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7
MatrixDev - - (+7|-1)
I added samples of posts in the chat(self)
9 commentsbyx0x7

I've re-embedded the chat in the sidebar instead of having just the link to chat. One of the reasons why I tested using a link instead is that I realized that chat and the main site are like two different products. And one had an advertisement for itself running inside the main thing I'm trying to grow, and the other had pretty weak linking going the other way.

So in theory, it could act as a ratchet that pulls activity from one to the other. The silly reason why that is an issue is that I can promote a Reddit clone and grow it, but it's harder to promote a chat. But to promote a Reddit clone, it itself needs a lot of activity. So it's a bit like trying to get a fire to take off. And if you have something drawing heat away, it's harder to get that flame to ignit and self sustaining. That at least was the thought process.

But the real solution to the ratchet isn't to reduce connectivity from the front to chat, but to have both link to each other effectively. In theory, that's even better for retention for a few reasons. By having a significant link to the other, users can filter through to different areas and find where they want to be the most, and participate in the other now and again.

The posts will update every now and again. That is meant to make the attention grabbing symetric since the chat is able to show movement on the front page. It only seems fair.

An alternate method I'm looking to play around with soon is having a single post across the top and rotating random posts from the front page every 5 minutes based on the posts' current positions and an exponential distribution. Basically, that would mean you are more likely to see the top post than ones further down, but there would still be good variability. That might be a better pull (benefit in terms of keeping them symetric), while being less permanently distracting, overloading, and taking up real estate (cost). It also takes advantage of the fact that posts want to be horizontal.

That is the argument for why that might be better. But even if it is, we have to try something to then identify what we'd like to do next and why. So the side posts are the current implementation of linking back to posts in chat. I'm hoping to experiment with the other soon.

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[-]LarrySwinger2(+2|0)

Yes, the cost in real estate is real. Good direction nonetheless. In PhpBB, there are chat scripts where new posts will get announced inside the chat itself. I think you should experiment with that, probably not for every post but whenever a score threshold is reached. But any post that comes out of the queue should immediately reach the threshold, until that starts overburdening chat, at least that seems like a good balance to me. What do you think?

Top banner seems acceptable as well. For that, you could take inspiration from rdrama.net. They manually create a top banner in the style of "did you know" iirc. Not exactly that but they sensationalize some big posts. AI can do such a thing of course if you want to go in that direction but it isn't as real. Rdrama is a big website where threads garner a lot of attention so it makes more sense there.

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[-]x0x71(+1|0)

I like that idea. I would want to set the threshold pretty high. Plus rate limiting it as a double gaurdrail. But I do like that idea.

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[-]JasonCarswell1(+1|0)

If it's a popular post it doesn't need boosting. It will be seen. Boosting just increases the pooling problem. It's the new posts that need attention and human filtration. Not all new posts are good - and it takes humans to determine what earns merit. The problem is when meh posts get elevated into the pool of popular posts while actually good content is overlooked. Bad votes don't just mean bad content, it's also overlooked content. That's why a neutral vote would help define quality. (A 5x5 MetaVote would help more.)

I like that second idea of pinning notable posts. Maybe even more. On SaidIt I tried to have a little bulletin board but M7D3 would not help me with it. It was in my CSS themes - a speech bubble square where maybe up to 6 short bullet points could link to bigger things important to the community, possibly a community newsletter.

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[-]LarrySwinger2(+2|0)

Capturing new posts is exactly the point. The threshold is to not have chat be completely spammed with every new posts. When the posting volume is big enough, that becomes a problem. I suggested 3 as the threshold because it automatically captures posts coming out of the queue (and therefore is still focused on recentness) and it doubles as an extra incentive to put posts in queue. Sometimes people manually advertise their new threads in chat. Might as well have it done automatically.

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[-]JasonCarswell1(+1|0)

Capturing new GOOD posts is exactly the point.

Yes. Balance is required.

Three seems good, rotated out with fresher posts.

incentive to put posts in queue.

You mean the PostWhenever queue?

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[-]LarrySwinger2(+2|0)

I meant for the first idea. That one isn't supposed to announce only the best posts; that's what the frontpage is for. It's to give a steady stream of new posts.

You mean the PostWhenever queue?

Yes. If anything that comes out of the queue is automatically caught by the announcer inside the chat, it will provide the steady stream we're looking for without overburderning chat.

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[-]JasonCarswell1(+1|0)

How about anything not-boosted?
Ignore the boosted by 1-a-day thing or PostWhenever.

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[-]pumpkin1(+1|0)

I've re-embedded the chat in the sidebar

Thank you! I asked for this the other day in the chat, but did not want to send a DM.

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[-]JasonCarswell1(+1|0)

I love that you test new ideas - and are willing to revert.
Announcements/warnings/explanations are good too.

It seems link-only tranquilized the chat. I preferred it link-only, with a dedicated tab - but I understand there are other preferences. I'd like to request a user preference option: collapse chat in sidebox on all pages. I'd hope this would also silence chat notifications - except for the dedicated chat tab. Otherwise I ignore it like ads, knowing I can just look at the full chat tab. Also, optional feature request: display timestamp in chat.

The posts will update every now and again. That is meant to make the attention grabbing symetric since the chat is able to show movement on the front page. It only seems fair.

I don't understand what this means.

I've noticed the front page seems to have slowed to a crawl. I don't know if it's effectively improving things so more folks see content and voting/comment, or not, but it seems you're trying to milk interactive blood from a stone of maybe only a couple dozen users. By limiting the content you're also limiting the discussions and interactions. Just because I've seen the same post for several days doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly get inspired to comment if I haven't already.

People in chat don't need distractions. You're trying to read, catch-up reading, type, and sometimes wait for a response. And sometimes also watch a movie. It seems interactive enough. If folks want posts, or images, or videos, they'll go to them. Also, why isn't "goatmatrix.net/chat" in the header links too?

An alternate method I'm looking to play around with soon...

Seems like you're trying too hard. Advertising this site inside this site seems redundant. It might be good to cross-pollinate Submatrix communities - in the future. IMO, improving the extant features would be time and effort better spent. I'm up to 1105 messages because I don't have control and it would automatically mark everything read, so I don't use it. That needs attention. Metatags vs cross-posts. We could work on the user experience, layout, and feature wish-lists - starting with surveys and polls for user feedback. We could talk about mascots, themes, and branding (though I seem to be the only one who cares about that) and then of course an ad campaign with strategies to invite the right kinds of folks here. All of these, IMO, are worth discussion.

It also takes advantage of the fact that posts want to be horizontal.

I don't think that's true, PC or mobile. We're all non-binary orientations now.

we have to try something to then identify what we'd like to do next and why.

Agreed!!!
Sexperiment!

I hope my opinions don't seem as bitchy as I feel. Third day of suffering in bed of some cold-flu thing that came with the weird fog. My (ex-ex?) girlfriend 5 hours drive away also got a weird fog and cold last week. I think they're spraying poisons, especially lower when there's cloud cover. It sucks, but I suspect it sucks less with ivermectin.

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