Casemates Site Tools
12@snapster @dave @winedavid49
Still hoping that the Casemates development team is going to be rolling out some tools that we can use to facilitate the splitting of cases. Whispers are better than nothing but that’s about the best I can say for them.
Unless you catch the whisper email notification you cannot even tell there was a message because the thread title remains grayed out despite the new (to you) message/reply and I am finding that they can also lead to more complications than solutions when you have multiple people wanting to buy and split and they are including or not including people in their whispers, coupled with the fact that some are not using the whispers and can’t see what others are whispering about, possibly leading to false conclusions about who is buying and who is splitting.
The Kickstarter campaign crushed the Goal amount ($120,000 raised vs. a goal of $50,000) and it was believed by most of us that there would be a well developed website with user friendly message boards and a robust set of site tools available to facilitate splits. No such luck and the only response I have seen to questions about site development is “working on it”.
That’s great and I hope it’s true but how about requesting some input from site users? That could only help ensure that whatever site tools/development are incorporated will actually be both useful and user friendly.
To that end, I would like to suggest that these future site tools include an Allocation module. The person buying the case can be designated as “Buyer” and can allocate anywhere from 1-12 bottles as available to potential “Casemates”. It might be advisable to first form User groups, however. Groups of people who are in close proximity and willing to share with each other. The users who belong to the buyer’s group can claim the available bottles on a first-come first-serve basis until the case has been fully allocated or the offer expires. The buyer would have the right to edit the availability of unclaimed bottles but would be obligated to share with those who have already claimed bottles.
Additionally, there should be a Payments module so that users can pay for their allocated bottles. Casemates should automatically compute the per bottle amount paid by the buyer including any taxes or shipping fees so that users know exactly how much they will pay per bottle. Casemates can partner with a payment processing website such as PayPal to handle these transactions. Buyers who are willing to accept direct payments from their 'mates would have a button they could click to indicate that payment has been received.
Unfortunately, nobody has asked for this input but here it is anyway. Hopefully others have some additional suggestions to improve the Casemates website buying,sharing and messaging experience.
If website tools and enhancements are not in the works, then I suggest a $70,000 prize giveaway to thank those who so generously “kickstarted” the Casemates website.
- 21 comments, 32 replies
- Comment
@dave @WineDavid49
Can we please please have whispers show up as unread messages and threads? It’s painful to try to find them otherwise.
Better yet, can we have a proper direct messaging system?
Oh, we are listening. Good stuff here.
Additional thoughts on an allocation tool/module;
It should be customizable, to allow the OBs (Original Buyers) to set parameters such as controlling the allocations themselves or choosing to let others claim bottles on a first come first serve basis. Should also have the ability to limit the number of bottles per person.
Let’s say I buy a case and am willing to share 8 bottles. I should be able to choose if I want to control the allocations, i.e. have potential 'mates express interest and then I dole out the bottles as I see fit. Additionally, I should be able to simply put 8 bottles up for grabs and let others claim them on their own. If using this option, I should have the ability to set a limit if I want, say 4 bottles for example, so that nobody can snatch up all 8 without giving others a chance to get in on the deal.
The OBs should also be able to set payment parameters such as demanding payment upfront along with their preferred payment transfer method, or allowing others to pay upon receipt of the bottles.
The more customizable, the better!
@chipgreen I like! Where’s the action on this front? Is Casemates a hobby (labor of love) or a business? If a business, then get on the stick PPL! If a labor of love, GIVE US SOME LOVE, please.
@winedavid49
What they said.
We are on it. Thanks for the heads up.
@Winedavid49
Seems like the troubles have been resolved and all is again well.
Excepting we are still awaiting tools to split, and other enhancements.
@arianaWCC
I am also thinking it might be nice to have some kind of a LabRat Notification and/or Acceptance system available onsite, in conjunction with sending emails to prospective rats. This would help eliminate some of the snafus that accompany the LabRat program, such as emails getting caught in SPAM filters or being sent to email addresses that are rarely monitored.
I’m not sure exactly how this would best be implemented - maybe some kind of Alert at the top of the page for those being called to duty, with a response form that would be emailed to Ariana. Then another Alert which would provide a tracking number and date that the offer will appear. These Alerts should all be duplicated in emails to increase the odds that they will be seen in a timely manner. This would be an additional communication channel as opposed to an alternate channel.
By using a system of this nature, prospective rats could be lined up ahead of upcoming offers. A queue of 'mates who have actively agreed to participate by responding to the Alert (or email) and know that their number will be called soon. The actual assignments can come once they are already in the queue. This way, there will be less bottles that get sent out without reports from those who receive them.
I’m legit surprised nothing new has been implemented this year.
@neuroticsilence more disappointed than surprised, unfortunately.
I am about to do my third split with strangers, and it seems like NEOhio group is always splitting. I would listen to chip and company about how to best facilitate that.
As for the messaging, it is a mess. As it is the only way to split, it is extra frustrating.
Overall, there should be some improvements, but I am not constantly frustrated with the functionality of the site. That said, 70k lottery sounds good to me!
@chipgreen is right on the money. From a personal perspective, I’ve found it hard to jump in and be active on Casemates, as I was for years on WW, bc the current site just doesn’t lend itself to a community feel. I wish I had known about the Kickstarter… I definitely would have pledged… but even so, I would hope the funds are used for their intended purpose(s.)
@snapster @dave
Bump for better reliability, cannot access the Case vs. Smaller Allotment thread to put up my nightly info post.
Yes, please fix some things over there.
@chipgreen I haven’t had any site issues but I’m sure they must have some unavailability each week for site updates etc.
@deadlyapp @snapster @dave @thomasf
Have you tried to access the Clues thread or the Case savings vs smaller allotment thread? I’m sure those aren’t the only two not working but those are the two I have tried to access since last night without success.
@chipgreen very strange, you’re right, I completely can’t get those to load or even respond.
@deadlyapp Thanks for the confirmation. Hopefully they will fix it soon!
@chipgreen @deadlyapp Not sure if it’s related, but I couldn’t post in the Apriori thread just now.
@chipgreen Savings thread not working for me either. Was quite surprised to not have an email this morning and came to look. It amused me to realize I assumed it was the site and not you. Dunno what I’ll do if you ever go on vacation or get sick!
Thank you so much for being regular as clockwork, it’s truly appreciated!
@chipgreen Another data point, the deals thread is also crashing for me.
@marla25
Thanks for the kind words.
@marla25
Deals thread inaccessible for me too.
@chipgreen @snapster @dave
Confirming the same issues, and adding
a Clue you ask?
is also
How are we to know what the next offer is without @karenhynes ???
@chipgreen @dave @karenhynes @rjquillin @snapster @marla25
Deals is working for me, but Clues and Case Savings still MIA.
Well, this is discouraging.
@snapster @dave @winedavid49
Nice, I suppose, but tools would be better.
We don’t seem to be having issues adding topics.
@rjquillin
That is not even new, they just made it more noticeable…
@chipgreen
It’s now obnoxiously hovering at the bottom of the page, where it used to be small and nicely tucked under ‘community’ at the top.
That, at least for me, is new.
@rjquillin
Yes, they moved it and made it bigger.
@chipgreen @rjquillin
I keep almost accidentally clicking it on my phone. Kinda annoying.
@chipgreen @karenhynes @dave @winedavid49
Kinda reminds me of w.w;
trying to fix things that aren’t broken.
How about a place to organize handles of locals for easy splitting.
@FritzCat
Agreed! I would love to have the ability to form/join User Groups. Perhaps with some sort of mapping function based on zip codes so that we could see at a glance how close or far the other users are from us. I would imagine there would need to be some sort of password or other form of authentication to prevent just anyone from accessing that information.
My biggest issue is the lack of an update. Is this being actively worked on? Has the basic structure of the app been decided? Is the idea on hold or abandoned?
Generally speaking, receiving bad news is often better than being left hanging.
@hscottk @neuroticsilence @rjquillin @WineDavid49 @Dave @Snapster
FWIW, when I was posting fairly regularly about this issue in various discussion threads about 6-8 months ago, in a cynical and admittedly somewhat negative manner, WD whispered to me one evening and stated that they were absolutely listening and asked that I give it another month or so. I thanked him for the reply and tried again to get this thread going, in a more positive manner (looks like around July) to get suggestions and support/encouragement for Casemates to develop and install site tools but it has been crickets ever since, so… ???
It seems like a slap in the face to all of us who donated so much money that we crushed the kickstarter goal amount. Especially when you see how easy-peasy it was for them to flip the switch from FedEx to UPS when profits were involved. I’m sure there was time spent on research and logistical challenges but the money yet to be made is so much more motivating than money already received.
I remember years ago when my girlfriend (now wife) paid her sister $500 to redo her bathroom (remove wallpaper, do some painting and a few other odds and ends). I told her that she was foolish to have paid all the money up front. She bristled at my comment but the work never did get done. Her sister came over one time and tore out most (but not all) of the wallpaper and never came back. This seems a lot like that.
I would love to hear more from fellow 'mates regarding this topic while these site tools are presumably in development.
It’s likely to be much more difficult to suggest changes once tools are rolled out than to offer input now and have it considered by the powers that be.
One of the things that strikes me is my own previous request for payment options. While I still think this would be a valuable asset, I also believe that in many cases it will be better to “pay as you go”. The reason for this is that it is better to get stuck with wine you have paid for than get stuck paying for wine you never receive. However, for people you know and trust, it may be more convenient to go ahead and pay upfront. It should definitely be an option but not a requirement.
For me, the two most desirable site tools would still be one that allows a buyer to “allocate” his or her case to others and one which allows site users to join “share groups” of nearby users.
I would also very much like to see a reworking of the message boards. The two most annoying characteristics of the boards to me are that whispers directed to me do not cause there to appear to be any new posts in the discussion thread, so unless I stumble across them, they are only detected through email. The second is that even when a thread is highlighted as having a new post, that post is usually collapsed if it is a reply to a previous post. I often scroll through a discussion looking for the latest post and cannot find it. Then I have to decide if I want to expand the entire thread to search for it… again.
Please post any thoughts or suggestions for site tools/improvements here ASAP so that they can be considered by the site administrators/programmers while these tools are still in development!
@WineDavid49 @snapster @dave @thomasf @rjquillin
@chipgreen
To be fair, there are a couple forum settings you can use on the site to help you find the new posts. That said, they are rather inadequate and this forum format truly stinks and seems to have prevented conversations from getting started, at least when compared to the old site. New posts scattered throughout the thread is downright nonsensical - the tried and true method of oldest to newest was easy to follow and with easy/automatic quoting almost nobody ever lost track of what conversation they were in.
@chipgreen @klezman @WineDavid49 @snapster @dave @thomasf
I can only second, third, fourth, the above comments.
The message board format is broken and needs attention, and there appears to be absolutely no interest in addressing these continuing concerns.
Death by submission it seems.
@klezman
Thanks, I never noticed these features. Made me look!
I assume you’re referring to the Filter settings and Whisper log under “Account” >>> “Your Profile”?
If there are additional forum settings that I am unaware of, please share!
@chipgreen There’s a “whisper log”? Maybe that part is new - I didn’t know about it.
@chipgreen @klezman I’m curious as well, as to it’s location.
@chipgreen @rjquillin Whisper log: click “account” at the top to get the drop down. Then click on profile. One of the buttons there will show you only whispers. Nice feature, but also nicely hidden.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Complaints? Accolades?
@chipgreen My biggest peeve is your already mentioned rolled up comments that include new postings/replies. I need things that let my OCD relax; that make it easy to see new posts, replies to threads that I am ‘watching’ but may have not commented on myself, and as the site ages advanced SEARCH
Threads that go BUMP in the night…
Let’s put our thinking caps on!
Bueller? Bueller?
Bump
On what basis are you making the following claim:
I know I, for one, was expecting pretty much what we got, and not anything more, and was happy to give to encourage it into existence.
By “most of us” do you mean you? You and someone else? You and some specific set of individuals?
@xandersherry
It was pretty much stated in the Kickstarter Campaign description.
“On Casemates, you’ll find fresh wine deals three times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), and we’ll be building tools to let you share by-the-case orders with other users near you for better deals than ever. Split an order with friends you never knew you had — and share the savings you get from shipping a whole case.”
@karenhynes Fair enough on the single point about wine splitting tools, but even then, the complaint should be limited to “It was stated in the Kickstarter” rather than “it was believed by most of us” unless that claim can be backed up. I know I, for one, did not make my contribution in part or in whole based on that statement and couldn’t care one way or the other if it ever came to fruition.
That said, if the vast majority in fact feels as I do, then spending the money to do that development would, in fact, be the wrong choice to optimally serve the customers of the site.
So, it’s kind of important to make the distinction between what was initially designed, what was desired by those who contributed, what that contribution actually meant in the grand scheme of things, and what makes sense to the current user base.
@karenhynes @xandersherry
What Karen said.
How can you read “…and we’ll be building tools to let you share by-the-case orders with other users near you for better deals than ever. Split an order with friends you never knew you had”
and still want to argue that the statement
“… it was believed by most of us that there would be a well developed website with user friendly message boards and a robust set of site tools available to facilitate splits” is inaccurate?
Trying to make a distinction between “stated in the Kickstarter” versus “it was believed by most of us”?
Yes, we believed it because it was stated in the Kickstarter.
@chipgreen @karenhynes @xandersherry
Splitting hairs imho
Hugs to Chip who tries to keep us on track