Some Simple Improvements Vocal Should Implement

Introduction

The music I have chosen for this is "Do It" by The Pink Fairies ironically from the album "Never, Never Land" because almost every Creator suggestion to Vocal seems to go in the "Roadmap" which seems to be a euphemism for dustbin.

The Vocal platform is a complex beast and sometimes things do take time. Time after time I have thanked Vocal for all the good they have done me and for being a brilliant writing platform to share ideas.

There are a couple of ideas which I know are very easy to implement and could be done quickly. I know this because I have an IT background and I see things implemented by Vocal very quickly on suggestions from some people while other simple ideas just go on the roadmap.

I will add a couple of my other pieces on Vocal system issues at the end of this piece but here we go.

System Status Link On The Main Page

Every so often there are issues with the site. This weekend it was the fact that stories and stats were timing out, I assume these were database issues.

If there was a link to the system status on the main page, everyone could check that if they were having issues, and it would be visible to all Vocal users, not just Discord members. I have difficulty with having too many places to check which is why I left Discord, but have rejoined now to see if I can share things like this there and hopefully get some more information on what is happening.

A link to a static page or data feed that everyone can access would be an enormous benefit to members and would not be to difficult to implement.

Another option is to put it on the profile side stripe, but that would not be as visible as the main page, but again would be easy to implement.

Read Count In Stories

I have complained for years that the stats report has issues (see links at the end) but a story read count within the story itself would be a simple addition to make. It would not have to be dynamic (though it would be nice if it was) but if it showed the read count as of the last daily update that would be really useful.

Conclusion

These are just a few simple suggestions to improve the Vocal platform, which, let's face it is generally very good. If it weren't we would be off somewhere else.

It is more than a writing platform, it is a place to be encouraged and to make friends as well. I am so grateful to Voca for helping me believe that I can write something that others will enjoy and for giving me so many wonderful friends.

That said we still have to tell vocal when things don't work, and if we can make suggestions to improve the platform. If we don't do that we cannot complain about what we are given.

I continually suggest improvements and highlight issues, some of which have been resolved and others not, so I feel I have earned a right to say when things are less than perfect on the Vocal platform.

We are all part of the Vocal Community and we want it to be as close to perfect as it can be, and that means engaging with Vocal to suggest improvements and point out issues. We also need to thank them for the fact that the platform runs and for the numerous improvements that they have implemented over the years.

I will leave you with some of my previous articles on the subject.