Adapting the boards for a broader audience Options

[Psykopath]

This has been brought up a lot recently with the revived push for new members.

Too many random BS posts (be it crude, sexual, etc.) are flooding the boards in random places. Certain threads are understandable (like in LR&AR), but to post about "tit hats" in a "Letters of Recommendation" thread is getting annoying.

I understand that this is the internet, yadda yadda, and I don't necessarily mind random crude humor...but we will not attract new members by continuing such childish e-behavior.


BUT!!!... we mods have been chastised in the past for doing such things as controlling excessive language.

SO, what's it going to be? Free for all and no new members?
or
Mods keeping things as the rules say & have a more friendly messageboard to attract newer members?

This post has been edited by Psykopath: Sep 29 2007, 12:09 AM

[jonathan83]

i agree 100% with will and cathryn.

[jonathan83]

give temp bans to people with extremely crude/offensive posts, and those who obviously don't want to be members here in the first place.

[TetraGrammaton C...]

the likelihood of attracting random people to the boards without advertising is very low.
however, it would be more successful for members to get their friends to use the boards. that way, they would already know someone inside the madness, to whom they could address questions about specific oddities.

honestly, randomness and lack of topicality is rarely going to thwart member potential. the only case where this idea seems plausible (and moddable), would be when a new person makes a more serious thread that poses a specific sort of question/request. i would think that only a really sensitive person would leave because they feel they are not welcome.

more personally, i feel that the boards have been quite boring lately.
the average person sees a forum as a place for request for information and discussion. most people do not think of small boards like these as a fun, social outlets. there are many people at tech who have no idea what a forum is. the people who do know about forums are generally already members of much larger forums, to which they devote most of their time.

again, the only way to increase membership that seems viable is personally recruiting non-forum friends.

and stop fighting about petty stuff, especially in the moderators section. if you want to have a fight, have a big fuck-all one in the public section. then maybe we can recruit people on drama.

This post has been edited by TetraGrammaton Cleric: Sep 29 2007, 12:27 PM

[impala454]

I don't think NSFW pics should be allowed period. If it must be posted, it needs to be linked and have a description of what it is. Just because it's the LRAR forum doesn't mean every thread should be subject to NSFW pics.

And when we're all debating, the condescending crap like "well you obviously can't comprehend english bc blah blah blah" kinda crap needs to stop. The object isn't necessarily to change anyone's mind, just to explore the topic completely. We can have intelligent (albeit heated) debates without this crap. Just read over your post a few times before submitting and ask yourself:
1. Is this addressing the original topic? (if not, maybe start a new topic?)
2. Am I calling any specific poster a name, or slandering another poster? I don't see a problem with targeting groups of people in general, just not another specific member of the board.
3. Are there a few places I could remove unnecessary bad language?
4. Is this comment furthering the conversation at all?

I know I myself have refrained from lots of posts over the past several weeks after reading over them a couple of times and realizing they didn't really contribute anything to the topic.

Other random ideas:
- The "OMGZ that is so old" stuff gets... well... old. It may be old to you, but it obviously isn't to the person posting it, and may not be to lots of others. Nobody is impressed that you heard of it a long time ago. Along the same lines: "OMG Why is this thread still going?"
- If the mods are seeing things they feel are out of line, maybe PM the person and let them know why, rather than just removing/editing the post without comment. Same with banning people. People tend to get pretty pissed when their comments are edited/removed and they do not know why (maybe it's obvious to the mod but not to the poster).
- Keep the personal squabbles personal... The drama that nobody else knows about isn't interesting and will push new people away quickly, bc they don't know the people involved.

[Psykopath]

I'm liking the input.

And the posts that should be edited without first telling the poster are the NSFW images or possibly excessive assaults/abusive language.

[GOB]

2. Am I calling any specific poster a name, or slandering another poster? I don't see a problem with targeting groups of people in general, just not another specific member of the board.

you just want this one because it happens to you all the time

[impala454]

you just want this one because it happens to you all the time

I'm saying it because I don't think it should happen... do you think it helps the discussions?

[GOB]

I'm saying it because I don't think it should happen... do you think it helps the discussions?

depends on who is involved

[Jim]

depends on who is involved

Touche beeshooting dog.

Moderation isn't bad. That's something we all can agree upon. However, moderation for humor or personal reasons because it strikes a nerve with you is bad.

[pebkac]

The way I see it, it's not that big of a deal as long as truly random posts land in Off topic and the NSFW threads go in LRAR. I don't see a problem with NSFW posts as long as they're properly marked and linked (BRANDON ).

HOWEVER, I will abide by whatever decision the boards as a whole come to as long as they're not too outlandish.

[chook]

We just need consistency on what the policy is. Here is what i think.
1 NSFW pictures not labeled or in the right area should be removed and that person's account suspended for 24 hours. (preferably by ip address)
2 I am not to keen on censoring personal attacks. If the person on the end of the attack is offended, then it should be removed. Usually this isn't a problem because the attacker in most cases looks like a jackass.

If we continue with a free for all, it scares off most new members. Its like drinking, its fun but slowly killing this board.

[kcroxyoursox]

I definitely agree that there needs to be a change. It's something I've mentioned before but I'll say it again. Looking at disgusting pictures and reading about sex crap is beyond old. It's annoying. It contributes nothing to this atmosphere and drives people away (as evidenced by the number of people mentioning it in this thread alone.) You want me to bring my friends here to get new members? You've got to be kidding me. The only thing that would do is cost me my friends.

I used to be very active around here. Many of us can remember a time when there would FREQUENTLY be upwards of 20 people checking in at once. I agree with Billy - Techsans had it's day. Too bad it's come and gone.

I do come back from time to time to ask a question because I believe that deep down there are still some of us willing to help each other out by contributing useful information. We are, after all, college students (or former students as the case may be.) By definition we are supposed to be intellectual and mature. I'm still holding on to the notion that we can be.

And don't give me the bs about ignoring specific members. At the rate some of the people on here are going, none of their posts will get answers because everyone will have blocked them. Guess we'll see how all your crudeness works for you when you're conversing with yourself. *Insert crickets chirping*

[Mommy]

To be honest, if Dogmeat is forced to leave because of this I will probably leave the boards.
If Cathryn is somehow made mod, I will definitely leave. (jonathan suggested it) Many people on here seem to have issue with her, and I think thats an awful idea.
I dont think we need to alienate members to make this site better. This same shit went on when it was popular. I think a lack of advertising is what has caused this place to go downhill. Chalking it up wont do anything, and we have a hard time appealing to freshman (the ones most likely to join) because we arent freshman.
I dont care if you care whether or not I leave. Im just saying I will leave if that shit happens. If it does happen so be it. Im gone.


*very incoherent post = me very tired

[impala454]

I think the immaturity is fine. the funny pics/joking around is fun. it's just the extremes we need to back down a little on. if someone new gets on here and sees some 1600x1200 bukake pic they're never gonna come back. or if some new girl comes on here and reads all the caveman ooga ooga titboobie talk they're also never gonna come back. just keep in mind that what's appropriate to you may not always be appropriate to others.

[jonathan83]

To be honest, if Dogmeat is forced to leave because of this I will probably leave the boards.

i don't want him gone, i just want him to stop talking about sex 24/7. for every totally off-topic sexual inappropriate comment, give a 24 hour temp ban. that's all i'm saying.

If Cathryn is somehow made mod, I will definitely leave. (jonathan suggested it)

i wasnt really being serious, i was just agreeing with what she was saying.

[Mommy]

here is the god to honest truth as to why people wont stay if they join. THIS SITE IS WAY TOO CLICKY, but in a bad way. Sometimes clicks are cool and people want to join...in this case, who would want to join a click where all we do is hate on each other. I say we wipe the boards clean again, and this time topics like Blue and Schwab's mishap with that girl, mine and Will's breakup, Cathryn's animosity towards just about everybody on this board, and other topics are not brought up at all. In fact, mods can delete these things if they brought up.... any sort of non constructive past clicky thing. New drama can be talked about, but only to a certain point. There doesnt need to be 20 threads on why two people broke up. blah blah blah. stuff like that. People come to sites like this looking for friends, not enemies. this site offers enemies right now. Wipe the boards clean. Im totally guilty of all this stuff too. I think we can all work to make this site better. Things like what Dogmeat and Forsaken do dont bother me, but maybe they could be confined to hitting on women in LRAR as a compromise to those who seem to be annoyed by it. I dont know.

[Inferia]

Personally speaking, I think it's nice that you guys have a board to read though. Part of me with that Michigan had one too. That aside, the thing I find particularly annoying is the inability to stay on topic, especially in a serious situation, people tend to pipe in with random stuff that does not belong in the thread. I'm not saying the topics that change slightly after many posts, but the ones that really does not have anything to do with the topic. I think these should be cleaned. Perhaps this is too anal for this board, but I'd like to adopt something a long the lines of the rules for TWoP. They guard their boards like nazis, but I think it makes for better community.

[Hartmann]

I will just interject and remind folks that we did a pretty decent job of attracting people to the boards when it was Me, Lance, Slim, and Austin running RateARaider.

We actually had a pretty thick user base, moderation that kept images out of the signatures, moderated post content that was considered too crude, etc. It worked. People stuck around, chatted, and we had a decent board (IMO).

RateARaider was a conduit to the boards. Basically it was a lure that kept people coming back and yeah it was dumb but people were interested.

The Rating Professors idea was a good idea but needed to be followed through with and moderated.

I have a few ideas for jump starting the site, Lance you can e-mail me if you want to chat.

[cmac]

why not share them?
we can discuss and/or vote.

[TetraGrammaton C...]

hmmm, what if we had some sort of toggle, that was available to the creator of each thread.
the toggle determined whether off topic comments were allowed or not.

then maybe give the thread author a mini-mod ability (or just get other mods to do it, via notify or something) to not display that post, but have a link to it instead. that way, if people wanted to read it, they could.

so, someone go write something like that or find a program that has that.

i know it may be infeasible, but it might be easier to reach consensus on a technical solution, rather than a social solution.




i would say that rate-a-raider attracted people mostly because of its non-forum components.

and i have a problem with cathryn, she touched me inappropriately while i was sleeping.

[Hartmann]

why not share them?
we can discuss and/or vote.

Well, I have tried not to bring this up except when asked. The reason for the fall of RateARaider was because of stupid, childish behavior by multiple people (at times myself included). People abused their moderation power and the boards started falling into disarray. Then more childish behavior and RateARaider disappeared and now we're at Techsans.

I am reluctant to share my ideas simply because I feel I was played during the whole RateARaider thing and had to try and mend things that most people would have fixed themselves.

So, if I am going to share things that help the site I want to have some of my "e-dignity" restored.

[Seeker]

I'm interested in your ideas and have no hard feelings towards you or any of the other original admins.

I have no problem giving you (and cmac) access to work on the site as I just don't have enough free time in my schedule to get anything done.

[Hartmann]

Lance, I have no hard feelings towards you either. I never did. I was pissed at both sides for causing such a ruckus and giving me more stress than a college student should have.

My main problem was the way things went down, that's all.

Anyway, with cmac being a designer I think that it would be great if we could get a decent homepage up (don't make the forums the starting page). I also think another .com domain would help.

With Facebook and MySpace being so dominant now (it wasn't really around when RaR was up) getting people to the boards is going to take some serious work. One thing I had in mind was a Facebook plugin to the forums. Show people the newest topics, their stats, etc.

I think the Rate A Professor specific for Tech is a fantastic idea. You will get people to the site and they'll find the forums and they can ask questions and it progresses from there.

I would bring back the moderation rules. Remember we had a document that described what was allowed and what wasn't? I know people like images in their signature but for one thing it eats up bandwidth and they can be undesirable at times.

I'd rethink the forum categories. They work for how we post now but can be confusing for anyone not in the "group".

I can post more ideas as I remember them.

[impala454]

I have had signatures turned off for just about the whole time I've posted here.

As far as the categories, I think a couple of em could be redone.

-Maybe have a separate "Technical Support" forum from "The Nerdery". Rename "The Nerdery" to something along the lines of "Electronics, Computers, & Science" or "Science & Technology" or something.

-Separate "Adult Related" from "Love & Relationships". This way maybe people coming in who want to discuss relationships and participate in threads like "Dating a girl with children" don't have to sift through threads like "The tits and pussies of women.". Also, having a separate "Adult Related" forum would give the horndogs their free reign to post whatever they want.

-break up the NPR forum into kinda regional news. Maybe have "Texas", "Nation", and "World" forums. Politics would roll into those just fine since most politics would be state, nation, or world related. Then the religion part could get rolled over into another forum called "Life" or something similiar... a place to post up stuff about personal finances, buying cars/houses/etc, religion, discussions about general everyday life issues. I think a lot of the stuff currently in "Off-Topic" would fit into a "Life" forum.

-have a forum for "Quickies" or "Quick links" or something similiar. To let people who just want to post up a funny pic/vid/joke they found. So it's easier to look through them and see old posts rather than having to skim through the 5,000+ posts in the ASDF thread.

-Use the top level categories more than the two that we currently use. (i.e. "General" and "Sports")

So as a general suggestion for a layout:

CODE

Main
+Off-Topic
+Quickies
+Local & Campus Events
+Academics
+Entertainment
+Science & Technology
+Technical Help

Life
+Life
+Health & Diet
+Love & Relationships
+Adult Related

News & Politics
+Local
+Texas
+Nation
+World

Sports
+Leisure
+College Sports
+Pro Sports

Techsans.net
+Announcements & Feedback
+Buy/Sell/Trade

this is just a rough suggestion, but I think keeping the "Off-Topic" forum as empty as possible would help. the mods should all watch it and sort threads out that belong somewhere else.

just my $0.02

[Spectatrix]

I like Impala's re-org suggestion, though I would highly recommend something other than "Quickies" as the title for that particular forum...

[kcroxyoursox]

Separate "Adult Related" from "Love & Relationships". This way maybe people coming in who want to discuss relationships and participate in threads like "Dating a girl with children" don't have to sift through threads like "The tits and pussies of women.". Also, having a separate "Adult Related" forum would give the horndogs their free reign to post whatever they want.

This. I know I would stay out of an adult related forum because I'm not here for a mini collection of porn (seriously with all the images accumulated through the years we could publish an anthology!)

I like Impala's re-org suggestion, though I would highly recommend something other than "Quickies" as the title for that particular forum...

Quick fix? Miscellany? Get in get out?

[impala454]

"Quick Links"?

[Psykopath]

Split random posts into an "Off Topic" thread.

[Seeker]

I want the mods to enforce the rules already on the books. We may have to get rid of the individual mods for each forum and make global mods of people who are on regularly and read every thread.

There are changes going on behind and scenes and dogmeat and forsaken have a little time to violate the rules, but once the new site is rolled out we're going to have to put the smack down on them.

[Mommy]

We cant even get along to fix this place. Lance, honestly, dont split off topic posts in here. Delete them. Delete personal attacks as well. I agree with Impala's organization, and the proposed ideas by Hartmann and cmac.

suggestions:
1) if new mods are added, no controversial ones. We need mods who are consistent on their attitude towards everyone. Examples are Stephan (hartmann), cmac, KC, Jonathan, Spectatrix, and others.
2) Split off-topic and anything goes. All personal flame wars can be taken to anything goes. Split Relationships and adult related. Adult related is where porn pics and other NSFW material is located (as well as anything goes)
3) Enforce the rules. No flaming, no crude language, no NSFW except in specific forums.
4) New user homepage
5) Bring back Rate-a-raider
6) Bring on another co-admin to facilitate things that mods cannot do when Lance is not around.
7) Advertise on facebook and myspace.
8) Bring thought provoking articles to NPR, with a specific headline format. no OMG THIS IS SO DUMB READ THIS. It needs to be like a news headline.
9) appropriately quote articles and link the articles so as to avoid copyright issues.

[TetraGrammaton C...]

i am sure that by now everyone has me on ignore anyway, but for my own entertainment let me re-emphasize the idea that only new content will bring any substantial amount of new people.

and we can add "new" content now, such as a photoshop/user video thread where people can showcase their skills or get help from others etc. i do not know if we want to try irc again or not.

i mean, how hard would it be to ignore our differences and disagreements and work together?


there used to be a lot of cliques on this board. now it seems like none of us are even friends with each other.



i say we get our shit together or just break up.
it's not you, it's me.


stay together for the kids.

[Psykopath]

i am sure that by now everyone has me on ignore anyway, but for my own entertainment let me re-emphasize the idea that only new content will bring any substantial amount of new people.

and we can add "new" content now, such as a photoshop/user video thread where people can showcase their skills or get help from others etc. i do not know if we want to try irc again or not.

i mean, how hard would it be to ignore our differences and disagreements and work together?
there used to be a lot of cliques on this board. now it seems like none of us are even friends with each other.
i say we get our shit together or just break up.
it's not you, it's me.
stay together for the kids.

hehe, I don't have you on ignore.




But I agree, with you and Jessica.

[jonathan83]

wow...a lot of good ideas in this thread.

we could even also have a forum specifically for bitching and e-fights!

[Jim]

wow...a lot of good ideas in this thread.

we could even also have a forum specifically for bitching and e-fights!

We would call it the E-ctagon!

[pebkac]

Perhaps we should set up some kind of content management system like mambo.

Also, maybe we could take donations to set up the IBP blogging system?

Maybe we should also look into getting set up as a student organization so that we can make techannounce messages.

[Testm0nkey]

things would REALLY have to change in order to get it to be a student organization. no matter how much work is put into this i dont think thatll ever work

[Inferia]

This may be somewhat silly, I really think when referring to people people should really use their login name. Since I don't go to Tech, I don't really know who some people are talking about when they use the people's real names. This makes participating difficult.

Another suggestion maybe to monitor new topics. I'm not sure how practical this is, but this will eliminate a lot of the topics where there is only a link in the topic.

[Hartmann]

We looked into turning RaR and Techsans into a student organization but there were a lot of requirements, including a board, a school sponsor, etc. It wasn't really feasible.

[impala454]

This may be somewhat silly, I really think when referring to people people should really use their login name. Since I don't go to Tech, I don't really know who some people are talking about when they use the people's real names. This makes participating difficult.

this is a good idea, not just for people who don't go to tech but also new people to the board who don't know everyone's names. i think the ability to change your username should be removed too, as that really confuses people.

[Spectatrix]

this is a good idea, not just for people who don't go to tech but also new people to the board who don't know everyone's names. i think the ability to change your username should be removed too, as that really confuses people.

It's good practice to use their display name, but I don't think there should be an explicit rule about it.

The ability to change your username is fine, given that you can go to a person's profile and view their user name history.

[impala454]

ah... didn't realize you could do that

[Spectatrix]

Yep.

Granted, it can still be confusing initially, but it's not like it's impossible to figure out who's who.

[Mommy]

STOP REFERRING TO ME BY MY USERNAME DAMMIT

[FORSAKENR320]

STOP REFERRING TO ME BY MY USERNAME DAMMIT

don't make me touch you

[Aaron]

The majority of folks here are former students, right?

[jonathan83]

i believe so

[blaarg]

The majority of folks here are former students, right?

Here is the thread discussing this:
http://www.techsans.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4383

[impala454]

yeah i think almost everybody here at least went to tech at some point. just a few exceptions. the thread blaarg linked will tell ya who currently is

[jonathan83]

that's just for who's in college and out of college. it doesn't specify which university they went to.

for example, inferia is a student at michigan.

[Testm0nkey]

this board is more a place for alumni as it basically doesnt have anything to do with tech unlike it used to. i think thats obviously why its hard to attract/keep around new members. the main reason people post here is they have been here for a few years and just know each other and how people will respond.
unless we get someone who lives on campus to get the word out and is a freshman or sophomore thats how itll be in the upcoming years
i would have been willing to do chalkings and such but writting the url on chalkboards in the classrooms is about all i have time for

[pebkac]

So... to summarize the thread thus far:

1) We need more content.
2) We need more advertising.
3) We need better enforcement of the rules.

I'm willing to help out on all three.

I'm not the best coder in the world, but I have knowledge setting up and administering a website.

I'm also willing to set up some DT/KTXT ads and put in a little cash on them.

I'm a mod, so I'm going to consider everything that happens on the boards in the view of the rules.

I propose that if Lance isn't going to be able to coordinate all three of those things, he should nominate people. For #1, I recommend Hartmann.

I also propose that we get new content set up before we start an active advertising campaign. At least program a front end to the website so it will be a bit more attractive to newbs.

[FORSAKENR320]

So... to summarize the thread thus far:

1) We need more content.
2) We need more advertising.
3) We need better enforcement of the rules.

I'm willing to help out on all three.

I'm not the best coder in the world, but I have knowledge setting up and administering a website.

I'm also willing to set up some DT/KTXT ads and put in a little cash on them.

I'm a mod, so I'm going to consider everything that happens on the boards in the view of the rules.

I propose that if Lance isn't going to be able to coordinate all three of those things, he should nominate people. For #1, I recommend Hartmann.

I also propose that we get new content set up before we start an active advertising campaign. At least program a front end to the website so it will be a bit more attractive to newbs.

agreed. i especially think we need to learn what the hell is happening on campus. put information out there that is important to students. hell, get the drink specials of all the bars. it's listed in that campus magazine, but why not put it on our site? get some concert dates, etc. someone go sleep with the people that put out the campus newspaper.

ALSO! LANCE, MAYBE YOU CAN PUT SOMETHING ON THIS SITE SIMILAR TO WHATS ON MYYEARBOOK.COM in the "battle" area, you can challange other people to video or picture contests. dunno what all it would take to get it to work, but i think it'd be pretty awesome to challange videos of other members. it'd prolly keep me from posting so much random crap in random places. "cutest picture" "wierdest video" "most gay video" i know it's a huge hit on that site, you should check it out

[impala454]

ALSO! LANCE, MAYBE YOU CAN PUT SOMETHING ON THIS SITE SIMILAR TO WHATS ON MYYEARBOOK.COM in the "battle" area, you can challange other people to video or picture contests. dunno what all it would take to get it to work, but i think it'd be pretty awesome to challange videos of other members. it'd prolly keep me from posting so much random crap in random places. "cutest picture" "wierdest video" "most gay video" i know it's a huge hit on that site, you should check it out

lol cool idea

[cupcake]

Rate a Raider was what originally brought me here. I thought it was a pretty cool "hot or not" type deal, which is superficial, but hey looking at pretty/ugly people is what the internet is all about.

I think if you got that domain name back and ran an Ad in the campus paper that would attract a host of narcissistic techsans. use that as a coverpage of sorts for techsans.

the moderators need to be hacked down. you need two or three professional Mods (like Spectarix) to run this site...not 15 friends with different styles.

the friend thing...I think it's great many of you are friends in real life, but the dramallama crap is annoying as hell.

I am still a member here for two reasons.

1.this place is populated with intelligent people. rare are the forums where everyone has above average intelligence.

2. to get a fresh viewpoint that I normally wouldn't have or subscribe to. even if I will never see things the way many of you do, I like to be well-versed and give things much consideration.

reasons I participate in other forums:

1. humor. Marines are funny as shit, thick skinned, irreverent, and like to brutally burn each other as a show of affection. There isn't a whole lot of that going on here. I don't really know why, except that when I see an occasion to burn someone I don't, mainly because I might actually offend someone's sensitivities and I'm afraid people will just berate me for being stupid.

2. Intel. while everyone here is smart, they aren't the most experienced. there is no replacement for wisdom that comes with age. sometimes it's good to get an old salty dog's opinion on something like car insurance than a young buck's.

something to think about is that you will be an alum for far longer than you'll be a student. there are a ton of tech alum out there that would love to have one central site to get info on sports and whatnot. this place could be it, but not if people are cliquish and rough on newcomers (which you are).

[Spectatrix]

the moderators need to be hacked down. you need two or three professional Mods (like Spectarix) to run this site...not 15 friends with different styles.

Awww...

I'm a professional!

(Except for this post, which is somewhat spammy... lol)

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Oct 8 2007, 12:27 PM

[pebkac]

Spammy is MY word dammit!

[impala454]

yeah 10 mods for 15 people is prob kinda overkill

[cupcake]

kinda...

[TetraGrammaton C...]

there may be a few mods too many, but a few of them are never on.
i also think that asking a couple of mods to keep up with all the threads is a little much.
having a decent number of mods keeps things democratic.
i only mod things that come across as ridiculous or things that people report, but occasionally things come up that are questionable and some discussion is needed.

i am still very confused by this idea that we are all "friends".
i have met most of them, mostly through parties hosted by other posters, but i do not think of them as my friends. they are not my enemies by any means. that is not to say that we all do not have friends on here. i think every mod probably has one or two personal friends on the boards.
i guess it really depends on your definition.

[Spectatrix]

I have a few friends/acquaintances/whatever on here that I semi-frequently talk to outside of the boards (online, on AIM), but none that I hang out with in real life.

[jonathan83]

i dont hang out with anyone on techsans. i know a couple in real life but thats it.

and as a mod...i also think it's overkill with how many we have.
2 or 3 isn't enough though, because people are on at different times, and sometimes you need different opinions on things, like jared said.

i think 1-2 admins with about 5 mods is good. and all should be global mods. we don't need a mod for each forum.

[Spectatrix]

i think 1-2 admins with about 5 mods is good. and all should be global mods. we don't need a mod for each forum.

Agreed. BUT... I think maybe we should hold off and see if we get a big influx of people with the Facebook advertisement. If we do, the # of mods we have might be right (though should probably be switched to global). Probably some fewer even then, though.

[jonathan83]

true

[JStrider]

I'm glad to see that theres some drive to improve techsans.
I havn't been here for quite a while, If it got better I'd spend more time here.

I'm pretty busy with my job now, but I'd be willing to help however I could.

[FORSAKENR320]

I'm glad to see that theres some drive to improve techsans.
I havn't been here for quite a while, If it got better I'd spend more time here.

I'm pretty busy with my job now, but I'd be willing to help however I could.

let me borrow your girlfriend

[Erik B.]

let me borrow your girlfriend

No offense here, but I think it's partially things like this that people are complaining about - not what you said, per se, but the fact that it has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation and only serves to derail it.

Of course, now I'm guilty of it, too.

I'm just now starting to get back to the boards after a hiatus. I like all these proposed changes. I've tried to come back occasionally, but have generally been driven away again by the lack of much real content. Conversations that look good generally would stray so far off-topic that by the time I sorted through everything it would be pointless for me to chime in on the original topic because nobody could really remember what it was in the first place.

Honestly, I don't know what the squabbling is with the mods. I've been lucky enough to miss out on (or not care about) all the drama.

I do think that this site was great, even back in the days of the great schism (good times).

I'm starting to wonder, though, if we've dug ourselves into a rut that we can't get out of. Even if we attract new members, will they come rushing in in such large numbers that they can overwhelm the inside jokes, and overall clique that this board has set up and create a new atmosphere welcoming of new blood? The only way out of this, I think, would be, as was suggested, to wipe everything clean at the same time as a new member drive in order for there to be the chance of a creation of a new community that new folks don't have to try to find their niche in, but rather can help create from a ground level.

[kcroxyoursox]

No offense here, but I think it's partially things like this that people are complaining about - not what you said, per se, but the fact that it has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation and only serves to derail it.

Of course, now I'm guilty of it, too.

I'm just now starting to get back to the boards after a hiatus. I like all these proposed changes. I've tried to come back occasionally, but have generally been driven away again by the lack of much real content. Conversations that look good generally would stray so far off-topic that by the time I sorted through everything it would be pointless for me to chime in on the original topic because nobody could really remember what it was in the first place.

Honestly, I don't know what the squabbling is with the mods. I've been lucky enough to miss out on (or not care about) all the drama.

I do think that this site was great, even back in the days of the great schism (good times).

I'm starting to wonder, though, if we've dug ourselves into a rut that we can't get out of. Even if we attract new members, will they come rushing in in such large numbers that they can overwhelm the inside jokes, and overall clique that this board has set up and create a new atmosphere welcoming of new blood? The only way out of this, I think, would be, as was suggested, to wipe everything clean at the same time as a new member drive in order for there to be the chance of a creation of a new community that new folks don't have to try to find their niche in, but rather can help create from a ground level.

I you!

[FORSAKENR320]

No offense here, but I think it's partially things like this that people are complaining about - not what you said, per se, but the fact that it has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation and only serves to derail it.

it was a reference to the 3-some he had in another thread

[Erik B.]

it was a reference to the 3-some he had in another thread

Exactly... another thread that has absolutely nothing to do with this one.

[FORSAKENR320]

Exactly... another thread that has absolutely nothing to do with this one.

so, what is your solution to this? we only talk about whats in each thread and only whats in each thread.... who do you expect this to be a working practice for a forum this small? it won't work. if we didn't know each other, and had more people so that the threads actually remained active, sure. but we DON"T. all we'll end up with is a bunch of trolls who have nothing new to troll. and then what? they'll leave. we have to have content before we can organizse that content. and we need more people to have more content. catch 22

[pebkac]

I don't see the problem with off topic posts as long as it's just one or two posts. HOWEVER, if a thread gets so derailed from its original topic, I think it's time for a mod to split the topic IF it's a valid topic. If it's just a bunch of back and forth with back and forth between a couple of people who are totally derailing the thread, then the posts need to either be deleted or merged with asdf.

[Divergent Realit...]

split threads if its a valid split, close topic if its shit flinging.

you can always ban repeat offenders.

[pebkac]

Well... Lance can ban repeat offenders, yes. Mods and Global Mods can't.

[kcroxyoursox]

What if everyone got the option to close the threads that they've started? That way, if they had a question and got an answer, they could close the thread to new responses. This would help avoid lots of derailing.

And if there's concern that people would close threads just because they didn't like the answers they were getting, maybe we could require the OP to give a 24 hour warning, like "We're starting to get off topic; this thread will be closed in 24 hours so if you have something constructive to say, you have until this time tomorrow to chime in." Then, the thread could be split into whatever the new topic has become and go back to being within guidelines...

[Spectatrix]

What if everyone got the option to close the threads that they've started? That way, if they had a question and got an answer, they could close the thread to new responses. This would help avoid lots of derailing.

I don't think that's possible within the administrative options that the forum software has. However, we have in the past honored requests by the thread creator to close/delete the thread if it's for a good reason.

[kcroxyoursox]

I didn't think it was possible. But I thought I'd throw it out there in case there was a similar measure that could be taken. Sucks to have to bother a mod every time a thread gets derailed...

[FORSAKENR320]

What if everyone got the option to close the threads that they've started? That way, if they had a question and got an answer, they could close the thread to new responses. This would help avoid lots of derailing.

And if there's concern that people would close threads just because they didn't like the answers they were getting, maybe we could require the OP to give a 24 hour warning, like "We're starting to get off topic; this thread will be closed in 24 hours so if you have something constructive to say, you have until this time tomorrow to chime in." Then, the thread could be split into whatever the new topic has become and go back to being within guidelines...

sounds ok, but people would just get around it by starting thier own threads about the drama all over again, and then we would be over clogged with a bunch of dead threads

[kcroxyoursox]

Meh, I don't know if many threads with a few posts creates any more "clog" than few threads with many posts...

[Dogmeat]

wow.

same 12 people posting there were 2 weeks ago.

way to "adapt" guys

wonderful.

[Psykopath]

wow.

same 12 people posting there were 2 weeks ago.

way to "adapt" guys

wonderful.

missed you.

[Oasis]

missed you.

Like herpes

[Divergent Realit...]

Like herpes

and the needle.

[James]

BREATH! *thump*

...

*thump*

... ...

It's alive!

------

You used to be able to moderate your own threads. I notified Lance of this a long time ago so he could fix it.

So whatever happened to all this talk? Just talk?

[Spectatrix]

Lance has higher priorities.

[Dogmeat]

Lance has higher priorities.

The Kennebunkport Haitus.

I see.

[zetec]

this thread is full of hopes and dreams

that will never happen

This post has been edited by zetec: Jul 31 2008, 10:15 AM

[BlueBarry]

wow this shit is old, and nothing has happen yet....

[chook]

or may ever happen!

[BlueBarry]

sadly i think you speak the truth