Popular Suggestions: Some Feedback from HQ!

Greetings from HQ!

The Suggestions for How to Make Meetup.com Better forum has been a veritable talk soup of wonderful feedback, new feature requests and ideas for how to improve existing features. Recently there have been many questions about how this feedback is processed and 'passed along' here at HQ.

In light of that, going forward, we'll be posting regular updates of what we're working on, and directly respond to your feature requests.

This week we'll be addressing some of this forum's most Popular Suggestions:

Control Over Emails from Meetup - To be able to completely unsubscribe from group emails (event reminders, announcements and post event surveys).

We're currently working on giving users more control over the emails they get. We're still working out how to properly implement this and it might be released in phases (rather than one morning "BAM!" no more emails)

We hope to have this up and running by the end of 2008.

On site Member Calendar - A calendar on Member's home page that lists all upcoming events, notes which one's you've already RSVP'd for and can be easily exports to other offline calendars.

This is a great idea, but since it's something that would take a lot of time to plan and build, we don't have specific plans to build it this year. We'll keep it on our list, though!

In the meantime, we do have feeds that allow you to add meetings to Outlook, iCal, Yahoo and Gmail calendars.

Editing Assistant Organizers Capabilities - Organizer's would be able to give and take away specific Organizer tool access to various AO's/members

We are working on giving Organizer's this capability now and we're aiming to have this ready for Organizers this spring. Stay tuned!

Organizer Control over Member Comments - Organizers would have the ability to hide or remove all member comments (both event and group).

This is already in the works. If all goes well, you'll see this feature in March or April.

More functionality in Photo Albums- Adding more functions to group photo albums

This is a great idea, and we're kicking this idea around, but it's not on our radar for releases this year.

I hope this info proves helpful to you all. We'll be posting regular updates, so please be sure to share your support for feature suggestions already listed in the forum below, and add your new features suggestions too!

Stay tuned for more info from the Meetup kitchen!



Lucette

I am really excited to see all of these features put into place. You rock meetup staff!

Lucette, thanks so much, finally some notes about what's in the works back behind my computer screen (don't know you all fit in there, but keep up the good work!)

The AO controls especially have me interested, but at the same time its good to know what things we can not expect in the next few months. i'm feeling sort of relieved that i can focus my energy better. if you can call it focusing. or something like that.

i'm almost crying, i'm so happy to see this response. i think i better get some sleep.

Thank you!!!!!

Thanks for the feedback.

One minor worry is that message board upgrades are not even mentioned.... Not even on the radar? Not even being considered?

This is a vital question for me. I NEED to get decent forum software that is desperately needed by the group. Even if it means a pullout from Meetup. Estimating how long can I hold out would allow me to look at staying. (Which for many other reasons I would want to.) Other features are great here, but a working forum would make all the difference. Other sites are catching up with the rest all the time.

Len

Lucette,

Thanks so much for this message. Sometimes it feels like our suggestions go into a black hole, so it's sooooooo nice to have an idea of when there may be some updates and to know that our suggestions are being seriously considered!



Michele

Thanks for the feedback.

One minor worry is that message board upgrades are not even mentioned.... Not even on the radar? Not even being considered?

This is a vital question for me. I NEED to get decent forum software that is desperately needed by the group. Even if it means a pullout from Meetup. Estimating how long can I hold out would allow me to look at staying. (Which for many other reasons I would want to.) Other features are great here, but a working forum would make all the difference. Other sites are catching up with the rest all the time.

Len

Hi Len,

What kind of improvements would you like to see in the forums? Do you have examples of other sites that have forums you like?

- Viviane.

Here is one of the FREE ones that I have looked at, as just one example. (Now outdated, but still miles ahead of what we have.)

The PHP source code is free by download from the supplier (link towards the bottom of the page), and any developer with some PHP knowledge will be able to see all that it does.

Looking at my example while not logged in, as against being logged in will show some major differences. If someone wants to log in to look, just ask, and I will let them have a username/password.

I am not suggesting the 'look and feel' of the meetup site should change, I acually like it. The configurable user interface that came FREE with it is just icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. For me, the huge advantage Meeup has is 'everything in one place'. I could already do better, and cheaper, if I was willing to either put development time in myself, or accept the lack of the great single common interface for all features that we have here.

The main forum features I would want to see are:

• A Search function within a group's forum. (Whether the group is private or not.)
  
• Compartmentalised forums. (Sub-fora, folders, areas, rooms, call them anything you like, so long as you give us them.)
  
• Organiser-configurable compartment names. (My needs are not the same as a pug-group, or a singles group, or a mom's group, and 'one size fits all' just will not work.)
  
• Sub-compartments - 'Folders within folders'. (Makes for much clearer filing & archiving.)
  
• Assignable moderation rights by compartment. (Assistant A manages Area A. - Area B is someone elses baby.)
  
• Configurable posting/viewing rights by compartment. (O. & A.Os. can then have an area for discussion that non AOs simply do not see.)
  
• The ability to move an individual posting from one topic to another. (Properly, not the ridiculous way we would have to do it now.)
  
• The ability to move an entire topic (thread) to a different compartment. ('proper' moderation ability.)
  

These would address the many questions about deleting, moving, sorting that are asked in these forums.

Combine use of the last three bullet points, and you have the ability to 'design' a posting by comittee discussion between O & AOs, and then 'release' it on the membership when complete.

Len

I cant speak for other organizers, but I could use folders or forums on my message board and the ability for organizers to move messages between them.

Even if there is a limit on the number we can have, it would be better than none.
This way we can keep certain topics in their own realm similar to how these Discuss Meetup forums work

Steve

Lucette and MU staff

First, I want to thank you guys for putting yourself out there and taking the chance of being ridiculed or complained to.

If I had to choose two improvements out of the list it would be the personal calander and editing AO's abilities! So, YAY! I'm glad to see one of these being planned. For the others, there are some I believe are crucial-- emails esp...BRAVO.

I hope that you guys will continue to give us updates. I look forward to seeing the new features.