5 Things I'd Love to See From Digg

There are a few things that have always bothered me about Digg and i hope i'm not the only one. If there rumors are true about Google buying Digg (which i hope they are), and actually, even if they aren't true, here are some things i'd love to see.

1. A completely redesigned interface.
   
   I'd like to see Digg with a completely new interface, one that's cleaner and will work better as the number of Digg users, and subsequently, Digg submissions, increase. Also, the following ideas wouldn't work well at all with Digg's current look.
   
2. Tags, not Sections
   
   Sometimes the sections Digg offers don't fit your article perfectly, or your article fits just as well into two or more sections. Although tags might seem hard to manage, i think they would actually handle organizing submissions better than sections. Tags are more scalable. There would always be the most popular tags (which would be the main sections) and tags could be given more value depending on factors like how many people place a specific tag on a submission. This way, one submission can't spam every tag attributed to it.
   
3. Region-specific view
   
   I'd like to be able to view Digg in a region-specific mode. I can see how people are Digging differently in different countries, and how people in my country are Digging. This is pretty simple and would be really useful for Diggers around the world. Every page in Digg should be visible in region-specific view from the frontpage, to the top in [period of time],  within sections, etc, down to individual submissions.
   
4. Groups
   
   This might seem cumbersome at first, but i think if done right could be really cool. Let's say you're an involved activist. You could be in a specific group with it's own mini-digg which displays the Diggs of other group members and lets the group Digg appropriate submissions to share with each other. I'm sure if you gathered a few smart brains they could find a way to make this work really well. 
5. My Digg
   
   I'd love to be able to create my own Digg site. It would be neat to be able to customize it to how you plan to use it. Perhaps you're throwing a party and trying to see what music requests the most people agree with. I know that each of these suggestions is slightly more farfetched than the last but i still think they're worth working on. 

I also wanted to give mention to OpenID. I know they're supposedly working on this, but i'm getting impatient! I hate having to manage multiple online identities and Digg will be a big boost for OpenID. I don't just want Digg to be an OpenId provider-- if everyone just did that, it ruins the whole point of OpenID-- i want Digg to fully support logging in with OpenID.

Also, making Digg as open source as possible would be awesome. I'm a big fan of the free software movement :)

If Digg really wants to expand without falling apart i think we can all agree that some serious changes are necessary. Digg this if you like some of these ideas!

Free Government

*draws line in the sand*

Ok, cross this line.

*DMCA passed*

*backs up two steps, draws new line in the sand*
Ok, cross this line.

*Patriot Act*

*backs up two steps, draws new line in the sand*
Ok, cross this line!

*NSA archiving all net traffic*

*backs up two steps, draws new line in the sand*
Ok, cross THIS line!

*warrantless searches*

*backs up two steps, draws new line in the sand*
OK, CROSS THIS LINE!

*FISA expanded*

*tries to back up..but notices back is against the wall*

- i saw this comment by spritom on Digg

For so long i have been waiting for something like this to be put together, and finally FreeGovernment.org has arrived!

I think that more than anyone else, geeks nowadays understand the problems with politics more than anyone else. So what better combination is there than geeks and politics? Although i didn't see this until it appeared on Slashdot, it apparently launched on July 4th. I have no idea how this hasn't hit the Digg homepage!

From the website:

"FreeGovernment.org is a non-profit open source project launched on July 4th, 2008, focused on providing citizens with more direct control of Congress through online polling and forums."

FreeGovernment.org is a:

• non-profit organization
• built on open source software
• defined by four freedoms
• designed to empower citizens

The four defining freedoms of free government:

1. Engage

   Freedom to engage in government decision making for any purpose at any time.

2. Understand

   Freedom to understand the work of the government transparently.

3. Share

   Freedom to share direct control of the government.

4. Improve

   Freedom to improve the government for the benefit of all society with the support of others.

Learn more on the FAQ

Free Government really has the potential to take the power out of money and put it back in the hands of people. Join and spread the word!

Lojban Needs to Reorganize

I've already written about why lojban is such an awesome language to learn, but unfortunately, the speaker base is still relatively small. I think the biggest reason for this is the incredibly unattractive website. The wiki currently located at lojban.org is in dire need of an upgrade (perhaps to MoinMoin) and although it would take some effort to migrate all the content, it would more than pay off in the long run. The redesigned site at http://lojban.jim.dabell.name/ is a great start and will hopefully move to www.lojban.org and then the wiki can use wiki.lojban.org to be run parallel to the new homepage. In addition to the already existing mailing lists and imageboards, a phpBB, Vanilla, or some other real forum would be a helpful addition to strengthen and grow the lojban community.

Currently, the wiki (which is the entire site) is slow, unattractive, and disorganized. Its difficult to navigate, space is used very inefficiently, and it isn't easy on the eyes. Visitors that have a potential interest in learning lojban can easily be repelled by their first glance at the site, or get lost before they find what they are looking for. Most people don't feel they should have to look. If they don't see it, they'll just leave. The main page should always be aimed at new visitors, and even if the site redesign example i linked to above took the place of the current wiki, the main page for the wiki should still do the same. Even for those who use the wiki and try to contribute, its slow, the interface is confusing, and the layout is awkward. All the main pages are not user maintained which means that no edit link will appear at the top of the page but it can still be edited by anyone if they copy the URL of the edit page of a user-maintained page and simply replace the page name.

Let's take a look:

So how do we improve the wiki? We use better software and make is easier to edit! Reorganizing, and maintaining the wiki will be much easier on MoinMoin. It would make more sense to fix the content after adopting a better wiki platform. All pages on the wiki should be open and user-maintained. I can only guess that they might not be to prevent vandalism, but with that kind of thinking, Wikipedia would not be where it is today. Wikis are maintained by the users. That's the whole point. Anything that isn't editable doesn't belong on the wiki. It can be moved to the new homepage.

Although mailing lists and the imageboards exist, and it's good that they do, they cannot do what a real forum would. Trying to make the mailing list double as a forum isn't enough. A real forum makes it much easier to give/get support with lojban and have discussions. A mailing list simply can't handle the volume of discussion that a forum can. Its about scalability. A mailing list and a forum are two different things and should remain separate. A real forum handles discussion in a much more organized fashion than a mailing list, and organization is what we need. A forum doesn't replace mailing lists, and mailing lists don't replace a forum-- they both run well in paralell. Take for example the hugely successful ubuntuforums.org-- its a center of communication for ubuntu users but it is used in parallel with mailing lists and irc. All three are essential and effective. Different people may prefer different ones but it is important that they are all available.

Another thing that should certainly be considered is using a content management system (CMS) like Drupal, Joomla, or some other one to make life easier.

So this is what should be done:

1. Lojban redesigned site should take the place of the Wiki


2. Wiki should be moved to wiki.lojban.org


3. All pages should be opened up to be user maintained


4. Upgrade to MoinMoin for reorganization


5. Set up a real forum


6. ???


7. Profit!

This effort will make lojban much more accessible and build the community. More people will be able to find what they are looking for. Communication will be more evenly distributed between discussion on the mailing lists, irc, and forum. The wiki will be a valuable source that continues to improve as more people contribute. All of this will help lojban gain the popularity it deserves.