Your Help Needed - Evalutating NEW Forum Software

[Sun & Moon]

improve moderation of the site being held to its belief would be nice. simple, self sufficient. forget the fancy graphics and more, this site should be upheld for simple. life sustaining info. If it grades up to more it would be horrible. (and we from the past saw that)

I completely agree with your post. The simplicity of the site is much more important than fancy graphics, or up-to-date software just for the sake of updating.

But on the other hand, to reply to Nifty:

I'd say it actually looks pretty good (which may or many not matter, since you've been evaluating it for a while and are probably set on it anyway). The overall ease of navigation is great, and it'll be nice it have some of the freedoms the new BYC forum doesn't have. The background colors are perfect without being crowded with too many useless features (like whatever happened to personally posting that you agree with a post and adding some useful reinforcement behind it instead of just clicking a thanks or thumbs up button?)

Just two things, won't it be a bit of a hassle, allowing members to have images in their signatures? And also, what about if you forget to erase the draft of a post? Most people who may change their mind about posting will click out of a page on purpose without bothering to erase the message.

 

[Nifty]

Great comments and questions!

We just finished the upgrade of my very first forum www.PrinterKnowledge.com and things have gone better than expected and the members are really taking well to the new platform!

Regarding images in signatures: Yes, signature images are a pain to police and make a forum messy, so we probably won't support them.

Regarding drafts: We can set the time that drafts auto expire. I think right now it is 24 hours.

Thanks again for the feedback and questions!

 

[DeniseCharleson]

Regarding images in signatures: Yes, signature images are a pain to police and make a forum messy, so we probably won't support them.

IMO, that is a good decision. On another (unrelated) forum I help operate, the use of very long and image-laden sig blocks is burdensome, especially for those participants who access the forum via mobile devices or low-bandwidth connections. Fortunately, in that other forum, the software (Telligent) supports a setting by users to hide all sig blocks. I employ that setting. It wouldn't bother me if all sig blocks went away, but eliminating images in them is a good 'compromise.'

 

[Sun & Moon]

Great comments and questions!

We just finished the upgrade of my very first forum vvww.PrinterKnowledge.com and things have gone better than expected and the members are really taking well to the new platform!

Regarding images in signatures: Yes, signature images are a pain to police and make a forum messy, so we probably won't support them.

Regarding drafts: We can set the time that drafts auto expire. I think right now it is 24 hours.

Thanks again for the feedback and questions!

Looks like a good thing there.

I just hope you've noticed the effect a different house has on a family or 'community' and how it changes with the move... not always for the best.

 

[Nifty]

An update:

We've successfully converted www.BackYardHerds.com to the new platform, and so far it's been received VERY well! You can check out some of the discussions and feedback here: http://www.backyardherds.com/forums/backyardherds-news-information-feedback.21/


We'll probably be moving to convert SS to this exciting new platform very soon. There isn't really much you need to do to prepare since we'll be doing all the work on our side. The only thing you'll probably want to do is make sure you have your username and password available since you'll need to login to the new system once we move.

 

[Neiklot]

I think it looks good and a lot more easier than this forum.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I do not like change!

But, if forced to... I will adapt...sigh

 

[Sun & Moon]

An update:

We've successfully converted www.BackYardHerds.com to the new platform, and so far it's been received VERY well! You can check out some of the discussions and feedback here: http://www.backyardherds.com/forums/backyardherds-news-information-feedback.21/


We'll probably be moving to convert SS to this exciting new platform very soon. There isn't really much you need to do to prepare since we'll be doing all the work on our side. The only thing you'll probably want to do is make sure you have your username and password available since you'll need to login to the new system once we move.

Looks interesting. I like it. But it would be even better if the last message row had a link to the last post(message) like SS does here with "11/13/2013 3:53 pm by frustratedearthmother"

Also, why the change in rules from

* Posting on SufficientSelf makes the comment, images, ideas "public domain". If you decide to leave the forum SufficientSelf will not be required to remove your posts.

to

* By joining BackYardHerds and posting/uploading comment, images, ideas, etc. you are giving BackYardHerds full rights to use this content. If you decide to leave the BackYardHerds community, BackYardHerds will not be required to remove your content.

Seems to be a large difference in wording. As if you're reserving the comments,images,ideas, for yourself, and not simply for the public.

 

[Nifty]

Great feedback, thanks!

 

[Sun & Moon]

Great feedback, thanks!

Umm, yeah.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear, but the latter part started with 'why' and was a question. It's been bugging me for quiet a while now. Will all good pics have to be watermarked or something, now? :/