Okay, let's get this one thing out of the way: I am NOT complaining here. I'm just mentioning things I kinda wish-for in terms of what Thoughts.com could or might have available, or improve on.
Second disclaimer - I haven't explored Thoughts.com to the extent that I'm an expert on it. So, I might mention something here... and you will say to yourself... "Thoughts.Com already does or has that! This guy has no idea what he's talkin' about." So, if I mention something that Thoughts.com already 'does' or 'has', it is my own honest mistake by not fully exploring everything (or understanding everything yet.) I fully admit that I haven't taken out the time to fully explore every 'inch' of Thoughts.Com, but I have perused it for hours, and I have certainly used all the 'basic' functions that the new person would.
Final disclaimer: I generally find Thoughts.Com user-friendly, and I especially appreciate and enjoy that it's not sexually oriented, or 'set-up' like myspace or 'tween' based. I am so very appreciative of it having a bit more of a higher level of 'integrity' - such as there being SO many nice people, the great poems, interesting topics, the fellowship, and so forth. So, kudos!
With that all being said, here are some of my "wish list" things for Thoughts.Com. Please feel free to respond as you like, and tell me where I'm wrong, right, or if I simply am not aware of something.
Widgets: When I go to "widgets", it's like this weird couple of rows of things you can 'add' in terms of how your own home page looks, and what 'services' you might want. I thought widgets were like icons and stuff like that. What is up with that "widgets" thing? I don't get it. My suggestion: If Thoughts.com is going to keep it as is now - simply add a description on THAT page, explaining what its all about (what it means, what you're choosing, etc.)
Themes: Okay, maybe I'm being picky, but I really feel like a dozen or so choices for themes/backgrounds is bare-bones. Can not there be like 40 or 50? Why so few? I just find it really limiting, and I only bring it up because you can view 50 peoples 'home-pages', and you're generally going to see the SAME backgrounds (meaning, 3 or 4 of the same... over and over.) Bottom line is that having such a very limited 'back-ground' to choose from, it can be a bit boring as you go from one blogger to the next. Just my opinion.
Rating System: There are these stars for rating things. That's understandable enough.
I get that. But, what I do NOT 'get' is how a person is 'rated' in terms of their over-all blog, and how folks get into the top 100 blogs, etc. Let me put it this way - if there is a simple explanation as to how all those rating systems work, I haven't found them. So, I'm just sayin'... not very easy to find 'explanations' about certain things, such as how the ratings system works. For example... do you get 'extra points' for simply making tons of posts? Is that why I sometimes see one person with literally 45 polls that they put up in 10 minutes? Are blogger ratings mostly based on how often, and how many times, you post a blog or poll or whatever? If I post tons of short blogs, does that give me tons of bonus points? I don't get it.
Polls: I love the polls. I like to create them, and read other people's polls and 'do them'... and what I find frustrating is that you are limited to 'four choices'.... can we not have five or six? I don't think you need 10 or 20, but four seems so limited. At least, that's my opinion. I sure 'wish' there were 6 options to choose from - or better put, if I create a poll, I would love to have the option of having six potential answer choices.
Profile: This is really maybe getting a little picky... but, when you're asked for your marital status, you know... married or single, that is pretty much ALL you can click, married or single. I might be pushing it here, but why not have a few more choices? Recently Divorced? Widow? Recently Married? Single and Looking. Single and not looking. OR... how about you make it really simple: Have married, single, and then "Other:_______" Meaning, just have married, single, and an option to type in whatever fits you and your particular situation. And by NO means am I trying to make Thoughts.Com a 'dating' site. I'm just saying that to only have so very few choices, I'm confident that most people just ignore that question, or fib. If you had even just a simple "Other" with something to write in, that would be so helpful - or so I think.
Profile - again: You are asked for your actual full birthday. Wouldn't it be a little safer to let people just type in the month and year, or better yet, maybe an age group? I mean, how many people feel safe (and how many are going to be honest) in putting out their actual birthday? How about just an age range? You know, something like 6 to 18, 19 to 29, 30 to 39... and so forth. I don't know. But, I know I'm not going to put my actual birthday out there for just anyone to see. It kinda creeps me out. So, I leave it blank.
Searching: Again, this might just be me, but I have found searching for a particular topic, person, blogger, poll, whatever... VERY difficult. I usually try to search for a few times, then give up in total frustration. Is there any way to make that search option work a bit easier and understandable? I'm sure there are many folks who find the search option easy to use, but, I'm tellin' ya... I have spent many an hour trying to figure it out. (Maybe its just me, not getting it.)
Help / Search Engine: Generally speaking, I think it would be great to have a "Tips and Answers" page for new folks (and folks like me, who ain't up to par with how it all works)... a page where you can click to find answer to question such as the ones I'm listing here. I think that would be helpful. You know.... "How to search for a blogger", or "What are Widgets", and "How Ratings Work", etc. Just super-simple to the point explanations about a variety of topics. Maybe there already is a "Tips and Answers" page and I just haven't found it? I don't know. What would be super cool is to have something like a search engine for problem solving. You know... you type in a word or two, and you get 'help topics' to turn to. That would be so cool.
Final Wish: This Vegas thing... the annual Vegas 'thoughts.com' meeting. I know Vegas is 'exciting' to many people, but, it doesn't seem to 'fit' the higher caliber of how Thoughts.Com is (and its members.) Regardless of that... I personally wish it were in some other more "non-sin-city" place. You know... I mean, you have dozens of choices, and you could move them from year to year. Niagara Falls, Walt Disney World, Seattle, Atlanta, some Beach town, whatever. Why is it always Vegas?
Especially in THIS economy... I know I'm not going to Vegas (and my Aunt LIVES there.) I used to live there. If I'm going to Vegas, I'm going to go visit my Aunt who lives way far off the strip. But, until the economy picks up, how many people want to go to Vegas and throw money into slots and check out half-dressed women, get drunk, and play Keno. I don't know... sorry for being so critical. This is just one thing I completely don't get. Again, with the current economy, I can only imagine how many people won't be going to Vegas, becuase you're so limited as to things to do other than gamble.
I can think of at least a dozen other great places to have an annual get-together where there are 'fun' things to do around a certain location other than gambling. Vegas is pretty much limited to Casino Resorts. It's where you go to smoke, drink, gamble, and check people out. I mean, honestly, c'mon... I lived there, it's not like I don't know the place. It's in the middle of a desert, hot as you know what, and all you can basically do is go from one resort to another and either 'look' at these fancy mega resort casinos (or.... gamble.) Not much else there.
And I can just sorta happily imagine a bunch of Thoughts.Com folks wearing Thoughts.Com shirts while visiting a really neat place that is actually worth while visiting, seeing, taking photos, touring, etc. You know, hanging out together as a group, doing something fun. And if done right, a group or committee of Thoughts.Com folks could combine forces with Thoughts.Com staff and coordinate a total killer trip each year to very nice places, and make it something super special. If a good sized group got together, and it was planned right, you could get insanely great deals on hotels, tours, discounts into museums or whatever, etc., for places such as Disneyland, Tampa Area with the beaches, New York, Niagara Falls, Denver, Washington DC / The Capital area, Seattle, a short cruise on the open sea... or whatever. Hey, it's JUST a thought.
Here's an idea... what about having an annual poll for ALL members. Let the members choose from, say, five places? At least that way, if 'most' of the people vote for a particular place, Thoughts.com can count on maybe more people attending, since 'most' of the members voted for a particular place?
I was the President of my State Association in 2007 for a particular industry, and I led the 'Annual Conference' myself, and we thought about Vegas, and there were so many reasons so many folks came up with NOT to do Vegas. We had so many other better choices.
Since I brought THAT up, I'd like to add that if a location other than Vegas was picked, you can (we all can) save a ton of money. Lemme explain with an example: If you plan a trip to Walt Disney World during 'off-peak' season, such as in January, you're going to save about HALF of what you would have spent in the Summer. You also have less people, and less heat and humidity. Now... you can't do that with Vegas. They don't give you discounts on your gambling chips during 'off-season'... the cost to gamble or drink is always the same. So, by choosing another location, any picking a date that is either off-season or slightly-off-season, you can save a lot of money on lodging, and other expenses (flights, for example.)
Okay, well, that's it folks. Once again, due to my severe pain, I didn't sleep a wink, and I have tons to do today. Have to get in the shower, and have a couple of shots of 80 proof vodka (kidding.) These sleepless nights are slowly killing me. But, I should know about my neck surgery soon (supposed to hear from the surgeon today, actually, on what 'they' want to do with me.) Thanks for reading, and letting me express myself. If I mentioned things that are already built into Thoughts.Com - and I just missed them, or didn't figure out how or where to find it... sorry.
If I offended anyone, I certainly didn't mean to intend to. Honestly.
Happy Thursday! :) Shawn / aka NoMoreHeat aka Screaming Calmly 
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