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M4Sherman Rookie Author New York Posts:4 Points:180 Joined:Nov 2012	Message Posted: Nov 9, 2012 10:12:09 AM Ignore M4Sherman Report Abuse On the main site, when you look at detail pages for individual gas stations, there is no place for user comments. This is a vital part of any review methodology. Especially as it pertains to the fuel shortage situation - it's critical. The shortage map allows comments for individual stations, but why aren't those visible from the main search? Please add user comment functionality, and port the current comments over.

M4Sherman

Rookie Author
New York

Posts:4
Points:180
Joined:Nov 2012

Message Posted: Nov 9, 2012 10:12:09 AM

Ignore M4Sherman Report Abuse

On the main site, when you look at detail pages for individual gas stations, there is no place for user comments. This is a vital part of any review methodology.

Especially as it pertains to the fuel shortage situation - it's critical. The shortage map allows comments for individual stations, but why aren't those visible from the main search?

Please add user comment functionality, and port the current comments over.

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

CampKohler Champion Author Sacramento Posts:9,467 Points:1,563,245 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Nov 11, 2012 9:16:08 PM Ignore CampKohler Report Abuse Another and more direct way to get to a particular MSL edit page (as GB was suggesting), is to click the Update Station Features link on any Station Detail page. You will see the Station Notes at the bottom.
Gas_Buddy Champion Author Maryland Posts:25,984 Points:3,036,015 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Nov 11, 2012 7:14:41 PM Ignore Gas_Buddy Report Abuse There is a space, as said earlier, on the master station page for each station in which you can post notes about the station. However the intent for that section is to indicate such things as (for example) "Sells non-ethanol gas, kerosene available, etc" It would be quasi-permanent (always changeable by "senior members". To see what I'm talking about, in case we're talking about different things, click on Gas Prices on the top line, and then click on Master Station List. When the list page opens, click on Edit on any of the stations to see what The purpose would not be, in my opinion, to list such fleeting items as (your examples) your experiences, or that people might want to wait half an hour until a delivery truck leaves, let alone "Pump 7 out of receipt paper." Those comments seem to me to be entirelty too transient to have value. As for "These guys don't respect when...", while that's awfully subjective, it seems that the place to put something like that, if you wanted to let people know about certain stations, would be to start a topic in your local discussion category where an issue or situation could be discussed with some intelligence and not simply be a piece-meal line item. But, and it's just me perhaps, I'm not sure that most people that use the gas stations I go to would really care about my experiences. Is that really such an important item to post?
M4Sherman Rookie Author New York Posts:4 Points:180 Joined:Nov 2012	Message Posted: Nov 11, 2012 3:15:40 PM Ignore M4Sherman Report Abuse What I was talking about was the station detail pages - for example: /BP_Gas_Stations/Manhattan/56274/index.aspx I don't see any place that lists comments or "Station Notes". To clarify, I wasn't talking about a rating system (not that that wouldn't be a bad idea), but a section on that detail page where users could post comments about the station or their experiences there. It would be sorted chronologically (newest first), and you might see things such as: 2012/11/10 (4:25pm) - Fuel truck offloading now. Might want to wait a half hour to reduce sediment getting into your fuel filter. 2012/11/05 (8:30pm) - Pump 7 out of receipt paper. 2012/10/31 (11:14pm) - Do NOT use full service here. These guys don't respect when you tell them not to top off the tank! [Edited by: M4Sherman at 11/11/2012 3:16:12 PM EST]
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,371 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Nov 10, 2012 9:29:55 PM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse You added this to the your list CK? So far, no one has even understood what this suggestion is.
CampKohler Champion Author Sacramento Posts:9,467 Points:1,563,245 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Nov 10, 2012 7:04:51 PM Ignore CampKohler Report Abuse I found the Update button, so I see where the comments are coming from now.
CampKohler Champion Author Sacramento Posts:9,467 Points:1,563,245 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Nov 10, 2012 6:57:43 PM Ignore CampKohler Report Abuse I had to Google the Shortage Tracker to find out what it was. Having had no News postings in a year, it would the last place I would have looked, and, sure enough, it WAS the last place I looked. :-) I see that they have been playing catch-up in that department and found the link to it. Noting that the location is under a Sandy directory, it must be assumed that it will (for the present at least) only be available for particular emergency situations. Will it be more widely geographically available in the future so that local, non-emergency shortages could be monitored in all places? I see a User Comments header, but no input fields. Where are the comments for the Shortage Tracker coming from? If GB doesn't have time for providing documentation for such a site feature (which would be understandable under the circumstances), there should at least be a link to an open wiki, e.g Wikispaces, so that users could create one.
CampKohler Champion Author Sacramento Posts:9,467 Points:1,563,245 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Nov 10, 2012 6:28:33 PM Ignore CampKohler Report Abuse This suggestion has been added to the Suggestion Tracking List as a new subject. I am assuming that "station detail page" refers to the page obtained by clicking the station name in a price list and not that obtained by a search in the Master Station List. I know of only two kinds of comments: reporting comments which are (optionally) posted along with a price report and appear in price lists/maps, and Station Notes which are meant to be a more or less fixed part of a station's record in the MSL. Would I be correct in assuming that you wanting a place for contemporary user feedback for a particular station, such as shopping experiences and the like? That would be new. Please note that there is no "review" function GB, rather the effort is focussed on reporting factual matters, such as station features/services, business status and fuel prices. There have been some suggestions in the past to rate stations (which could be interpreted as reviewing and which would be more opinion than fact), but nothing has become of it. I left a whiteboard request to return. [Edited by: CampKohler at 11/10/2012 6:33:54 PM EST]
Gas_Buddy Champion Author Maryland Posts:25,984 Points:3,036,015 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Nov 9, 2012 7:43:35 PM Ignore Gas_Buddy Report Abuse M4Sherman: "On the main site, when you look at detail pages for individual gas stations..." If you're talking about pages for individidual gas stations, meaning t he Master Station List, there is a category called "Station Notes" (which is the "comments" section". If you're talking about gas prices listed on the home page, it's possible that none of the high/low priced stations listed have had comments posted, but if someone has entered a comment to one of those stations (or to a station that you pull up on a "search"), then yes, comments are visible. If you're talking about the Fuel Shortage Tracker, then there is a place for comments about the stations, it's just that you have to "open the station" to see them." To me one of the reasons they're not posted when you look at the "home search page" with all the green, red, and gray station icons is that it would make a detailed map/detailed page more confusing and more full. As for seeing the comments on the "Search For Stations" page that opens is, I believe, to keep it simple for the majority of users who (in my opinion) care first and foremost about what stations are open near them than they want to see a lot of information. After they find open staions near them, then they can take the next step. It's not a perfect help for everyone, but not everyone has the same requirements or "review methodology" as everyone else.
GM Moderator	Message Posted: Nov 9, 2012 12:32:46 PM Ignore GM Report Abuse >M4Sherman Sorry for any inconvenience. I'm not sure what you mean by this. Can you provide any more information? Thanks. - Ryan (RD)
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,371 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Nov 9, 2012 11:08:51 AM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse Are you talking about the MSL?