Our Dreams for Crochetville.....

[Amy]

I think Crochetville is an incredibly wonderful place, full of all sorts of information, patterns, and helpful, supportive people. I hope most of you feel the same way!

 

We've had our ups and downs as we've grown by over 6,000 members in just barely over a 12-month period. We've learned a lot along the way. We have wonderful opportunities for participation here: swaps, CALs, all sorts of things.

 

In your wildest dreams, can you imagine anything we could add to Crochetville to make it even better? Is there anything else you would like to see here?

 

Now, please keep your suggestions within the bounds of some sort of actual possibility. While we'd all like to receive a lifetime supply of yarn just by being a member here, I can guarantee you THAT will never happen!

 

But if there are any other sorts of features you'd like to see, start listing them here.

[donnalynn2]

I think some kind of a Birthday club would be kinda neat! Maybe something where you sign up in your birthday month and are assigned another person with a birthday in the same month and you send them a card and maybe something small. This way, everyone would get something in the mail for their birthday's.

 

Also, considering how large a community we are, wouldn't it be neat if there could be some kind of a discount with yarn vendors and/or stores? Wouldn't it be neat to get a discount on crochet mags and such by being a member here? Just a thought... (This last one would of course take lots of doing and probably isn't possible but there's my 2 cents.)

 

Regardless, Crochetville is the best thing I have found on line and my life will be forever changed because of it!!! Heck, the friends I have made because of this place alone is a great thing! I Crochetville!!!

[Railbird]

Not sure if this is possible, but what about a dedicated site/area just for our members pictures of items crocheted. I know everyone has photos already out there on the web on various sites, but having one place to go and look and the "family album" would be fun. We could even set up special albums just for swaps and CALs.

 

Or if possible, a clickable link next to the members info on the members list that would take you to their album.

 

:think:think:think

Pat

 

ps: are you really sure the lifetime supply of yarn is out of the question!!! Maybe we could ask for unlimited time to crochet!!

[birdlady1]

I was just thinking about this, in light of the afghan that will be sent to Australia for Steve Irwin's family. Could we start some sort of fund so people could be reimbursed for expensive mailings such as this? People who might not be able to crochet for certain charities might be able to donate a few dollars (or funds in other currencies)? Perhaps via a Paypal account?

[snapkat]

I'd like to see a CSS stylesheet switcher that would let me choose a different colour scheme for Crochetville. I love this place but I'm really not fond of light blue.

[Mermaiden]

I'm not sure what kind of mods you can apply to this forum style; the only one I'm familiar with is phpBB. The photo album would be cool if resources allow - I know how much that can take up, though. Also I think a file library section where patterns could be placed would be pretty nifty (think along the lines of Yahoo groups files, sorta?).

[Chrome Kitty]

I've been thinking of this one for a while . . . We could have a special section where our versions of the more popular patterns are featured. For example, most of us have made a Seraphina or a round ripple or a Fat Bottom Bag. In addition to showing your project in the Show & Tell, there could be a separate section where just the pictures get posted, each pattern in a different thread. That way if you're thinking of making, say a Seraphina, but want to see how it looks made up in different colors, you could click on the Seraphina thread and see all the pictures in one place. It would save time searching through hundreds of posts when you really just want some quick inspiration.

[Yelutci]

I've been thinking of this one for a while . . . We could have a special section where our versions of the more popular patterns are featured. For example, most of us have made a Seraphina or a round ripple or a Fat Bottom Bag. In addition to showing your project in the Show & Tell, there could be a separate section where just the pictures get posted, each pattern in a different thread. That way if you're thinking of making, say a Seraphina, but want to see how it looks made up in different colors, you could click on the Seraphina thread and see all the pictures in one place. It would save time searching through hundreds of posts when you really just want some quick inspiration.

I 2nd this idea!

[TX CrochetLover]

I don't know if this is possible or not, but when I log in and look for new posts, sometimes I am way overwhelmed. Is there a way to categorize the new posts listing by section? Like the Introduce section, the thread show and tell, the accessories sections, swaps sections... You could then pinpoint the threads more easily. Like I said, don't know if that is possible.

 

I think it is a good idea you are trying to get input and make this wonderful place even greater! I applaud your efforts and all the work that goes on behind the scenes by all the admins and mods to make Crochetville a must for daily well being!

[TamiCrochets]

I've been thinking of this one for a while . . . We could have a special section where our versions of the more popular patterns are featured. For example, most of us have made a Seraphina or a round ripple or a Fat Bottom Bag. In addition to showing your project in the Show & Tell, there could be a separate section where just the pictures get posted, each pattern in a different thread. That way if you're thinking of making, say a Seraphina, but want to see how it looks made up in different colors, you could click on the Seraphina thread and see all the pictures in one place. It would save time searching through hundreds of posts when you really just want some quick inspiration.

 

 

love that idea helps to give others ideas about color veriations and such

[chrissy]

There are ways of doing the photo album thing via forums like this. There are several digital scrapbooking sites that do that. each member gets their own album to start up, but I don't think it will sort by project through all albums for a fat bottom bag (as an example).

 

The affiliate links and discounts are a wonderful idea and are easy to start up. This might also fund any server payments, or as mentioned shipping costs, new house, car etc

I have lurked here for a while, posted just a couple times, I have fallen in love with the people, the fugs and the support. Now, just need the courage to post my projects

[Natasha]

I second (or third, or fourth) the photo album or group idea. It's a drag to hunt through a long thread that has lots of pictures but even more posts.

 

I'd also like to be able to redecorate my house in the 'ville.

 

Most of all, and someone already said this, I'd like to be able to sort out the forums. When I come home to the 'ville from a vacation, click "new posts," and find myself staring at 25 pages of posts to sort through, it's overwhelming. I've had to ignore some posts due to time constraints (and not being able to tell from the title or hover box if I'd really be interested or not), only to find out later that I had missed some really good stuff! If I could just click a box or two that lets me eliminate forum x and forum y from the new posts search, I'd be thrilled.

[cat3crazy]

 

Most of all, and someone already said this, I'd like to be able to sort out the forums. When I come home to the 'ville from a vacation, click "new posts," and find myself staring at 25 pages of posts to sort through, it's overwhelming. I've had to ignore some posts due to time constraints (and not being able to tell from the title or hover box if I'd really be interested or not), only to find out later that I had missed some really good stuff! If I could just click a box or two that lets me eliminate forum x and forum y from the new posts search, I'd be thrilled.

 

I think this is a great idea. Maybe something like the ' Buddy / Ignore lists' option.

[Amy]

I don't think the vBulletin software was written with the capability to organize the "New Posts" by forum category. They are now appearing in order of which thread has the most recent last post. I've been browsing through the reference manual and the host forums, but haven't come across any work-around to be able to change this default results listing.

 

So for now, I'm going to have to sadly give a "don't think it can be done" response to this one. I agree that it would be a very nice feature to have, though! Maybe one of the future vBulletin releases will give that capability.

[sakurasaku]

I've been thinking of this one for a while . . . We could have a special section where our versions of the more popular patterns are featured. For example, most of us have made a Seraphina or a round ripple or a Fat Bottom Bag. In addition to showing your project in the Show & Tell, there could be a separate section where just the pictures get posted, each pattern in a different thread. That way if you're thinking of making, say a Seraphina, but want to see how it looks made up in different colors, you could click on the Seraphina thread and see all the pictures in one place. It would save time searching through hundreds of posts when you really just want some quick inspiration.

 

I was going to suggest some sort of pattern database, too. Something like Rachel's CPC, but where there are pictures of patterns made by members maybe...

[Bearsgrammy]

Like the other posters in Dreams for Crochetville, I think mostly what is needed is a little cohesiveness. The posts are sort of "all over the map." Especiallly the welcome to the ville posts, I realize this is important for all to greet new members, but these welcomes interspersed with other posts are sometimes overlooked. I was welcomed by some very nice people, and I know personal recognition is one of the great parts of the Ville. To sum up, I think categories would be great, but if it can't be done, it cant be done.

 

I would like to praise everyone on this forum, and the administrators who are working so hard to make it all go well. There isn't a person who is not polite, interested, and supportive. Crochet can be frustrating and that little extra compliment or supportive statement goes a long, long way. I feel fortunate to have "happened on" the best forum, hands down, on any subject on the web.

[cupcake]

I agree with all of the above and would like to add the following.

 

I have often thought it would be good to have a few extra headings under show and tell as this is the bit I most enjoy.

 

I would suggest a separate heading for the following:

 

Afghans

Toys

Doilies

Ponchos/Shawls

Kitchen

?? Bazaar items or how about holiday stuff??? Just my thoughts.

 

There are lots of posts on these and the sadly get lost amongst the miscellaneous, home decor or thread.

 

The welcomes drive me nutty. While I think this is a nice idea they do dilute the real content in the new posts search.

[artemis]

When I am looking down the list of threads and deciding which to open and read, I can see on the right the date of the last post. What I'd like to also see on the left, under the name of the post and the name of the author, is the date that the post was started.

 

Otherwise, I'm delightfully content and happy with Crochetville.

 

Oh, well maybe some sort of timer I could set on work day mornings so I could only "play on Crochetville" for 10 minutes and then it would go blank...that way I won't be almost late for work!

[Natasha]

When I am looking down the list of threads and deciding which to open and read, I can see on the right the date of the last post. What I'd like to also see on the left, under the name of the post and the name of the author, is the date that the post was started.

 

Right on!

[Amy]

I also think it would be great to see the date and time a thread was started. Unfortunately, I think this is another one of those "the vBulletin software just won't do it" things. I will keep searching the host forums to see if anybody's found a way to do this, but every vBulletin I've ever visited has not shown the thread start time.

 

I think this would be a useful and much-wanted feature, so if it could be done easily, I'd probably have seen it done somewhere.

 

There is a new release of vBulletin available, and we will be upgrading to it. But we didn't want to do a server move and software upgrade all at the same time. If we had had problems, we might not have been able to identify what caused them.

 

So here's a warning, sometime in the next month or so, we'll probably be upgrading the software. This will necessitate some downtime, but we'll do our best to schedule this for one of the slower times of day. The upgrade shouldn't take very long, either. I hope.

[kazily]

My favs that have been mentioned:

 

Changing your page colors. A lot of boards have that option -not sure this software does.

 

One photo album forum for varieties of commonly made items.

What an inspiring place that would be to get ideas!

 

Affiliate links for commonly used yarn shops online like Jo Ann's, etc. Go through the link for 10% off or whatever the agreement is.

 

sorry I don't have an original suggestion but if I get one I'll post it.

[Shellybrook]

I have ALWAYS thought i'd love to see a photo album page. I'd love to just breeze through the "brag book" and see what everyone has been up to, and God Help ME....get new ideas of my own.

 

The pattern library is great...would be even better wtih a pic attached.

 

Then here's another thought...which is a thought in evolution. I know we have the "swap"...but what about the avility to sell or trade. ie. I am a newbie...I can make nice things, but perhaps one of my more seasoned friends can make something better that I'd like to buy from them or trade with them. I know we all get this great idea for a project, but don't exactly have a recipient in mind for the project. And I'm sure we all make things for craft fairs that don't necessarily sell at the fair...so...why not open our work up to our friends who REALLY appreciate our work.

 

I too would love to change the color...but its certainly not a deterant to my desire to travel through the ville.

[SnoPeach]

So far, I'd have to agree with what's already been said:

 

Pattern library - especially with sub-threads for picx of completed items

 

More info on threads (i.e. who/when started) would be great - maybe need more users to let software (computer kind) developers know what is wanted.

 

Yarn shop links/discounts would be nice, but could be a problem for those of us who don't live in the US.

 

Maybe different colours for different parts of the 'ville? That way we have a chance at remembering where we saw a particular thread (maybe...).

 

Good luck with the software upgrade - hope it makes something nicer/easier for all you ever-so-kind moderators!

 

Tracie

[Panj]

Hello! Guess I will add my two cents. I can agree with the others about photos. As someone who has been crocheting and knitting on and off for awhile, but only now started to really love it and appreciate the things you can do, It would be great to see how things are suppose to look or the end result of your frustration (at times) and just to enjoy each others work.

 

I also liked the Birthday club idea, it could be a birthday buddy of sorts and those interested could remember the person on their special day. As we get older we get less gifts sometimes and our friends here know what we use for crafts can find little things to make it special. TTFN!

[KateCrochets]

Along the lines of the photo galleries of specific patterns, it would be super to have a second thread for swaps to post the final pictures. I feel like I'm eavesdropping to go in a swap in which I'm not a participant, but I love seeing the final products (like in the tea cosy swap and tote swap where a few have been posted in general show-and-tell).

 

Just an idea...