Our Dreams for Crochetville.....

[Gardener]

One of my favourite things is to look at everyone's finished projects so I like the photo album idea. I also like the idea of a pattern section, (although I have already collected more patterns than I could possibly make).

[mountainangel]

I find using the forum to find other crocheters from my area cumbersome. Is there any way to have separate lists for each state/country or each region like: SW USA folk check here to find local crocheters? NW here?, etc.

Angie

[Shell]

it would be great if photo's could be hosted directly (with limitations). I was hunting through the original patterns and it's such a shame many of the illustrations have been removed, obviously to make way for new posts elsewhere.

 

i would also find some kind of "active" status for other members helpful. Something along the lines of "last logged on" or 'last msg'd posted" dates. Say i want to pm a member about a pattern they posted, would be great to know if they're still at the 'ville.

[Amy]

it would be great if photo's could be hosted directly (with limitations). I was hunting through the original patterns and it's such a shame many of the illustrations have been removed, obviously to make way for new posts elsewhere.

 

Photo hosting really eats up our bandwidth, and gets quite expensive. I'm not sure we'd be able to afford the costs this could eventually accrue with over 7,400 members. Donna and I have talked about it, but we're not sure yet what kind of costs would be involved in doing this.

 

i would also find some kind of "active" status for other members helpful. Something along the lines of "last logged on" or 'last msg'd posted" dates. Say i want to pm a member about a pattern they posted, would be great to know if they're still at the 'ville.

 

This feature is already available, I'm happy to say! All you need to do is look at somebody's profile, and it will tell you when they were last logged on to the 'Ville! Also on their profile page is a link you can click to see all their posts, which will be organized from newest to oldest. Hope that helps!

[RachelG]

How come I have not seen this thread until now?!

 

I want to most respectfully disagree with having photos hosted directly on Crochetville. I know it is a little difficult for some people to find a photo hosting company and then get them in here, but I speak as a website owner when I say that would make it very much more expensive!

 

I will have to think about other things...nothing too drastic, I assure you.

[nightowl]

I find using the forum to find other crocheters from my area cumbersome. Is there any way to have separate lists for each state/country or each region like: SW USA folk check here to find local crocheters? NW here?, etc.

Angie

I hope Amy doesn't mind me jumping in here, but I only just discovered this myself

 

Angie, you can use the Members List to find people near you. Open up the list, then go to the far right, just below the page counter, and click where it says "Search Members". A little box drops down, but ignore that! and click on the words "Advanced Search". Now you have a form where you can search for people in lots of different ways, including location You can even search by "Favorite things to crochet" and find out who makes doilies and who prefers afghans. Or whether they like aluminum hooks best or always go for wood.

 

Of course you can only find this information if members have put it in their profiles in the first place . I'm off to update mine now!

 

Smiles,

[nightowl]

The first item on my wish list has already been mentioned: the ability to change colour/style to give the 'Ville a new look every now and then I'd like to be able to set a preferred font and size for my posts rather than selecting it every time, but from what I've read there's no facility for that in the vBulletin software. Maybe in a later version. . .

 

I'd like to see a "gallery" of swap items when the swaps are finished -- "X made this for Y" sort of thing, as KateCrochets suggested. Maybe the swap coordinators could start a gallery thread once the swap items begin to be sent out? I think Amy and RachelG are right, though, that we ought to store our pics outside Crochetville.

 

But something I'd really love is the ability to search by phrase. It would be so useful and avoid so much frustration! Please may we have Boolean search, Amy?

 

Smiles,

[KnicKnac]

But something I'd really love is the ability to search by phrase.

 

Boy, did you say a mouthful there! The search feature leaves alot to be desired, especially when it wont search a three letter word like CAT!

 

Maybe the swap coordinators could start a gallery thread once the swap items begin to be sent out?

 

Another great idea, I actually thought it might be nice to have a corresponding blog or something with each swap. I don't know, something like what Homeburrough does with the Secret Pal swap.

 

Maybe I shoulda just said, what NIGHTOWL said!

[nightowl]

Maybe the swap coordinators could start a gallery thread once the swap items begin to be sent out?

Another great idea

Thanks, KnicKnac! But it wasn't my idea -- KateCrochets suggested having a second thread with pics for the rest of the 'Ville to admire!

 

Smiles,

[nightowl]

But something I'd really love is the ability to search by phrase. It would be so useful and avoid so much frustration! Please may we have Boolean search, Amy?

I'd guess Amy has been too busy to get back to this thread for a while, so I'm giving it a bump in the hope she might see it

 

Smiles,

[Tampa Doll]

Boy am I ever slow. Talk about just seeing something.

 

Anyway, Most of what has been suggested seem like good ideas. I would like to see the Home Decor, in Show and Tell, be split so that afghans are in a seperate listing by themselves. There are mega afghans and they push everything else out.

 

Also the same for the Thread Crochet, in Show and Tell. We have a lot of doilies and by rights they should have their own space to be shown off.

The Holiday thread would be nice, as they are really starting to pile up on us.Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other holiday. We could put our projects in here and not have to worry about pushing anyone elses regular projects down the list.

 

I mentioned this to one of the Admins and perhaps someday we can go back to( even if limited when) a chat time or subject. We have a large group of new people and we do not have the personal meeting anymore.

[Amy]

Keep posting your ideas, everyone! As far as Boolean search, the forum is currently set to use vBulletin's built-in search feature. We are looking into the possibility of switching over to use a MySQL-based search feature, which gives us the option of using either a Natural Language search or Boolean search. Boolean gives more accurate results, but also uses a lot more server resources.

 

According to vBulletin's tech staff, their built-in feature that we are currently using actually does function like a Boolean search as opposed to a Natural Language search.

 

Personally, I've never had any trouble getting the results I need out of the currently available search feature. Nowl, can you give me some specific examples of what you'd like to be able to do with the Boolean option?

[Amy]

We're also working on ideas for reorganizing the folders and sections of Crochetville, to make it easier to know where to find specific things. Addition of new folders would be incorporated into this reorganization process.

[dragonfli]

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 third this idea, or is it forth . . .

 

Hey are you ABSOLUTELY sure about the lifetime yarn supply !

[flyinghooks]

Personally, I've never had any trouble getting the results I need out of the currently available search feature. Nowl, can you give me some specific examples of what you'd like to be able to do with the Boolean option?

 

I'm not Nowl... but I agree the search needs help. It won't allow the use of 3 letter words and it won't let you search by phrase. Therefore if you're looking for a particular kind of HAT or BAG you lose those words from your search. I've actually gone out to google and searched crochetville and messenger and bag and found things faster than searching messenger bag here at the 'ville. Does this make sense?

 

I do look forward to some additional category folders and I would love to see the software allow for excluding certain folders from the New posts search.

 

Otherwise I think things are great!!

[nightowl]

Hi Amy, thanks for the reply!

As far as Boolean search, the forum is currently set to use vBulletin's built-in search feature. We are looking into the possibility of switching over to use a MySQL-based search feature, which gives us the option of using either a Natural Language search or Boolean search. Boolean gives more accurate results, but also uses a lot more server resources.

Aarggh, please don't switch to Natural Language search! (For anyone who doesn't know, it's the type where you write a sentence or ask a question and the software decides what you want to find.) I absolutely hate that and can never find what I want. For me it would be far worse than what we have now If fulltext Boolean search would cause too great a load on the server, okay, I understand. I'd still love it, though.

According to vBulletin's tech staff, their built-in feature that we are currently using actually does function like a Boolean search as opposed to a Natural Language search.

It does to a degree, that's true. . . for instance, you can type +baby +blanket +pattern to find only posts including all the words (though not necessarily together), instead of posts which might mention only baby or blanket or (gulp!) pattern. (Must be a million of those!) This however still will bring up a lot of unwanted results . . .

Personally, I've never had any trouble getting the results I need out of the currently available search feature. Nowl, can you give me some specific examples of what you'd like to be able to do with the Boolean option?

What I'd like is to be able to search for the phrase baby blanket pattern or Bates hook without getting dozens of irrelevant results. Actually it's usually more complicated than those examples. When I'm looking for a particular post I often remember a phrase or sentence from it and it would save so much time to be able to search for that as a unit. Often the single words by themselves are so common that because of the way the vB search works it's very difficult to find something I know is here.

 

If most people are happy as we are, or it's not feasible to change, no problem. I just thought I'd take advantage of this "wish list" thread to mention it Perhaps, even if we can't do anything else, we could put the minimum word-length down to three letters instead of four, as several people have mentioned?

 

Smiles,

[Podger1]

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.

 

I would LOVE that...just a gallery where you post pictures/pattern links only so you could quickly just scroll down and look at projects. No comments or replies, just a gallery of pictures. Right now, I have to search and then wade through lenghty threads to find examples and pictures. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing this, but sometimes I wish I could just go look at a gallery of pictures. People could also post to the "show it off" threads when they want to say more about their work and invite comments.

 

I would also think it would be cool to set it up by categories (round ripple ghans, granny squares, layettes, felted purses, etc.)...I love getting inspiration for colors and patterns when I am starting a new project and if there was a gallery where you could just go browse through and look at other's beautiful creations, it would be so much inspiration!

 

I stumbled upon crochetville but I am so glad I did! I love it here. The only problem is the last few nights, instead of crocheting, I sit on the computer all night going from one thread to another looking at pictures, getting ideas and tips, and just enjoying the conversation. Oh well, I will crochet tomorrow night!

 

Becky

[Tampa Doll]

While checking out the site, I took notice as to all the afghans that are being made.

How about a folder or section for afghans. Be they baby or adult, star or graph ghans.

This way, we won't have to surf through everything else to get the the afghans.

[cat3crazy]

Is there any way of getting the forum title next to (or closer) the thread name (since it gives us more information regarding what the thread is about)? I find it a bit difficult connecting the title to the forum with them being on the opposite side of the screen.

[thecrochetdude]

I think regional Crochetville retreats would be fun.

 

[lilpug]

I'm with the crochet dude!

[MomToLabs]

I love the idea of a crochet retreat! It would be neat to meet some of the other members AND to really kick back and hook away.

 

Susan

[Selune]

I think a birthday swap would be nice. I also think the idea with the map that you currently link to is good, and should be promoted more. I think something like that would allow people to see who is nearby and be able to contact them to see if they wanted to chat or get together. I also love the idea of organizing the projects that people work on, such as afghans, jackets, etc.

 

I also thought there was supposed to be a chat function on here, but I've never seen it. Hmmm.

 

Love Crochetville, though!!!

[RachelG]

 

I also thought there was supposed to be a chat function on here, but I've never seen it. Hmmm.

 

 

There used to be. It was expensive (I believe).

[Selune]

Aha!! That's me reading through old posts again. I do a search for a term, then something comes up that's ancient. That must be where I got if from. Thanks for letting me know.