Future of the forum

[french frank]

Most forums find it necessary to least have some sort of cut-off at around 5-10 posts to prevent people registering accounts for spamming and the like.

We have the option to moderate new members as well. I quite like the assumption from the outset that people won't abuse the forum.

It might be mentioned here that if anyone ever receives spam in their PM Inbox, they should report it at once. Anyone spamming the PM facility should - in my view - be instantly banned. But those kind of measures will be for the new, erm, Politburo/Council to decide in consultation with the community.

[antongould]

No French Frank Re my post it should not really be on here at all and I apologise. I just saw salymap's question to me in a post and replied not realising it was in this very important thread. I shall be more careful in future!!!

[David Underdown]

FF, unfortunately, I can't see that long term this forum won't prove just as tempting for spammers as every other one I've been involved in. The addition of extra privileges after a (small) number of initial posts also helps protect people's email addresses from spam attacks, if they have chosen to make them viewable in the first place.

[Anna]

It's a little bit down the list of priorities at present, but if it's the prevailing view, it can easily be changed.

Every MB I have belonged to, whether music or history, has had post counts/member ranking. As I recall the old R3 MBs had post counts as well didn't it? (Before it was reversioned) I'd rather any MB didn't have rankings but it doesn't bother me in the slightest, I don't even notice them. Admin and Mods of course must be clearly identified plus a clear distinction between a Mod posting as a Mod and posting as simply Member Joe Bloggs, i.e. they post in red or whatever colour you choose so it's clear that is their opinion as a Mod, not plain Joe.

[french frank]

The addition of extra privileges after a (small) number of initial posts also helps protect people's email addresses from spam attacks, if they have chosen to make them viewable in the first place.

I'm not sure that the title, as we have it functioning, does prescribe member privileges. I would personally advise people to limit contact with other MBers to Private Messages, turn off email access (I think the default is OFF), and possibly not use the 'Friends' contact route either, which involves sending an email. You can then exchange email addresses if you wish to by PM.

[David Underdown]

Usually the title also corresponds to a member group, from which group those in the administrator group can add and remove privileges, which are usually things like the ability to view members' profiles, send PMs and similar. Sometimes also used to allow/disallow access to specific subforums.

[Daring Tripod]

I am new to this Board but, after a short spell on the BBC Message Board became an enthusiastic almost daily ‘stalker’ for years without participating. So, please forgive my humble opinion which is probably worth nothing!

The minimum of ‘organisation’ and ‘titles’ the better. The whole appeal of the internet is it’s basic simplicity and the BBC Messageboard was easy to use and did not have any trappings of titles, awards for number of postings etc. Constant users of your great site need not really have any fancy titles, do they? Isn’t it enough that we all recognise them and, in most cases, have affection for them?

Of course, you need a basic group of devoted and capable savants to ‘run the show’ as well as liberally minded ‘Moderators’ when necessary and a few technical ‘geeks’. But, please, whatever you decide, do not have too many rules and regulations, fancy titles to spoil this marvellous site which has started off so well.

D.T.

[french frank]

But, please, whatever you decide, do not have too many rules and regulations, fancy titles to spoil this marvellous site which has started off so well.

My personal view. Amazing, though, how petty rules tend to get added as things progress.

[ostuni]

A slightly different topic: is there a way to adjust the number of posts per page displayed? At the moment, it seems like a surprisingly small number (compared with other fora I have visited), and thus rather a lot of hopping from page to page if you're following a busy thread.

[eighthobstruction]

Yes, I definitely think that too....

....qatar????

[french frank]

A slightly different topic: is there a way to adjust the number of posts per page displayed? At the moment, it seems like a surprisingly small number (compared with other fora I have visited), and thus rather a lot of hopping from page to page if you're following a busy thread.

The only thing is that I'm not sure whether you have control of what you see, or whether it has to be set by admin. Have a look round and I'll do the same.

[johnb]

A slightly different topic: is there a way to adjust the number of posts per page displayed? At the moment, it seems like a surprisingly small number (compared with other fora I have visited), and thus rather a lot of hopping from page to page if you're following a busy thread.

Have you tried adjusting the "Number of Posts to Show per Page" and the "Default Thread Age Cut off" in Settings (top of screen), then General Settings?

(I ask because I haven't yet experimented with changing the settings from their defaults.)

[johnb]

That certainly changes the number of posts you can see per page when viewing a thread.

But it doesn't seem to affect the number of posts per page you can see in the "New Posts" view. It would be nice if that could be increased but it isn't a mega issue for me.

[Lars Porsenna]

Have you tried adjusting the "Number of Posts to Show per Page" and the "Default Thread Age Cut off" in Settings (top of screen), then General Settings?

Well spotted, John

I've increased it from (default) 10 to 40. Don't forget to Save the Changes.

[Bryn]

Well I'm a Senior Member, and I've got te Bus Pass to prove it.

By the way, the system is built into the software, just as it is over ar r3ok.com. It's just laughed at over there. The more you waffle, the higher yourdesignated status.