Much needed forum but yeah, hard to navigate

[rose]

I continue to be impressed that Kingston Electors exists at all. It has been, so far, eminently fair-minded and impartial, to my way of thinking. I guess I've been taking it for granted as my on-line posting is mainly with a group of Toronto avant garde poets. But I remain intensely proud of and connected to what Kingston Electors attempts to do and DOES do very well. During the election I used it to find a way to reach a politician I hadn't been able to reach - and it worked! I DO wish it was easier to figure out how to do what I want to do on the site. I had a computer guy check it out for me and he was dismissive but that is also his personality so who knows? Anyway, I am on here now without too many tears. I guess I WOULD help out with writing if it were needed and not too time consuming, if it meant the site would go down otherwise. thanks for existing, Kingston Electors. We need you even more in the time between elections. Rose

[Lydia]

As an old timer on here, thank you for your comments on here. Kingston Electors is a tool that people can use to make their views COUNT. There are many things we can use this chat site for.

Instead of complaining about how our councilors do the wrong thing during elections why not use vehicle as a tool for the people of kingston to TELL our councilors what they truly want.

We can't use the excuse that we don't know something, we can't use the excuse that we have to travel outside our homes for our voices to be heard.

Again Rose, I appreciate your comments and I am not even the founder or the moderator whom I totally admire and whom this would not even be possible without them.

[Evelyn King]

:cool:
I would be disappointed if Kingston Electors was no longer available. I think it is a valuable resource in this community.

My one complaint in the past has been when contributors have commented, they have been attacked by a certain member. In fact, I left the site for some time because of it. I have noted, the culprit, is no longer on site. Thank you for that. Most people were able to agree to disagree and that is democracy.

Maybe we could get the current council to participate on this site. Questions and problems could be relayed to council members and they would be able to respond personally. Just a thought. I am sure in the future, there will be issues that arise and Kingston Electors will have a role.

Best regards to all,

Evelyn King

[the phoenix]

the site is to cluttered and not easy to navigate.

[Lydia]

Okay Phoenix, I'll Challenge you.

You made a comment about this being to cluttered and not easy to navigate. What is your recommendation and how would YOU change it?

Don't get me wrong, I actually do have a similiar view. Kingston Electors has asked the members what they would like to see happen.

My challenge to you is to ask you for your idea on how to improve our website.

Just for your info, I am not person who created or maintain this site. I know for a fact that the moderator and founder both want your ideas to improve this site.

[Rob Matheson]

Just wanted to say this site is amazing. I for one only discovered it though once I declared my candidacy for Council and was cordially invited to the site to post my material.

Now that I have won my seat on Council I definitely plan on continuing my presence here as I find the site very user friendly as well as an excellent forum for lively debate and discussion.

Personally I have found the site easy enough to navigate around in, that said those that do have difficulty should definitely voice some solutions.

What I would like to see more of is issues of the day, week or month. I like Lydia definitely enjoy posters who not only offer criticisms but solutions as well.

My only suggestion would be to more actively publicise and network the site, it's benefits and attempt to get more users on it.

Sincerely,

Rob Matheson
Counillor Elect
Loyalist-Cataraqui
www.robforthejob.com (http://www.robforthejob.com)

[the phoenix]

no need to challenge me...I actually wrote out a rather lenghthy suggestion that was full of suggestions and when I tried to post it ..I was asked to log in AGAIN. I lost the post and the comments.

I have tried a second time and the same thing happened. I log in, spend 20 mins. typing and when I go to post, it says I'm not logged in..and I lose the work. This has happened during the election also ..wrote the webmaster....tech problem????

[Lydia]

Good, I am very happy that I don't need to challenge you. I am delighted that you wrote out the things that need changing and were ready to post them.

I am a firm believer in point out the good and BAD of everything. I am delighted you spoke your mind and we need more of your views.

Please try to post them again for us because we need your views and suggestions.

p.s. If you have Word or Wordperfect or some similiar program that you can write letters on, try typing out a document that you can save on your computer, then copy that letter over to the posting message and trying posting it again. That way you don't lose anything again. and if you still have problems, just send the moderator an e-mail with your suggestions.

Just for the record, I only challenge people if i see there are no suggestions on HOW things could improve. Unfortunately, this site didn't allow you to post them and I look forward to seeing your views.

[Treebeard]

I must admit that I like the site as it is now. I am used to this format, having used it in other forums. I think that once people jump in and get used to it, it will become easier for them.

The way you can browse topics and threads is great!

Keep up the good work!

There is really nothing else like this in Kingston for those of us that are concerned about our community!

scott

[Damian Lloyd]

I think Kingston Electors is a valuable resource. It is the site for online discussion in our city. A couple of specific criticisms:

I feel that having threads open in new windows is unnecessary; it keeps my monitor less cluttered when I have to deal with only one window per forum.

And there seem to be too many sub-forums. It wasn't necessary to have a separate sub-forum for each candidate in the municipal election. One forum for the whole election would have been sufficient, with as many threads as necessary. I think it looks better, and makes navigating the site quicker, when you have lots of threads in few forums. The forum software will bump to the top threads with recently-added posts, so obsolete discussions will fall to the bottom.

[Lydia]

Thank you Damian Lloyd for input which I know the Moderator is looking towards making this site easier and better for everyone. Welcome aboard.

[Damian Lloyd]

Something else I've noticed: if I log in and browse a thread, and then wish to reply, often the system requires me to log in again. This shouldn't be. Are the login cookies set to expire after 20 minutes or something? I don't think it's just my computer, as this is the only forum on which this occurs.

[Damian Lloyd]

A wonky thing with the forum software: the time seems to be off; the last post by "Florence" in the "Polls" forum was made 33 minutes ago ... in May 2003. Obviously both those figures can't be correct.

[Lydia]

Thank you for helping our website clean up. Keep in mind that some of the posts do go back a few years. That could explain Florences input. I am not sure why the post is still on other than the fact that the situation might still occur and nobody has posted to that thread since 2003. :eek:

I know that the postings we put on here are being checked out from time to time, so please continue with your observations. We need them to clear things up.:p :p

[keoadmin]

Hello Folks,

We have changed the automatic logoff feature on the forums from 16 minutes of inactivity to 2 hours (its when the 'cookie' on your system expires). This seems to be an issue with some of our members who browse for a while between postings or have a longer posting that they are editing. Please let us know how well this change on the forum settings works for you.

Kingston Electors Administrator

[BornAndRaised]

This does work better, Thank-You! I am still going to use the advice given earlier in this thread about using a word processor for my posts, that way I can quickly spell check my work before posting it. Good to know that we are being heard and that people helping out to make this a better site. I would just like to say it's nice to see some good conversations popping up. They are very stimulating and educating. Keep up the posts.