Places to Chat
Changes to the
Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket
Changes to the
Changes to the Chatterbox
1. First of all, threads 3+ months old should be automatically deleted so that the forums don't get too clogged up. I really don't need to scroll to the bottom of CaC and see that there are thirty pages of threads. After about page six the threads all were last replied to 6+ weeks ago. It will make the Cricket servers run a heckuva lot faster to get rid of threads that were last replied to 3 months ago or longer. If you want to keep a thread alive, you can just post on it and bring it back to the top.
2. Account-type sign in should be added. Right now, these posts can be Google searched and found. I really do not want someone in Russia reading what I wrote about birthday celebrations. We should be able to create accounts on here (one per person), log in, and THEN view posts. It would be an extra step, but it would be greatly increased privacy. We should also have multiple "screen names" (but a limited number) per account.
3. Following the next one, being able to edit your own posts, hide ones you don't want to see, restrict ones to certain users, and so forth.
4. More options for formatting posts and comments, e.g., strikethrough, underline, different fonts and font sizes, more emoticons 
, and stuff like that.
5. Again, following number 2, be able to see posts we've read and posts we've not read and differentiate between them.
6. Be able to set a title for posts instead of being the first thirty characters of the post plus a ... after it.
If you have any more suggestions, please add them. And please tell me what you think of these ideas. I'm hoping at least a few of them will go through in real life. This will be posted across all forums minus Blab about Books.
Admins, please don't shorten this. I thought for a while about these changes.
submitted by Timothy C., age 12, classified
(October 2, 2009 - 3:08 pm)
(October 2, 2009 - 3:08 pm)
1. Most certainly NOT!
2. That would take a total redesign. Be nice to the Admin.
3. Same as above.
4. Probably to much work for the Admin., though that would be nice.
5. Same as #2 and #3.
6.That would be nice, and hopefully not to much for the Admin., since you can already to that on Blab About Books.
(October 3, 2009 - 8:15 pm)
1. No, i enjoy reading old posts.
2. NO! Chatterbox was made to disucuss topics with other Cricket readers. A place where everyone can join in! I think that if we put in a log in thingy that it'll scare new people away. and like GloWorm, some of us might not even be allowed on anymore. I don't put anything on the internet that i'm not prepared to share with the world. You have to remember that there are people reading our posts, that proably don't even write! If you don't want something read by the world, don't post it.
3. Hmmmm, i don't know....
4. I think that it would just get too confusing.
5. Doesn't really matter to me.
6. Yes, it's a good idea!
(October 5, 2009 - 9:30 pm)
1. Definitely not.
2. No.
3. No. This is a public Chatterbox. If you wanted to change something you wrote, just make a new comment saying what you wanted to. It would really be confusing with people editing old posts, too.
4. No. We can make our own smileys- :):D:P;):B, and like somebody said, all the different fonts and sizes would make Chatterbox look tacky.
5. It wouldn't make a difference to me.
6. Yes, that would be nice.
(October 6, 2009 - 10:42 am)
I disagree 100% about deleting old threads!!!! I use them all the time!!!! I still say if it's getting to crowded, that we should put threads that haven't been posted on for a month or more into an archive, where you can read the posts, but not add anything new. :)
(October 6, 2009 - 4:25 pm)
Er, yah, three months, or whatever... :)
(October 6, 2009 - 4:26 pm)
1. No. Nononononono. What if there was a really awesome thread that everyone forgot about?
2.I like this website the way it is... I don't want to go through all that work and give away personal info and have to go through time-consuming junk to look at the website.
3.I don't like the restrict thing. It sounds plain RUDE.
4. This would be okay...
5. Could you explain this one again? It sounds like you'd have a massive page here...
6. I actually agree.
(October 6, 2009 - 7:53 pm)
@Dawnpaw:
5. I would be able to see which posts I'd read and which I'd not read. That would be nice. I'd also, ideally, be able to see a unified view across all of the forum sections, so I didn't have to visit 6 different pages to find out what I'd read and not read.
(October 7, 2009 - 3:01 pm)
I don't like the idea of deleting old posts, yes there are a lot of threads, but I'm sure there's another way to take care of it. Maybe if they were organized by month it would be better, rather then most recently commented on.... ? But I think it would be good to have accounts. It would make everything a lot easier.
(October 7, 2009 - 3:39 pm)
Hi everyone,
Timothy, thank you for such a great list! We're aware of your concerns, and want to make this the best Chatterbox in the history of Chatterboxes. You all may not realize this, but CB has its own talented web masters who work very hard maintaining this site (and the sites for the other magazines, like Spider and Ladybug). They are planning to make changes to the Chatterbox--even some of the changes that Timothy suggested! Please be patient, though, since they're extremely busy. You might not see any changes for a while.
Although the sign-in idea is a good one, it's probably not going to happen, so don't post anything you wouldn't want someone in Russia to read! The Admins are constantly on guard to keep the CB very neutral and safe, so no one will be able to find any dangerous information about you on here (make sure you're being safe on the rest of the web, too!).
Thank you all for your great ideas!
Love,
The admins, the webmasters, and everybuggy else
(October 7, 2009 - 3:54 pm)
Thanks, Admin. :) We all appreciate everything you do and totally understand if the webmaster and all are busy, and thanks for taking the time to listen to our suggestions.
Also, we are indeed the best Chatterbox in the history of Chatterboxes. *nod*
(October 7, 2009 - 5:52 pm)
Oh, thanks, Admin!! :):) But, please tell us what changes you're going to make before you make them!! I'll need to know if I should say good-bye to everybuggy before I permantly leave the Chatterbox (ahem, like if you were to delete old threads) or if I'll be safe. :):) Thanks!
(October 7, 2009 - 7:06 pm)
Whatever you do, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't delete old threads!
(October 7, 2009 - 11:45 pm)
Yeah Admin, thank you. I probably never would have come on here in the first place if I'd had to sign on, because I don't like to sign up for things I know nothing about. :)
(October 8, 2009 - 10:54 am)
Don't worry--deleting old threads is not in the plan! Right now, there aren't enough old threads to clog up the server, anyway (but thanks for thinking of us, Timothy). We know you love your old stories, RPs, etc., and we don't want to take those away from you. IF there is ever going to be a drastic change to the CB, we will definitely let you know first. For now, enjoy it!
Admin
(October 8, 2009 - 9:42 am)
That's a relif. Are you ever going to make us log in? Please please PLEASE don't.
(October 8, 2009 - 1:09 pm)