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Subject: Forum Author: Tucson [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 01:45:23 12/31/09 Thu Wes Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much easer to follow the messages. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Wes [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 07:53:57 12/31/09 Thu >Wes >Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >easer to follow the messages. You mean, just the subject lines? Could be done, and I had them that way for a while in the beginning, but I think the opening post version used now gives a better method of noting which post is which. What say you, anyone else? -- Wes

[> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Joe B [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:27:59 12/31/09 Thu >>Wes >>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>easer to follow the messages. > >You mean, just the subject lines? Could be done, and I >had them that way for a while in the beginning, but I >think the opening post version used now gives a better >method of noting which post is which. > >What say you, anyone else? > >-- Wes I don't see an advantage. BTFH has many authors yet your forum has as much or more activity as Gina's on topic forum. I post/read the on topic much more than the off topic forum. Just too much politics in the BTFH off topic forum. Having the yellow highlight the new posts and only one line per conversation lets more conversations appear on the screen. Thats a plus. I don't know which part of the BTFH interface is being asked for and how the VoyForums interface can be configured. Nothing in your current setup other than jumping out of SpearFishLakeTales.com is a PITA. I don't know if the setup and operation of an intergrated forum would be worth the plus of not needing to use the back button. Not fixing whats working would be my first answer.

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Tucson [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:15:20 12/31/09 Thu >>>Wes >>>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>>easer to follow the messages. On BTFH when I select the post I have all of the replys with one click. I find that on the forum here I must go back and click each reply and can't read each reply as a single page. I am never sure how to send the next reply.

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: byte mangler [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 17:52:26 12/31/09 Thu >On BTFH when I select the post I have all of the >replys with one click. I find that on the forum here I >must go back and click each reply and can't read each >reply as a single page. I am never sure how to send >the next reply. Not as much an advantage as you might think, since too many people here don't trim their posts. My $0.02: Not broken, don't fix it.

[> Subject: Re: Forum Author: the Mage [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:34:39 12/31/09 Thu >Wes >Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >easer to follow the messages. Wes, if it isn't broken then don't fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like thing just the way they are. The Mage

[> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Light [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 02:56:07 01/05/10 Tue The only thing I would like changed is that when you click on the first reply of a post, that all of the replies are given. When all the replies are made to the original post, only two of those replies are shown, unless there are replies to those replies. To read the other 'first line' replies, you have to go back. But other then that, this forum works as well as any other. >>Wes >>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>easer to follow the messages. > > >Wes, if it isn't broken then don't fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!! > I like thing just the way they are. > >The Mage

[> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Tucson [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 19:01:39 01/04/10 Mon >Wes >Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >easier to follow the messages. It is broke I can't go to the last entry and read all of the responses. For this forum to work properly I should click on this topic and read in order all of the replys. I am sorry if I am peeing on your oatmeal but thats how it is.

[> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Englishfollower [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 22:00:46 01/04/10 Mon >>Wes >>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>easier to follow the messages. > > >It is broke I can't go to the last entry and read all >of the responses. For this forum to work properly I >should click on this topic and read in order all of >the replys. I am sorry if I am peeing on your oatmeal >but thats how it is. Err... Firstly, I feel strongly enough about this topic that it has made a long time lurker of this forum and reader of Wes's excellent stories decloak. So to all here, hello... Secondly, I don't understand your point. The last entry is always 'on top' and as a result all of the replies are there. Ok they may not be in chronological order but instead they relate to the specific comment they relate to... which surely is how it should be? Thirdly Wes has asked for input on this matter. I for one say, no change...

[> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: dotB [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 00:12:44 01/05/10 Tue >>Wes >>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>easier to follow the messages. > > >It is broke I can't go to the last entry and read all >of the responses. For this forum to work properly I >should click on this topic and read in order all of >the replys. I am sorry if I am peeing on your oatmeal >but thats how it is. I disagree. This forum works just fine the way it is. In fact it's actually easier to handle then BtFH's forum where a person cannot automatically follow what comment was being answered unless you flip back and forth. (Don't believe me - just go on that forum and find any of a massive series of posts by MM when responding to series of post made by various people whom MM disagreed with.) To be honest the whole BtFH forum thing is so convoluted that I haven't even tried to comment on any of the more ridiculous statements in over a year. (Actually that's not really surprising, I'm not great at reading online politics anyway, so I seldom try to make sense of that mess.)

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Bob [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 06:47:11 01/05/10 Tue Two items: 1st: The forum works fine. It is Wes' forum of choice and we are participants in it. I for one like the discussion interplay as it is however, I'm not a professional forum poster so,... 2nd: What is BtFH and why would I want to investigate that forum? Bob

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: dotB [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 08:54:43 01/05/10 Tue >Two items: > >1st: The forum works fine. It is Wes' forum of choice >and we are participants in it. I for one like the >discussion interplay as it is however, I'm not a >professional forum poster so,... > >2nd: What is BtFH and why would I want to investigate >that forum? > >Bob BtFH: Beyond the Far Horizon http://www.beyondthefarhorizon.com/

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Bob [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:50:03 01/05/10 Tue >>2nd: What is BtFH and why would I want to investigate >>that forum? >> >>Bob > >BtFH: Beyond the Far Horizon DotB, thanks. I have been on that site and found it so confusing (and much of it off topic) that while I think Gina Marie Wilie's work is almost as good as Wes', I don't visit it. So much so, that I even did not recognize the abbreviation! IMO, we don't need this forum to get hijacked and morphed into yet another rant soapbox. There are too many of them out there now. Wes' work and the accompanying Wiki and this forum work beautifully together. It ain't broken so,... Bob

[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: carlton [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 21:05:50 01/05/10 Tue leave the forum alone. PLEASE >>>2nd: What is BtFH and why would I want to investigate >>>that forum? >>> >>>Bob >> >>BtFH: Beyond the Far Horizon > >DotB, thanks. I have been on that site and found it so >confusing (and much of it off topic) that while I >think Gina Marie Wilie's work is almost as good as >Wes', I don't visit it. So much so, that I even did >not recognize the abbreviation! > >IMO, we don't need this forum to get hijacked and >morphed into yet another rant soapbox. There are too >many of them out there now. Wes' work and the >accompanying Wiki and this forum work beautifully >together. It ain't broken so,... > >Bob

[> Subject: Re: Forum Author: ess six [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:00:30 01/15/10 Fri >Wes >Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >easer to follow the messages. Just recently discovered Spearfishlaketales (wonderful material) and this forum... intersting thread here on forum software. forum wars crop up from place to place. one of my other passions is cars, in particular Audis (and a few others). There are a number of online Audi communities. One of the big ones was Audiworld.com, based on Kawf, an open-source forum platform. A big part of the appeal was the "threading" of topics, allowing you to see response hierarchies by viewing topics only. Much of the community limited responses to short subject lines (think Twitter) so you didn't have to open up responses/threads (this post wouldn't work that way, of course, as you'd have to open it up--then again, you'd eventually figure out I'm a wordy one and either skip me or open my posts just based on me). Note my use of the word "was" ... Audiworld.com was bought out by Internet Brands, the company that owns vBulletin...they converted the forum platform from Kawf to vB, despite repeated requests from the user community to leave things alone. Users left in droves when a major user setup a competing forum based on Kawf (see quattroworld.com). Today, alexa.com shows QW to be much stronger than AW today, less than a year after the "conversion" Lessons: * If this really does work, leave it alone * What is the community really after? is it the threading/hierarchy? or more extensive content inside? OK...too much for a first post...like I admitted above, I can be wordy.

[> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Dmitri [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:26:59 01/16/10 Sat ess (and Wes), What some forum members are complaining about is that it can be somewhat hard to figure out which is the new post in a long string of replies to an old post. For instance part of the replies to this one looks like this: Re: Forum -- the Mage, 13:34:39 12/31/09 Thu      Re: Forum -- Light, 02:56:07 01/05/10 Tue Re: Forum -- Tucson, 19:01:39 01/04/10 Mon      Re: Forum -- Englishfollower, 22:00:46 01/04/10 Mon      Re: Forum -- dotB, 00:12:44 01/05/10 Tue          Re: Forum -- Bob, 06:47:11 01/05/10 Tue              Re: Forum -- dotB, 08:54:43 01/05/10 Tue                  Re: Forum -- Bob, 09:50:03 01/05/10 Tue                      Re: Forum -- carlton, 21:05:50 01/05/10 Tue Re: Forum -- ess six, 23:00:30 01/15/10 Fri You happened to post to the original question and it put yours at the bottom. But what if you'd have replied to one of Bob's or dotB's posts? It would have been buried up in the indented listing somewhere. Readers have to search the dates and/or times to figure out which one is the new post. The system that BtFH has is nice in that they new posts are easier to find as they're always at the top (or bottom) of the list, so little or no searching. The problem there is that you often have a hard time figuring out which post the writer is answering or referring to if no or insufficient quoted section is included. Personally, I think in a low-use forum like this one, what we have here works just fine. I didn't think so at first, but I've changed my mind. Readers who don't access this forum as often as I do might have more of a problem with it. If you're only in it once a week or so, it might be harder to figure out where the new posts are. I'm here daily, sometimes more than once. (And I'm a wordy bahstid like you are, so be glad I don't post every time! ) If (when?) the forum picks up in use, it may be necessary to change systems. I don't think it is yet. At least for me. Others obviously don't agree. Dmitri >>Wes >>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>easer to follow the messages. > >Just recently discovered Spearfishlaketales (wonderful >material) and this forum... > >intersting thread here on forum software. forum wars >crop up from place to place. one of my other passions >is cars, in particular Audis (and a few others). ...snipski ...

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Brian [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:39:33 01/16/10 Sat >ess (and Wes), I don't seem to have much of a problem knowing which posts are most recent/unread as they are a different color from those that I've read. Perhaps they are a different color as I use Firefox as my browser. I like the way the forum works and would prefer that it stay as it is now. Thanks for all the wonderful stories you've written Wes; I hope that your health continues to improve and you are soon back to being able to do (most at least) what you want to do! Brian > >What some forum members are complaining about is that >it can be somewhat hard to figure out which is the new >post in a long string of replies to an old post. For >instance part of the replies to this one looks like >this: > >Re: Forum -- the Mage, 13:34:39 12/31/09 Thu >     Re: Forum -- Light, 02:56:07 01/05/10 Tue >Re: Forum -- Tucson, 19:01:39 01/04/10 Mon >     Re: Forum -- Englishfollower, 22:00:46 01/04/10 >Mon >     Re: Forum -- dotB, 00:12:44 01/05/10 Tue >         Re: Forum -- Bob, 06:47:11 01/05/10 Tue >             Re: Forum -- dotB, 08:54:43 >01/05/10 Tue >                 Re: Forum -- Bob, 09:50:03 >01/05/10 Tue >                     Re: Forum -- >carlton, 21:05:50 01/05/10 Tue >Re: Forum -- ess six, 23:00:30 01/15/10 Fri > >You happened to post to the original >question and it put yours at the bottom. But what if >you'd have replied to one of Bob's or dotB's posts? >It would have been buried up in the indented listing >somewhere. Readers have to search the dates and/or >times to figure out which one is the new post. > >The system that BtFH has is nice in that they new >posts are easier to find as they're always at the top >(or bottom) of the list, so little or no searching. >The problem there is that you often have a hard time >figuring out which post the writer is answering or >referring to if no or insufficient quoted section is >included. > >Personally, I think in a low-use forum like this one, >what we have here works just fine. I didn't think so >at first, but I've changed my mind. Readers who don't >access this forum as often as I do might have more of >a problem with it. If you're only in it once a week >or so, it might be harder to figure out where the new >posts are. I'm here daily, sometimes more than once. >(And I'm a wordy bahstid like you are, so be glad I >don't post every time! ) > >If (when?) the forum picks up in use, it may be >necessary to change systems. I don't think it is yet. > At least for me. Others obviously don't agree. > >Dmitri > >>>Wes >>>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>>easer to follow the messages. >> >>Just recently discovered Spearfishlaketales (wonderful >>material) and this forum... >> >>intersting thread here on forum software. forum wars >>crop up from place to place. one of my other passions >>is cars, in particular Audis (and a few others). > >...snipski ...

[> [> [> Subject: That's the appeal of KAWF--it preserves the hierarchy. Plus... Author: ess six [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:03:13 01/21/10 Thu it also presents the hierarchy when you open a thread. The challenge here is when you open a thread, you can no longer see the hierarchy of posts. >ess (and Wes), > >What some forum members are complaining about is that >it can be somewhat hard to figure out which is the new >post in a long string of replies to an old post. For >instance part of the replies to this one looks like >this: > >Re: Forum -- the Mage, 13:34:39 12/31/09 Thu >     Re: Forum -- Light, 02:56:07 01/05/10 Tue >Re: Forum -- Tucson, 19:01:39 01/04/10 Mon >     Re: Forum -- Englishfollower, 22:00:46 01/04/10 >Mon >     Re: Forum -- dotB, 00:12:44 01/05/10 Tue >         Re: Forum -- Bob, 06:47:11 01/05/10 Tue >             Re: Forum -- dotB, 08:54:43 >01/05/10 Tue >                 Re: Forum -- Bob, 09:50:03 >01/05/10 Tue >                     Re: Forum -- >carlton, 21:05:50 01/05/10 Tue >Re: Forum -- ess six, 23:00:30 01/15/10 Fri > >You happened to post to the original >question and it put yours at the bottom. But what if >you'd have replied to one of Bob's or dotB's posts? >It would have been buried up in the indented listing >somewhere. Readers have to search the dates and/or >times to figure out which one is the new post. > >The system that BtFH has is nice in that they new >posts are easier to find as they're always at the top >(or bottom) of the list, so little or no searching. >The problem there is that you often have a hard time >figuring out which post the writer is answering or >referring to if no or insufficient quoted section is >included. > >Personally, I think in a low-use forum like this one, >what we have here works just fine. I didn't think so >at first, but I've changed my mind. Readers who don't >access this forum as often as I do might have more of >a problem with it. If you're only in it once a week >or so, it might be harder to figure out where the new >posts are. I'm here daily, sometimes more than once. >(And I'm a wordy bahstid like you are, so be glad I >don't post every time! ) > >If (when?) the forum picks up in use, it may be >necessary to change systems. I don't think it is yet. > At least for me. Others obviously don't agree. > >Dmitri > >>>Wes >>>Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >>>be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >>>easer to follow the messages. >> >>Just recently discovered Spearfishlaketales (wonderful >>material) and this forum... >> >>intersting thread here on forum software. forum wars >>crop up from place to place. one of my other passions >>is cars, in particular Audis (and a few others). > >...snipski ...

[> Subject: Re: Forum Author: Deadly Ernest [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 19:29:37 01/16/10 Sat >Wes >Is there any chance you could set the Forum set up to >be more like the Posts on BTFH site? It would be much >easer to follow the messages. G'day all, I've had fifteen years experience as a user and poster with forums, news groups, and bulletin boards. This current lay out is one of the best there is. I've read the posts made and the most worthwhile comment on this was made by Dmitri about the way the layout shows the nested posts - much like a news group - so it can be a bit hard to find the latest post; but it places the date and time beside it so you simply check the date and time to find the ones since you last visited. I do like the way it puts the threads with the latest responses at the top, so I don't have to check out all the old ones that haven't had a response for some time. There is only one change I could see that would make this any better, and that is to have the posts made in the last 24 or 48 hours highlighted so they are easier to find. Another forum I frequently visit is Tech Republic (yes, I'm an IT tech person as well as a writer and reader) and it has an icon that displays against all posts made in the last 48 hours, it's a bright colour and says 'New' - this makes it dead easy to scan a page of posts and see which are new ones; very handy when a thread has over a hundred posts in it in twenty or more sub-threads. Apart from that possible change, if it's possible, I say leave the forum alone as it's currently in the top five for lay out and user performance and ease of use. And yes, I've been to BtFH and very rarely go there at all, for several reasons. Ernest