While I realise that there are far worse things in the world, I liked it here until it was 'upgraded', and feel this forum needs a lot of improving. Even having had a break, and come back again, it feels like the clunkiest most backward forum I've been on in a long time. Certainly not one fitting for the fans of a gadget and tech fan.
I appreciate that all forums and websites have their own foibles, but there are a couple of really basic things missing here, and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of progress in making it any better.
Like most forums, the old version had an option to see a page with any updated or new topics since your last visit. This was the page that I had in my bookmarks list. The new version doesn't have that, so users have to find a different way of doing things. Today, the new method that I'm using, looking at the different sub forum areas to see if there are new posts since the last time I looked (basically just from memory, though it's every day at the minute, so that isn't difficult), stopped working.
The announcements forum, suddenly shows the last post as being from September 7th. Looking at the subforum shows that there are actually new posts. Having said that, the announcements area is a mess anyway. shouldn't it only be mods/admin allowed to open topics in there? I've been looking at that section hoping for some announcement that the forum has had som improvements, but sadly not.
Other ways of keeping up with what's happening might be by checking on users who's posts you like, and seeing their most recent posts. Not possible though. I can't claim to have been a forum user since they first existed, but it's a good few years that I have, and I can't actually remember one that didn't have a list of posts for each user. It also means you can't help with getting rid of the more subtle spam, as you can't see whether a post is from a new user, and compare any other posts they may have made.
It also means I can't look at the posts from the admins to see exactly what they've said about the forum, and any improvements that are in progress
Actually, I've just tried a search on 'andrew sampson', and for some reason, clicking on any of the hits takes you here: http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/question-about-website#post-84405
Not ver helpful in finding the specific post he made which I felt was a tad whiny. Something along the lines of 'I'm not very good under pressure with people making demands'. Oh dear. Good job it's the Stephen Fry forum you're looking after, where the users are very patient, forgiving, and possibly due to the presence of forums like the SLOTMD area, very nurturing. I wouldn't move on to any other forums, you'll be eaten up and spat out in minutes. Maybe someone with the appropriate skill set should take your place? Or at the very least an honest 'I'm not really cut out for this but I'm all you've got' would be easier to swallow?
All these weeks later, the FAQ is still the pathetic near jerk note made to address the first couple of problems that reared their heads at the time of the switchover. Partly addressing the minor, but suddenly imposed use of 'gravatars'.
Maybe it's also due to the forgiving nature of the community here that there hasn't been a huge direct appeal to Mr. Fry himslef to get this area of his site improved. But he is being let down.
Maybe the focus of the site as a whole is more important. Perfectly understandable, but if the forum is a very low priority, let us know. If improvements are something not about to appear, let us know.
I mentioned a book as an aside in another thread, but I very much recommend that the admins and mods here read a book by Patrick O'Keefe about forums, communities and how to run them. I found it extremely useful when I tried to run a forum of my own. Sadly with little success, as I didn't have the time I needed to make it work. I'm not claiming to be an expert on running forums either. I have a little experience of being a mod, and also a game assistant on an online game, but this post isn't from the point of telling someone how to run a forum as a peer who does the same. Just as a user, who has an interest in the subject matter of the forum, and to some degree in how forums work.
None of this is aimed at the mods here. They had the same notice of the changeover as all the other users. None.
