How would you improve MetaFilter?

May 13, 2004 1:50 PM

I'm currently developing a group weblog (personal project, non-commercial). My question is: if you could improve one thing about -- or add one feature to -- MetaFilter (or group weblogs in general), what would it be?
posted by reklaw to Computers & Internet (19 answers total)

no server downtime. and immediate IP ban for users with multiple usernames, even if they don't troll
posted by matteo at 2:04 PM on May 13, 2004

Ability to assign (multiple) categories to a post, and for users to filter via whitelists/blacklists.

Add (normally hidden) metadata to posts (keywords, list of all links). Incorporate into search.

Private messaging, or some way to users to contact each other via a trusted relay.
posted by Gyan at 2:35 PM on May 13, 2004

killfile.
posted by fishfucker at 2:48 PM on May 13, 2004

Easy ...

Popular topics rise to the top.

Maybe not so simplistic as (say) the EZ-Board style -- where the last thread posted to gets bumped back to the top of the queue, but something ... some mechanism should be implimented so that lively discussions don't get hammered to the bottom by a series of NewFilter threads with 3 posts. (some weighted percentage? I dunno ... )
posted by RavinDave at 3:11 PM on May 13, 2004

verification of user e-mail before they can post and at (longish) set intervals thereafter.
posted by dg at 3:38 PM on May 13, 2004

A "last 5 posts you commented on" list somewhere on each page so I can get to them quickly (maybe a jump list/menu to save space).
posted by SpaceCadet at 3:48 PM on May 13, 2004

"watch this thread button" - ala google groups 2
posted by seanyboy at 4:19 PM on May 13, 2004

a "Your name appeared in" list. for seeing when people answer ...
seanyboy: re: the comment you made
posted by seanyboy at 4:20 PM on May 13, 2004

stopping people posting three comments in a row.
Only joking.
Sometimes what's important isn't what's added, but is what is taken away.
As usual, Joel has something important to say on the issue. Notice that he poo-poos the ideas of a "watch this thread" button and "popular posts rise to the top"
posted by seanyboy at 4:41 PM on May 13, 2004

Filtering (killfiles, thread watch, etc.). "Replies-to-your-post/comment" notification. Multiple categorization. "Unread (posts|comments)" indicators. "+1 this (comment|post)" combined with a link to "more good (comments|posts) by this person."
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 5:05 PM on May 13, 2004

killfiles. off-site status page. "mail this user" feature that would send a message w/o revealing your email address. some way to watch threads [MeFi "my comments" is almost good enough]. user-flagging of bad/inappropriate/whatever posts a la craigslist. better way to "see all my comments" in a keyword-in-context way. no users with multiple handles. verified users who stay verified. banned users who stay banned [mostly]. on-site faq.
posted by jessamyn at 5:24 PM on May 13, 2004

Killfiles. That are publicly published so people can see who's the most unpopular, most popular etc etc.

Aggregate page that combines White, Grey and Green and shows the last 5 threads I've commented in ... but only if there are new posts to them.
posted by bonaldi at 5:50 PM on May 13, 2004

I'll second seanyboy: I've admined complex blogs and I've build my own collaborative forum softtware from scratch. If you do one thing, do this: don't add too many features. MeFi isn't successful despite it's simple interface, it's successful because of its (deceptively) simple interface. Too-powerful CMSs have killed online communities. Keep It Simple.
posted by costas at 7:21 PM on May 13, 2004

paged threads
posted by cCranium at 7:46 PM on May 13, 2004

re: killfiles, this has been discussed a lot on MetaTalk so check out the pros and cons. I think rather than a killfile, there should be a way to highlite users who you want to read, and highlite those you want to avoid, but still keep them inside the context of the entire thread.. threads have a life and killfiles are disruptive if you reply without knowing the entire context of the thread.
posted by stbalbach at 7:48 PM on May 13, 2004

Here's a suggestion I had a while back for voting up or down on a post. Feel free to steal it.
posted by PrinceValium at 9:09 PM on May 13, 2004

Door games
posted by inksyndicate at 10:16 PM on May 13, 2004

Recent threads you've commented on, grouped on the front page, along with an indicator of any new activity on those--sort of an implicit thread-watch.
posted by adamrice at 8:05 AM on May 14, 2004

Dictatorial moderation with an iron fist. No karma-point, good/bad, +1, -1, weighted filtration twinkletoe pussyfooting around. Just pure, omnipotent editorial veto power in the hands of a few people who know what they're doing.

Killfiles. By userid, subject, or regular expression. If you were going to ignore a comment anyway, there's no point in expending the bandwidth to send it.

Also: ignoring anybody who thinks pagination is a good idea on the web. The web is not a newspaper. The web is not a dialup BBS. The web is not whatever "forum" software you like. Let's not take the page metaphor any farther than it needs to go.
posted by majick at 12:50 PM on May 14, 2004