Revive this forum time!

[Hudini]

How about rewarding people who post - especially new members.

You're onto something here. Back in the day when I was administrating a forum, we once tried out a software that allowed members to vote each other's posts up or down, and the sum of the votes was displayed among other member details, by the avatar. People used to have great deal of fun with it, ranking each other up and down, and the total sum was also a handy indicator for the newbies about who they could trust and who's just an idiot. Now, I'm not advocating such a ranking system, but if you want to make posting here even more fun you might consider this as one of options.

[moom]

the total sum was also a handy indicator for the newbies about who they could trust and who's just an idiot.

Is the minority always idiotic? No.
Overall, why give newbies any advantages other than forgiving them some typical beginner mistakes?

[henno]

moom, dont be quoting excerpts when the whole post makes a different point.

hudini clearly follwed what you have quoted with

I'm not advocating such a ranking system

this thread is for the debating of ideas.... if you are going to condemn an idea, please be descriptive as to what your issue is with it...


personally i think hudinis idea of some sort of fun reward for posting as a good idea....

[Keith Jordan]

I like the idea of being able to "like" post like you would on Facebook. I like being able to "like" topics too and have the rating shown so you never miss a good thing!

Once we are moved over to the new server... finally... I will start implementing these things.

Perhaps another good option is what we had a few years ago where you can see the top posters and topic starters and the starters of the most popular topics as weekly statistics on a page. That would be a good one I think. Thoughts?

[moom]

moom, dont be quoting excerpts when the whole post makes a different point.

hudini clearly follwed what you have quoted with

I'm not advocating such a ranking system

this thread is for the debating of ideas.... if you are going to condemn an idea, please be descriptive as to what your issue is with it...


personally i think hudinis idea of some sort of fun reward for posting as a good idea....

Well, I have read his post and, sorry, but fail to see how taking this excerpt changed the point. Sorry, I really do fail. Then, yes, he says he's not advocating it, which is good, but in the light of the recent discussion between me and him, this is what he does - he first suggests/hints at/states, but then goes "don't take it too seriously, I didn't mean it" etc. He seems to be very unsure or something.
Besides, I'm not against discussion, on the very much contrary, but I just really dislike this idea
But that's not the point, anyway. There's definitely going to be posts with 0 likes or even negative votes (if we accept that), this will look like such posts are ALWAYS pointless or just stupid, regardless. We have to make sure everyone feels important, unless of course they're complete trolls and which is undeniable. Otherwise, rankings could set up a competition and leave some members confused and maybe even gutted.
Now I at least know I won't be rating any post unless it's super-good or super-douche.

P.S. Another thought just popped in my mind, this time it's actually for that idea - with that rating system people would stop making posts just to show their support. which, yes, would save server data, but I don't know if it's really necessary.

[Keith Jordan]

Server storage space is not an issue. There is 90GB of spare space sitting there, the forum database is only 650mb after ten years! lol

How are other forums you visit encouraging discussion?

[Stephen]

Here's an idea that might prove fruitful. Send out an email to those people who specifically asked you to keep their account when you last did a cull but still haven't added any more posts. You could ask them what it was, if anything, that stopped them from posting...maybe we've just forgotten how daunting it can be for some people to start off amongst a group of well-established posters.

[Keith Jordan]

People who have posted one post and not been here in over 3 months have already been emailed so dont want to annoy them sending another. People can get very angry about that so I have found!

[Stephen]

People can get very angry about that so I have found!

...and we don't want that sort on here !

[Keith Jordan]

I don't want them in my inbox hurting my feelings either!

[snifferdog]

I've seen the little thumbs up button on some other forums and it's a nice idea I think. I'd be slower to implement a Dislike button though. Most people come on here to enjoy themselves (I hope), not to have strips torn off them or to have their posts getting the thumbs down for no particular reason.

[Keith Jordan]

Indeed, I think that is why Facebook have resisted calls for a dislike button.

I think NPF Forum going all "social media" could be the future to add a greater sense of community, participation and to sort the excellent gems of posts from the chaff. I like it. See what I did there? I.... yeah... you get the point.

[J Ed]

could we sort the historic forum back into subforums by year? not just the current year, but all years going back to 1966?
right now its a bit too much work to dig back to find a discussion that may or may not have been had relating to 1971, for example

also I like the idea of an "ask a dumb question" thread or even subforum (call it something more encouraging though)
we can either answer the question where its asked or point the asker to an appropriate existing thread (which would probably be more work)
but everybodys got a question and should be encouraged to ask it
for example Im still wanting to know the name of Rogers first opening act in the 1990 Berlin concert and I posted that question 7 years ago!

[moom]

Could someone please give me one BIG reason to have like/dislike buttons? What's so really great about it?

[Keith Jordan]

If lots of people "like" a particular topic, for example, that is a signal to other people to look at that topic. It is a way of the community highlighting things to itself so that you don't miss gems of goodness amongst your spamming and negativity.