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The Dell Community has contributed: 9794 ideas | promoted 668269 times | 76278 comments

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1920

Enable us to change an existing idea vote, if we make a mistake

1920 points posted to IdeaStorm by cosh 05/01/07

A few times I've accidentally clicked on the wrong button, or voted after reading the title of an idea but wanted to change it once I read the whole thing. Could you make it so we can still click the promote button after demoting or the demote button after promoting?

Better than having inaccurate vote counts because of clumsy people like me!

Thanks!

sparr
05/01/07
Funnily enough, I clicked 'Promote' on this idea by accident. I meant to click promote on the top idea on the Popular Ideas tab, but somehow logging in brought me to the Recent Ideas tab and I didn't bother to re-read the title before clicking promote again. So, I guess I really am in favor of this :)
hemuda
05/01/07
I submitted the same idea earlier today.
stevied
05/01/07
Absolutely should be done !
jervis961
05/01/07
Great Idea Cosh.
kevintrooper
07/03/07
Merged Idea originally posted 06/26/07
change of mind

If you just change your mind, click on the wrong one, or you found out more, you should be able to chane from demote to promote, or the other way around!!!
dell_admin1
07/03/07
Merged Comment originally posted 06/27/07
@kevintrooper - great suggestion. As cosh points out, it's a duplicate, so I'll be merging it today. I don't know how possible this idea is in the short-term, but we'll consider it for the long-term. Thanks.
kevintrooper
07/03/07
Merged Comment originally posted 06/27/07
Thank you dell! even thow i have no clue what that ment lol!
kevintrooper
07/03/07
Merged Comment originally posted 06/29/07
well dell admin when r u combinin them?
badblood
07/03/07
Merged Comment originally posted 06/29/07
2 days ago................
kevintrooper
07/03/07
Merged Comment originally posted 06/29/07
i no he promises fake stuff!
cosh
09/02/07
How to change a demote to a promote in a convoluted way:
- Post a complete duplicate of the intended idea. Put a @DUPLICATEOF tag on it in the body.
- When it's merged, the original idea will take the promotion.

How to change a promote to a demote in a convoluted way:
- Get somebody who likes the idea to post a duplicate of it.
- Demote the duplicate.
- Add a @DUPLICATEOF tag.
- When it's merged, the original idea will take the demotion.

jervis961
09/02/07
Not really, your votes cancel out each other and then you get no say at all. You would have to have 2 duplicates merged to be able to change your vote, if that would even work.
cosh
09/02/07
They don't cancel out, least not from what I've observed - the later posted idea's votes appear to take precedence, or maybe it's the later vote itself. Difficult to get a good example unfortunately.
dwood
11/01/07
Come on, more people vote!
eh
11/06/07
Merged Idea originally posted 05/07/07
"Cancel vote" feature to IdeaStorm

There should be a way to cancel (and/or change) a vote in IdeaStorm. I, for one, voted for this "idea" by mistake. I wouldn't like to really promote the "idea", but now it seems that I am doing exactly that...
mistern
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
I think this is a duplicate.
mazemaster
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
I too have accidentally clicked on the wrong button a few times. The ability to change my vote would be very nice.
thebittersea
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
me too. i want this feature.
along with the 'suicide button' that cancels all my votes and start over again.
mistern
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
I guess this will come with the next release in a few months, hah.
thebittersea
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
at least 2 month. dell_admin1 said that in order to get an idea approved... he'd have to jump through hoops of fire. most of them requires God's approval.
mistern
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
corporate cruft - not really relieving that it's the same everywhere
thebittersea
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
what can we do? we are just a bunch of lowly ideastromtroppers
mistern
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
create myriads of new companies without cruft :-P
thebittersea
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
we should just all go protest in front of their austin headquarters. i will make signs.
mistern
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/07/07
planes are not cheap from my Here Be Dragons place - ok, they are cheap but i don't want to spend money *g*
jorge
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/18/07
I will join the bandwagon and yes its needed because my mouse slipped on a few clicks where I meant to demote or mote and clicked the wrong one. Sometimes I added a comment that probably didn't make sense with the vote. Oh well.
cosh
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 07/06/07
cosh
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 11/06/07
Hmmm. Not merged. :(
jorge
11/06/07
Merged Comment originally posted 11/06/07
No they couldn't back then, they were probably mad at us and wouldn't do it and like the other 1000's of ideas they go into the pigeon hole.
jervis961
11/06/07
Suddenly merged :)
jorge
11/06/07
5th time was the charm.
hemuda
11/07/07
Merged Idea originally posted 05/01/07
About IdeaStorm: Have option to change your vote

I am not allowed to change my vote, if I pressed the wrong button by mistake. I should be allowed to change my vote.

If for security you want to make them permanent, allow that for first 5 minutes only so people can correct it if they realized it immediately.

Regards,
Hemant
gmat
11/07/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/01/07
stevied
11/07/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/01/07
Absolutely should be done !
simonsells91
11/07/07
Merged Comment originally posted 05/01/07
oops, I just demoted this one :)
cosh
11/07/07
Merged Comment originally posted 11/07/07
jorge
11/07/07
Eeek! If this idea gets done I'll have a lot of work to do!
cosh
11/07/07
I like getting merged ideas :D I get points!
jorge
11/07/07
Well I just thought about that and want an official explanation of merge points and more.
sugarbear
11/07/07
I clicked the wrong button this morning, nobodies fault but my own. Tomorrow I`ll drink two cups of coffee not two sipps before touching anything.
jorge
11/07/07
Two cups and my clicks will be off by many pixels.
dell_admin1
11/08/07
Quick question to those who have accidentally voted the wrong way - do you think the promote and demote buttons are too close together? That has been raised in commentary before and I wanted to see if the community still thinks that could be a cause of the accidental votings. Thanks for your input.
jorge
11/08/07
No, they're fine in position I think. The change in vote is for more than one reason, a) page is slow to load and paginates and moves the icons at times if there are pictures or other media in the idea (does not mean we don't want media just what happens), b) Idea is changed by poster, c) One was not thinking correctly at the voting time, d) clicked the wrong button even though one wanted to click on the other button, brain and mouse hand not coordinating correctly, and e) an accidental click, clicked the vote buttons.
jervis961
11/08/07
That isn't the only problem. I think "accidental" has been used as an excuse by many when in reality they didn't read correctly. Its an easy out for those times when you vote to quickly and then realise because of the comments that the idea was something different than you had thought. Also things change over time and an idea can evolve though interaction on the comments that make you change your mind. This isn't something that will be fixed by moving the buttons. We need a way to change our vote when we change our mind.
jervis961
11/08/07
Dang jorge beat me again.
dwood
11/08/07
Yeah. Its not the position, its the whole just not being able to "undo" a vote because of the "silly little" mistake. I did read a post the wrong way and demoted when I wanted to PRO-mote.

This shouldnt even be an issue though, someone who was writing or "testing" the pages should have figured this out by now that people change their ideas.
cosh
11/08/07
@Dell_admin1. No I don't think they're too close together. I just mix up what I mean to click. I think to myself, "Yes, PROMOTE!" and give the demote button a solid click.
sugarbear
11/08/07
Every one of these apply to me. Especially hand, eye, mouse, brain coordination. The buttons are not to close together, it`s just the operator.
dell_admin1
11/08/07
ok, thanks all.
dwood
11/08/07
Yep. No matter how far apart they are, I WILL make a mistake(s). simple as that.
rotthund
11/13/07
Merged Idea originally posted 10/17/07
Toggle votes

I changed my mind on one thread, but I can't change my vote. Coloration of the vote icons lets me infer I can click the other option and change my vote. It didn't work.
jervis961
11/13/07
Merged Comment originally posted 10/17/07
Which idea, maybe they can change it for you.
premcv
11/13/07
Merged Comment originally posted 10/17/07
Duplicate of an older idea! Don't remember though!
jervis961
11/13/07
Merged Comment originally posted 10/17/07
yeah it is but oh well
ed.galligan
11/13/07
Merged Comment originally posted 10/26/07
I had a slightly similar problem. Upon registering for the site I discovered that I had already 1 vote - a demotion of an idea I hadn't even read!

The idea happened to be at the top of the page, so either some keyboard accessibility shortcut or clumsy mouse, I dunno. Yes, jervis961 I suppose they could change it for me, but surely this happens relatively often given the amount of ideas here.
cosh
11/13/07
Merged Comment originally posted 11/09/07
dwood
11/14/07
hey! we need to continue this discussion to make it more popular!
premcv
11/14/07
How? We've been discussing this every other time, yet, it gets overlooked, so, why bother?
jervis961
11/14/07
The competition's software has this ability.

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/74973
cosh
11/15/07
If this idea is implemented, it will make this other idea redundant: 71666: add a confirm button when submit a vote
dwood
11/15/07
yes it would but hey. Its always nice.
jorge
11/15/07
The confirm button is so Vista like, no way! The ability to change your vote is much better, otherwise I know with SalesForce we'd end up in an infinite loop, "Are you sure? Are you sure of being sure? Sure about it? Really? ... "
dwood
11/15/07
Lol that would be hilarious. but that would end my hiatus of finding every idea and voting on it very very sloooooooooooowly.
premcv
11/16/07
@jorge: Imagine that being added to Idea submission! Are you sure? Are you doubly sure? Really? Double really? ...... ROTFLMHO!!!
sugarbear
11/16/07
That`s exactly what we need cosh, a confirm button.
dwood
11/16/07
not really. they get annoying if you are trying to... i dont know..... vote on all ideas? (I voted on 390 last night b4 I went2bed)
dpic
12/12/07
Merged Idea originally posted 12/12/07
Let us change our opinion!

Why can't we change our opinion on an idea? What if we accidentally click the wrong button? What if we change our mind because of discussion in the comments? Let us change our opinion!
davmcn
12/12/07
Merged Comment originally posted 12/12/07
Suggested Before, but good idea.
jervis961
12/12/07
Merged Comment originally posted 12/12/07
Suggested, neglected, we all feel rejected.
jervis961
12/12/07
Well the admins are watching silently from the shadows.
sugarbear
12/12/07
Just the way they like it.
davmcn
12/12/07
True.
dwood
12/18/07
*yawns*
jervis961
12/18/07
dell_admin1
12/23/07
Sorry - we weren't trying to watch silently from the shadows, I promise. :) Since we launched in February, we have had some good discussions on the site about whether to allow users to change their vote. There are a lot of good advantages to adding this capability... and there are some disadvantages too. I think the points raised in the comments here are all good ones. Particularly regarding the fact that after participating in a conversation for a while, it's normal to change your mind based on the points raised by other people. This is part of the value of having a conversation!
The fact is that right now the "change vote" capability is not built into this site. That doesn't mean that it won't eventually be added, as our developers continue to enhance the platform. But in the spirit of transparency, I can tell you that we don't currently have this capability, and I don't know when we'll get it.
Thanks to everyone for your input here, and I know that our developers really appreciate your feedback about needed improvements.
davmcn
12/24/07
Hey, thanks for the info, Merry Christmas :)
shannon_vanwagner
Jan 6
I could see why it wouldn't be good to let users change votes over the long term. I mean if an idea gets voted up to the clouds one week and then you guys check back the next week and the number is totally different, I could see how that might cause problems.

Here's my idea: Perhaps you could just give us about 30 seconds to change our vote after we click it.

This would give the people who screw up their vote ample time to change it quick but then would serve to keep the vote numbers from being a total moving target.

The idea that I wanted to vote up (and accidentally voted down) is:
( http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/74137/The_most_requested_feature )

And so I'll be going to smash my mouseclick finger with a hammer now because it disobeyed a direct order to promote!!

Shannon V.
shannon_vanwagner
Jan 6
Oh and someone accidentally made a voting mistake on my idea too!
( http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/75605/User_selects_which_OSLinux_or_Win... )
sugarbear
Jan 6
It happens frequently. I would like to have a full 24 hours to change the vote.
davmcn
Jan 8
i make mistakes every once in a while.
sugarbear
Jan 8
You aren`t the only one.
davmcn
Jan 8
yep for sure i ain't the only one, i wish some i could take back... but not yet appearently ...
sugarbear
Jan 8
let`s hope some day.
davmcn
Jan 8
Yeppers :)
jdelidc
Jan 8
@shannon_vanwagner: if i could change my vote on that i would. don't remember what happened that time but accidental wrong buttons happen all the time to me.
zanlok
Jan 27
While they are at it, a *neutral* voting status would be nice.
davmcn
Feb 2
Very True Zanlok, i don't always agree or disagree with some ideas, so a neutral button would be awesome :)
dpic
Feb 5
and whta would be the point of this neutral button? if it wouldn't add or take value from an idea-- why have it?
sugarbear
Feb 5
We basically have that already davmcn. Just don`t click any thing.
zanlok
Feb 6
My point is to let you "pass" on idea, and to have that saved into the system. Then, there should be a page that brings in front of you all ideas on which you have not voted. That way, you always have a fresh listing, and a LOT more ideas get voted on.
sugarbear
Feb 6
Well zanlock, that has been passed around for many months. A lot of things are not capable with Salesfarce.
jmxz
Mar 25
Merged Idea originally posted 08/23/07
Let us change incorrect votes on Ideastorm - many reasons why.

dell_admin1 writes: "'the 'ability to change your vote' is not currently on our list of upgrades - short-term or long-term - because that functionality has not been raised as a significant one." in the comments to a different idea.

Ok - here's an attempt to raise it.

Many of my votes - especially on older ideas - don't reflect my current position on the Ideas. This happens for a great number of reasons.
  1. An Idea I support may have been merged with one I disagree with. It seems pretty common that not quite identical ideas get merged into a single Idea. Often there are subtleties between the Ideas that make good reasons why I'd have a different opinion on the two ideas. The first one that comes to mind here is the set of "No OS" ideas. It seems that many requests for No OS on various computers are being merged into a "No OS" idea that's labeled "Already Offered". Obviously this is a bit silly because if it were already offered on the model being requested people wouldn't need to keep re-posting the ideas. When specific No OS ideas are posted I vote based on whether it makes sense on that particular model. I hope these votes don't get counted against No OS in general.
  2. Peoples comments sometimes persuaded me that the Idea was better than I originally thought. - One of the great features on IdeaStorm is that people can comment and discuss the ideas. Often this discussion makes me better understand an idea and can bring me around to thinking it's a good one.
  3. Dells actions change my opinion on an idea. For example, now that Dell offers Ubuntu I find it unnecessary to offer other Linux distributions like Fedora -- but my positive votes remain. I would change them if I could.
  4. Third party software vendors change my opinion of an Idea For example, if Microsoft could fix Vista, my votes on a lot of the XP ideas would change.
  5. My own further education can change my opinions on ideas. For example, as I do more with desktop virtualization, I might start seeing the point to it.
  6. The wrong button can be clicked Jorge points out that this seems to even happen to dell_admins when they vote.
So please - just for the accuracy and correctness of IdeasStorm vote scores - let us change incorrect votes.

[Edit: note also that the only person who voted against this idea so far mentioned in the comments that they'd like to change their vote :-) ]
jmxz
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
Yup - it's a dup - and no doubt it'll get merged with "i wantz to chg votez - cuz i was drunk lat time i voted" -- or whatever the previous one was called. Yet another reason (in addition to misrepresenting votes) that merging stinks.

also, dell_admin1 said the reason it's not being done is because it wasn't raised enough - so perhaps dupes count as raising the issue? :-)
davmcn
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
the reason i don't like this idea...is because if you randomly hate the person throught it changing it to annoy them is a bad idea...so..No no..sorry.
jmxz
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
@davmcn:
But how do I know you didn't just vote that way because you randomly hate me - and after you cool down you might forgive me and vote the idea up on it's own merits?
benjesuit
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
Going forward, there's also the option of not voting right away.
jmxz
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
@benjesuit:
That doesn't fix most of the issues -- wait until I see how things are merged? - wait until I see with Linux distribution's picked before voting on one? -- wait until I see how good/bad Vista Service Pack 3 is before voting on XP ideas?.
davmcn
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
Jmxz: i am not mad at you. you're cool. Good Resource for good ideas. i just don't like the fact of having to revote...and yes it would be nice to have a button before saying confrim Demote or promote...
jmxz
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
@davmcn:
I know - I forgot the smiley face.
davmcn
Mar 25
Merged Comment originally posted 08/23/07
:)
 
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