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11-21-2021, 11:34 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-21-2021, 04:10 PM by Dan Novak (Admin).)
It appears that old habits die hard and I have noticed we are using the BB like it was the QT. The primary difference between the BB and the QT is that the BB allows for Threads (Conversations). Threads are awesome things because they allow us to group together a single conversation on a single topic.
One sub forum can have as many threads as we would like. And a thread can be made for any item of conversation regardless of your location. For example, let's say I wanted to talk about Trash Pickup in Bar-K only. I could make a thread in the General Sub Forum called "Bar-K Trash Pickup". Now everyone knows this is a Bar-K conversation. If Jamestown wanted to discuss trash pickup, someone there could make a thread called "Jamestown Trash Pickup". Or maybe everyone just jumps in the original thread and we all start discussing general trash pickup. Well then, we can just rename the thread "Trash Pickup" and all post to the same Thread(Conversation).
A new sub forum by its very nature is meant to be important to only a SUBSET of the entire forum membership. Pickleball, for example, is a great sub forum. Only users who participate in Pickleball are interested in those conversations. Again a subset of our users.
The only other reason for a sub forum is if there are too many conversations (Threads) on a specific topic that it is crowding another forum. It is too early to see any needs here, once we use the system more we can determine if the other various sub forums are needed for heavily conversed topics.
EDIT: As mentioned below, security is another great reason for a sub forum, does viewing require login? etc...
I believe the current situation stems from trying to emulate a QT setup that is no longer pertinent. Therefore, I would like to reduce us to a single General sub forum for all conversations from Jamestown, Bark-K and Ward.
I am going to leave this Thread as my final example of the folly of multiple primary sub forums. This Thread will be posted to Bark-K, Jamestown and Ward. However, I will only be following one of the conversations. So if you want to join the conversation and post to this thread, where do you post? Do you reply on the Bar-k Sub? on the Jamestown sub? on the Ward sub? Choose wisely as I am only reading one of those three threads. Or you could reply three times I suppose... I hope everyone can see how this becomes a big mess real fast.
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I'm confused, and I'm not sure how to express what I am confused about.
With the QTs, I got an email for each note added to the Bar-K QT, and I'd check the Jamestown and 4 Sale QTs once in a while.
I'm a Bar-K resident, and I wanted to see all the Bar-K notices, from requests for sugar to emergency and fire warnings.
Now, I am not sure what I have to go to the BB for, what I will get an email about, if I have to subscribe to the forum with the fire truck picture or not.
I have not had time to go over the instructions in videos and threads. I'll have more time to learn it over the holiday break.
Thanks for all the effort put into replacing the QT.
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If I understand your question, you make a very good point. Subscriptions would be simpler with a general discussion forum as you would only need to subscribe once for emails on the general forum. The necessity of the Safety and Emergency forum would depend on how we want to maintain our public viewing options. i.e. do you need to be logged in to view. Maybe we could just duplicate safety and emergency info there for public consumption.
Back to the emails, currently an email subscription to a sub forum will only email you when a new thread (conversation) is created. In order to see new posts on a thread you would need to subscribe to each thread individually. I personally do not like this functionality and am looking for a way to allow the sub forum subscription to email you when either a new thread or a post to a current thread is created. This would be very similar to QT except that conversations are held as a series of posts (replies) within the thread (conversation).
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11-21-2021, 02:11 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-21-2021, 02:17 PM by SteveE.)
Dan, I think a single forum is an excellent idea. I happen to be lazy. What I like about the Qt is I can get a quick hit on what’s going on witout having to drill onto individual threads. It seems like a aingle forum would simulate the best of the QT. But for it to work it seems like it would be good to delete or hide the current individual forums leaving just one catch-all on the home page. Maybe still provide access to them for those that feel the need but not elevate them all to the same level on the home page.
Adding to my previous comment, for a single thread to work it woukd need to list most recent comment first. If that’s not technically possible it don’t think it woukd be effective to to scroll to the bottom for the latest. In addition I prpoose the name Canyon Topics for a single thread:
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Here is a quick diagram that shows how a sub forum on the BB is like a traditional wooden Bulletin Board.
Note how new Threads are like a new note posted on the Bulletin Board, then replies are posted to the same note. New notes on the board would be a new thread in which others can reply to.
I am working on adding the ability to automatically get email responses for replies posted to a thread without the need to individually subscribe to each thread (note).
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11-21-2021, 02:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-21-2021, 02:31 PM by Dan Novak (Admin).)
Yes, when you reply with a post to a thread the thread is floated to the top. When a thread is ignored it sinks to the bottom. This eventually creates a situation where ancient threads can be brought back to life by replying to them. This is jovially referred to as a necro, as the thread was resurrected. ;-)
If you are referring to the order of the replies shown, they appear as they would in real life, each reply written after the next like a piece of paper. Please see the image on the other thread.
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Dan, I think I jumped to a different idea which was not what you were really describing. My though is to make it QT-like by having one forum and within that one thread where everything gets posted. For that to be effective the thread replies would have to be most recent first. This is just me but I don’t find the threads that useful for several reasons. First, as I said, I’m lazy. Then I’m noticing being drawn to threads based on how catchy the title is. I’m sure that has me missing out on things I’d really like to know about but again, to lazy to visit all the threads to see the latest replies.
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No problem Steve, as you can see by the diagram that's not how these kind of bulletin boards work. However, the RSS feed is a great way to just see the latest posts. I have also added an option to subscribe to All Threads with the posted replies via email. You can choose your subscription settings under User CP -> Edit Options. I have attached a picture to help.
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The sub forum merge has been completed, the three separate forums have now been replaced with "General Discussion". Please use this sub forum for all new general discussion threads.
Thanks,
Dan
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(11-21-2021, 02:57 PM)SteveE Wrote: Dan, I think I jumped to a different idea which was not what you were really describing. My though is to make it QT-like by having one forum and within that one thread where everything gets posted. For that to be effective the thread replies would have to be most recent first. This is just me but I don’t find the threads that useful for several reasons. First, as I said, I’m lazy. Then I’m noticing being drawn to threads based on how catchy the title is. I’m sure that has me missing out on things I’d really like to know about but again, to lazy to visit all the threads to see the latest replies.
Have you use the Portal view? https://bar-k.org/portal.php
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I was able to find a hacky way to emulate the old QT in the portal. You will still need to click on the post to participate in the thread, but it gives a simple list of all posts ordered from most recent backwards.
Please take a look at the new portal here: https://bar-k.org/portal.php
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11-21-2021, 08:37 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-21-2021, 08:42 PM by Wendystokes.)
That's an improvement, Dan!
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There is an Archiving feature which I’ve found somewhat helpful. You can see a condensed list of all the posts. If you open a thread, go to the bottom where there are 5 tiny boxes of different colors. Click on the red one! You’ll see a list of ALL the posts.
This is a complex system. Just trying to stay in touch, but not feeling too confident. Hopefully it will get easier! If not, I’ll go old-fashioned and seek more conversation! Ha
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Wendy, yes the archive is similar to the updated Portal but backwards in display order and limited in the posts displayed. Do you have any suggestions around the updated portal?
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