location location location

[Mechanical Messiah]

Here's a brief suggestion for the powers that be. On other forums that I frequent, I've found that it's sometimes easier to put a person's comments in their proper context if I know where they are. No reason to get specific- I'm talking what state/country they're in, should they choose to display such information. I think it'd be a worthwhile addition to the information that can be displayed under the avatar.

[King K]

Agreed, information such as age and location are normally displayed under the user's avatar or title in other forums, many people use them to joke around, but I doubt that this would be the case here.

[Fissiongrid]

Yes, on the other forums I visit they all display location. It's never abused, and it's very helpful.

[INTroJect]

Yes, on the other forums I visit they all display location. It's never abused, and it's very helpful.

And gender. It has happened a few times where I am imagining the wrong gender on someone only to find out later in the context of a posted message, or the picture forum.

Funny thing these Avatars. Looking at this martini glass, does it not lead one to assume that I have a love for the drink? Well Ill have it be known that I barely touch the stuff. In fact, I don't even drink the everyday carbonated beverages. Decaf tea, plain, is about as rebel as it gets. Sometimes I will skip the tea and just sip on hot water.

[Jezebel]

Thank you for your suggestion. However, I've made it a point to keep the clutter in the margin to a minimum. User profiles already contain fields for location, gender, and age. Anyone who is curious about additional member information needs only to look at the profiles or search the member list.

Beyond the custom text that members can already apply to the space under the avatar, there will be no additional fields in this area.

[Hdier]

In other forums I've seen them put the information on top of the posts instead of on the left-wouldn't this create more space, without so much clutter?

[King K]

In other forums I've seen them put the information on top of the posts instead of on the left-wouldn't this create more space, without so much clutter?
This is a common feature of vBulletin, you can set the user information on top of the posts, this often reduces the size of the posts by increasing the size of the text are, but it may somehow distort the information flow, as you are kinda forced to read the user info before reading the post, if you know what I mean.

[Jezebel]

Those who care about seeing this extra information may click on the member avatars to see it in the profiles. Many members on "other forums" don't fill it out properly anyway. I'm not going to clutter the regular forum view with all of this extra information. Besides, I don't like the idea of each member's post being instantly judged by their age, location and gender. The extra information often isn't relevant to the point the member is trying to make.

[Mechanical Messiah]

You're da boss.

[Mechanical Messiah]

So I've been tooling around the forums a bit... and ran into a couple more situations where an approximate location would make for good context. So I gotta ask:

What's with the clutter obsession? We're talking a word or three... could be placed anywhere.

If the display of a/s/l was purely optional... then doesn't that negate much of your 'instant judgement' concern?

[Jezebel]

What's with the clutter obsession?

Cleanliness and consistency of visual information are aesthetics I find profound appreciation in on things I work on. Since the forum is one of my personal projects, I find this to be of high importance.

Member locations will not only add clutter with information I don't always believe to be pertinent, but will also not be consistently accurate. I don't want the useless information out there of everyone's 'imaginative' locations, and it's not something I want to moderate. I've visited enough other forums to know that this is what often happens to this field. Since this is a feature of other forums that I don't like, I decided not to add it to this one. I'm not running the forum like 'other forums' because I don't like most other forums. I want this forum to be different.

I understand that you probably disagree with how important I see those factors. While I do appreciate member suggestions and have implemented many of them, I have accepted that there are times that my tastes will clash. This is one of those times.

However, if you really want to know a member's location, this information is still available to you. Simply glance at their profile.

[Mechanical Messiah]

Interesting point about moderating that particular field. I usually write in "Kansastan" as my location. But sometimes I prefer "right hand of the father".

[Epicurus]

I would appreciate the location thingy, as then you could know or presume there are different terms for a sertain political ideology or different laws compared to where you live, cultural stuff, etc. wich is relevant to the discussion.

[Jezebel]

I appreciate the suggestion, but the decision on this feature has been made. I'm not looking for additional input. You're only one click from viewing each member's profile to get this information already. I know it's a lot of effort on your parts, but I have faith that you guys will manage. ;)

(^ that wasn't directed at you, Mechanical Messiah.)