Posted on 10/03/2006 2:58:16 PM PDT by E-Mat
During the last California primary election I posted discussion threads for region relevant candidates and measures, called CA Freepers Voter Guides.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~emat/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=Freepers%20Voter%20Guide
These posts were well received by friends, family, and fellow Freepers, and they even received some modest media attention:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1653731/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1653731/posts?page=26#26
However, I noticed last time the resulting discussions would have worked better in a style similar to the state message boards (e.g.: http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/profiles?location=53 ), because with election information it is important to see the most up-to-date comments first, and Freepers need to be able to delete or amend their statements as they receive new information.
However, the disadvantages of using the existing state boards for election discussion are as follows:
1. The state boards are too broad to remain relevant for election discussion. If all California Freepers were to discuss their own counties, cities, and districts, on a single board, an individual voter would find it difficult to find information relevant to their specific locations.
2. The state boards don't allow HTML formatting and images.
3. The state board style doesn't have a header to declare and summarize the current topic
I realize that creating a custom board for every, county, city, district is impossible for FreeRepublic webmasters. But please imagine this:
When posting a normal article, I think Freepers should have the choice of selecting either a "Discussion Thread" style (default) or a "Message Board" style (optional). The message board style's original post and responses could look and work the exact same way as the discussion thread posts, except all responses would appear most recent on top and responders would be able to delete or alter their own responses.
Perhaps you should be talking with Jim about your ideas...?
I just turn my monitor over...
How do I contact him?
You might just try sending FReepmail to Jim Robinson, and ask about the feasibility of your idea.
That, or send actual email to webmaster@freerepublic.com
I pinged him for you.
I thought your posts were really helpful. no suggestions on how to better the delivery though.
Oh well.
"From Jim Robinson | 10/10/2006 6:58:28 PM PDT read
Sorry, we're not going to be able to do this.
Jim"
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