What do you need in a forum?

[MP Guy]

Sometimes the KISS method ( Keep It Simple Stupid ) tends to be the most effective, efficient and best way of running things.

The forum software out there have evolved way beyond the needs of your traditional forums or bulleting boards. Understandably so. However, the question to all of us on RFF is what we reaqlly need to do in the forums and discussions.

If you could chose and pick functionality in a forum, what would it be? I am not talikng classifieds or galleries. Those are all just add ons that can be plugged in at any point. I am talking more like the following which is what I would use if I was starting a new site just for discussion.

Post a topic,
Post replies to a topic
Send private messages to individuals
Customize the way I like to order topics when displayed.
Send private messages within a group of people
Block users you don't want to see
Intelligent search capabilities. Search titles, content, users etc ...
Quote a post or reply
Attach images to posts
Subscribe to posts and get alerted on new activity

Don't really care about calendar, or blogs. although I have some thoughts on that for a later topic

Having said that, please let me know what you think and what you would do if you had the opportunity to tell a developer to do it your way.

Thanks

 

[AgBr]

Just like you have it listed is good enough.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Blocking posters would be nice. This forum software has that feature, but the webmaster, for whatever reason, has chosen not to implement it.

 

[Canyongazer]

Post a topic
Post reply
Intelligent search
Attach image

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Post a topic,
Post replies to a topic
Send private messages to individuals
Block users you don't want to see
Google search (the rest is garbage) capabilities. Search titles, content, users etc ... Current engine doesn't support google search on before "update" posts.
Quote a post in reply
Attach images to posts
Subscribe to posts and get alerted on new activity

 

[Dogman]

Reliable functioning.

Stuff happens, I know. And I make more mistakes than the average. But it's often frustrating to lose connection in the middle of posting a comment or photo or reading a multi-page thread. Otherwise, the cited functions won't be worth much.

(Just to note, today things have been working pretty well. Only lost connection once.)

 

[Darthfeeble]

Intuitive processes along with reliable functioning.

 

[MP Guy]

I have google search on my site www.leicaimages.com but am to cheap to disable the ads.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Much like other comments…

- Intuitive UI and the ability to customise the landing page (thread order and so on).
- Ability to search threads for my posts, so I can keep track of images I’ve already posted (Pentax Forums does this well).
- Integrated classifieds. I like keeping an eye on what’s for sale but rarely visit a seperate classifieds page.
- Reliable functioning. This is a big one… RFF *always* times out when I post images and often won’t load at all. Forums shouldn’t be frustrating and if it doesn’t work I just won’t visit.

 

[JeffS7444]

Successful sites sometimes go through a succession of different owners, so make existing site portable so it can be readily exported, drag-and-dropped onto newer hardware, cloud, or whatever. Complete preconfigured OS + software (such as VMware appliances) are one such possibility.

Speaking of cloud, offer attractive hosted solutions, because site owners are not necessarily IT types, and managing one's own server hardware can be a pain.

Assume that non-technical person may get stuck trying to figure out how to buy / update / install SSL security certificates; provide non-scary howto.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

It needs to "JUST WORK." RFF used to work flawlessly, but after the last software update it has been slow, buggy, and prone to crashes and timing out when loading.

 

[MP Guy]

I see a lot of "it needs to work" and I get that. But, that is a given and what I am looking for is functionality without going overboard. Do we care about fancy looking? Don't get me wrong, nice layouts are nice. But look at Craigslist. Very popular and still looks like it did day 1.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Perhaps I am missing the obvious alternatives already built in; but there are a couple of points I have noticed under the general heading of thread visibility or accessibility.

For context, I tend to like keeping up with posts from the forum home page and don't use notifications. I'll scroll down the list of threads reading discussions from the last week or two.

The old forum software would let you do this for a default period (60 days? 90 days? can't recall, now). However by altering the time period one could (in theory, at least) scroll through the forum threads chronologically until the beginning of the forum.

Current forum software permits you to scroll back, chronologically, through six pages of threads ( perhaps it's possible to customise the number of threads per page one views, but I am getting six pages worth). And then, that's it. No option (that I can see, at least) to scroll back any further. You can sort these posts by ascending or descending order, by title, etc. But regardless, you can only ever see a limited period of content.

I would personally be grateful if one could trawl back a bit further. Yes—one can always do a search. But, if you know the content you are seeking appeared within the last couple of months, sometimes it can be easier, and even faster, to just scroll back a month or three.

Along the same lines of thread visibility: I clear cookies and browser history regularly to try and keep hardware running efficiently. Hence I have noticed, when re-loading the RFF home page without being logged in that I am able to view a list of just over 30 recent public threads (including, for instance, this very thread). If I click the "View All" button however I'm obliged to make a forum search with image verification to view further threads without registering as a forum member and logging in. As I recall this was not previously the case with the old forum software, which did not require visitors to make a search in order to access public forum content.

I'm having difficulty understanding why this should now need to be the case. From a logical perspective: if it's considered desirable that forum visitors should complete the anti bot filter, in order to view forum content—fine. Why, then, are they able to access a page worth of threads, without going via the search screen? On the other hand: if it's considered acceptable for visitors to view and read the first page of public threads—why, then, should they not be able to scroll further? (as used to be the case).

It is not for me to say what criteria ought, or ought not, apply, for non-members to be permitted to access forum content. My point is merely that the present arrangement seems illogical, and inconsistent. I will only add that—perhaps—if the new software was more user friendly towards non-members, it might foster a few more new memberships?

Your thoughts?

 

[Nitroplait]

The "Ignore user" function is a requirement for me, and is a standard feature on most forum platforms.
Why it isn't activated here is beyond me - and makes me question why I still bother stopping by this forum - the lack of it does reduce my enjoyment significantly.

 

[p.giannakis]

I think it has most of the things we really need.
There is only one think I would like more - "a favourite" folder. Posts or pictures marked as favourite can be accessed by "our favourites" menu . This is how I bookmark favourite pictures on Instagram.

 

[largedrink]

Is there a quick method to determine what posts you have made on a particular thread? That would be useful to me, to avoid double-posting photos

 

[robert blu]

Perhaps I am missing the obvious alternatives already built in; but there are a couple of points I have noticed under the general heading of thread visibility or accessibility.

For context, I tend to like keeping up with posts from the forum home page and don't use notifications. I'll scroll down the list of threads reading discussions from the last week or two.

The old forum software would let you do this for a default period (60 days? 90 days? can't recall, now). However by altering the time period one could (in theory, at least) scroll through the forum threads chronologically until the beginning of the forum.

Current forum software permits you to scroll back, chronologically, through six pages of threads ( perhaps it's possible to customise the number of threads per page one views, but I am getting six pages worth). And then, that's it. No option (that I can see, at least) to scroll back any further. You can sort these posts by ascending or descending order, by title, etc. But regardless, you can only ever see a limited period of content.

I would personally be grateful if one could trawl back a bit further. Yes—one can always do a search. But, if you know the content you are seeking appeared within the last couple of months, sometimes it can be easier, and even faster, to just scroll back a month or three.

...

+1, I fully agree.

 

[MP Guy]

I think it has most of the things we really need.
There is only one think I would like more - "a favourite" folder. Posts or pictures marked as favourite can be accessed by "our favourites" menu . This is how I bookmark favourite pictures on Instagram.

the gallery has that feature 🙂

 

[rumbliegeos]

I'll add another vote to have the block/ignore user function back as an option.

 

[peefeeniz]

Pie in the Sky? a buzzer that would kick you off and remind you to go photograph

Archive the old site for searches but do a clean break to the most popular and familiar forum platform, what it is.

You'd lose a lot of deadwood and sacrifice some of the legacy but the result would be easier for more people to use and easier for future people to maintain, moderate and ideally transfer/sell with minimal disruption and pain.

I imagine this site's numbers look fantastic after 20 years but the core user group is much smaller.

That's my uninformed view, haven't looked at this issue in years but anything that is not dependent on Meta/Facebook or other social media is important. By all means use social media to bring people in but don't let social media absorb another niche community.

BTW the classifieds are dead worthless now.