The New Features
Introduction
Two years ago, when we created the original checklist, we had no idea how popular it would be. With that popularity came a lot of different ways in which people have wanted to use the information. Some of them we were able to add relatively easily, hence the addition of things like the Suggested Scene and Compare Lists pages. Other things proved a lot harder with the way everything was structured.So, rather than try forcing additions on to a list that did not support them, we kept a list of all of the wishes, all of the good ideas - and the bad ones - and waited until we felt we could design something that either provided everything, or provided a framework on to which we could continue to add to.
This page talks about all of these new areas...
Registering
Probably the first thing you will notice when trying to fill in a checklist is that you now have to register. The reason for this is pretty simple. Before, once you left the site, there was no way to change your list. Now you can return whenever you want to add a few more questions, change an answer once you have tried something, etc.
Privacy
Before, if someone could guess your ID, they could view your checklist. Now you can not only choose whether or not your checklist is public but you can also assign it a Public Password that prevents people you don’t give it to from seeing it.
Separate "Done To Self" / "Done To Others" Lists
This is something we are really proud of. As far as we know, we are the first people to come up with this idea.The concept is that, when you fill in a traditional checklist, you are asked for your feelings on given kinks. Say you are a Dom who is in to nipple torture, you are in to doing that to other people, not having that done to you (which may well be a hard limit). With the new list, you can list your feelings on each separately - or just answer one column and leave the other.
Fill In As Much Or As Little As You Please
Not only can you log in and out as often as you like, changing answers, you can pick whichever lists you want.Say you only have a few minutes to spare on your first visit to the site. You could just fill in the Quick List. Then, on your next visit, you could perhaps return to fill in the Domination / submission List and the Bondage / Discipline list. While you are filling in those lists, any questions that overlap from a previous visit are already filled in to save time. Finally, a few weeks later, with more time to spare, you could return to do the Full List. With all of the already answered questions filled in, it is now a lot quicker.
Grouped Concepts
We spent a lot of time looking at the checklist we had before and looking at how we could group concepts together. Before, you could find yourself filling in Crops at the beginning of the list and Whips near the end. Now, both are near each other as Beating, Crops and Beating, Whips. This lets you consider your feelings towards all types of beating based play in one go, rather than think back to what you put before.
Quick Icons
Rather than have a huge page with dozens of slow drop down boxes or long lists of text options, the checklist uses really simple icons for each rating.You really love something? It is a bright yellow, smiley face. You hate it? Its a dark blue, sad face. You are not sure? It is a face with a question mark over it.
Rather than leave you unsure as to what a given icon means, however, just move your mouse over it and a box will appear with a full explanation.
Definitions
One of the things most people really hate about most checklists is that they never know quite what is meant by some of the terms. As with the icons, all you have to do is move your mouse over a name and an explanation box will appear.
Notes
One of the great things about paper based checklists and one of the terrible things about computerized ones is that you scribble notes on a piece of paper and can’t on a computer screen.On the new checklist, at the bottom of every page, is a large text area that lets you type whatever notes you wish. Whatever you type stays there, as you go from page to page, and list to list, so you can always change those notes if, later on, you decide they need more explanation.
Sorted Answers
Traditionally, checklists simply display answers in alphabetical [or some other pre-arranged] order. As the site is database driven, all you have to do is click on a column name and you can order the answers any way you wish. This means you can view which activities the user most enjoys as a sub or which ones they most enjoy as a Dom and then, when you’re done, you can go back to alphabetical order to help you simply find a given named activity.
Public Answers
As mentioned above, you will have the option to list your answers publicly. This allows you to make it easier for friends to find your answers. It also allows us to offer a large list of different checklists so that others can come to the site and realise they are not alone or wrong in liking what they like.
Compared Answers
If you want to take a quick look to see where your partner and you match up and where you don’t, you can go to the Compare Answers page. Now you can see your lists with one Dominating and the other submitting (and then vice-versa, beneath), lined up next to each other, as well as a calculated compatibility score.Once you have checked for yourself and your partner, you can always go and compare your list with that friend you have been considering playing with, or your subs with a Dominant you were considering loaning them to.
Suggested Scenes
Should you wish to, you can use the information stored in a checklist to generate a suggested scene. Paying attention to what is and isn’t enjoyed, scenes can be generated for Doms, for subs and even for couples, based on both their tastes.
Database Driven
Behind all of the code, the information is stored in a database. This allows us to make minor changes without invalidating any of the old lists. Before, when we added a new activity, old lists would stop working. Now it’s simply a new activity to return and add an opinion on if you wish.
Researching The Scene
In the future, this same database will allow us to offer things like demographics pages where you can fill in things like gender, age, years spent in the scene and so on. While we will always continue to respect your privacy and not give out personally identifiable information (we actually can’t see any cases where we’ll even ask for it), this then allows us to help people researching the scene.Say someone is writing a book and wants to address a concept such as say "Female subs are less in to humiliation play than male ones" - the potential will be there to give accurate information based upon thousands of results rather than the perhaps dozens that are all most people are able to survey.
So, by filling in the checklist, not only will you be accessing a great tool for you and your friends/partners, you will also be supplying information that can potentially be used to push forward the understanding of the scene. Now isn’t that something to be proud of. :)
We will, of course, control who has access to the information - and what types of information. For example: while we will provide the answers to reasonable questions, we won’t provide the core data itself, so no one will ever be able to look at anything that could even possibly identify you. As we’ve hopefully made very clear, respecting your privacy is the most important to us.
SoulThief and kitten
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This page was last updated on Saturday 15th 2002f June 2002