**New Forum Suggestions** - Page 2

Coelacanth · 11-07-2001, 06:36 PM

Yeah, Codgio...after posting that, I thought about the fact that all of the screensavers will most likely use the same or similar technology as their bases, so it would follow that a lot of the technical issues could overlap from one screensaver to another.

So in that case it makes sense to make the hardware/tech forum separate from any individual screensaver.

Jav400 · 11-07-2001, 08:23 PM

Well let me throw another consideration in the mix for opinions. I was thinking along the same lines myself, and then it struck me that with the scope and the timeframe that we are looking at here, will they overlap that much?

I'm not sure exactly what "video cards" we all might be using 2-4 years from now, I'm thinking that there could be some of the cutting edge cards available today, still in use then. But, if you consider where technology was 4 years ago, and compare it to what we are looking at today, there is no way to truly compare the two. Several years ago Jim couldn't do what he has done here now, and who knows what he might be programming for, or with, next.

The part that concerns me is that everyone can see that the wishlist, or hardware topics have grown to quite a long thread to read. But, with the use of the wonderful search engine we have now, its possible to find anything that you want, and everything that you want is relavant to this point in time. Would we be beneficial to began a forum that may or may not be relavant later on, ( and by then also equally lengthy or worse ) and by the time we would need to view it, would the things posted now still be relavant then? Any comments?

feldon34 · 11-07-2001, 09:45 PM

Which is what the Recycle Bin was for--Decomissioning posts that discuss problems and requests that have been addressed by current or past versions of the Aquarium, and also hardware issues that no longer occur.

In a perfect world, we'd have 1 topic/thread for each unique hardware issue with many followups that don't go too far off-topic.

Coelacanth · 11-07-2001, 10:58 PM

Speaking of having separate threads for each issue, I can see the advantage of having a separate section for the hardware issues. I've never been a big fan of the idea of having one gigantic thread that addresses all issues on a particular broad subject. You end up with a giant, unwieldy thing that goes on for pages and pages, and like any IRC chat with several conversations going on at once, the thread has several distinct conversations going, so it gets a bit confused and you have skip over the irrelevant posts to keep following the discussion you're interested in. And the new search feature isn't going to help that situation.

feldon34 · 11-09-2001, 11:26 AM

For anyone who's curious, after less than 1 day, I turned the 'always force new page' setting back off.

It seems that most people read this forum in one browser window, going into a thread/topic, reading and/or replying, and then coming back out to the main index and then going to the next unread thread/topic.

I guess I am strange in that I bring up the thread/topic index and then right-click to spawn separate windows for each unread thread/topic. Also, I have high-speed internet.

As a result, while setting the forum to always force the newest version of the page (rather than depending on feldoncentral.com's ability to serve up the correct page, cached or new, based on modification date), most people were having a much slower browsing experience here on the forum.

I do wish this setting could be turned on on a user-by-user basis because it bugs me that I'll edit a post and the page it gives me back has the old version sometimes. And I frequently get a stale (old) topic index page. Oh well. I just use that Refresh button more often.

You'll notice we have a Coffee House set up now.

Also, if you are like me, you like to be able to look further into the past than just 30 days. I've gone into my user settings panel and changed the topic index page to display topics up to 100 days old.

Lightfeather · 11-09-2001, 03:33 PM

**I guess I am strange in that I bring up the thread/topic index and then right-click to spawn separate windows for each unread thread/topic. Also, I have high-speed internet. ***

That is exactly how I do it too. Weirdo =P

Tiny Turtle · 11-16-2001, 05:08 PM

This might be old news, but you two (Morgan & Lightfeather) might want to consider using shift-left-click instead of right-clicking and having to wait for that context menu to pop up. Shift-left-click spawns a new window and at the same time the link changes color to "visited" in the original window.

/Calle

11-07-2001, 08:23 PM	#22
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Well let me throw another consideration in the mix for opinions. I was thinking along the same lines myself, and then it struck me that with the scope and the timeframe that we are looking at here, will they overlap that much? I'm not sure exactly what "video cards" we all might be using 2-4 years from now, I'm thinking that there could be some of the cutting edge cards available today, still in use then. But, if you consider where technology was 4 years ago, and compare it to what we are looking at today, there is no way to truly compare the two. Several years ago Jim couldn't do what he has done here now, and who knows what he might be programming for, or with, next. The part that concerns me is that everyone can see that the wishlist, or hardware topics have grown to quite a long thread to read. But, with the use of the wonderful search engine we have now, its possible to find anything that you want, and everything that you want is relavant to this point in time. Would we be beneficial to began a forum that may or may not be relavant later on, ( and by then also equally lengthy or worse ) and by the time we would need to view it, would the things posted now still be relavant then? Any comments? Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection Last edited by Jav400; 11-07-2001 at 09:47 PM.

11-07-2001, 09:45 PM	#23
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	Which is what the Recycle Bin was for--Decomissioning posts that discuss problems and requests that have been addressed by current or past versions of the Aquarium, and also hardware issues that no longer occur. In a perfect world, we'd have 1 topic/thread for each unique hardware issue with many followups that don't go too far off-topic. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

11-09-2001, 11:26 AM	#25
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	For anyone who's curious, after less than 1 day, I turned the 'always force new page' setting back off. It seems that most people read this forum in one browser window, going into a thread/topic, reading and/or replying, and then coming back out to the main index and then going to the next unread thread/topic. I guess I am strange in that I bring up the thread/topic index and then right-click to spawn separate windows for each unread thread/topic. Also, I have high-speed internet. As a result, while setting the forum to always force the newest version of the page (rather than depending on feldoncentral.com's ability to serve up the correct page, cached or new, based on modification date), most people were having a much slower browsing experience here on the forum. I do wish this setting could be turned on on a user-by-user basis because it bugs me that I'll edit a post and the page it gives me back has the old version sometimes. And I frequently get a stale (old) topic index page. Oh well. I just use that Refresh button more often. You'll notice we have a Coffee House set up now. Also, if you are like me, you like to be able to look further into the past than just 30 days. I've gone into my user settings panel and changed the topic index page to display topics up to 100 days old. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

11-09-2001, 03:33 PM	#26
Lightfeather Occupation: Nerd Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: California Posts: 314	I guess I am strange in that I bring up the thread/topic index and then right-click to spawn separate windows for each unread thread/topic. Also, I have high-speed internet. * That is exactly how I do it too. Weirdo =P Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

11-16-2001, 05:08 PM	#27
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	New windows This might be old news, but you two (Morgan & Lightfeather) might want to consider using shift-left-click instead of right-clicking and having to wait for that context menu to pop up. Shift-left-click spawns a new window and at the same time the link changes color to "visited" in the original window. /Calle

11-07-2001, 06:36 PM	#21
Coelacanth Thought to be Extinct Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: My Watery Abode Posts: 180	Yeah, Codgio...after posting that, I thought about the fact that all of the screensavers will most likely use the same or similar technology as their bases, so it would follow that a lot of the technical issues could overlap from one screensaver to another. So in that case it makes sense to make the hardware/tech forum separate from any individual screensaver.

11-07-2001, 10:58 PM	#24
Coelacanth Thought to be Extinct Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: My Watery Abode Posts: 180	Speaking of having separate threads for each issue, I can see the advantage of having a separate section for the hardware issues. I've never been a big fan of the idea of having one gigantic thread that addresses all issues on a particular broad subject. You end up with a giant, unwieldy thing that goes on for pages and pages, and like any IRC chat with several conversations going on at once, the thread has several distinct conversations going, so it gets a bit confused and you have skip over the irrelevant posts to keep following the discussion you're interested in. And the new search feature isn't going to help that situation.