Forum voting process

[jeronymite]

NinjaTrader Development is driven in some degree by votes in favour of feature requests or suggested improvements. This is great.

However, the process of "voting" is sorely in need of improvement. Currently, it seems the NT team expect individual "+1" posts to forums to indicate support for an item. This is problematic for several reasons, not least of which are that it requires submitting a post, rather than a simple "click the Like button" approach, and it clogs threads with "me too" posts.

NinjaTrader has indicated that the Forum software is a third-party product and they cannot add a simpler "me too" button or similar. If I remember correctly, I think I also read somewhere that NT is looking at upgrading/enhancing/replacing the current Forum software ... but that may just have been wishful thinking on my part.

In any case, with the current Forum as it is, may I recommend that a convention be established (and published) that encourages people to use "Thanks" on an original idea/suggestion or the NT response saying it has been logged for Development as the preferred way to indicate "my vote too"? That way, NT can simply count the thanks, and there is the added benefit of recognising those who contribute ideas/suggestions/assistance. Obviously, one can thank more than once (there may be many contributors to something), but within a thread, the many thanks of any trader are counted as one vote only.

For your consideration, with thanks, as always!

[NinjaTrader_DaveI]

Thank you for your feedback, and taking the time to brainstorm an alternative. This is something that we do revisit from time to time, with an open mind to finding a new (perhaps cleaner) way to collect feedback. I'm not sure if the Thanks idea specifically would be reliable, because there would not be a way to ensure that everyone knows not to Thank someone on a request thread if they are not adding their vote (although it could be argued that it would be implied). However, it's good to throw some new ideas out there.

One thing to note is that we are aware of the phenomenon that every user who speaks out with a request probably has many silent users who agree, so when we see that three people have voted for something, we understand that there are likely many more than just three people who would agree with the suggestion. I have found it rare to see a thread completely overloaded with "+1" posts; in general I see one or two "+1" posts per suggestion thread, which keeps them from getting too cluttered.

As we continue to evolve our website, we are looking to upgrade the forum technology, as well. As you said, it is possible that we may find the perfect utility in some new forum tech that we implement, allowing us to do something like add a voting widget to a single post. We are always keeping our eyes open on this item.

[jeronymite]

Forum voting process

Thanks, Dave. Appreciate your thoughtful reply.

You're quite right about the ambiguities that may apply with the "Thanks" approach -- it's a consequence of what we have to work with, I guess.

And your observations about "+1" posts and the silent voters are spot-on. The small number of "+1"s may in part be because of the need to post (as opposed to click) -- certainly, I feel that way at times, compounded by my aversion to lengthening already long threads unnecessarily. So, I've been using the "Thanks" approach even without its recognition as a vote. I like to acknowledge the thinking and actions of those who contribute to this great endeavour called NinjaTrader.

So, I look forward to anything that will make voting easier and more inclusive of all who may otherwise remain silent.

Thanks, Dave!