New forum - discussion thread

[Third rate Leszno]

New forum - discussion thread

I seem to be having more problems using the forum on my old iPhone this week than I have previously - for example, on the Mundane thread, I can only open the first page, the last page and nothing in between - nor can I post on it. This only seems to be affecting me on the biggest threads, it's still working ok on the smaller ones.

[Snake Plissken]

New forum - discussion thread

An update, seeing as progress has been made but WSC are tied up with getting the magazine done and I'm living out of a Premier Inn in Harrogate for the next few days.

As Reg noticed, some things changes over on onetouchfootball.com. Didn't know it was happening this week, but the new forum has been installed over there and is securely behind lock and key. I've been kicking the tyres, investigating the settings and configuring a mock forum structure to get used to the system.

The two most important things have already been done, that is, bumping up the images limit so that BB&F can post his match reports and adding a User Profile field for favourite biscuit.

For those of a technical interest, we will be shifting to vBulletin. To start off with, that will be v4.2. This is because the migration costs are much more expensive if we go to v5. Plan is to launch on v4, with migrated content and then upgrade to v5 at a later date, probably in the quiet time over the summer. Because of this, the new board will be comparatively out of the box for a short while, though I'm going to get my head around the branding and styling options.

vBulletin gives us a lot of user, forum and board options. Compared to Kunena, it is a little like walking out of a cave and into downtown Vegas. I've been switching options off to clean up the pages and tone it down a little.

For those who have offered financial assistance, not exactly sure how it will work yet, but there is a Payment API which allows us to set up a donation /subscription structure. It is entirely voluntary, of course. I do intend to offer some kind of reward - if possible - for donors of the non-valuable trinket type. Maybe the ability to add your favourite car to your profile, or add a 3Mb attachment instead of a 2Mb one, or post in LIME GREEN ALL CAPS or something equally pointless. The idea is to say thank you without creating an "us and them" structure.

Next steps - get comfortable with the migration and how that will work, then plan that in detail. As I say, I'm busy for a few days and so are the WSC staff, so I figured it would be best to keep everyone informed.

[Sits]

New forum - discussion thread

As they say in these parts, you're a dead-set legend.

[SouthdownRebel]

New forum - discussion thread

Thanks for the update SP. Be sure to make full use of the all-you-can-eat breakfasts.

[Sean of the Shed]

New forum - discussion thread

Snake Plissken wrote: An update, seeing as progress has been made but WSC are tied up with getting the magazine done and I'm living out of a Premier Inn in Harrogate for the next few days.

[Sam]

New forum - discussion thread

Snake Plissken wrote: For those who have offered financial assistance, not exactly sure how it will work yet, but there is a Payment API which allows us to set up a donation /subscription structure. It is entirely voluntary, of course. I do intend to offer some kind of reward - if possible - for donors of the non-valuable trinket type. Maybe the ability to add your favourite car to your profile, or add a 3Mb attachment instead of a 2Mb one, or post in LIME GREEN ALL CAPS or something equally pointless. The idea is to say thank you without creating an "us and them" structure.

I suggest something subtle like gold usernames with 'Premier Member' or similar underneath them, and perhaps a locked separate subforum for those users to post their own thoughts in without interruption from the unpaying masses. I don't think that would breed any ill-feeling.

[ursus arctos]

New forum - discussion thread

I actually participate in another (baseball-centric) forum where user names are accompanied by an icon that indicates the level of one's contributions (though contributions are not required).

[San Bernardhinault]

New forum - discussion thread

I like that, although I think "Superior Member" or "Better Member" might be preferable. And I think the hue of gold should increase depending on how much people have contributed.

[Sam]

New forum - discussion thread

You're right. Ubermember, perhaps.

Or alternatively/as well, we could put some sort of badge next to the names of those who don't contribute. Perhaps limit their permitted number of posts per week.

[ursus arctos]

New forum - discussion thread

Giving them burgundy passports would certainly be terribly humiliating, from what I've read today.

[Gerontophile]

New forum - discussion thread

Why not just call those that pay, and want it known "A Total Member"?

[Sits]

New forum - discussion thread

As an alternative to such emotive methods as colours, badges etc., perhaps paying and non-paying members can simply be identified by two random titles. How about something like, hmmm, Napoleon Members and Boxer Members?

[Snake Plissken]

New forum - discussion thread

Upstanding Members and Outstanding Members?

[longeared]

New forum - discussion thread

Branes Trust.

As a serious question, if paying contributors were getting additional functionality (however trivial), how might this work in the longer term? Would they get access to it for ever even if only paying a one off 10p, would there be a minimum level of donation, would the extra feature be reset annually and people have to contribute again?

[Sits]

New forum - discussion thread

I'm hoping I'll be able to contribute, but if I did I actually wouldn't want anything "extra". It goes against what OTF is about.

[Duncan Gardner]

New forum - discussion thread

Aye. From each according to ability; to each according to neediness

[caja-dglh]

New forum - discussion thread

Everyone seems to be way off the mark. For a given contribution you really ought to get one of Mrs. Snake's pictures, hand mounted by Snake.

[SouthdownRebel]

New forum - discussion thread

Sits wrote: I'm hoping I'll be able to contribute, but if I did I actually wouldn't want anything "extra". It goes against what OTF is about.

Agree. Just slap a donate button on there and leave it at that.

[Lang Spoon]

New forum - discussion thread

On behalf of the broke and chaotically financed, could we just get a donate button we can send money through when we can, rather than a regular monthly payment? I'm already scrambling monies around for various direct debits.

[San Bernardhinault]

New forum - discussion thread

I'm pretty sure that's what most people want. I don't think anyone actually wants prestige or premium access. Keeping this site running and being able to read the thoughts of our intelligent contributors instead of the usual sewage that fills the internet is surely incentive enough, and we're all mature enough to know that some can't contribute at all, and some can, and new arrivals won't know whether they want to but we want them to arrive and stay (at least until we can determine whether they're undesirable types)

[Snake Plissken]

New forum - discussion thread

Happy to make it just a donation, but the idea was to give at least some kind of recognition, no matter how trivial. In fact, it was going to be incredibly trivial. That was kind of the point.

[Antepli Ejderha]

New forum - discussion thread

Please can we have no recognition for donations, I think it could potentially cause problems in the future if it's obvious who's contributed and who hasn't. I know how petty some arguments on here can get.

Are we still going to have ads? If so an ad free experience for a donation would be a good bonus for me.

Now for the elephant in the room, how much are you looking for Snake?

Thanks for the work and the regular updates Snake, much appreciated.

[Snake Plissken]

New forum - discussion thread

longeared wrote: Branes Trust.

As a serious question, if paying contributors were getting additional functionality (however trivial), how might this work in the longer term? Would they get access to it for ever even if only paying a one off 10p, would there be a minimum level of donation, would the extra feature be reset annually and people have to contribute again?

Forever, or else someone would have to be constantly maintaining the list of people who were allowed to enter the name of their favourite bus station against their profile.

The right to which would probably be £1. (I think Paypal processing costs would make it unfeasible to be less.)

[Snake Plissken]

New forum - discussion thread

Antepli Ejderha wrote: Please can we have no recognition for donations, I think it could potentially cause problems in the future if it's obvious who's contributed and who hasn't. I know how petty some arguments on here can get.

Are we still going to have ads? If so an ad free experience for a donation would be a good bonus for me.

Now for the elephant in the room, how much are you looking for Snake?

Thanks for the work and the regular updates Snake, much appreciated.

The ads thing is WSC's call, but I am not aware of plans to have ads aparting from the usual WSC banner.

As for "how much are you looking for", what exactly do you mean? Minimum donation? Whatever the minimum is feasible via the donation system after a processing fee from Paypal or whatever. Aiming for £1.

Looks like vBulletin will allow one-off, or recurring via user choice. The point is absolutely not to force anyone down this route.

[Antepli Ejderha]

New forum - discussion thread

Cheers Snake. I'm happy to go with whatever option works best.

By how much I really mean what is the total figure we're looking at to migrate the board and keep it running? I'd like to pay my share and wouldn't mind a suggested donation.

Again I'm for keeping it anonymous and don't want anyone to feel forced to contribute. I think this goes against the principles of the board and community on here.