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Post by Teigra on Aug 24, 2010 17:57:17 GMT -5
It has come to my attention that several members of this board find portions of the forum lacking. Some of the issues members have are: - Attachment storage limits - We have 300 MB of storage space, with a maximum file size of 1 MB. There is no way to increase this on proboards.
- Visual appeal - We can only change colors, and all images must be hosted off-site. What you see on the forum is basically all we can do.
- Chat box - There is a chat box available on proboards, however it includes more advertising and and our resident werecat geek *coughs*Kaelan*coughs* informs me that it is no good.
- Protection of member privacy (keeping trolls and bots out) - We do, from time to time, get false registrations (bots and potential trolls). Our only protection form this is to manually check each registration, which we do. It is possible to add more requirements for new registrations, however there is no automated way to make sure that the requirements have been met. It is important to us that WCA remains an open and welcoming community.
- Advertisements - The current cost to make the forum ad-free is $7 per month. As we get more popular, the cost goes up -- up to $140 per month.
Being that WCA is currently hosted on a free service, we are limited in what we can do. Our solution is to move the forum to somewhere that gives us greater control. We have access to hosting for a more robust forum. However it requires a domain name, which costs about $12 a year. Are there any other issues that need to be addressed? Do you guys want to move? If you want to move, what domain name would you like? If we do move we will be accepting donations to pay hosting and domain name costs. Our members are important to us and we value your opinion.
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Post by Kaelan on Aug 24, 2010 19:47:10 GMT -5
Being the resident werecat geek, I figured that I had better chime in. I'll try not to get overly technical.
If we decide to move, the hosting will be a shared hosting environment, meaning that we can do literally anything with the site that we want to. The forum will be run by phpBB, which is an excellent open-source (meaning free) bulletin board system that I've used before. It being open-source means that we can add or remove just about any feature that we can think of. The graphics possibilities are absolutely wide-open to whatever we want to do. And the administrators and moderators would have much more control over the new users, to make sure that bots & trolls will stay out.
Now for the down side to moving. ProBoards does not have an export feature, meaning that I'm not able to transfer the existing posts to the new forum. However, we could manually copy all of the old posts (or each of us could copy only the ones that we want to transfer to the new forum). But that is the only down side to moving.
Teigra & I are eager to hear what you think!
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Post by Saber on Aug 24, 2010 19:47:20 GMT -5
... I think the forum Is pretty good the way it is ... And *flips ears back feeling bad*`... I'll stop posting pictures ... I'll keep posts as simple as possible , I'm sorry for ''overusing'' . Umm ... For the chat box thing I think Kaelan makes a good point ... I've been thinking about it , but after I visited a couple of sites with it ... I find that honestly a Chat box really makes the place ''To busy'' I mean Its almost like msn and not to sound rude ... But I think that some people here can get hooked on it (I mean like ex : I went On many other forums with it , and you can see that like theres always a gang of members that are basically on all day ...) . Now maybe this sounds good If your really more in it for that reason , publicity ... But I think That A chat box will really just change the site to something else ... And I think that a big part of the cats here like this place because Its Calm , the way we ( At least I *hug* ) like it ... And Ive heard from other sites that Chat boxes often result to trolls , users that are only in it for the Chat and don't care / or aren't even therians ... Etc ... Trouble ... To be honest ... I think that not having as much publicity as other sites Helps allot to avoid trouble , I guess In a way , not being named from other sites makes the members interact more , with others , In a good experience ... I mean ex : I can honestly say that I , have made friends here ... On line friends perhaps , But I mean because the forum Is ''quiet'' It makes the members feel more respected , get more privacy , and Aren't ''Bugged'' by other members ... ( By which I mean like when someone threats someone else as '' full of cr*p'' being lied at ... Let me tell you something ... I've subscribed to Allot of forums ... About all kinds of stuff ... And even tough yes I did talk ''often'' to others and could easily make on line ''buddies'' ... I never stayed ... Why ? because there was too many people , witch led to ''fights'' frustrations , um... to much advertising kept giving me pop ups , and bugs ... So If you want To move , Sure I don't mind , I mean your the owners , do whatever pleases you ... Heck Whatever you think is 'Greatest' for the forum . For me : Moving ; I don't mind , tough , I do like the place the way It is , and one of the reasons I really stay here and come often ( I mean I try to come every day If time allows me ) Is that It is quiet . And our ''pride'' managed to get pretty good cats , good folk , people that aren't in it for the chat , people that want to talk about theriantrope , and such ... good folk . Publicity / Advertisement : I don't think Its really gonna help to get more ''real'' members ... I mean obviously some people are going to go ''Hey a cool forum , I'll subscribe'' ... but then they never go back on line , weren't even therians or any kin of any sort , and don't care about us ... Chat box ; ... For me ... No ... I like to avoid crowds , strangers , guests , and mostly trolls ... If I want to talk , I can Pm some folk and post threads , and get answered by people I know and well , ''trust'' .. ( You know what I mean ^^; ... ). Anyway , (sorry If my post is long ... I am a chatter Cat ... ) ... That Is my opinion ...
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Post by Ryshili on Aug 24, 2010 20:06:02 GMT -5
For me?
Whatever makes things easier on the host and mods of the forums. Adaption is not a problem for whatever you guys decide.
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Post by Miss Claw on Aug 24, 2010 20:59:36 GMT -5
I side with Ryshili. I personally do not harbor any preferences, whatever is easiest for everyone and most convenient to all.
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Post by Teigra on Aug 24, 2010 21:04:52 GMT -5
Whatever makes things easier on the host and mods of the forums. Adaption is not a problem for whatever you guys decide. While we appreciate your concern for whatever is easiest for us, WCA is about the members -- you. So we will do whatever you want us to do. If you are fine with the board as is we will stay with proborads, if you would like more features we will move the board. ... I think the forum Is pretty good the way it is ... And *flips ears back feeling bad*`... I'll stop posting pictures ... I'll keep posts as simple as possible , I'm sorry for ''overusing'' . Please don't feel bad for posting that is what the forum is here for! *scratches behind the ears* Whatever you are doing is fine. Your pictures are not using any of the local storage space and I for one enjoy seeing them. Publicity / Advertisement : I don't think Its really gonna help to get more ''real'' members ... I mean obviously some people are going to go ''Hey a cool forum , I'll subscribe'' ... but then they never go back on line , weren't even therians or any kin of any sort , and don't care about us The advertisement that we are talking about is not to get more members. It is the ads that proboards places at the top, bottom, and sometimes sides of the page.
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Post by Saber on Aug 24, 2010 21:16:00 GMT -5
... Later in my post somewhere I said something like " advertising can led to pop ups and bugs... " ... but I meant by what happens on other sites ... It can end up in Viruses ... ... ( And I think why I said that as an example of what happens to sites where they announce other forums ... As publicity ... like as if someone would pay advertising of there site on an other ex : ProBoards" site to get more attention ... Thats when that can led to having "trolls" ) ... Sorry for the little ... "confusion"
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Post by Kaelan on Aug 24, 2010 21:39:10 GMT -5
I'm sort of confused about the point that you are making, Saber. We're not talking about advertising our forum to other people. We're talking about the business advertisements that are being shown on our forum.
ProBoards is a business, and they are interested in making money. They make their money by selling advertising space. Right now, I am looking at an advertisement for Vistaprint.com. Vistaprint has paid ProBoards money to display their advertisement, and ProBoards is now a few cents richer.
But there is another way that ProBoards makes money. We can pay them money (currently $7 per month) to NOT show us those advertisements!
That is what we are talking about. If we move the forums, the new location will not have the advertising in place, making the forum a much prettier thing to look at and use. This is a plus to moving.
The down side to moving -- and exactly the reason why we're making such a big deal about it -- is that it will cause all of you guys some inconvenience, and we will see a membership drop. We want to make sure that all of you are okay with that, and think that the benefits are worth the move.
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Post by Saber on Aug 24, 2010 21:43:19 GMT -5
Oh okay , I miss read that ... No I get your point I dont mind if you want to get advertising ... If it helps out then sure ...
Like Miss Claw and Ryshili said , whatever makes it easier for you guys is fine by me . All for the best ...
Sorry for the confusion .
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Post by Teigra on Aug 24, 2010 21:59:47 GMT -5
OK thats three that have said the the same thing. But that does not answer any of the questions we have asked. We want to know what you guys think, not what is easiest for us to do. Kaelan is a programmer, he loves working on the computer so starting a new board would be easy for him. However if you guys like the forum the way it is and don't want any new features then there is no reason to switch, which is easy to do as well. So as to which is easiest for us either option is good. It is completely up to the members!
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Capsha
Cub
Ethereal Lioness
Posts: 129
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Post by Capsha on Aug 25, 2010 1:38:33 GMT -5
I think moving might be a bit... hassley? (might be a Scottish word, I dunno) I mean, yeah you could maybe brush up things around here? I think what doesn't help is that a lot of members (certainly that I've noticed since joining) sign up, stay active for a few months and then kinda go. Which sucks and means the forum is kinda empty again. Maybe you could have a "Leaving" or "Abcenses" thread or something? Then we'd know who to expect to be gone and who is just not logging on. *shrugs* Also, you could maybe send a polite "Where the hell are you?" kinda e-mail or PM...? :/ But yeah... what I think still stands but I'm not that bothered about it that I'd want the board to move or anything like that. Purely suggestions Cap x
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Capsha
Cub
Ethereal Lioness
Posts: 129
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Post by Capsha on Aug 25, 2010 1:40:28 GMT -5
Ooh, can I also ask quickly who the moderators are? So I know who to look out for Cap x
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Post by Kaelan on Aug 25, 2010 3:55:25 GMT -5
It's important to Tiegra & I that the forum remain an open and friendly place. We understand that sometimes life gets in the way of things, which is why we have a policy of not deleting an activated account for being inactive.
People disappearing, or registering and never coming back is just a natural part of a forum like this. There is nothing that anyone can do about it. As for making a "Leaving" or "Absent" board, very few people would post in it (if any at all). And booting people off for not being active won't make people more active -- it will only thin out our ranks even further.
As for "brushing up" this forum, we have done all that we can do. Which is why the whole question of moving came up in the first place. In order to do anything different than we already are, we have to move. It seems, though, that no one wants to move...
As for moderators, the forum isn't large enough yet to have need of any moderators. Teigra & I keep our eyes on the forum to nudge it if it gets in the wrong direction, or if a user needs some gentle words. It's up to the users to provide content and encourage people to post!
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Capsha
Cub
Ethereal Lioness
Posts: 129
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Post by Capsha on Aug 25, 2010 10:13:51 GMT -5
*nods* Okay, thanks for letting me know.
Cap x
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Hakumei
Kitten
Jaguar Therian - AWOL from Life
Posts: 64
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Post by Hakumei on Aug 25, 2010 19:23:15 GMT -5
(Sorry for disappearing-- it's quite easy to get me back, I just got the notification in my inbox. x]' )
I have had very good experiences with phbb, iirc. They're very customizable; well, in that you can easily snoop around the 'net for free-made layouts that are quite easy on the eyes, and professional looking. xD; In using them, I don't find it much different than proboards, and the price thing is also a concern.
And sorry for not being more active; I'm pretty busy irl, and it's not quite the same, being a hoofy thing. ^^'
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