- Beardie name(s)
- Cailyth, Pinky, & Brain
This topic has come up many times in the past...
The scenario... a new member signs up. They post their question/thread. Sometimes, they include some details about their setup. Sometimes, they include a picture. But in most cases, everyone needs to know more about the basic setup that they have. And so, the discussion threads spend much of the time focused on setup questions. I know this has come up recently... but promise me... it ain't new.
I've thought about the idea of custom profile fields to try and capture the basics of someone's setup, but felt that the old system didn't make it easy enough to ensure people actually fill it out. But... I'm hopefully that since our site upgrade, we might have some better ways to encourage people to do so before they post their questions.
My thought is this:
I want to create custom profile fields for the various bits of information we most often need to ask about. I am even looking into an ability to have a "custom field" be pictures they can upload, which in itself can answer questions and is a question frequently asked ("post a pic of your setup"). When new members register and activate their account, the system automatically sends them a no-reply Welcome "conversation" (aka PM/DM) from the BD .org account (unmonitored admin account). Mostly, that is a friendly welcome message to help people figure out how to post their first thread. I was thinking that I could modify the welcome message to first request that they update their Enclosure Setup profile fields (giving them the link straight to them).
I haven't figured out how, but I am hoping I can find a way to add a banner (like I have "Administrator", or the Photo Comp Winners have their banner) so it can be easily identified if people have filled out the fields.
So my question to all of you (anyone who helps answer questions for others)...
What do we need to know? I'd like to brainstorm on what fields we think would help... but also not overwhelm a new member.
The scenario... a new member signs up. They post their question/thread. Sometimes, they include some details about their setup. Sometimes, they include a picture. But in most cases, everyone needs to know more about the basic setup that they have. And so, the discussion threads spend much of the time focused on setup questions. I know this has come up recently... but promise me... it ain't new.
I've thought about the idea of custom profile fields to try and capture the basics of someone's setup, but felt that the old system didn't make it easy enough to ensure people actually fill it out. But... I'm hopefully that since our site upgrade, we might have some better ways to encourage people to do so before they post their questions.
My thought is this:
I want to create custom profile fields for the various bits of information we most often need to ask about. I am even looking into an ability to have a "custom field" be pictures they can upload, which in itself can answer questions and is a question frequently asked ("post a pic of your setup"). When new members register and activate their account, the system automatically sends them a no-reply Welcome "conversation" (aka PM/DM) from the BD .org account (unmonitored admin account). Mostly, that is a friendly welcome message to help people figure out how to post their first thread. I was thinking that I could modify the welcome message to first request that they update their Enclosure Setup profile fields (giving them the link straight to them).
I haven't figured out how, but I am hoping I can find a way to add a banner (like I have "Administrator", or the Photo Comp Winners have their banner) so it can be easily identified if people have filled out the fields.
So my question to all of you (anyone who helps answer questions for others)...
What do we need to know? I'd like to brainstorm on what fields we think would help... but also not overwhelm a new member.