Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

Message board expansion

Many tech sites have sprung up over the past couple of years.

And some of them have excellent message boards which I enjoy participating in. But at the same time, they always seem to attract a certain demographic of user that may not appeal to all people.

What I was wondering is, would there be any interest here in expanding the WinCustomize message boards to be much more useful as a larger discussion venue?

Or would you prefer to keep it the way it is where it's more of a smaller venue?

Either way is fine. The reason I ask is purely from personal experience, I like to be able to talk about software and technology based on merits and not whether it's free or cheap (example: I use Photoshop and Corel Draw, I don't like being yelled at for not going with a free solution or with PSP. I see that tendancy quite regularly where if it's not free, it's evil and I tend to value time over monetary cost).

I wrote an article on this actually:
https://www.joeuser.com/Articles/Timevs.Money.html

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

I am trying to understand what a larger discussion venue would look like? What are the differences? Are there some examples?

I don't participate in a lot of technical discussions, but I do enjoy them and I learn a lot from them.

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Well, just speaking personally, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the message boards here, so draw your own conclusions from that..

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Me and my big mouth...

BUT...

I think it actually might be a rather nice idea to have organized subjects to chat under...then again...I find it kind of neat that that DOESN'T exist here which opens the scope for more interaction between people who might only then participate in one section. Here I am, the biggest teeta baby but I actually like the interaction between folks without any sort of "set" rule or modus operandi for that matter...

Just some thoughts.

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

I participate in larger communities and moderate a couple. Each has several message boards and people can elect to view messages by topic, or "all messages". As a moderator, I tend to choose "all messages" but as a user I am more selective in some forums than others. It would be nice to have larger message boards and the solution does not have to be either/or with the selective choices.

I would read the technical boards a lot, there are things I want to know that I don't ask here.

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Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

Yea, basically you'd have different categories like some of the other sites already have:

[General Discussion]
[Customization Software]
[Skins, Themes, & Icon Discussion]
[Skin/Theme Design]
[Hardware]
[Technology]
[Help Forum]

In addition, the message board would be enhanced to support more HTML like being able to include screenshots and attachments as well as support auto responses, be able to show what is new since you last came on better, etc.

And of course, all this would be supported by the WinCustomize skin browser so for those who like the speed of Usenet news groups, you'd have that too.

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Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

GoodMorphing - Yea, that's something we could do here. The first section could be [Complete Forum] where it woudl literally list everything in the order it was last responded to.

So in essence, the forums would have threads that are classified and sorted based on which message forum you want to.

There's so much stuff that we could contribute in this way. When you read tech stories in the magazines and such, often times they're calling us or other people we know that woudl love to have a place where they can participate that has a VERY low threshold of toleration for flaming.

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

I would go for that. It has a nice side benefit of filtering out a lot. HTML enhanced message boards are nice. That is what I am used to. (You might check out the message boards that MSN uses) But then again, it might make more work for your moderators. You always have to be checking for spam and porn.

Do you see this more as an expansion device or a filtering device?

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

I think it is a good idea. I think it would attract a lot of people who are simply tired of a lot, and still support a more general audience as well.

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Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

It's a little of both (filtering and expansion). We don't want to turn WC into a "tech site" or anything, there are already good sites that do that.

But for DISCUSSING some of this stuff, having more sections to discuss stuff would make it easier.

If I, for instance, posted here about say favorite Photoshop filters, it would scroll off within hours. But if there was a seperate section for discussing creating skins and such I could post that and it would stay on longer.

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

That is another good reason for expanding. It helps a lot. And there is really no problem switching between the boards. Having an "all topics" board helps with that. Also, having an "off topic" board intended for chat type of stuff keeps the more oriented boards focused. People really do seek to post on the correct board.... once they get used to the idea.

There is also the ability to have moderated boards if there was a huge problem with flaming, though it tends to slow things down a lot. That function seems mostly useful for short term use during "flame storms".

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1846

I personally think that a board such as Devart's is a total disaster, requiring a photographic memory to recall where you last were on your previous visit.

The current 'system' there is certainly not user-friendly, with way too MANY categories.

Skinz.org [mk.1] certainly had the best board...it was one of its real strengths, and this one is much like it.

Maybe a SECOND 'section' could be added, but if it were to get to the maze that is Devart's, it'd be a BAD THING [tm].

Skinz went to two sections not long before its demise...that'd be a fair compromise.
Interesting to note that Skinz mk2 has more sections and the board is a dud of the highest order...

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goodmorphing

Join Date 03/2002

I'm not familiar with those other boards. I have looked in a couple of times and it was confusing.

Here are links to what I am familiar with (hope it is ok).

First is a gateway page explaining the guidelines, most people bypass that one after the first time with bookmarks.
http://groups.msn.com/communityfeedback/messageboards.msnw

Second is to the general board. (not the same as "all topics" If you are a member and have read some messages you will know instantly which ones are new because they show in bold text.
http://groups.msn.com/communityfeedback/general.msnw

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Fuzzy Logic

Join Date 05/2002

+496

I agree with Jafo about the DA message board. I've only posted there a few times, each time I got lost! I was trying to help someone with 35mm scanner info, went away to get more detail, then couldn't find the post... >

Never again! And not here...NO NO NO!!!

I like the idea of having sub-sections but retaining the main board as it is so you have a choice of views. Perhaps the 'new message' posting box could have a drop down with all the sub-sections listed so the message goes to the right place?

Having pics on the message board sounds good in theory. In practice it won't work, any pic will have to be moderated and unless someone is prepared to sit there all day moderating, message posts with pics are going to have huge delays.

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1846

Damn...I hate it when the ether eats your post.... >

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WOM

Join Date 01/2002

+253

I agree with Fuzzy and Jafo. No more than 2 boards. I prefer 1 board where you can scan down and pick the topics you want to enter. When you start segregating the board it becomes harder to remember where you were. I also think there will be less interaction between people as the topics might scare them off from entering that board.

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Guess I'm the odd man out on this as I prefer having sections. I think it depends on what kind of conversations you want to foster. Sections not only organize topics but encourage conversation on that given topic. For instance, I'd tempted to a non-skin related thread (and more often) in a section rather than the current wincust board as I feel I'd be going "off-topic" too much within the current board and afraid of drowning out the skinning threads.

As for Devart, well, I wouldn't be too concerned if the sections are kept to a relatively small/managable amount such as the ones Frogboy suggested. Devart has about 33 sections which can be overwhelming. I frequent several boards and most of them are "sectioned" boards.

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I personally prefer the board like it is. I could see potentially splitting it into a customization software discussion and a skin discussion, but that's about it. But then we'd need a help forum. I don't know. I enjoy the single board here. I think it keeps the WC community tight. It seems like too many topics would only serve to divide us.

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No, no, no, nooooooooooo!!!!!

Listen to the spell checker. I used to visit the DevArt board. I don't anymore. Why? Not because of the demographics, but because jarkles decided to remove the list of recent threads. Segment the board all you want, but a list of recent threads in all sections is essential.

As for graphics... mwah, can't be bothered really. Don't think they add much to it. Though they can be fun (see ArtUproar for examples).

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werewolf

Join Date 04/2001

+28

I'd be in favor of only 2 sections, one tech related and the other everything else, but I would like the ability to be able to view the list combined as well. I like coming in this board because it is simple to use and hard to get lost in

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bmetelsky

Join Date 03/2001

+14

I'm with Chris on this. A board with multiple sections doesn't have to be a disaster. It actually can be very helpful when trying to find something specific. I don't frequent this board much anymore because I hate wading through all posts to find something intersting (to me). Boards such as those at IB Elite or ieXbeta are awesome.

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The two sections idea sounds good to me, I won't go anywhere near DA's message boards...

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elvee

Join Date 03/2001

+113

If you must change the board

Please only two sections, General(The way it is now) and Tech. I really love the way our board is set up and if it starts to turn into a maze like DevArt...Well then it just will not be fun anymore

So please...no more than two sections. I don't think that pictures would be a good idea. That would just slow the boards down, but User Icons might be a nice touch.

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T-Man

Join Date 03/2001

+79

I wouldn't mind seeing a second or third message board section but that would be about it. Getting beyond that makes things too confusing.

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bmetelsky

Join Date 03/2001

+14

I agree that DevArt's board is horrible to follow, but I don't think it is because of the number of sections. I think it is just the technology they use in their board. The one at www.ibelite.com is much better and fairly easy to follow. We wouldn't necessarily need all those sections, but it might be nice to have people check it out and see how it feels.

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Koasati

Join Date 07/2001

+21

I don't really 'like' the idea, but if there were no more than 3 (one being General, one for Help) I could get used to it.
Skinbase sectioned the board, and I can spend 20 minutes looking for a thread. Combine slow loading time (dialup + site is busy), with people not posting in the correct category, and you have a mess.

Concerning graphics, you'd have to implement some tight restrictions, as to file size as well as image dimensions, or it could be a disaster.

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