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How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2 (Read 290,003 times)
gdh82
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How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Oct 30th, 2005 at 9:49am
 
Dear All,

Hope this is okay to start another thread on this subject.  The previous thread... http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?board=site;action=display;num=...
... became difficult to follow and seemed to be going off topic too!

The original thread goes back to the spring of this year so I wondered what is the latest on updating this site.

I've added my comments below which re-iterate some of the points made above.

Cheers
Garry

* more integrated

For me the site feels a bit disjointed and there should be more consistency between screens, perhaps by keeping the top bar more standardised.  I think there should be a log-in window included in this top bar regardless of where you are. This hopefully would encourage more people to log in and participate.

* information centre

This, I feel, is wasted at the bottom of the forum home page.  I didn't even realise it existed for a few months!!!  This should be positioned in a standardised top bar (e.g the top left-hand corner by user-id) and should be on ALL pages of this site.  Knowing that so many guests are using the site and such and such member is logged on gives it a greater sense of being a community.

* forums

I think the presentation of the forum is better than many other forums (alernate colours for each post, clear means of quoting, various ways of highlighting text) but there's still aspects that could be improved.

View the 10 most recent posts is a very useful facility but again I feel this is wasted tucked away in the information centre.  It would be helpful if you could select his option for whichever section you're in (e.g Chat, Number Requests, Site Related etc) and get the last 10 posts within Chat, for example.

It would be good if users could list threads in several different ways (and not just accept the default date order of last reply) perhaps by number of views, number of replies etc etc.

Having a separate forum section for campaign actions sounds a really good idea and should include a diy took-kit (example lettes and emails) for challenging companies, complaining to ofcom amongst others etc

Likewise (as already mentioned) a separate section for a history of scams is another good idea

* instant messaging

Again, I didn't know this existed until recently.  Needs better highlighting (larger text, brighter colours) and perhaps should re-label this as private message

* geographic alternatives numbers

(as already mentioned) one integrated list of numbers, with unverified coloured differently sounds an excellent idea

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« Last Edit: Oct 31st, 2005 at 4:28pm by gdh82 »  

There's more of us that them, stick together and challenge 0870/0845 etc etc
 
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Dave
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #1 - Nov 2nd, 2005 at 3:25pm
 
Can't remember if this has been mentioned before, but how about a section for talking about regulation of 08x and the telephone industry in general. With the turnover of topics in the Chat section which go back a few days on the first page, I think that it's time to break up the discussion topics.

Edited:
gdh82 wrote on Nov 3rd, 2005 at 10:26am:
Yeah, I agree that the Geographical Numbers Chat is too broad a section and could be broken down into further sections...my and other suggestions so far might be along the lines . . . .

* On-Going Action and Campaigns - What You Can Do To Challenge 0870

* Regulation Of The 0870 Industry - Everything You Wanted To Know

* Previous 0870 Actions and Activities Including History of The Worst Scams Ever!

Its a difficult one because if there's too many sections then debates can become isolated but if the section is too broad then threads get lost in the quantity of other conversations.   What do others think?
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« Last Edit: Dec 25th, 2006 at 8:09pm by DaveM »  
 
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #2 - Nov 3rd, 2005 at 12:55pm
 
What about a mailing list on this site for visitors to put there email addresses onto? They wouldn't need to join and it would be as simple as entering an email address.

Edited:
gdh82 wrote on Nov 8th, 2005 at 3:22pm:
I agree having a regular newletter (quarterly? or focused on specific events like consultations?) is a good idea and would provide a means of updating people on further developments as well as on the latest activities/campaigns where partcipation may be sought.

I also suggest improving the ability to "List the last 10 posts to the forum".  Currently this is tucked away in the Information Centre on the Forum Index.  I'd strongly suggest having this Information Centre on the top (near the SayNoTo0870 logo?) of every forum screen.  It would show who is logged in, increasing the sense of a community.  It would also allow the user to select either the last 10, 20, 50, or 100 hundred posts.  This would make the forum considerably more accessible and enables the user to bring themselves up-to-date on the relevant threads with much greater ease.


Edited:
mc661 wrote on Jan 23rd, 2006 at 1:49pm:
I would agree to the Newsletter/Mailing list as long as

THERES NO ADVERTS OR 'FREE' MOBILE PHONE LINKS IN IT
.

Otherwise it would be reported to spamcop, and prob auto blocked by my mail server anyway.

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« Last Edit: Dec 25th, 2006 at 8:35pm by DaveM »  
 
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Tanllan
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #3 - Nov 8th, 2005 at 11:41pm
 
Or perhaps a "latest news" flag, because we have (OK, had until 17.00 today) five consultations running: 070, both the 084/087 ones, 101/116 and Number Portability. Now I worry that I have missed some.
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Dave
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #4 - Nov 16th, 2005 at 10:16pm
 
To avoid having to search both the database and forums (which may confuse people), an entry could be put in the database for each company with a thread which doesn't have a working/confirmed geographical number. The entry could link to the thread.

OK, so it's a big job, but popular requests would be made simpler, such as Sky and Dell.
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #5 - Dec 22nd, 2005 at 10:44am
 
I read an article recently which was American based but also had info for the UK where they described the options to bypass the automated voice menus and get to talk to a human quickly, to phone orange they ask you to enter your phone number and then you wait to speak to an (un)advisor, just enter your number 3 times incorrectly and you will be put straight through.
I have forgotten where I read the article but could this not be incorporated on this site?

Thanks
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #6 - Jan 23rd, 2006 at 11:43am
 
Hi, I've been using this site for a while.  From time to time a recommend Geographical Number gets to a message "This number has been changed - please dial 0870....."

I thought there used to be a way of reporting incorrect numbers to they can be removed (after verification perhaps) but I searched the forum without luck.

Can there be a simple mechnism  - maybe it could be automated with a button - "This number is no longer working" and, if a given number of registered, different, people click on it, the number can be automatically removed.  Might also need an internal flag "never remove this number" to allow for companies who might try to use this as a way to get their listing removed.

Nick

Edited:
trevord wrote on Jan 23rd, 2006 at 11:46pm:
A few of us discussed this earlier today in the thread, How long to verify a number.

You might like to look at the discussion there.

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« Last Edit: Dec 13th, 2006 at 11:54pm by DaveM »  
 
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #7 - Feb 14th, 2006 at 9:01pm
 
I find this site very useful and recommend to my customers

However I have tried an easy way to copy & paste the complete table of details into a Word document, but seems impossible (so manually write each down and do my own table)

I could do a print page, but then uses more memory, slower to view & shows all the adverts on the sides, which is annoying

I have a file called phone contacts, then list by name of company, so that I do not have to go online to look each time & can be printed off

Any ideas?

Andrew

Edited:
Dave wrote on Feb 14th, 2006 at 9:07pm:
See this thread which links to another couple of other threads on the same topic.
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« Last Edit: Dec 13th, 2006 at 11:58pm by DaveM »  
 
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Barbara
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #8 - Mar 22nd, 2006 at 2:27pm
 
I have been thinking about this quite a lot.   The site is fantastic and there is so much information included and many of the members are very knowledgeable.   I have sometimes found it difficult to find all the information/arguments I need when making a complaint about NGNs, sometimes I have read it and lost it, others I don't find it until later.   Would it be possible for a member/members to put together a relatively short document explaining 087x/084x numbers, how they work and why they are evil.  This could then be sent to organisations where it is obvious the people in charge of phone systems don't understand, and enable members of the forum to argue the case concisely and consistently.  It would also be available to those who wish to oppose the move to NGNs in their organisation.   For example, the local council where my husband works is moving towards some kind of customer centre, I have been nagging him about checking they will stay with a geographical number but it would be so much easier if he had a document, say 2 sides A4 max, which he could distribute giving the arguments again NGNs and their implications for customers.  

I know it would mean some work and would need updating regularly but I think it would help and increase the number of forum members who might find it easier to object and give them more confidence to do so hence increasing the numbers involved in the war on NGNs.   I know I have struggled with some of the technical aspects in particular and marshalling all the arguments in one coherent document would be an enormous help.   If those using NGNs can use formula letters, why shouldn't we use a formula document giving the reasons to oppose their use?   Could then be cirulated eg to all MPs etc.  (I appreciate this may have been tried in the past but I am a fairly new member)

What do others think?

Edited:
trevord wrote on Mar 22nd, 2006 at 9:36pm:
Barbara, I know it won't fully answer your question / proposal, but there is some explanation on this site, including pages on Details of these abuses and How scam works and History.

There are also some comments / explanations on this site and this one.

Hope these are of some help.
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« Last Edit: Dec 14th, 2006 at 12:01am by DaveM »  
 
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gdh82
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #9 - Mar 26th, 2006 at 1:32pm
 
I'd like to suggest the idea of highlighting new replies as is very usefully done on this site here: http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/

The software gives a count of new replies since you last logged in, and this applies to both forums as a whole and to each thread within a forum.  This instantly directs you to the latest and busiest discussions so keeping you up-to-date and better able to contribute.

e.g logging into this forum it would look like:

Topic                                                         Started By   Replies   Views   Last

How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870            gdh82         15
(1)
    823     gdh82 26/03


By contrast the SayNoTo0870 merely gives the overall totals.  I imagine either the forum software does this or not, but if this feature could be incorporated, it would be a considerable improvement in my opinion.

This feature is also duplicated on a user's home page on http://www.adslguide.org.uk/ where you can 'bookmark' your favourite threads (which could be across several forums).  This again enables the user to be quickly updated on both the size and time of any further discussion.
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« Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2006 at 1:33pm by gdh82 »  

There's more of us that them, stick together and challenge 0870/0845 etc etc
 
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #10 - Apr 26th, 2006 at 7:07pm
 
Have you considered offering a download of the full database? As a text file, or spreadsheet, for example. I'd imagine it is pretty small. Then I could, for example, carry it on my PDA, which would be very useful.

Edited:
Sorry KM but we have covered this request in the past.

There are already unscrupulous
persons
selling partial copies of appropriated data from the database (mostly word for word) through
eBay
, though it's not upto date. It was possible, until recently, to manipulate the data from the Aplhabetical listings to do this, but we have now stopped this feature to improve security of the data.

So I'm sorry to say that it won't be possible to offer a download of the database, full or otherwise. WYSIWYG !!  Undecided

DaveM


Edited:
evilbunny wrote on Oct 8th, 2006 at 4:56pm:
Depends if you can handle regular expressions or need to expand ranges of numbers out...

I was able to parse about 7200 rows, however if you expand this info out you end up with well over 100,000 numbers...


Edited:
trubster wrote on Dec 9th, 2006 at 8:08pm:
Why not make all numbers as "Contact Cards' so they can be put onto a pda/smartphone through outlook/activesync...

It would be so much easier and you could even put them in 'Categories' so they can be filtered from personal entries on the phone book...

Just a thought

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« Last Edit: Dec 25th, 2006 at 6:43pm by DaveM »  
 
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gdh82
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making more of consultation responses...
Reply #11 - Jun 3rd, 2006 at 2:16pm
 
This site rightly raises awareness of the numerous Ofcom consultations but I'd suggest that it could do more with the responses, which in my opinion are potentially a valuable resource which is going to waste.

Now I realise that as part of a consultation discussion thread there is always a link to Ofcom's website where responses are posted.  This is only so much help to the user and the number of responses and lack of structure of the Ofcom website can be daunting.

I'm suggesting making access to consultation responses easier and more user-friendly.  Perhaps we could have a locked thread per consultation (initially sticky allowing others time to read it) where the contents of selected responses are cut and paste.  Certain responses, including those from forum members, highlight the key concerns shared by many involved in this website.

Doing this would not only raise awareness of our shared concerns, it might encourage others to respond to future consultations or even motivate others to write/email and complain about the use of 0870 etc.

I wouldn't want this to be a too onerous a task so of course not every response would have to be included, perhaps a dozen or so, giving a balance of views.  Perhaps after a month or so, and the thread is no longer sticky, the contents of the thread could be further utilised by including a link to it from the very useful and very comprehensive Useful Information and Hot Topics thread.

What do others think?



Edited by DaveM - to improve readability -
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« Last Edit: Dec 25th, 2006 at 8:36pm by DaveM »  

There's more of us that them, stick together and challenge 0870/0845 etc etc
 
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gdh82
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Improving navigation between forums
Reply #12 - Jun 8th, 2006 at 12:44pm
 
At present to move from one forum to another (eg chat to requests) I have to go via the forum home page.

I know its only one extra click but could you add links so that you can instantly skip from one forum to another ?

So instead of having this link on the site related forum:

SAYNOTO0870.COM » General » Site Related

The following link could be duplicated across all forums:

General » Site Related » Geographical Requests » Geographical Numbers Chat » Cheap Call Providers » Freedom Of Information Responses » Bargains, Freebies and Discounts [Announcements]

(or an abbreviated version)

In my opinion this would aid navigation and bring all of the forums 'closer together' whereas right now they feel too separated...

- Edited by DaveM - to better amplify suggestion -


Edited:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a Drop Down box at the bottom of the page to assist in Forum navigation as you suggest, although I would also find it handy to have one at the top of the page.

I amended your post above to show the navigation links & amplify your suggestion better.

I have sent a PM to Daniel to request some consideration of this, either your idea (abbreviated) or putting another Drop Down box at the top of the page as well.

DaveM
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« Last Edit: Dec 11th, 2006 at 3:40pm by DaveM »  

There's more of us that them, stick together and challenge 0870/0845 etc etc
 
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #13 - Jul 3rd, 2006 at 7:08pm
 
Hi, I'm new to the site, what a cool site!  Smiley  I'm sorry if I'm repeating what's already been said, but the one thing for me that would improve the site is on the "search to find an alternative number" page (http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php), when searching for a number that is not in the database, I wish on finding that result it would tell you and take you back to the original site search screen.

What I'd prefer it didn't do is automatically take you to a google search box instead. I know how to google search (or do the google searches from your site make you money to help keep the site going?) I do most of my typing (to save my hands) with keyboard commands, and because the google search box looks so similar to the search box on the previous page, I always mistake it for being the same and try and do another search and end up with google search results. (Uh... click the 'back' button, re-click in box...).  I'd love it to return to the original search page, and offer elsewhere on the "no results" page a way of google search, but not have that as automatic box the cursor moves to.  

Hope that helps improve the site...and thanks for all the hard work! (I've added quite a few numbers myself, particularly ones that you can't even find in directories - lots of time on phone and crafty persuasion)  Wink


Edited:
Looking at this, it is simple enough to press the Back button to return to the main search page, so I'm sorry to say that it's unlikely to be classed as a priority.

Thanks for the help adding numbers, always appreciated. I hope that the revised search helps you to ensure they haven't already been added by now showing the Unverified listings as well.

DaveM
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« Last Edit: Dec 11th, 2006 at 4:17pm by DaveM »  
 
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Re: How Can We Improve SayNoTo0870 - Part2
Reply #14 - Jul 20th, 2006 at 10:59am
 
And another good one...

it would be great to have a box next to each phone number entry, that allows you to either suggest an update to the entry if there is new information, or log a problem with the entry if there is one.  With global entries (that relate to a number of numbers), it would be good to have a click box where the exceptions are listed.

Currently there seems to be no way to easily change an entry (even one that I have made) once it has been put on the site?

Edited:
We are looking at ways to report number problems at the moment & hope to have it set up soon

DaveM
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« Last Edit: Dec 11th, 2006 at 3:50pm by DaveM »  
 
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