Ideas / Improvements / Requests for the Forum

[Tessa]

Hi all
Firstly, I didnt know where to post this so decided i would kill two birds with one stone, come back......and help out in organising the Forum topics if that would help? We could use this Thread for suggestions, does that sound like a plan???

I wanted to thank EVERYONE for their comments and now i feel terribly guilty for causing such a turmoil. That was certainly not my intention. For the first time in my life i dont know what to say...other than you are all fantastic people and there is no way I could stay away from this place, I apologise if anyone felt that I was critisizing or having a go at "things", as i didnt want it to come across like that at all. I just wanted to say honestly how i felt and it really was due to the specific post i had done on Saturday and I had created a new Thread for it so that the forum didnt get too jumbled.

I think its easier if we have more Topics. I perhaps dont always get into the nitty gritty of how i am feeling and just how bad things really are, and that seemed to be what many of you felt, so thats my fault, I will try to give AND take now. I will keep this short, as you all know that I appreciate each and every one of you and the colourfulness of the board, everything everyone writes has a meaning and they all help in one way or another, even if sometimes we dont think so.

Anyway, it seems all of us agree that a bit of organisation is needed on the Forum and its now getting really full. the SOS for immediate (if possible) help is a great idea Fiendish.

Look forward to moving back in....
Big hugs
Tessa xx

[Cheryl]

Morning Tessa,
Lovely to have you back!
We really do need a place for the new comers to post,and I think that we are really getting too many new topics posted,some are just comments and not really topics,I (and at the moment its only me!) think we should try and limit posting to one or two boards,and keep one open for just newcomers,if its getting confusing for us then how must they feel!
Sooooo any help or suggestions would be appreciated!!!
Lets forget about your 'absence' it never happened! As everyone has told you,we LOVE you!
Ps ...How are you?

[Tessa]

Hi Fiendish,
I saw your post on the separating paras, i totally agree, i made sure i did that on the post here

Hi Cheryl
am doing ok thanks. Trying hard to conquer my battle with wine during the day, its hard sometimes, other days i find i dont even think about it. It hasnt been very long that i started that habit, a few months, so i am hoping it is just with time i can train my brain out of that habit.

I agree that there are a lot of topics and maybe we could set up a few different topics, going by what are the most common topics, and have the newcomers one, which we have anyway. Lets see what the others have to suggest.
talk soon
Tessa xx

[Anna]

Hi Tessa,

Welcome back...we missed you !

I totally agree about the need to organise the forum a bit. The SOS idea sounds really good.
The only other thing I can think of which might help is if the first person to log on in the morning starts a new topic with the day's date. This could than be the first port of call for news, help or just as a place to meet.

I think with too many threads going at once it gets a bit of a mess.... a kind of 'French Cyber-farce' where we all pop in and out of different threads just missing each other.

Glad you're back girl!

loveAnna.x

[Tessa]

Hi Anna
nice to hear from you. I think that the idea of a new topic with the days date is a really good one.

By the way going back to your post where you mentioned that sometimes you dont feel that you have anything to say that might help people, am not quoting here but that was the general gist of it, you dont know how much you help with your hilarious posts and your posts that are also serious. I love them all. You bring a smile to my face when i feel at a complete loss, i go back to posts where i know Anna, Jaycee, Jan and Marshmaiden have all written fantastic posts that are really funny.

To make people laugh and feel good is a true gift, so like everyone else on this forum, you too have a gift, and your posts of honesty and how you are doing are also worth a lot. So I think what i want to say is this: we dont judge what people say here, so if you feel that your lovely humour would help, then go ahead and post, i for sure always welcome it, no matter how bad i feel, laughing is an amazing cure for many things. So please dont ever NOT post just because you might think its not constructive or whatever.

Everything we all write is worthwhile. So next time you think "hmmm not sure i know what to answer to that, or if i have any advice"......dont....just be yourself, make us laugh with your wonderful humour, or other stuff, you write plenty of "serious" stuff as well....but there can never be enough funny stuff, and you have a gift with that. I do realise and appreciate its hard for people to be online, due to circumstances, and that wasnt what i was referring to when i made that comment of mine this week. Anyway, all water under the bridge now....am glad to be "home" so to speak.

How are you doing Anna on day 6 or 7, not sure which it is? Give us the run-down if you have some time, but i know you have so much to do at home etc, so whenever is good for you.

Hi Darcy, I hope you are doing well. I am doing ok thanks, plodding on and not putting too much pressure on myself. By the way the SOS idea was from Fiendish, i think it would be good to start that thread, and Annas idea for the daily thread is also very good, so now we have 2 new threads that will help to organise our forum.
take care everyone
Tessa xx

[Cheryl]

Me thinks we need to ask Admin about this.....
Seems there is a definate need to re-organise!
Come on Tessa,you are now in charge! After all you are the 'computer' minded expert...
I'm glad I suggested it now.....Its gotta make life easier for one and all...

[Anna]

Hi Lovely Tessa,

Thanks so much for your post above.Really sweet of you.

I've been over on the 'Positive' thread putting in a tale of woe which sounds like a particularly implausible script for an episode of Eastenders.
No I never watch it, ever, ever ever...its bad enough living in a melodrama.

How are you getting on? It sounds as though you are getting very 'paced' and organised about the wine...showing it who's boss by degrees and on your own terms.
Maybe wrong but thats the kind of impression I have of your approach.
Hope all's ok,

loveAnnax

[Tobin]

If you've got any ideas for improvements to the forum, or any changes that you think might be helpful, please write them here.

It might be useful if you think about any difficulties you've had in using the forum, and any solutions you can think of to those problems.

We particularly want to hear from anyone who has signed up to be a member, but hasn't posted yet - is there anything that could be improved to help you make that first post perhaps?

And for those of you who've been around from the start (you know who you are!), we could do with some better organisation maybe - again your suggestions are much appreciated. And particularly for the members who helped get this forum up and running - a VERY BIG THANK YOU, you've really made this place welcoming and supportive, who would have thought it could grow into something so useful for people so quickly. Well done all of you.

[Cheryl]

Morning Admin,
And a big thankyou to you for providing us with this forum!
I personally think that there are far too many topics now being posted,it is a challenge to keep up with them all!
Could we possibly reduce them to say 5 or 6 main ones,keeping the sos,new here and daily chat board as main topics,then a link for others to post with anything else,just my idea to make it a bit easier to read...
We are also getting a few from abroad here who are finding the time difference a problem,is there any way a seperate link could be set up for them?
I know it will not change the time but at least they can feel its their own 'space' and maybe fellow countrymen will be able to post to one another..
Thats all for now...thankyou...

[ika]

Hi

I am quite new here But I found that at the beginning I WAS QUITE SCARED to add to any existing topics .. as it is simmilar situation to going into a room full of people you don't know ... in many ways creating my own topic was the only way of coming in to this site as I think i was waiting to see if anybody would want me to be here .. maybe it is just me but I still fell bit intimidated when I go on other topic becase everybody seem to know each other quite well ..

Maybe topics that are not active for more then lets say four weeks should be put in history/archived folder... with a possibility orf reactivating any of those by any member ???

[MDS1]

Hiya admin, may I too echo others and say a massive thank you to Bright Eye for providing this marvelous forum.

Ok just a quick suggestion, maybe a new catagory on the main board index entitled "New Members" or something like that- so that browsers that have yet to post, feel maybe a little more comfortable about making that first comment. As ika says some folks are shy at coming forward, or feel this may be a "Club" that they maybe intruding on.

Dunno, whaddya think?

[Tessa]

hi all
For those that havent seen the post yet on why i am now Green, the reason is the following. I had been communicating with our friends in Admin re: the removal of the daily postings. Anyway, in short, they agreed to keep them up and see how it goes re: space. They also asked if i would feel comfortable becoming a moderator. And i said that this would be fine with me, as its something I do with my job anyway, so another one wouldnt matter, and as i work from home i am constantly online (how sad) so i can spend whatever time is needed without a problem. So if everyone is ok with that then i am happy to take it on.

My first suggestion would be to do with the daily posts. Maybe we could keep each daily thread up for a week, and at the end of the week I could do the following: sift through and keep only the really relevant stuff? I do realise that everything on this forum is relevant, but we need to do this for space reasons. Would everyone trust me to make the right selection there. i.e. my post today about my trip out to that shop today, could be deleted, its relevant for the day, but more of a chatty one?

I can appreciate Ika's post here, that she felt intimidated to "join in" and I see your point Ika in creating a new thread. So what we could try out there is once the new thread has been posted and a few replies are there, we could move it to another thread where it will fit in? Maybe the weekly one?

History and archive folders will pose the same issue with space, but I dont think we need to go deleting tonnes of posts here, just the really not so relevant ones, I do love going back to the funny ones when i feel a little low, but if keeping up this forum means we have to delete a few of them, not all, I wouldnt mind...how does everyone else feel?

please post suggestions everyone.
thanks
Tessa xx

[Cheryl]

Tessa'
I go along with all your suggestions so far,the weekly post etc,but does that mean at the end of the week we lose 'points' when the listings are deleted?
This does not seem fair to those who have gained valued member status,as they will keep dropping in post no.s,I know that numbers are not important,but it is an indication of 'loyalty' for want of a better word,and as you know some make a special effort to post...Just my thoughts...

[Tessa]

Cheryl
i think we just had some telepathy going on there!
I was on the sofa and a light went off in my head about the points. So i will not do anything until i check with admin about that, as its important that everyones loyalty continues to be recognised. So I will check that with Admin. Thanks.
Tessa

[MDS1]

Cheryl the post count thing... admin can change your status manually, regardless of post count.... which I understand is set by 'default' by phpBB. (Bright Eye purchase this webspace, which is amazing really, I for one am shocked by the generosity of letting us all use it for free)

Space taken up by posts can be an issue, so to are images. However to celebrate my friend Tessa's Moderator status.... here's an avatar I think suits her Job

Tessa_1.jpg (3.46 KiB) Viewed 11424 times

This my humour, Tessa never ever annoys me or anyone else, its MS Word I am laughing at, as Tessa uses it a great deal!

[Cheryl]

Thanks MDS,
but Im a bit thick on computer minded things,and don't really understand,so does that mean that they can change status anytime? so what is the point of posting numbers then? Im confused MDS can you put it in simple terms for the uninitiated!
PS I love Tessa's Logo...you are clever!

[MDS1]

Cheryl, you are not thick!

You are the one thats sober, remember? and I salute you for it. I used to spend a lot of time online, (looks like I am doing it again!) these forums are all pretty much the same format. Different forums have various features that can be used, or not as the case maybe.

They all use the same abbreviated HTTP (hyper text transfer protocol-basically a very old internet program language) called UBB code. Its simple and easy to learn. Post counts, avatars (like my pirate picture) are easily manually changed or deleted by the owner of the forum. They all take up valuable "internet Space" which costs money, hence why a lot of forums do not allow images of any kind.

This one does, but with very strict limits on the actual size (megapixels) of the image. So dont try posting your last year's holiday in Ibiza anytime soon

Hope that makes it clearer,

Duane

[Cheryl]

OOOH Thankyou MDS,
How did you know about my holiday picture? Are you on other sites aswell?

[MDS1]

I am not a moderator, or anything like that.

I am just like you. A person who needs help. Darcy do you feel left out??? if so I apologise, but have to say whatever we didnt do was unintentional.

Wrong thread to be chatting really, we now have daily threads, for each and every day for you to post your thoughts, fears, achievements and everything else on, every day.

Please speak often.

[Tessa]

Hi Darcy,
sorry if you feel people arent responding to your postings. I am sure its not intentional and also has to do with the incredible amount of posts we have and things get a bit confusing, which is why the forum will get sorted. When the admin assigned me as a moderator this was only so that there was someone who could sift through the threads and get them reduced to a less confusing state. I really couldnt take on the responsibility of checking all the posts and reply to all of them as well! The forum is what we make of it as a team, and its good that you let us know how you felt about the replying to posts. Like i said yesterday, i am now everyones slave but not a moderator in the traditional sense, as i too need support

By the way everyone, I havent done any house-cleaning on the forum yet as i am awaiting a response from admin on the reduction of status that will happen if they are deleted, you know the thing you mentioned Cheryl? Where the Status of a member is. I hope to hear from them soon so i can start sorting the threads out. But I def cant take on checking all posts and replying to them.
Tessa xx