Bandwidth

[french frank]

Discussion on class here if anyone wants to continue. Unbelievably stupid insults here.

For the record, discussions are under way as to whose turn it is to get out their chequebook and pay for the next upgrade as we are again in danger of exceeding our bandwidth. I wonder if we should even bother, at £200+ a time and not much in it for FoR3.

[This is copied from the old 'Class' thread on Platform 3.]

[JFLL]

For the record, discussions are under way as to whose turn it is to get out their chequebook and pay for the next upgrade as we are again in danger of exceeding our bandwidth. I wonder if we should even bother, at £200+ a time and not much in it for FoR3.

Are we exceeding it because of the number of posts? If so, there's a simple solution -- close down Platform 3.

[french frank]

Are we exceeding it because of the number of posts? If so, there's a simple solution -- close down Platform 3.

No, it's not that, but I'll remove this to Announcements and explain there in a while. (Want to keep this on-topic as far as possible.)

[french frank]

Right - the problem isn't the content of the forum (no of posts &c.) but the amount of traffic it generates. Currently about 67% of the visits are from spambots attempting to register (and failing). For a relatively small forum we are very busy and that attracts the attention of the spammers. Each upgrade gives us more bandwidth but even the most expensive package may not be able to stay ahead for long. We are looking for a solution to the problem.

That said, there was a suggestion recently that Platform 3 had no relevance to Radio 3 and was the cause of most of the running battles which prevent serious discussion and don't make the forum look good ...

[Thropplenoggin]

Right - the problem isn't the content of the forum (no of posts &c.) but the amount of traffic it generates. Currently about 67% of the visits are from spambots attempting to register (and failing). For a relatively small forum we are very busy and that attracts the attention of the spammers. Each upgrade gives us more bandwidth but even the most expensive package may not be able to stay ahead for long. We are looking for a solution to the problem.

That said, there was a suggestion recently that Platform 3 had no relevance to Radio 3 and was the cause of most of the running battles which prevent serious discussion and don't make the forum look good ...

I suppose there is a risk of 'doing a Radio 4', who canned the Archers forum because it had become more of social network than an Archers-specific forum.

I can sympathise with what must be a tiring job of sorting out the running battles often to be found in Platform 3. Though these do seem to be linked to what will always be controversial topics - politics, sexual politics, religion - perhaps these don't belong in this forum. A quick scan through Platform 3 reveals that these incendiary threads are outnumbered by the genial ones talking about food, drink, the weather, RIPs, etc. Though again, you could argue, is this the purpose of this forum, especially if you are footing the bill?

I have to say, the music threads do tend to bring out the best in people. Even the strong opinions expressed against this or that composer/genre/etc., are usually couched in polite or humorous terms (although I must confess to having made some wilfully provocative comments on serialism These outlandish flights of fancy may have been comedic in intent. I couldn't possibly comment...)

At which point, Thropplenoggin was seen sauntering off into his study to "sort his tchotchke from his baubles", that is, his Thropplenogginalia, which, he has been assured, is most manifold. Le mot est juste.

[EdgeleyRob]

The football thread is very civilised (ironically).

[Serial_Apologist]

IMHO it would be a great disservice, both to the forum and Radio 3, were the "political" discussions to be discontinued/banned. Unfortunately, it is not possible to divorce "the political" from how the BBC is run, and how it in turn runs Radio 3 - much as one would rather feel that this is not the case. This in turn raises the wider issues that posters understand as relevant to the issues of programming, presentation etc etc..

To deny this is to hand everything over to the "big boys" and just let them get on with what they are doing to Radio 3.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As someone who contributes to Platform 3, but cannot see any justification for it having topics that have nothing whatever to do with Radio 3, I would support a change of emphasis, so that subjects with no relevance to R3 would be classed as "off-topic" (if that makes sense).

[Petrushka]

As someone who contributes to Platform 3, but cannot see any justification for it having topics that have nothing whatever to do with Radio 3, I would support a change of emphasis, so that subjects with no relevance to R3 would be classed as "off-topic" (if that makes sense).

I fear that a forum devoted solely to subjects relevant to R3 runs the risk of being a very dull one indeed. As it happens I don't find much wrong with Platform 3 as it stands. The problems do not lie with the format but rather with a small number of persistent offenders who are incapable of seeing any other point of view but their own and resort to personal insults and intemperate language when the argument does not go their way. This sometimes infects threads that are relevant to R3 as well. Hosts need to jump on this problem a little quicker, perhaps, but I recognise the difficulty.

I am not, generally speaking, in favour of banning either subjects or members but of the latter there are, I would say, three or four names to whom I would gladly present the red card if I had the power to do so but wild horses etc...

[teamsaint]

As a general point , and I know this does nothing to help FF's problems, I agree with Petrushka that boards devoted exclusively to their core subjects risk being a little dull.
Football forums, for example, tend to have "general discussion " areas, which are very popular.
I don't know how message board intolerance can be dealt with, other than by intolerant (but understandable) moderation !

[EdgeleyRob]

I love this forum and feel 'at home' here.
The football,food,association threads etc are part of the attraction and charm of the place for me.
To restrict it to purely Radio 3 discussion would lessen that attraction and make it quite dull,becoming more like an on line classroom,which I am sure no one wants.
As regards slanging matches perhaps we should have a thread devoted to just that (within reason).
Seriously though, I don't know what the answer is to that particular problem..

[french frank]

As regards slanging matches perhaps we should have a thread devoted to just that (within reason).

We do have two Diversions forums, one of which is left open (and the url given) to allow participants to continue. Funnily enough, they seldom bother once the thread is invisible to the general public or to ordinary members who don't actively seek them out. But I feel ashamed at some of the language and behaviour exhibited: the other Diversions forum is closed, when I feel nothing could possibly be rescued.

I do feel Radio 3's original idea of Platform 3, and probably how they conceived it, was a genial (and géniale) one. It allows people to introduce all sorts of interesting topics (and Topics!).

I have to confess that my patience is not inexhaustible and people who persistently engage in hostilities (including 'mild banter' - as they see it), covert or overt, may find themselves in premod - and the system means that posts can lie there for a day or so, by which time, when they appear, they will have been buried by newer ones and no longer part of a current discussion.

[Thropplenoggin]

We do have two Diversions forums, one of which is left open (and the url given) to allow participants to continue. Funnily enough, they seldom bother once the thread is invisible to the general public or to ordinary members who don't actively seek them out. But I feel ashamed at some of the language and behaviour exhibited: the other Diversions forum is closed, when I feel nothing could possibly be rescued.

I do feel Radio 3's original idea of Platform 3, and probably how they conceived it, was a genial (and géniale) one. It allows people to introduce all sorts of interesting topics (and Topics!).

I have to confess that my patience is not inexhaustible and people who persistently engage in hostilities (including 'mild banter' - as they see it), covert or overt, may find themselves in premod - and the system means that posts can lie there for a day or so, by which time, when they appear, they will have been buried by newer ones and no longer part of a current discussion.

Wouldn't one solution be to have more moderators?

[mercia]

Right - the problem isn't the content of the forum (no of posts &c.) but the amount of traffic it generates. Currently about 67% of the visits are from spambots attempting to register (and failing). For a relatively small forum we are very busy and that attracts the attention of the spammers. Each upgrade gives us more bandwidth but even the most expensive package may not be able to stay ahead for long. We are looking for a solution to the problem.

....... so if I'm understanding correctly, it's the 'busyness' that is causing the problem. Is the busyness represented by the "views" figure for each thread ? Because even threads which receive zero replies seem to attract plenty of "views". I rarely see more than 75 people actually logged-on, there must be forums around which attract far more than that, do they have this same bandwith problem ? I'm not technically minded, does wholesale deletion of very old threads, that, for example, nobody has contributed to for two years "free-up" bandwith ?


EDIT - let's say one was to delete the first 200 pages of the Alphabet Association thread - would that "free-up" bandwith ?

[Nick Armstrong]

by intolerant (but understandable) moderation !

As I have said in relation to Wine, "Moderation" is the watchword at Château Caliban!