I started this discussion here, but this would be a fairly big thing so I wanted to start a new category with a more direct title.
Put simply, the original intent with the voting system in the Feature Requests category was to let people express themselves without having to write a comment, to allow iNat staff to sort requests by vote, and (per the way Discourse designed it) make people use their votes sparingly and move them from one topic to another.
However the voting system is pretty complicated and folks don’t want to manage their votes; many requests gaining the most votes are more long-term complex features that will take months or years for iNat staff to implement; and lots of good but easier requests which no one voted for have been implemented. So regardless of votes, a request’s merit and complexity tend to be the determining factors to whether it moves forward in a relatively timely manner.
So I propose removing the voting system from the Feature Requests category as it seems to be an unnecessary complication. Since no other part of the forum uses voting, the number of votes you have or don’t have would be immaterial. Moderators and staff would still need to approve new requests, and if you want to express support for a request, you can heart the original post - simple.
For me the only complication of the voting system was limiting how many votes ppl have. Why not take away the limit and see how it goes? The developers can then get a sense of how many people support a request, and can weigh that up against the ease of developing that feature.
I don’t get the downside of keeping a voting system? Liking is different from voting. I might want to like a person’s well put together proposal without wanting to vote for it.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the complications the voting system is creating for iNat developers/staff, but I’m with vynbos here. I like the idea of keeping the current voting system, but eliminating the cap on votes–at least as a temporary experiment.
I guess since interpretation of what would mean on a feature request might be more ambiguous, versus what “Vote” would mean, I am also fine with the suggestion to just remove vote limits, if that doesn’t create other issues.
Either way it will create a tally of forum readers who “like” the request. Using “Vote” would presumably ensure that they are liking the substance of the request?
I’m an active user on Github, and I like how they handle discussions on making improvements. iNaturalist even has such a page for those discussions Here.
Is there a way we can shift the burden of voting over to Github? Perhaps only allowing users here in the iNat forums to discuss or vote on Feature Requests that already have a ticket open on Github?
This solution, or any that more readily integrates Github, might help silo the comments iNat receives. Generating more developer relevant feedback on github, and more abstract or broad ideas to be discussed here where long form conversations are appropriate.
I don’t think Discourse has an option for unlimited votes, but I’ve lifted to the cap to 100 for everyone at Trust Level 1 or higher. We’ll see how that goes.
would mean on a feature request might be more ambiguous, versus what “Vote” would mean, I am also fine with the suggestion to just remove vote limits, if that doesn’t create other issues.