Discussion:New Discussion Forum Features

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Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> New Discussion Forum Features

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

16 March 2006
The TaxAlmanac Discussion Forum now has a few new features...
  • You can now sort by any column in the forum index - simply click on the column title. The ability to click again to reverse sort isn't there yet, but we're working on it.
  • Discussion topics that contain informational material such as this one can be marked Sticky and always displayed at the top of the list. These are now displayed in a different color (currently yellow).
  • Just added - There are now links to each poster's talk page (where you can leave them personal messages) and to their contributions page (where you can see every post/edit they have made).
  • Just added - The Last Edit column now displays in an easier-to-read format: "5 minutes ago", etc. instead of just the date.

We'd love to hear your feedback on these enhancements or your ideas for additional improvements (just reply below).

Thank you for making TaxAlmanac such a valued resource!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 20:39, 15 March 2006 (CST)

Dennis (talk|edits) said:

16 March 2006
Once upon a time I found an archived section for Tax Forum. The older discussions (2005) were fascinating and I meant to review them when I found the time. Where are they?

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

16 March 2006
The old discussions can be found on the Ask or Answer a Tax Question Archive page and contain discussions from 4/19/2005 through 11/14/2005 when this discussion forum was launched. Because of the difficulty of editing the single very long page, many questions were not answered.

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 20:55, 15 March 2006 (CST)

Piglet (talk|edits) said:

22 March 2006
I tried to do a Tax Almanac search on 'SEP' and got no results, even though SEP turns up all over the place. If I search on 'SIMPLE' I get plenty of results. How can I search the discussions for information about SEPs?

Rach (talk|edits) said:

23 March 2006
One improvement I'd like to see is the ability to edit your own post once it's been posted. Occasionally I make a post and then want to change something about it, and I'd love to be able to correct it.

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

27 March 2006
Piglet:

Unfortunately, the software that TaxAlmanac is built upon has a setting which excludes any 'word' less than 4 characters long from being included in search results. I've asked our engineers if they can change this as I'm sure not being able to find what you're looking for can be frustrating!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 13:28, 27 March 2006 (CST)

Taxea (talk|edits) said:

31 March 2006
I think you are coming along just fine...love the site and the improvements as they appear. taxea

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

31 March 2006
For those of you who were on the site just now, you may have seen the discussion forum index change appearance a few times as I adjusted the settings a bit. These changes will allow me to more easily make 'look and feel' changes in the future (such as highlighting the 'sticky' items showing at the top of the list.)

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 16:36, 31 March 2006 (CST)

Rlw (talk|edits) said:

31 March 2006
Rach wrote:
One improvement I'd like to see is the ability to edit your own post once it's been posted. Occasionally I make a post and then want to change something about it, and I'd love to be able to correct it.

Rach, the whole site is, and has always been, a Wiki. So you can go back and edit anything (not just your own posts). See the little "Edit" tab at the top of each page?

Dennis (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
I love the ability to review everything Riley2 has said. I'm not so sure I'm quite so fond of the ability to review mine. For whatever it's worth, the yellow highlight is obnoxious.

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
Yes, I agree... I added that in there for the time being to test that I had everything set up properly to distinguish between the 'sticky' items which always sort to the top and the other items. Now I need to find a color more pleasing to the eye.

Thanks for the feedback!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 18:25, 31 March 2006 (CST)

Dennis (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
if the color changed i can't tell. It certainly wasn't an improvemnet.

Dennis (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
yes. muted.

Skhyatt (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
Not sure if I like the color or not, I guess it's ok. I definitely like the idea of some method of indicating that it is a sticky. Color, icon, etc.

ScottCPA (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
is there a way to search just within this discussion board? when i use the search bar the only hits seem to be in the code and regs, etc. am i missing another search bar?

thanks - great forum! actually kind of sick thinking that i actually enjoy a discussion board such as this. Oh yeah, in about 2 weeks I'll forget about it and transfer over to my water ski forums for the next 8 months!! Then the fun begins! But seriously - YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB. I've been on my own the last 10 years after being with a CPA firm for 7. So I've missed the tax chatter with colleagues - this helps replace that.

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

1 April 2006
Yes - there is a way to search just the discussion boards, but it isn't very intuitive. I've actually been brainstorming a bit on how I can improve this, so hopefully I'll have something better soon.

In the meantime, you can do this:

  • Type in something (any nonsense term will work for this) in the search box and press enter.
  • A search display screen will be displayed. At the bottom of that screen is an advanced search.
  • Unselect all checkboxes except Discussion, and enter your real search term, then press enter.

The results will then be displayed with only the discussion forum included.

Keep in mind that the search functionality currently only returns 'words' of 4 or more characters. If you search for "IRS", "IRA", "SEP", etc., you won't get anything listed. I've asked our engineers to look into this issue.

Let me know if you have any additional questions, and we'll continue to try to make TaxAlmanac even better!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 16:13, 1 April 2006 (CST)

AJS (talk|edits) said:

13 April 2006
TDOYLE I HAVE BECOME SO MUCH ADDICTED TO THIS FORUM THAT INSTEAD OF DOING TAX RETURNS I SPEND MORE TIME HERE READING DIFFERENT TAX PROBLEMS AND SOMETIMES ANSWERING THEM.

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

13 April 2006
AJS:

Do I need to ban you from TaxAlmanac till after 4/17?  :-) All joking aside, I am happy to hear that you're enjoying the discussion forum, but please don't let your practice suffer!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 17:04, 13 April 2006 (CDT)

Inagpurwala (talk|edits) said:

14 April 2006
I am in footsteps of AJS, spending 3 to 4 hours daily on TaxAlmanac. It gives lot of good information and discussion.Inagpurwala 23:27, 13 April 2006 (CDT)

Lalva (talk|edits) said:

15 April 2006
I am checking it a lot too!

But in my case I have the free time. Unfortunately...

Natalie (talk|edits) said:

April 21, 2006
There was a discussion about separating discussion topics or something to that effect. Personally, I like being able to see all of the latest changes to the discussions at one glance. In contrast, Intuit't ProConnection discussion board separates the discussions by topic. While this might be helpful in finding a related topic, I find that I don't really use it as much because there seem to be so many subjects.

Tdoyle (talk|edits) said:

21 April 2006
Natalie:

I think you're referring to this one: Discussion:Does Anyone Out There Do Research?. You may want to read my posts there as I outlined what I am currently thinking. I think it would give people the ability to subdivide topics, but still keep the current all-in-one view as well.

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator 07:26, 21 April 2006 (CDT)

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