What new features would you like to see on MartialTalk?

[Bob Hubbard]

We're going to be doing some upgrading and expansion, and I'd like to know what everyone would like to see here.



This is a Multiple Choice poll, so you can pick all that you like, not just 1.

Thank you!

 

[arnisador]

Most of what I want is by way of stuff for navigating the site--most notably, marking things read by thread.

Better chat software might be nice!

 

[Master of Blades]

What do you mean "Private Forums"? And yeah, Chatroom software is REALLY needed......

 

[KenpoMatt]

I'd like to see an area for video files.

 

[jfarnsworth]

I would definately like to see a video file. Maybe us kenpo people then would be able to quick argueing about who does what whichway. This way we could actually see who is doing what.:asian:

 

[arnisador]

Being able to attach video clips to demonstrate what one is talking about would be helpful, but archiving them like the threads could be a memory hog.

 

[jfarnsworth]

How about just being able to keep them up for 5 or 10 days? You know something small or 2 weeks.

 

[arnisador]

I was thinking along similar lines--some sort of expiry date. We have a lot of space, but these could fill it up quickly.

 

[theletch1]

I'm all for a video post. As a student of nihon goshin aikido I don't do the japanese names for the techs. Video would be a great help to figure out what tech another aikido-ka is refering to.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Re: Private Forum
Just what it says. A group wants their own private area. We provide it. It could be semi-private, or exclusive. Password protected, etc. The new version of vb allows alot more flexibility in that area. Considering that many of the freebie forums are full of popups n other crud, not to mention the lack of features in those boards, it might be a popular idea. Worth a few bucks a year to help us expand, ya know?



Re: Video Library
Space isn't an issue right now, but I agree, in the future it might be. (MT already uses about 1GB of server space)

As I have no intent of limiting our forum to only a short time frame, we will have to plan things out right.

What I figure on doing is, putting up as much as I can, and when space gets tight, taking some of it offline with a rotating library. Of course, in the event we end up rolling in sponsorships and magazine subscriptions, I have no problem slapping an 18GB hard drive into the server just for MT's use.

 

[Chris from CT]

I'm all for the Video Library. I would be great to see how similar things are done differently fron style to style.

I also think that interviews would be a worthwhile addition to MT.

Take care.

 

[kkbb]

How about an automated beer coupon device/popup? It could pop up a coupon for free beer every one hundred posts & you could print it on your own printer!

Cool idea eh?
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm beer :drinkbeer

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by kkbb
It could pop up a coupon for free beer every one hundred posts

You're killing me!

The video library sounds like it has a lot of support!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Video files:

This is -VERY- rough draft...

http://www.martialtalk.com/videos/

I need more videos. You can e-mail me clips of yourself doing 'stuff', in .MOV, .AVI or .MPG format, up to 5MB in size. If its larger, email me first and let me know its coming. I'll email you back to say ok. This way, I expect it.

If you are sending an AVI, please indicate if it requires any fancy codecs. I would prefer no RealMedia formats.

Thank you.

(I'll be making it look better ASAP. For now, its a very basic layout).

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Interviews:
If you have a chance to conduct an interview with a senior or other notable in the arts, please send it in. A text transcript is great, and an audio MP3 or OOG format even better.


Beer Coupon:
You get 1 when you buy a MT black belt cert. Buy 2 black belts, get a sokeship free.


E-Store:
I don't personally have the connections to do it in a competative manner, however I'm working on a few alliances that will bring some high quality stuff at great prices. More on that hopefully this fall.

 

[Cruentus]

You can set it up like an E-bay for martial artists. Supply companies could post their inventory lists, or individuals can post items that they are trying to sell. "used" or "new" should be specified.

Costs:

Suppliers should have to pay a fee, depending on how many items they plan to sell in a given year. There should be no fee for the 1st 10 items, $25 Annual fee for up to 50 items, $50 fee for over 50 items. This way you make a seperation between the "little guy" who isn't a supplier, and who may only be trying to get rid of 1 or 2 items, and the "suppliers" who are profiting substancially off their merchandise, and who should be required to pay a fee for your service of bringing them business.

Then, MartialTalk Supply (or whatever you decide to call it) should get 5% for brokering the deal, with a minimum $5 per transaction, paid by the seller of the product. "A transaction" would be one ordering, not one item. So, MartialTalk wouldn't get $5 per item, which could be outragous. If someone ordered 20 items at one time from 1 supplier, it would be $5 for that one order, or 5%, whichever is higher. The seller/supplier can adjust the price accordingly if needed to cover costs.

You need to get some $$ out of setting this up, but it's a good idea. Everybody wins. MartialTalk gets $$ for it's service, Suppliers have a vehicle for selling their products, Consumers have a place to go to find products they need, and Consumers also have a vehicle to sell some of their used merchandise. The fee's I don't think are outragous for the suppliers/sellers either. So, they shouldn't trickle down to the consumer too badly.

These are just broad suggestions and ball-park figures, but...What do you think?

 

[Nightingale]

hmm...
$5 seems a little steep...

what about doing it like ebay and charge the seller like 5% of the starting price...
that way, someone ordering a $2 patch isn't gonna have to pay $7.

or, just charge a $10 annual fee per seller, payable via paypal.

you'd also have to make it so users could leave feedback in case they don't receive their items or something...

a MartialTalk Marketplace sounds like a good idea to me...

kaith?

 

[Cruentus]

Originally posted by Nightingale
hmm...
$5 seems a little steep...

what about doing it like ebay and charge the seller like 5% of the starting price...
that way, someone ordering a $2 patch isn't gonna have to pay $7.

or, just charge a $10 annual fee per seller, payable via paypal.

you'd also have to make it so users could leave feedback in case they don't receive their items or something...

a MartialTalk Marketplace sounds like a good idea to me...

kaith?

$5 steep? maybe...maybe not. There are a lot of ways to do it, I was just thinking of one off the top of my head. I did say 5% like e-bay; maybe skip the $5 minimum....

I don't know. I think the best way to do it would be to look at a model that seems to be working, such as E-bay, and figure out how it would fit into this idea. Then lay out the pro's and con's of the working model, and figure out how to alter it so it would fit into a MartialTalk Marketplace model.

It would be up to Kaith how to do it, but I think that we're on to something here. It would be a great feature for MT. And...this could be a neat little business for Kaith, possibly making him a some better change then MT is making him now, which is absolutly nothing if you consider time spent.

:asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

-If- I were to impliment something like ebay, I'd probably go the flat-rate method as it simplifies things enormously.

Heres a thought: How many folks would pay a few bucks a year for access to premium features? Maybe $20 a year gets a magazine subscription, access to the auctions, a Private 'Supporters' forum and a few other things?

Just thinking out loud.

 

[jfarnsworth]

Billable to a credit card then I would be all for it. :asian: