Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to have to browse a 100+ page forum thread to find relevant information? I'm sure you have. How do you find anything relevant in the nearly 800 page long CEMU thread other than the first post? Until now, this seemed like an impossible task.

But no more! Today, we are proud to introduce Featured Posts, a custom made forum add-on that we believe will help improve the quality of forum content by enabling a simple new feature. From now on, you will be able to mark relevant posts within your own threads to highlight the better content:

By the simple act of clicking this button (which is positioned next to the Like button), you will be able to build a list of posts within your own threads which will remain displayed on the first page below the first post:

Note that you can click the table headers to sort the list by number of likes, by date, or alphabetically. Every time you mark a post as Featured, the author's "Featured Posts" count will be increased by one:

When you look at someone's member card, the number of Featured Posts will be a good indicator of the quality of the content produced by this person. In addition to encouraging quality over quantity, we are convinced that this add-on will be used in a variety of manners, such as:
• Pointing out new release posts in a homebrew/translation/romhack/emulator project thread
• Marking a post as 'best answer' to a question
• Highlighting useful contributions in general
And much more... it is up to you now.

In order to prevent abuse, we have disabled this feature in the EOF and the introductions area. Moderators also have a 'Clear' button that will clear the entire list of Featured Posts in a thread if necessary. Please keep in mind that you shouldn't use this feature in opinion/debate threads to designate posts that best match your own opinion. Moreover, while you are able to mark your own posts as 'Featured' within your own threads, make sure you do this wisely and only when relevant. We will be on the lookout for abuse but if something slips past us, don't hesitate to report anything suspicious.

Thank you for being part of our community!
The staff @ GBAtemp

 

[mgrev]

Something i would like, is the ability to vote for a post to become featured.

 

[mashers]

i also don't understand why having questions get repeated is a bad thing? Not when it's isolated to one thread.

Because a question which has been asked creates an expectation of an answer, and that takes up someone's time. If 50 people all ask the same question within one thread, it has to be answered 50 times.

The noob thread is basically there so people can ask questions without having to make a new topic constantly.

That wasn't my point. If the 'noob thread' was actually a 'noob forum', then the questions could be individual posts which separated each issue into a topic with a descriptive title. That way other noobs could see more easily that the question had already been asked, and find the answer without having to post the same question again. We all know that many new users don't search for an answer to their problem, but for those that do try, I think it would be much easier to find it if it were posted as an individual thread with a descriptive title rather than buried in a single thread several hundreds of pages long.

 

[dimmidice]

Because a question which has been asked creates an expectation of an answer, and that takes up someone's time. If 50 people all ask the same question within one thread, it has to be answered 50 times.

And the problem is? the type of questions that get asked in that thread are time sensitive too. So even if page 5 has a guy answering your question that information is more than likely outdated by now, which can lead to bricks. You need updated answers. That's just the way it is.

That wasn't my point. If the 'noob thread' was actually a 'noob forum', then the questions could be individual posts which separated each issue into a topic with a descriptive title. That way other noobs could see more easily that the question had already been asked, and find the answer without having to post the same question again. We all know that many new users don't search for an answer to their problem, but for those that do try, I think it would be much easier to find it if it were posted as an individual thread with a descriptive title rather than buried in a single thread several hundreds of pages long.

The new feature isn't going to be useful for the noob thread. The best way to have your noob questions answered is to go to a live chat set up for that IMO anyway.


A noob question forum could be a good idea. But it would need heavy moderation or it'l just become absolutely useless. I can guarantee you that most posts would have titles like "URGENT HELP NEEDED" "PLS HLP ME I BRICK?" and not the descriptive titles that would actually be helpful. You see that plenty of times when people make question threads. Maybe having people fill out a checklist before posting a thread could help. E.G. "Does your problem relate to : A9LH?/Menuhax?/Browserhax?/Hardmod?" 'What firmware are you on?" "What model 3DS do you have?" etc etc. that way people answering actually get all the info they need right away and not have to ask for information before actually helping. Of course that checklist would require updating too to stay up to date. And all of that is a lot of work.

Something i would like, is the ability to vote for a post to become featured.

Hell, that or a "show most liked posts in thread" function. Then the like button becomes a bit of a vote button. Just a thought.[/QUOTE]

 

[mgrev]

Hell, that or a "show most liked posts in thread" function. Then the like button becomes a bit of a vote button. Just a thought.

yeah, something like that

 

[Davidosky99]

Hell, that or a "show most liked posts in thread" function. Then the like button becomes a bit of a vote button. Just a thought.

This should be the actual change not the "Featured posts"

 

[anhminh]

Something i would like, is the ability to vote for a post to become featured.

Or you can just quote that post and say "plz feature this".
I'm sure no one would ignore if it actually helpful.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

I agree with the people saying we should allow others to "vote" for more useful posts. Mods don't read all (probably not even most) threads, so while allowing them to feature others' posts is great, it still leaves room to be desired.

But yeah, this is a great feature. Will be really useful if I make another guide (which I doubt will happen anytime soon) and someone more knowledgeable comes by and corrects and/or adds information that I missed.

 

[mashers]

And the problem is? the type of questions that get asked in that thread are time sensitive too. So even if page 5 has a guy answering your question that information is more than likely outdated by now, which can lead to bricks. You need updated answers. That's just the way it is.

If you don't think it's a problem then that's fine. But I'm not going to spend time monitoring a thread in which I know I'll end up answering the same question over and over again.

A noob question forum could be a good idea. But it would need heavy moderation or it'l just become absolutely useless. I can guarantee you that most posts would have titles like "URGENT HELP NEEDED" "PLS HLP ME I BRICK?" and not the descriptive titles that would actually be helpful.

IMO there should be a subset of 'lite' moderators who have the ability to edit post titles. Or better yet, place the thread into a state where it is locked until the use improves the title. Some logic in the posting scripts could also catch many of those common generic titles like 'help please' and prevent them from being posted.

You see that plenty of times when people make question threads. Maybe having people fill out a checklist before posting a thread could help. E.G. "Does your problem relate to : A9LH?/Menuhax?/Browserhax?/Hardmod?" 'What firmware are you on?" "What model 3DS do you have?" etc etc. that way people answering actually get all the info they need right away and not have to ask for information before actually helping. Of course that checklist would require updating too to stay up to date. And all of that is a lot of work.

I've already done something like this:
http://itrainapp.com/temp/

It didn't attract any mod attention though.

 

[zzzzzzzzzzz]

One step closer to becoming Reddit.
Possibly another soon with people wanting voting.

 

[porkiewpyne]

Now if we could get people to actually read......

 

[dimmidice]

I've already done something like this:
http://itrainapp.com/temp/

It didn't attract any mod attention though.

Probably because as i said it'l have to be updated constantly (which it doesn't seem like it is because i'm already seeing outdated info on there).

The featured post function is going to be useful for a lot of threads i'm sure. e.g. guy releases something and then he can feature posts that fix a bug, mention crucial info, etc etc. Stuff that isn't time sensitive.

 

[migles]

you wouldn't have said that if you'd known it was me

wait... are you trying to get me to mark your post as Featured? flattery wont work!

i did a suggestion about something like this some time ago, did the idea i had, had anything with this?

https://gbatemp.net/threads/bookmark-save-replies.440774/

 

[Costello]

good to see people reacting positively and making suggestions
we'll begin like this and see how it goes surely posts that get a lot of likes can be marked as featured by mods or by the OP... and if that isn't enough then we'll see

a reddit-like system seems to me like it would change the nature of our forums too profundly... when everything you write is constantly under scrutiny, you lose a certain degree of freedom

 

[mgrev]

Probably because as i said it'l have to be updated constantly (which it doesn't seem like it is because i'm already seeing outdated info on there).

The featured post function is going to be useful for a lot of threads i'm sure. e.g. guy releases something and then he can feature posts that fix a bug, mention crucial info, etc etc. Stuff that isn't time sensitive.

uhm. why does that appear to be quoted by me?

 

[mashers]

Probably because as i said it'l have to be updated constantly (which it doesn't seem like it is because i'm already seeing outdated info on there).

The featured post function is going to be useful for a lot of threads i'm sure. e.g. guy releases something and then he can feature posts that fix a bug, mention crucial info, etc etc. Stuff that isn't time sensitive.

It hasn't been updated because I didn't bother updating it. And I didn't bother updating it because it's not being used. If it were in use on the site, then I would gladly take on responsibility for keeping it up to date.

Anyway, we're way off topic now. I think we can agree that the featured posts feature is an awesome idea in general

 

[Costello]

i did a suggestion about something like this some time ago, did the idea i had, had anything with this?

https://gbatemp.net/threads/bookmark-save-replies.440774/

sorry to disappoint... we have been working on this for several weeks
I actually had the idea myself while browsing the CEMU thread and trying to figure out which posts were important to read (which is why I keep mentioning CEMU as an example)
but I must admit your idea is quite close

 

[DinohScene]

I'd personally only let mods mark posts as featured.
I'm kinda afraid that it'll get abused by "like" trolls.

Then again, amazing feature!
It certainly does help skimming though thousands of replies in some large threads.

 

[Davidosky99]

This is a complete and utter mess.
Most of threads (in 3ds /wii u sections) are made by 1 post newcomers and those newcomers won't even bother marking as featured.
The other 20% of the demographic that even care or even participate in the community actively anymore will either up their own posts or the 5% will up ancient and old content from their own threads making it dangerous for newcomers, those same newcomers who don't even bother going to stickies , searching the forum and making just new threads and not marking useful posts.
Besides, what's the use of this of it being public in everyone's profile if this community is enormous and diverse in terms of sections?
This idea is just plain bad.
(Also, don't forget "like" dupes and trolls!)

 

[BurningDesire]

I like it it's just... I'm not a fan of the big blue border around post. Is there a more minimal way can do it?

 

[Deleted member 333767]

Yay, no more scrolling through pages and pages of 12 year olds with anime avatars arguing when trying to look for a solution to a problem