/gallery that lists other projects recently flagged as needing help, but also lists the (short) question or request the user has for the project.  (Optional if that's hard to add.) 

When you flag as project as needing help you're taken to this page/gallery so you can help others, they see that you commented, and see your question if you're helpful, they'll be more likely to help you.  Also other people browsing the project that can answer your question may answer it.  And featuring this page on the front page to online users would be useful.

The more helpful you are to people in this list, the more more people will see and probably respond to your question/request.  And because it's people that need help now, the response time should be fast.

(I suggested a sort of similar idea a long time ago, "Instead of featuring "Newest Projects", feature "Seeking Feedback"" that had good responses.  But I think the 'signature' is an important addition-- because even more so, the more you help others, the more likely you will be helped.)

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-06 19:35:40)

llusionist,
Very good mockup and ideas about karma points and moderation!  It's not what I'm suggesting here but I do think that it deserves its' own forum topic for further discussion.

You inspired me to try to make some mockups: 

"Recent requests for help or attention" would be a gallery people are taken to when they flag a project as needing attention, and perhaps shown on the front page for logged in users:


Comments:

The project owner and others browsing will be more likely to visit and help people that leave helpful comments and have thoughtful requests.

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-07 01:53:28)

AddZero wrote:

llusionist,
Very good mockup and ideas about karma points and moderation!  It's not what I'm suggesting here but I do think that it deserves its' own forum topic for further discussion.

You inspired me to try to make some mockups: 

"Recent requests for help or attention" would be a gallery people are taken to when they flag a project as needing attention, and perhaps shown on the front page for logged in users:
http://i46.tinypic.com/28j8di9.png

Comments:
http://i47.tinypic.com/2wois8i.png
The project owner and others browsing will be more likely to visit and help people that leave helpful comments and have thoughtful requests.

Nice mock-ups! I like it!

P.S. 232 messages? You sure have a lot to read 

JSO wrote:

I support this idea ^^

We should think about ways to prevent using their Request for Attention space as an ad for more views. Also, we don't want people to spam "HELP MEEEh! on meh project -----^"

Adding onto that idea, I think the project must be less than 1 week old (changable), and less than 50 views (maybe something higher like 100).

Thanks!

I think "HELP MEEEh! on meh project -----" while annoying, is still a valid request.
Same with: "Look here NOW!!" and "blahsjdoifehjwlkndlkds!"
if they wish they can...

But those will not be as effective as "Please help me figure out X."
I think by putting tips for good requests next to the textbox, more people will follow them than don't.

Example request form with tips:

[X] This project needs help or attention.

For better and more responses, write a specific and polite request. 
Good examples:
"Please help me with lists"
"Graphics help please."
"Try out my new soccer game."
"Space game with more levels!"
Write a request you would want to click.

My request: [____________________________]

This request will show next to your name when you comment on other projects that need help.  Leave helpful comments for others, so people will be more likely to help you.

Also, it's a small link signature with no images and can only link to one project, so I think at their worst they will be less annoying/distracting than many forum signatures.  (including mine?)

Still, there should be a way to flag those request signatures as inappropriate.  I think a good way to do that would be to flag the project the request is for.  If the project is flagged as inappropriate, the request text on the project and in signatures next to comments are hidden.

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-09 17:37:14)

Cool, thanks for the feedback Lightnin!

Yeah the front page may be overloaded.

And yes I think a subpage there would be good.

I think it would be important to show this "recent projects that need help or attention" page to people that just submitted to it, and that they're encouraged to help others while they're waiting for help.

Being on the front page is not AS important, but may encourage ALL site users to see who needs help/attention now, and perhaps help them...


Yes, the project notes may be a good place for a detailed question.

I think an important part of this is to put a very short question or request in a signature.  So when I help others, they will see my request for help next to my name when I comment.  And this request may spark the interest of others browsing projects I helped.

I think that the "Request Help or Attention for this project" button would be on their own project pages.  (and perhaps also in scratch?) Not sure how that should look/work yet.


I agree, only one project per user at a time. 
Perhaps they can only submit/resubmit a project to the top of this page once an hour (or day?)  I'm guessing projects will go through this very fast, a project may be on the front page of this for a minute or two.  (It might be nice to have a faceted solr search... to narrow down by tags, but not necessary.  people need to help others to get more attention to their request. as they help people on the front page of this list, more will see their request.)

Perhaps for their "Request" signature to show up on comments they leave for others, they must be online.  (not inactive more than 15 minutes.) or have a an indicator showing the person is online still.  ??

So that helpers help other helpers that are online now waiting for help.      ...and more likely to reciprocate helpful comments quickly.

Wow, I keep writing allot. 
I'm glad we're discussing/improving this so hopefully it will be helpful and simple to implement and use.  Is this making sense?  did I answer your questions?

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-12 19:13:31)

frogger3140 wrote:

Jonathanpb(excerpt) wrote:

Karma ratings would just take up too much time for the Scratch Team...

Hmm...a Karma AI?

Perhaps a karma system would help, (though it would take time to create and tune for this site)
but that's not what I'm suggesting. 

I think what we've discussed is pretty simple- making it easier to request help, and find others that need help now.
Is this a good idea?  What else do we need to address?

If ScratchR is open source, I'd like to try to create a patch.      (It would be fun to play with cakephp. I work with drupal and plain php usually.)

Last edited by AddZero (2010-03-15 21:04:49)

The positive should out weigh the negative. For example:
+ 2 Constructive comment
-1 Rude Comment
Like so.