Suggestions

[Jim Williams]

Didn't see a general suggestion thread, so I started one.

Neven, could you add the Forum to the Arctic Sea Ice Graphs page?  It would make jumping about so much easier.

[Neven]

Will do that, Jim!

edit: I've done it. Will also add buttons to the blog in due time.

[DungeonMaster]

As you probably know, I have a strong interest about expeditions in the Arctic.  Neven can you think about adding a section somewhere on this ? I think that having just one topic with answers wouldn't be enough.

Thanks !
(Btw I'm only the Tech Admin, Neven decides about the forum's organisation).

[FrankD]

I'd like to endorse the DM's request (and to that end I've put up some stuff on the early Russian expeditions in "The Rest" section). I'd extend it a bit though, to expeditions and scientific research - a place to discuss the process of uncovering the mysteries of the Arctic. I would see it as covering the Franklins and Nansens and Berings, but also current research expeditions, new satellites and whatnot.

cheers!

F.

[Neven]

How about I create a sub-board below the 'Arctic sea ice' board called 'Arctic expeditions and science'?

[danbashaw]

Here is a tweak that would be helpful to users on smartphones and tablets... You might consider changing the forum config file so that threads only start paging after 99 comments, rather than every 15 comments. This will improve usability, especially for mobile device users.  You'll also find comment readership will go up as a result of users no longer accidentally overlooking the pager.

[TerryM]

How about I create a sub-board below the 'Arctic sea ice' board called 'Arctic expeditions and science'?

While I have nothing to contribute I'd be an avid reader. Wonder if Patrick might be interested.

Terry

[Artful Dodger]

How about I create a sub-board below the 'Arctic sea ice' board called 'Arctic expeditions and science'?

While I have nothing to contribute I'd be an avid reader. Wonder if Patrick might be interested.

Terry

Seconded. Great idea. Don't we already have one young lady from Vancouver planning an Arctic adventure this Spring?

Also, our old friend Børge Ousland had plans to sail to the North Pole, but I haven't seen any updates in awhile.

Then there's the various NW Passage voyages, whether by sailing or rowing.

Lot's of content, well worth a new Category, IMHO. 

[Neven]

Sorry for being slow.

I have just created a 'child board' under the Arctic Sea Ice board. Esthetically I'm not very pleased with it. How about I give it a board of its own called, ehmmmmm, 'Arctic history, expeditions and science'?

[Artful Dodger]

Sorry for being slow.

I have just created a 'child board' under the Arctic Sea Ice board. Esthetically I'm not very pleased with it. How about I give it a board of its own called, ehmmmmm, 'Arctic history, expeditions and science'?

Hi Neven,

lol, 35 min is slow?! 

I'd limit it to "Arctic history, expeditions and amateur science" since big nationally funded efforts, while important, have a much different visceral impact on common people. Think if Shackleton had a Satphone. We'd probably still be in the Falklands...

[ivica]

Ah, "Arctic history, expeditions...", those events when Distance/Unknown is calling...

They say the sea turns so dark that
You know it's time, you see the sign
They say the point demons guard is
An ocean grave for all the brave
Was it you that said, "How long, how long
How long to the point of know return?"

Lyrics

[Neven]

Okay, so I've decided to create a new board: Arctic Background. With subtitle: History, exploration, expeditions, science. I've moved Frank's (excellent BTW) post to it. Better, right?

[DungeonMaster]

Here is a tweak that would be helpful to users on smartphones and tablets... You might consider changing the forum config file so that threads only start paging after 99 comments, rather than every 15 comments. This will improve usability, especially for mobile device users.  You'll also find comment readership will go up as a result of users no longer accidentally overlooking the pager.

Good idea. I've upgraded to 50 to see how it goes.

[TerryM]

Not sure if this is a suggestion or a question. After posting I'm left with a new marker on the thread. Is there a way to eliminate this without going back and reopening the thread?

Terry

[Artful Dodger]

Good thought, Terry. I noticed that one too.

Also, is there a way to change the default behavior when creating a Reply. It would be nice if the 'Return to this topic.' checkbox was automatically selected under the collapsed dialogue "Attachments and other options".

Thanks for all you do, Fred! Merci!

[ivica]

Terry,
"New" marker behavior seems to me as a WAD ("works as designed").
I doubt that Fred can do much there.

[BornFromTheVoid]

Just a thought.

How about having a section for gathering peer reviewed studies that are available for free online? We could categorise them, for example (Arctic Paleoclimate; Arctic Projections: Arctic Links to Weather and Circulations; etc.). Could have similar for Greenland, Antarctica and more general climate change stuff too?

It would be a handy source when arguing with sceptics or posting in blogs, and would help ensure that your arguments and lines of reasoning, where possible, are backed up with the relevant peer reviewed literature.

[Neven]

BFTV, two days ago I opened a new board called Arctic Background, with subtitle "History, exploration, expeditions, science". So that's where discussion of science papers should be held. In an ideal world. 

I tried to regularly update the Papers section of the Arctic Sea Ice Blog, but it was just too much work (and I don't really enjoy reading scientific papers).

[BornFromTheVoid]

BFTV, two days ago I opened a new board called Arctic Background, with subtitle "History, exploration, expeditions, science". So that's where discussion of science papers should be held. In an ideal world. 

I tried to regularly update the Papers section of the Arctic Sea Ice Blog, but it was just too much work (and I don't really enjoy reading scientific papers).

Hi Neven. I wasn't thinking so much of an area to discuss the studies, but as an area with sub categories. Perhaps they could contain the abstract, title and on occasion, a brief description of the paper's about?
Similar to what's on the blog, but perhaps more structured, standardised and easier to search through? I'll certainly contribute to it when I can. I can see this forum becoming very popular so I think having the papers here would work better.

[Neven]

It would definitely work better. Let's see how things develop, but thanks for contemplating an investment of some of your time in the forum. 

[OldLeatherneck]

Neven,

Where is the appropriate place to tell stories such as personal anecdotes that have some relevance to any of the many topics here on this forum??

As an example, in the mid-70s, I spent nearly 8 months working in Thule, Greenland.  I seen first-hand the basin of a fjord the morning after a major calving event.  I've also ridden on the dog sledges with the native Inuits (formerly known as Eskimos).  It is my personal experiences there that keep me closely watching the melting of the GIS.

[TerryM]

Neven,

Where is the appropriate place to tell stories such as personal anecdotes that have some relevance to any of the many topics here on this forum??

As an example, in the mid-70s, I spent nearly 8 months working in Thule, Greenland.  I seen first-hand the basin of a fjord the morning after a major calving event.  I've also ridden on the dog sledges with the native Inuits (formerly known as Eskimos).  It is my personal experiences there that keep me closely watching the melting of the GIS.

Sounds like a life changing experience. Perhaps a thread under the rest for reminiscing would work.

I might have some small contributions and know I'd find the experiences of others to be of interest.

Terry

[OldLeatherneck]

Sounds like a life changing experience. Perhaps a thread under the rest for reminiscing would work.

I might have some small contributions and know I'd find the experiences of others to be of interest.

Terry

Terry,

I like your naming of a new sub-category 'Reminiscing' or 'Reminiscences' under the the Off Topic category.  I do recommend that it be a new sub-category, rather than a new thread under 'The Rest'

The decision is Neven's!

[OldLeatherneck]

Forum General Statistics

It would appear that in the General Statistic block, the Average Per Day statistics for registration, posts, topics, on-line & page views is base on a much earlier start date than when the forum went public.

If it's an easy 'fix' I would recommend changing the start date for these statistics to be the date the forum went public.  I believe this would be more meaningful.

Just a thought.

[Artful Dodger]

Hi Fred, hi Neven

I have subscribed to the ASI Forum's RSS feed for Member Comments. I notice it only provides the last 5 comments.

Is it possible to increase the number of comments displayed in the RSS feed? I'd like to see at least 30, so if I miss a day I can see what's up in a single glance.

Thanks!

[Neven]

Lodger, I increased 'Maximum message length' from 255 to 1500. Please, let me know if that changed anything or even did the trick altogether.

[DungeonMaster]

Wow, I didn't check this section those last days... I'll try to fix as many point as I can, as soon as I can...

[Neven]

Neven,

Where is the appropriate place to tell stories such as personal anecdotes that have some relevance to any of the many topics here on this forum??

As an example, in the mid-70s, I spent nearly 8 months working in Thule, Greenland.  I seen first-hand the basin of a fjord the morning after a major calving event.  I've also ridden on the dog sledges with the native Inuits (formerly known as Eskimos).  It is my personal experiences there that keep me closely watching the melting of the GIS.

Sorry, OLN, I had seen your comment, but it slipped out again.

How about using the 'Arctic Background' board that has 'History, exploration, expeditions, science' as its subtitle? I think personal stories would fit in well there and would have a prominent spot as not many threads have been opened in that board so far.

[DungeonMaster]

Lodger, I increased 'Maximum message length' from 255 to 1500. Please, let me know if that changed anything or even did the trick altogether.

Nay, that don't do it. I'll post some ways to do it from my pc.

[OldLeatherneck]

Sorry, OLN, I had seen your comment, but it slipped out again.

How about using the 'Arctic Background' board that has 'History, exploration, expeditions, science' as its subtitle? I think personal stories would fit in well there and would have a prominent spot as not many threads have been opened in that board so far.

Thanks Neven!

And again, congratulation on the rapid successes of this forum.  Until the ice has finally gone, the forum will provide the best information and analysis on all things 'cryoshperic.'

[Neven]

And again, congratulation on the rapid successes of this forum.  Until the ice has finally gone, the forum will provide the best information and analysis on all things 'cryoshperic.'

Yes, it's a very good start and already exactly what I'd hoped it would be. Makes it much easier for me and also more fun, because here I'm not the blog owner, but just one of the commenters. It also takes away the pressure of having to write regular blog posts, because otherwise comment sections explode with off-topic. As I'm building a house this summer I might not be able to write a lot on the ASIB. I might be doing videos for the ASI Updates to save time.

Nay, that don't do it. I'll post some ways to do it from my pc.

Thanks, DM!

[DungeonMaster]

Also, is there a way to change the default behavior when creating a Reply. It would be nice if the 'Return to this topic.' checkbox was automatically selected under the collapsed dialogue "Attachments and other options".

This one was easy : edit your Profile, section "look and layout", you'll find a magic checkbox there, "return to topics after posting"... and I think you may like other options, too !

[DungeonMaster]

Forum General Statistics
If it's an easy 'fix' I would recommend changing the start date for these statistics to be the date the forum went public.  I believe this would be more meaningful.

Just a thought.

Ok, found a way to apply this nice idea, applying tonight.

EDIT: done, removed old dates in the log table, and recomputed the stats. Nothing seems to have changed, the ratio Boys/Girls is still 27:1 - ugly !!

[DungeonMaster]

Not sure if this is a suggestion or a question. After posting I'm left with a new marker on the thread. Is there a way to eliminate this without going back and reopening the thread?

Terry, I tried to reproduce this behaviour in the "test" post, but didn't succeded - so I don't have this 'new' marker.
- do you still have it if you go back to the post after answering?
- can you (or Lodger) please provide more details?

Thanks!

[DungeonMaster]

Is it possible to increase the number of comments displayed in the RSS feed? I'd like to see at least 30, so if I miss a day I can see what's up in a single glance.

OK, here are some tricks to achieve this :
- first click on the "RSS" link below
- then add salt and pepper to the url in the address bar to your taste !
   - add ";limit=30" to get 30 messages : like this
   - add ";sa=news" to get only the new topics, like that

More examples are available on this long topic

Then you can bookmark this address in your beloved rss reader, or perhaps just edit the current address and add those little options.

Enjoy !

[DungeonMaster]

Here is a tweak that would be helpful to users on smartphones and tablets... You might consider changing the forum config file so that threads only start paging after 99 comments, rather than every 15 comments. This will improve usability, especially for mobile device users.  You'll also find comment readership will go up as a result of users no longer accidentally overlooking the pager.

Good idea. I've upgraded to 50 to see how it goes.

I might revert to the original setting, to reduce the load on the server (as this requires more queries). BUT each user can change this settings in his profile, so basically you're free to set whichever value you like.

[Artful Dodger]

Also, is there a way to change the default behavior when creating a Reply. It would be nice if the 'Return to this topic.' checkbox was automatically selected under the collapsed dialogue "Attachments and other options".

This one was easy : edit your Profile, section "look and layout", you'll find a magic checkbox there, "return to topics after posting"... and I think you may like other options, too !

Thanks, Fred. Done! 

[Artful Dodger]

Is it possible to increase the number of comments displayed in the RSS feed? I'd like to see at least 30, so if I miss a day I can see what's up in a single glance.

OK, here are some tricks to achieve this :
- first click on the "RSS" link below
   - add ";limit=30" to get 30 messages : like this

Enjoy !

Oi, that works a treat! Merci, DM!

[Jim Williams]

For reasons of my own, I've tended to avoid topics of the "we ought" nature.  In the process I've discovered that I've been missing many very interesting posts in the AGW in General:Consequences topic area -- which also contains many prescriptive posts.  I'm not really sure how to achieve it, but I'd like to see a topic area in the Cryosphere section which siphons off the discussion of actual consequences and leaves behind the discussion of what to do about it.

[Neven]

Hi Jim,

You will always get some overlapping on a forum (even worse on a blog), but I think overall this forum now has a pretty good balance of not being too small and not too big either. That's to say, there's a place for every subject, without creating too many boards under categories.

But I remain open to suggestions, of course. 

[Jim Williams]

I'm very happy with how the Forum is developing Neven.  Just hoping wiggle out slightly greater separation somehow, as you are in fact correct.  The division between descriptive and prescriptive material here has been much better than you usually see.

[Jim Williams]

Quite a few threads which are about Forcing seem to have ended up in the Permafrost Section.  It might be a good idea to split off a section for CO2, Methane, Insolation and the like as they effect several areas, not just the permafrost.

[Neven]

Hi Jim, I'll have a look to see if some threads need to be moved.

[Neven]

Hmmm, maybe I should put another subcategory under AGW in general for threads on solar irradiance, Mauna Loa, etc...

[Jim Williams]

Hmmm, maybe I should put another subcategory under AGW in general for threads on solar irradiance, Mauna Loa, etc...

Something like that.  The discussions on various forcings are interesting and pertinent -- but they're not much about the Permafrost.

[Neven]

Indeed. I did add 'carbon cycle' under the Permafrost header, but meant the carbon cycle related to higher temps in the cryosphere.

I'll have a look at this mañana.

[Bruce Steele]

Neven, Sorry if I took Carbon Cycle in an unintended direction. We each have our focus and the subject is all rather interconnected in the long term. I would gladly comply with your guidance.

[Neven]

No problem, Bruce. It was the best place you could put it in. I've added the 'Science' board under the 'AGW in general' category, changed the subtitle of 'Permafrost' and moved a couple of threads.

Thanks for the heads-up, Jim.

One day the forum will be perfectly organized. 

[Jim Williams]

One day the forum will be perfectly organized. 

I'll have a look at this mañana.

kkkk


Thanks Neven!  I can see the Permafrost again.

[Laurent]

Would it be possible for the creator of a post to add some thumbs up (or down) with a counter in their post so that the people reading would agree easily instead of having to thank for any persons coming.