Whatsapp group to facilitate space "hosting"?

#28

That is against the rules of acquiring shutter access and is potentially problematic.

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#29

That’s a great idea, 3d printer, cncs (and lasercutter) would benefit from that.

1 Like
#30

My tuppence as a relatively new member who’s had to stumble through some of these things the last few weeks.

Firstly I agree the calendar is the way to go. But I do think there are things that can be improved for new members, as some of the relevant info is quite hidden. Might seem small-fry but I think could help visibility and funnel more people into booking.

  1. How To Book is not in the How To section of discourse, it’s in Discussion. And when you search for ‘space booking’ it’s been lost in other discussions and you have to scroll down to find it. Suggest it be moved to How To and pinned.

  2. How To Get Shutter Access is the same, in Admin not How To. If you search for ‘How to Get Shutter Access’, the official How To page literally doesn’t show in results. Again suggest it be moved to How To and pinned.

  3. Consider adding How to Book the Space directly to FAQs (there’s already a link to accessing the space generally, with the booking link further down that page, but again quite hidden)

Feel like quick wins that could help newbs like me.

11 Likes
#31

Great ideas! I think having a single index page with different sections (and descriptive headers) for each category is easier to navigate than an list of pinned things sorted by pin date. It seems the most important ones don’t often live at the top of the pinned list. What does everyone else think?

3 Likes
#32

I agree with Kyle. Change from pinned items to a single index per category.
The advantage is that the text in the index is freeform, rather than just the post title and the content order can be adjusted easily over time.

Perhaps the pages that are linked from the index should have “Back to index” links at the top, to really drive adoption of the “index first” resource use?

#33

Hey @Geraetefreund… If you had a booking, then the machine is yours. Like you can give someone 5 mins to finish up or whatever but if they have 2 hours to go, then i think it is expected that they stop their print and let you in.

There is no reason to expect you can use a tool if you don’t book it, even if you “get there first”.

2 Likes
#34

Agreed. It’s always been like that. What Mark might be suggesting is that sometimes people are too nice and miss out on their rightful spot to avoid potential confrontation then… It used to be an occasional topic with the lasercutter before the booking got extended to all tools… if someone could code in a calculator for people without booking that says "booking starts in 2hours, automatic cut off will occur, finish before xx:xx "

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#35

I have create a quick video guide how to make a space booking as a host. I hope this makes it for everyone to find their way around the booking system.

6 Likes
#36

Thanks Ben,

  1. As you suggested, I moved the How to Book article to the How To - Infrastructure section, for now and added a link to the main How To Index Page. Since it was in the private category of discussion, it is only visible to members. If there are no complaints, happy to put it just in the How To Category.
    I also edited the text to accomodate for the link to @Julia’s short video.

  2. The How To Get Shutter Access is also now listed on the How To Index Page.

  3. I think this could/should be the How To Index Page, right?

Win, win, win Ben, thanks once more!

May I suggest turning the How To Index Page into a Wiki? Unpinning the other How-Tos and have one comprehensive How-To Index at the Top of the How To Section. This way, non-members could see the index page but if there are some sensitive How Tos (lol) they would only be accessible to members.

Ideas?

3 Likes
#37

Exactly! This happened within the first two months of my membership and I really didn’t know how to handle the situation. To be fair, this never happened again and of course now I’d use my opera voice know how to ask kindly. :smiley:

There are new members who are reluctant hesitating to write a message on discourse asking, if somebody will host i.e. next Saturday. This makes me really sad. We can do better, no?

4 Likes
#38

Nice one Mark,

And agree with your point re unpinning other How-Tos and having Index at the top, plus wiki-ing. I think @Kyle said in the meeting was intended to be?

1 Like
#39

Just in terms of streamlining calendar use - one way might be to have members subscribed to the calendar on mobiles. Means you don’t even have to have the discourse app on phone, or have to log in via browser. Good for both reducing barrier to creating events in the calendar but also tracking when it is open. You can also set mobile or email notifications which would be another way to see if the space is open. Current issue however is that room booking events I think are not public so not being pulled across on the public calendar.

#40

One drawback, not everyone uses mobiles so you are potentially excluding them by going down this route.

Yes I am including myself in this category, dinosaur that I am. I am not a member yet but when I do get to that stage I don’t want a barrier in the way just because I do not use the latest tech to run my life day in day out.

2 Likes
#41

That’s understandable - but just to clarify this wouldn’t replace the current system, it’s just a way of marginally more easily viewing and editing the current calendar for those that do have a mobile.

1 Like
#42

Hi guys,

Sorry I´m a bit late to this party but wanted to give a newbie point of view to the booking system/calendar discussion as I agree, it’s not very straightforward to know when it’s open and what’s available.
I have no idea how feasible this would be in terms of software but it would be great to have an overview for each day with all the areas that need booking with the slot they are booked for, plus also if the space is open by someone with shutter access even if they haven’t booked a specific area.
I’ve collated the below by having a look at the different items in today’s calendar and it’s a bit tricky to know if the timings are actually right and if, as an example, 3D Ultimaker 2 this morning was booked only for Mike, for Sean or for both.

I know this is complex but something along these lines… Thoughts?
Thank you!

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#43

Hi Cristina. Your layout would definitely be necessary if the space was a lot busier.
It has the advantage of being a lot more granular (e.g. the space is open for 5 hours, but I need the laser for 2 hours of the 5).
Without changing the data system, it may be possible to populate each day in the calendar with such a table, and then all members populate it for each day. However, I don’t see a way to merge fields, so Ben B would have to be entered in 11 cells!
Another disadvantage that I see is that the table is definitely not going to be mobile-friendly.
Anyway, we are a crafty bunch, so perhaps your idea will be adoptable.

#44

Hi Brendon - agree, the spreadsheet looks quite empty actually!
Another option would be only having one of the current posts/calendar items per day and everyone inputting their time slots in there so at least everything is in one place and can be checked straight forward? (Except open for everyone events)

1 Like
#45

I like this idea, may simplify things and prevents double bookings…

1 Like
#46

Hi yesterday I made a last minute booking and here my suggestion :point_right: removing in the how to book post the requirement to book 24hrs in advance. I believe 24hr notice is ideal but requires planning and to improve booking usage I think enabling last minute booking directly when the member with shutter access is in the space could add this benefit: member with no shutter access sees how long the space will be open and makes last minute decision to quickly pop by the space.

4 Likes
#47

Good idea Dario, I have edited the text to say please give much advance notice as possible, but last minute bookings are fine. Let me know if that makes sense?

8 Likes