What are "My Discussions" good for?

threads started is a number, no link to the threads.
posts made, a number.
threads participated in, capped at 20.

but, because you don't have the same discussion listed 3 or 4 times like can happen with the history in the workspace, my discussions is more usefull to follow threads not subscribed to than the history.

Since I get enough email every day, adding an email per discussion by subscribing is not something I'm interested in.
[ I get between 60 and 600 email messages a day, 7 days a week. the volume is from different lists and actual source changes daily ]

edited to add:

The TQ&A, unless the entire system is revamped, is useless, since it has the same last 20 limit.

Though, the older my discussions and My Tech Q&A are more usefull than the My Workspace equivalents.

If it is a discussion I may wish to reference at some point, I leave it here. About once a month I go through and unsubscribe from the ones I don't care about anymore.

What would be nice is a easy way to pull out a list by date, all the discussions we have been in, listing each one only once, not an entry for multiple posts to each discussion. Some of us after a while look back and try to remember how we started.

and I didnt want that one to get lost in the crowd. :D

A) Why keep track of every thread you've ever started??? I can understand keeping a record going back as long as a year; beyond that, it's sort of pointless.

B) For all time??? Why??? Maybe 3-6 months but beyond that you have to ask, why would you want to go back that far??? For the limited few who do cherish this feature, I'll bet they would gladly trade it off quite willingly for an item of improved functionality, such as a [b]Spell Checker[/b] (see the title for [b]why[/b] I say this.)

C) Keep track of the threads I've subscribed to??? What, people have no memory??? The emails aren't sufficient???

Tech Q&A is a slightly different matter. It is what first drew me to TR but I lost interest after a while when I kept encountering questions which were never rated. How does one determine whether any of the answers worked for the problems posed. The reason for the point system eluded me; what were the points good for??? Don't get me wrong; I still cruise Q&A for insights on various things but it is a cumbersome beast and a lot of the information can be gleaned elsewhere. The post tracking capability is a nice feature but you really have to ask at what point it should be cut off or limited to. You don't have infinite server capability.

Over the past year or so, you've added some nice touches but not all of them have been universally adopted. Blogs are one such item and the My Workspace could well be another. I see no reason for the blogs in TR, by either myself or anyone else; they just seem like collections of so much drivel by most of the bloggers. Mind you cutting them off is sure to generate screams of rage and frustration form those users but they do have the alternative of outside blogs. Speaking of which, why permit the importing of them to TR??? Rather, why not export them to the external blogs???

My Workspace, at least for me, has been of limited usefulness and I think I for one could well live without it.

I do think a spell checker would be welcomed by most and would eliminate a lot of unnecessary editing. How many times have posts gone awry because of typos and spelling error and resulted in flame wars before anything can be sorted out? [b]"Wodner"[/b] about that, while you keep trying to ignore the almost universal requests for a spell checker. :^0 Even restricting it to American english would be better then the nothing we have at present but it will remove the "U" factor from humour.

As for post tracking; yeah you could cut down on the number of options as long as you retain some capability and make it clear how we can do so, without undue effort. Some of us with early onset Alzheimers or senility, just might appreciate it.

Another thing; think of adding some more emoticons and while you are at it look into adding some emoicons, whatever they are, for Jd. They annoy some but do add to the fun quotient of TR.

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

i use it to jump right to a discussion i want to look in on. Saves me from haveing to look for it elsewhere..

thats the only thing i use it for though. I was just thinking the other day, once a thread has no new posts for a while, maybe they should be moved off the list though. No need to keep them for all time..just a couple days or a week.

I like to keep track of my active discussion there.

I'd like it to be sorted by new posts, not by when I first (last?) posted myself. Perhaps this can be personalized?

Some personalization of preferences would be GREAT here... Sort by, view type, etc...

I'll use search, or click on another page link if I want something from last year (rare). But if I had discussions active in the last 30 days, sorted by new posts (from anyone) I'd be happy.

I dont' subscribe to threads. tried it, found I usually updated the web page before I got an email to read it...

I must admit, I've been disheartened with Q&A enough that I rarely spend time there these days. It's mostly unrealistic questions, or obviously-never-to-be-heard-from-again posters... Sometimes it's homework or just too dang hard to decipher. Miss it, though.

some functionality would be nice.

pages are getting slower and slower again, and getting the partial load about half of the time now.

doesn't matter how good the features are, if we can't get to them.

Jay now that's naughty. ;\ Here I was thinking that you where going to ask if you had done the right thing with the [b]Evil Monster [i]10 Words or Less I don't use Linux[/b][/i] thread. It's beginning to remind me of that horrible [b]EL[/b] thread and I'll need years of intensive counselling to recover from this new menace that you released on the unsuspecting people here. ;)

Now to directly attack your Questions

[b]A[/b] NO, Defiantly No, Never, Unnecessary!

[b]B[/b] NO, Defiantly No, Never, Unnecessary!

[b]C[/b] This is useful but only it if lists the top 20 odd threads that have any activity on them at the time and you should completely delete any reference to the [b]Horrible EL Thread[/b] completely from your servers. If necessary blast it into [b]Cyber Oblivion[/b] but just get rid of it completely. :8}

As for [b]Tech Points[/b] [i]You lied to us all there never was going to be a Virtual Bar at TR was there?[/i] so dump them they are useless and a waste of bandwidth. :)

In the T Q & A it's unnecessary to keep a list of every question you've ever asked unless you are one of those who never closes off a question and then they don't deserve this so dump them after a couple of inactive weeks. :0

I'll leave the rest of the T Q & A section all alone as while [i]The Chas[/i] has dragged me kicking and screaming back there I'm trying hard to escape again and with a Site Redesign I just might accomplish this finally and be able to cut back on [b]My Therapy to only Once A Day![/b] :|

Currently there are way to many questions badly asked or even worse a lot that resemble statements not questions although I do have to admit that things have got a lot better lately with none of those ridiculous 12435 type questions. Then you have someone ask a question that claims they need urgent help and only offer 5 points which I suppose is the minimum possible so it sends mixed messages as to how important they think their questions actually are. By the way I've just noticed this because you asked me to look but I'm sure that a lot of the other Peers here get that idea without any trouble. ?:|

Now my [b]Wish List[/b] [i][b]A Spell & Grammar Checker, Update the Emotions Page to carry the correct combinations, and add more Emotions.[/b][/i] GG likes them and as she is currently the [b]Queen Geek[/b] you have to obey her wishes [i]God Help Us All![/i] :p

Col ]:)

I do not take part in many discussions, so this is a feature that I rarely use. This mainly because of the 'nested' nature of the discussions - I prefer a more conventional forum layout as with the Tech Q&A.

I simply don't use it. I keep an eye on threads that I start and discussions that I am participating in so just don't bother with that feature. I have quit subscribing to threads because I don't check that email address daily so I end up deleting a lot of email that all says the same thing- go check your threads. Most of the time, I have caught up with my discussions long before I see the email.

I have sporadically participated in Tech QA. Mostly because I don't ever get any feedback on the questions I answer so I never know if I have been helpful. I agree with another peer who mentions that there are many who need urgent help but are only scoring 5 points (points???) for a solution. And then too, fail to close the question.

I like that I am able to edit a post but will admit that I don't always take the time to write a response in Word, spell check and grammar check it and then copy and paste to TR. Usually, I simply subject everyone to my typos and hope I catch them eventually.

I would like to see a permanent link to the emoticons and formatting tags. Or I need to dig through the OAW thread and find the link again and copy it into a document or something.

And can someone please explain "Site Activity Rating"???

And further to Dawg's statement- don't take the U out of "humour". Or let us choose not to change a word in that spell checker I KNOW that you will be adding. I spell in British English and find that it is a requirement that I do so when communicating with a variety of clients.

..... when it would actually allow me to go back, maybe even waaaaaaaaay back, to find a discussion that I started and/or a discussion in which I participated.

For example, once upon a time, I could use "My Discussions" to actually find that discussion that Oz started for the express purpose to flame me. That one, by the way, was the one that really put flaming at TechRepublic on the map. In order to find that discussion today, however, I'd have to get pretty creative and/or diligent in my search efforts.

What do I want? Everything I'll ever want and/or need, even though that might not be apparent right now. (It's okay to hate, or even disregard, this answer.)

Regardless of any "wish list", it used to be better and more functional than it is today. But your colors are better, so who cares?

this is my history listing right now:

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

tags, what good are they?
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: mandatory tagging sucks

Desktop Linux 2
Date: 06/06/2006 | Type: Discussion
Tags: windows, linux, networking

the My Discussions listing:

Remotely control VMware Server machines
06/06/2006 | Posted by Jaqui | 4 Posts

tags, what good are they?
06/05/2006 | Posted by Jaqui | 19 Posts

What are "My Discussions" good for?
06/05/2006 | Posted by The Trivia Geek | 16 Posts

Desktop Linux 2
06/05/2006 | Posted by xstep | 4 Posts

Microsoft, Adobe squabble over PDF
06/05/2006 | Posted by Jshee42 | 3 Posts

Pages not loading again
06/05/2006 | Posted by jdclyde | 7 Posts

Website Design Issues
06/05/2006 | Posted by Jaqui | 0 Posts

Why data encryption is no substitute for comprehensive security
06/05/2006 | Posted by TobyChaloner | 9 Posts

HELP!! Reliable web hosting service needed!
06/04/2006 | Posted by pennatomcat | 1 Posts

page not found..again......
06/03/2006 | Posted by Jaqui | 10 Posts

Online/Social Communities...good or bad?
06/02/2006 | Posted by geekchic | 10 Posts

Make scalable vector graphics more active with sXBL
06/02/2006 | Posted by Mark W. Kaelin | 2 Posts

Member feedback needed: Do "Booth babes" belong on TR?
06/02/2006 | Posted by The Trivia Geek | 85 Posts

GoDaddy hosting customers victim to massive hack
06/02/2006 | Posted by RobRoyNJ | 18 Posts

A technical question for a change
06/01/2006 | Posted by neilb@... | 49 Posts

Creative Uses For Office Supplies
06/01/2006 | Posted by TiggerTwo | 24 Posts

Secure your Web applications by validating user input with PHP
05/31/2006 | Posted by Mark W. Kaelin | 2 Posts

Favorite fictional Artificial Intelligence
05/31/2006 | Posted by Ed Woychowsky | 108 Posts

Google - the worst search engine.
05/31/2006 | Posted by edata@... | 15 Posts

Desktop Linux
05/30/2006 | Posted by xstep | 6 Posts

the My Discussions list has a better display of what I'm looking for to track where I have been than the History.

Actually GG I'm currently using Windows so I have a Spell Checker available only problem is it only corrects to US Spelling and I don't talk Yank so things like that slip through the cracks. :p

Besides I get a commission on every MS Keyboard that I cause to be sold so I don't want it altered. :D

See being a MS [b]Certified[/b] Partner has some benefits even if they insist on constantly telling us we are all [b]Crazy.[/b] ;\

Incidentally I like your [b]Naked Nymph[/b] I think that it suits you even if you are constantly trying to tell everyone that's it's an Angel or is that Angle? :8}

Col ]:)

I use My discussions to keep track of discussions I have subscribed to. dont want them falling of the page now, do we ;)

I never bother to open the emails I receive every 4 hours for updates on subscribed discussions, though.

]:)

I use "My Discussions" as a quick way to find discussions I have recently participated in. It is a very easy way to get to them and check on activity in the discussion in question.

I had thought that our Posts were assigned to our profile and it would be in that context that we could review them, or not.
Keeping track of the Technical Question and answers is a little different, however, they too could be assigned to our Profiles.
I don't see that we need to have {fifteen different methods} if you know what I mean.
I appreciate that your trying to streamline however, there are aspect that are extremely important. the trick will be to decide which is most important and think about dumping the rest.
I for one feel that the best way is to apply all that we do or say to our Profile and that should be enough.
To be honest,I have only ever used my profile to track back my past conversations or Question and answers, so I'm afraid I'm at a loss to know exactly how many different ways we are talking about.
I shall give this a little more thought and come back again.
I would ask one thing if possible.
Many is the time when I follow a lead through my newsletter and come to a conversation.
Then I sign in and am immediately Dumped on the Front Page where there is no mention of the conversation I was following.
I would really like that if we sign in from a conversation area, that we be returned to that area once we've signed.
If this is possible.
But I must admit, TR is getting better.
PS
It's nice to see you all ;)
Warmest Regards
Aaron

Here is what I had to resort to doing in order to use a spell checker,since we don't have one incorporated.
With your permission if I may,a Small trick for those of us who use Spellcheckers.
Here's how I do mine.
With my Outlook Express open, I create a "New E-Mail" and save it "Blank" to a location.
Usually this will be in C:\My Documents or whatever folder, it's now there forever.
Now I have the Blank E-Mail, I need and icon.
So I go to my Bottom taskbar and right click and open folder.
Now that it's up as a folder, I add a new shortcut from the Blank E-Mail I just created.
This will show up as a white envelope on the bottom taskbar.
You only ever have to do this once and it's there for good.
Now.
Whenever I write something be it at TR or elsewhere, I click on this and write it in there.
I click on the icon and up comes a blank e-mail.
I come to my writing page, and start to write my thoughts "In the Blank E-mail".
Then I spellcheck, make sure all is well and then I do a Copy/Paste on it and paste it to the area of the TR page that I want.
Once done I save the letter [Copy] in my collection.
This way, I have a copy of whatever I have written and have used the spellchecker so I feel better knowing there are no mistakes.
I find it much easier and faster to reach for my little Mail/letter Icon than I do trying to spellcheck in other ways.
I can also do it backwards and copy/paste From the TR Page, correct it and paste it back again. It's quite handy.
Hope someone finds this useful.
Try it, you'll come to love it.
All it takes is a blank E-Mail and and icon leading to it. ;)

This then is what I had to resort to and it still works just fine.

Regards
Aaron :)

It's one thing that'll help but it isn't as good as one in TR would be. Col even wants a grammar checker as well. I'm not holding my breath for any of it.

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

I just use a message window in kopete to do the same thing... usually a message to apotheon. :D