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Forum Changes Coming (Opinions Requested)

UrbanToronto is an amazing resource but IMO the problem is that it can only be properly used via a computer.

I think it would be amazing if UrbanToronto had an iPhone Application, where I could point my Blackberry or iPhone at a building, and the entire discussion on that building would come up in Augmented Reality.

Think this sounds crazy? It is not. We were looking into it for BuzzBuzzHome, but decided over the summer to work more on making our site Wiki-base, and more user-friendly / quicker map load times (update being made later this week). You can watch a video on Layar's Augmented Reality on our blog, here (turn up the volume, it is an addictive song).

Anway.. A form of augmented reality coupled with the forums would be an amazing addition to Urban Toronto, where people could point their phone at a building, read up on it, and discuss the building from their phone.

If interested in this, let me know, and I could put you in touch with the correct people to make this happen.

That's my two cents.
 
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It is currently a long process of cutting and pasting when one tries to make a photothread on Urban Toronto via their Flickr accounts. It would be great if we could somehow have a Flickr application that would transfer the links instantly into vBulletin script and thereby take the process of making a photothread from upwards of two hours into a few minutes.

BTW, Photobucket has a button that sort of does this, but I'm thinking something more ingrained into the forum where you'd click a Flickr icon and it would take you directly into your Flickr account and then you click the pictures, caption, tags, etc. that you'd like posted onto Urban Toronto.
 
I never heard feedback so I'm going to urge once again: someone use the acne.org forums for awhile.

Sounds like a strange suggestion but the setup (everything from your personal profile to creating galleries etc.) is brilliant-- flawless. In addition, it's easy to make and edit posts, and images appear directly in your post instead of a big mess of tags etc.
 
I can't avoid the sense that we've lost something on this board over the years. It could just be me, but the signal-to-noise ratio seems to have dropped precipitously recently. There's a culture on this board that encourages people to post something when you've got nothing to say. The sad result is that people who actually *do* have something to say wind up posting nothing.

There are a handful of truly knowledgeable people who keep posting here, and for that I'm grateful. What we need to be thinking about isn't new features or software, but how to make this a place that encourages enthusiasts - and enthusiasm - but doesn't so reliably drive away those who might be interested in a better conversation.
 
out on the road today
i saw a dead head sticker on a cadillac
a voice inside my head said don't look back
you can never look back

i thought i knew what love was
what did i know
those days are gone for ever
i should just let them go and...
 
Sir Novelty Fashion said:
I can't avoid the sense that we've lost something on this board over the years. It could just be me, but the signal-to-noise ratio seems to have dropped precipitously recently. There's a culture on this board that encourages people to post something when you've got nothing to say. The sad result is that people who actually *do* have something to say wind up posting nothing.

There are a handful of truly knowledgeable people who keep posting here, and for that I'm grateful. What we need to be thinking about isn't new features or software, but how to make this a place that encourages enthusiasts - and enthusiasm - but doesn't so reliably drive away those who might be interested in a better conversation.
Click to expand...

I thought an actual live-action forum could have been held in a public location, hosted by mods or leading senior UT members in this forum. Say why not host a discussion regarding urban issues in universities? libraries? (ugh I hate libraries) Sauga currently holds various planning proposal events in various public facilities (community centres, schools, even city hall); I took part in one of the hearings and it has given me an idea right now. Why not co-host, or collaborate with the city service administrations in discussions like these?
 
I wonder if a Metafilter-style membership system would help? They charge a token registration fee of $5 and impose a waiting period before the user is allowed to post.

People would likely take UT membership more seriously, however it would add to the administrative burden of the site.

I suppose it also wouldn't solve our existing signal-to-noise ratio problem, which is becoming unbearable in the transit forum.
 
The ability to tag threads based on themes/topics mentioned would be nice. Maybe tags like "Bay Adelaide Tower", "Harry Stinson", "HST". This complements search because it filters out threads where these are mentioned in passing but are not the main topic.
 
afransen said:
The ability to tag threads based on themes/topics mentioned would be nice. Maybe tags like "Bay Adelaide Tower", "Harry Stinson", "HST". This complements search because it filters out threads where these are mentioned in passing but are not the main topic.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure this already exists but I don't think it's used very much - there's room for Tags at the bottom of every thread.
 
hbl33 said:
I thought an actual live-action forum could have been held in a public location, hosted by mods or leading senior UT members in this forum. Say why not host a discussion regarding urban issues in universities? libraries? (ugh I hate libraries) Sauga currently holds various planning proposal events in various public facilities (community centres, schools, even city hall); I took part in one of the hearings and it has given me an idea right now. Why not co-host, or collaborate with the city service administrations in discussions like these?
Click to expand...
I think you may be on to something interesting there... I think it'd be very interesting if UT hosted or got started meetings within Toronto/GTA/GGH discussing urbanity in the GGH, basically a meeting version of what we do here.
It'd have to be marketed in a way so people could come to discuss things like new development, transit development, and other things that effect the GGH. But it'd also have to be friendly to non-enthusiasts as well, including people who just want to learn about what's going on. Why is there a big condo going up in my neighborhood? What exactly are these LRT things? Why does Bloor and Yonge still have a big dusty field on one corner?

These meetings could be held from time to time, at community centres, libraries, wherever space is possible. And not just in Toronto, but everywhere in the GTA at least, if not in the GGH in general. Such meetings could actually really contribute to the region, and I'm sure would be great to people who are into that, and will let people be more attuned to what's going on :D
 
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