As you may have noticed, we've been sprucing up the site a bit. Among other things, we've added new ways to upload photos and email notifications of post replies. We are still cleaning out cobwebs and weeding some areas of the site, but we are also working on some bigger projects like a better search engine (yay!) and a mobile app. We'd also like to get some feedback from you. What enhancements or additions would you like to see? What do you love? What do you hate? Think big and small!

We can't promise the moon, but please know that we will read and consider every one of your ideas and suggestions. We appreciate your loyalty and dedication to our site and we know how important your community is to you. Help us make it even better!

Please use this post to offer your feedback. But, as always, you are welcome to contact me directly by clicking on my profile page.

Best regards,

Tamara Amey
GardenWeb Community Manager

*Ability to add multiple images to the same post.

*Straightforward formatting buttons (italics, bold, etc.) instead of relying on html code.

*Adding the ability to give a post a thumbs up/like and report spam for deletion.

*A set of sticky threads that cover a particular topic well so that people don't ask the same question more than once.

*A comprehensive plant/tree/shrub identification library. I know something like this exists on here, but one that has better quality and more numerous images and information in a wiki-style format that can be edited by users would be best. Let us do the dirty work. Give users the opportunity to add information about their experience with the plant as well as tips on its care. Give us the ability to flag incorrect/misleading information to be removed.

Reorganize forums -- there are far too many. Condense and organize; many forums are hardly ever used. They need to be incorporated into more general forums that are more heavily traveled. Allow users to tag their posts for display in multiple forums if the post applies to multiple topics.

Thanks!
Scott

Would be nice to know who the last follow up was by. Most other forums I post to have this functionality. Posts can have lots of responses, I don't always remember what # I am. So it would look like:
GardenWeb needs your feedback!
Posted by: gwAnnouncements none on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 15:51
3 follow-ups, last one posted on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 18:14 by the_plant_geek

Ability to edit your posts.

Ability to add multiple images to the same post.

Straightforward formatting buttons (italics, bold, etc.) instead of relying on html code

It would also be nice to be able to "watch" or "follow" a thread; I wouldn't want email notification of posts to a thread, but it would be nice to open GW and there have notification of posts added to a thread I was watching. With so many forums, this helps to keep track of what you were following on which forum.

Thank you for your efforts!
Dee

Make the location/zone information a mandatory field? And one that's very easy for a newbie to fill in. Maybe a region and zone, if people prefer to be private about their exact location.

Being able to edit posts is good. Note at bottom of post the time/date last edited.

I hope GW doesn't go overboard with enhancing the forums so that threads become cluttered with avatars, signatures, dancing emoticons, etc. They are distracting and I find it more difficult to focus on the dialogue. On top of that, they're repeated over and over with every post. Annoying!

In light of the above suggestion, perhaps GW could beef up the Member page so that a member can easily post links to their website, blogs, maybe some photos of themselves, gardens, pets, etc. if they would like to give more information about themselves.

*Ability to edit your posts (at least for a certain time period...say 30 minutes)

*Ability to add multiple images to the same post i.e using Choose File.

*Straightforward formatting buttons (italics, bold, etc.) instead of relying on html code. Yes

Most importantly for me:

* the ability to subscribe to any thread (ie email notification indicating another post has been added) even if one has not posted to it

Also recommended - quicker response to spam threads and postings. Nothing says unattended/unmoderated site more than a spam post that is allowed to stay up for days on end (to be fair, GW response time has gotten somewhat better recently).

I would prefer an edit feature and do away with the preview feature.

It would also be good to have a straightforward way to report abuse.

Tamara I stay here as GW still attracts large numbers of serious, knowledgeable gardeners but surely you recognize that these forums are quite out of date. The features requested above are the norm and have been for quite some time in most other forums.

I like the plain, uncluttered look of the posts here (that probably labels me as old-fashioned...) and hope that any extraneous stuff gets kept well away from a nice clean reading pane so you can ignore the clutter if it happens.

Spell-check would be good; 'edit' is good too, but a spell-check would fix a lot of the need to edit!

I also completely agree with this suggestion:
< Would be nice to know who the last follow up was by. Most other forums I post to have this functionality. Posts can have lots of responses, I don't always remember what # I am. So it would look like:
GardenWeb needs your feedback!
Posted by: gwAnnouncements none on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 15:51
3 follow-ups, last one posted on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 18:14 by the_plant_geek >

Ability to edit posts would be my favorite upgrade.

I HATE dancing emoticons, flashing signatures/gifts avatars etc. I hope we NEVER get them here. They give me migraines and I have had to quit several forums because of them.

As many have said, the simplicity and uncluttered look of the post pages is a welcome relief from most sites. Often one thread leads us to a similar topic or question; how do we easily move there? When we find a member whose posts provide amazing info, how do we locate his/her other writings and photos? Can simple color-coded links be used?

Lastly, the Garden Galleries section needs reorganization please! There's not even a categories list on the main page! I am a strong visual learner and I look for picture examples constantly. They are here on this site, but often buried in posts. Can there be a photo index?

Thank you for considering our ideas and imput.

You asked and we listened. Today we are very excited to be debuting our newest feature -- post editing! To use this feature, go back to the post you wish to correct and you'll find the link under the 'My Clippings' links on the right side of the page.

I want to give a special shout out to all the testers who tried to break the editing tool. ;) Your feedback was insightful and invaluable. Thank you!

You may have also noticed that we adjusted the login cookie awhile back so that you should not have to login repeatedly.

Stay tuned -- we have more cool things in the works!

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Best regards,
Tamara