Status for forum members: who would use/care for it?

Dear all,

       I am well aware that the TMW forum is not Skype or gChat, but, while traveling for an extended period of time, I would be happier if I had been able to change my/some "status for the TMW forum" to "Traveling until mid-September", rather than just disappearing without leaving a note.

Hence my question (before I submit something to TMW): if there was a status field in users' profiles, would you use it and/or care for it?

Best wishes,

Cedric

Answer 1

[the cyclist]

I doubt I would tend it or refer to it.

[José-Luis]

I don't think I'd use it either. While I like contributing here, I wouldn't want to report my whereabouts: even if it would be optional, it would still feel like an obligation.

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

I probably wouldn't use it much. I often still look at theo forum while traveling, just not as often. You could always add that information to your profile blurb. Sometimes it would be nice to see, for example if Walter, our most prolific contributor said why he's not contributing anymore. I've actually checked obituaries in Canada to see if I can figure out why he's seemingly dropped off the planet.

[Cedric]

Yes, I looked up for him as well, with no success. Next step is to track him using the Mapping toolbox and buffer tools, as he mentioned once that he was living 500km away from any other MATLAB user!

[Image Analyst]

Well he does have a personal, public Google Plus account that you can find, and he updates that regularly.

[Walter Roberson]

Sorry, I have been ill.

The email address in my profile is valid. Yesterday was the first time anyone wrote me to ask about my absence.

My Google+ is https://plus.google.com/u/0/101655028918118521762 . I have not discussed MATLAB there, though. As I note there,

Most of my posts are about Science (or Technology or Medicine), Science Policy, Social Justice, Economics, Gender, or whatever entertainment strikes my fancy.

I have also started to do a bit more amateur photography there that some people enjoy.

I don't do much public on Facebook other than talk to the people I grew up with.

(Image Analyst, I don't have any way to contact you other than here.)

[Sean de Wolski]

I hope you're doing better Walter!

[Walter Roberson]

My health fluctuates. Today is a better day except my RSI decided to kick in. Which is telling me I should get off the computer...

Answer 3

[Adam]

I doubt I would use it for myself, to be honest. I haven't contributed anywhere near enough for people to notice or care if I go awol for a few weeks or months so it would probably only be of value for those few who have developed a distinct reputation and areas of expertise where people might naturally look to them for answers to their questions.

I might take a look out of curiosity for the highest rep contributors to the forum, but probably not. If someone were disappearing permanently for some reason or other they would probably not think to update their status anyway.

[Image Analyst]

Well John D'Errico let us know he was leaving permanently in the newsgroup a few years ago. He even took down all his valuable File Exchange submissions. There was panic and a huge outcry - enough so that perhaps it was enough to convince him to put them back and keep contributing, if even on a reduced schedule. Walter, about a year and half ago, said he was taking a few months off but then ended up posting every now and then, and very soon came back in full force.

[Adam]

Yeah, it certainly wouldn't do any harm as an option and for those who do use it it would be useful. I can especially see its usefulness with respect to the Matlab Exchange and authors who have posted there more so than Matlab Answers.

Answer 4

[Star Strider]

I like the idea. It would be particularly useful for those who wanted to send messages, since I doubt ‘Status’ would be relevant or consulted routinely otherwise. I wouldn’t necessarily go into detail (such as ‘Traveling’) though. Simply ‘Unavailable until mid-September’ would be sufficient, and would also not state explicitly that you’ll be away from home, or for that matter any specific reason.

[John D'Errico]

Star makes a good point. I don't like the idea of telling the world that I will be away from home. Maybe it is that I'm older than the twitter/FB gen who does log their status on a moment to moment basis. But "unavailable until a date" might be ok.

[Star Strider]

Thank you!

Another possibility I thought of would simply be an ‘Activity’ field that would have the date of the person’s last post (Question, Answer, Comment). Not the same as ‘Status’ (no anticipated return date or other information) but might convey roughly the same information, and wouldn’t require any user intervention.

[Cedric]

@John - Interestingly, my rational was also motivated by the fact that I was feeling "older than the twitter/FB gen", but for another conclusion: I was feeling almost impolite to leave for two months without leaving a note to a community of MATLAB "passionates" with whom I had been interacting during months/years. Yet, I agree that the information should be limited.

Answer 5

[Daniel Shub]

Editors have access to a private email list provided by TMW. It is currently super low volume, but we could communicate absences there. It seems like a reasonable use. This would not help regular users, but might meet the needs of the editors to let others know what is up.

[Star Strider]

I never knew it existed. Where is it?

[Sean de Wolski]

Me neither :)

[Image Analyst]

I think it's actually a list server or something. I haven't tried sending to it. It's an email address so I assume if you send a message to it, it gets distributed to people on the list. Randy knows what it is Sean, if you want it, ask him. John may know too. I'm not going to put it here or we may get lots of unwanted emails being sent there.

[Daniel Shub]

The list was created 25 March 2013. The welcome message revealed our private email addresses (yes it is a pet peeve of mine) and I believe included all 1500+ rep, the old "editors" threshold, users who were not employees of TMW at that time. Presumably it has never been updated. I just sent a message to the list with a link to this question so hopefully that will spur on some action. Hopefully the list server is restricted to subscribers to the list, but I agree that posting the address publicly is not reasonable.

Answer 6

[Salaheddin Hosseinzadeh]

Hello Everyone,

What's the "TMW forum" Cedric talked about?! Is there another place where you discuss more MATLAB?!

Thanks.

[Star Strider]

This is it. (The only other option I’m aware of is the newsgroup, but I avoid Usenet.)

[Image Analyst]

Some people use stackoverflow.com but I don't.

Answer 7

[Salaheddin Hosseinzadeh]

Thanks Image Analyst.

I used to use stackoverflow for math discussions, wasn't as helpful as this website I'm afraid, maybe because math problems are more difficult!!

I like this site very much! It feels so good when one of you experts help me with my problems. Thanks everyone.

[Cedric]

Hello Salaheddin,

Cheers,

Cedric

[Salaheddin Hosseinzadeh]

Tnx Cedric