Do you scroll through the other 11 or so pages to check for "new" posts?

Not any more thankfully

Mark Brassett Wrote:
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> Do you scroll through the other 11 or so pages to
> check for "new" posts?


It has never been necessary to do that. You can click on the "follow topic" for posts you want and will be notified by email when a response to that topic has been made. Or you can toggle back to non-threaded view and see individual topics and the "New" indicator next to those that have been responded to. Just two pages would show over 100 topics or more.

Gentlemen, we're not trying to cure terrible diseases here.... Why don't we just let tis topic gradually work its way down to page twelve?

Jeff Shafer Wrote:
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> Gentlemen, we're not trying to cure terrible
> diseases here.... Why don't we just let tis topic
> gradually work its way down to page twelve?

If the forum was not set to bounce posts back to the top that's where this topic would be by now - page twelve. I think you just proved the point that some of us have been trying to make.

Wish there was a choice to view one way or the other. I preferred the way it was, seeing fresh new posts that aren't pushed to the bottom by the same ol same ol ones that sometimes drag on and on and on between very few posters.

That’s the point — there WAS a choice. Now there is not. In the old setup you just clicked on the box that said “follow topic” and you would be notified when a post you were interested in had been replied to and there was even a direct link you could click on that took you to that topic. No scrolling or hunting for it. If you were not interested in a topic you just did not click the box. The choice was yours. Now there is no choice.

Steven Libby Wrote:
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> .....that sometimes drag on and on
> and on between very few posters.

Dittos on that one.

Another issue we have not mentioned in this thread yet is how useful the return to the top can be especially for our dearly departed.

With the new way we can go back into time and pull up older threads either started by or discussed by some who have long since gone to the other side of life.

As it was, when someone dies out of here, their comments and posts also died out with them. This new way gives each of them new life when called upon with a click of a button.

That's not correct. Nobody's posts ever disappeared. You could always go back and find older posts or older members with the click of a button. Kent, just how new are you to this forum???

We had a choice, now we don't. What happened to all the rod building forums that used the return to top feature? They are either gone or rarely used while this one prospered. I do not think the success of this forum was an accident. Somebody knew what they were doing.

I think what Kent is implying is that now he can go back and pull up those old posts so everyone can see them again, not just him. When I go back and read old posts searching for an answer to a problem, I want it to go back to the top sometimes to elicit fresh and new solutions. I have to say, this change will not doom this site any more than the original format was responsible for its overwhelming success.

You could do that under the old system. You just put the URL of the person you searched into a new post. The site had all those options all along.

Exactly right Mark.

The way this forum operated originally, it set up a situation of having to create a new thread for the same discussion topic each time because so few people ever really ventured past page 1. I know because I tested it myself just to see if anyone else noticed new posts on pages 2 and beyond. Out of all of my test posts spread out over a year or more, I did not receive not one single reply for any of them. They simply disappeared into oblivion of pages no one goes to unless doing a specific search. And the only logical conclusion I can come to is that the previous forum operation was causing threads to completely die out along with those who posted them. And if the member died, their posts and comments keep going back further and further into oblivion and only people who knew them might search for them or the topic, but for all intents and purposes, those threads are gone.

Now we can pull up the past and refresh it when we find it, and keep the discussion going on a single thread about one subject instead of 3,000 different threads on the same subject scattered across 1860 pages of 50 threads each page.

I have watched a subject roll off the first page and once gone very quickly someone else starts a new thread on the same subject without looking for it in the past. By refreshing to the top, at least now we stand a chance of really condensing the body of knowledge into a tighter more compact orderly operation than the previous way of scatter-it-all across nearly 2000 pages.

The search function should be pretty much the same now as it was before with only difference of bringing threads back to the top is all. I prefer to see all the new threads at the top.

Another issue i would like to see happen would be to separate topics into categories of boards. So if you wanted to read threads about rod blanks, they would have their own board. If you wanted to read threads on reels and line and other stuff, it could have its own board as well. This is how modern forums operate. You just don't see this type of format any more as technology is rapidly advancing. I've owned and run my own forum since mid 90's and all of the programming and software changes and implementation falls on me to keep up with so I am very familiar with it which is why I have brought this subject up before. So I for one am glad for the upgrades and hope for more. Wait until they get a RSS feed here! And for those wondering what that might be and how useful they are:

"What is RSS? An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is an online file that contains details about every piece of content a site has published. Each time a site publishes a new piece of content, details about that content—including the full-text of the content or a summary, publication date, author, link, etc."

And:

"RSS (RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication)[2] is a web feed[3] that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator, which constantly monitor sites for new content, removing the need for the user to manually check them. News aggregators (or "RSS readers") can be built into a browser, installed on a desktop computer, or installed on a mobile device.

Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, episodes of audio and video series, or for distributing podcasts. An RSS document (called "feed", "web feed",[4] or "channel") includes full or summarized text, and metadata, like publishing date and author's name. RSS formats are specified using a generic XML file.

Although RSS formats have evolved from as early as March 1999,[5] it was between 2005 and 2006 when RSS gained widespread use, and the ("Feed-icon.svg") icon was decided upon by several major web browsers.[6] RSS feed data is presented to users using software called a news aggregator and the passing of content is called web syndication. Users subscribe to feeds either by entering a feed's URI into the reader or by clicking on the browser's feed icon. The RSS reader checks the user's feeds regularly for new information and can automatically download it, if that function is enabled."

So when you get your RSS feed all set up how you want it.... the data you choose just rolls in to your devices. You don't even have to go look for it. It comes to you. So now that there is an app... and it is linked into the forum... we are moving forward! One step at a time. Who knows a RB.org RSS feed may be on the horizon!

And Mike I've been here on this forum for almost 2 years. Been in the rod and reel business- before retirement- for decades. I wrote an article for Tom's magazine back in 2020. December issue I think. Still hoping it will change the world! One rod at a time... Oh, and the one and only thread discussion of that article is now on page 45 or close. Maybe one day it will find its way out of retirement even if I don't!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2022 09:31PM by Kent Griffith.

And that is my point..... you have only been here for two short years. All the other forums that operated the way you mention are either gone or rarely used. For those of us that have been here for twenty years we see what this forum offered that others did not and can figure out why it is still around. Many said it would not last because of the way it was set up and run. All had to eat a lot of crow in the years since......

OK. I can't argue with that. Some like things how they are or, were in this case, and don't want change. I get it.

The problem with this existing format (bringing old threads back to the top) is that someone with a hidden agenda can bring the thread back.
Maybe they like to see their name in lights...or want their insight and advice front and center.
In some cases, this works...but on RBO the discussion quickly gets off top and banal.
I have rarely seen a post get deleted or a warning to stay on topic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2022 09:21AM by Chris Catignani.

"I have rarely seen a post get deleted or a warning to stay on topic. "

It actually happened quite a bit but I always tried to give people the greatest amount of possible leeway. When warnings were given to stay on topic or posts deleted for whatever reason, they were done quickly and without fanfare. Although against the huge number of posts made on this site over 21 years, I suppose these instances were actually pretty rare.

..............

If you have tried to read the forum on a mobile phone, it is challenging to say the least. The challenge was to leave the forum as a webpage, but also allow it to function within the app (the search function too, within the app) in addition, we needed to bring the photos (all 20,000 of them) from the photo gallery, that runs on a different module into the app as well.

Essentially, we had to "re-post" the pictures to the forum to make them available on the app. To keep the organization "the old way" one would see 20,000 individual photo posts on the forum (as every post gets replicated to the app and vice versa), so the re-organization was more of a necessity of integration with the app.

Phorum is no longer supported as a messaging board...and it is only a matter of time before most browsers will not allow it to load, so we are working in the background to replicate the forum into a new platform that will give the user the option to arrange the topics a number of different ways, and at the same time make it available on mobile phones - and arranging it this way is the best "workaround" we have at this time.

I can tell you that from a traffic analytics standpoint - since the change, the forum has been more active...that may be a reflection of the fact that the most engaging topics are being pushed to the top, or the addition of the app or both, I am monitoring it almost hourly.

Please keep the feedback coming as well - we are "messing" with different settings of the phorum software to see if there is something that we are missing. One of the challenges is that there is no support information on phorum/ so we have to make changes in a test environment incrementally not to "break" the current functionality of the forum.


Aleks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2022 11:19PM by Aleks Maslov.

It looks like your trying to keep everyone happy, but I hope you know how that usually ends..Is. The forum more active or your just recounting the old views from the old replayed topics..



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2022 12:39AM by ben belote.

Mike Ballard Wrote:
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> All the other forums that
> operated the way you mention are either gone or
> rarely used.

The vast majority of the people on those forums moved to Facebook which is light years user friendlier than any of the message boards ever were. It's funny to hear you telling people that they've only been here for 2 years, meanwhile you've been here for 16 years with a total of 350 posts, and Kent has been here less than 2 years with 500. If I was running a business it would certainly be catering to the person contributing rather than someone who comes into the shop with his own cup of coffee and never buys anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2022 02:32PM by Billy Vivona.

Billy Vivona Wrote:
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> Mike Ballard Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > All the other forums that
> > operated the way you mention are either gone or
> > rarely used.
>
> The vast majority of the people on those forums
> moved to Facebook which is light years user
> friendlier than any of the message boards ever
> were. It's funny to hear you telling people that
> they've only been here for 2 years, meanwhile
> you've been here for 16 years with a total of 350
> posts, and Kent has been here less than 2 years
> with 500. If I was running a business it would
> certainly be catering to the person contributing
> rather than someone who comes into the shop with
> his own cup of coffee and never buys anything.


If you look over the majority of my posts they are responses to people asking for information or advice. If you look at many others who have amassed greater numbers of posts in a much shorter time of being here, you will probably see that many if not most of their posts are benign topic starters and friendly banter back and forth with others. Posting more often does not make a person a better contributor.