Suggestions For The Forum

[davtash]

The site is missing sadly the imput of KD. I recently put in a post regrding general confusion as to the different perspectives on history and only received back sarcasm

 

[dreamtime]

The site is missing sadly the imput of KD. I recently put in a post regrding general confusion as to the different perspectives on history and only received back sarcasm

Which post do you mean?

 

[0x92]

What about smoother country flags?

http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/flags/

 

[Felix Noille]

Which post do you mean?

I think it might be this one:..
[automerge]1607699865[/automerge]
Is this happening to everyone or just me?

Oops! We ran into some problems.
Sorry! You have reached your limit 0 links per post. There are 1 link in your post, please remove them to submit.

 

[0x92]

Which post do you mean?

I think it might be this one:..
[automerge]1607699865[/automerge]
Is this happening to everyone or just me?

Oops! We ran into some problems.
Sorry! You have reached your limit 0 links per post. There are 1 link in your post, please remove them to submit.

Tried to edit a post didnt worked got that error message. After it i wanted to post it as normal reply also didnt worked.

 

[dreamtime]

thank you @Felix Noille @0x92 for reporting.

I had installed a new addon. It should be corrected now.

What about smoother country flags?

View attachment 3837​

http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/flags/

This isn't easily possible due to the way that addon works.

----------​

So now we have a couple new features on our forum:

- Automatic virus check - new files are automatically checked against an open-source virus database
- New users who have less than 1 posts on the forum are not allowed to message other members - to prevent abuse and spam
- New users who have less than 1 posts on the forum are not allowed to include links into posts - which basically means that the first post on the forum doesn't allow any links, to prevent spam

 

[OfTheBrave]

Suggestion 1 -
Since the moderators have done a thorough job of eliminating low quality posts, my first suggestion is to have anywhere from 1-5 random threads appear on the main page daily so that various topics are brought to the front for discussion.
Reason being - The site has a pretty deep and wide collection of threads, many of which which don't seem to receive any attention, and if anyone is like me they pop in a couple times a day and only ever see a handful of familiar threads on the landing page.

There is quite a lot of info to comb through for people who (again, if they are like me) sometimes aren't even sure just what they are looking for.

Suggestion 2 -
I agree that new accounts shouldn't have permissions to post new threads, drop links and comment on all threads immediately but I think that there should be a countdown timer where, after a period of 30 days or so (maybe 5-10 thread replies or a high enough reaction score?), accounts get upgraded to a general level of permissions where they can (at the least) participate in most conversations.
I don't really like the idea that users have to ask for verified or trusted status.
As of now there are almost 1,400 users on the site. How many of us are lurkers who might add something of value but shy away from asking a mod to be verified?
If the site continued to grow, could mods be expected to verify, say 14,000 users?
I'd be interested to know how many users even have the permissions to post currently as it seems I see the same 20 or so users posting and participating in threads most of the time.

Anyway, I appreciate the effort you all have gone through to give us a forum to discuss these things again. Losing the original site was pretty devastating as it was one of the only sites I visited regularly when online. I'm saddened by the fact that there still seems to be a number of threads which were lost (a couple were my own) which at this point I presume are lost to time.

Thanks for your consideration,
Brave

 

[dreamtime]

I agree that new accounts shouldn't have permissions to post new threads, drop links and comment on all threads immediately but I think that there should be a countdown timer where, after a period of 30 days or so (maybe 5-10 thread replies or a high enough reaction score?), accounts get upgraded to a general level of permissions where they can (at the least) participate in most conversations.

New accounts can post new threads and posts everywhere except in the off-topic section. Only the first post by a new user doesn't allow any links, to prevent spam.

I'm saddened by the fact that there still seems to be a number of threads which were lost (a couple were my own) which at this point I presume are lost to time.

Pushamaku is working in integrating those threads from the recent sh.org archive, so chances are they will appear in the forum soon

I don't really like the idea that users have to ask for verified or trusted status.

Users do not have to ask. They can, but we manually verify users who we feel deserve it, and every user automatically gets the "Trusted" status after x number of posts.

 

[Citezenship]

Suggestion 1 -
Since the moderators have done a thorough job of eliminating low quality posts, my first suggestion is to have anywhere from 1-5 random threads appear on the main page daily so that various topics are brought to the front for discussion.
Reason being - The site has a pretty deep and wide collection of threads, many of which which don't seem to receive any attention, and if anyone is like me they pop in a couple times a day and only ever see a handful of familiar threads on the landing page.

I do like this suggestion.

 

[dreamtime]

Since the moderators have done a thorough job of eliminating low quality posts, my first suggestion is to have anywhere from 1-5 random threads appear on the main page daily so that various topics are brought to the front for discussion.

This is a very good idea. Let's see how we can implement it.

Currently I think the best idea is to display those random threads on the front page separately from the other promoted threads. An extra section with random threads.

 

[Deleted member 1432]

A answer would be appreciated.

So you get notified. Don't worry, we're all watching anyway.

Suggestion 1 -
Since the moderators have done a thorough job of eliminating low quality posts, my first suggestion is to have anywhere from 1-5 random threads appear on the main page daily so that various topics are brought to the front for discussion.
Reason being - The site has a pretty deep and wide collection of threads, many of which which don't seem to receive any attention, and if anyone is like me they pop in a couple times a day and only ever see a handful of familiar threads on the landing page.

I do like this suggestion.

I think this is a great idea. It may help new users to realise that what they wish to discuss may have already been discussed before. Perhaps the scrolling images could be used for this purpose as they seem to get a bit stale. Maybe this would be too much work though?

 

[OfTheBrave]

What if we could merge the "SH Archived Replies" into the threads themselves?
I really don't have a grasp of what the logistics look like for what I'm suggesting so it might more effort than it's worth.
Maybe I'm the only one that is bothered by it, I'm not sure.

Could it be done as an image file like I've seen some 4chan posts saved as?
Example (I just typed "4chan archive long post" and this was the first example)

 

[dreamtime]

What if we could merge the "SH Archived Replies" into the threads themselves?

that’s too complicated if I remember @pushamaku correctly, because it will be a mess mixing it together with the recent replies.

replies as images? that’s a nightmare lol

 

[pushamaku]

that’s too complicated if I remember @pushamaku correctly, because it will be a mess mixing it together with the recent replies.

replies as images? that’s a nightmare lol

Yes, agreed.

 

[OfTheBrave]

Suggestion: Add a "Member Guidelines" Message/Thread for all accounts. Possibly make a permanent "Guidelines" in big bold format on home page so you can't miss it.
Fresh Members (and some existing) would benefit greatly from knowing what is expected of their participation here.
It should include:

A Statement of Intent for the site (site goals). Essentially what this site is for and importantly what it is not for (like ATS style back and forth rhetoric)
An Example of what is and what is not a quality post, expected post formatting , etc.
An Explanation of how posting privileges are gained, where you can post with which privileges and so on.
You could also have a list of decent online resources (such as BNF Gallica)

Personally I would make it required to be viewed and accepted (sort of like a terms and conditions) before membership is bestowed, if that is possible.

There might be more info to add to these guidelines but that's all I have for now.

 

[JWW427]

I think a trusted members community bar would been neat-O.
We could share drink recipes.

JWW "History Debunker"

2 shots Barbados rum
Ginger Beer to taste
Angostura bitters to taste
Limes
Dash of maraschino cherry liquor
An Egyptian copper mug is best

 

[dreamtime]

Suggestion: Add a "Member Guidelines" Message/Thread for all accounts. Possibly make a permanent "Guidelines" in big bold format on home page so you can't miss it.
Fresh Members (and some existing) would benefit greatly from knowing what is expected of their participation here.
It should include:

A Statement of Intent for the site (site goals). Essentially what this site is for and importantly what it is not for (like ATS style back and forth rhetoric)
An Example of what is and what is not a quality post, expected post formatting , etc.
An Explanation of how posting privileges are gained, where you can post with which privileges and so on.
You could also have a list of decent online resources (such as BNF Gallica)

Personally I would make it required to be viewed and accepted (sort of like a terms and conditions) before membership is bestowed, if that is possible.

There might be more info to add to these guidelines but that's all I have for now.

Reading this thread is already mandatory for new users: Welcome Thread - Introduce Yourself

Is there anything we should change in that post?

We also have the rules pinned to the top navigation.

 

[OfTheBrave]

Reading this thread is already mandatory for new users: Welcome Thread - Introduce Yourself

Is there anything we should change in that post?

We also have the rules pinned to the top navigation.

Of course, I should have remembered that.
Ok then, my only addendums to that would be;

• Add "Guidelines" to the thread title so that a user will see that thread if they search for it (I wouldn't have made this post if it had popped up for me) Maybe try;

"Welcome! - Forum Guidelines on Comments and Thread Posting (Read and Comment as your agreement to these terms!)​

The part in parentheses could begin the post instead of being part of the title.​

• When a user posts a new thread, consider adding a summary of the guidelines above where the text box is.

It could be as simple as follows;

Please make sure you use the search function with keywords from your topic to check whether this subject has already been addressed!
We ask that you be familiar with the Forum Guidelines on Comments and Thread Posting
In Short, your post should contain the following:

• Information Pertaining to Historic Research
• A Meaningful Title
• A Topic Relevant to the Subforum you are posting in (In doubt, use the general forum)
• Formatting which is accessible and legible

 

[Deleted member 1432]

I recently had cause to report a Personal Message. It briefly appeared as an Internal Discussion thread, but then vanished.

Perhaps the 'Report' option should be removed from PMs if one is not supposed to report them?

 

[dreamtime]

It briefly appeared as an Internal Discussion thread, but then vanished.

that's why it was removed, we didnt know that reports are also published for private conversations in the internal section (open for trusted members). The responsible addon doesn't yet differentiate between private messages and public posts. We plan to make reported conversations only visible to moderators.