If I could ask for one thing, I wish DG would....

WOW-I read them all and voted for the "something other". I have to say I think they are all good ideas EXCEPT the whole non-subscriber bits. I think non-subscribers should be able to dmail, but maybe we should have a filter option that allows us to block them if we so choose not to receive them. I also don't think that no subscribers should be able to roam willy nilly aorund the site. If I remember correctly, when I first signed up for an acct. (I could be wrong on this) tha I got 7 days for free??? If I am wrong I think that is a WONDERFUL IDEA. Love the idea of getting discount form some of ouir top 30-after all, how much revenue do they make from DG as a whole in a year.
Love the idea of monthly contests for subscribers...



As far as the ideas that I had...
1-make each catagory like a lot of sites so that if I hold my mouse over let's say "products & sources" that I can then selct Gardenwatchdog of PF in a drop down box and directly click to link there....
2-make it so we do have more preferences on our individual page as far as certain customizations. Maybe even let us customize some fonts and colors-things like that
3-being able to download our spreadsheets into our page for info-I kinda don't like the journal and prefer to use my spreadsheet, but would love to have it here-I am sure others would find it helpful as well.
4-in the comments section of PF have the uber & admin comments come up 1st of have comments in your zone come up ist.
5-zones in PF-have them say things like Zone3 (with protection) or (agaist foundation), things that would help us all know where to plant things.

Just my 2 cents, but all in all I think most of us have WONDERFUL ideas!!!

One feature I found very generous was the 10 free plant
searches a day for non-subscribers. It's been a while, but
there are freebie forums you can at least look(join?) into. I
also like the short-term subscription, for anyone to check out
DG at a nominal fee first.

Another item I think I would benefit from, is if the standard
templates for seed packets were to print out a bit larger,
without losing resolution. I can not write all the info that tiny,
let alone read it. They also don't seem to multi-fit a page
properly for maximum paper use. However, I think they are
cute as buttons.

And, another feature I think would be so valuable is a large
spigot for DG espresso with bisquits and gravy, at a reasonable
cost, of course.

Also, I would find it helpful to know who posted last in
a topic, up front, along with the topic starter's name.
Something like 'last post by:'. You can see this sometimes
on your home page listed as 'who', but it doesn't go with
you to the forum, and may not be specific to the topic you
are interested in.

OOO-like the larger packet idea-I think some of the info on there is superflerous too, but maybe even so we can save them on the puter and type in the info instead of the lines already there-the ones I downloaded, I can't edit-just print as they are.....I usually end up printing off the onfo & just taping it to the back...

I think you're on to something, fairy1004-

I think it would be cool if we could choose a seed packet
template, futz around with it, print our info on it before
printing out the whole thing. The computer can type much
clearer and well spaced than I, and then I could use my glasses
to read it if need be, but that would be so much better than
trying to read so many different people's handwriting.
Thanks, fairy1004!

I would love it the search option were easier to get to. Should be a one or two click thing.

Back to the idea of getting discounts or freebies from vendors, hopefully new subscribers could "get their money back" if certain perks were added to the membership; i. e., membership to a plant society, free copies of gardening magazines, coupons, etc.

Contests/drawings also add value to the memberships! Maybe incentive programs like "if you subscribe this week, you'll be entered into a drawing to get "X" prize".

Premiums are a terrific idea-- I have enough coffee mugs, but a cool sticker that says "I'm a Dave's Member" would be great! We could put them on our cars, tool carts, etc.! Ooooh- a "Dave's" plant pot!!! There could be a contest as to who has the best plant in that pot! I can also see a "Dave's" line of seeds. If you join, you'll get a pot and 5 packs of Dave's seed, along w/ some stickers- there could be a nice "welcome" gift pot as membership incentive. We can poll members as to what their favorite "premiums" are. A Dave's gift shop on line would be the next logical step.

Novelty always generates interest and buzz! We're all kids at heart!!!

FYI I am a marketing director, however unemployed at present :0(

i'd love better searches on forums, and improved PF searches - like the ability to use "and" and "not" on the general search.

thanks...
amy
*

I voted more forums open to members, but then I like someone's idea of a weekly forum. How about cycling through the subscriber-only forums, making a couple open to members each week or fortnight, then returning them to subscriber-only? We members would get the chance to see whether these forums are worth the subscription. Cable TV does this all the time, make a premium channel available to basic subscribers for a limited time, to lure them into buying the channel. Lots of work for Dave and his elves, I know, but it might attract more paying customers!

As a recent subscriber now just a member I think it's fine just the way it is with forums open/limited to members. I think a trail period for a new member might be nice but a person could just as easily come back with a new user ID couldn't they? Not that that would happen much.

But I can say if you aren't a subscriber you see WAAAY more ads on Dave's as a member, which helps defray costs. And also is an encouragement to resubscribe. ;) Hehe, so you don't see those annoying ads.

I would like to still be able to follow the threads I started which may be in forums closed to just members. :(

Some more contests would be a fun idea. I love to get away after work and learn something new and fun. Thanks!

wow...there are a lot of posts on this, and I didnt take time to read them all, so forgive me if this is a repeat, but the suggestion

is a great one! I've tried many software programs, that allow you anywhere from 7 days to 30 days to try a program. Sometimes I end up liking it, and purchasing it, and other times it doesn't measure up, and I let the time lapse & uninstall the temporary software.

I agree that if people could sign up for a complimentary trial(with limited posting, but full browsing) it would really attract people, once they got to sample the site, but strongly wish that this place not become too public, like that other place...I left that other place because it was too public...what attracted me about Daves is that the subscription fee seemed to somehow auto-select a more dedicated and select breed of gardeners. That said, the subscriber fee still isn't expensive...about the same price as any of my garden magazine subscriptions, but it seems to be a good filter. Also, you get what you pay for, and I believe the subscriber fees have funded a much nicer site, than the "public" forums.

Secondly, I liked the plantfiles on the homepage tab,also. I don't like having to tab through to find it, either...

Thridly, I would love to be able to add more than one photo in a post. Usually I have to post with a picture, then go directly back to that same thread, and post a "ps-",so I can post another picture. On that other site I used to remember seeing people post several posted pictures stacked in the same post, and that would be nice to do here, also.

Those are the only three things I can possibly think of, and only mention them because you asked, lol..

Keep up the great work. I love this place.
:0)

I find the tag feature difficult to use, at least to go back and find what I've tagged. I get whole lists of things I know I didn't tag for my information.

Jax4ever said:

and

I think these are fine ideas but there are logistics surrounding the international membership and/or inclusion/exclusion of same. I, of course, would like to promote inclusion :-)

I checked Other. Still hoping we can move foward with Internationalizing DG. Yuska

just thought of one more thing...

you can currently go back and edit your words in a post, but you cannot edit the picture.

It would be really nice to be able to later go back and add a picture, or edit one you posted by mistake

I'm with all the people who a) want Plant Files more accessible and b) want more propagation information included in the PF. Drives me nuts trying to figure out if seeds want light or dark, heat or coolness, if seeds need to be nicked or soaked or chilled. I see lots of interesting suggestions here, but expanding PF is at the top of my wish list!

I LOVE DG’s and wouldn’t change anything BUT lol I wish people would go into the plantfiles and update their choices when they add a plant to the plantfiles, I understand them making two different choices if they don’t know how tall a plant will be, how much water it takes and what kind of sun but there are too many discrepancies in the information, after this person has grown this plant a while they just need to go in and add the choices that pertain to this plant. It seems like every time I go into the plantfiles to check a plant out to find this info. I’m no where closer to finding out than I was before I looked.

I would love to see sowing information in the Plant Files, i.e. how deep to plant seeds, whether or not they need light or heat to germinate, etc.

I work and go everywhere in Haynes or Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton Tshirts in white.
I wish that DG just had Tshirts in that quality cotton , not the Vietnamese cotton that has stretch and is hot and cut soooo small.

Maybe just offer one for working in big sizes (I usually buy the men's XL for comfy over the pants hanging) with a DG logo on the front or back or both.

Whoever is into making Tshirts on DG can offer for only 12 or 14 dollars a cotton one. I know because the kids at the church sell them for 10.00 each with logos and make a good amount of money for their mission work. I also work in those that I buy to help the kids raise money.

I tried to order on that site and couldn't get an order in too! I gave up, guess I wasn't holding my mouth right LOL

I threw away 24.00 for a Tshirt that doesn't even fit my 11 year old granddaughter and it was marked an XL. It is still in the drawer and so small I haven't found anyone it fits.

It sounds like maybe you got a children's XL? I ordered an adult small scoop-neck t-shirt. It fits fine (definitely not too tight even though I'm far from model-thin ;o)

Well, I didn't have time to read all this thread, so forgive me if somebody else has already said this. But would it be possible to add a feature that will automatically send us reminders about things like fertilizing and such? That's absolutely the hardest thing for me to do is remember to fertilize on time. I hate to ask for this because this is already such an awesome site and it really has made a dramatic difference in my yard and in my attitude towards gardening. I've also looked at other forum type websites and didn't like them. They just didn't seem user friendly.

It's so rare these days to find a business that is so responsive to its customers. Dave's Garden really is a jewel.:)

On the t-shirts...at least the ones I've ordered do definitely run quite a bit on the small side. I'm what I would consider sort of average size (normally I buy medium size t-shirts from anywhere else) and the size that fits me best from the t-shirts I've bought from Zazzle is XL. It fits, but it's still way tighter on me than the medium size t-shirts that I buy everywhere else. But they do warn you on the ones where the sizes run small. (and mine was definitely a women's size t-shirt).

I have often wanted to post more than 1 pic at a time. It would be great to have a 4 frame set up like craigslist.
Lora☺

I'll probably be the only crazy one to suggest it, but I wish some of the vendors we all use could offer DGers super duper sales. (I know that it's a ToS issue for people to advertise in the forums, but maybe in coordination somehow...?)

I meant to say I wear XL women's T shirts normally to work in that I buy at the Dollar Store from Haynes and they fit fine. They are so cool because they are really cotton and not the synthetic cotton ones that are offered on Dazzle or whatever it is called.

I would like it if in Plant Files there was an area in the plant info to list if a plant is or isn't deer resistant. I know that you can do a specific search to find this out, but it would sure be handy to have it listed right there on the page when you look up a specific plant in the PF.

I really like how Bluestone Perennials has begun to list this on each plant description they sell....so very helpful for us who have a deer population problem in our area.

Nana3

Sorry, only read about half of the above because my kids started nagging for their lunch. LOL

Some things I would love to see:
--A direct way to get to the Wintersowing Database. I can never find it.
--Some way to copy or fill down on the journal. When I plant 12 things in a day, I hate having to re-type the date and the information for each plant. I gave up on using the journal and have been using a database instead. I like the idea of being able to link entries to the PF.
--I agree with more specific information on propagation or seed-starting in the Plant Files. That is what I have been specifically searching for, and it is difficult to search through multiple forums to find info on certain plants.
--This may sound silly, but some actual definitions of what "region" we are in. I am not sure if central IL is considered "Central Midwest" or "Upper Midwest." I've been lurking at both, trying to get a feel for the personalities and conversations, to see where I'd fit!

Overall, though, I LOVE Dave's Garden. I come every day now, and have learned a tremendous amount. I am so pleased that so many knowledgeable people are so patient and generous with rookie gardeners, and only hope that I am able to help others as I gain some more experience. Keep up the good work!

Booker

I wish there was a "search the plant files" button on each page. It seems I am always opening 2 pages & keeping the search page minimized in the background. Thanks for asking!

I also must say that I am strongly in favor of keeping most forums as subscriber only, particularly the regional threads. I am concerned about lurkers and my personal privacy. Of course, my motivation is not to get as many subscribers as possible. I selfishly like it how it is.

Tshirts and other stuff is on my 'go for it!' list.

I have a "plant files" button and "blog" on my custom box at the top of my home page. Boy, did that help when I discovered that! I think I might add a "journal" button too.

I like the idea of having more info in plantfiles, too. I love the tag idea, even though I haven't used it much. Boy, do I wish it was around when I first joined. I learned so much that year!

Harper

I voted to change a feature. I wish the pictures would come up full sized instead of having to click on the them to get them, and then go back to the thread and scroll down to the next picture and click that one. I'd also like to see more than one picture per post so people wouldn't have to make a series of posts to have all their pictures on a thread. Then if they were full sized, you could really appreciate them. I love Dave's Garden, but I also visit another forum and there the pictures are full sized, there can be more than one per post and enjoy that.

I dunno... some of us have a hard enough time viewing threads with the small photos when we have dial up.

Do you think if the threads changed more often, instead of going on for 20 or 30 posts, that it would be easier?

I am feeling badly as we let our thread get to 100 before we start a new thread. The dial up people on the forum where I mainly post say that 100 is the limit. I am sorry you are having so much trouble with dial up.

I really like the auction idea like Ebay here btw.

I voted for 'other'. I've been thinking about this all week and couldn't think of anything. But as I read though the posts, I absolutely agree about a quick link to PlantFiles on the home page. It's a nuisance to click:

Guides & Information
PlantFiles
scroll down to get to 'Click here to search for plants'

I would like to go directly to the search screen with one click from the home page.

PlantFiles is what lead me to DG also. It amazes me how many times a day I may go to PF.

~ jan

1. Please consider some way to indicate which vendors are closed when viewing the results of a search/advanced search In the Garden Watchdog. When the list returned is long, it is frustrating to have to click through to so many entries only to find them closed.

2. On the subject of opening up of more forums to non-subscribers, I would say that if it is more advantageous to DG, I don't mind. I do feel strongly, however, that subscribers or the admins should be given a window of opportunity to sanitize posts for personal information before a forum is made public.

I would like to be notified, by email, when there are responses to threads I am watching.