How long does it take for an "accepted" suggestion to be implemented?

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I really like the idea of adding a "Site Questions & Support" redirect forum, if for no other reason than to place a support link in a place where most people are actually going to think to click it (the "Help" button in the banner goes to the client area, but no one seems to ever notice it there).

Though, Feld0, do we ever have general ideas of when we should expect for these changes to be implimented? I remember some threads in this section you say you like the idea and it might be added to the site, but I actually never see it happen (like support ticket notifications, topic randomizers, etc.). Do they somehow become unimplimentable into the site or what?

[XrosOver 613]

I have been wondering this as well. Surely there is a chance for the suggestions to be implemented but I guess we will have to wait on the forums tech team to develop those suggestions. Hopefully sooner than later.

Edited December 9, 2012 by XrosOver

[Zoop 8,384]

Feld0 and Scootacool's existing to-do lists, when printed out on a single roll of paper stretch from one side of Canada to the other. 

 

In addition to already having a large amount of projects queued up, Feld0 and Scootacool also handle the bulk of the site's tech support and troubleshooting. They are stretched extremely thin, and thus are often unable to jump on things immediately.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

There is much, much, much more to implementing an idea than my personal approval of it. Typically, what happens when I say "I like this", the idea goes into a process in which it is evaluated for viability and difficulty to implement. Also, whenever I say that I like something, I speak purely for myself and not for the entire MLP Forums community.

 

Usually, what slows most ideas down indefinitely is when they require any form of custom development. Changes and additions that can be accomplished using our existing software and resources are generally quite trivial to implement (like adding a new forum, changing some text somewhere, etc.). As it turns out, though, most of the ideas that people suggest end up requiring custom development, for which our resources are extremely limited: Scootacool and I are the only developers in the staff; he handles most of MLPF's custom development needs, and I have my hands full with Pony.fm. With donations having slowed down as much as they did, it's not possible to hire third-party talent to boost things along, either.

 

Once it becomes clear that custom development is necessary to implement x, y, and z features, we have to prioritize which ones will be focused on first based on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

• difficulty of developing the feature
• estimated time needed to develop the feature (remember, the staff are all volunteers who have lives outside of MLP Forums)
• immediate impact/benefit of implementing the feature
• long-term impact/benefit of implementing the feature
• long-term costs of maintaining the feature (and not just monetary costs... each feature adds at least one, if not multiple, new moving parts to consider when making subsequent changes to the site)
• the "We need this!" factor
• what other staff think of the feature (I'm only one of about 20 people running this site, please don't forget that)

And most of the above needs to happen before a single line of code can even be written. The development process itself can become hugely expensive in more ways than one once a feature makes it to the top of our internal task tracker.

 

 

I remember some threads in this section you say you like the idea and it might be added to the site, but I actually never see it happen (like support ticket notifications, topic randomizers, etc.).

 

I'd like to point out that this is simply not true. We do our best to implement features that pass all internal checks as expediently as possible, and a few of them have actually made it to completion. You should be keeping up with Canterlot Castle, because new features are usually announced there when they're ready. Here are a few:

• Roleplay World Enhancements
• Credit & Debit Card Payments
• AJAX report form + reporting presets
• Redemption Sundays (lose 25 warning points per week)
• Topic temperatures, based on custom per-forum algorithms
• The infamous "pink bar" corpses of deleted posts

A great many of the features we add are in direct response to unsolicited feedback. We try to do as much as we can, honest, but our resources are simply a lot more limited than you may imagine.

 

If more people paid for a subscriber account, we would have the money to hire third-party developers to do custom work for us. But as I mentioned, the site's revenue has been slowing down a lot, which has made this an unrealistic option at best. If you'd like to expedite the implementation of custom features, the best you can do is get a subscription and encourage others to do the same.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

@@Feld0,

 

Yes, I do keep up with CC, I follow it. I actually had no knowledge of the fact of how much it costs per upgrade to this site.

 

Scootacool mentions to me time and again how big his to-do list is, so nothing hugely new there. I assume you guys have considered hiring new tech admins (if you can find them) to put a bit less stress on your backs?

 

With donations having slowed down as much as they did, it's not possible to hire third-party talent to boost things along, either.

Unfortunately, that's a big problem like you said when it comes to adding new features to the site. If members desire for new changes, donating is a vital part to adding them in. I, though I have not donated, planned to in early October but I don't have the necessary requirements to do so, sadly.

 

Thanks for the feedback on the subject.

[Arcanel 3,041]

I feel the need to say something here, as I am guilty of wondering when the things that had been suggested would be chosen to be put in or not EVEN when I know that Scootacool and Feld0 are busy as HELL! In fact, so busy, that they'd make  damn scientist ashamed of their own times of works. And those work in the lab 25/7. You guys work 27/7, those extra hours that should be considered part of the My Little Pony Forums: Overworking is Magic

 

But jokes aside, I KNOW that you people work every day. Scoots may be dedicated mostly here, but with personal life and having a whole site for himself to check, his poor hooves are probably GLUED to the keyboard, which is bad with his RSI and all that.

 

And as for Feld0, let's see..all of the sites he created that are inside his Feldian Network. PLUS MLPforums. PLUS the recent launch of Pony.Fm. PLUS the recent charity thing. PLUS the thing about the space elevator which i'm sure was never exactly left aside, but I don't really know. PLUS the fact that, even if he likes something, he still has to decide firmly if whether the suggestion can be implemented or not, despite the likeability of the idea. PLUS the fact if it could be inmediately OR should wait a little longer before coming to fruition. PLUS how hard implementing something in the forum can be.

 

Add all that, and I'm pretty sure that is as HARD AS THE CONGLOMERATION OF ALL TWILIGHT'S MAGIC to give something as fast as one wanted. Ergo, why I feel sorry whenever I wonder/sin in my impatience (umm...sorry...really sorry about that guys... ). If anything I could at least TRY to talk with Feld0 or Scoots if I could help or anything of the sort or try if I can make my ideas more easy to formulate within the forum, but the problem is, I know ZERO about tech stuff, and henceforth I am condemned to wait like silly little filly and nothing more, while I wait for people that I really admire on how committed they are to their "jobs" per se like an spoiled kid.

 

So...yeah...I'm gonna be impatient...but...I'd rather hit myself against the wall before voicing that impatience. Just...keep on guys, you're making a hell of a good job, Luna send me to the moon, then Celestia to the sun, and Discord sent me to the unknown 5th wall if it ain't so.

[Betez 1,734]

Maybe we should get another tech admin?

[Killian Jones 2,654]

Maybe we should get another tech admin?

Quite honestly, this isn't as easy as it sounds, the requirements for such a position are very, very narrow. I don't think I know anyone else on this forum that would qualify. And that's not just the stringent requirements on technical skills, there is also a trust level. And often times I do see people with either one or the other quality, but not both.

 

I think Feld0 realizes this as well, although he is welcome to rebut.

[NavelColt 22,878]

Maybe we should get another tech admin?

Quite honestly, this isn't as easy as it sounds, the requirements for such a position are very, very narrow. I don't think I know anyone else on this forum that would qualify. And that's not just the stringent requirements on technical skills, there is also a trust level. And often times I do see people with either one or the other quality, but not both.

 

I think Feld0 realizes this as well, although he is welcome to rebut.

 

I talk to Scootacool a lot on Skype one on one, and I can definitely say that the amount of members who are qualified to be a tech admin is almost non-existent from how small of a pool it is. Up until recently, the chicken was a bit stressed, to put it mildly, over the sheer volume of work that needs to be done from tickets to all the suggestions and implementations that the techies have to deal with.

 

I speak based on my perception and not the administration as a whole when I say this, but if there were qualified individuals out there who fit the tall order needed to be a tech admin without a hitch, they'd probably be in the position by now, if not at least talked to by Scootacool about the potentiality for being put into such a position.

Edited December 10, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~