**New Forum Suggestions**

[Socrates]

Could we now have a separate board for the two most common topics:

a. Hardware Problems
b. Wishlist

Seems like it would be easier to read through them in a separate board format rather than a 400 post long thread.

Just a thought.

[Socrates]

http://www.letsgokings.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

[feldon34]

I want to, but Michael is threatening to come down here and hold me hostage if I do.

<li><b>Inside: SS <i>Coffee Bar</i></b>
Open discussion, mostly about the Aquarium but can wander a bit. An excuse for me to talk about TiVo and the purity one feels from doing websites in raw HTML.

<li><b>Inside: SS <i>Troubleshooting & Questions</i></b>
Bring us your questions, we'll get your fish going!

<li><b>Inside: SS <i>Suggestion Avenue</i></b>
Think there's a fish, invertebrate, or feature we haven't thought of? Bring it to our attention here, or read the myriad suggestions and requests.

[Pyros9]

Well, if we're voting, I'm all for it!

[codgio]

I'm all for the idea of separate forums for the different subjec areas.

Don't suppose theres any chance you've figured out a way to serve esspresso over the internet for the ss coffee bar, because I could really do woth one at the moment.

[Jav400]

Hehe, trying to blame it on me, huh Morgan.

Actually, I'm not all that against the idea. It would be nice on occassion to have an area devoted specifically towards the Aquarium, and another area for people to be off topic and ramble.

But, I'm not to sure that I would try to individualize the Aquarium forum itself into several different parts. Since we have a working search engine now, finding answers to questions and to previous posts is much easier, and isn't the daunting task that it was before of having to manually search every post for answers.

With sticky topics, which we just received a few days before we left ezboard, Morgan and I can keep the topics of main importance at the top where they belong, for easy viewing by current or new members. ie. the Wishlist, and hardware concerns, and the ability to move posts to another thread where they belong also helps us in keeping a cleaner and easier worked forum.

In looking towards the future of the whole project, and trying to set up something that helps the users, but becomes familar and comfortable, and doesn't have to be changed and relearned every so often, I would be more for setting up in preparation of the new Screen Savers that Jim is planning in the future, and having the Aquarium as 1 forum, the next Butterfly Garden as 1 forum, and so on. My immediate concerns are that if we set up the Aquarium forum with 3-4 sub topics, and then the Butterfly Garden and so on, we get more complicated with every addition and would end up with 12-16 different forums to search through for answers or information. With 4 main forums for the different Screen Savers and the addition of a place for people to be off topic and discuss whatever they wish, ( within reason of course ) we would still have the same capabilities, but with a more localized "interest" area for each.

[FrogMastr]

I also whould like to second the motion for Board Splitting...

Because it could be gerat not to have trouble issues in the same board that General Discussions...

The only thing i regret from EzBoard was the ( Mark All Post read )
Now we have to read each post to have them marked as *read*

Beside that, This new board is much better!

[Lostboy]

I agree with Michael. It would be great just to have 1 board for each screensaver, and then a general board. However, if this board gets really busy (like a new post every minute or so), then splitting into more would be good.

[feldon34]

FrogMastr,

vBulletin is extremely flexible. If there's enough demand, I'll install the ezboard-like 'Mark All Read' hack on the forum.

[codgio]

Can I post my vote to have the mark all read button back. I thought this was a useful feature.

[codgio]

Why do I keep getting a computer icon when I select the thumbs up icon. I'll try it the other way this time.

[asprague]

If one drops back to "SereneScreen Forum," there is an option for "Mark All Forums Read." Is what we are discussing already available?

[codgio]

Originally posted by asprague
If one drops back to "SereneScreen Forum," there is an option for "Mark All Forums Read." Is what we are discussing already available?

It certainly seems that way. It would slightly better to have the option within the forum though.

[Jav400]

Codgio,

Evidently you were checking the circle directly behind the icon you wished to chose, ( which related to the computer instead of the thumbs up icon ) check the circle in front of the one you want. I edited your 2nd post in that sequence and looked, and then chose the other one, it works fine.

Asprague,

Yes we still have that function, but like codgio stated its only on the front page now, we used to have the same option actually on the forum page itself. That way you could reset all the posts without having to move to another page and come back again.

We also used to have the "Who's Online" list directly above the forum page so you could see who was currently here without having to move also. We're looking for a hack that works to try and add this feature back here where it was for everyone before.


And lastly, since we seem to be relating this thread to the forum mainly, for now I will change the main topic to "New Forum Suggestions" and stick it at the front. I won't leave it there forever, but if anyone notices or has a suggestion for anything else for the forum that they think is missing or might be helpful if added, please say so here. Remember, it doesn't mean that we can automatically find a hack or get it implemented, but we will consider your suggestions. Thanks.......

[feldon34]

I actually had the Who's Online bar set up and in place here. It looked great. Only one problem. Nobody could post!

vBulletin maintains cookies which keep a fairly accurate recollection of which topics you have and have not read. This in contrast with EZBoard which didn't make any such effort. You'd read a post and it had no memory of you doing so. The only problem it seems is that FeldonCentral.com is too often returning the cached (old) version of the page rather than the current version.

I'll see what I can do to resolve this, but I assure you, clicking the Refresh/Reload button in your toolbar should always give you a current page with clownfish icons on the left side of forum topics you really have not read.

If hitting Refresh or Reload is not providing a correct forum topic display, please reply to this topic indicating such and I will consider putting a Mark Forum Read button on the topic index.

Anyone else hooked on the buttons? I use them almost exclusively now.

I'm still working on getting the clock fixed on the forum too!

[codgio]

Originally posted by Jav400
Codgio,

Evidently you were checking the circle directly behind the icon you wished to chose, ( which related to the computer instead of the thumbs up icon ) check the circle in front of the one you want. I edited your 2nd post in that sequence and looked, and then chose the other one, it works fine.

That's what I thought after my first post but for my second post I made sure that I was clicking the correct button. I don't know how relevant it is but the "alt" tags for the images are not consistant with the image being shown. Obviously the alt tag doesn't affect the form input value, but it does indicate that something has been mixed up somewhere.

Anyway here goes another attempt for a thumbs up

Edited:
O.k. so it worked this time. Maybe I was being dummer than I thought. The alt tag comments still hold though.

[feldon34]

codgio, I didn't like the usual smileys so I replaced them with the EZBoard ones. Yes, the names don't line up. I guess I should change them now before the forum gets too big and everyone who has put an icon has it changed to another one.

By the way, the forum clock is now fixed. And I've set the server to force a new page load every time you look at a page. Hopefully this won't put too much of a burden on the server.

[Coelacanth]

I think the question of whether or not to split the forum into three or more different sections comes down to a couple of factors:

1. How busy is the board right now? How many posts per day, or per hour? I don't think this board is all that busy, actually, in comparison to some other boards I have frequented. I can come back after a week and find I haven't missed a whole lot of posts. The busier the board, the more the splitting of it into sections would make sense.

2. What topics is this board intended to cover? What is the current scope? Right now, the current scope is one program, the Aquarium. With the exception of a couple of "wishlist" threads for upcoming programs like the butterfly garden, it's still basically all about the Aquarium. Getting it to work, talking about features, user suggestions, etc. That's a pretty narrow scope.

So for right now, I'd say leave it all in one section. It's easier to search and it makes the forum look more active to first-time visitors, rather than having several sections that each have maybe only a handful of posts.

Then, when more programs arrive, it makes sense to make sections for each.

Oh, and the coffee bar section is always a good idea, for free-for-all talk among members about nearly any subject. It helps build up a community feel when it doesn't have to ALL be strictly about the Aquarium.

Hey, how about those Diamondbacks!!

Just my 0.02.

[codgio]

Coelacanth,

I'd agree with most of what you said in your last post. The only exceptions being the wish list and hardware topics as these are getting so large that it's a daunting task to look through for a specific subject, although I accept that a working search facility could well eliminate that problem ( I haven't tried it yet ).

The hardware topic in particular is a good candidate for a separate forum because the issues addressed here are also going to apply to all the future screen savers.

Of course if a new forum was created for, say, the wishlist. It would only be of value if someone were to go through the existing posts and separate them into different threads. Not a task I'd wish on anyone.

[cjmaddy]

Diamondbacks ??? ..... are those a form of marine Stickleback?

Like the new forum - good work.

Morgan,

Yes, the 'firstnew' buttons are most useful. I use them all the time!
Glad you got the clock fixed on the forum too! It coincided with our annual change
over to GMT here in the UK at the end of October, so I was even more confused.

cjmaddy