Waiting time on askme by days?

May 28, 2010 12:17 AM

Idea for timing on Askme

Small request, is it possible to have askme work by day of posting (in your timezone) instead of to the exact hour and minute?

7 days between posting is fine, but couple of times before I've thought I want to post this before I go out and get

You may next post in 0hrs 47mins...

It's a minor inconvenience true, but if you could make it

You may next post on Tuesday 22nd September

it might be better.

I don't know how easy this is to do.

posted by Not Supplied to Feature Requests at 12:17 AM (43 comments total)

Sounds like a reasonable feature, I agree it would be nice to have.

Timezone information has some hairy details though, that may make this more trouble than it's worth. From what I understand, MeFi doesn't actually track user timezones but an offset from server time, which might be a deal killer for a proper implementation.
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:02 AM on May 28, 2010

I'm pretty sure that anytime something has come up regarding posting-time restrictions the answer has been that they aren't in any hurry to do something that will let people post more often / post as often as possible, so I doubt this is something they'd be looking to change. Bu who knows! I am not a mod, and I have lots of beer. Nevermind the man behind the curtain, await the librarians and giant donuts.
posted by Stunt at 2:04 AM on May 28, 2010

Mods don't react well to "I'm just itching to ask stuff on AskMe" ponies.
posted by fire&wings at 2:13 AM on May 28, 2010

Well yeah, but it's not I'm itching to ask stuff, it's 'I want to post before I go to work as otherwise I won't have time for 2 days'
posted by Not Supplied at 2:21 AM on May 28, 2010

It used to be vauge, everyone demanded the precision.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:29 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Fair enough.
posted by Not Supplied at 2:34 AM on May 28, 2010

Well yeah, but it's not I'm itching to ask stuff, it's 'I want to post before I go to work as otherwise I won't have time for 2 days'

If you don't have time to a) wait 47 minutes, or b) write the question, save it in notepad, then later on spend about 2.5 minutes logging into MeFi, and copying & pasting the question, then the question is probably not that urgent/important and you can wait another 2 days to ask it.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:36 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well that is quite an IT - centric response.
posted by Not Supplied at 2:50 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is nonsense. Having the posting limit measured in hours instead of calendar days is just as likely to let you post a little bit earlier as it is to make you wait a little bit. You're just in a huff because it wasn't convenient this one time for you.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:33 AM on May 28, 2010

I already said it was a minor inconvenience, and fair enough when Matt said it had already been discussed, so leave it out.

As Matt's already given a response I don't see the point in going into the details any more, unless the collecive want to change their minds on this.
posted by Not Supplied at 3:38 AM on May 28, 2010

Rhomboid, I think you've got it the other way around: the current limit is in seconds (or whatever), the OP is asking for measuring the posting limit in days. This will always let you post earlier than your last post, unless you post exactly on midnight, but not more than a fraction of a day. You cannot use it to get around the posting limit as measured in questions per week.

Actually, I think this would be a good feature if it could be implemented properly: Question limits do not change, yet users have more freedom to ask their question when convenient.

I wouldn't want to have this if it didn't support my local calendar properly though: Being able to predict exactly when the ask window opens is more important, I don't want to have to keep track of weekdays in server time to know when I can post my question.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:47 AM on May 28, 2010

There is this person who posts every Wednesday around 7 pm EST...
posted by fixedgear at 4:06 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Try to think that the real rule is "you can ask once every 8 days", then hours and minutes in the 7th are a bonus already.
posted by bru at 4:52 AM on May 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

There is this person who posts every Wednesday around 7 pm EST...

Not this week... Or did it get deleted and I missed it?
posted by amro at 5:48 AM on May 28, 2010

If you wouldn't have time in 47 minutes to post it, how would you have time to read the answers?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:11 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh Matt, how is that you haven't gotten completely sick of us? You've got the patience of Job, man.
posted by orange swan at 6:54 AM on May 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

We are not going to implement this. It has been frequently suggested and always refused. Our basic feeling is that we want people to use AskMe when they need to and not have some reminder "hey, time for an extra question!" that comes around. People can keep track of it themselves. We're happy that AskMe is so popular and well-liked but giving it a way to get used even more isn't on our "to do " list.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:25 AM on May 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

Oh Matt, how is that you haven't gotten completely sick of us?

Well, he has a whole bunch of people who will attack people making suggestions, so that probably helps.
posted by smackfu at 7:29 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've always thought a bonus system would be kind of a fun hypothetical exercise. Make a threshold number of posts and the amount of enforced down time would be reduced.

Of course, that won't work here. Our model is quality over quantity. But it's fun to think about.

If you're not a mod. ;)
posted by zarq at 7:43 AM on May 28, 2010

Can we extend the duration until next question to ten years? Twenty if you asked about how to get over your last relationship?
posted by Babblesort at 7:56 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

What they said. I can totally sympathize with the notion of being a little annoyed if the timing of the system as it currently works gets in your way, but, yeah, it's an extremely straightforward system as is and does the job its supposed to do; vaguing things up for the sake of the rare "it's a matter of minutes" situation really isn't an attractive idea from a top-level view.

You've got the patience of Job, man.

I think we've established that the referent is Yoda.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:11 AM on May 28, 2010

Matt, you're missing an amazing marketing opportunity:

Microtransactions

Look at Facebook! Look at WoW and Evony! They're making MILLIONS!! Here's what it would look like:

You've asked a question in the past week. There is a limit of one question per seven days, which you've used up. Make them count, because you'll only get one every week.

...Unless you pay $2.57 to unlock an early post!"

The amount can be inversely proportional to the amount of time left before the 7-day limit is up. If the category chosen is "Human Relations", the cost immediately doubles.

I get 10%.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:12 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Not Supplied: Well yeah, but it's not I'm itching to ask stuff, it's 'I want to post before I go to work as otherwise I won't have time for 2 days'

If this is a recurring as opposed to one-time problem, couldn't you purposefully wait until the next morning? Or is your only window a certain day of the week at a certain time in the morning?

In any case, you should be able to manually align it simply by forfeiting some of your time. If your time is currently "up" Tuesday evening and it simply must be Tuesday mornings, then skip a week, and ask your question the following Tuesday morning. And so on.
posted by WCityMike at 8:24 AM on May 28, 2010

You've asked a question in the past week. There is a limit of one question per seven days, which you've used up. Make them count, because you'll only get one every week.

...Unless you pay $2.57 to unlock an early post!"

No no, you do it like this:

"...Unless you pay 100MFP* to unlock an early post!"
MetaFilter Points^TM are purchasable at a rate of $1.99 per multiple of 80.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:42 AM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

We are not going to implement this. It has been frequently suggested and always refused. Our basic feeling is that we want people to use AskMe when they need to and not have some reminder "hey, time for an extra question!" that comes around. People can keep track of it themselves. We're happy that AskMe is so popular and well-liked but giving it a way to get used even more isn't on our "to do " list.

Matt said my original question had already been voted on...that's fine. But just for the sake of my sense of completeness, I wasn't talking about a reminder system, just that it allow you to post on the day of posting rather than be accurate to hours and minutes.

couldn't you purposefully wait until the next morning

Well I think there was one time I was interested in info about the following evening, and I had to work a lot before I could post. However, a lot of the time it's no biggie I just thought that if it people liked it, it would be a human friendly measure.
posted by Not Supplied at 10:21 AM on May 28, 2010

The more favorites your AskMe gets, the sooner you should be able to post another one.

runs screaming from the room under a barrage of hailstones
posted by davejay at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2010

What Matt should set up is a system for bidding on AskMe posts like that "auction site" where you bid , but you have to buy bid tokens in lots of like 2000, for $20, and then every time someone bids it extends the auction by another [x] minutes, and when the auction ends the winner is the person with the lowest unique bid.

He would be RICH.

Also possibly imprisoned - but RICH.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 11:31 AM on May 28, 2010

just that it allow you to post on the day of posting rather than be accurate to hours and minutes.

Ah sorry, I misread. That's something we could likely do but we'd be rounding out to eight days if that were the case and it would likely make people hopping mad.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:22 PM on May 28, 2010

I like the precision that matt talked about. Lets keep that shit, and turn this thread into a discussion about savory (but not sweet) muffins.

Today for breakfast, I had one with a tomato and cheddar cheese on top. There was spinach, herbs, and ...and a few veins of warm cream cheese.

Genius.
posted by hal_c_on at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2010

Not to derail, but for breakfast I had a bagel sandwich with a slice of ham, melted robusto, and a fried egg.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2010

I don't eat much post neolithic food now, but my fav muffin used to be butter, tabasco chilli sauce, peanut butter, a slice of ripe pear and sliced cheddar cheese. And I don't smoke weed. Just try it.
posted by Not Supplied at 3:14 PM on May 28, 2010

The muffin I mean. I don't care if you smoke weed or not.
posted by Not Supplied at 3:14 PM on May 28, 2010

The solution is to go back in time and post your previous question sooner.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:22 PM on May 28, 2010

Where I come from robusto is a size/shape of cigar. Five inches by fifty ring gauge.
posted by fixedgear at 6:56 PM on May 28, 2010

I don't eat much post neolithic food now

I am going to leave now, silently musing about what this might mean. I suspect it means more Twinkies for me.
posted by maxwelton at 9:51 PM on May 28, 2010

I suspect one of our Greasemonkey ninjas could code this up for you.

/not a Greasemonkey ninja
posted by IndigoRain at 12:30 AM on May 29, 2010

We're making strawberry muffins this morning.
posted by odinsdream at 6:46 AM on May 29, 2010

I do not like muffins. There's something about their texture and cloying greasiness that bothers me. Bagels, now, those I can get behind, and not just because they are the food of my people.
posted by killdevil at 1:45 PM on May 29, 2010

Some people like cupcakes better, I for one care less for them.
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:00 PM on May 29, 2010

When I joined Metafilter I had three questions I wanted to ask. I asked the first one and that went okay. When I went to ask my second question, I found that the exact question had been asked in 2005 or something. And by that time I had no recollection of what that third question was. So, you know, sometimes these things solve themelves.

Also, muffins and cupcakes are really the same thing. One is just wearing icing on its head.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:07 PM on May 29, 2010

BRAN CUPCAKES ARE NOT A THING
posted by Sys Rq at 7:15 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I do not like muffins. There's something about their texture and cloying greasiness that bothers me.

I don't want to start some kind of internecine war between bagels and muffins because bagels are the nuts. But we're talking about the same thing. Muffins...savory toasted ones filled with butter. Greasy? yes but butter is the grease of heaven.
posted by Not Supplied at 7:18 PM on May 29, 2010

BRAIN CUPCAKES ARE NOT A THING

but I would like them to be
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:56 AM on May 30, 2010