Forum Suggestions and Requests

Questions about the forums? Got a suggestion on how things can be improved? Post here!
RuadRauFlessa
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

Oh blade do enlighten my as to why a sidebar, which clutters layout and limits the space available for actual content not to mention deviates considerably from the layout imposed by the main site, would actually account for a decrease in forum activity?
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Ron2K
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Ron2K »

^^ Because forumites here are Lazy Buggers who want me to spoonfeed them with everything. :P
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by doo_much »

Yes we are.

Thanks for reminding us.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Bladerunner »

RuadRauFlessa wrote:Oh blade do enlighten my as to why a sidebar, which clutters layout and limits the space available for actual content not to mention deviates considerably from the layout imposed by the main site, would actually account for a decrease in forum activity?
No I meant the fact that you see new features that several people are actually asking for, and which are even available on other forums by means of installing simple plugins, as the cyber equivalent of the plague :P

A sidebar is great. It means I can stay in the Afr thread and chat and whenever a new thread pops up I'll be notified immediately. Or why not put it next to the G3AR logo? There's more than enough space for the 5 latest threads.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by doo_much »

Oh by the way. I see the Facebook and Twitter links still don't work?
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

We don't see it as the plague... we have simply discussed and exhausted any debate regarding those plug-ins and the actual value (pro's and con's) it will add to the site.

A sidebar is great to the point where you are actually replacing content and making the site slower. From a performance point of view if you compare a page with a sidebar and one without you are actually doubling the amount of data that needs to be transfered with each section you add to it. You are also adding to the time it takes to start producing the content as the server needs to run extra queries on the database. There are also lots of extra code that needs to execute. It is not just a simple matter of want..want..want..want..And I can see you have not read the debates regarding this. If you had you would not be continuing with this topic.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Bladerunner »

RuadRauFlessa wrote:we have simply discussed and exhausted any debate regarding those plug-ins and the actual value (pro's and con's) it will add to the site.
And in the end decided you will never ever install any plugins ever again since everybody loves a vanilla forum. :P

It's your choice, I'm just saying it doesn't look like PCF is really growing much in terms of new users and the people who still hang around are the ones that have been here for years. Do you really want PCF (or G3AR since "PCFormat" is now a 5 point word behind the official logo) to be a JAF? (Just another forum.)

What makes PCF stand out from all the other (vanilla) forums out there?
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by doo_much »

sigh...

Lemmetjie - sjarrup.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Bladerunner »

doo_much wrote:sigh...

Lemmetjie - sjarrup.
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RuadRauFlessa
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

Bladerunner wrote:
RuadRauFlessa wrote:we have simply discussed and exhausted any debate regarding those plug-ins and the actual value (pro's and con's) it will add to the site.
And in the end decided you will never ever install any plugins ever again since everybody loves a vanilla forum. :P
That is just plainly not true. So far we have discussed any additions and request in depth. Some of them were implemented and others not. We don't just go out of the bat and say no to everything... that would be just wrong. If you find any addon or feature that you want and can prove that the benefits will outweigh the cons then by all means we will do a test to see how it runs and based on that a full deployment will be in the pipelines.

We recently had a topic where people wanted a thanks button which in turn generated more questions than answers. How will the points be displayed, what difference does it make, would it make an apparent difference to someone searching for something on the forum. Could it be abused. No one can come up with a solution to various of the issues and as such I highly doubt it would be implemented. See it is not just a matter of saying no. I have a different suggestion to this however that would lend itself towards ease of use on the forums but that I will take up with iWonWon2000 as soon as I have a tad of time to send him the lengthy proposal. An idea that came from this request which would actually add some value without having the possibility of being abused.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Ron2K »

Besides, for those who want to see the most recent topics, we already have a) active topics, which I thoughtfully split into various categories, and b) RSS feeds.

If people can't be bothered to use existing functionality, I can't be bothered to entertain requests for new stuff which does essentially the same thing.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

Mr. Blue... I think you might like my request. Don't know if the forum can be extended in that way but will chat about it later in a pm...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by doo_much »

Ron2K wrote:Besides, for those who want to see the most recent topics, we already have a) active topics, which I thoughtfully split into various categories, and b) RSS feeds.

If people can't be bothered to use existing functionality, I can't be bothered to entertain requests for new stuff which does essentially the same thing.

The RSS feeds don't feed off the forums? Or am I missing something?
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Samaya »

Ron2K wrote:Besides, for those who want to see the most recent topics, we already have a) active topics, which I thoughtfully split into various categories, and b) RSS feeds.

If people can't be bothered to use existing functionality, I can't be bothered to entertain requests for new stuff which does essentially the same thing.
a) Active topics is a nice idea. Go to this forum: http://www.4x4community.co.za for a better idea.
b) I hate RSS feeds. They just fill up the top of my browser.

If the existing functionality is not working for the people who use the forum then why not change it? You only have to do a change once and after that you can do the rest of the stuff that you like to do...

But it won't matter whether I ask or not. I get a snotty remark that its not going to happen. So do whatever you like because you are going to in anyway...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Tribble »

This forum does seem to be "dying" but a sidebar is really not going to save it. Doo and I had a chat the other day = there are a lot of things they could do to save it. But they are not willing. So - we shall see.

I really hope it doesn't fade away - this is my playground - my sanctuary - my home away from home.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Samaya »

This forum feels too closed down - too compacted. You have to look for everything.

It is a typical problem with most programmers, They think that they have created the BEST, most user friendly piece of software known to mankind and aliendom. I think some people call it a god complex. So when people ask for changes to this persons uber ideas he/she reacts in a negative way towards the comment. I have seen it happen many times.

I am not saying that I am to obeyed EVERYTIME but listen and give a reasonable explanation of why this cannot happen. But in the end I am still just another forum user...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Anakha56 »

Samaya & Others I have one question to ask all of you, who must do this leg work? Ron does this job free of charge and it will take a lot of man hours to convert this forum phpBB to vBulletin or any other type and he still has to do his normal day job and have a life to lead on the weekend. So I ask again who must do the leg work? Also Samaya where has Ron said that he has created the best forum out there? He has not in fact he did not set up the PCF forums initially he just took over the upkeep free of charge. I would love to see the majority of you offer your free time to do the same thing...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Samaya »

I tried asking for something small but it seems will be a big job to implement. So fine no more problems.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Samaya »

Actually I do have another request:

Can there be a button to remove myself from the forum? As in delete all my posts since 2002 up until today? I really don't feel like looking at kiddie remarks from admins anymore.

Cheers,

Samaya
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Anakha56 »

Tribble wrote:This forum does seem to be "dying" but a sidebar is really not going to save it. Doo and I had a chat the other day = there are a lot of things they could do to save it. But they are not willing. So - we shall see.
Hang on...

By adding more add-ons, plug-ins and extras you think that will save the forum? And here I thought for a forum to be successful it needed interesting topics of conversation... :roll: Seems like I had the wrong idea, Ron can we implement Farmville in phpBB? Pretty sure the forum will get super active then... :roll:

@ Tribble & doo besides the "Thanks" button what "things" could be done to save this forum? Recent memory (and mine is flaky) shows us only ever discussing the "Thanks" button, what other ideas do you guys have?
Samaya wrote:I tried asking for something small but it seems will be a big job to implement. So fine no more problems.
*sigh* You missed the point... Ron will need to get back to us about your idea to see if it works. We dont even know if phpBB has the ability or plug-in for it. Your forum you linked to is a vBulletin forum very different in coding...
Samaya wrote:Actually I do have another request:

Can there be a button to remove myself from the forum? As in delete all my posts since 2002 up until today? I really don't feel like looking at kiddie remarks from admins anymore.

Cheers,

Samaya
Talk about childish... :roll: How was my comment a "kiddie" comment? I was merely pointing out that only one person is looking after this place.

BTW To be a little more helpful why not go post actually phpBB mods/plugins for the forum instead of comparing 2 different forums and coding styles?

*edit*

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/modif ... daeaf29195

Go through that list and see what you think will work...

*edit 2*

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/thanks_for_posts/

Here is a link for the "Thanks" option...

*edit 3*

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/karma_mod/

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/nv_recent_topics/

/See what I found from going through the list. Ron will probably kill me but hey I found the phpBB version and not vBulletin version, makes life a little easier...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Anakha56 »

/takes a breather...

Right so why dont we do this properly from now on folks? If you want a feature for the forum that you think will spice it up please visit:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/modif ... daeaf29195

Post it here and lets talk about it. Nothing constructive can be done if we compare apples to oranges (phpBB vs vBulletin) the code is very different from what I understand.

Maybe we should actually have a new thread?

*edit*

How about we get rid of the pop-up for PM's and replace it with an alert system?

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/a ... 3_version/

Or a mood item:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/simple_mood/

*edit 2*

Someone wanted a tweet post thingie:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/t ... c_or_post/

How about a upcoming Birthday List:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/u ... hday_list/

Or a mod to welcome the newest member:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/w ... st_member/

Or to congratulate someone on reaching a certain milestone:

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/m ... tulations/
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Ron2K »

Should really create a "Forum Requests" subsection then. That way, we can have one feature per thread - makes it easier for reading and searching.
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Anakha56 »

I just wanted to get the ball rolling in a more positive light. Post your mods/plugins and lets talk about it but it has to be phpBB code not code for another forum. Also if someone has phpBB coding experience speak up and offer your services...
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Re: Forum Suggestions and Requests

Post by Tribble »

There seems to be some confusion - I am not criticising the forum nor am I asking for the return of the sidebar. I love what Ronny has done with the forum. I like change. I am concerned that we do not have many regulars that actually post here. I have made many suggestions but have been told they are not do-able.
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