Discuss Scratch
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
Let's face it; almost everyone who posts on this forum has made at least one duplicate post during his/her Scratch history. I'm one of those people. (My post was https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/224344/?page=1#post-2275469 and I had also accidentally posted it in the wrong section.) the reason that I posted it, and the reason that I figure is behind most duplicate posts, is because I didn't know that there was already a post for that because I didn't look through the Scratch suggestions forum because IT'S OVER 500 PAGES LONG AND HAS 25 POSTS PER PAGE AND NO ONE WANTS TO LOOK THROUGH 13,956 TITLES TO SEE IF PAGE NUMBER 271 OR SOMETHING CONTAINS A POST ABOUT THE TOPIC THAT (S)HE WANTS TO POST ABOUT! However, I also have a solution, or actually, two solutions:
1. Create a system or something that allows people to search for posts in a particular forum using keywords. For https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/224344/?page=1#post-2275469 I would have been happy to search through the Suggestions forum with the keywords “username send message/alert” if such a system to do that had exists! Unfortunately, it either didn't, or wasn't obvious enough for me to be able to access it in the 2-3 minutes that I spent trying to find such a system. (I mean nothing that works; there are forum search capabilities, but not with keywords, so this suggestion basically means to add keyword search capabilities to forum search.)
a. I also think that there should be a way to search in the comments of a particular post to prevent duplicate comments (two comments with the same main idea in the same post).
2. Split the Suggestions Forum even further. Now it should be split into multiple forums based on what each forum is about. There would be one forum for suggesting new blocks, another forum for suggesting changes to profile pages (like, "There should be a separate bar on profile pages that shows only users who are following and being followed by that user."), a third forum for suggestions to comment mechanics (like https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/224344/?page=1#post-2275469), a fourth forum for suggestions about the forums (like this post), etc… As a general rule, I think that any forum with at least 100 pages (2,500 posts) NEEDS a split. Other forums would get split differently. For example, the Help with Scripts forum would get split into one forum for Help with Motion Scripts, another forum for Help with Sound Scripts, another forum for Help with Pen Scripts, etc…. If you have improvements that you'd like to see be made to profile pages and improvements that you'd like to see be made to forums, make a separate post in each forum. This may seem inconvenient to you, but chances are, you find duplicate posts even more annoying. Also, not only will that divide the number of posts that you need to search through (or the number of false positives that might turn up when you search with keywords if my first idea is implemented), but the people who run Scratch and people looking to see if there is a workaround that absence of the suggesting block will also have an easier time finding what they're looking for.
3. I don't think that this suggestion will be necessary if my first idea is implemented, but here it goes: Whenever someone creates a new post, there should be some coding that tells the post who's about to post the suggestion of any other posts that coding says the post maybe be a duplicate post of and gives the links. Also, there should be a message if the coding thinks that the person is about to make the post in the wrong forum and a link redirecting the person to the correct person. It will make the poster review that links that it gives, but after the poster does that, (s)he'll be able to post it iff (s)he still feels that this isn't a duplicate and that it's in the correct forum.
Also, if it turns out that this post is a duplicate post of another post, then THAT JUST PROVES MY POINT!
1. Create a system or something that allows people to search for posts in a particular forum using keywords. For https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/224344/?page=1#post-2275469 I would have been happy to search through the Suggestions forum with the keywords “username send message/alert” if such a system to do that had exists! Unfortunately, it either didn't, or wasn't obvious enough for me to be able to access it in the 2-3 minutes that I spent trying to find such a system. (I mean nothing that works; there are forum search capabilities, but not with keywords, so this suggestion basically means to add keyword search capabilities to forum search.)
a. I also think that there should be a way to search in the comments of a particular post to prevent duplicate comments (two comments with the same main idea in the same post).
2. Split the Suggestions Forum even further. Now it should be split into multiple forums based on what each forum is about. There would be one forum for suggesting new blocks, another forum for suggesting changes to profile pages (like, "There should be a separate bar on profile pages that shows only users who are following and being followed by that user."), a third forum for suggestions to comment mechanics (like https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/224344/?page=1#post-2275469), a fourth forum for suggestions about the forums (like this post), etc… As a general rule, I think that any forum with at least 100 pages (2,500 posts) NEEDS a split. Other forums would get split differently. For example, the Help with Scripts forum would get split into one forum for Help with Motion Scripts, another forum for Help with Sound Scripts, another forum for Help with Pen Scripts, etc…. If you have improvements that you'd like to see be made to profile pages and improvements that you'd like to see be made to forums, make a separate post in each forum. This may seem inconvenient to you, but chances are, you find duplicate posts even more annoying. Also, not only will that divide the number of posts that you need to search through (or the number of false positives that might turn up when you search with keywords if my first idea is implemented), but the people who run Scratch and people looking to see if there is a workaround that absence of the suggesting block will also have an easier time finding what they're looking for.
3. I don't think that this suggestion will be necessary if my first idea is implemented, but here it goes: Whenever someone creates a new post, there should be some coding that tells the post who's about to post the suggestion of any other posts that coding says the post maybe be a duplicate post of and gives the links. Also, there should be a message if the coding thinks that the person is about to make the post in the wrong forum and a link redirecting the person to the correct person. It will make the poster review that links that it gives, but after the poster does that, (s)he'll be able to post it iff (s)he still feels that this isn't a duplicate and that it's in the correct forum.
Also, if it turns out that this post is a duplicate post of another post, then THAT JUST PROVES MY POINT!
Last edited by dvargasews (Jan. 24, 2017 22:55:28)
- monstermash3
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
1. Maybe the Discuss Search at the top of the Discuss page should be fixed.
2. Semi-support, it would result in a lot of forums.
3. No support. If the detector was incorrect, it would be super annoying.
2. Semi-support, it would result in a lot of forums.
3. No support. If the detector was incorrect, it would be super annoying.
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
2. Semi-support, it would result in a lot of forums.Why is that a problem? It would help everyone find what (s)he wants more easily.
Last edited by dvargasews (Dec. 11, 2016 03:41:56)
- MathlyCat
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
The current solution works well enough.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
The current solution works well enough.The sticky is missing a lot of suggestions. I didn't see username tagging on there.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
- bigpuppy
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
I usually only add suggestions when people post them. If you see suggestions I'm missing, please post them, it helps a lot.The current solution works well enough.The sticky is missing a lot of suggestions. I didn't see username tagging on there.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.

- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
There are 13482 topics on this forum, and the number will only grow.I usually only add suggestions when people post them. If you see suggestions I'm missing, please post them, it helps a lot.The current solution works well enough.The sticky is missing a lot of suggestions. I didn't see username tagging on there.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
If you included every single idea, chances are, the sticky would be so long that it would take up at least five entire pages by itself.
- jji10
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
The simple solution would be to fix the forum search bar and add a notice that comes up when you try to make a new topic post that says to use the search bar first to check if it already exists.
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
The simple solution would be to fix the forum search bar and add a notice that comes up when you try to make a new topic post that says to use the search bar first to check if it already exists.But if the the big forum is split up into smaller forums, then one wouldn't need to search through as many things because there wouldn't be as many false positives.
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
The simple solution would be to fix the forum search bar and add a notice that comes up when you try to make a new topic post that says to use the search bar first to check if it already exists.Also, most people would probably ignore it.
- MathlyCat
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
You still need to consider that it helps insanely to post more topics; and not always is a duplicate used. I've seen cases where a topic is often way to popular to have discussion moved.There are 13482 topics on this forum, and the number will only grow.I usually only add suggestions when people post them. If you see suggestions I'm missing, please post them, it helps a lot.The current solution works well enough.The sticky is missing a lot of suggestions. I didn't see username tagging on there.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
If you included every single idea, chances are, the sticky would be so long that it would take up at least five entire pages by itself.
1. Eh, this used to be a thing, if they fix it, it'll be easier
2. No, this clutters everything to an extreme and gives the ST a huge mess; where are we putting the stickies, how exactly are we supposed to sort this?
3. Like I stated above special cases, and the actual process of making it is extremely large and killer (in JS at least). It would be too finicky and annoying.
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)You still need to consider that it helps insanely to post more topics; and not always is a duplicate used. I've seen cases where a topic is often way to popular to have discussion moved.There are 13482 topics on this forum, and the number will only grow.I usually only add suggestions when people post them. If you see suggestions I'm missing, please post them, it helps a lot.The current solution works well enough.The sticky is missing a lot of suggestions. I didn't see username tagging on there.
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/212472/
They're stickied for a reason.
If you included every single idea, chances are, the sticky would be so long that it would take up at least five entire pages by itself.
1. Eh, this used to be a thing, if they fix it, it'll be easier
2. No, this clutters everything to an extreme and gives the ST a huge mess; where are we putting the stickies, how exactly are we supposed to sort this?
3. Like I stated above special cases, and the actual process of making it is extremely large and killer (in JS at least). It would be too finicky and annoying.
- Yes; almost everyone, including me, wants it to be fixed. However, I think that it would be better if my second suggestion was accepted because then there would be less false positives.
- Everyone sorted five posts each time (s)he went on the Scratch forum, everyone who made a new post sorted that post and two others, and everyone who made a comment sorted one post, I think that we could sort everything in less than two weeks. Also, just have what is now the suggestions forums link link to a list of the subforums about suggestions to Scratch. There might even be a page for everything in any of the suggestion subforums.
- We could just program the computer to learn from examples and then see how good it is after 2-3 months or so.
- Saiid
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-

Saiid
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
- Saiid
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
Maybe you could help the Scratch Team design a program for that. Should a put a link to this comment in Paddle2See's profile?Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
Last edited by dvargasews (Dec. 9, 2016 20:06:14)
- Bright-Idea
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
PS: It's Paddle2See.Maybe you could help the Scratch Team design a program for that. Should a put a link to this comment in PaddleToSee's profile?Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
- Digital_Gaming
-
Scratcher
1000+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
It's paddle2seeMaybe you could help the Scratch Team design a program for that. Should a put a link to this comment in PaddleToSee's profile?Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
- dvargasews
-
Scratcher
500+ posts
A solution to duplicate posts
PS: It's Paddle2See.Maybe you could help the Scratch Team design a program for that. Should a put a link to this comment in PaddleToSee's profile?Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
[frustrated_tone_of_voice]Okay! I get it! You didn't need to tell me twice![/frustrated_tone_of_voice]It's paddle2seeMaybe you could help the Scratch Team design a program for that. Should a put a link to this comment in PaddleToSee's profile?Machine Learning. Basically it's a class on the different types of machine learning, different machine learning algorithms, how to make them, how to check if they are good/efficient, etc.Really. What exactly are you learning?First of all, did you know that you don't have to number the lists manually? You do it like this: (By the way, this will also contain my actual response to each of your responses.)As for your last point, that's actually kinda funny ‘cause I’m taking a class on Machine Learning algorithms from Columbia University
-snip-
Saiid
And I'm enrolled for a class on AI that starts in January(I forget which college it is tho)
Saiid
Was that really the most constructive and/or productive comment that you could have made?









