This forum badly needs to change - response

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Originally Posted by wwillson
I do wish folks that visit here would allow our single ad we display at the top that pays some of the bills.

Wayne

Thanks for the reminder/suggestion. I've now whitelisted BITOG and that ad up top is the only one I see which I can certainly deal with!
 
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I just want the ability to automatically subscribe to a thread when you post in it.

"Like"
 
I participate in a number of different message boards, although some more actively than others.

At least a half dozen of the ones where I regularly participate are on Xenforo, with a couple of those having migrated there from vBulletin and others migrating to Xenforo from other packages. One hold-out, where I'm a moderator, is still on vBulletin.

On the whole, I'm not a huge fan of Xenforo. It seems resource heavy, and while it can do a lot I've also seen some buggy implementations(although admittedly one site I attribute that more to incompetent ownership and not bugs in the software).

In any case, I find the BITOG interface refreshingly simple. I wouldn't want to change a thing!
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I just want the ability to automatically subscribe to a thread when you post in it.

See the post from wwilson: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...-active-threads-ive-posted-in-previously

Great comment from Quatro Pete in that thread too:
Quote
This is in fact kind of standard/expected functionality of most forums that I've seen, and it is very useful


I'll weigh in on this. I had chalked up the user notification (by email) capability on here to being non-functional. I had used elements of it a few years back with mixed success, had set up a few notifications recently to try, and had mixed outcomes.

Turns out there was an incorrect setting that resulted in inconsistent notification. Chalk it up to how the bird defaults settings, or to user error, I don't know. I'll take the hit that I had set the radio button one way a decade ago and it propagated through.

I'm going to post up a DIY on what to check and how to ensure you're getting notifications from the board software. It is doable and it does work!
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
...and how to ensure you're getting notifications from the board software. It is doable and it does work!

Honest question, what other forums do you frequent ? I know how to turn these notifications on but it's the secondary actions that are less than ideal (unless I'm missing something). Curious what you'll show.
 
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
This feature alone would make a world of difference for me at least...

When looking at your own posts/threads started. If it only showed in bold if it was updated with the red number in parentheses. One can dream.

Btw I put the (2) in there as an example on how it would look.

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Yes, that would be helpful.

Myself and others have referred to this fault with the software as well. It appears to eventually mark threads as read based on you simply visiting the site, not whether you read the thread or not. Standard design in all other forum software I've seen is that threads are bold under two conditions: 1) You have not read the thread or 2) the thread has been updated since you last read it. Think of it like email - new messages are bold and when you read the message, it's un-bolded. When you or someone else replies, i.e. updates the email (chain), it turns bold again.

An example is the "Boat/PWC Lubrication" forum. I can probably say that until just now, I have never entered this subforum. As of right now, it shows (4) threads in bold and the rest not bold. Heh, maybe bold doesn't mean "new" in this software after all....
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by JHZR2
...and how to ensure you're getting notifications from the board software. It is doable and it does work!

Honest question, what other forums do you frequent ? I know how to turn these notifications on but it's the secondary actions that are less than ideal (unless I'm missing something). Curious what you'll show.


Honest question, after a dozen and a half critical posts, in which you argue with the administrator, and listed all of your complaints, what are you willing to do to help fix your list?

If Wayne posts a $$ figure - will you contribute that amount?

The site doesn't get much in ad revenue, and that's a conscious decision.

This site is clean, and uncluttered, and not monetizing your visits, that's a benefit from the above decision.

Please go read Wayne's posts on the matter, on the editorial site decisions, and then, please consider contributing something beyond a pile of posted criticism.

Wayne already contributes hundreds of hours of his time, gratis.

What are you willing to contribute?

Honest question.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I just want the ability to automatically subscribe to a thread when you post in it.

See the post from wwilson: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...-active-threads-ive-posted-in-previously

Great comment from Quatro Pete in that thread too:
Quote
This is in fact kind of standard/expected functionality of most forums that I've seen, and it is very useful


I'll weigh in on this. I had chalked up the user notification (by email) capability on here to being non-functional. I had used elements of it a few years back with mixed success, had set up a few notifications recently to try, and had mixed outcomes.

Turns out there was an incorrect setting that resulted in inconsistent notification. Chalk it up to how the bird defaults settings, or to user error, I don't know. I'll take the hit that I had set the radio button one way a decade ago and it propagated through.

I'm going to post up a DIY on what to check and how to ensure you're getting notifications from the board software. It is doable and it does work!

If you are referring to email notifications, then that's not what we he was asking about.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
Honest question, after a dozen and a half critical posts, in which you argue with the administrator, and listed all of your complaints, what are you willing to do to help fix your list?

If Wayne posts a $$ figure - will you contribute that amount?

The site doesn't get much in ad revenue, and that's a conscious decision.

This site is clean, and uncluttered, and not monetizing your visits, that's a benefit from the above decision.

Please go read Wayne's posts on the matter, on the editorial site decisions, and then, please consider contributing something beyond a pile of posted criticism.

Wayne already contributes hundreds of hours of his time, gratis.

What are you willing to contribute?

Honest question.

First, this sub-forum is for, amongst other things, "Board Issues". Second, I didn't start this thread, I'm only contributing to it like many others. Third, I think you forgot to ask everyone else the same questions.

This site is free to use, is it not ? I've noticed in many posts of yours that you certainly like to criticize anyone who doesn't have a donator avatar too.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by Astro14
Honest question, after a dozen and a half critical posts, in which you argue with the administrator, and listed all of your complaints, what are you willing to do to help fix your list?

If Wayne posts a $$ figure - will you contribute that amount?

The site doesn't get much in ad revenue, and that's a conscious decision.

This site is clean, and uncluttered, and not monetizing your visits, that's a benefit from the above decision.

Please go read Wayne's posts on the matter, on the editorial site decisions, and then, please consider contributing something beyond a pile of posted criticism.

Wayne already contributes hundreds of hours of his time, gratis.

What are you willing to contribute?

Honest question.

First, this sub-forum is for, amongst other things, "Board Issues". Second, I didn't start this thread, I'm only contributing to it like many others. Third, I think you forgot to ask everyone else the same questions.

This site is free to use, is it not ? I've noticed in many posts of yours that you certainly like to criticize anyone who doesn't have a donator avatar too.



While this sub forum is for board issues, you've posted a list of improvements that you would like, while contributing nothing towards their implementation.

You want something for free.

Sure, the site is free to use, and it lacks ads, which means that it lacks ad revenue and it doesn't monetize your traffic. You're not the product. That's rare. That's part of what I like about this over other enthusiast sites.

The site is supported solely by sponsor/donors, and volunteers.

You're neither.

I've asked many members, who get something for free, the same thing that I asked you, "please consider contributing".

Do you honestly think that asking someone to please consider contributing is criticism?

Please...

If you would like to see some changes in the board, changes which will cost money, and then take hours of Wayne's time, then please consider contributing something beyond a bunch of posts.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Astro14
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Astro14 said:
Honest question, after a dozen and a half critical posts, in which you argue with the administrator, and listed all of your complaints, what are you willing to do to help fix your list?
Honest question.

Please...

If you would like to see some changes in the board, changes which will cost money, and then take hours of Wayne's time, then please consider contributing something beyond a bunch of posts.

*****************************************************************************************
The site has significant membership … any affordable amount would help.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
...you've posted a list of improvements that you would like, while contributing nothing towards their implementation.

You want something for free.

If the site implements something or doesn't, it's up to them. I have no say in it. Are you suggesting that if I donate they'll do these things ? You know that's not the case either !

You can try and marginalize my comments/posts/suggestions all you want simply because, in your eyes, I'm not worthy. Doesn't bother me a bit.
 
I'm not suggesting there's a quid pro quo and nothing I've said marginalized your comments.

It's simple:

Your suggestions, your desires, cost money and time.

How about helping out?

Being part of the solution?
 
For the record, everyone.

The site has had some major upgrades in the last year. New hosting. New software. Lots of debugging and tweaking.

All of this has gone un-noticed because the "face" of BITOG has remained the same.

That face; that clean, uncluttered, look without advertising, is an important objective/value for the owner and the administrator. They want to keep the site the way it is, without advertising.

70,000 members suggests that the decision is successful. This site is unique in the enthusiast world because it doesn't monetize the habits of its members and because it has some industry-leading experts who contribute their knowledge. The site values of avoiding religion, sex, and politics, prohibiting personal attacks and bickering, have kept the discussion polite and professional.

But just because the average member can't see the big changes and the huge amount of work taking place behind the interface, it's foolish to presume that nothing is happening.

It's insulting to think that the Administrator doesn't know what software choices exist and hasn't considered alternatives.

Hundreds of hours of Wayne's time in the past year alone has kept the site running...No crashes, no issues as the hosting changed, software changed, and debugging and database management took place. Thoughtful, careful, selection in software and hosting. Major efforts in migration to new platforms and the ensuing tweaks to ensure that the site runs well, all done behind the scenes without drama or recognition.

All of that supported monetarily by a few corporate sponsors (Thank you Pennzoil, Pablo, and High Performance Lubricants) and a group of members that contribute.

And moderated by volunteers who spend hundreds of hours to keep the site within guidelines.

So, while Wayne, et. al. welcome feedback, feedback born of ignorance; ignorance of how the site works, and ignorance of software pros/cons/implementation challenges, ignorance of the level of effort taking place, or the support required, just isn't going to be successful.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by PandaBear

1) The account gets logged out after a while, can we keep it logged in?

Someone later said they get logged out if not visiting for 30 days. That seems like a good trade-off. Also, most browsers should be able to save username and password for a site, so if the site logs the person out, just click the popup saved user/password to log back in.

As for the forum software, I stopped frequenting certain message boards in part because their "modern-looking" software seems to be intended for blind people with smartphones with tiny screens. So much wasted open space between forum threads and posts, wasted open space in the posts, on main forum pages there's an entire large extra line for each thread dedicated to jumping to page numbers in the thread, (notice BITOG shows thread page numbers but they are on the same line as the thread title). It all adds up to large areas of nothing and endless scrolling.

And even fonts that seem abnormally large, and thick. It's like reading everything in bold.

Since I'm already here and posting... one thing I do have a problem with is that I'm subscribed to the deals forum since deals may be time-sensitive. So I get an email alert for each new thread, and for every reply. An email alert for every reply can get annoying, but at other times I like being able to skim each comment quick while in my email, so ok.

But the current "Do you like beer?" thread turned into a question/answer gab thread. I unsubbed from that thread, but I still get an email alert for every reply, apparently because I'm subbed to that entire forum. So if there's not already, it'd be nice to be able to be subbed to a forum section but unsub from specific threads in that forum.
 
Thanks for your dedicated efforts.
I too really like the clean look of BITOG forums and threads.
Pages load quickly and are easy to read.
For those who would like to see more modern software, I can tell you that all that glitters isn't gold.
I write this from the perspective of a user, in which of two major migrations of the two accounting systems I use at work, both run much slower than the legacy systems they replaced and one is in some respects a step backward from the old mainframe system it supplanted in terms of functionality.
Newer isn't necessarily better.
 
I'm good with the way it is--there isn't that much traffic here for me to keep on track of, yet way too much traffic for for me to want email notifications.

Only thing I kinda would like is for threads to not be marked as read simply because I looked in the folder. Once in a while, I look and see a bunch of threads with new posts (say a day or two has gone by). But before I can read them, life happens, I get dragged away for an hour, then come back and I have no idea what threads had been updated, as they all got marked as read. Critical? Not really, and I'd rather have a fast loading forum. Besides, it's kinda nice to have threads automatically marked as read, I don't want to read every thread, so this setting might be one of those things that I'd regret if it did change.

I will say, I really like the ability to upload pics. One sad thing about reading how-to's on other sites (or even here) is finding broken links. This is both good and bad: good for me, bad for the site as a picture takes up more than a thousand words in server space I bet.
 
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