Loomio

Advanced search with the ability to save preset streams.

J Jakob Public Seen by 127

As Diaspora grow, and I follow more and more people and hashtags the stream gets long and complicated, clogged with the same re-shares. Sometimes it would be nice to have all the anarchism and the geeky stuff out of the stream and just look at eg. the more cultural things, and I don't think that the aspect or hashtags do this alone.

I propose a kind of "advanced search" with the ability to save presets.

A lot of search parameters could be thought up, and a lot could be added along the way, also more complicated stuff like optional algorithms combining the parameters in complex ways, for example not showing re-shares that has already been shown by another person in your aspects. But basically like this: http://www.imdb.com/search/title

Examples could be:
aspects/public
hashtags
Date-from-to
number of comments
number of likes
last updated
etc.

This could be used for finding old posts, but I think it would also be very helpful if you could make your own preset streams the same way you have aspects and hashtags.

These preset streams could be available in the left bar together with aspects and hashtags, and the search page itself could, like the contacts page be called from the right corner.

I know that this is not done in a day, but in the long run we might need to have some sorting in the stream, and this would be a simple do it yourself algorithm controlled by the user and not forced upon anybody if they like the wild chronological stream.

I translate Diaspora to Danish but am not a coder.

Tried to find a duplicate but couldn't. This is a bit similar but less radical:
https://www.loomio.org/d/6SCqkjph/improve-the-search-engine

A

AlexB Sat 4 Oct 2014 12:11PM

I believe this is relevant too: https://www.loomio.org/d/R3zBvnfc/improving-and-expanding-hashtags-usability

I think implementing this is a really important feature, both in search and in the left-hand menu (i.e. what you call preset streams).

Some further thoughts:
- In search, all the parameters you list could be useful.

  • In the left-hand menu, I think all one needs is the ability to combine hashtags together (i.e. to follow posts with #france AND #politics), and the ability to combine users with hashtags (i.e. follow posts from @Jakob on #Denmark).

  • Currently, clicking on the "followed tags" label feels like being taken to a new stream, and clicking on one of your followed tags feels like being taken further to a new stream. It would be great -- as you suggest -- if when one clicks on them, they feel more like a filter on the stream than a link to a new substream. And (as in the previous bullet point) if one could have several selected at once -- so although I follow 20 tags I could get the stream to display only posts with tags #football, #vegetables, #coffee and then decide I also want to hear about #bread, but not about #football, so deselect the latter and select the former and the stream automatically reflects that. (and so on for aspects...)

Diaspora's functionality would be (even more) incredible if you could do these things.

J

Jakob Sat 4 Oct 2014 12:31PM

You are right that is indeed relevant :)

My idea was that the left-hand menu should only contain these presets - this would be close to aspects which is also managed beforehand on the contact page. In many ways it would not be much different from aspects, only it would be wildly customizable.

  • Yes, by clicking a hashtag or an aspect what you see on screen is actually a new stream. So in many ways this will not feel different from the current ui.
IGM

Ivan Gabriel Morén Sun 5 Oct 2014 7:20PM

I really love the idea of using custom streams as a central concept in diaspora. :)

A

aj Wed 8 Oct 2014 8:12AM

really like the idea of being able to build custom streams with filters and matching criteria

although check box filters for liked/commented in the activity stream (and reshares in the the post stream) would probably stand a better chance of actually getting coded

A

AlexB Wed 8 Oct 2014 8:21AM

Yes! "check-box filters" was the phrase I was looking for. We already have it for "My aspects" so should be straight-forward for hashtags as well as for liked/commented.

J

Jakob Wed 8 Oct 2014 8:53AM

With the current size and activity of Diaspora simple filters will indeed do. I guess that splitting "My activity" in likes and commented, is actually already a first step.

This proposal was not meant as a we-need-this-now feature proposal, but as a long term discussion. When Diaspora grow though we will need some kind of algorithm to sort in the stream, and this should of course be user-controlled. The combination of things already in the database like timestamp, aspect, tag etc. could take us a long way.

P.S. I wrote " the left-hand menu should only contain these presets". I still would keep the "My activity", "aspects" and "#tag". (My activity with a check-box option).

DU

riderplus Fri 12 Dec 2014 7:46PM

Sorry to BUMP this, but you haven't reached any conclusion whatsoever :-) I think it would be more productive on Loomio to end a thread with "Contribution needed" or "X/ Y is working on this feature", otherwise we're just wasting our time and we can converse on diaspora* or on Diaspora Forum, not necessarily here (I agree with @goob on this). That's just my 2 pennies. Long time discussions are just bla-bla, threads get buried and nobody cares to re-open them, except for a bloody naive enthusiast pseudo-philosopher like me ;)

DU

Deleted account Fri 12 Dec 2014 8:23PM

People just know that contribs are needed and task attribution are made on github. ;)
Again : Loomio is only about to discuss ideas, not task schedule ;)

DU

riderplus Fri 12 Dec 2014 9:00PM

@augier while I agree with u, we do need to reach conclusions and send references to how the proposals were 'implemented'. That's what I mean by 'transparency' among others ;) I do hope I made myself clear.

DU

Deleted account Fri 12 Dec 2014 9:02PM

@augier while I agree with u, we do need to reach conclusions and send references to how the proposals were ‘implemented’.

I understand but I said : this is not the place to do that, the appropriate place is on github ;)

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