A suggestion for the Who's Online list

Started by ZanaLyrander, June 11, 2013, 12:01:29 PM

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ZanaLyrander

Surely I can't be the only one who has at one point wished that in addition to displaying members only and guests only in the drop down menu for Who's Online that there was also an option to display buddies only, i.e. only people on your buddies list. It would be very helpful and probably not that difficult to implement either, I would think. Then again, I'm no programmer, I don't really know how hard it would be, but the list already differentiates between buddies and not buddies, so simply adding a setting so that anyone who isn't a buddy isn't included in the list would probably be fairly easy. Just a suggestion that I think would be useful.
My RP Ideas
To all my friends, I apologize for taking so long these days, I have been busy with work and reconnecting with an old friend, I will hopefully pick up the pace again soon.

Oreo

You're not the only one. ;) That would be handy.

She led me to safety in a forest of green, and showed my stale eyes some sights never seen.
She spins magic and moonlight in her meadows and streams, and seeks deep inside me,
and touches my dreams. - Harry Chapin

Beguile's Mistress

You can check you Buddy List from your profile page by going to the Buddy/Ignore List option under Modify.

ZanaLyrander

Quote from: Beguile's Mistress on June 11, 2013, 12:07:44 PM
You can check you Buddy List from your profile page by going to the Buddy/Ignore List option under Modify.
True, but unfortunately that doesn't tell me what they are currently up to, which is the main reason I check the Who's Online page, to see what my friends are up to and know if they are currently reading/posting in our RPs, so I can know whether to expect another post from them soon. As a result, everyone who isn't my buddy on the list tends to just be in the way, as I really don't care what they are doing right now, since I don't know them yet.
My RP Ideas
To all my friends, I apologize for taking so long these days, I have been busy with work and reconnecting with an old friend, I will hopefully pick up the pace again soon.

Oreo

Another option is to have a separate tab open and choose to list by name. You can check in by refreshing the page now and then.

She led me to safety in a forest of green, and showed my stale eyes some sights never seen.
She spins magic and moonlight in her meadows and streams, and seeks deep inside me,
and touches my dreams. - Harry Chapin

Beguile's Mistress

This is true.  If you sort alphabetically your buddies online icon will have that little circle attached to it.

ZanaLyrander

Quote from: Beguile's Mistress on June 11, 2013, 12:23:23 PM
This is true.  If you sort alphabetically your buddies online icon will have that little circle attached to it.

Yeah, though that still leaves me hunting through a frequently multi-page list to find my buddies. Which is fine, and has worked for me so far, this would just be more convenient. The current system works fine, it just has room for improvement.
My RP Ideas
To all my friends, I apologize for taking so long these days, I have been busy with work and reconnecting with an old friend, I will hopefully pick up the pace again soon.

Beguile's Mistress

Quote from: ZanaLyrander on June 11, 2013, 12:26:51 PM
Yeah, though that still leaves me hunting through a frequently multi-page list to find my buddies. Which is fine, and has worked for me so far, this would just be more convenient. The current system works fine, it just has room for improvement.

Welllllllllll...  I suppose an upgrade to the system would be usable by a few of us but how many people are really that concerned about what their writing partners are doing every minute they are online?  If I were you I'd go get more stories going so the wait between posts didn't get me antsy. ;D  More stories equals less down time.

ZanaLyrander

Quote from: Beguile's Mistress on June 11, 2013, 12:56:31 PM
Welllllllllll...  I suppose an upgrade to the system would be usable by a few of us but how many people are really that concerned about what their writing partners are doing every minute they are online?  If I were you I'd go get more stories going so the wait between posts didn't get me antsy. ;D  More stories equals less down time.

What can I say, I'm eager and curious. ^_^ like I said, probably an unnecessary suggestion, just one that would be kind of handy.
My RP Ideas
To all my friends, I apologize for taking so long these days, I have been busy with work and reconnecting with an old friend, I will hopefully pick up the pace again soon.

Ebb

#9
I would use this feature all of the time. The full "Who's Online" list is far less useful to me than a targeted "Buddies Online" list would be.

Good suggestion, Zana.

Oh, but having said that, you should probably also go post your suggestion on this thread:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=128093.0

That's a specific list of requests that people are making to Vekseid about new features for the next version of Elliquiy, which is currently in development.

Beguile's Mistress

Now, what ya gonna do when the buddies go invisible 'cause they don't wanna be watched like that?

Formless

I have no one on my buddy list even when I have a frequent contact with them ...

But BeMi said it ... What if they don't wanna be stalked. ;)

Ebb

Well, it seems to me that ship has already sailed. We have a Who's Online list that shows what everyone's up to, unless an individual chooses to turn off that information for themselves. Zana's suggestion is just about how to make it more convenient to use.

Perhaps in the interests of privacy there could be an additional setting, much like we have now for IM addresses, which only shows your current activity to your own buddies if you're so inclined?

ZanaLyrander

Well said Ebb. If the Who's Online list did not already provide information on what our buddies are up to and if there were not the ability to go invisible if one is bothered by this, I would be much more hesitant to suggest such a thing, as it would allow for, as Formless put it, stalking. However, people can already check what their buddies are doing, and their buddies can already go hidden if that bothers them, so I think the issue of privacy is a bit irrelevant to the conversation at this point. People can have privacy if they want it, and that's fine with me (several of my buddies stay hidden, and that's never bothered me before). All I'm suggesting is something that would make the existing feature of the Who's Online list more convenient. And thank you for the suggestion Ebb, I'll be sure to post on that thread you linked.
My RP Ideas
To all my friends, I apologize for taking so long these days, I have been busy with work and reconnecting with an old friend, I will hopefully pick up the pace again soon.

Elina

I sometimes look at the list not to see if my partners are posting on my threads, but just generally to see what members are reading.  I end up sometimes finding cool threads that way.  So it can be used for more than creepy stalking.  A targeted buddy list might show you what people who may share your interests are doing.  *shrugs*

And really, if the stalking is a huge concern, why have that feature enabled at all?  Does it serve a purpose other than setting what people are up to?  I mean, maybe there is staff stats stuff or something, but then staff is able to access things that are hidden from general members anyway.

shooter6806

We've had an incident where a member was being stalked by a non-member who would watch to see when she went on the site and what she was doing, and then confront her about it in RL.  I told her to go into stealth mode and she did, which stopped that, but I wish that only members could access that information. 
Youth, exuberance, and enthusiasm are no match for age, experience, and treachery.

Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.  Should be a convenience store, not a federal agency.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse.... A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Ebb

Quote from: shooter6806 on June 14, 2013, 05:47:50 AM
We've had an incident where a member was being stalked by a non-member who would watch to see when she went on the site and what she was doing, and then confront her about it in RL.  I told her to go into stealth mode and she did, which stopped that, but I wish that only members could access that information.

Well, that's pretty horrible. I'm sorry that the stalkee had to go through that.

I'd fully support the whole 'Who's Online' business to be visible only to members.