The Official Poly.fm Feedback/Development Thread

I agree, so far so good.

So will this have "local" groups? Our local community has a Yahoo group that's fairly functional, but it's all mailing list obviously and that can get cumbersome.

Also, will there be "local" events calendars? I would like the ability to schedule our monthly coffees, without having to see every coffee for every city that I will never visit..

And on the question of privacy... will it be possible for people to choose who sees what? This is obviously one of Facebook's current biggest problems, and I've seen people dropping like flies due to changes in the privacy settings.
 
I agree, so far so good.

So will this have "local" groups? Our local community has a Yahoo group that's fairly functional, but it's all mailing list obviously and that can get cumbersome.

Also, will there be "local" events calendars? I would like the ability to schedule our monthly coffees, without having to see every coffee for every city that I will never visit..

Thanks SC :). Yes - groups and events have the option of being geographically relevant. You will be able to "browse locally" for both.

And on the question of privacy... will it be possible for people to choose who sees what? This is obviously one of Facebook's current biggest problems, and I've seen people dropping like flies due to changes in the privacy settings.

Yes, I have no desire to use your information for anything, especially since there will be no advertisements. This next update will include the ability to create a basic profile (picture, about me, looking for, other details) along with corresponding privacy options. It will start off with:

Who can see your profile? (Select one)
[ ] Everyone plus search engines
[ ] Everyone minus search engines
[ ] Friends only
[ ] No one

These options will get more granular as things develop.

Also, the ToS will be included in the next update. That should help you feel comfortable with the privacy policy.
 
It will start off with:

Who can see your profile? (Select one)
[ ] Everyone plus search engines
[ ] Everyone minus search engines
[ ] Friends only
[ ] No one

These options will get more granular as things develop.

How about "Registered Users Only?" Does "Everyone" mean you don't need to login to the site to see?
 
Ah, I missed that one. And yes, "Everyone" means you don't need to register to see the profile content.

I'm going to start with two sections for Privacy, with those options:

1) Your entire profile, with default "Friends Only" selected
2) Your basic information - Username / Age / Sex / Location / short summary - with default "Registered Users Only" selected.

This way other registered users can find you, but none of your information is open to the public unless you intentionally open it up.

How does that sound?
 
May I suggest "Friends and friends of friends" as an option for those of us who are semi-out to the world.
 
Sure thing.

"Friendships" will be rolled out in two or three updates, so this won't have an effect on anything quite yet. I'll make it an option though. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Ah, I missed that one. And yes, "Everyone" means you don't need to register to see the profile content.

I'm going to start with two sections for Privacy, with those options:

1) Your entire profile, with default "Friends Only" selected
2) Your basic information - Username / Age / Sex / Location / short summary - with default "Registered Users Only" selected.

This way other registered users can find you, but none of your information is open to the public unless you intentionally open it up.

How does that sound?

It's a good start. Ideally, I would eventually like to fine-tune privacy settings for each and every piece of information that goes on there. I realize that may be difficult to code, so I'm not saying I expect to see it right away, just something to work towards. I would also like it if age/sex/location can be "optional" inputs. Like, if I want people to know, they can have a conversation with me first, otherwise let them wonder :)
 
Thanks SC - More granular privacy settings will be incorporated over time, and every aspect of your profile will be optional (except for your username and password).
 
Update: Basic User Profiles

Okay! You can go to www.beta.poly.fm and check out the basic user profile under My Profile, along with some other changes:

  • User Profiles – basic user profiles with basic information. Click-to-edit input fields. You can see a sample public profile here: https://beta.poly.fm/people/polyfm
  • SSL support - this can be turned off in Settings if you’d like.
  • Various security tweaks – hashing/salting passwords, password “strength” indicator, parameterization
  • Privacy – your profile is configured so that you “open first” – meaning you don’t need to edit your settings defensively. If you want your profile to be accessible by registered users, anyone, or even search engines, you can make that happen in your Settings. The default option is currently “no one can see my profile”, but this will most likely change to “Friends only” as soon as User Relationships are implemented.
  • Minor design tweaks – button colors have been streamlined
  • Terms of Service

The next update will focus on:
  • Your input from this update
  • User search
  • Friendships
  • Improved menu
  • Activity feed
  • Inner page design tweaks, especially re: the gray overload
  • A 'Kudos' page to give public props to anyone that’s helped

Any feedback is welcome and desired :)
 
I really like the logo. It looks better than any official polyamory symbols I've seen. I don't suppose people would be allowed to use it though? (I meant as a pendant, or tattoo, or something). I assume it's copyrighted?

Anyways, I registered for the beta, looks good to me so far, there isn't much interactivity yet but I'm looking forward to more. I've been following the project and I definitely want to be a member. Unlike many other people here I'm not a member of Fetlife or OKCupid or anything where you have a big profile page you can fill.
I feel for poly people it can be important, be it only so you can explain your situation.

Would it be possible to have a box for "current relationship network" with possibility to have some kind of diagram? For instance a Vee with one heart being bigger (representing you) or something like that? Obviously there would be lots of possibilities so there would need a program where you start with a heart (you) and have the option to add connections. If you could pick a gender (male, female, other) and each was a colour, that would be even better.
This way there could be a quick one-look view of your current network, shown for instance under your profile picture. Even better would be the option to link the other hearts to existing members, so that someone can click one and go to their profile.

EDIT: also they could be the logo heart if they're poly, or a regular heart if they're mono?
I realise it's a bit complicated, but I think it could be very helpful.
 
Hey Tonberry, thanks for the feedback. The logo is not currently trademarked but I'm looking into my options there. I definitely don't want to restrict use (so you can get a tattoo or make a poster or anything); it would be more of a defensive measure on my part.

As for the graph feature you described - I like the sound of it. I think it would be cool to visualize relationships like that - especially with high numbers of users. That's a feature that will come after the core components come together though: basic relationships, groups, events, search, messaging, etc. Once the basics are figured out and if there are enough users, I'd love to spend some time getting a social graph together.

You should see some more stuff to play with by the week's end :). Thanks again for the suggestion, I appreciate it.
 
Even better would be the option to link the other hearts to existing members, so that someone can click one and go to their profile.

EDIT: also they could be the logo heart if they're poly, or a regular heart if they're mono?
I realise it's a bit complicated, but I think it could be very helpful.

I love both of these ideas! I love the idea of being able to link your profile with the people you are currently connected to.

I was also wondering if there is a way to encourage people to include their idea of polyamory in their profile. Either by including suggested prompts for the "Looking for" space or by adding another component of the profile. I know I like to know if people subscribe to a hierarchical or more equality based view of relationships. A recent thread mentioned bi-monogamy/binogamy/whatever you would want to call someone who wants a relationship with one man and one woman. Options like that. I know it would generally be included in the "looking for" or "about me" sections, but I don't know if many people would really think to define it since everyone tends to assume that everyone will think just like them. :)

The site seems great so far - very straightforward and easy to use.
 
Great idea. Let me think about how to work that in... I'm trying to avoid having a bunch of input fields so your idea of a prompt within the Looking For field sounds nice. I'll work this into the next update; it's going to be a big one :).
 
Hey Tonberry, thanks for the feedback. The logo is not currently trademarked but I'm looking into my options there. I definitely don't want to restrict use (so you can get a tattoo or make a poster or anything); it would be more of a defensive measure on my part.

I would definitely trademark it, and then restrict it to non-profit uses. So people can get a tattoo or make a poster for their event, but if they make necklaces to sell, you should get a royalty!!
 
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Is it possible to have the info sections selectively added by drop-down menu? i.e. only the sections that apply to me... Or at least, will the blank sections be hidden in my eventual profile?

For example, I deliberately don't "look for" relationships. It goes against my grain. Whenever I see that box, I sorta cringe and never know what to put. Then it makes me think that whatever site I'm on is a dating site, and I usually leave...
 
Oh, and I'm sure it's in the works, but I would definitely do "age" by birthday calculation, with obviously an option whether or not to display your birthday, with the default being not to. Needless to say, ages change, and we don't always remember to update them.
 
OK last comment for the day...... I *love* the font!!! It's one of those things that can really fuck up a website. People think flashy fonts are so cool, but they really just make them illegible. Your choice has a nice balance between simplicity and elegance. Please don't change it in the live version!! :)
 
I would definitely trademark it, and then restrict it to non-profit uses. So people can get a tattoo or make a poster for their event, but if they make necklaces to sell, you should get a royalty!!


Thanks for all the feedback SC :). I talked to an attorney and it turns out that a service mark might be a better route. Since I plan to open source this, I won't have any products to sell.

Regarding the info sections - you know, I'm thinking about letting users make their own fields. I think it would be cool to let users create/rename fields as they see fit. You could take "About Me" and rename it to "My Story", or you could delete both existing fields and create new ones (same as renaming) - "Favorite Music", "Hobbies", etc. This way I can just have "About Me" up there, and let the users decide what's important to communicate. The cringeworthy "looking for" can be removed as a default field that way.

As for the age - "birthday" will be in this next update.

And don't worry, the font is here to stay :).
 
I like the idea of being able to name your fields. It can make your profile more personal, with what you think matters the most.

A small comment that might not be worth anything: today while checking out the beta, I had a small reaction to the red text with the definition of polyamory and thought it was an error message, until I read it.

I don't know if it's a problem or not (after all, it should get people to read it) but I thought it might be worth a mention.
 
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