Hey Rudi,
With :
- The badging system first beta basically working and in the testing phase; and
- The meta data and HTML5 issues greatly improved resulting in our "unix" keyword search back on page 1 (was #5, #6 when I checked recently depending on various browsers, but is between #6 and #9 in the normal SERP ups-and-downs), and
- Countless other forum improvement done using Bootstrap and jQuery, things are going well for the site upgrades.
One of my highest current priorities is to get the "Thank You" button in posts working on mobile. This is a high priority for me. But I am a bit "mentally drained" (or perhaps bored) from all the constant coding, so this upgrade might not be immediate as I have to do some other things in life too (surprise).
However, I agree that adding a "Search By Year" function to the "Advanced Search" form would be useful; but I am sure you can certainly understand the number of users who have so many posts (like you and a few others including me) and a need to search by year for their old posts, is very small compared to the users who could benefit from "Thanks On Mobile" and a few other small upgrade projects; so I have to prioritize. However, I will add that feature you requested in the future, just not now.
Regarding the badging system, I am going to delay calling for comments and let the beta run for a while; and then call for comments later for a number of reasons.
- First, I've been coding so much for the badging system that I will not enjoy "Coding For Comments" at this time.
- Second, it is best to let the system run for a while and people to get a feel for it; versus just "immediate feelings or reactions" which are not actionable.
- Third, as everyone here knows, I prefer solutions rather than comments. If someone comments "I don't like the color scheme of the **** badges" and do not offer an alternative, I am not really not impressed or interested in those kinds of "complaints without a potential solution" comments.
Ravinder says his co-workers love the new system and many have commented "wow" this is one of the best badging systems they have seen, especially on forums. I'm not so excited by either praise or criticism. I just keep working and moving forward, step-by-step.
In closing, this is a technology forum with technical people, so we all should prefer designs and solutions (actionable comments), not opinions without solutions. This is how I was trained by the top brass I used to consult for in the military; and so they always said "bring me solutions, not problems". This is how I think and how I work. I am interested in solutions, not problems. I prefer, or at least hope, even super amazing
awk and
ksh experts will learn new web development technologies (like Javascript). We should always be learning new things, even when we are expert or very experienced in many things, never stop learning.
It's important to "Keep the Mind of the Beginner" ...which is actually the core of Zen thinking. "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"
Cheers and Thanks.
