Replies

1. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Aug 09, 2017 05:57am | #1

   Ethan,
   Improving the function of the GBA site for smart phone users is certainly on our "to-do" list. Like all site improvements, implementation depends on available resources, which aren't infinite.

   I agree with you that the improvements you suggest are highly desirable. Thanks for your comments.

2. 
   ethan_TFGStudio | Aug 09, 2017 04:15pm | #2

   Martin, Thank you for your reply. I know that in my career it has sometimes been helpful to have some feedback from "customers" to show "the boss" to prove that you're not just making it up... here are my thoughts regarding how to make GBA more functional (or, dare I say... functional):

   I believe it is "MyGBA," or the yawning gap between what one expects to find there and what actually is there, which is the most lacking. Where it allows for the creation of projects, what it should really allow for is the tracking of comments and threads - particularly ones which one has personally posted. The fact that I can't even find my own posts, nor do I know if there may be new replies to them is unfortunate. In 2017, it is almost unconscionable that I had to search for "tapatalk" to even get back to this thread. What is needed is a reasonable threaded list of all comments made by a user, and perhaps the ability to search

   While I recommended contractortalk and tapatalk in my original post, I have since found them both somewhat lacking... so my revised recommendation is that if GBA is going to be rebuilt, it should have native mobile functionality and not rely on tapatalk to reformat for small devices.

   Another problem as far as I can tell, is the lack of subject "tagging." Every time I look for window info, for example, I use the search bar to look for "windows" and cross my fingers that the article I read last time shows up. Simple subject tagging would allow one to click on the tag "windows" and all relevant posts, blogs, comments, etc would come up.

   Another thought is that reddit-style post ranking could be beneficial... it can get ugly if there are too many egos at play, but at the same time, post ranking can be an optional sorting method which allows the top response(s) to rise to the top. Users can still sort by date if they so desire and override post ranking.

   Lastly, some revised method of displaying recent comments on the front page would really drive more traffic to the forums. The current recent comment list reads like this:

   Recent Comments

   Response to Jon R
   Martin Holladay | Aug 09, 2017 04:00 PM EDT

   Here is a link to an older
   c l | Aug 09, 2017 03:45 PM EDT

   Also note that you can get a
   Jon R | Aug 09, 2017 03:03 PM EDT

   Dana: As far as I know, Maine
   stephen sheehy | Aug 09, 2017 02:55 PM EDT

   overhang insulation
   Jon R | Aug 09, 2017 02:44 PM EDT

   Vent free means it uses your
   Alan B | Aug 09, 2017 02:22 PM EDT

   I'm sorry to be harsh, but this is absolute gibberish to any but the most avid forum users. I want so much to be an active participant, but I find it very difficult to gain entry via this list... The list on this page: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/recent-comments is better but even there the threads exist in a sort of vacuum where I can't tell the forum comments from the blog comments, and I can't figure out, which, if any, are top level posts... this means you have to go here: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/qa for new posts, and the previous link for new comments... maybe you can see why I am desperate to see a threaded view where a reader could see posts and comments together.

   OK, a minor gripe, but a real one... when you click on a "recent comment" the page is loaded already scrolled all the way down so one has to scroll up to even see what is going on...

   I could go on and on, and am not trying to be mean, just exhaustive so I can stop thinking about these things... as a grand theme of my criticism, I think the tabbed organization at GBA is outdated, as sometimes I want to comment about a product, let's say "cork," but don't know if I should comment on an old or new post, a blog post, or perhaps the product page. I am concerned that if I post in the wrong pace, it will get lost somewhere deep inside GBA and no one will see it. Again, a tagging system could improve this, so that topics would be grouped by category and not according to top down "Tabs."

   I'm happy to provide additional thoughts if it might be helpful. I am always on the fence about continuing my subscription (but end up doing it for now) because GBA has so much promise but falls short in a bunch of ways which hold it back...

3. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Aug 09, 2017 04:29pm | #3

   Ethan,
   Thanks for your detailed comments. It's very helpful feedback.