ATS, BTS, What would you like to see in the future?

Right now, all I wish is for access to my u2u and profile from BTS, without having to log into ATS just to send a message.
yeah I'm a pain the butt..I know...

Another thought...
ATS has the ignore function, so you can ignore a member's posts, and I noticed the media portal has a "block" feature so you can block people from seeing your media or profile there.
Any possible way of combining the block and ignore features for across all three boards???
I can just see Bill shaking his head with all the coding involved....

A 60 second timer on the flag button before it can be clicked.

At least that would end the "flagging because everyone else is" stuff.

Maybe even give members enough time to read what they are about to flag?

Have no idea how you guys have set up your site, but its beginning to irritate me on another level.

Since i had a post moved to bts i found that i needed to join bts, why, god only knows,

So after i created another password and attempted to log in, i was confronted with that stupid cookie code that you have enabled before you log in. Too make a long story short, this is not the first i have tried to get into bts but after today and 10 mins later, i wont even spend another 20 seconds trying anymore.

You should fix that issue as it creates a huge mess. I flush clean all cookies when ever i close browser, as a result i need to re apply for a knew p/w so im able to log in, thats another 5 mins of time and cookies forced into browser for logging in only.

Also that pubads.g.doublclick, you do realize it slows down your site reaction response right ?.

Well untill i get some feedback, i wont be trying any bts login section as its seriously put me off an otherwise fun night.

While I agree that having a separate login for BTS is a bit of a hassle, there is good news.

Your ATS user name and password work there also. So you don't actually have to make a new account; just use the same one you use here.


edit because I may have misunderstood: if the problem is just that you can't remember your ATS password because you let your computer remember for you, you can change your ATS password to something new by going to "member tools": Change Password.

Then use the new password to log on to BTS

[edit on 5/12/2009 by americandingbat]

reply to post by americandingbat

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I changed password and enabled cookies to be kept and its working, but i dont like holding cookies on browser as they are nasty buggers to have scoping your surfing habits.

REPLY TO: Replying to a single post

In a long thread if you click REPLY TO: a post you still get at the bottom of the screen



Why can't the post your replying to be shown on it's own?

(Per Dr Love I'm reposting from this thread ...)

Front page - Top stories, hot topics, and BEST RATED?

Awhile back MarrsAttax put together a thread, jokingly, pointing out how to accrue massive ATS points and keep the post at the top of the ATS front-page (ie/ say something unintelligent - the less research the better so people have to point out your ignorance; state your case as fact - enraging skeptics; use video - text is boring; make a near-term outrageous / apocalyptic future prediction; be controversial - libeling a minority group is good). Though humorous, the underlying point of MarrsAttax's critique was never addressed.

I ask in earnest. Shouldn't we all be concerned about sensational stories pushing posts with real merit off the front page?

Yes, people prefer entertainment to in-depth research. Yes, people are easily goaded in to flame wars. And, yes, conspiracy theorists are especially prone to sensational story telling. Since we all succumb to these human failings why not add a third filtering mechanism? Currently ATS filters on two concepts.

1. "Flags" (other posters find the thread important / fun / interesting / insightful) which translates to "top stories"
   
   and,
   
   
2. "post volume" (other posters have strong opinions or are trying to solve / debate some element of the thread) which equals "hot topics."

I propose another filter "best rated."

If ATS added a concept like respect points or, perhaps, based respect points off the number of people that have declared the thread-author as a friend (coupled with applause?), these respect points could be added to (flags + Floor[Log(replies+1)]) to create a composite score for the thread. This composite score would then translate to the "best rated" filter. Meaning a threads "best rated" value could depreciate if a person removed respect points. I feel comments should be somewhat insignificant in the tabulation because usually in popular threads they boil down to "me too," "disagree," "you're stupid," "where's the pictures," etc.

So, for example, let's say a person comes to the site, creates a new account (respect=0), and authors a thread titled, "PHYSICAL PROOF gods of the Pantheon exist! BEHOLD ZEUS'S LIGHTNING ROD!" It accumulates 50 flags and 40 replies. An older member (respect = 55), who's hugely endeared by the community, posts a topic titled "University of Arizona study concludes quantum manifestations provably explain all UAPs", it gets 10 flags and 10 posts.

The new user would have a total composite score of 54 (0+50+Log[40+1]) and the old user would rate 67 (55+10+Log[10+1]).

Now I'm not suggesting that all of the older-users threads get a base 55 advantage. I'd say the base 55 should activate after about 5-10 user flags. At that point there's evidence people have a genuine interest in the thread; or scale the base points in at a rate of (CEILING[.10*respect points]) per flag up to a max of 10 flags.

One of the reasons I like the concept of "respect points" is it encourages people to behave. If someone removes a respect point it affects all of the persons posts. Somewhat similar to real life. For instance, say you hood-wink 50 billion dollars in an epic ponzi scheme and get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. No matter how respectable your past deeds it casts doubt on everything you've ever done.

I'd also argue that people should have the option to unflag or vote down a post for finer granularity (rather than penalizing all posts the person's ever submitted) all the way back to 0, but enough people here have already voiced that complaint.

That's my two pence anyways!

[edit on 15-5-2009 by Xtraeme]

I like to see a star counter for every star people gives us on view, I know people might start laying biast stars, give one to me and I give one to you. But I would like to know how well I am doing with my own theories and input and how interesting my threads are. Like some advert to say he has some insight and good input, not just points that are determined by the amount of time you spent here but quality time too.

[edit on 15-5-2009 by The time lord]

reply to post by The time lord

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I'd like to see who had starred me.

But I'd also like a chocolate house.



No offense

Thumbs down!!! (the anti flag)

ATS is out of control with absolute garbage. Take this thread for example...
Jesus gets props blah blah blah

That thread is poorly written, divisive nonsense. It does NOTHING to improve the quality of ATS, and it takes up space on the login page where the "top threads" should be shown.

A question you may be asking yourself now is, why is it there? Well, it's there because a huge argument has broken out between the OP and a few people, and as the posts to time ratio increases it becomes a theoretically "more popular" thread.

I propose a THUMBS DOWN feature, which would take away a flag from a thread. This was discussed once before but it was ignored, much to the loss of the members truly looking for quality threads. Also, when a thread has ZERO flags (much like my above example at the time of my posting this), a THUMBS DOWN would result in the accumulation of ANTI-FLAGS, which, after a predetermined number have accumulated, would CLOSE THE THREAD.

In this way, the members could prevent ATS from becoming a complete crap heap.

Hi all... (((Coincidence... this was post 911 in this thread)))

I was going to post this in the thread about the new levels from the SO but it was closed... I had this idea after reading all the variables of what is troubling the membership... I thought this may solve the problem...



I’ve noticed that again the members are not happy being labeled in certain groups. I can understand this mentality because it appears that some are being given an 'elite' status and others don't like it. I know that you will encounter that with almost any type of system of acknowledgment of the members ability, but this one will only reflect what the members 'Actually' contribute and is totally dependant on his/her numbers.

A major problem I see that is being brought up amongst members is the fact that Applause, Flags and Stars were given out as indicators of a member’s ability in an area. For Flags it was the ability to produce threads that were thought provoking and recognized by the membership. For Applause it was the ability to write or convey a thought well. Although someone did say they received an applause for apologizing earlier, so I’ll leave that one. But the idea is that these things were already given as an indicator of whatever they were given for already, and now we’re looking for something else that indicates where our indicator’s are. This doesn’t work for me and others and loses something in the conversion process.

I was trying to think of a way for members to have the ability to show where their numbers actually are and in relative terms compared to other ATS members without having to try and figure it out with a conversion factor. I think this idea will solve the problem… there will be extremely little in the way of changing the person’s actual levels... really only the name of the 'region' the person is within each category. This should prevent members from thinking they are being grouped into a category they may not belong, while actually showing their stats.

Each variable is divided into levels…


Flags
0-50 Restricted
51-100 Confidential
101-150 Secret
151-200 Secret Squirrel
201-400 Secret Wolf
401-800 Secret Sky
…
6000-7000 CosmicTopSecret
7001-8000 UltraTopSecret


Stars
0-100 Codeword Montauk
101-200 Codeword Mars
201-400 Codeword Saturn
401-700 Codeword Uranus
701-1000 Codeword Ephelim
1001-2000 Codeword Yosemite
…
3000-4000 Codeword Universal


Threads
0-25 Level One
26-75 Two
76-125 Three
126-250 Four
…….
2250-2750 ThirtyOne
2751-3250 ThirtyTwo


Applause
0-10 Compartmentalization Alpha
11-20 Beta
21-40 Charlie
41-70 Delta


Post Count
0-500 Level 1
501-1000 2
1000-2000 3
2001-7000 4
….
50000-60000 12



Post Replies
0-500 Level 1
501-1000 2
1001-3000 3
3001-6000 4
...

Seniority Two digit number 3yrs = 03


So I have 85Flags 494Stars 7Threads 2Applause 868PC and 661PR and I'm in my first year.

So I would have an ATS security classification of
Confidential Codeword Jupiter One Compartment Alpha 2201

The SO would be something like
CosmicTopSecret Codeword Universal 32 Compartment Charlie 71207

This could also be moused over to convert to just the numbers. You will have those trying to achieve the ultimate classification... whatever you have for a list. You should be able to find a NATO list that has about 26 levels... Use some official NATO Codeword names and you’re all set.

For those that may have difficulty ascertaining what level is where in the mix, you could have a button that is similar to your “Light” and “Dark” options on the top left of the ATS thread and they can toggle this on or off to allow a graph to show where they may be in the grand scheme of things within the Security Classification. Another option may be to make the person’s Security Clearance like a watermark or Header/Footer on the members post, much like an actual classified document.

Also, you can change around the numbers to allow what ATS believes to be the predominate factor. So, if most believe that the member with the most posts/replies is the ‘most contributing’ then you could use those to indicate the security level of Restricted/Confidential etc.

You could also use a letter for each column …

I would have a tag of BDAABB01

The SO would be something like PMMJHJ07

When someone wants to find out my numbers they just mouse over my TAG and it shows them the numbers above. You can still have the ones that are going for the symbol to have the ultimate ZZZZZZ10....

My levels to each one obviously need to be adjusted but I'm sure your Statistics guy could work out the numbers between levels so they are relative. For someone that attains the ultimate level, he gets an invite to the ATS Christmas party or your summer BBQ haha.

A thread here here is available to view the large amount of clearance titles available, and I’m sure that ATS staff could come up with some new and unique ATS clearances that could really stand out. A list of codewords is available here and could again be created by the minds of ATS staff.

I think this system would prevent the ‘Elite’ feeling some are having while getting rid of some of the ‘Elite’ feelings others don’t like. And again it is only changing the term used for the ‘region’ the person is actually in, thereby not giving anyone the idea they are something they are not.

Now ATS members can have a Security Clearance… Something I expected when I joined the Above TOP SECRET Forum.

Sound Good?


IMHO
Rgds


[edit on 17-5-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

A "myats" button at the bottom of every post would save a lot of scrolling when returning there.

I now have a very strong index finger.

reply to post by nerbot

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With tabbed browsing, I usually keep a page on myATS at all times. When I finish with a thread, I simply exit that tab and return to the myATS tab and continue from there. Clicking into a thread results in a new tab opening, so I browse through and then just flip back over to the other tab. Saves from having to constantly scroll to the top.

Just a thought.

reply to post by chissler

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I understand and I do that sometimes, but that would need a "refresh" everytime to update it. A button within a post would bring a refreshed view up automatically.

Cheers anyway.....I'm just being lazy.

reply to post by nerbot

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I think we all reserve that right from time to time.

I think we should have an ATS profile like Myspace and Facebook. That would be cool.

Watch me say something that will get zero response and for sure no stars.

ATS is great. I learn much and try to add what I can.

But it's changing in nature at a geometric rate.

It's getting overwhelmed by teenagers and college students, which shouldn't be bad, in principle. But where the the semi-literate, the uninformed, the parentally rebellious, the desperate attention seekers, the hostile bullies, were once a component, they now approach being the majority.

ATS risks losing the more genuine participants and their quality discussion, in favour of being a youth fad.

Kids come on and see how outrageous they can be and get away with it. Chastising someone conservative, religious, pro-Israel, military, patriotic, etc.

The bad will push out the good.The level of discourse will be diluted and what is special and took so much time to build up will be lost.

Fads are ephemeral. The kids will wreck ATS and move on.

I've seen it happen.


Mike

Naaaa! can't wreck this place....that's why they move on.

Stick around and see...denying ignorance is a way of life for some people here and if the "kids" you speak of can't deal with that, they dissappear as quick as they came or get the short, sharp shock treatment with a barrage of replies and gain a little enlightenment and return as a valuable member.

"I've seen it happen"

(ps....no stars in this forum anyway...sorry)

[edit on 17/5/2009 by nerbot]

reply to post by AntiConspirator

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We do it's the ATS Media site ATSMedia Check it out Sign in with your username and password you don't have to register cause you can't.