This forum

[Bruce]

TO ADMIN:

I logged in to the forum and clicked "NEW POSTS" to see what's new. There was a whole page of new posts. I clicked on one and read thru the thread. Then, without closing the window, I did some other stuff in my email program and some other web sites. When I came back to the forum, I clicked on "NEW POSTS" and was told there were none. In the five minutes or so that I was away from the forum, it "forgot" which threads I had not viewed. This has happened before and is very frustrating. This, along with a poor search engine, makes this forum software one of my least favorites. I just wish they would either fix this forum or get something else that works.

[charlese]

The same thing has happened to me several times. I think it's because the Forum thinks the day has changed prior to the time it changes for the viewer. Once again - a victim of time changes through the country. Often, however when the list disappears - there's a button to click that takes you to yesterday's posts - which are actually today's. (if that's clear as mud)

[Ed in Tampa]

TO ADMIN:

...This, along with a poor search engine, makes this forum software one of my least favorites. I just wish they would either fix this forum or get something else that works.


Bruce
Apparently I'm naive to (ignorant of) the capabilities and features of various forums. Would you be good enough to point me to an example of a forum you feel is superior to this one?

This Forum engine is used by some other Woodworking forums and I find it to be one of the easiest to use. So if there is something superior I would like to see it.

I don’t use the new post feature as I depend on the forum engine to have highlighted every thread that has new posts. By using the thread level indicator, I reread the thread (or at least skim read the thread) to get a better understanding to what the person is commenting on. I think if more people would read the complete thread it would often prevent the many duplicate posts that contain virtually the same information over and over.

But I would really like to learn what others think is a better forum engine than this one.
Ed

[dusty]

is great.

What makes it that way? The people who read and post here.

Yes, there may be some weaknesses; the search engine may be the most significant.

I participate in four other forums, three of those are based on the same software as this one. I have visited several others (not woodworking) that also use the same software.

I quite frankly don't see the problem.

Besides, I like it so I'll continue to use it until they change it to something different.

I'm a bit like ed in tampa, Bruce. I'd curious about which site you think is better.

[dusty]

I quite frankly don't see the problem.



Well, I guess I spoke too soon. I do see what I believe the problem was described to be. Posts are getting identified as "having been read" even though they have not even been opened.:eek:

I don't believe this has been true for very long. I am in and out of the site too often to have not noticed what is happening now.

Now-the-less, I still think the site is great.

[fixit]

Bruce,

I understand your frustration since you obviously used a tab to go to different web sites only to find the forum had "forgotten" where you were when you returned. I have never had that experience when using tabbed browsing. I hope you get an answer to that problem. Please let us know if you do so we can all benefit.

However, I must agree with Ed (in Tampa) and Dusty. This is actually one of the best forums I visit each day. One of the things which makes it so easy to use is the feature which allows you to go to the first unread post with one click. None of the other forums I visit have this feature and it is a pain to have to "scroll" down to find the most recent posts you have not read yet.

As Dusty said - the people who post here make the forum - not the software. I'll stay here thanks.

I don't use the New Posts feature because of the first unread post feature. If I'm not interested in a particular subject I just don't go there.

Having said that, I have to agree the search feature leaves a lot to be desired. Does it work? Yes, but it could be a lot better.

[paulmcohen]

For those using Safari or IE-7 or Outlook 2007 try the RSS Option, you can get a digest of every new post sent to you client software, it includes the title and a brief summary. In Safari it appears on a separate menu bar, for Outlook it is in the folder navigation bar. Outlook also lets you download the whole thread to you computer and actually back it up if you run Exchange. In any case you never have to actually go to the forum except to post and you get an easy to navigate way to review what is going on.

[admin]

Many of you are correct this is the best forum available, it does have some weaknesses. We can remedy the search by using our shopsmith.com search software or changing it to a Google search box like you see on some sites...finding the time to do that may be the problem unfortunately, but it is on the table.

Regarding the "New Posts" page, it sounds like there is a bug in it having to do with sessions so that when you leave after looking at it, it thinks you saw them. We are at the mercy of Vbulletin to fix that on their next update.

Using RSS is a great way to keep updated on the new posts, it does NOT have the above mentioned problem. here is the link, you can paste it into your RSS reader or set it up in your AOL, YAHOO, MSN or GOOGLE home-page's
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/external.htm