Forums / Maintenance / Suggest Ideas

There isn't a real engrained-in-stone way of gaining a specialized user title, and it seems to be left up to social-rulings with no real direct way of gaining them. I'm referring to the titles below a user's name such as "Tumblrologist Extraodinaire" or "God of Pony Licking" etc. They're really nice but the only way to gain them seems to be sheer luck. I am suggesting that there be something in place that gives us a sure-fired way of gaining the title since some of us aren't lucky or don't have the greatest social connections for gaining it. Something like being a user for 4 years, having over 10,000 karma, having all 4 kinds of titles at once (for comments/forum posts, image uploads, video uploads, and editorships), etc. Another suggestion would be having something in place where a user who's gained a special title already could then type in whatever title they wanted (excluding vulgarity) and that would be their specialized title for the next 3 months and after which they could change it at their own discretion.

Also, if a user was particularly great like having 30,000 karma, high-level versions of all 4 titles at once, being a user for 7 years, etc, then they should be able to change the color of their name/title to whatever color they want at any time.

Perhaps make it so we can have extra space to add html code on our profiles, since the current space is limited to mere 495ish pixels wide. The system could be every time we go up in a title rank we gain 50-or-so more pixels of space. Also, each time we went up a few ranks a specific customization feature could be unlocked, such as having a background on our profiles or a space where you can easily upload a song/video from youtube/soundcloud without having to copy/code html code into the profiles since not everyone knows how to do that properly.

This extra room for customization would definitely incentivize us to try posting more and better things while also becoming all-around better users.

The gaining of special titles always seemed rather random and off to me. They said that they stopped doing it, as if it was "silly times of age-old KYM" but then I noticed recent users getting them. It'd be nice if I saw some consistency on this.
Still, don't get me wrong… I like the idea of special titles. Inconsistency is what annoys me.
Some of your ideas don't sound too bad, but I might not be the best person to give an opinion on this.

Admins recently changed up titles in order to stop these kinds of requests and threads. I guess we'll have to let them know that it didn't work.

This isn't a request for some special title. There should be a system in place not rando freebies for best buddies, and giving incentives that are rewarded with customization features would improve site quality and user happiness.

We, Just, Doubled, The, Number, Of, Titles, A, Few, Months, Ago.

Your conditions for getting such things is absurd.

Nobody has all the max titles (if they did I'd go attempt to get them a badge for their work, because it is a LOT of hard work), RandomMan is the only person with 30,000 Karma (and I'm in second place with only HALF of that), and even Blubs hasn't logged 7 years on the site yet.

Not to mention the prize itself is the ultimate game-end ability. You give people the ability to change their title to whatever they want it will both be abused and subsequently forgotten. Titles exist as a method of self expression they have demonstrated, rather than just simple self expression. You get that in the ability to change your username to anything at any time.

Colors mess with the design of the website.

We banned HTML from walls because spambots where using it to re-direct people to a fake login page that would steal their username and password. BSOD had a really awesome custom profile for a time.

We've juggled with Title Customization before, but decided that if we are to get it, special titles trump all, and you must pick from a list you have earned. And I think I will continue to support that plan.

Since this reply gained a few upvotes I'll go ahead and respond. Of course something like 30k karma is a bit much or being on for 7 years, but this was again, JUST A SUGGESTION THEY COULD EASILY DIAL IT BACK TO 3 YEARS OR 10K KARMA. I was not stating these be the end-all-be-all rules for how you'd gain the customizable sub-title. And abused? Why would it be an abuse for people to be able to change their sub-title every three months if a rule is made saying you can't make a vulgar title? It seems perfectly reasonable and a fine additional feature. Also "titles exist as a method of self-expression they have demonstrated, rather than just simply self-expression." Not sure what that actually means tbh please clarify that sentence. Colors, when I say colors I refer to the ability to change the user's name color on their HOME PAGE, I'm aware it might waste loading time loading fifty different user colors at once, although if it was possible to load the colors without wasting significant loading time I'd recommend it. HTML is not banned at all, I hope you do not think it is. CSS, is what was banned. HTML is perfectly fine and I have my profile decked out with it. Also, what I really don't understand is why there was no mention of the latter paragraphs I made about the rank-based customization features where if you go up enough ranks you unlock something like the ability to change your background or upload a song to your profile (instead of having to do the html stuff not everyone knows how to do) or maybe just having those features already available to users without making them unlocked by rank. These are just ideas that could improve the site.

Also “titles exist as a method of self-expression they have demonstrated, rather than just simply self-expression.” Not sure what that actually means tbh please clarify that sentence.

Titles doesn't build your ego, contribution does. Titles are a way to show how much you contributed to the site. The more titles you have, the more active you are.

We don't use them in an artistic way nor we plan to do that. You want titles to express the user's personality, we think titles should be used in a complete different way. That's all there is to it.

And abused? Why would it be an abuse for people to be able to change their sub-title every three months if a rule is made saying you can’t make a vulgar title?

Yes, abuse. This already happened before.

Okay I see your point here. But in that case, it would be an easy matter of "you can only type up to 30 characters" or something like that. Really it's not a hard fix if people are worried about abuse, the titles can be limited in how long they are and there can be rules against vulgarity. Thank you for pointing this out.

Mods are already discussing making special contribution-related titles more common for a while.

Stay tuned.

Okay I see your point here. But in that case, it would be an easy matter of “you can only type up to 30 characters” or something like that. Really it’s not a hard fix if people are worried about abuse, the titles can be limited in how long they are and there can be rules against vulgarity. Thank you for pointing this out.

We have a lot of active users roaming on the site and to check them all if they follow the rules on titles is pretty much impossible.

And again, we use titles to reflect contributions, not personality.

If you want your title to reflect your personality a bit more, people often make use of the first name and last name feature. So for example making my first and last name respectively "RandomMan," and "King of Memes" it would generate the username "RandomMan, King of Memes". A roundabout but fair way.

Let's leave titles up to contributions, and have people strive to better ones by contributing more.

You can say the same about user names if it's a worry of if their title is vulgar or not. If that's not the worry, then the site can be coded to only allow 30 or less characters for a custom title.

Errr…

And again, we use titles to reflect contributions, not personality.

We’ve juggled with Title Customization before, but decided that if we are to get it, special titles trump all, and you must pick from a list you have earned. And I think I will continue to support that plan.

We don't use them in an artistic way nor we plan to do that. You want titles to express the user’s personality, we think titles should be used in a complete different way. That’s all there is to it.

Outside of cases related to contributions made to the site, like the KYM Thanks Awards, we don't plan on giving custom titles nor giving user the ability to change their titles.

We don't find it to be necessary in what we do, research of internet phenomena.

If the users aren't important, don't have users. If they are important, it's nice to have something like custom titles since users do indeed value having those things.

What you want =/= what the userbase needs.

The userbase can get special titles, by contributing to the database. They feel special and the database improves and grows bigger.

If you want a prize, earn it.

Do you really think the users don't want more and better features one of them being custom subtitles?

Yes, in fact, I know that very well. We've had countless threads in the past about people asking for custom titles. We locked all of them.

Our priority is not making the userbase happy by giving them what they want. We're not here to feed your ego. We're here to research internet phenomena.

That doesn't mean we ignore the userbase, on the contrary, we always try to give them an incentive so they can keep contributing to the site and feel good and glad for doing it. That's why we expanded the list of titles that you can get and same with many other features we implemented.

Want to be respected? Earn that respect.

That… actually contradicts you. If people have made threads asking for custom titles there is clearly a desire for them. And yes, if you want users to support this site you do want to make them happy. This site is not more important than its users. If you want us to earn respect, then custom titles being available for experienced users that actually support the site should be a thing. That would be a very good incentive.

why should the site cater to every need the userbase has? we dont have the time or resources to put on such a heavy work, we can make our users happy but we need to focus on what the site is about, which is on itself very time consuming for the admins, that are also humans and need free time and rests.

you think coding a thing such as custom titles that can be changed by the user is just as simple as adding a few lines of words? it requires a lot of work and effort that can be arsed for something as meaningless and insignificant, in short yes, we should try to maintain a certain standards for users, but there is no incentive and little reward in bending over for their every whim just because some ppl think it would be cool.

i would also advise the population in the forums is very small, very very small, hell even the population of registered recurrent users in total is still incredibly small compared to those who visit the site with no account at all, so it would barely satisfy alot of the userbase

If people have made threads asking for custom titles there is clearly a desire for them.

Whinning and bitching for a custom title it's not the best way to get them.

And yes, if you want users to support this site you do want to make them happy.

Like I said, we're not here to feed people's ego. We're here to research about internet phenomena. What they want =/= what we need.

This site is not more important than its users.

And users are not more important than the site. We don't put the cart before the horse.

If you want us to earn respect, then custom titles being available for experienced users that actually support the site should be a thing.

That's why the KYM awards exists. So those users that do something can get a reward for doing a good job on helping and contributing to the site.

I only, throw out, an idea. I don't understand why it has garnered so much whiplash and again, CUSTOM TITLES IS NOT THE ONLY IDEA I HAVE SAID. idk why people keep picking at this one thing especially when it seems like an incentive. Coding is hard yes and the admins to work very hard I'm sure, but if some of the admins/coders feel this site should be taken to the next level and become better-known and more popular, additional features would be an excellent focus. I didn't say THEY MOST CODE IN CUSTOM TITLES FOR EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD BEFORE THE DAY IS THROUGH. It's just one of again, MANY other ideas. I ask others to please mention the other ideas I gave and give opinions on them.

On a side note: this thread is giving me an overall vibe of hate, so I ask users to please stay calm. I was not aware having new ideas triggered so many people.

I believe the notion that the site is more important than the people using it is a dangerous idea, and is the reason people like Ellen K. Pao have the problems they do.

You assume that you represent the majority of this site. Would you leave the site, it would function entirely the same. You are overestimating your importance to this site.

Calling me Ellen Pao has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

You said people should get custom titles, I replied you saying you can get them if you work hard enough to get nominated on the KYM Thanks Awards.

Now, if you can't accept the fact that 3 different mods told you we're not going to make custom titles the norm, then that's your own problem.

ellen k. pao and her company have problems because they tried censoring an entire fucking subreddit and anything related to it because imgur complained they were reaching frontpage, and then fired out of the bluethe little connection the entire site had to the admins, causing a massive damage in the bureaucracy and status quo of reddit.

also bear in mind reddit is SOLELY run by its community, any kind of piece you find on reddit was posted by the community, and considering the amounts of people that visit reddit having an exodus does cause problems to how things are run, specially if a moderator of a big subreddit complains and or quites

not giving out custom titles is not gonna cause a massive exodus on the site, you are understimating how many people actually care that much about a little piece of text, you are simply overreacting

Reddit censored users, which naturally bothered users. They got rid of, an important person on the site that other users relied upon. This pissed off the users, and the exact reason the mods of reddit revolted in the first place was because they weren't feeling valued. I am not saying giving custom titles is going to cause that, obviously it would not. I was referring to the notion the site is more important than the users, which if ever stated by the admins would most certainly receive whiplash from the common community. The user should always come first. Sorry if this derails at all, just wanted to clarify.

You are the only person using caps so far and thus the only person sending off an "overall vibe of hate."

Don't accuse us if you can't keep yourself in check, please. If there is one person who has to be asked to stay calm, it's you.

I'm asking you to please stay calm.

Do you really think the users don’t want more and better features one of them being custom subtitles?

I figure that any remotely respected user would prefer actual, you know, features. Something that helps site functionality. It takes a big ego to place custom titles or wall visuals at the top of your needs list for the site.

And who are you to act like the userbase representative? You barge in here and act like your demands are the demands of the majority. Where is your evidence that a majority of the site's users wants customizable titles above other, more useful, features?

Sure, we had threads about people asking for custom titles, but those are little and by individuals.

Please don't assume the entire userbase wants what your selfishness wants. Having a superiority complex isn't going to help us improve the site.

I ask that the people responding please focus on every idea and not repeatedly bash a single one and calm down.

Who are you to tell us that? The topic of customizable titles is in line with the topic of the thread, and thus isn't considered a derail. You are overestimating your importance and status.

Also, you have been replying to the posts constantly without end, yet now expect us to stop mentioning the topic.

So what I read from here is simply that you can't handle that your idea is being shot down constantly, are getting upset by this, and thus now expect the majority to adapt to your selfish needs.

Demanding a topic change because you can't win an arugment is a very childish way of arguing.

Given that you want the topic to change, I'm then just going to assume that you accepted that we're not going to have customizable titles but your fragile ego stops you from admitting it.

But fair enough, let's go into your other points a bit:

having all 4 kinds of titles at once (for comments/forum posts, image uploads, video uploads, and editorships)

This system is already in place. Hint: You need to actually contribute to have them all appear.

then they should be able to change the color of their name/title to whatever color they want at any time.

Was already pointed out before, but it messes with the site functionality. Also this is a really minor (and tbh, stupid) idea so I doubt we're ever going to consider it.

Perhaps make it so we can have extra space to add html code on our profiles, since the current space is limited to mere 495ish pixels wide. The system could be every time we go up in a title rank we gain 50-or-so more pixels of space.

The width of your wall is limited to the width of the site's functionable space. The left and right are already taken by respectively your avatar and your friend list.

In order to add extra pixels of space to your wall, you'd need to have those replaced or removed, which requires an entirely unique new custom look for walls just because users were unsatisfied with what they were offered within KYM's reasonable borders.

Too much work for what is essentially only redundant personal visuals. Not gonna happen.

Also, each time we went up a few ranks a specific customization feature could be unlocked, such as having a background on our profiles.

Adds nothing of value. You're expecting of us to code in new redundant features just because you think they'd look cool.

Literally the entire site uses a white background, and user walls aren't special enough to break this status quo.

or a space where you can easily upload a song/video from youtube/soundcloud without having to copy/code html code into the profiles since not everyone knows how to do that properly.

This is called being lazy.

Youtube offers embed codes, and people are free to ask how to embed them. Alongside that we also have threads on the site which explain how to embed videos.

Tbh bro, al your ideas are either kinda really bad, too much work with too little gain, or add literally nothing of usefulness.

But hey, you tried, so kudos for that.