GP is now an excellent, happy liberal news feed... BUT!

[FlyingSquirrel]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6048444&mesg_id=6048460

I think Laelth has put his finger on the problem with the new feature. "The spirited discussion just isn't on the Greatest Page." The Greatest Page is now BORING.

I also think his solution is very good (and probably would be easy to implement):

I think that my concerns can be entirely eliminated with the addition of a "Hottest" page (a page like the Greatest Page that ranks threads by the sum of recommends and unrecommends with, perhaps, a 30 total vote minimum, and with an aggregate sum of less than +5--because threads that are +5 or higher appear on the Greatest Page). If there were a nice little icon at the top of the forum, say between Greatest and Lobby, it would address my concerns perfectly. With such a page, minority opinion OPs that generate lots of responses would still appear in an easy to access place and would get significant attention, but they would not "poison" the Greatest Page and would not project from DU's home page an opinion that the majority did not share. That addition, I think, would satisfy both camps in this particular debate.

I've seen the polls so far, they show that the majority likes this new "unrecommend" system and it may actually end up staying. But the fact remains that a very vibrant part of DU has gone by the wayside, for the moment. I like the look of the new GP, but miss the ability to easily and quickly access the more controversial, hot topics.

So here's some fun: Rec this thread if you like Laelth's idea, and also vote in this poll! It should be interesting to see the difference between the +/- recs and the poll results.

------------------

Edit: Apparently Jackpine Radical first posted this suggestion - see Scarletwoman's post below.

[BlooInBloo]

1. He or she wasn't the first to have that idea. It's not a bad one, but nor is it very important.

[FlyingSquirrel]

3. Now if only we could recommend or unrecommend individual posters.......

:rofl:

You naysay everything. Seek help.

[BlooInBloo]

7. lol! Thanks for your steady hand during this time of High Crisis.

[Moochy]

8. Well he is blue...

maybe saying 'nay' cheers him up?

[Hepburn]

27. On my page, he is IGNORE....

...:rofl:

[Hepburn]

26. +1...

...:applause:

[EFerrari]

5. To you.

[mkultra]

2. i couldnt care less if "spirited discussion"

shows up on the greatest page.

[EFerrari]

4. Now, THAT is a really interesting idea that might catch the outliers

that the GP doesn't. Kudos for figuring out a possible solution!

[rucky]

6. Do the fiery flames in the forum pages catch anyone's attention?

We have lots of ways of measuring threads.

"Rec" means that a consensus of the community recommends a thread, and is ranked on the Greatest page.

Hottest threads have high post counts but can have low, high, or even negative recs. They stay kicked to the front page of the forum, and are impossible to miss.

I just don't see the problem. Different DU-ers use the forum different ways - and they both have a quick way of getting to what they want to read.

[FlyingSquirrel]

9. The problem is that you'd have to visit each individual forum

to find them. I rarely visit GLBT, but am always interested in reading those threads when they hit the GP. But now, when they hit the GP, they may generate additional un-recs and drop off as quickly as they got there. (GLBT is just one example) So that's why I'd like to see a Hottest page which contains the most "fiery" topics from ALL forums. I don't have the time to visit each individual forum every time I come here.

[rucky]

10. Good point. I can dig it.

I could see that getting some use.

[EFerrari]

13. Latest, greatest and hottest are groupings that don't take anything

away from each other and may even complement each other.

The suggestion asks the admins to tweak some more but as Rex pointed out earlier today, some of us want to see the most controversial posts.

[MADem]

12. Maybe the admins need to change the icon so it shoots flames across the page.

Kinda like Forkboy's dragon! A HUGE flame, not just that tiny little one!!!

That'll make the people who want or need recognition happy!

[zeemike]

18. Sorry but recommend means that I recommend something

Not the whole community.what you are talking about is a popular vote.

[sandnsea]

11. what-ever. If the whiners promise

to stop whining, I'm for it.

[depakid]

22. +1

[Jennicut]

25. LOL.

[scarletwoman]

14. Please give credit where credit is due! Jackpine Radical came up with this idea in the original

announcement thread on Thursday:

A suggestion--

Jackpine Radical
Thu Jul-09-09 01:57 PM
Response to Original message

196. A suggestion--
Add a "Most Controversial" page showing the threads that get the most positive AND negative recs.

[FlyingSquirrel]

15. So sorry, didn't see that one.

I think it's possible that he and Laelth thought up the same idea independently.

[scarletwoman]

16. No problem -- actually I've seen at least 2 or 3 other people suggesting something like this.

I'm thinking they all came up with the same idea independently, since there are so many great minds here -- and we all know that great minds think alike. :D

I just wanted to put in a plug for Jackpine, since he's my oldest and dearest friend on DU, and I do think he really was the first one to propose this idea.

sw

[Pirate Smile]

17. If you look in the forums, you can easily tell what threads are "hot". I don't see what the problem

is. DU's Greatest page no longer resembles an Obama bash-fest. It had been a joke and looked more like a Naderite or RW site. Obviously, some people liked it that way but it certainly didn't represent the view of most people on DU. Are some people unaware of their ability to actually look in General Discussion or General Discussion: Politics?

[EFerrari]

19. Seeing the hottest threads at a glance would be easier than schlepping

in and out of forums, especially for blind Naderites. :)

[Pirate Smile]

20. Skinner must do more to accommodate the blind Naderites. The fact that he hasn't already is a

travesty! Free speech infringement! Oppression! As Sarah Palin would say - your criticism of me is oppressing my free talkin' rights!!? You Betcha. Also.

;)

[EFerrari]

21. LOL! Oh, no! Not the Palin defense!

I give!

:)

[zeemike]

23. I am nether for or against it

But i don't think I am boring.

But the problem I see is that it is not the page but the negative action of Unrecommended.
As I have stated before a recommendation can not be taken away except by the person that did the recommending, and a recommendation is a positive action...when you introduce the negative action into this you will have negative resuslt...And not just in the outcome of any particular thing but also in the minds of the users....but I recognize that not all people can understand this because the negative is not necessarily noticeable.
Just like when the fairness doctrine was done away with...nothing bad happened...the sky did not fall...but the negative consequences of it are plain to most of us today.

[Laelth]

24. Kick, and thanks. n/t

:toast:

:dem:

-Laelth