Your comment about public viewing of threads has real merit, although I would still caution throwing the doors open to the great unwashed. One of our strengths is our ability to manage our own dirty laundry and remove problems quickly, without fuss. We must remain a disciplined site and in this day and age, with everyone having some form of internet tool, unfettered public access might be self-destructive. Perhaps the ability to read some threads, but only respond via membership. But it is a minefield.
Yes, ability to read but not respond unless registered, and like I said, there is the option of a members only sub forum and I believe that can be set up so that it cannot be seen at all unless registered.
I believe that having the whole forum private creates curiosity - people register just to see what it's all about; a lot, maybe the vast majority (?) never post when ...
1. They find out it's not for them after all or ....
2. Their curiosity has been satisfied.
Those two instances would be removed from the equation if it could be read publicly.
If it could be read publicly then surely the vast majority would be joining to respond to something they had read or would be inspired to start a topic of their own .... hopefully not to play virtual football or arcade games - those things could go under the members only bit to avoid that happening. Who wants members that join to play games and take quizzes! (Have you met the wife? - Mahjong and pyramid solitaire champ for some time, currently card-counting in Vegas and it's all YOUR fault!)
There are things wrong with the mechanics too - apart from all the unnecessary sub forums and bells and whistles. E.g. - I can't insert an image in a post from the toolbar in the reply box. It tells me I've exceeded my quota - I can only assume I have some large files in the "Gallery" because I have not included many photos within posts. I've been in to my albums and deleted stuff but I still can't make it happen. That gallery is also a bit bewildering - why not have a flickr/photobucket/imgur ... whatever - gallery away from the forum? (I'm not asking for this to be sorted, it's just something that hasn't happened on other forums, including V bulletin hosted ones where I do include photos in posts, regularly)
I see the shoutbox is back and as per before, no-one's shouting - and now I'm also getting Private Messages when someone quotes me - thing is they're not from anyone, they're from the forum and all they do is take up my PM allowance.
Etc!
.
Working for yourself is great, not only can you work half days, you can choose which 12 hours!
Funny and informative, cheers John. Some useful thoughts for us to digest. On the public viewings, I would still argue caution, but if technically possible, it might be suitable in less contentious areas of the site. Certainly the WW1/WW2 and Research areas would benefit, possibly the General area as well, it would definitely require careful selection. I'm cautious, because we've been on the receiving end of some quite nasty stuff, generated by some of discussions appearing on google seaches years ago, when we were less strict about access.
The other points, some I agree with. We need to be less clunky, and the gallery is one such area, I did some housekeeping on it a few years ago, but it was sticking plaster stuff. Plenty to think about and hopefully help generate some more ideas.
I see the shoutbox is back and as per before, no-one's shouting - and now I'm also getting Private Messages when someone quotes me - thing is they're not from anyone, they're from the forum and all they do is take up my PM allowance.
Etc!
I'm not ignoring your comments, John but I have had other forum matters to sort out. I will be working through your observations over the next few days.
The first thing I want to post is that you will no longer receive a Private Message when someone quotes you.
There are things wrong with the mechanics too - apart from all the unnecessary sub forums and bells and whistles. E.g. - I can't insert an image in a post from the toolbar in the reply box. It tells me I've exceeded my quota - I can only assume I have some large files in the "Gallery" because I have not included many photos within posts. I've been in to my albums and deleted stuff but I still can't make it happen. That gallery is also a bit bewildering - why not have a flickr/photobucket/imgur ... whatever - gallery away from the forum? (I'm not asking for this to be sorted, it's just something that hasn't happened on other forums, including V bulletin hosted ones where I do include photos in posts, regularly).
I see the shoutbox is back and as per before, no-one's shouting - and now I'm also getting Private Messages when someone quotes me - thing is they're not from anyone, they're from the forum and all they do is take up my PM allowance.
Photos you have uploaded to the Gallery have no effect on a user's total attachment usage. The attachment space is something I will review once I have the Gallery sorted out and functioning properly. In the interim, I have increased the attachment space available to you. Would you please do a test post with an attachment to confirm it is working and that you no longer get that message?
I reintroduced the Shout box to try and encourage more 'live' dialogue - unfortunately, this hasn't happened. Of course, it can be used in many other ways - as a chat room for members, for staff to discuss issues in real-time, as a live-update feed of new posts and threads.
I still got a PM when you quoted my post and I'd already deleted a lot of attachments, I think I only had 13 but they were large files. Here's an attachment anyway.
Working for yourself is great, not only can you work half days, you can choose which 12 hours!
I still got a PM when you quoted my post and I'd already deleted a lot of attachments, I think I only had 13 but they were large files. Here's an attachment anyway.
I met the son of John Goad the other day and as a result, spoke to the man himself today - a few years ago that would have done a few pages here, no point in starting the topic any more.
Now getting RWF forum newsletter emails - this is at the bottom ...
"Did you know you can change how often you receive these newsletters with one click?
If you click here, you will receive these newsletters less frequently. Click here to unsubscribe"
I don't need it as I check in regularly (for now) but the links don't work to change/unsubscribe.
Working for yourself is great, not only can you work half days, you can choose which 12 hours!
Originally Posted by ap1
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