Feedback Page | Editor's Page | Suggestion Page | Deliberations | How Deliberations Work

This page is a collecting point for suggestions and their responses addressing enhancements to the site. It is a transparent collection of ideas and functions that have been suggested. This has been created in order to inform the community and give a platform for development nominations. Users can motion by creating a suggestion and second by adding their name to an agreeable suggestion already posted. View the entire New Features Flowchart.

The democratization of WiserEarth is being developed. Please check out the current work in progress.

If you have an idea that is already listed, please add your username to that listing.

If you would like to make a suggestion, and don't know HTML, please visit the suggestion page.

---

Context Title
Suggestions/Enhancements	Users Reporting	Date

---

add context title (use <h4> heading)
Suggestion: add next suggestion here	add user	add date
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Bugs and Sugs
Suggestion: under 'Feedback' the options are called Questions and Suggestions. I don't like the word 'Questions' for technical difficulties, why not call it 'Bugs' instead?? Semantics, I know, but I think it would be more clear.	Nasher	July 10, 2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Adding entries to network
Suggestion: when you have already added an entity to a network, and you maybe doing another search to add more (I am thinking chapters particularly) the ones you have already added should either not appear in the search results, or you should be unable to select them.	paxlizzie	18/06/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Putting Visualisation Results in Alphabetical Order
Suggestion: When you visualise orgs/people etc for an entity, it would be great if the results were ordered alphabetically - this should probably be the default for any list we create. e.g. see Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ACORN	paxlizzie	18/6/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Group organization chapters in search listings
Suggestion: Searching for Service for Peace or Red Cross returns multiple hits of the same org, but different chapters. Could we group the listings so that they don't clutter the listings as much?	estarriol	6.18.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Show a list of areas of focuses which users have selected most commonly in addition to the one they have selected.
Suggestion: This list informs users of similar aofs, and of selected combinations of aofs which are popular. This list could be shown to new users (if requested) before they select new aofs, and in each aof page, where it'd be updated automatically.	K-sizzle	6.09.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Create box for users to type in the text/tagline/description of organizations/users, etc. that show up in search results
Suggestion: It'd be easier to navigate/browse data when their is a specific space in the edit box to type in the tagline/description. Many of the current descriptions are not sufficient or optimized. Many users probably are not aware of what information is shown when their user profile or organization show up on search results.	MichaelK	6.08.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add function to calculate timezone via city, country
Suggestion: It can be frustrating for users when they are entering information for a country they dont know much about but are forced to pick a timezone (since its now a required field)	MichaelK Tricia Nasher	6.01.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add "Insert Video" Tab in Edit Boxes
Suggestion: Add an "Insert Video" tab (like an "Insert Image" tab) to the edit box so that people are aware that they can add a video and have cooler organization/user profiles.	MichaelK Tricia	6.01.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add function to calculate geographic proximity via zip codes
Suggestion: A lot of websites allow users to look up results based on how close they are - such as job postings within x-miles, or organizations in the area. There are plenty of web resources that show how to add a zip code distance calculator to a website, and we should do this to add a new level of usefulness to the search results. Zip Code Proximity Calculator resources	honore MichaelK Tricia Nasher	05/25/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Move "Choose a State" box in "Add an Organization" page below Country
Suggestion: Seeing the "Choose a State if in the US" box might confuse non-US users, the page would look simpler if a box to enter a US state became available or "visible" after the user enters "US". Other countries have regions like US "states" that in the future could have their own scrollbar in the "Add an Organization" page to be more welcoming of international users.	KSizzle Tricia	5/25/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Sidebar translation for Spanish and French translated homepages
Suggestion: Could we translate left and right columns for Sp/Fr accessibility? Homepages are translated but not acessible without left navigation bar.	molly MichaelK Tricia Nasher	5/24/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Required Fields In User Profile Not Editable
Suggestion: If a user does not fill in a required a field on the user profile, the clicks save, the resulting page will make the missed field red and have text saying the field is required. But that text is not editable and therefore the user must click cancel and start over.	caitlin	05.17.07
Status: Ticketed as bug on trac.	Daniel	05.17.07

---

Join Network Button
Suggestion: Allow users to send an invitation to others to join their network on WiserEarth.	kseverance MichaelK Nasher	05.15.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Make Suggestions Searchable
Suggestion: Create a search function for suggestions and comments so that users can easily see if others have made the suggestion before.	kseverance	05.15.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Profile Pictures and Picture Albums for Organizations
Suggestion: Each organization could have "profile pictures" the same way that users do. In their "About Section", there could be an album which users can scroll through, which members could tag themselves and others on, etc., the same way which FACEBOOK and other social networking sites have pic albums too.	MichaelK Daniel Tricia	5.15.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Mouseover Areas of Focus Display
Suggestion: It would be nice to have the first page of Areas of Focus display only the main portals and then click or mouseover for subportals.	Daniel Nasher	5.09.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Order of Areas of Focus in Profiles
Suggestion: Ability to change order of appearance of AoF in profile. Canada google maps often have a problem displaying correct address and default to SK. Icon for Facebook in the Spread the Word icon group in the right navigation bar.	Nasher Tricia MichaelK	5.09.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Adding a due date to the structured data for Job postings
Suggestion: In the same way that you can add due dates to the Events, you should be able to specify when a job posting closes, which will enhance the search function for jobs.	paxlizzie Tricia MichaelK Nasher	5.9.2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Combine Edit Page and Edit Name links
Suggestion: Instead of having separate links for editing the page and editing the page title, allow both of these functions to be accessed from a single link on the page.	noak MichaelK	5.7.2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Embedding/archiving photo sources
Suggestion: Since its important for us to cite sources for photos, is it possible to make it necessary to source a photo automatically, and have that source "stay" with the picture? Much like once a picture has been uploaded to a page, it becomes a part of the library, can we have a "library of sources" for associated photos so that these are never lost and it is transparent?(An exception for necessary sourcing could be personal profiles).	Tricia paxlizzie MichaelK	5.7.2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Automatic deletion of outdated events & job postings
Suggestion: Event/job posting will automatically be removed once date on profile has passed	molly Tricia MichaelK	5/4/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Uncheck items on Watchlist without removing them
Suggestion: We should be able to uncheck items (without removing them) on our watchlists in order to un-highlight it as a "changed item".	Qman Tricia	5.2.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Email Alerts
Suggestion: Along the same lines as the watchlist, one should have the option to organize and possibly get email alerts for specific searches/jobs/orgs/events/etc. And I think I need to stop coming up with suggestions.	Tricia qMaN kseverance	5/1/2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Lock certain pages!
Suggestion: Terms and Conditions page is not locked for editors.	Tricia	4/30/2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Ability to organize watchlist by category
Suggestion: It would be nice to be able to have tabs or something like that for personal watchlists. It may also be nice to create a note/tags for items on the list, so that you can keep tabs on why it's in there (good for forgetful people like me)	Tricia	4/30/2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Org templates in edit box
Suggestion: Having templates to help new organizations come into form is a great resource. They are currently only available when the organization is new, i.e. you cannot get to the templates from the edit/about. I suggest we make the templates available even after the organization has been created. This will help people know what a complete profile looks and it will help them with the HTML they may not be familiar with.	jonramer Tricia albertbrown	4.28.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add [edit] link in portal pages
Suggestion: We should be encouraging users to edit area of focus portals by making it very clear that its possible. The edit link could be linked to the page that explains how to be an Editor.	MichaelK michael Tricia albertbrown	4.26.07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation	adam	5.1.07

---

Personal Website in Profile
Suggestion: Allow users to enter their personal website within a field in their profile.	jonramer michael honore albertbrown	4.25.07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation	adam	5.1.07

---

Show Histories of Events and Jobs
Suggestion: It would be nice to view the history of Events and Jobs- these are editable articles already yet we can't see the history.	Tricia michael honore	4.25.2007
Status: add response	add user	4.25.07

---

Vertical scroll bar to search countries by location
Suggestion: It'd be more convenient to search for countries by having a scrollable bar that lists all of them in one column. I think it'd be nice to have this particular function displayed more prominently(like on the homepage); its somewhat difficult to find.	MichaelK Tricia michael Camilla albertbrown	4.23.2007
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation.	adam	4.30.07

---

Automatic data transfer
Suggestion: When posting a related job from an organization, is it possible to have some of the required fields already filled out? Eg. It'd be nice to have the address fields already transferred from the organization. Same goes for related events.	hapatrees michael honore	4.23.2007
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Make it clearer what organizations get in
Suggestion: On the Add Organizations page, I think we should add a link to the community guidelines/values, and ALSO add another bullet-point note about how the organizations can't be for-profit or commercial.	Tricia MichaelK michael Camilla albertbrown	4.20.2007
Status: This feature has been nominated for deliberation.	adam	5.1.07

---

Make Advanced Search Default
Suggestion: When users use the top search bar, the resulting page should display the advanced search options by default.	Kelsang	4/20/07
Status: This feature has been added and completed.	adam	4.23.07

---

Opening Clouds in Visualize Network
Suggestion: When a grouped cloud is displayed in a visualized network, allow users to click on that cloud and have it expand within the visualize function.	MarkGrimes jonramer michael	4/20/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Get all search results for "United Kingdom" when you search England or UK
Suggestion: Some may not type "United Kingdom" vs. England or UK... so England search results should display the same results as UK or United Kingdom. The same goes for United States and USA.	jdaviescoates Camilla	04/19/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add Discussions to Home Page
Suggestion: It would be great to be able to easily read what people are talking about on the site directly from the homepage (all the new comments and Wiki Discussion Pages). A direct link to discussions from the home page would enable the community to see that WiserEarth is 'living breathing site' driven by its community - and more importantly enable community members to more easily get involved in the discussions.	camilla hapatrees MichaelK michael honore	04/19/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation	adam	5.1.07

---

Extend Default Search Listings
Suggestion: Extend default search listings beyond returning just 10 listings - 25, maybe. At least allow option to choose to return more than 10. Search engine needs much more work - hits returned generally aren't what I'm looking for.	Survey Respondent michael honore albertbrown	04/19/07
Status: This suggestion have been nominated for deliberation	adam	5.1.07

---

Spellchecker
Suggestion: A spell checker would be great when adding content	Survey Respondent michael molly	04/19/07
Status: Add response	add user	add date

---

Remove the word People in AoF on Profiles
Suggestion: The number of people is displayed behind each area of focus. While this is useful information, the repetition of the word people is unnecessary. It would be better to just have a number in parenthesis.	markgrimes danielbell MichaelK michael	04/18/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation	adam	5.1.07

---

Embeddable Code
Suggestion: Allow users to use embeddable code to enable widgets that update news and information.	SorenG michael	04/17/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Community Messaging And Discussion
Suggestion: Allow users to send public messages to other users, so that anyone can read the message. Provide a forum for community discussion on different topics, or provide guided discussions with experts in a field.	SorenG camilla michael molly	04/17/06
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberation.	honore	05/04/07

---

Personalized URL for Profiles
Suggestion: Allow the URL for a user profile to be personalized with the user name instead of an encoded number.	SorenG MichaelK michael honore	04/17/06
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Animated Gif Avatars
Suggestion: Allow users to use animated Gifs for their avatars.	frankpatton michael	04/16/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Display both real name and User name
Suggestion: allow both a user's real name and user name to be displayed when a user visualizes their network. Also allow users to search by username and real name and perhaps have a convention for the format of username.	jonramer ourfounder hapatrees michael honore molly	04/16/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Allow users to easily add and edit Tags/Keywords
Suggestion:  It might be worthwhile at the end of every Tags/Keywords list to have and "editor" link (or "suggest other tags/keywords") so users can easily (link to the Areas of Focus discussion to) suggest other Tags/Keywords	markgrimes MichaelK	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Move Preview button to left of Save button
Suggestion: In "edit" mode, the "Preview" tab is pretty hard to find prior to needing to save content. I would suggest a "Preview" button to the left of the "Save" button	markgrimes camilla	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Provide link under Areas of Focus showing users who have tagged that AoF
Suggestion:  Under "Browse Areas of Focus" having a "people" link that would show the user all people using that tag might be interesting too.	markgrimes hapatrees	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Add link to filter organizations by recent activity
Suggestion:  Adding a "by Recency" link to "Browse Organizations" could be interesting.	markgrimes camilla hapatrees honore	04/08/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Move browser search tool to footer of page
Suggestion:  This "Firefox 2 & IE7 users, add WiserEarth search to your browser searchbar" has a pretty high profile and might look better in the footer of each page.	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Sort Browse people by actual names rather than user names
Suggestion:  Browse and Search People might be much more compelling by alpha first name (or last) than by alpha user name. User name seems somewhat arbitrary, as it seems most people would look up friends or associates by their real name anyway (and I think encouraging the use of real names in a transparent business and online environment makes sense too).	markgrimes hapatrees camilla honore molly	04/08/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Sort Browse People page by Site Activity
Suggestion:  The Browse People page would be much more interesting if it the default was "by Site Activity" and not "by Name". Recent content is much more interesting (and in the interest of the site), than the alpha order by username	markgrimes hapatrees camilla	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Allow users to filter job search
Suggestion:  I'm sure there's a tag for this somewhere already, but it'd be nice to be able to filter the job search, much like one is able to set search parameters for events by date (or, deadline), area of focus (though that's not quite functional yet), keywords, etc. Thanks!	hapatrees danielbell camilla MichaelK honore	04/10/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Allow users to filter search results according by category
Suggestion:  When searching on "Organizations" it is unclear to the user (well, to me anyway) how and why the order or results is being returned to me. If the user could slice and dice results how they desired. Returning search results under "Organizations" based on most recently edited first...could be useful. Returning search results under "Organizations" based on geographic proximity to the searcher's address could be useful.	markgrimes hapatrees camilla honore	04/07/07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated for deliberations.	honore	05/04/07

---

Place dynamic content on homepage to generate return visits
Suggestion:  The index page I think is planned to, and needs to be much more dynamic. If the intent is to build an interactive dynamic site that many people visit every single day, the content on the front page should represent and include some very recent content. People may assume the site is not very active upon a second visit and just go away.	markgrimes honore Camilla	04/08/07
Status: Dynamic content is currently refreshed manually on a daily basis during weekdays. This is a temporary situation until automated content can be pulled directly from the directory.	[u:molly:molly	add date

---

Default options sends email when sending Private Message
Suggestion:  When someone sends me a Private Message" it would be nice if a default (that could be turned off) also sent the message via email too. And users would still need to return to the Wiser site to answer. I'd rather communicate with members thru the PM system and not have the email addy so visible, many email scrappers I think can still read the name at name.com or dotcom.	markgrimes hapatrees michael	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Use gabbly for chat software, generating one room per Area of Focus
Suggestion:  Rather than the need do download from among many varieties of chat software it might be worth looking into just using Gabbly for now, with one room generated for each of the 43 AOF's.	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Allow users to create customize look of Area of Focus with top 3 lists
Suggestion:  The depth and thinking you have all done with AOF and all related things is wonderful. If might be nice to have users select their top 3 things though, just to get focus within the focus	markgrimes hapatrees	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Improve user interface on profile page for linking to other media sharing sites
Suggestion:   Might be nice to have an organized way under the user profile to allow users easy input and organized sharing of links to other personal onlne content: Linked In, Delicious, YouTube, Flickr, Skype, etc.	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Provide notification for new users filtered by category
Suggestion:  Is there a way to for users to be notified of NEW users who say put "social entrepreneur" as the "I am" link. A way for birds of a feather to connect much quicker.	markgrimes hapatrees	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Print Visualize Network page
Suggestion:  Would be nifty to have a "print this" option where users could print any "Visualize Network" page in a nice clean (little other info) environment.	markgrimes hapatrees honore	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Save messages as a draft before sending
Suggestion:   It would also be great if you could save a message as a draft before you sent it.	jonramer hapatrees	04/07/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Preview messages before sending
Suggestion:  It would be great if you could view the messages you sent as replies. It would also be great if you could save a message as a draft before you sent it.	jonramer	04/07/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Links automatically populate on watchlist
Suggestion:  Not sure if this is a practical function yet, but it seems like any internal link under a user profile could be set up as a default watchlist item.	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Shorten Add Links pathway
Suggestion:  Digging down to "edit" then "show tools/help" then "Add Links" seems way, way, way deep for users to find and make personal use of what will build the "Visualize Network" function.	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Increase visibility of Sign Up Now
Suggestion: Sign up now, it's free...or something like that could have a much higher profile on the main page. More than anything it seems the objective of the site is to get members to sign up (then engage of course).	markgrimes	04/08/07
Status: add response	add user

---

View Users associated with Organizations
Suggestion: allow users to associate their profile with organizations; when an organization is viewed a user would be able to see those users who identify as a member.	axil	04/12/07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Profile About name
Suggestion: Consider renaming the "About" title in the person profile to include a reference to the fact that the Visualize Network is based upon links in my About section. For example: "About Me and My Network"	danielbell	4.9.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

More prominent show/hide tools
Suggestion: A few people reported difficulty in finding the show tools when they went to edit their profiles. The link is prominently displayed but what about removing the need to show the tools and help all together. In other words, have the dialog box default to having the tools displayed. Since the user selected "edit" to get to this dialog box, I think the confusion comes from an expectation to have the edit tools be visible. You can still let them hide the tools, but having it displayed removes another click.	danielbell hapatrees	4.9.07
Status: add response	add user	add date

---

Sent Folder
Suggestion: Ability to see the messages we send in our message box.	Betsy rogereaton honore adam	4.10.07
Status: This suggestion has been nominated to deliberation.	honore	5.24.07

---

Issue and Bug Tracking
Suggestion: I'm sure this is already in the works, but I'd love to see a formal issue tracking solution. There are a number of them out there, and one I have seen in use is at Moodle, an open source e-learing platform. They use one called Jira.	etradaniel	4.9.07
Status: We are currently implementing a manual system that funnels information and tech requests to our development team. return to the Editor's Page for updates. Thank you for your comments.	adam	4.11.07

---

1. I suspect getting members in discussions within discussion threads is going to be a sticky and nice community feature for members. As I understand it, Wiser content will be "syndicated" and be able to run in an open and shared way on other web sites, will discussion threads do the same?

1. When something changes on one of the pages under "My Watchlist" is there a visual clue on the watchlist that will show the user that?