Today's Times has this op-ed about anonymous posters on message boards and ridding MBs of them: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/opinion/30zhuo.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
If our MB isn't as vigorous or interesting as it had been, it at least seems freer of anonymous trolls.
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 7:29am
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 10:06am
#1
not really - anonymous posters still here
Requiring a login is an unnecessary encumbrance that will dissuade folks off from using the message board. This one in particular is extra encumbering asking for mailing address, zip code, phone number...I'm surprised it did not ask for my blood type. ALL of the information I entered in the length registration form is fictitious - including the EMAIL ADDRESS. There are plenty of free online services that will provide you a temporary email address to use to "register" at other websites with the obvious benefit of protecting your real, everyday email address from being spammed by such website or the other websites they decide to pimp your email address. I did notice that this message board did get spammed quite a bit even with the registration requirement.
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 12:48am
#2
Requiring a login is an
Requiring a login is an unnecessary encumbrance that will dissuade folks off from using the message board.
Well, at least we're not getting groped by the Web Master, so it's not so intrusive.
NYCC Oldtimer
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 10:10am
#3
Enable rich-text
Footnote: here's another encumbrance...
Enable rich-text
feature does not work as I frustratingly discovered. Why is this feature enabled?
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 11:39am
#4
"I'm a troll" proves no MB assures us readers read carefully.
I wrote "seems" and "free-ER," not "is" and "free."
But the fact is there are less of his type, and, yes, I'm all but certain it is a "he." What a desolate life one has to skulk around the Internet, creating false fronts and that is actually enjoyable to them.
OK, troll, fire away.
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 4:19pm
#5
lesser of two evils?
fwiw, I'm way more upset by a less vigorous / interesting message board than I ever was by trolls.
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 9:30am
#6
A suggestion
I don't know if this has been suggested yet, but we could just defect to another forum.
For example, Activeboard offers a hosted forum service for $7.95 / month. I'd cover that myself, if I thought I could get an audience.
Here's an example of an Activeboard forum.
What do you say? Richard? Bob? Regulars?
If you want to talk about it, feel free to email me directly: jim (at) nachlin (dot) com
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 9:45am
#7
Yes, Activeboard works
And, it is very customizable. I'd jump off this execution and migrate all the content (of the entire NYCC site) to Activeboard. It should be a rather easy switchover.
Here is an example of Activeboard that has been customized for its users. It currently has over 10,000 active members of which I am one.
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 5:54pm
#8
It's not the login requirement
Just, as a web professional, I'm offended and horrified by this redesign. As many others have said, the color scheme and small fonts are ridiculously bad, and there are existing bulletin board solutions that would have worked much better.
Why is there a huge gap between the title of a post and its body?
So I don't check the message board much.
Maybe I'm better off!
By the way, i did volunteer, twice, to assist with the web site.
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 7:02pm
#9
.png "2011 B-SIG Grad")
Thoughts
I wouldn't say the login requirement is a problem as much as it is a problem that the new messageboard is a lot harder to use overall than the old one, and everyone simply went away. The volume is nothing like it used to be and now it's not a useful resource anymore. Too bad.
I bet the reason why the posts have so much space at the top has to do with some sort of float bug with the menu items on the left side.
It's just one of many bugs here. I'm sorry to be negative, but I'm a web developer and I think the style template on this part of the site is so poorly implemented that it's a wonder the original developer gets any work at all. I'd be happy to attempt to restyle this part of the site and fix the colors and the fonts so that it's no longer so difficult to read text. I probably can't do anything about the buggy "rich-text" editor function, but you ought to get that fixed as well.
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 10:59pm
#10
Times Article
Richard, I read the article this morning and thought of posting it myself--thank you for beating me to it! I particularly enjoyed the pearls of wisdom coming from 4th century B.C. Greece: "Morality, Plato argues, comes from full disclosure; without accountability for our actions we would all behave unjustly."
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 7:17am
#11
"Don't touch my junk"
I have to agree. This message board is a step backward in time in terms of layout, functionality, and colors. It is now very difficult to scan messages and replies quickly in order to provide value added advice, if any. As a result, I believe the value of this board as a useful tool has decreased dramatically.
Hopefully, the Board will recognize the shortcomings of this new message board and change it out before the 2011 cycling season begins in February.
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 10:22am
#12
I don't know if this has been
I don't know if this has been suggested yet, but we could just defect to another forum.
For example, Activeboard offers a hosted forum service for $7.95 / month. I'd cover that myself, if I thought I could get an audience.
Here's an example of an Activeboard forum.
What do you say? Richard? Bob? Regulars?
If you want to talk about it, feel free to email me directly: jim (at) nachlin (dot) com
Excellent site. Runs on vBulletin.
The site's Web Master appears quite skilled and competent, as the site is compatible with Tapatalk, which is good news for iPhone users:
NYCC Oldtimer
Thu, 12/02/2010 - 11:22am
#13
I agree with Richard
do people really miss guys like 'easter bunny' and 'etain shoin'?
Speaking of cycling related online message and bulletin boards, here's an video article from South Africa's Mail & Guardian about greenways in Johannesburg:
http://www.mg.co.za/multimedia/2009-07-28-cycling-the-spruit-joburgs-gre...
Below this video, people are welcomed to comment and there's a few guidelines:
M&G Online Comment Guidelines In Brief
•No hate speech;
•No racist, sexist or homophobic remarks;
•Keep it short;
•Keep it on topic;
•Show respect to all;
•We reserve the right to remove or delete any comment without notice or reason.
Take a read on the comments.
The full guidelines: http://www.mg.co.za/page/comment-guidelines
