For people that don’t hate PTF or +1, these additions to a thread can feel good (ask me how I know haha).
You're bothered by several issues you're experiencing with the software, and by +1 and PTF. The effort to change these would be lighter if everyone experienced the same issue. Unfortunately, lots of people are loving both of these. Where this is the case, such that people are unlikely to adopt a new system, what do you propose?
I'd like to set the record straight here. I don't "hate" PTF and +1. Please do not ascribe an emotion to me that I do not hold on the matter. My only interest is keeping the forums available for all for as long as possible, and simply see how this behavior is contributing against that goal. The fact that the part of the solution that we as users can do is in line with MMM's overall message, especially in light of not seeing any massive changes in forum maintenance (and no, throwing more RAM at the issue isn't going to resolve the underlying problems, only postpone them further), is gravy. Again, I'm not hating or anti anything, I'm just pro keeping things operational. Nothing more, nothing less.
For those who think the solutions are off-putting because they don't like change or whathaveyou, well... you can please all the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. I'm just laying out the unintended consequences of the current forum configuration and our posting culture.
I've documented why I've suggested and said the things I have, and like to think I've made a fairly solid case for why. I'm just trying to keep crushed red solo cups off the ground, trash out of the pool, and trying to keep beer from soaking into the carpet. You can do my suggestions or don't. If you don't, just remember that rowdy behavior like cramming 20 people into an 8 person hot tub will kill the party sooner than later, and may drive off some pretty awesome people in the process from ever staying long enough to join in.
In that case, when we optimize the forum, let's just all start a group chat on WhatsApp. I like the chaos
What's stopping you from doing that now? Best tools for the job, etc. I've always wondered why nobody wanted to set up an IRC server or anything.
This is a whole lot of hot air about an issue that isn't an issue. Forum search sucks because forum searches always suck, not because of PTF. Use Google to search, it works.
Two things: 1) Larger SMF forums run by communities who have demonstrated that they actually know how to configure and maintain forums on shared hosting have operational search tools, so just because "most" forums are set up by people who never read the forum software documentation to keep the software usable doesn't mean the software sucks... it means the maintainers need to be shown a better way to do things. 2) Google Search can't catalog every board here.
And finally, on the complaints that PTF is spam. Spam is advertising, not posts you don't want to read.
*ahem*
The PTF/+1 thing, while not a bannable offense, does clutter up a thread. (It's not like posting "FIRST!" which gets you tossed into a lake of molten lava).
Forum spam historically has a far broader definition than
just advertising.
One of the most vocal anti - PTF proponents, who says PTF is spam, has links in their forum sig directing people to his own website.
Please don't sublimate your values and intentions on me, and perhaps research a little before you go and cast stones. You think you're shaming me, but I'm not the one who should be embarrassed by your statement.
I started that blog long before you came around here, because the early forum members kept
begging me to spin it off into a discrete website that they could link others to. I was convinced both by others and through first-hand experience that it would be wise to do so after the first year of just keeping the information in a single, ever-expanding thread with the core content at the beginning, as new people were having ever harder times digging through for all the useful bits. Forum software wasn't the right medium or platform to present the entire wad of information, so I optimized, kept the heart on the forums, and extrapolated the bigger picture stuff on a server I paid for out of my own pockets. Right tool for the job, and all that jazz. I host the information for the benefit of others, not for my own gain.
Technical Meshugana has no advertisements, no paid posts, no free hardware reviews, no affiliate links to the providers I recommend (there or here), only a donate button now (which I might as well take down), a defunct Amazon Astore link, plus a half-dozen optional Amazon associate links early on that I never updated or fixed because they barely got used. I've spent more on hosting the resource for the community than I've ever gotten in return... and what little I got, was
optional from the reader and was used for hosting costs. I didn't force any monetization off of my readership. In fact, the biggest push for money I ever made off of the guide was calling the community to action to donate the savings I helped them with on their bills to go to disaster relief organizations after the May 2013 tornadoes here in Oklahoma.
So, if you're so deeply offended that I link the blog in my sigline and desire all traces of links to it be removed from the forums? I'll be happy to remove it on your request (barring objections from others), but the guide would have to go with it. To have one without the other would be a disservice to the community, and would only make the information harder to access. If you do ask again, be forewarned that I will be sure to namecheck you
specifically for taking the resource down.