Re: Forum Only (Was Re: Improvement that Everybody Will Agree With:
Pete Lomax wrote:
> Craig Welch wrote:
> > Gary Shingles wrote:
> > > Logging in and seeing a list of new messages would really help.
> >
> > Oh, just as happens for those of us who use email?
>
> I am on your side.
> I loved the fact that you could delete some, move some to different folders,
> ignore threads, keep some forever, mark items you wanted to reply to or
> investigate
> tomorrow, filter enemies, etc.
>
> It was so, so nice.
>
> But it's gone, really, it's gone.
>
> Web interfaces and forums are /so/ crap in comparison to email.
> So completely impersonal. So completely inflexible. And quite slow.
>
> I am struggling, on the newly adopted webface, with the fact that if I feel
> a need to reply, pretty much I have to do so NOW, or the chance has gone
> forever.
> So much for carefully considered response (ntiweagat).
>
> But spam or something like it killed the email list stone dead.
> Topica now takes 4 or 5 days to forward a message, randomly.
> Strangely, I just can't hold a conversation like that.
Like a growing number of people, I use RSS (via Thunderbird) to
access EUforum. Soon Outlook Express will support RSS, then
lots of people will start using RSS.
I read new EUforum messages a few times each day. They arrive
just like normal email, in my EUforum folder, with the ones
I haven't read yet having bold subject lines. Any message that
I think I might want to reply to, I move to my Inbox so I don't
forget about it, then I keep skimming through the rest.
There are Thunderbird options for sorting by thread etc.
I periodically delete large numbers of old EUforum messages.
I can save a message permanently in a different folder if I want.
RSS never has a delay. As soon as a message is posted it is available
via RSS. The messages look just like they do on the Web interface,
with color syntax etc. To reply, you click the Reply link at the
bottom of the message and it takes you straight to the Web interface,
where you can click a button to "quote" the person
you are replying to etc.
Whenever there is a "temporary surge" in the number of messages
on EUforum, someone starts complaining that we should break up the
stream into a bunch of separate categories. I wouldn't like that
because I want to at least skim through anything that's posted.
How long does it take you to skim a message, decide it's
irrelevant, and click your mouse? 5 seconds?
With separate categories, many people would end up looking
through every category anyway. Messages would inevitably be
posted to the wrong category and would draw flames as a result,
or be ignored.
Eventually, we might want to split into a developers
forum and a users forum. But I think even the ordinary users
will want to know what sort of new features are being discussed
by the developers, and the developers will want to know what
sort of problems the users are running into, so a lot of
people will read both forums.
I wouldn't mind making the ListFilter/EUforum software open
so others could enhance it. There are just a few minor issues
involved, like giving FTP access, exposing the "bad"
people in the filter, and the "bad" words that are being checked etc.
The "bad" information is mostly in a Euphoria database, so I guess
I could restrict access to myself or some future moderator.
There could also be a lot of down-time if someone
breaks EUforum during debugging/testing.
Regards,
Rob Craig
Rapid Deployment Software
http://www.RapidEuphoria.com
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