Feature Request: Regarding the job board (and echoing comments above), would it be possible to add geographical data so that we COULD only view posts in our area? I'm imagining a first level drop down list with "nationwide", "regional", "states/provinces" followed by a second level of check boxes for the country, region, or states/provinces for which the post applies.

Honestly, I've checked these posts in the past, but I don't know that I've scheduled a single job based on them. Some development in this area might be nice. Perhaps some scheduling companies might even help sponsor it.

Sub-topics: A newer feature in Facebook allows users to reply to comments directly under that comment as sort of a sub-topic. This might help clean up the forum and keep rabbit trails in their own little sub-thread. Example, LSUFan added an off-topic question in addition to the relevant feedback. If "reply" posted directly under their post in addition to the option to add a general reply at the end of the topic, then we could answer the off-top question without even quoting the poster.

Maybe it could be requested of schedulers to list the states at the bottom of the job posts. That way, people could search for their states within that forum. The thing is, a discussion forum really isn't a database and will never be one.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2015 01:27AM by TechSavvy.

I like the look of the forum, however, I had a hard time figuring out which "Quote" and "Reply" links go with which post. Ie, is it the ones at the top of the post, or the bottom? I've figured out now that it is the links at the bottom of the posts that I need to use. That is really the only problem I have had. Since we all work independently, it is nice to hear from other shoppers about work and companies that are out there.

Is it possible for posts to the Job Board to NOT be included in the 'Recent Discussions' area? These are not and can never be 'Discussions' because no one can respond to them on the board. Meanwhile they push actual discussions off the 'Recent Discussions' page very quickly.

Hi, TH - You need to contact the companies for which you did the work. Companies' turnaround times vary greatly. This is just an independent forum, not a mystery shopping provider.

@THTHTH wrote:

When do we get paid for all these shops that we do??
I've done several and have had decent scores such as 7/10 to 10/10 and still no blessings..
What is the schedule for payment..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2015 01:36PM by TechSavvy.

@Flash wrote:

Is it possible for posts to the Job Board to NOT be included in the 'Recent Discussions' area? These are not and can never be 'Discussions' because no one can respond to them on the board. Meanwhile they push actual discussions off the 'Recent Discussions' page very quickly.

I have limited time to be on the forum and when the Job Board pushes everything in the Recent Discussions area down, I get frustrated, mark all forums read and leave the forum

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2015 05:55PM by persistant123.

@persistant123, @Flash -- I just updated the recent discussions area to exclude the job board. Thank you for the suggestion!

@Tarantado -- you should now be getting notifications when you are quoted or "mentioned." Please let me know if this is not the case!

@JulieJ -- I really think there should be a much better job board. As it is now, it is not very good at all. Hopefully I'll someday find the time to give it a major upgrade.

@MsJudi -- I just implemented a feature that hopefully makes it much easier to switch between forums. Let me know what you think!

Thank you everybody for the feedback. If I haven't responded to you specifically, please know that I am paying attention and reading every message.

@JacobJ ------>Thanks for bring the HEAD topics back. Please include General Chat. I did get tried of going back to the MSF front page in order to find a different subject. The format RECENT DISCUSSION was wwwwwwwaaaaaaayyyyyy too much especially on every page. Now if you can do something about everything having to be in BLUE.(even the ads are highlighted in BLUE) and why are some posters getting their name in there post/reply a couple of times? Don't the name in the post say whom is posting?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2015 05:00AM by sojo917.

I like the new forum site. There is a bit more white space that makes a cleaner look and feel, and somehow makes posting easier.

Forum members could delete their own posts, because of the messiness that can happen when someone wants to retract a comment.

For example in the past month, someone opened a new topic, and many posters disagreed. The OP tried to back out by X-ing out, because there was no delete option.

The comments on that comment continued for weeks! It may still be there for all I know.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2015 06:26PM by Mary Smith xoxoxo.

Something is whack about the google ads. On a long thread I'm trying to read (or just now as I'm trying to type) my screen keeps auto scrolling to the bottom of the page to show me some video ad. Very annoying. this ad appears on the right side next to the navigation box below the reply box. I don't mind ads so much, know they are a necessary evil to keep the site going. But can't they appear on near the top of the page only and auto scroll? And since when did all ads become video clips? Windows IE 11.0.9600

I just clicked 'Like This' on one of Flash's post and I got this: Sorry, the message you have requested could not be found.

I'm fairly new so I'm not sure what the 'old' was like, but I do have a couple of comments for consideration:

1) The Follow Topic is overly complicated. The one next to the reply button should be just a one-click. Obviously, if I want to follow it, I want notifications, so why the extra step? Likewise, in the one that is above the reply and preview button when making a reply, also has that extra step but in a different way. You check the box and then it opens up another box and we have to check it. Again, can we simplify to a one stop process? For that matter, why have it in two places? I like the option that is next to the reply button (but without the extra step).

2) I saw your reply, but just want to add that I, too, wish the job postings could at least be regionalized. For me, they are really too cumbersome to read.

3) I constantly see the reminders for new members or perhaps those who have not posted much to not mention the MSC in connection with the client. Have you considered putting a bold reminder that would automatically appear at the top of every page or at least at the top of the 'new topic' boxes to remind people before they post about the rule? There will always be some who just do not read, of course, but I would bet some would take notice and save you and everyone else who opts to (and there are often several of those), to correct a person. Sometimes the reminders take up half the page!

4) I love to utilize the "latest" button to get the latest posts. Can we expand how many topics pop up at one time? I get tired of clicking on that 'more' button so often. We need to get away from having to click so much. :}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2015 04:16AM by Orrymain.

@JacobJ wrote:

Dear Forum Members,

thank you very much for the feedback you've provided so far! Hopefully, by this point I've squashed nearly all of the bugs that may have appeared in the new design of the forum.

Since the initial launch of the new design, I've made many changes based on your feedback.

Please give me your continued feedback here. I'm looking for bugs, annoyances, suggestions. If you don't have any specific feedback in mind, it would be wonderful for you to give me a brief description of how you typically use the forum.

Thank you very much!

I do not have any suggestions. I like what I see. I use the forum to see it on the forum before I step in it out there on the road. Experience is a wonderful thing. I have been mystery shopping as a MSPA silver since 2006. I have stepped in it quite a few times as a newbie. I share my exploits often repeating danger warnings when they come up in the conversation just in case there is a newbie that has not seen the warnings previous.

One of these days schedulers will include in their offer that a shop should not be attempted by a newbie or suburbanite unfamiliar with the urban demographic. If you drive by and see you are not dressed like the people on the street and the vehicles are not as new as yours you may want to keep driving as they know you are the mystery shopper. It would save the scheduler lots of grief replacing the flake if the flake is prevented from applying.

When it is 3 am and you had a long day you want to end the day with a smile. I hope the humor is appreciated. You say,"I've squashed nearly all of the bugs " You do not want to squash them. They leave stains! Just gather them up call a third world country and ask them how they prepare them for dinner.

Thank you Jacob J for all you do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2015 07:19AM by Piled Hip Deep, PHD.

It looks good to me! It's easier to read. I don't post often, but I do read. Great source of information.

Keep it up! )

Every time someone posts, a big blue box appears at the right that says Posting Guidelines. Part of it says, "Do not reveal the clients of mystery shopping companies."

@Orrymain wrote:

3) I constantly see the reminders for new members or perhaps those who have not posted much to not mention the MSC in connection with the client. Have you considered putting a bold reminder that would automatically appear at the top of every page or at least at the top of the 'new topic' boxes to remind people before they post about the rule? There will always be some who just do not read, of course, but I would bet some would take notice and save you and everyone else who opts to (and there are often several of those), to correct a person. Sometimes the reminders take up half the page!

4) I love to utilize the "latest" button to get the latest posts. Can we expand how many topics pop up at one time? I get tired of clicking on that 'more' button so often. We need to get away from having to click so much. :}

One feature I liked about the old format was the blue box under the top post that would say...click here "More about this topic"..

I really liked being able to see who liked my comments. Are you able to put that back up at the top of the page?

Hi Jacob. I really like your format. Thank you for all your efforts.

Just coming back to the forum after being absent due to an injury. When I got the email about the changes I did dread having to learn my way around on here again. BUT to my pleasant surprise it was very easy to navigate and catch up. The pages and layout look cleaner; easier on the eyes. And I really liked the New Member section. The only negative was that a pop up kept appearing which read that I had 2 missed emails. I was baffled why clicking on it brought me to a dating website.... Not sure if it is something built into the new forum or has to do with my web browser. Thank you JacobJ for creating such a fantastic place for us to get together. Really appreciate your continued efforts and the opportunity to leave this feedback.

Yikes! If this happens again, please send me the name of the advertiser, so I can ban them. ALSO click the 'x' on the corner of the ad. This will let you report the ad to Google, and hopefully get that advertiser banned from all of Google.

@PaulinMI wrote:

Something is whack about the google ads. On a long thread I'm trying to read (or just now as I'm trying to type) my screen keeps auto scrolling to the bottom of the page to show me some video ad. Very annoying. this ad appears on the right side next to the navigation box below the reply box. I don't mind ads so much, know they are a necessary evil to keep the site going. But can't they appear on near the top of the page only and auto scroll? And since when did all ads become video clips? Windows IE 11.0.9600

It's still there - it's over to the right.

@curiousone wrote:

One feature I liked about the old format was the blue box under the top post that would say...click here "More about this topic"..

Is it possible. . . to narrow down "mark forum read"? Often, there is a thread in a forum I want to return to when time allows. Would be nice to mark the one thread unread, much like marking an email unread, clicking through the rest.

@Mert -- that is a great idea. I think it would be neat to have a quick mark as read / unread, similar to how email works. It would take some programming, but I've added to my "idea" list of things I'd like to implement for the forum. I've also thought about having a "Star" button that highlight discussions / posts that you want to refer back to later.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2015 11:44PM by JacobJ.

@Piled Hip Deep, PHD wrote:

You say,"I've squashed nearly all of the bugs " You do not want to squash them. They leave stains! Just gather them up call a third world country and ask them how they prepare them for dinner.

I'm seriously laughing out loud here and smiling wide. That is both hilarious and true! Thanks for sharing. It may not be 3 am where I live, but I've had a long day that was good but you just made it that much better. TY!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2015 12:36AM by RockinRita03.

Thank you so much Jacob for doing such a fantastic job giving Shoppers a source to find answers to all sorts of MS problems and concerns. I'm new to your forum and still fairly new to the business and very much value the comments of "seasoned" shoppers. The forum looks great! It's really easy to read (font size is perfect), post, and follow discussions!

- It would be nice to be notified by email when we're specifically quoted or "mentioned."
- I wish there were links up at the top (kinda like drop down tabs that drop down when I hover over them) so I can more easily switch forums or potentially have one opened up in one tab and another forum open in another.
- I'd love to be able to see what types of jobs are available most often for my state/cities.
- I second AndrewTX's post and the others similar to it regarding adding geographical data. I too would love to be able to search for posts and replies by state--to see which companies are active in my state and what feedback is being submitted for my state. The same for cities. Andrew's idea for drop down menus listing "nationwide", "regional", "states/provinces" followed by a second level of check boxes.
- Also like Andrew's idea of replying directly under a post just like Facebook allows instead of just at the end of the topic.
- I suggest that posts to the Job Board NOT be included in the 'Recent Discussions' area as these are not 'Discussions' because no one can respond to them on the board.

Thanks so much Jacob for providing this great forum and your efforts for continued improvement. That's always a wonderful thing to have! Thanks to the members of this forum for all your assistance too.

Private Messages: When replying, I click on Send a PM, at the top of the message box. Clicking that does not send, it deletes my message and opens a new box for composition. The place to Send is actually at the bottom of the message box. I have typed and lost enough PMs to find it aggravating. Yes, I know I should have learned by now.

Possibly, could the tab on the top of the box be changed to Compose instead of Send?

@Mert: This just happened to me also. Ugh. Changing the wording on the top tab would indeed be helpful, since "Send a PM" and "Send PM" sound like the same action. Great idea!

(heart)

What happened to the Toggle?

Thank you, Jacob.

@Mert wrote:

Private Messages: When replying, I click on Send a PM, at the top of the message box. Clicking that does not send, it deletes my message and opens a new box for composition. The place to Send is actually at the bottom of the message box. I have typed and lost enough PMs to find it aggravating. Yes, I know I should have learned by now.

Possibly, could the tab on the top of the box be changed to Compose instead of Send?