I'm interested in your feedback on our new web forums.
Do you prefer this to the NNTP newsgroups? Are there advantages/disadvantages?
Yes, I prefer Web Forum to NNTP newsgroups. Much better. But I believe the forum need to be organized, searchable and sortable
For me, the forum approach is far better. Just don't make me add my picture.
Joan - find a picture of something other than yourself to include as a picture. I have this picture I found somewhere of a snake coming out of a computer in front of a pastor. I thought it was very fitting a number of years ago - as one considers the content and the availability of the Internet. I am reminded of the temptation that it presents to each of us. Perhaps you can find a picture or symbol that you might like posting - even though it is not a picture of you.
Blessings,
Floyd
I have this picture I found somewhere of a snake coming out of a computer in front of a pastor. I thought it was very fitting a number of years ago - as one considers the content and the availability of the Internet. I am reminded of the temptation that it presents to each of us. Perhaps you can find a picture or symbol that you might like posting - even though it is not a picture of you.
What? You mean that's not you?
I think it's reprehensible that anybody would even consider posting a picture that was anything but a photograph of themselves.
Yours in Christ
John
I never said it was not me - just that Joan did not need to use her picture. If you assumed that this wasn't my picture, then I will just leave you with that assumption. [:)]
I'm interested in your feedback on our new web forums. Do you prefer this to the NNTP newsgroups? Are there advantages/disadvantages?
I think it's broken again. It no longer goes to the most recent post.
Yep, it's broken again all right. Disappointing. Hope it can get fixed soon, as without it, the forum is quite unworkable.
[I think it's broken again. It no longer goes to the most recent post.
Jack
I like it myself. But I never got into the newsgroups as much as some other Logos users. I hated it when the Southwest Conference bit the dust. But now--go Big XII!
I believe the problem exists with the number of pages in this thread. The forum software does not seem to work well if the thread exceeds 4 pages.
Well, I have the problem even on one page threads like the "Libronix v.4" one.
I hated it when the Southwest Conference bit the dust. But now--go Big XII!
I'm a Big 10 guy myself. Raised in Indiana so it's IU in basketball and Purdue [PU [:)]]in football.
I'm a Big 10 guy myself. Raised in Indiana so it's IU in basketball and Purdue [PU ]in football.
We decided to go with the main topic link going to the start of the thread and the Latest Post date link going to, well, the latest post.
Don't mean to be switching this around all the time, but we needed an easy way for new viewer of a thread to see the starting post and for those who have followed a thread for days (like this one) to be able to quickly catch up on the most recent comments.
If there were a simple way to link to a viewer's first unread post, we would probably try to link there, but recording the last post each viewer has read and adjusting links on the fly to display that isn't supported in this forum software. The reasoning behind that is that displaying different links to each viewer makes it hard to cache pages and greatly decreases performance.
So try the link that is on the Latest Post date and you should be able to reach the recent comments in one click once again.
You could do it with sessions and cookies (and perhaps local, private user data if you felt ambitious) but I wouldn't call that solution simple. On the other hand I'm a little confused as to why it would cause caching problems or why you're caching pages at all. Just build the page on each refresh and deliver it. Let the user's browser do the caching.
Anyway, I suppose you know a lot more about how your site does its duty than I do. I might suggest that routing the last post link to the top of the last page instead of directly to the last post might make it more intuitive for users. If you gotta scroll then you gotta scroll. It seems to me to that it is more natural to scroll forwards than to scroll backwards. It's easier to locate the first of the unread posts that way.
Please fix your spell checker (if, in fact, that's what it is). Your editor is underlining perfectly good contractions and missing actual spelling errors.
Please fix your style sheets such that the thread link is only highlighted if you've never read the thread before and the last post link is highlighted whenever a new post is added.
A Penn State man myself.. go Lions
You are? Good, maybe you can solve a life long mystery for me. What on earth is a "Nittany Lion"? Is it more like an "African Lion", a "Mountain Lion" or a "Dandelion"? I know it's nothing like a "Detroit Lion" because once in a while they will win a game but I'm still confused.
maybe you can solve a life long mystery for me. What on earth is a "Nittany Lion"?
I should also mention that in Pennsylvania, it is quite common to name rivers, streets, and even cities after Indian tribes or using Indian names. So outside of the area, I am not surprised most folks do not understand the Native American naming tradition, but in PA, it is quite natural.
Out here in Seattle, we do the same thing... lots of long, and sometimes hard to say, Indian names.[H]
I should also mention that in Pennsylvania, it is quite common to name rivers, streets, and even cities after Indian tribes or using Indian names. So outside of the area, I am not surprised most folks do not understand the Native American naming tradition, but in PA, it is quite natural. Out here in Seattle, we do the same thing... lots of long, and sometimes hard to say, Indian names.
Out here in Seattle, we do the same thing... lots of long, and sometimes hard to say, Indian names.
I think it's like that everywhere, isn't it? It certainly is in Canada, especially on the west coast where the native cultural history is so rich.
I can understand the complaints about white civilization that native people have but I wish they make an effort recognize the tributes that European culture gives to their history, particularly in the area of sport franchise names. Naming a team like (for instance) "The Braves" after a native tradition is not a slight, it's a compliment (Although I have to confess that I hate that "tomahawk chop" chant that the fans do. I think it's very insulting).
Thanks for sharing that. Another piece of trivia that I can pedantically flaunt when engaging in gridiron chatter.
If there were a simple way to link to a viewer's first unread post, we would probably try to link there, but recording the last post each viewer has read and adjusting links on the fly to display that isn't supported in this forum software.
If I am trying to follow a thread in its entirety, how does it help me to jump to the most recent comments... potentially missing out on many comments that have been made between when I last viewed a thread and when I view it next? Then I have to go back through previous posts to try to reconstruct where I read up to last, and that is not user friendly.
In all honesty, I think the inability for you to do what we would like probably means you need better forum software. Nearly every other forum on the web can personalise my own "first unread post" in a thread, so why is a leading software company like Logos making do with a very much 2nd-best solution?
My comment? It's about time. I've been using forums for years and prefer them over usenet style newsgroups. For one thing, if I post a question/comment here, I have an option to receive an e-mail notice when there's a response to my post. That saves tons of my time.
As a sign of the times, AT&T just informed me that as of mid-July they are dropping their support of usenet newsgroups. Ah well.....
Gerry
Excellent, and welcome to 2009!
: )
Kudos Logos.
I dislike web forums just because of the layers of content, and the fact that I dont get the data locally, I'm a mailing list kind of guy. I'll give this a go, I'm an IT professional and still have a difficult time with this software.
I think having it web based is probably the way to go. Seems like there were just periodic problems getting on the news group servers and at times, it seems like the server is down. I also like the ability to access from anywhere. I'm guessing I might make use of it more, as currently I have to use Windows mail, as Outlook doesn't have a news reader, so I'm not always likely to remember to open it. I do however spend a lot of time in by browser. That's my two cents...
I prefer the forum instead of the newgroups which came to me through outlook. I was never sure if outlook had competely downlaoaded all of the posts. Thank you Logos, once again, for making my life easier.[:D]
I'm with Rick.
I just started using the Forum yesterday. Most of the time I cant tell who is reply to what message. Never had that problem with NNTP.
What is the button "Select Tags..." for?
Give it some more time. Because others have to learn about "Reply" and use of the "Quote" button vs. "Quick Reply".
Press it and all shall be revealed.
I like the forums because I can access them from a browser on any computer (I can't use newsgroups while at work).
I know exactly what you mean. That is the really big gripe that I have about this setup. The Newsgroup had a tree structure so that you could see at a glance what anyone was replying to. Here, unless they quote from the post they are replying (and frequently they don't), who knows what it's all about?
Why not? If you can get on the internet you should be able to get the Newsgroup unless you don't have OE, T-bird, Microsoft Mail or whatever.
Why not?
Corporate firewalls tend to block all TCP/IP ports not required by the business for security reasons. This includes internet news (NNTP) ports.
Will use them much more. I was an advocate of newsgroups for years, feeling techno-superiority over those who only knew how to open a browser. But today, a Web forum is a no-brainer. So much more can be done than five or six years ago. RSS, linked video--whatever. I checked in occasionally on two or three of the newsgroups, but I'm more likely to be a regular on a Web forum.
Never used the newsgroups here. Have been using other forums for many, many years.
Very glad Logos now has a forum!
There are better clients out there, though...this one seems quite limited. Crosswalk has a great one, quite versatile and customizable and user-friendly.
Add an "edit" post, among other things.
Esther
There are better clients out there, though...this one seems quite limited. Crosswalk has a great one, quite versatile and customizable and user-friendly. Add an "edit" post, among other things.
There is an "edit" capability. Look under "More."
All I can see under "More" is "Report Abuse", "Add this Post as a Favorite" and "Add this Forum as a Favorite".
There is an "edit" capability. Look under "More." All I can see under "More" is "Report Abuse", "Add this Post as a Favorite" and "Add this Forum as a Favorite". Yours in Christ John
But was it your own post, and was it within the period when editing is allowed?
All I can see under "More" is "Report Abuse", "Add this Post as a Favorite" and "Add this Forum as a Favorite". Yours in Christ John But was it your own post, and was it within the period when editing is allowed?
All I can see under "More" is "Report Abuse", "Add this Post as a Favorite" and "Add this Forum as a Favorite". Yours in Christ John
No, I checked one of your posts George. I figure if Logos wants to preserve any kind of integrity on this site they should at least allow me the ability to delete the silly things you say.
O.K.... sorry. Sarcasm not allowed. I'll delete it when I get a window in my schedule. Maybe next week.
I didn't know about any time limit. If somebody mentioned it earlier I missed it. Yes, I see the edit option now. What are the time constraints?
I didn't know about any time limit. If somebody mentioned it earlier I missed it. Yes, I see the edit option now. What are the time constraints
I seem to recall 10 hrs.
Thanks, then.
Sounds reasonable. Certainly better than nothing.
I have a bad habit of not noticing my most embarrassing typos until after I've pushed the "Post" button. This only seems to be a problem on message boards though. Not so much on news groups. I wonder why that is.
I really like it. Very good move forward. Thanks
I don't particularly like it though there are elements I like. If they are going to insist on sticking a knife in the Newsgroup, I would rather see a mailing list something like the b-greek forum -- http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/, There you can sort the posts according to thread, subject, author or date. It is searcheable by Google as well which seems to be a concern of some though I tend to think it an advantage to not appear on Google.
Though I much prefer forums to newsgroups, there are many different styles of forums and this one is not my favorite. I think my main request would be to be able to tell from the menu screen who was the author of an article in addition to the presently visible name of the last poster.
Though I much prefer forums to newsgroups, there are many different styles of forums and this one is not my favorite. I think my main request would be to be able to tell from the menu screen who was the author of an article in addition to the presently visible name of the last poster. Gerry
I'm unclear. Are you just refering to the individual post you are speaking to, or that post and the post that post was refering to?
I've been trying to be fair, but this format is just too clunky to be useful. It's impossible to follow a conversation, navigation is time consuming (especially when compared to newsgroups), and there still isn't a help file for many of the 'features.'
I realize that you'll need to go the way of web forums, but this forum software just isn't up to Logos standards of excellence and ease of use (IMHO). How about a different forum software? Many have been suggested. I don't like forums but I've been on forums that seem to work better than this.
While I'm not interested in seeing untoward pictures posted either, I'm not greatly concerned -- after all, we are all adults and can simply ignore them.
George, this may be true for you. But for some of us it may not be so easy. My past is not as pure as I would wish - I cannot predict when an inappropriate image or comment could send me where I do not want to go. By the grace of God, it will not; but in reality, it could. I expect that I may not be the only one troubled by such pictures.
Yours because His,
Well, I had a nice reply configured and I hit the Options button above and lost my entire text. Not only that, but the item I quoted is gone!
I've seen forums, I use them all the time. This is without a doubt the worst, most poorly written forum software I've ever seen in my life!! No wonder everyone is opting for the newsgroups!
There is a plethora of free forum software out there. What of it I've worked with is quite good. It only requires the installation of MySql and a php server. Two hours work at most. If I can set it up, anyone can!
Prefer newsgroups
A thread view option in the fourm would be greatly appreciated - Creative cow forums provide a thread view that was similar to the newsgroup.
Thanks for everything you do - great program and looking forward to the days ahead.
Prefer newsgroups Much easier to navigate Less space Faster Easier to follow threads A thread view option in the fourm would be greatly appreciated - Creative cow forums provide a thread view that was similar to the newsgroup. Thanks for everything you do - great program and looking forward to the days ahead.
Llink to this creative cow? I'm unclear of the difference between the thread you are posting in and how you look at that and any "thread view" a NG might have? Are you not now looking at the thread dedicated to our reactions to the forums?
Not really. This is more like looking at a tangled skein of yarn.
