What new features would you most like to see on Bisexual.com - Version 2.0

[Brian]

Some of you "Old Timers" may remember this classic thread: "What new features would you most like to see on Bisexual.com?" http://main.bisexual.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9

The results of the poll accompanying the thread question, from most desired to less desired, were:
Video Chat - 38%
Club Pages (webpage hosting for bi clubs) - 37%
Email Services (ie me@bisexual.com) - 32%
Bi Blogs - 30%
Travel Desk (meet people where you travel) - 25%
Bi Greeting Cards - 23%
Games - 16%
(the numbers add up to more than 100% because multiple answers were allowed)

Well, I am working on a major revamp of the site, so I am looking for current feedback:

What new features, and changes to existing features, would you most like to see on bisexual.com?

I hope to have the plans in place in the next month or so and the new version running by the end of the calendar year. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, requests and feedback.

- Drew :paw:

[Realist]

I appreciate this site; there's nothing better on the Internet. You've done a fantastic job setting it up. I mostly use the forum and private messages; they work well for me.

I know there's some suggestions for changes from time to time, but as far as I'm concerned the site's great the way it is.

I like it that you will allow others to be a member, even if they aren't bisexual. If they're curious, love someone who is bisexual, or are trying to understand us, this is a good place for anyone to explore.

I've seen some complaints about monitoring things more closely, but most of us do well policing what we are interested in, or not.

Just wanted to thank you for your efforts.

Great job, Drew!

[virginia123]

Video chat would be really nice.

?? Do you have to be a paid member to be able to text chat?

I am not yet a paid member and I am not able to enter a chat room, is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for any advice.

[njfan]

I don't post much to the Main Forum but I come here every day and would like to thank you for this site.

Thank you!!!

[Brian]

?? Do you have to be a paid member to be able to text chat?

I am not yet a paid member and I am not able to enter a chat room, is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for any advice.

No, you don't need to be a member of my pay site www.threepillows.com to use the text chat here. It should work for you.

I occasionally get emails from people telling me they can't get the chat to work for them, but they are rare. I've discussed it with the provider of the chat software (it's a very popular program) and he swears it really should work for everyone.

You could perhaps try adjusting your firewall/privacy settings.

I'm going to post a poll to try to get a handle on how many people can't use the chat.

[Realist]

P.S.

Drew, I have seen some complaints about not being able to get a persons' membership deleted, if they didn't want to be here, any longer.

I know they can change their profile, then just leave.

I know a fellow, who said he wanted to delete all his information, but couldn't.

[Brian]

P.S.

Drew, I have seen some complaints about not being able to get a persons' membership deleted, if they didn't want to be here, any longer.

I know they can change their profile, then just leave.

I know a fellow, who said he wanted to delete all his information, but couldn't. Yes, the software we use isn't really built for that - they never anticipated the need to delete user accounts so often as I get requests to do - so that is a known issue. It is on my list of requirements for the new version (near the top of the list in fact), so this is going to be addressed. Thanks for confirming that need.

- Drew :paw:

[littlerayofsunshine]

I would like to see some changes that would not only update the functionality of the site, but make it more of a resource and value to members as individuals and as a whole.

Chat for one should be updated. Member profile pictures should be there in replacement of the icons. The way private messages steal focus from the main chat, causes people who are typing in the local chat bar to continue typing in to the pvt chat box and sometimes the reverse, We have all seen the oops wrong box statements. LOL. With the way current browsers are. I think there are more options available to choose that would make chat more enjoyable, that would offer features to the individuals.

There needs to be some segregation to the forums. One for new members to be welcomed. One forum used just by you and moderators to either post site updates and information, plus have site related q&a from members to Drew and Moderators.

Add some sections in the forums for TG/CD, spouses of bi persons, Female, male, Politics and religion. ect.Ect. Keep a general topic also for everyone to participate in. I think this would tone down a lot of the forum frustrations while allowing everyone a place to say their piece. It would also cut down on all the posts that state "You don't belong here, this site isn't for you" and give more people a feel of belonging. We have lost so many people over the years to them feeling they don't belong here anymore, even though they were valuable members. People wouldn't have to use the segregated forum and use a general topic for their thoughts and questions. But the segregation would allow them a place for a more focused response when that is what they are seeking.

While I don't agree with censorship, Better moderation needs to take place. There is quite a bit of trolling. There is one particular person currently posting under 3 id's with three different personalities who has been banned over and over again. So I would hope that IP ban and Hardware ban can take place for those who offend the sensibilities of the site just for their own sadistic pleasure.

The Calender for events can't go beyond 2010 so all the events look like they are from the past. Even though people are posting current events.

People also have trouble changing certain things within their profile that can be annoying. Issues with profile pics or changing their marital status back to single if a separation takes place. Though its easy to change it to married of you do wish to do so.

It also would be nice if profiles could have photo albums. I know that increases the amount of space an "ad" takes on the servers. But I think it would be a valuable tool to members, to be able to store certain fotos in an album and make it viewable only to members they wish to, while having profile fotos they want in thier profile.


Sorry if I threw too much into the pot. I can't wait to see what you do with Bi.com 2.0.

[Brian]

Damn good list littlerayofsunshine! Thanks for that detailed feedback. Very helpful!

- Drew :paw:

[littlerayofsunshine]

Hey Thanks Drew! You're going to be so busy today here! Hope you got the day off.

I would like to offer one more suggestion if that is ok. I know you have a busy real life and you also run the other website, so you can't be here 24/7. So how about an application process for new moderators, that are currently members.

You can make your own requirements, give them an opportunity to explain why they would make a good moderator. You could choose different ones, from different parts of the world that way there would more likely be a moderator online at most times. You can look through their history also and judge for yourself if they would be a good candidate and someone who's judgements you can trust.

Just a thought.

[mooon]

Drew,

This is THE best site for bisexuals. Thanks for all your hard work.

I really appreciate that it works well with a low bandwidth connection. Please do take care that new features like video are optional, such that they do not load down those of us that are stuck with slow data rates.

The personal section is great, but it would be nice if we could better search by location. A function to search by distance from a zip code or GPS coord. would be nice. Of course, we will need to put our zip or coord. into our profiles.
A photo gallery would be nice too.

Mooon

[Diva667]

Have you looked over what is going on with Ravelry.com?

It would be nice to have way to post simply whether you agree, disagree, love, educate or whatever without getting into a mess of discussion about it.

Also having the forum broken up like the chat rooms are now would be nice.

All of which is to say that these are only suggestions, because you asked. I like this site and appreciate all the hard work that goes into maintaining it.

Thanks, Drew.

[Moonlight_BHI]

I think the site is fine the way it is, but at the same time there are a few things I think can be changed or added.

Here's my main requests;
-The threads, have them in categories; for example: advice category, sex category, relationship category, important category, experiences category, general category, random category and more.
-And possibly have tags for them, example: a relationship category post and the person tags it as sex (meaning its about sex life) or a advice category post and the person tags this one as coming out (as in coming out to family, friends or wife/husband.)



That's what I would like to see...Though I'm a organization freak lol. (I categorize everything lol)

And if you were happen to add it, I say add a category for each sexual orientation. So if they prefer to share or get help from people with the same sexual orientation cause of possible worry, than they can. :)

[BiBedBud]

Drew,

Firstly, thanks for this site and all the hard work. I really appreciate it very much.

As long as you're asking....

I'd like to see a page where everyone on my 'Buddy' list appears, perhaps in order of their last log-on, where I can see their recent activity and easilly click-through to their profiles.

As it is, right now, I have to go to my 'Buddy' list, read those names, and then either search for them or sift through pages of search results, if I want to navigate to their profile. Having all of these 'Buddies' on one hyper-linked page would make this a lot easier/quicker.:2cents:

ALSO: In the interest of saving on energy and bandwidth, perhaps it might be possible to have a 'low bandwidth' option presented immediately upon sign-in, that would suppress the automatic download of images (and videos, if you go there), without a right-click. I for one, would use this nearly all the time.

Thanks for asking -- I look forward to whatever upgrades you implement.:)

[mtenn]

let me add my thanks for this web site.

Just a thought or two since u ask...

i am inclined to say that i would not want to see the forums segregated into topic areas because i suspect people will miss other people they'd like to meet or miss topics of interest (u know how off topic posts proliferate). i do think the ability to tag posts with a category makes a lot of sense especially if a viewer could easily choose to see only certain categories/category when they choose to view posts. or they perhaps could configure their profile so that they would always only see the categories they want (though that obviously defeats my idea of trying to let people see a wider range of posts).

like many others have said many times, video chat would be nice.

chat stability would be an improvement, people r frequently getting dropped out of chat.

a search feature with more options (like which category if tags are implemented) would be nice.

the board is nice as it is, too!

thanks again, drew, for the cool site.

[BiDaveDtown]

If you assign moderators make sure they are people who do not have their own agendas, who are not biased, and they're not part of a clique on the site as there are a lot of people like this here.

Actually moderate and warn/ban people. I've reported people who attack and flame me and other people based on where we live or other aspects of ourselves, and nothing is done to them since they're longterm members.

Have moderators actually post to get a topic back on the subject matter or have them delete posts that have nothing to do with the topic or its subject matter at all.

Have mega discussion threads for one topic, and have new threads that get made about that topic get locked and have the original poster get told to post in the mega discussion thread, or just move the new posts about that topic to that mega thread. I've seen this happen on other sites and on this site there are tons of threads all about the same topic like sucking cock, oral sex, coming out, or cross dressing that should just all be in one big mega discussion thread.

Make a section for hook-ups, cyber, phone, webcam, etc. I see a lot of people who post topics about these things.

Make a section about off topic discussion that has nothing at all to do with bisexuality such as topics that deal with politics, cross dressing, people's personal rants, people's personal pictures that they post of landscapes and rivers, or sexuality that's not bisexuality at all to name a few examples.

Either put up completely new articles that are updated very frequently, or get rid of that section since it's completely outdated.

Give people the option to delete their account/username. I see people posting asking about how they can do this a lot or they request to do this.

[drugstore cowboy]

Keep this site a bisexual site and a site that's about bisexuality.

Don't make it into primarily a GLBT collective or GLBT political site, a site all about asexuals, a site all about Trans people and their issues, or a site for Hetero women married to bisexual men.

There are other sites on the internet for other people who are not bisexual, and almost no other sites for bisexuals or about bisexuality.

[ckman314]

a video chat room would be great besides that don't touch a thing :bipride:best forum on the internet

[welickit]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Plain and simple. Moderators won't work. It has been tried by other bi sites and they don't purge members profiles either because they want to show a big count. Fact is members left. Obviously you know that if you did any market research. You mentioned this being a paid membership site previously but I notice you avoided the subject in this posting. Share with us that subject if you will. The upgrades you are talking about don't come free bi any means.

As for the current chat system........it works fine if the person trying to access it has any idea what update means. Some of these folks are running multiple anti virus and anti malware programs at start up and seem to understand when enough is enough. Ad on's will kill the chat in a minute. Java blocks and stop flash will do the same.

The change I would like to see is a bit of truth. I log out and it says "ALL COOKIES DELETED" NOT!

The cookies are still there and from time to time there is an LSO (super cookie) that originated from this site. Deny it if you will but it exists. Some people here trust that splash screen that says the cookies are gone. They need to hide what they are doing. :2cents:

[keefer201]

Most definately an Instant Message option for members online. This would be a great feature for me.

[tenni]

Hi Drew
Thank you for this site.

I've been a member since 2006 and have used various features. Initially to find bisexual men in my area and rarely posted in the forum. Now that is reversed. I don't use the chat area but I was able to access it when I did. I may have had to update something. If you do not, maybe some information page for people who have problems accessing chat. An Instant messenger might be good with an option of video messaging as part of it.

I agree that I'd like to see some sections created. Personally, I have found sections for "New Members" to be a waste on other sites. How many times can someone write My name is X and I'm new etc.

What I would really like to see are sections restricted to bisexuals only. Threads could be under these sections. Perhaps under the profile section a person would need to identify their sexuality etc. to gain access to these restricted sections.

I'd like to see:
1/ a Bisexual Women (restricted section),
2/ a Bisexual Men (restricted section).
3/ a Couples section (non restricted section or maybe restricted somehow to just those who post as a couple)
3/ perhaps a "Partner/friend of a Bisexual"(non restricted section) for those non bisexuals to ask their questions but they are non bisexuals
4/ A General Section (non restricted)
5/ Hot Sexual Topics (non restricted)(either erotic or sexual politics etc.)
5/ Other Topics-(non restricted...Political or other section for discussions not connected to Bisexuality).

Personally, I do not feel safe as bisexual man to discuss my real bisexual thoughts due to attacks on other bisexual men that I have witnessed on this site. Some of these attacks have had a moralistic angle to them and the people have been non bisexuals.

[Hephaestion]

Local events - Possible to post an event but there is no obvious way of deleting those obsolete.

Unless I am being a little slow (stupid) then the search facility could do with a little improvement to allow wittling away of results.

Any improvement on picture presentation within the general posting area would be welcome. Is this a question of capacity?

Overall - thanks for a good site.

[goldenfinger]

So far, only one Pinned or Sticky as they call it on other sites. Most new people come here for a reason, to find some answers about bisexuality, so a Pinned forum all about what bisexuality is and ask question, would be nice, having to spend time looking through old post to find answer to your question, can be frustrating.
So here is mine suggestion

1. What is Bisexuality.

2. I think my partner is/could be Bi.

I think whose two questions are the most asked question by new comers, it was for me.
Thanks for a great site, come here every day, but may not post all the time.

[Long Duck Dong]

I do not use chat that much and I am not here to cyber or hook up, so using the forums is the main reason I come here.... to read, learn, share and talk.....

the idea of different forums does appeal a lot......but not restricted ones

can we have a forum for shared stories, be they real, or written erotica, it would add a nice and unique touch to the site and there is a lot of interest in reading stories and experiences, for some people.......

being able to send my hetero partner to this site to help her learn about me, and others and gain friends, has helped our relationship and I dare say, many others..... and that is one of the advantages of having such a open site, if the site was restricted, then my partner would have not had that option.....

Rule 4. Have fun. Learn. Share. Entertain. Discuss. Argue. Enlighten..... lol keep that theme of the site, as its been one of the main reasons I have stayed in the site for so long.......

[void()]

I agree with most of these read.

* There needs to be some segregation to the forums. One for new members
to be welcomed. One forum used just by you and moderators to either post
site updates and information, plus have site related q&a from members
to Drew and Moderators.

* sections in the forums for TG/CD, spouses of bi persons, Female,
male, Politics and religion. ect.

* Better moderation needs to take place.

* an application process for new moderators, that are currently members.
And approved via you, or possibly a council of established moderators/
senior members.

* Make a section about off topic discussion that has nothing at all to
do with bisexuality such as topics that deal with politics, cross
dressing, people's personal rants, people's personal pictures that they
post of landscapes and rivers, or sexuality that's not bisexuality at
all to name a few examples.

* Either put up completely new articles that are updated very
frequently, or get rid of that section since it's completely outdated.

* Possibly offer a means to earn revenue on articles as incentive to
write them. Maybe even create a newsletter with editors, deadlines and
the like.

* Give people the option to delete their account/username. I see people
posting asking about how they can do this a lot or they request to do
this.

* an Instant Message option for members online.

* Jitsi and Instantbird are both Open source, and viably free to use.
Believe Instandbird uses XML, which could be implemented in conjunction
with the web site easily.

Further, I would appreciate losing Google Analytic. Our site ought
to be private, barring you consider some incident meriting legal
action or emergency response. We don't need Google's pervasiveness.

I understand though your need of supplemental income as well as logging.
Run the server as an Apache, if you don't already. Apache is free and
has various logging modules, modules for nearly everything really. A
SQL database could handle member creation / deletion, Python or Perl
could access that. Basically, you'd run a LAMP stack, or WAMP stack if
you prefer Windows. the M being for MySql, which seems most accessible
and feasible for this.

Elain may know better regarding databases though. He works on them. Not
trying to get him more work here, merely saying he's probably whom
would know about databases and may offer advice if asked nicely. :) I
just know the general overall idea so far.

[wanderingrichard]

Drew,
You've done a great job over the years building and keeping this site running and the fact that it has become so well respected among the global bi community is testament to that.

However i must disagree with all the suggestions of implementation of segregation via specific sections for politics, religion, TG/CD etc. That these are even considered flies in the face of the openness this site is known for. To wall these off would create a negative atmosphere in a place known for being open and welcoming.

What ever you do implement from the long lists of suggestions, please do us all this one great favor; Do not allow this great communal site to go the way of Adult Friend Finder, with all it's hatred, homophobia and many other troubles associated with it and it's sister sites.

Rich

[hgf33]

I believe many things on this site don't need to be changed. It functions well, it's easy to navigate, and many of the features, such as the profiles/ads are likeable.

The only change in layout I would like to see is subforums. Break the threads down into topics and things, so there's more to talk about. As it is now, members only seem to pay attention to what the latest conversations are, and all old threads get neglected. Honestly, I've come here many times, looked at the latest topics, said "well, nothing for me", and left. When it's broken down, topics/subjects are easier to find, and people can choose whichever subforum they're in the mood for, can relate to, or need advice from, and talk about anything they want. Then, no one ever runs out of something to discuss. I've seen it on other sites, and it works brilliantly. It keeps more members active, more often.

I also agree with Realist in that I like how you allow anyone to join even if they may not be bisexual. This may help do away with ignorance and increase visibility, as it allows others who aren't bisexual to learn more about the bisexuals in their lives and bisexuals as a whole community. They will see that all the ridiculous myths are just that- ridiculous. Better understanding and acceptance is NEVER a bad thing, and leaving the site the way it is can help many people with whatever they may be dealing with. It might save relationships from destruction, and people from self-destruction. As long as they aren't coming to harass us, (and I have yet to see it, so I don't think it's anything to worry about) than it's fine the way it is. (Besides, they'd be GREATLY outnumbered!) ;)

Speaking of harassment, that's my only complaint. Let me clear up that I'm not "whining" for myself, but speaking for others who have shared in my grievances. There is some frequent and aggressive trolling and flaming going on that has been allowed to continue. Many users have stopped participating or stopped using the site altogether because they were fed up, frustrated, or didn't feel welcome. I think I speak for everyone when I say that no one needs extra stress in their lives, especially not the senseless kind. People come here to make friends, meet new people, and discuss things with like-minded people, not for someone to tell them what they can and can't believe, how they should think or feel, or who they are or aren't. I can bet that if you asked for private lists from users as to who the major offenders are, you'll be seeing the same few names repeatedly. Do you really want to lose many to save a few? Disagreements and differing opinions are, by all means, acceptable, but being a jerk for the sake of being a jerk needs to stop.

I appreciate you creating and maintaining this site because it's hard to find things like this for us. I really like that it's private but also allows for a lot of freedom within it. I think you do a great job, and while some people have had me frustrated from time to time, there are plenty of other wonderful members who keep me around. Keep up the good work, Drew! :)

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

Drew-Honey, you've done a superb job over the years, and altho a few small things need to be tweeked and updated, its still a wonderful place for us all.

I dont agree that this site Has to be just restricted to Bi-personell only. So many great folks here are not Bi themselves, but they are married to, partnered to, significant other to members who Are Bi. Many folks come here seeking answers, many come seeking ThemSelves. Many are trying to find a commonality in a crazy place in their lives, and if they can find that here with those of us who welcome them, then why change that? Life friends have been made here, lovers have been found here. Peace of mind has been found here, strangers have become friends and close as family here. And yes, love had been found here, too. We have seen members come and go, have lost some to death even, but thats how life goes. Its how we all work together, argue, discuss, and get pissed at that matters. Life Happens. And thats what makes us human. :}

I came here a long time back looking to find a bit of me. What I found were fantastic open-minded folks that I could talk to, ponder and discuss life with, and co-miserate in some cases. I found friends, and thats important to Any new person coming to this site too. And I dont feel Anyone has the right to tell someone they dont belong here. We Bi arent accepted by other factions, how can we turn someone away by telling them They dont "Fit in?"
We All belong.

Do the changes you feel is necessary, Sugar...but please dont change the Spirit of this site..:}
Just my humble:2cents:
Cat

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

BTW, great responces Lil Ray. Hugs sweetie. And to all of you that presented a positive feedback to this topic..:}
Yer Cat.

[trentino]

Ahh, now it's becoming clear ...

I really like the functionality of gayromeo, very easy and responsive.

Also, yes, facebook-like social media interaction features like, likes and so on.

Thank you Drew

:2cents:

[12voltman59]

Drew--I do want to say thanks for after all these years---you have kept this site going--and for FREE!!!

The one big thing that I would like to see is revamping the forum board to be like those at other sites---namely that once a topic is posted and doesn't "disappear" if no one posts to it--it always stays up so we don't have many multiple threads on the same topics like "Sucking Cock or Eating pussy-which is best" or whatever, instead having many thousands of responses on just one thread of each sort.

I do wish that if possible, going back to putting up content on bisexual issues and such as you once did and of course--making the announcement section regarding events in our local areas be up to date.

I also agree with perhaps you putting in more security features to stop the whack job trolls who come on under one name---wind up having that profile being booted and they create a new profile each time that happens--I guess the way to at least limit such crazies is to have it such that for each IP address, there is a limit on how many profiles they can create--at least if you could do that---they would have to use multiple computers and such to dog the site--thankfully--we do seem to be over the worst of that from what we had a few years back now!!

I might suggest as well----revamping the overall look of the site with new font styles, graphics and such to make it look "Fresher, Crisper, More Up-to-Date" and such.

It is looking a bit "dated" too.

But overall----it is a great site---thanks!!!!

[hydropop]

Keep this site a bisexual site and a site that's about bisexuality.

Don't make it into primarily a GLBT collective or GLBT political site, a site all about asexuals, a site all about Trans people and their issues, or a site for Hetero women married to bisexual men.

There are other sites on the internet for other people who are not bisexual, and almost no other sites for bisexuals or about bisexuality.



Have to agree, but when I posted about this very thing , I got railroaded. So now I kinda stay away from this site. Wished there was a bisexual site for men and women and cpls. There are plenty of sites for Lesbians and gays and none for Bisexuals. Im sure I will catch flack for this but, its how I feel.

[darkeyes]

People have covered most of the improvements and changes I would like to see.. but added restrictions such as Tenni's will only serve to make the site less user friendly.. in fact less friendly. The site has an entertainment, educational, social as well as practical function.. to promote understanding of bisexuality in the wider community. Not only that but to help bisexuals understand other sexualities.. it is no use living in a closeted world where isolation breeds isolation and suspicion.. the site must be kept as free as it is now and any changes and improvements must make sure that is not diminished...

.. I am dubious about moderation in chat... one of its strengths as well as a weakness has always been the ability of chatters to be free with what they say.. sometimes this can be troublesome but mostly people behave with some modicum of decorum.. and what is offensive to one is not to another... I hate censorship of any kind and have gotten hot under the collar on occasions that threads have been closed down or posts deleted... I understand the reasons for it but that doesn't stop me hating it. Similarly in chat moderation could mean personal bees in bonnets and personal antipathies being brought to bear, and people ejected and frozen out of chat because of the subjective and sometimes mean minded judgements of others...

..but Drew, the site has been a God send to many and to me when I needed it most.. it doesnt serve the same function in my life that it once did, but I still care and still find it something to which I can contribute something. Unfortunately personal animosities have affected the site adversely and that is sad. It isn't something that can be entirely eliminated but it is something which people should be made more aware and to realise that for all the problems of we who are lgbt, life is too short to allow such animosity to damage or restrict any progress that we might make in future. I am not sure moderation of chat or forums is advisable because of people's subjectivity and to be honest think it would be a retrograde step...

I agree change is needed.. but not change for change sake.. so any must be to make the site more attractive and more relevant to all... and before you actually implement any changes that you should propose you ask members for comment before implementation.. we may be able to help you make it even better or point out some problems which you may not have spotted being so close to it.. in the end it is your site but we have an interest in making it better and more relevant and a consultation with users of what you do actually wish to do with the site can only be a good thing..

[RickB-6969]

Great site, thanks

two things that I know of could be improved, or maybe I do not know how to work the site.

1. Better refine the Personal Ad search, to more specific geographic locations.

2. Be able to open/enlarge the profile picture (avatar).

Some only have one picture as their avatar but I can not enlarge/open it, so it is a tiny thumbnail.

All else is fine with me.

Rick

[fordbob89]

I live in the NW corner of Alabama very near the Tennessee and Mississippi state lines. I would like to be able to see new personals updates from more than one state on my home page. This may also help others who travel frequently.

Thanks!

[tenni]

Have to agree, but when I posted about this very thing , I got railroaded. So now I kinda stay away from this site. Wished there was a bisexual site for men and women and cpls. There are plenty of sites for Lesbians and gays and none for Bisexuals. Im sure I will catch flack for this but, its how I feel.

Drew
You have a major problem on this so called bisexual website. This is either a bisexual website or a GLBT website. The railroading by some vocal posters is obvious to me. I've already posted on this thread that I do not feel safe as a bisexual man to discuss my real thoughts about my bisexuality.

Those who are posting that they do not want to see restriction are part of this group wanting to make it an all inclusive website. That is not a bisexual website because these railroader bully any voice that doesn't conform to their belief structure. They call anyone who has a differing view trolls etc.

Please make up your mind as to whether this is really a bisexual website for bisexuals or not.

[darkeyes]

Drew
You have a major problem on this so called bisexual website. This is either a bisexual website or a GLBT website. The railroading by some vocal posters is obvious to me. I've already posted on this thread that I do not feel safe as a bisexual man to discuss my real thoughts about my bisexuality.

Those who are posting that they do not want to see restriction are part of this group wanting to make it an all inclusive website. That is not a bisexual website because these railroader bully any voice that doesn't conform to their belief structure. They call anyone who has a differing view trolls etc.

Please make up your mind as to whether this is really a bisexual website for bisexuals or not.

I'm a bully now and railroading... and just when did I call you troll? And why can't you feel safe in discussing your real thoughts abour your bisexuality? Because someone may take issue with you? Are bisexuals so lacking that they feel unable to discuss how they really feel about themselves? Debate is how we learn.. debate with our own kind and with others.. talk about bisexual erasure... being bisexual is about learning to deal not just with other bisexuals but with others who are not bisexual. To isolate ourselves from other parts of the queer or even the straight worlds is a mistake whatever our sexuality and creates division. The lgbt does not have that many allies that we can afford to fall out among ourselves and those who would support us.. no I am not bisexual but did consider myself such once and live with a bisexual who is the mother of our children.. but even if that was not the case, and I had never been bisexual, I would consider bisexuals my natural allies.. people like you Tenni.. by isolating and insulating ourselves from those who would support us we do ourselves an injury.. we do become parochial and weaken our cause by closing it down, and by restricting our options... you are parochial Tenni in almost everything you say.. you don't take kindly to those who are not like you and that is a fault you really are going to have to correct because it will damage you.. it already has in the eyes of some..

I may not be bisexual, but this place has been a haven for me from when I was and I can't quite let go... it has always welcomed those of different sexualities for various different reasons and long may that continue... any change and any restriction in that will be to the site's detriment, to the detriment of bisexual people and to the lgbt movement as a whole.. what you say and what others say will be considered by Drew and he will do what he thinks is best... I just hope when he considers all this input he doesn't make an awful mistake...

[p7va60]

the site is great...wish they had more cpls that like bi men lol..love the group thing to ..cam chat would be nice with an op of going pvt .an messageing IM ..maybe that could be in the search....maybe a way to tell if your favs are on line to....i mean on this site .....i don't think Drew ment for this to be a clear the dust form..but to get ideas of what we would like to see done here ..so lets keep it to ideas an not air are landry plz

[foreverbi]

How about a page with nothing but short Bisexual stories donated bv members of this board, or at least a link to these stories.:male:;):2cents:

[TaylorMade]

I agree with most of these read.

* There needs to be some segregation to the forums. One for new members
to be welcomed. One forum used just by you and moderators to either post
site updates and information, plus have site related q&a from members
to Drew and Moderators.

* sections in the forums for TG/CD, spouses of bi persons, Female,
male, Politics and religion. ect.

* Better moderation needs to take place.

* an application process for new moderators, that are currently members.
And approved via you, or possibly a council of established moderators/
senior members.

* Make a section about off topic discussion that has nothing at all to
do with bisexuality such as topics that deal with politics, cross
dressing, people's personal rants, people's personal pictures that they
post of landscapes and rivers, or sexuality that's not bisexuality at
all to name a few examples.

* Either put up completely new articles that are updated very
frequently, or get rid of that section since it's completely outdated.

* Possibly offer a means to earn revenue on articles as incentive to
write them. Maybe even create a newsletter with editors, deadlines and
the like.

* Give people the option to delete their account/username. I see people
posting asking about how they can do this a lot or they request to do
this.

* an Instant Message option for members online.

* Jitsi and Instantbird are both Open source, and viably free to use.
Believe Instandbird uses XML, which could be implemented in conjunction
with the web site easily.

Further, I would appreciate losing Google Analytic. Our site ought
to be private, barring you consider some incident meriting legal
action or emergency response. We don't need Google's pervasiveness.

I understand though your need of supplemental income as well as logging.
Run the server as an Apache, if you don't already. Apache is free and
has various logging modules, modules for nearly everything really. A
SQL database could handle member creation / deletion, Python or Perl
could access that. Basically, you'd run a LAMP stack, or WAMP stack if
you prefer Windows. the M being for MySql, which seems most accessible
and feasible for this.

Elain may know better regarding databases though. He works on them. Not
trying to get him more work here, merely saying he's probably whom
would know about databases and may offer advice if asked nicely. :) I
just know the general overall idea so far.


If you're going to live in my head, void, please pay rent! :D

*Taylor*

[BiBedBud]

It would be really great if we could search profiles for keywords, perhaps using Boolean operators.

This would work really well, if we also had a list of standard keywords that members could include in their profiles, to ensure they turned-up in those searches.

:2cents:

Thanks for asking, Drew!

[BiBedBud]

^^^^ Follow-on comment from my post above....


... even better than a standard list of selected keywords, is a multi-lingual table of such selected keywords. This would enable peeps all around the world to find each other, if it became standard practice to list these keywords in multiple languages.

Something like what AFF has, but broader; a page where keywords are paired with 'select' buttons, during the profile setup steps.

:2cents:

[**Peg**]

I'd like to be able to search for members by CITY.

I've seen a lot of forums in my day: this one is the best-run I've ever seen, so I don't think anything else needs to change. Although... we do seem to get booted a lot and there are huge lags just before the site crashes.

As far as moderating the chat room is concerned, I forget who posted it but there will ALWAYS be empire builders in chatrooms ... and if they take a dislike to you (with the ability to ban/boot you), you're out. I've NEVER seen it work: at amore, hotsexchat, sexchat.com, and many others. Those sites eventually died because of all the fighting going on (power struggles). So that's MY argument against chatroom moderating. We already have the ignore button, which works just fine.


I occasionally get emails from people telling me they can't get the chat to work for them, but they are rare. I've discussed it with the provider of the chat software (it's a very popular program) and he swears it really should work for everyone. You could perhaps try adjusting your firewall/privacy settings. I'm going to post a poll to try to get a handle on how many people can't use the chat.

Drew, I've seen those as well, and IMO it's because they either need to configure their popup blocker to allow popups for this site (main.bisexual.com) and/or they need to doublecheck their java version http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

HTH
**Peg**

[darkeyes]

Just to follow on from Peg.. the UK breakdown of national/regional location is inadequate.. I don't mind whether or not city (or town) is included, but when I joined early on, I was given the option of Scotland.. no prob its where I live.. me partner when she joined and others that option was not available, but the option of Scotland and Northern Great Britain... now I am not going Nationalist on you here, but the regional breakdown of this country is Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North West England, North East England, Midlands, East Anglia, South East and South West England.. London although in the south east, often gets a lil "God Slot" allocated to itself though it more probably should be included in with the South East.(London and the South east it the usual reference). The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are separate entities altogether and are not part of the UK at all, but Crown Dependencies with their own governments and political institutions...

Drew, we are not a huge country, in fact we are not one country at all, but a political union of four nations.. and as each nation has its identity, England, the largest and most populous, each region has its own distinct identity of which peeps are pretty protective of.. so I think those of us from these shores would like the breakdown of where we actually come from to be more clearly marked and understood.. the present annotation "Scotland and Northern Great Britain" for instance bears no relation to where we really live or where we really come from.. it is unfit for purpose...

[Realist]

Whoa!

That's a good idea, Fran/Peg!

Sometimes, I'm not sure if I'm talking to a New Zealander, or Australian. A Chinese, or Taiwanese. (Also called Nationalist Chinese) India and others are grouped together, too.

Why not leave the country blank and let each one write in where they live?

(Unless they're on something and not sure where they are!)

[darkeyes]

And while I am at it, Drew.. Ireland, the Republic, does deserve it's seperate listing... arguably you can as you do now lump all the the people in Ireland, North and South into one listing, but there are a million people in the North who would resent that, as there are 4 million in the south who don't usually take kindly to being lumped in with the UK in any way shape or form.. geographically we are all in the British Isles, but for good and understandable historical reasons, not many Irish south of the border will consider themselves British even geographically speaking.. the exception to the British Isles location is the Channel Islands, who geographically speaking if not politically are French.. what fun history doth cause... and the Isle of Man is closest to Scotland, in native language closest to Ireland but for most things (TV and radio for instance, and mainland ferry links) are closest to England.. and until a few years ago they could shoot Scottish people quite legally without fear of retribution... now that's not very nice is it? :eek:But they were very nice about that just the same... they didn't shoot us too often.. wheeeeeeewwww... goin there next Easter...:tong:

Its a case of tidying up and making things more neat and accurate, as well as respecting people's origins or their place of residence ...

[**Peg**]

.....Why not leave the country blank and let each one write in where they live?...

GREAT idea D, IMO, that is the perfect solution for locations ~!!

Drew? is this possible/feasible?

:tong:

[Diva667]

Drew,

Had another thought -

Have you been over to fetlife.com? https://fetlife.com

It's more towards the leather crowd, but it does have some nice features.

Also it allows for donations to help pay for the running of the site.

With those donations you get "extra" features. But the basic features are accessible for free. In addition there is a bit more advertising, but not too intrusive. Its like facebook for kinky people.

So you might check that out, too.

[darkeyes]

Drew,

Had another thought -

Have you been over to fetlife.com? https://fetlife.com

It's more towards the leather crowd, but it does have some nice features.

Also it allows for donations to help pay for the running of the site.

With those donations you get "extra" features. But the basic features are accessible for free. In addition there is a bit more advertising, but not too intrusive. Its like facebook for kinky people.

So you might check that out, too.

Throughly bad idea Diva.. the great thing 'bout .com is it is totally free 2 the user..all of it... and ads, even unintrusive ads r not in keeping with the spirit of what bisexuality or the site is about.. there is also a danger of adcreep.. which from unintrusive 2 bloody everywer.. wud nev dream of accusin Drew of grabbin but such a change mite just put the site in some nice money grabber's sight... an then the whole nature of the site is in danger... as wud b the free for all user sign up an universal access 2 all features..

...an most peeps these days are already finding their pennies well stretched.. most peeps are not like me an my parter wiv a fair bit 2 spare.. an things r gettin worse, babes.. so it is a really bad idea an wish ya hadn't even mentioned it..

[lizard-lix]

Drew,

I vote with the folks who just say thank you!

I've visited almost every day since I joined and given the volatility of the subject and the people, it is remarkably peaceful, useful and fun..

The things you mentioned in opening this thread, all sound cool.

A lot of the things I see folks requesting here are to segregate conversations. I think that is a bad idea, no one has to view a thread that they are not interested in.

I think it is good seeing it all go bi, because sometimes it takes us to places we wouldn't have gotten to if they weren't in 'our' section. I think that is good. After all, isn't expanding our horizons the reason why a lot of us are here?

Thanks again,

Liz

(oh, and to prove I drop in pretty much any time I can, I am sitting in a pitch back hotel room, at 6 AM in Daejeon South Korea (my wife is still asleep), hung over from the farewell party my class gave me and still not sure what time zone my body is in (Europe, back to the US, then out to Asia for work) But here I am, or at least some part of me :-)

[IllinoisGuy]

Drew,

I'd like to see the "timer" on here be longer than a few minutes. What I mean by that is if I am in the middle of a lengthy email or posting(and not changing pages), it will time out on me and I have to log back in. If you could set this to be maybe 5 minutes longer, it would make things better for us and we would be able to stay logged in without problems. And yes, thanks for giving us a nice site to be able to come to!

[innaminka]

I've been here a long time: for the first time in how many years, I actually looked at my profile - I need to urgently update.
That has changed, as i have over the years.
When I came here I clearly identified as bi - now, not.
....yet i would hate to think that I can't contribute in some way: I've been there and done that.
I enjoy coming here and sometimes adding my :2cents: - and gaining a little more insight into the complex world we "alternatives" inhabit.

PS Drew. The changes are up to you - keep it going.
When I first joined, there was a different logo for each season - that seems to have disappeared. I liked that feature.
........ and please get rid of Robin Ochs. She's been there a bit long.

:love1::love1::love1:

[**Peg**]

Drew,

I'd like to see the "timer" on here be longer than a few minutes. What I mean by that is if I am in the middle of a lengthy email or posting(and not changing pages), it will time out on me and I have to log back in. If you could set this to be maybe 5 minutes longer, it would make things better for us and we would be able to stay logged in without problems. And yes, thanks for giving us a nice site to be able to come to!

...when you sign in here (on the Home Page), be sure to click 'remember me' and you won't get booted out on a timeout. I'm pretty sure that's the reason you have to log back in again.

[Darkside2009]

For my part I'd like to see in a new version:-

An instant message facility, with video/audio option.

Deletion of old articles, I think everyone has read them by now.

Clicking on Avatar photos to increase the size.

Not having to sign in again to post to a thread, after having already signed in.

A file transfer option for photos, stories etc.

Better discernment of where we live in our profiles, the Irish Tricolour in mine is all very well, but it is not the flag of my country.

Make it possible to delete one's account if one decides to leave.

I'm undecided about the wisdom of segregating the forums into sections, if one doesn't want to take part in a thread...

I would keep the site open to all who wish to come here, no matter their sexual orientation. We learn from each other.

There has in the past been sustained abuse and personal attacks by certain members towards other members. I feel the abusers should be warned and if they persist, their account should be deleted on the complaint of say fifteen or twenty individual members.

A limit to the number of accounts from the one IP address, it might cut down on the trolling.

Perhaps some refurbishment of the logo and colours, the present one looks a bit dated.

Perhaps a virtual notice board for members to publish up and coming events in their area.

Everyone probably has several e-mail addresses already so yet another is unnecessary.

If you haven't time, or inclination to respond to messages or e-mails to yourself, it would seem pointless to have that facility.

Apart from all the above, I too, find it a very nice site with lots of interesting people, especially in the forums, very thought provoking.

Now, if you could only make the new logo a picture of Sammie's boobies, my cup would runneth over.;) How else am I going to get to see them? ;):bigrin:

[Something Else]

First off Drew...thanks for having a website like yours and making it accessible to anyone that wants to view it or participate in it.

Truly a great thing that you've done to allow for like-minded individuals to find a 'corner' within the intrawebz to share, discuss and/or get feedback on very personal private matters of the heart.

Now with your question on what new feature I would most like to see on here...

Well, I am a lurker mainly and reader of the forums. I think they're great and varied; so, no real changes there.

What I would like modified deals with the personal profiles.

I have seen this on another site where people can create profiles that are only viewable to 'certain' members of the site. They're not made public for all to see, unless the user elects to do so. They can have a 'generic' avatar pic up; however, for personal profiles they can have more detailed specific information that is exclusive to the Bisexual.com community.

For example: [how out are you? to no one...to close friends...to family...to lover...to coworkers...to community/everyone]

What could be the standard for having that? That would be the subjective part.

I saw on another site an arbitrary forum post number [let's say 100 posts on Bisexual.com] was needed before any viewer can access people's personal profiles to learn who and what they're all about.

That would allow for people to know and get a feel about members on this site - as they could read their post history and learn their views on various subject matters; as well it could increase the amount of message board activity & traffic.

That of course could be a good thing or bad thing. Having quality posts is always better than voluminous posts, obviously. So a moderator would be essential if traffic did kick up.

This is something to consider as you create the updated version of Bisexual.com. I think it would be a welcomed feature that would increase interaction & privacy, simultaneously.

:2cents::)

Oh this just came to me...

Add a +1 [like Google+] or an I Like [that facebook uses] for posters that ADD something to the community!

It would be a way to know who has positive & wise posts to contribute. Of course you could use a different wording or simply a gold star ;)

That said, PLEASE don't add a, converse, NEGATIVE metric...that could open an entirely different kind of energy - mostly negative one which this site doesn't need to entice.

The plus or likes...would inspire others to be more empathetic and compassionate when reading replies or posts - if that wasn't innately their intention to begin with.

[sparkster86]

I would like to be able to narrow the personal ads search down by location more. For New York, for example, there are two choices, New York City area, and the rest of the state. That allows me to get results of people that are hundreds of miles away, and with gas the way it is these days, that can make for one expensive trip. Other than that, this is a great site, greatly appreciate that it is free.

[sdnaustin]

I would like to be able to narrow the personal ads search down by location more. For New York, for example, there are two choices, New York City area, and the rest of the state. That allows me to get results of people that are hundreds of miles away, and with gas the way it is these days, that can make for one expensive trip. Other than that, this is a great site, greatly appreciate that it is free.

I agree with this...Texas is huge, and ads say they are in my area, and they live 400 miles away.

[Alloiledup]

I would like to see more detailed profiling which would facilitate into refining the search if you're out to meet some new people. This would be something like what I am looking for and what others are looking for and kinda you can search by criteria. Are you seeking male only? female only? 3some? 4some? sex? on-going friend with benefits? chat only? friends only? Are you into kissing, oral sex or others? How about kink and a little walk on the wild side? Or are you vanilla? Or are you dominant? Submissive? Seeking a male top? male bottom? etc etc. More detailed profiling of who you are and what you're looking for to facilitate search and matches. Search by more refined location is great too. It's not all about sex of course. This is such a great site that it's beyond just sex. It's so educational but I would love to see more detailed profiling that would enhance search and matches of who you are and what you're looking for. Of course the success of this would depend on the participants filling out more detailed questionairre, so is it something that is worth pursuing as an enhancement? I dont have the answer. It does depend on the participants and their willingness to fill out more detailed profiles. Any thoughts anyone? :tong:

[12voltman59]

A few responses relating to the suggestions of others----Definitely---do not "restrict" this site to anyone sort or another--that is a hard thing to do----I do think that this site is clearly a "bisexual" one---since even we as those who call ourselves "bisexual"---we have our own individual meanings for that and how bisexuality plays out in our lives---this site has clearly been a good thing for those who are "bisexual curious" and for those who are hetero as well---with many heteros who come here have a partner who has declared him or herself as "bisexual" and is exploring that---with those partners having their own "journey of discovery" of bisexuality as a result.

In regards to moderating the chat and forum boards--I say the only real reason we might need moderators----is to simply stop people from nastily flaming one another and to limit the negative aspects of "trolls."

There should be no restrictions or limits on discussions of sexual matters, politics, religion, etc in terms of the subject at hand---what should and could be "controlled' is that people do keep the conversation---CIVIL--and if not--then get a slap to the wrist.

Another feature relating to the tech side I would like to see---some way to track back those we have either chatted (particularly via IM) with on them on the live chat board, the forum boards and those who have checked out our profile. There have been many instances that I have chatted with someone but I didn't quite catch their name and such---but I might want to contact again later---but there is no way to get back to them. On several other sites I go to---as long as someone has checked out your profile---you know who they are and can check out theirs in return---I really wished we had that capability in some fashion.

That is all for now--I am sure I can and will think of more things later.

Do keep the suggestions, coming ya'all!!!

[Alloiledup]

Oh 12voltman59, I like what you suggested there. I also second the feature of knowing who has viewed your profile and checked you out. While it doesn't mean the one that checked you out would end up being someone you will be interacting with, it's kinda nice to know who did check you out, cause I would likely want to check that person out too. :)

[Brian]

Thanks again for all the suggestions folks. Keep 'em coming. I have been going through them all and putting docs together for the programmer/designer.

About better location indicators and searches for the personal ads; I've been giving it a lot of thought... if we weren't a bisexual site the best way to do it would be to have a person put a marker on a map to indicate their location and then have a search radius/range for those searching the personal ads. But I am concerned that such a system could be used by a kook, or someone with other character flaws, to nail down your location. Because we are a bisexual site our members are FAR more privacy conscious than most people on the net.

So I think we are going to stick to designated areas that you select from. But I am going to tweak the areas, as suggested by many of you, hopefully to be more useful.

I am open to more suggestions, particularly regarding "the location challenge", including specific suggestions to break down the locations differently. I think I am going to break down the UK as suggested by darkeyes. And I think I am going to break out the following cities from their states/areas:
Portland area from rest of Oregon
Seattle area from rest of Washington
Atlanta area from rest of Georgia
Calgary and Edmonton from rest of Alberta
Toronto (GTA) and Ottawa from rest of Southern Ontario
Victoria and Van Island from rest of BC.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

- Drew :paw:

[Brian]

I might suggest as well----revamping the overall look of the site with new font styles, graphics and such to make it look "Fresher, Crisper, More Up-to-Date" and such. It is looking a bit "dated"


That is so near the top of the list. :cool:

- Drew :paw:

[hydropop]

Hey Drew not sure if anyone else sugested , but would it be possible for video chat?

[Brian]

Not having to sign in again to post to a thread, after having already signed in.

Does anyone else experience this? I have never experienced or heard of this before.

@hydropop, I'll see what I can do about video chat.

[darkeyes]

Does anyone else experience this? I have never experienced or heard of this before.

@hydropop, I'll see what I can do about video chat.

Frequently.... very irksome... :(

[littlerayofsunshine]

Does anyone else experience this? I have never experienced or heard of this before.

@hydropop, I'll see what I can do about video chat.


It does happen if someone doesn't check the Remember me/keep me signed in box. There is an inactivity log off time of roughly 10-20 mins of inactivity if I'm not mistaken. When you are typing a pvt message or forum response the site can't sense key strokes, but only mouse movement/clicks unless you are in chat. I can't say this is completely factual, but more of an long term observation.

Having an inactive time log off time is a good tool to have, It keeps some weight off the site servers and a more accurate traffic count I would presume. So a smoother operation for most people. Extending the auto log off to 30 min might solve most of the complaints.

I know hosting video chat is a drain on resources, can be expensive, requires regular maintenance. So is there a possibility we could still remain a "free" website or would support revenue be used to maintain video chat features?

Sort of like how most IM messengers use cam, with little ads running at the bottom.

I'm not so sure I would use the video feature. I have skype and it gives pretty good video and audio quality, since its peer to peer, and seems less susceptible to server/website lag.

[darkeyes]

It does happen if someone doesn't check the Remember me/keep me signed in box. There is an inactivity log off time of roughly 10-20 mins of inactivity if I'm not mistaken. When you are typing a pvt message or forum response the site can't sense key strokes, but only mouse movement/clicks unless you are in chat. I can't say this is completely factual, but more of an long term observation.



The Remember Me box is always ticked me luffly lil tidgie fluffer.. but it still happens.. some days moren othas.. maybe the tidgies just not bein fluffed enuff:tong:.... an the time seems 2 vary from day time... the time b4 cut off not the fluffin in case yas wondrin....;)

Mind u... she of the fluffin hands... Kate an I usually use browser In Pvte facilities for naughty disreputable places such as .com...cos of the kids who also use our computers an are a rite paira nosey lil cows even wen they r not sposed 2... ya reckon that wud nullify the Remember Me tick? Cud well be... mite try a lil experiment...:)

[1bimmwis]

I would love to see r-rated icons available for chat and avatars.

[baachus]

This is probably too complicated to program but how about allowing users to customize their own 'homepage' once they sign in. Allow for setting up categories for the forum and how many new posts of each to display. They can organize buddy lists (link to each's latest post), search criteria, etc. For guests or people who haven't logged yet the standard display as it is now appears. Guessing setting that up would take quite a bit of work and server space but I thought I would mention it.

[BiDaveDtown]

Drew,

Had another thought -

Have you been over to fetlife.com? https://fetlife.com

It's more towards the leather crowd, but it does have some nice features.

Also it allows for donations to help pay for the running of the site.

With those donations you get "extra" features. But the basic features are accessible for free. In addition there is a bit more advertising, but not too intrusive. Its like facebook for kinky people.

So you might check that out, too.

This is a horrible idea.

People are not going to stay here, or join this site if it becomes a pay site and this site should remain free like it is.

I've been on Fetlife and I'm not impressed. I was into BDSM and kink decades ago before the internet and there actually was a leather community then unlike today.

There are tons of poseurs on Fetlife who are not even into kink, leather, or BDSM at all and want to pretend that completely vanilla sex acts are somehow "fetishes" or actual "kinks" when they're not.

[Diva667]

Didnt say pay site, said donations for extra features. Like say video chat . You can't get something for nothing...

[Darkside2009]

Regarding the matter of privacy, I read a previous post in the archive regarding typing the nickname or screen-name of a person into Google search and it would come up with whatever they had posted to the forum/s.

I tried this, using my own screen-name and sure enough up popped one of the previous conversations I had had in one of the forums. Some might find this a useful feature but I personally found it a little intrusive, I expected a little more privacy in conversations I was having with my peers. It seemed too much like eavesdropping for my taste.

There are some on here, who might not wish their sexual orientation to be as freely known, or their posting history to be so freely available to colleagues, family, employers etc.

I feel as though Big Brother is watching me, not exactly a comfortable feeling.

As regards the other problem I'm experiencing, I sign in, read the forums that interest me, click to post, have to sign in again, write post, click to send then have to sign in yet again. Very irritating, some days it has me close to chewing the furniture.lol

[12voltman59]

I have a great request----this goes for the chat room----having either some sort of visual signal that you can turn on or off saying you accept or deny IMs--or conversely----having it so that you can elect to get them or not and when a person tries to send you an IM if you have things set to deny them--they get a message indicating that you are not accepting unsolicited IMs and suggesting they ask you in public if you wish to IM with them with this feature being independent of setting them on "Ignore" status or not.

People who do unsolicited IMs just seem to do them, not paying attention to whether we say in our profiles or not that we will accept or deny them---their either don't care what you say in that regard or haven't read that in your profile.

[jj671]

i would love to be able to search personal ads by distance from me. (not state).
thank you.

[sparkster86]

I am open to more suggestions, particularly regarding "the location challenge", including specific suggestions to break down the locations differently. I think I am going to break down the UK as suggested by darkeyes. And I think I am going to break out the following cities from their states/areas:
Portland area from rest of Oregon
Seattle area from rest of Washington
Atlanta area from rest of Georgia
Calgary and Edmonton from rest of Alberta
Toronto (GTA) and Ottawa from rest of Southern Ontario
Victoria and Van Island from rest of BC.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

- Drew :paw:

One way is to narrow it by county, that is still a more than large enough area for people to maintain discretion. I myself prefer a certain level of discretion and would never expect someone or the website to post actual addresses, just a rough proximity.

[Brian]

i would love to be able to search personal ads by distance from me. (not state).
thank you.

Here's my concern with that... you guys can tell me if I am being overly silly: I am worried that an evil user could keep changing their location and see if you ad appears in the search results. Doing this over and over would essentially allow them to "triangulate" your exact location.

Am I being paranoid?

So many of our members are in the closet, partly or deeply. So dividing things up into logical geographic areas (roughly the size that people are willing to drive, so a major city, or a state/region) seems like the next best alternative to specifying exact locations.

ps. Assuming we keep doing it by areas, we are going to change it so people can search multiple areas at the same time as suggested by a few of you.

- Drew :paw:

[ChiFunGuy]

For larger cities like Chicagoland it would be good to have some geo breakout too. Even north, northwest, west, southwest & south leaves a lot of miles to be covered. From the people I've talked to, almost everyone gives a city that is "close" to them - not the actual city they live in until they've met so that helps with that privacy issue. Maybe a "close to" zip code box?

[Long Duck Dong]

Here's my concern with that... you guys can tell me if I am being overly silly: I am worried that an evil user could keep changing their location and see if you ad appears in the search results. Doing this over and over would essentially allow them to "triangulate" your exact location.

Am I being paranoid?

So many of our members are in the closet, partly or deeply. So dividing things up into logical geographic areas (roughly the size that people are willing to drive, so a major city, or a state/region) seems like the next best alternative to specifying exact locations.

ps. Assuming we keep doing it by areas, we are going to change it so people can search multiple areas at the same time as suggested by a few of you.

- Drew :paw:

its common sense thinking.... lol.....

the trouble with being closeted is that people need to be discreet but at the same time, want to be as visible as possible to people so they can hook up..... its a catch 22 situation.....

the same with out people that want to hook up, they want to be as visible as possible so they can hook up......

the onus on keeping ourselves safe, rests on our shoulders, not yours, drew..... cos it makes no different if we are listed by country, state, county or street number, the moment we open ourselves up, it becomes our responsibility and our risk......

[Wolf_Sr]

Hi Drew,
I think you got already many things to review, so my modest comments are that moderation is OK but shall not become censoring. The strongest feature is the Forum which is really great as it is but in fact better people search mechanism would be wonderful. Lots of North Americans, British but I wonder being this such a nice site why it has not become more popular within the rest of Europe and Americas, at least? Possibly the language barrier I guess. Last but not least, I very much miss the "Choices, the erotic bi comic" which is no longer updated... I always found it... let'us say, inspiring...
Hugs
Wolf

[**Peg**]

Regarding the matter of privacy, I read a previous post in the archive regarding typing the nickname or screen-name of a person into Google search and it would come up with whatever they had posted to the forum/s.

I tried this, using my own screen-name and sure enough up popped one of the previous conversations I had had in one of the forums. Some might find this a useful feature but I personally found it a little intrusive, I expected a little more privacy in conversations I was having with my peers. It seemed too much like eavesdropping for my taste.

There are some on here, who might not wish their sexual orientation to be as freely known, or their posting history to be so freely available to colleagues, family, employers etc.

I feel as though Big Brother is watching me, not exactly a comfortable feeling.

As regards the other problem I'm experiencing, I sign in, read the forums that interest me, click to post, have to sign in again, write post, click to send then have to sign in yet again. Very irritating, some days it has me close to chewing the furniture.lol


interesting... I googled my name as both Peg and **Peg** and received no google results (didn't find anything for yours either) ! wonder what's going on? could you provide us with an URL for your google search result for your name? I tried different variations...with zero results.

as for having to sign in again... click 'remember me' when you first log into the site and make sure you have allowed the cookie for "main.bisexual.com".

Peg

[**Peg**]

Here's my concern with that... you guys can tell me if I am being overly silly: I am worried that an evil user could keep changing their location and see if you ad appears in the search results. Doing this over and over would essentially allow them to "triangulate" your exact location.

Am I being paranoid?

- Drew :paw:


silly? nah
paranoid? nope... wise !
keener than the average bear? probably ! :tong:

I would never have thought of doing such a thing to narrow down someone's location; I just don't care that much LOL.

[**Peg**]

Does anyone else experience this? I have never experienced or heard of this before.

@hydropop, I'll see what I can do about video chat.

Drew, it WILL happen if one hasn't allowed a cookie for "main.bisexual.com" AND clicked 'remember me' when logging in.

both must be done.

[baachus]

Regarding the matter of privacy, I read a previous post in the archive regarding typing the nickname or screen-name of a person into Google search and it would come up with whatever they had posted to the forum/s.

I tried this, using my own screen-name and sure enough up popped one of the previous conversations I had had in one of the forums. Some might find this a useful feature but I personally found it a little intrusive, I expected a little more privacy in conversations I was having with my peers. It seemed too much like eavesdropping for my taste.

There are some on here, who might not wish their sexual orientation to be as freely known, or their posting history to be so freely available to colleagues, family, employers etc.

I feel as though Big Brother is watching me, not exactly a comfortable feeling.

As regards the other problem I'm experiencing, I sign in, read the forums that interest me, click to post, have to sign in again, write post, click to send then have to sign in yet again. Very irritating, some days it has me close to chewing the furniture.lol

My understanding is this: The forums are open to the public. 'Guests' can read any and all threads without having to sign in. Therefore, the forums are available to search engines. Signing in only gives you the ability to post, it doesn't give privacy. The chatrooms are different because 'guests' cannot read them.

[newporter4u]

How about an age range for the search?

Not to offend anyone but when I use the search I would prefer to see those around my age bracket and I'm sure they don't necessarily want to see me in their search.

[mnTIMIDguy]

how about the ability to control the text size & font type as a reader, i.e., no matter what someone else sends, I can upsize it to my liking.

[bisocialnudist]

Drew you have done a fabulous Job with this site and for the most part it works really well. Changes I would like to see, The personal ads are great for those who are looking , lucky for me I;m not looking at the moment but I would like the option of traditional profile where we can tell a bit about ourselves.

I also like the idea of sub messages boards, of course we can always take what we can use and leave behind the rest but for example "Should I come out to my wife? is a very different topic and tone than tell us your favorite penis story.

Thanks again for a great site,
Mark

[rjr1227]

Drew, i would love to see video chat, that could be fun. Also maybe a way to delete partner from profile. I am now divorced, and cant get her off my profile.
Thank you for a fun place to come and be ourselves.

[IllinoisGuy]

...when you sign in here (on the Home Page), be sure to click 'remember me' and you won't get booted out on a timeout. I'm pretty sure that's the reason you have to log back in again.

I do leave it checked and I still get the timeout issue. The only time it stays open(doesn't time out) for me is if I go into chat. As long as the chat window is open, it will keep me on for hours.

[sdf123]

I think we need some upgrades to the chat rooms and profiles like being able to choose more fonts, more colors, more sizes, more pics....:flag4:

[goldenfinger]

Making "Quote"easier to use. I'm having a hard time selecting just part of a post as a quote, and not the whole post. Info on how to use it would be nice.

[hot-bottom]

Maybe allow us to make comments on people's pictures, kind of llike facebook does?

[Alloiledup]

I haven't read all 90 postings. I am wondering though that of course enhancements are great BUT would it come with a price? Would this site still be free? Enquiring mind wants to know. :bigrin:

[goldenfinger]

Maybe allow us to make comments on people's pictures, kind of llike facebook does?

Don't you have to over 18 to join here.:bigrin:

[friendlyfun18]

Thanks for the site!

My suggestions:

The possibility to

search in profiles description, not just the forums.
search profiles according to distance rather than state or province
search according to type wanted (search for a couple looking for a guy and not a couple looking for a women).

Dont spread the forums topics in a zillion categories...

A little change is better than too much...

:)

[BiCplAz]

Able to have more pictures on your site.

[Bicuriousity]

Setting up chat so it can be accessed on ipads. I know that would require a total revamp of the chat software, but it sure is nice to read this on ipads.

[uounkhkl]

Pictures section.
Videos section.

We can show more !

Something like:
www.ourhotwives.org
You can see only few topics.

All topics only for register user (free)

[12voltman59]

It would be cool if we could make our profile pages like you can have them on sites like FaceBook and MySpace with different skins or whatever they are called so each has a personalized look that reflects our interests---with us being able to post up photos, vids, blogs, a music play list etc on them and sorta make each of our profiles be our starting place on the site and from there--go to posting up on the forum boards, go to chat, etc.

That is probably a lot of change and its probably too late in the game to make that a possibility now, but this all just came to me this morning since I saw that someone had brought this thread back up again with new postings.

[othercat]

edit replies. iv seen other sites with similar format that offer "edit" as an option for repies

[p7va60]

this might have been said ,but i would like to know who viewed my profile ,,,an maybe a wink to show they where intererested ..an of course the im and cam would be nice ..again thanks for the site ..hope it stays free or at least at a minmal cost

[rjr1227]

I may like to see some games here, or..being im now divorced, i no longer want the X's info here, so it would be nice to be able to get rid of her stuff.
Another fun item would be video chat, or like on another site, where we can see them even tho i,we dont have a cam.
Another item,if possible to do, is to block some PMs, like a memo would come up, have you asked to PM b4 just doing it... I dont mind some ppl just PM me, but other ppl just do it w/out even asking...99.9% of the time i always ask...as well as majority of other users, but when you get "newbies" here, they dont know the "common etiquite rules"
Other than that, i think all is good...

[Moonlight_BHI]

Another thing that would be nice to add on here is a notes thing. Where you can write yourself notes about important things you might need to do on the site.

[bigregory]

video chat:bigrin:

[TrimBeardHairyBod]

Before you even consider the inclusion of new features for the site, may I respectfully urge you to look at the management of the existing ones.

On the Local Events page for the London area, details of one-off events in 2010 still appear.

There are eight articles in the News Archive section, two posted in 2006 and six in 2007. And that's it. Has nothing newsworthy happened in the bi community over the past four years?

The first impression of a newcomer who had got no further than the homepage could well be that the site suffers from general neglect. They might well proceed no further and in so doing miss out on all the good things the site has to offer.

Something to think about....

[Brian]

Before you even consider the inclusion of new features for the site, may I respectfully urge you to look at the management of the existing ones.

...

The first impression of a newcomer who had got no further than the homepage could well be that the site suffers from general neglect. They might well proceed no further and in so doing miss out on all the good things the site has to offer.

Something to think about....

I hear ya. We are fixing all those bugs and updating everything. Bisexual.com has been my neglected child the last several years. Everything is going to be brought up to date and the site is going to get the love and attention it has been deserving for a while now. :)

- Drew :paw:

[cliffordmontero]

The site updating is great to hear . . . I found this site on accident . . . and have floated in and out since becoming a member. The biggest thing I would like to see is the forums broken down a bit to make things more categorized (ie. separating things like womens, mens, and trans into individual categories, sexual and social discussions separated, I could go on about categories, but they are endless). Local chat rooms would be nice. There are lots of other updates I would like to see . . . but most have already been mentioned by people far more eloquent than me.

[Spaka69]

Tried to read all the replies but didn't see this change. Members being able to change their status from a couple to single. Deleting accounts would be also nice, for most people just leaving isn't good enough. Some people use the same user name for multiple accounts for simplicity and it should be their choice to delete their account. Out of approx. 109486 members seems only a handful are actually active and even fewer dominate the forums.

[**Peg**]

Drew, do you plan on taking the site down to do the changes? If so, would you notify us prior to doing so? Or do you plan to do them in downtime, or on the fly? curious minds want to know.

thanks
Peg

[Brian]

Tried to read all the replies but didn't see this change. Members being able to change their status from a couple to single. Deleting accounts would be also nice, for most people just leaving isn't good enough. Some people use the same user name for multiple accounts for simplicity and it should be their choice to delete their account. Out of approx. 109486 members seems only a handful are actually active and even fewer dominate the forums. Members will be able to change their gender/status, and also change their username (with some restrictions); so from "NYCBiCouple" to say "NYCBiMale" for example; or "NYCBiCouple" to "SyracuseBiCouple" as another example.

[Brian]

Drew, do you plan on taking the site down to do the changes? If so, would you notify us prior to doing so? Or do you plan to do them in downtime, or on the fly? curious minds want to know.

thanks
PegThe downtime should not be long and there should be friendly messages to that effect when it is down, so you know it is a not a connection problem or anything like that.

[**Peg**]

The downtime should not be long and there should be friendly messages to that effect when it is down, so you know it is a not a connection problem or anything like that.

yay ... as a fellow Canuck, I always thought you were a friendly sort :bigrin:

[41 6c 79]

Someone mentioned IP banning.

I don't know about the rest of the world but in the UK, most people have a dynamic IP making IP banning ineffective, pointless and bad form.

I occasionally go to sites where I am not banned or I have never been to the site and my IP is blocked. Annoying yes but it takes only a few seconds to get a new IP.