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Forum Functions & Functionality: Technical Problems & Known Issues

I'm always managing to miss all the fun ... the one time I'd logged off earlier than usual last night and logged in hours later than usual today! This was because I'd also managed to miss that we were due a two day bank holiday and didn't find out until last night and thought it prudent to get all my 'high street' type shopping done today. duh
 
I thought it was something I did on my end, techno-idiot that I am. Glad its back up, but I was surprised to realize how much I minded this place being down. I have become addicted, all without realizing it.

Thanks, Mods, as usual for doing such a great job.
 
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Nice work thanks everyone who got us back.
 
Thanks for fixing everything up. I thought maybe I'd clicked something I shouldn't have.
It was such a relief to see posts in my email this morning and know the site was back up.
 
How come the board seems to have travelled into the future?

The most recent posts now seem to be... later today!

One for Mulder and Scully, perchance?


Screenshot 2022-06-12 at 10.17.01.png
 
So what's the consensus on the changes made a while ago by the way? Are people happier now?
Generally, it seems quite favourable. It genuinely needed refocusing, and the emphasis is now more on the Forteana, which is as it should be.
It’s gone a bit anodyne imo. The Forteana has always been there but the banter & humour quotient has diminished markedly. Several very long time members have gone, seemingly had enough or found other things to do. You’re not hearing their view. Whatever changes have occurred, it’s shooed them off.

I’m thinking of escargot, a fount of Fortean input & other stuff, also analogue boy, there’s probably others. People who’d been here a long time with interesting input, now gone.
 
It’s gone a bit anodyne imo. The Forteana has always been there but the banter & humour quotient has diminished markedly. Several very long time members have gone, seemingly had enough or found other things to do. You’re not hearing their view. Whatever changes have occurred, it’s shooed them off.

I’m thinking of escargot, a fount of Fortean input & other stuff, also analogue boy, there’s probably others. People who’d been here a long time with interesting input, now gone.
Some of the people I've noticed who have left/gone quiet, are the very ones who were complaining precisely because they were fed up of the 'banter and humour' and that they felt there wasn't enough Forteana?
I'd have thought that they would prefer it much more now that the emphasis is much more on the Forteana (as Stu said).
 
...the banter & humour quotient has diminished markedly. Several very long time members have gone, seemingly had enough or found other things to do.

It's fair to grieve, but we (our community) became too cliquey and stale. Such stagnation spells death in the long run. If we focus on our core raison d'etre, new minds will follow and the place will be re-energised. There's a seat of honour for you and all long-time members in whatever the board transitions into over time—if you want one.

Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
 
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I know the experiment with 'likes' and variants was abandoned as it provided a channel for 'non verbal iffyness' but might it be worth having a simple 'that's interesting' button/reaction?
 
I'd agree about not becoming too cliquey and stale and some banter can be cliquey; although to be fair I personally was never made to feel excluded by long term posters - some of whom went out of their way to encourage new members and ideas.

I've mentioned before other fora where there are cliques, very humourless ones, and I'm sure they, as Yith says, will die out and we need to avoid that; but let's not lose the humour and odd meanderings as they are IMHO what makes this place special and sometimes they lead to new ideas. If I had a pound for every time I've made a joke and someone has said: "Actually that's not a bad idea." I'd have £1.75 now.
 
I know the experiment with 'likes' and variants was abandoned as it provided a channel for 'non verbal iffyness' but might it be worth having a simple 'that's interesting' button/reaction?

I think a lot of people use 'LIKE' to mean I like the existence of this post. I certainly LIKE thoughtful posts I disagree with.

I'd agree about not becoming too cliquey and stale and some banter can be cliquey; although to be fair I personally was never made to feel excluded by long term posters - some of whom went out of their way to encourage new members and ideas.

I've mentioned before other fora where there are cliques, very humourless ones, and I'm sure they, as Yith says, will die out and we need to avoid that; but let's not lose the humour and odd meanderings as they are IMHO what makes this place special and sometimes they lead to new ideas. If I had a pound for every time I've made a joke and someone has said: "Actually that's not a bad idea." I'd have £1.75 now.

To be 100% clear--and I don't know that you're implying this--I don't think 'long-term posters' were solely responsible for the cliqueyness; the infrastructure itself leant itself to that tendency, which is why it was overhauled.

I can't think of a single long-term poster who has left (not been banned) that I wouldn't be glad to see return.
 
A 'clique' (I hate that word) is by definition 'a small close-knit group of people who do not readily allow others to join them'. I can't say that I've ever noticed that here and besides, no one can stop anyone from joining in if they want to anyway. It's not like a school playground where physical confrontations often take place and someone is banished from a group just because their face doesn't fit- or because they're a bit smelly.
 
A 'clique' (I hate that word) is by definition 'a small close-knit group of people who do not readily allow others to join them'. I can't say that I've ever noticed that here and besides, no one can stop anyone from joining in if they want to anyway. It's not like a school playground where physical confrontations often take place and someone is banished from a group just because their face doesn't fit- or because they're a bit smelly.

Perhaps I chose a less than perfect word.

It's been a long week.

Try: inadvertently clannish.
 
To be 100% clear--and I don't know that you're implying this--I don't think 'long-term posters' were solely responsible for the cliqueyness; the infrastructure itself leant itself to that tendency, which is why it was overhauled.

I can't think of a single long-term poster who has left (not been banned) that I wouldn't be glad to see return.
No I didn't intend to, did look a bit that way though.

I guess though that there is a tendency for old timers to get to know other old timers views, humour, interests, etc. Therefore a remark like "I'd welcome @X's view on that." can look a bit cliquey to a newcomer who isn't aware that @X has the expertise, equipment or whatever to for instance, analyse a film clip.

Maybe clique isn't right but I get what you mean.

"..inadvertently clannish?" 'Ere, you're not the Duke of Cumberland are you? :)
 
Let's review ...

The "tail" (of off-topic social-media-style chatter) had grown to such a proportion of the forum's traffic that it was "wagging the dog" (overwhelming and even obscuring discussion of the Fortean subjects central to the forum's mission). This was the primary problem.

The secondary problem was that the off-topic chatter traffic also dominated the notifications traffic being issued to members - many if not most of whom were using mobile devices and therefore limited to a constrained "keyhole" view on what was happening. This was starting to dissuade some members from participating at all. We were already losing long-term members who were finding it increasingly difficult to identify the Fortean content that had originally attracted them to the forum.

The third problem was that all this off-topic chatter was every bit as visible to casually visiting outsiders as any of the other forum content. This raised issues of privacy and security. It also tended to attract folks who really weren't interested in Fortean discussions at all.

Finally ... Since the 2018 exodus from its previously comfortable niche within a corporate environment this forum required time, effort, and sponsorship to remain up and running at all. That sponsorship (kindly extended by The Charles Fort Institute) entailed paying attention to serving the mission of providing a venue for Fortean discussions rather than any ol' idle chit-chat.

The recent changes have addressed all these issues without losing anything. The main changes have involved access to and notifications about the non-Fortean chatter that hasn't gone anywhere. The sub-forums most given to off-topic discussions (Chat and Mainstream News) were moved into a members-only section and removed from the scope of What's New notifications issued to whomever wishes to get such notifications.

If you want to engage with others in non-Fortean chit-chat nowadays, you have to be a registered member and you have to visit the members-only section(s) to see what's being discussed. That's it; that's all.
 
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