MGMAT Forum: Recommended improvements

by **josephgreer** Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:51 pm

As a customer of Manhattan GMAT, I've found the courses and materials very helpful. However, the forum is in dire need of improvement. Having been a contributor on several other internet forums, I've tried to provide a list of requirements Manhattan GMAT would do well to implement.

1. Username must not be editable: If the user has logged in to the site, the username should automatically be populated in the post. Allowing users to edit this field allows for abuse. Verified users who have passed authentication should not be bothered with the additional effort to type their user ID in for every forum post.

2. Number of Replies should be accurate: Several posts (see post by hei under GMAT Verbal forum) show 0 replies when in fact, several replies have been made.

3. Users should have the option to be emailed when someone replies to their post: When a user who is authenticated posts an entry in a blog, they should have the option to be notified of any reply made to their post. This option could be a setting in their profile or a checkbox on their post form. How it's done is irrelevant, but it should be an option.

4. Users should be able to view a list of threads they have started: In order to quickly view all posts (questions, comments, etc.) they have created, the forum should allow them to see a list of posts they have created without having to search the forums manually.

5. Users should be able to view a list of threads they have contributed to: As with requirement 4, users should be able to view a list of threads they have responded to.

6. Users should have the option to be emailed when someone replies to a thread the user has contributed to: Similar to requirement #3, users should have an option to be notified when someone replies to a thread the user has contributed to.

7. The confirmation code should not be required for users who have already logged in successfully and have been authenticated.

8. The confirmation code should contain mixed-case letters if the confirmation code is case sensitive: As it stands, the confirmation code is case-sensitive. If the codes are always using only capital letters, this makes no sense. For ease of use, the code should be case-sensitive with mixed-case letters or not case-sensitive with all letters in the same case.

I hope these help Manhattan GMAT make their site better.

joe

by **StaceyKoprince** Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Thanks for your advice, Joe; we appreciate it! I will forward your post to our IT director. I know his department has already been working behind the scenes to implement some of your items.

by **josephgreer** Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:46 pm

I noticed you are using phpbb as your opensource forum platform.

A newer site which has put together some fantastic forum interfaces has experienced great success using the qcodo framework for php. I can put your administrator in touch with their lead architect. He's very approachable and may have some helpful insight.

I believe you have my email address from my profile. Feel free to contact me.