[decryption]

While everyone has been able to contact me and Currawong via IRC, iChat, email or even sending us a PM, there hasn't really been any way to contact us "formally". Until now.

I hereby declare this, the official MacTalk suggestions thread, open.

This is your public conduit direct to me, Currawong and the rest of MacTalk. I will make sure all suggestions posted here are replied to. I can't promise they will be acted upon, but I can promise you that you will get a response. This thread will never be closed.

What this thread is for:

• Things you've seen on other forums that you think will work here
• Article ideas
• Content ideas
• User meetup ideas
• Forum promotion ideas
• Merchandise suggestions
• Offering time to MacTalk in your field of expertise
• Group guy suggestions
• External community ideas (e.g: facebook, twitter, flickr)
• Any other positive initiatives
• Ideas we've done that you think suck
• Podcast suggestions
• Website design aspects

What this thread is not for (posts that meet this criteria will simply be deleted):

• Suggesting members be banned
• Telling us that a post should be deleted or a thread closed (use the report post feature please)
• Personally attacking people
• Disagreeing with moderation decisions
• Recommending yourself to be a mod
• Demeaning others ideas in this thread
• Banging on about the same thing over and over if you think MT won't implement it

If you have an idea you don't think should be public, feel free to contact me any of the following ways

Email: anthony.agius@mactalk.com.au
iChat: aagius@mac.com
MSN: decryption256@hotmail.com
GoogleTalk: aagius@gmail.com
Skype: anthonyagius
Private Message via Forums: PM me!

[decryption]

This second post is where I will post summaries of suggestions made so far, so people don't waste time explaining the same thing twice. Feel free to elaborate on suggestions and post your support for them. The name in brackets is the user who suggested it.

Article Ideas

Where is the cheapest place to buy a Mac (icant)
How to get RAM/Applecare cheap (icant)
Where to get service/why doesn't DJs solve my service problem? (icant)
How to get a iTunes USA account (icant)
List of common OS X short cut keys (mattydee)
Differences between the different types of Apple retail outlets (Thunderstruck)
Comic Life articles (silverdreamer)

====

Forum Ideas

A central repository about where to find info for ultra-beginners to Apple and info we recommend for total beginners. (Kzach)

Content focused towards activities older people would use their Macs for. (Graham)

A friends system for each user, to track people you like and have found helpful or friendly - not viewable by the public - only seen by you. (tintinaujapon)

Ability to ignore certain posts within a thread and to ignore threads entirely from sidebar, forum view and search results (icant)

Meraki on the Mactalk Store (msilsby)

Pro app related user interviews (mechcon)

More detailed and customisable RSS feeds for forum topics (froggy)

Doco on forum searching (BLINDER)

MacTalk on Tumblr (LarryH)

"Find my posts" button in the main menubar (Vaempyr)

A "View first unread post" button for each thread (Vaempyr)

A more community focussed forum landing page (thatfilthyspringbok)

[Kzach]

I would like to see some articles on the basics.

I'm sure Pages is a very easy app to use but when you have no idea how a layout program works, it can be very confusing. I don't care if there are a thousand people here who claim it's easy to learn, for some people, this shit is hard.

So, articles on the basics of Pages, Numbers, GarageBand, Mail, iTunes, Preview, Safari, iChat, iCal, or hidden functions in MacOS X, etc. are what I'd really like to see.

[mattydee]

following on with kzach's idea of hidden functions of MacOS X, a list of things like Option-Shift K and holding shift while executing expose would be cool to new users like me

btw...thanks for this access to make changes to the forum

matt

[Graham]

That idiot decryption guy posts far too much on daft threads which should be closed; he should be banned. Make me a mod and I'll do it. I say again...

Given the number of new people joining a selection of 'Welcome to XXXX.app' (iWork, iLife, etc) on the front page (some already exist) would be be good. As Kzach says (I'll ban the bugger if you make me a mod) there's a lot of people still needing the hand-holding to walk them into using a Mac.

From my experience one of the biggest growth markets for the Mac is OAP's. Some articles (in non-techie terms) about family history, iChat (see your grandkids every day), iPhoto (save your history) and iMovie (make a DVD for future generations) would be massively popular.

Hmmm, give me a few months and I might get back to you on these topics.

[tintinaujapon]

Something that's been on my mind for a while...

Is there no way to add a "friends" list to MTAU personal settings, so that when you've dealt with someone you can easily record the interaction, real &/member name, other info one deems relevant. Just for oneself, no FaceShit sort of thing.

A number of times, I've known that I dealt with a member before in a friendly manner and we've had a bit of banter - but it was a while ago and I don't remember what reason we had to deal with each other, or the person's real name... it can be a bit embarrassing.

I'd love to just be able to look up the info somewhere in my settings to say, "Ah, that's where we ran across each other before and that's his/her name".

Just an idea.

[icant]

There are other sites that cover general Mac stuff, Mac application stuff etc. Help on particular apps, e.g. Pages, are a google search away. Not to mention the Apple support site that contains lots of PDF files.

Apple - Support - iWork

Putting anything of value on this site is a lot of work, and more work in maintaining the information to keep it up to date. Frankly there are other discussion sites as well, with a more Pages-centric focus. e.g. Apple's own discussion site:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Pages '08

Having said that I think that general conversations about anything Mac are welcome here though: including requests for assistance with e.g. Pages.

Of all the Mac-centric forums out there, MacTalk is one of the few focused on Australia, the other being the Apple forum on Whirlpool.

Therefore IMHO there should be "Australia-centric" Mac FAQ. Lots of same questions are asked:
e.g. where is the cheapest place to buy a Mac (start at JB Hifi or DJs on a 10% discount day),
How to get RAM/Applecare cheap (Macsales, memoryx, MSY, eBay);
Where to get service/why doesn't DJs solve my service problem? (phone Applecare, or look here: Apple Australia - Where to Service - Authorised Service Providers... etc
How to get a iTunes USA account (insert link here to thread)
How does the Mac cope with the Telstra "heartbeat" (no longer relevant IIRC).

I think the FAQ would serve as a way to "sticky" useful threads. e.g. that "bargains" thread which is hidden in an obscure "Hardware/software" forum.

There already is a iPhone Australia FAQ, which is cool, but is (ahem) only one leg of the stool.

I don't think the reputation thing works. Essentially it's too much work for individual readers, to rate threads or a person. I think moderation is a good thing. However, it may be helpful to have a way to click a box to "ignore a thread" or "shrink a post": which would be helpful if I read something boring, or inflammatory. If I don't have to read it, then I won't over-react to it (e.g. RTFM newbie, or this is the 4th same Q, or You need to STFU IMHO).

And something I find boring/inflammatory, may be someone else's awesome/golden post. Either way, a major flamewar could go on that I'm blissfully unaware of. Just like I might enjoy a party, contribute my thoughts, bring beer for it, but want to avoid unpleasantness, e.g. discussions of politics, or religion, but still respect other people's choice to do so.

Of course, this may be a limitation of the underlying forum engine.

[STK]

An ability to or somebody and it shows under their name.

[decryption]

Originally Posted by Kzach

I would like to see some articles on the basics.

I don't think articles *about* the basics is a good idea. There loads of them around, much better than what we can produce. However, creating a central repository about where to find this info and info we recommend for total beginners, would be great.

Originally Posted by mattydee

btw...thanks for this access to make changes to the forum

It should have been done a long time ago - I'm sorry I only just started it now.

Originally Posted by Graham

From my experience one of the biggest growth markets for the Mac is OAP's. Some articles (in non-techie terms) about family history, iChat (see your grandkids every day), iPhoto (save your history) and iMovie (make a DVD for future generations) would be massively popular.

What's OAP? I like your idea on content for the older-folk though.

Originally Posted by tintinaujapon

Is there no way to add a "friends" list to MTAU personal settings, so that when you've dealt with someone you can easily record the interaction, real &/member name, other info one deems relevant. Just for oneself, no FaceShit sort of thing.

I really like this idea, I even think it comes as part of the latest version of vBulletin, which we will be moving to soon

Originally Posted by icant

Of all the Mac-centric forums out there, MacTalk is one of the few focused on Australia, the other being the Apple forum on Whirlpool.

Therefore IMHO there should be "Australia-centric" Mac FAQ. Lots of same questions are asked:
e.g. where is the cheapest place to buy a Mac (start at JB Hifi or DJs on a 10% discount day),
How to get RAM/Applecare cheap (Macsales, memoryx, MSY, eBay);
Where to get service/why doesn't DJs solve my service problem? (phone Applecare, or look here: Apple Australia - Where to Service - Authorised Service Providers... etc
How to get a iTunes USA account (insert link here to thread)
How does the Mac cope with the Telstra "heartbeat" (no longer relevant IIRC).

Some excellent article ideas there.

Originally Posted by icant

I think the FAQ would serve as a way to "sticky" useful threads. e.g. that "bargains" thread which is hidden in an obscure "Hardware/software" forum.

This is the sort of stuff a wiki is good for

Originally Posted by icant

I don't think the reputation thing works. Essentially it's too much work for individual readers, to rate threads or a person. I think moderation is a good thing. However, it may be helpful to have a way to click a box to "ignore a thread" or "shrink a post": which would be helpful if I read something boring, or inflammatory. If I don't have to read it, then I won't over-react to it (e.g. RTFM newbie, or this is the 4th same Q, or You need to STFU IMHO).

And something I find boring/inflammatory, may be someone else's awesome/golden post. Either way, a major flamewar could go on that I'm blissfully unaware of. Just like I might enjoy a party, contribute my thoughts, bring beer for it, but want to avoid unpleasantness, e.g. discussions of politics, or religion, but still respect other people's choice to do so.

Of course, this may be a limitation of the underlying forum engine.

I agree - I never rate threads, can't be arsed.

I like your idea of ignoring posts and threads, should be pretty easy to make too. Just something that makes it appear as if it never happened - but just for you. I mean, you could just not read it, or click it though

Originally Posted by Simo

An ability to or somebody and it shows under their name.

I do not like this at all - it could easily be abused or turn into a popularity contest.

[icant]

Originally Posted by decryption

I like your idea of ignoring posts and threads, should be pretty easy to make too. Just something that makes it appear as if it never happened - but just for you. I mean, you could just not read it, or click it though

Yes, that is right. Although if I'm on the Spy page, the "I-wish-I-could-ignore-this" thread keeps appearing, especially if it's popular/infamous.

iSpy

[Graham]

Originally Posted by decryption

What's OAP?

Old age pensioner. FFS the youth of today who can't even recognise the most basic TLA...

[Thunderstruck]

How about an article on the differences between an AAR and APR, whether those titles matter in the eye of consumers and whether it makes a difference taking your apple gear directly to an ASP or to an agent, like streetwise used to be?

[msilsby]

I would love to see Mactalk get a meraki network going in this country - be the lead evangelist for this baby.

I would also love to see these in the mactalk store.

[sendai]

This one is a really teeny suggestion/request. Subscript and superscript, we want them (or specifically, I want them!) The HTML for them is ridiculously simple, so even if there isn't a plugin to enable it, it'd be really easy to code (though I doubt it'd be necessary.)

P.S. I like to reference my posts/comments with links. I prefer to ₁ and link the reference after my post/comment rather than link them inline.

Edit: Uh, what. The HTML for subscript worked. Never did before! Ah well, teach me not to preview ;p

[mechcon]

Article Suggestion: another kind of "Meet the Mactalkers" but a bit more detail.. also interviewing people who use macs for creative stuff, be it a podcast, or music, or film, or photography.. kind of Mactalk's own "Pro" section on Apple's site. Because not all of us can ever get our profiles on there

[Galumay]

a couple of points, decryption you missed the suggestion for a member's profile as discussed in the other thread - Whoever suggested the docking station wasn't far off

and there is already an article about how to get an iTunes US account.

[froggy]

I like this idea of one place to put suggestions etc, but if you're going to continually have to update your original post(s) to keep a summary, that could get a lot of work, and mean a very unwieldy post.

I wonder if in the RSS that is being implemented, it could be for specific forums. I don't have an iPod/iPhone and don't think that I plan on getting one, so I'm not really interested in having 'my' feed filled with talk about those topics. The recent topics these days is filled with iPhone stuff. I would like 'my' RSS feed to ignore those topics (and The Orange Sofa).

I don't know if a feed can be made with tick the box for the forum areas you want - I highly doubt that - but at least different feeds for the different forum area.

I hope that I've made sense!

Cheers,
Andrew

[Edd]

Someone suggested in the other thread to hide post counts. I was just going to say that I haven't seen it as a problem yet, usually someone who spams to increase his post count ends up being banned/disrespected for posting crap anyway. I just like them there for curiosity - but if you do hide them, could we at least see our own? As I said though, is it really a problem?

Good thread.

[watters]

1. More windows related discussion on this site.
2. more talk about the zune and how it really outclasses the iPod.
3. How Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer is better than Steve Jobs will ever be article.
4. How the iPhone-killers killed the iPhone.
5. Why Mac OS X is a just a copy of Linux article.



I jest, I jest.

Seeriously though, I think that iPods should get some subforums, so it could be hardware related, software related etc.

[Tom125]

Originally Posted by Edd

Someone suggested in the other thread to hide post counts. I was just going to say that I haven't seen it as a problem yet, usually someone who spams to increase his post count ends up being banned/disrespected for posting crap anyway. I just like them there for curiosity - but if you do hide them, could we at least see our own? As I said though, is it really a problem?

That was me. Maybe have it in the member's profile so you could click through to see it, but not have it as an indicator of importance under their name in posts. Anyway, just a thought.