Sorry for the new thread, but the old one had a lot of baggage.

Things implemented

a) Dark color theme - implemented - Rebirth Pro
c) FAQ section for technical forums - Already implemented
e) Kids forum
l) Language. More than a couple of you have asked for this. In a recent moderator's paradise post, a couple of mods asked about this as well. We have no automated censorship in place (this is my decision from a long time ago - I simply don't believe it works), so I ask that you keep the fruity language to Bad Attitude and PG-13 elsewhere in the forum.

Things which will be implemented

b) Searches to be longer than a week - ajv
d) More visible chat hosts - still need a volunteer
f) Car of the Month. Need judges
g) Fix the password reset feature - ajv
h) tighter moderation of long or big signature lines - all mods
i) nn bug - already fixed in the latest version of the software. ajv
j) tighter controls on sponsors using bait advertising without pricing
k) calendar of events. The next version of the software has a calendar. I'm working on putting all the major club events on the front page (which allows anonymous users to see the events), but I would like vw54 and J to take this task over.
m) "arbitary" moderation. I will resend the moderation guidelines to all our moderators. The rules for moderation have not changed since early 2003. Hopefully, this will improve the quality of moderation.

Things that might occur:

a) AVDS cruises.

Reason: Needs event indemnity insurance. If someone steps up to the plate, I'm not against this idea.

b) try to eliminate suspect posts rather than threads when moderating.

Reasons:

When the report button is used, we look at the posts and decide how it is to be handled.

If the post is defamotory, we put them into a special holding tank called "Suspended Threads" and we don't touch them any further. They're kept there in case either side of the dispute asks for evidence.

If the posts are borderline offensive or illegal, we put them into the Moderators Paradise for all the moderators to take a look at. Often these are resurrected minus one or two posts. If it's simply adult, it's pushed back into Bad Attitude. If it's unrecoverable, it's put into Suspended Posts. Interestingly, a suspended BA post was fixed up and recently incorrectly resurrected into General Chit Chat. I think that was a mistake, but the damage is done now. The language is a bit fruity but the world did not end.

Last but not least: historically, the forum software has been a bit fragile at deleting a single post within a long thread, but that needs to be fixed.

c) Allowing unregistered users to see the forums

Jim has always wanted our users to be registered before they see anything. I have never seen the point, but when it was turned on, we immediately gained 500 new members and within a month, we had a thousand more members. I am still unconvinced, mainly as it seems to have only worked to create a bunch of users who still don't post.

d) Changing the way Buying and Selling works

The suggestion is to reduce the noise from people posting "nice car" or similar useless posts. However... this is not really possible without fundamentally changing the area.

Reason: The forum can allow just the poster alone to post a new thread and allow no replies. However, there are probably a bunch of questions that most people will end up asking which may make this approach unworkable.

I will take on board more feedback on this, and possibly we can trial no replies for a while and see how they go. Thoughts welcome from those who regularly use this area for buying and selling stuff.


Things which have been suggested which are unlikely to occur:

a) pruning of old threads

Reason: The forum software is somewhat fragile at pruning. Since losing all of Buying and Selling Cars a while back (except for the first 90 days from 2002), I've avoided using this feature. Unless there is a specific reason to prune a forum, it will remain the same for stability reasons.

I will add and remove from this post as suggestions are raised or fixed.

thanks,
Andrew
nn[ Edited on 14-8-2005 by vanderaj ]

Hey AJ, your two suggestions for me....
As I'm studying this year and don't really have the time to hang around as much as I would like, I'm going to pass. I suggest Jenz58 for calendar mod, since she is social secretary of VWCV anyway.

J

Thanks Jay, I will ask Jen.

Andrew

btw, the "FAQ" section... I looked at our current forums and we already have one. Can I ask the people who asked for a tech FAQ section how the current one could be made to suit their needs a bit better?

Andrew

I've created a Feedback section and moved the relevant threads to it.

To cut down on unasked for trolling, members can create posts but cannot reply to them. Mods can reply (say for example "yep, fixed").

I've suspended the "Suggestion Box" thread as it was really getting out of hand, but mostly because I've summarized all the suggestions above.

Keep the suggestions and feedback coming.

Andrew

if u hav sold something on ebay u will hav seen how wen someone asks u a question u can publish it under the auction so that people dont keep asking u the same question that u ahva already answered, i thnk implement this on buy and sell if possible so that u get all the "nice car" blah blah but if smeone ask specific questios u can publish these and ur answers to them. just an idea, or just leave it its fine with me as it bumps up posts, i dont get why people need posts to be so short and direct, just scrol past the BS, its not that hard.

It isn't available as an option.. I just tried to do something similar and couldn't.

That is a bug.

Andrew