• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

CHAT Is Now A Private Area For Members (& Members' Eyes) Only

Tigerhawk said:
Now the Chat section is a sealed, exclusive section, we Forteans can really let our hair down...

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It'll be more like this
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stu neville said:
That kind of gif spam is part of what we're talking about. Numerous times we've asked people not to do it, yet you continue.

Don't do it any more.
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I've just bumped my own post as it was at the end of the previous page, and it'd be a pity if it was overlooked.

For clarity - enough of the gif spam. And the beefcake spam. No more.
 
I personally have never seen a problem really. I have a friend on here who only ever posts/comments on Fortean subjects. You will never see them on the 'what you're eating & drinking' or 'jokes' threads. Whether they ever look at those threads, I don't know (I suspect not), but they never comment on them or have said that they find them a problem. They just don't go on them, just like there are threads I never look at.
 
Floyd1 said:
They just don't go on them, just like there are threads I never look at.
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Quite a few members stick solely to the Fortean, and like you many just filter out what they want to read. However, one of the problems we frequently encounter is when in-jokes or themes from Chat threads bleed into, and occasionally take over mainstream threads, which is by turns baffling and irritating to the majority of readers, and incomprehensible to non-frequent members or guests. This is why we get exasperated when a good, cogent thread gets derailed with the usual Cromer/ married to that / beefcake spam (though hopefully the latter is no longer an issue). Relevant and perceptive asides are fine, of course, but hackneyed catchphrases have far outstayed their welcome on mainstream Fortean threads.

Chat is Chat, and needs to stay in chat.
 
stu neville said:
Relevant and perceptive asides are fine
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Guilty.
But I try to keep my own amusing (?) interjections to a relevant minimum, only ever posting 'knob gags' mainly onto the 'Cromer' thread, and we all know why. :wink2:

My small gripe is that there are a small number of people who just seem to want to complain too much about minor things, and continue to try to enforce their distaste about this or that with repeated posts inside a thread.
I can understand if someone takes particular issue with something someone has posted, in which case address it directly just the once without going into (what I call) 'email tennis' with many posts throughout a thread. There are other avenues open to express disapproval without filling a thread with what often results in a 'lets take this outside!' response and locked threads etc. which none of the bystanders find enjoyable.
It's a 'dog with a bone' attitude which I find unnecessary.

That's my tuppence worth.
 
I try to use the Troll's Head for personal items unrelated to anything else - just as I would if it was a real pub. Not saying I always remember to.

It seems to me that's better than cluttering up topics that might have content of lasting relevance.

For me the community aspect here is of considerable importance, but I absolutely agree that it should not drown out the Fortean - although it has been a problem for some years that there does seem to be something of a lack of new Fortean material.

After all, if it wasn't for the Fortean material I wouldn't have been here in the first place.
 
Just a thought: Please ignore, delete or point and hoot whichever is appropriate.

Are posters, particularly newcomers finding it difficult to know where to post? Most are quite clear particularly if you have some Fortean knowledge it may be more problematic if you don't. There are cross classifications IHTM being an obvious and inevitable one – perhaps it could do with being sub divided?

Getting a bit Marshall McLuhan but where a post is can affect how people view it. A comment or observation out of context can convey a very different meaning. Maybe something for those posting to worry about rather than the Mods?

Fortean Headlines may be a bit misleading as a title and dissuade some from posting there; very few Fortean subjects make headlines (Well, excepting in some dubious newspapers.)

Given the above would it be useful to have an “I don’t know where this fits,” type of category , with suitable guidance to try and prevent laziness or misuse, and from where items could be re routed if necessary? Would this make more work for our Mods or help them out?

You can tell I’m an ex librarian when I start talking about cross classification but I am very aware of how positioning can affect perception as I once had to calm a very irate lady protesting about having Oscar Wilde books in the children’s library – It was of course complete fairy tales, where else do you put it?
 
Since this has become the current de facto "how do we keep this place in order" thread, I'd like to make a suggestion. For those of us who feel compelled to make a joke, particularly of the "I used to be married to Cromer" variety, why don't we take it upon ourselves to quote the post we're joking about NOT in the original thread, but in a single dedicated-to-that-purpose thread in Chat? The mods have already set up a thread for some of the lengthy pun battles we've had in otherwise serious threads, and this would be something we can (mostly) police ourselves. I don't think it would have to be a total ban on some lighthearted joking in the mainstream - I have myself recently posted a few jokes in serious threads, but they either conveyed or accompanied serious comments - but if it's a relatively gratuitous joke intended for the amusement of the regulars, we take it to Chat. This way the fortean threads stay focused and meaningful to casual visitors, but we still have some fun.

If you don't know how, there is a relatively simple cut and paste way to move a quote. I can describe it, but will wait for mod and member feedback to this idea.
 
re: @Tunn11 comment above

Maybe what you refer to is the possibility of have a 'user guide' as an item, stuck at the top of the page, with just the basics listed of all of the above points which have been discussed a bit.
So a 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section? With all the various bits collected together.
 
Trevp666 said:
re: @Tunn11 comment above

Maybe what you refer to is the possibility of have a 'user guide' as an item, stuck at the top of the page, with just the basics listed of all of the above points which have been discussed a bit.
So a 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section? With all the various bits collected together.
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Don't forget the "How to ignore someone" for forum newbies! (By forum newbies I mean newbies to all forums, not just here. Newbies to just this forum can figure out how things work from their experience on other forums because most layouts are similar. Some forum newbies can work things out for themselves anyway.) The ignore function is very good as it enables people to avoid arguing with people who they just don't get on with or whose content they find offensive. This stops the person using the function from getting into trouble. It prevents mods & admins from having to sort out as many slanging matches. It allows the people finding certain content offensive or don't want slanging matches to enjoy the forum without seeing the aforesaid offensive content or slanging matches. It prevents some people leaving on some forums too.

(I've been a mod & admin on forums a lot in the past *I've had my own forums sometimes too.* & the ignore function is really good for both members & staff. When I'm a staff member on forums I strongly advise people having slanging matches or finding certain content offensive to use the ignore function. I even tell people how to use it.)
 
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Trevp666 said:
re: @Tunn11 comment above

Maybe what you refer to is the possibility of have a 'user guide' as an item, stuck at the top of the page, with just the basics listed of all of the above points which have been discussed a bit.
So a 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section? With all the various bits collected together.
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Rynner came up with an ace solution to the problems people here have with our search function. He wasn't a fan of Google but I've found his idea still works with google .... just go there and type in (random example) forteana forum 9/11 and that will take you directly to the correct thread instead.
 
Trevp666 said:
My small gripe is that there are a small number of people who just seem to want to complain too much about minor things, and continue to try to enforce their distaste about this or that with repeated posts inside a thread.
I can understand if someone takes particular issue with something someone has posted, in which case address it directly just the once without going into (what I call) 'email tennis' with many posts throughout a thread. There are other avenues open to express disapproval without filling a thread with what often results in a 'lets take this outside!' response and locked threads etc. which none of the bystanders find enjoyable.
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This is one of our biggest issues - lately we've had to shut a number of threads whilst we work out what to do with them, whether to remove material, whether to warn anyone, etc etc. Notably, these threads are overwhelmingly in one of three places: Chat, Mainstream News, and (trailing somewhat in third place) Conspiracy. The number of times we have to lock threads in other areas is vanishingly small.

This, however, is perhaps unsurprising given that Mainstream News and Chat between them have nearly as many posts as all of the specialist topics combined, and between them have about half the overall traffic. This may or ma not be symptomatic of...
Cochise said:
.. it has been a problem for some years that there does seem to be something of a lack of new Fortean material.
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This is very true. Or rather, there's still a fair bit about, but it tends to be very much sidebar stuff rather than big impact stories we can really get into (example - the TicTac stuff may seem to have had a lot of coverage in the mainstream media last year, but most of it was different outlets quoting one another. Actual new material was quite sparse).
Tunn11 said:
Are posters, particularly newcomers finding it difficult to know where to post?...Given the above would it be useful to have an “I don’t know where this fits,” type of category , with suitable guidance to try and prevent laziness or misuse, and from where items could be re routed if necessary? Would this make more work for our Mods or help them out?
Click to expand...
Trevp666 said:
Maybe what you refer to is the possibility of have a 'user guide' as an item, stuck at the top of the page, with just the basics listed of all of the above points which have been discussed a bit.
So a 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section? With all the various bits collected together.
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This is entirely my fault. We've had the guidelines all along, but they stopped being displayed about eight years ago after yet another migration, and I took the sign down to change the bulbs and clean the lettering and promptly forgot to put it back up, and it's been languishing behind the filing cabinet ever since. What they didn't incorporate was any sort of user guide, but I'm getting the impression this would be seen as useful?

As it seems we need the two separate sets of guidance, I'll try and get the guidelines dusted down and put back up soon, and maybe this discussion going forward can glean some helpful suggestions about how best to compile a " 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section"?
ChasFink said:
I don't think it would have to be a total ban on some lighthearted joking in the mainstream - I have myself recently posted a few jokes in serious threads, but they either conveyed or accompanied serious comments - but if it's a relatively gratuitous joke intended for the amusement of the regulars, we take it to Chat.
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Of course not - I replied in such a vein (with a completely relevant picture) myself earlier on. An on-topic aside is fine, even an on-topic reply, but as soon as that starts abstracting from the actual topic it becomes an issue.
Swifty said:
Rynner came up with an ace solution to the problems people here have with our search function. He wasn't a fan of Google but I've found his idea still works with google .... just go there and type in (random example) forteana forum 9/11 and that will take you directly to the correct thread instead.
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Yes - Google is your friend on that front. As we keep saying our architecture just doesn't let us reduce the criteria to three letters without seriously affecting performance - it's an overall Xenforo issue, and it's just a pity so many Fortean phenomena have three-letter acronyms.

Regarding what I said about the size of Chat and MSN - we will be pruning them at some point this weekend. Many of the old MSN threads have absolutely no relevance - and crucially no Fortean relevance - now, so don't have a place here, so we'll keep the last years' worth. As for chat, if it hasn't had a reply since New Year, it'll be going. If you really, really want to bump a thread in Chat, that's ok, but we'll soon spot people just bumping everything for the sake of it and we'll override in which case. I'll posting this as announcement on Chat and MSN as well.
 
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Swifty said:
Rynner came up with an ace solution to the problems people here have with our search function. He wasn't a fan of Google but I've found his idea still works with google .... just go there and type in (random example) forteana forum 9/11 and that will take you directly to the correct thread instead.
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I have done that on occasion when the search function was no good.
 
stu neville said:
What they didn't incorporate was any sort of user guide, but I'm getting the impression this would be seen as useful?

As it seems we need the two separate sets of guidance, I'll try and get the guidelines dusted down and put back up soon, and maybe this discussion going forward can glean some helpful suggestions about how best to compile a " 'how to search', 'where to post', 'posting rules', 'how to report' section"?
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I did offer to create a guide some years back - sorry, I never got around to actually doing it!
I should get off my backside and have a go soon...
 
stu neville said:
Regarding what I said about the size of Chat and MSN - we will be pruning them at some point this weekend. Many of the old MSN threads have absolutely no relevance - and crucially no Fortean relevance - now, so don't have a place here, so we'll keep the last couple of years' worth. As for chat, if it hasn't had a reply since New Year, it'll be going. If you really, really want to bump a thread in Chat, that's ok, but we'll soon spot people just bumping everything for the sake of it and we'll override in which case. I'll posting this as announcement on Chat and MSN as well.
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Is that going to include any seasonal threads you may have? I'm asking because each of those will be resurrected at the right time of year. I think merging any seasonal threads (like Easter, Xmas, e.g.) & ditching any links or videos that are no longer operational would be a good idea rather than ditching them altogether because people will peruse them once in the year. Just an idea.
 
Horsa said:
Is that going to include any seasonal threads you may have? I'm asking because each of those will be resurrected at the right time of year. I think merging any seasonal threads (like Easter, Xmas, e.g.) & ditching any links or videos that are no longer operational would be a good idea rather than ditching them altogether because people will peruse them once in the year. Just an idea.
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Good point - I'll exclude and merge them.
 
stu neville said:
I took the sign down to change the bulbs and clean the lettering and promptly forgot to put it back up
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When you do put the sign back up, can it be near the entrance so that new members see it easily before they walk down the corridor into the main hall? IIRC where it was placed before was on a shelf behind the bar with a copy of "Arthur C Clarkes Mysterious Worlds" propped in front, partly obscuring it....
 
@stu neville "Chat will be pruned at some point this weekend. If a thread hasn't had a reply since New Year, it'll be going."

Is this what you're referring to when you say 'seasonal' bits will be excluded?
Will that mean also threads such as (eg) the 'Predictions for 2022' thread, and things like 'What did you dream of last night' are excluded from the cull?

I'm sure nobody cares if a thread from 2019 called "I saw a hedge", or "Plastic bag in Skegness toilet" get binned, but there are probably some other threads that aren't seasonal as such but do have some long-term relevance.
 
Trevp666 said:
@stu neville "Chat will be pruned at some point this weekend. If a thread hasn't had a reply since New Year, it'll be going."

Is this what you're referring to when you say 'seasonal' bits will be excluded?
Will that mean also threads such as (eg) the 'Predictions for 2022' thread, and things like 'What did you dream of last night' are excluded from the cull?

I'm sure nobody cares if a thread from 2019 called "I saw a hedge", or "Plastic bag in Skegness toilet" get binned, but there are probably some other threads that aren't seasonal as such but do have some long-term relevance.
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By seasonal, I meant threads like Easter, Xmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween & New Years Eve & Day which are only perused & interacted on once a year. (Oops! I missed April Fools Day.)
 
And poor old 'Leap Day' which only gets a look-in once every 4 years!
 
Bigphoot2 said:
It'll be more like this
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Fantastic. :cool:
The entire fillum leads up to that.

The BBC's recent ghost podcast featured a bloke describing a similar set-up that he said really happened, where he walked in on a group of ghostly revellers who turned to look at him. :omg:
Very The Shining.
 
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