OcUK Forums Changes

Hen_Dawg said:
Another sub-section with all the random general discussion threads. e.g. "i just ran over my mower cable, and got severely electrocuted, spec me a hospital!".
Don't get rid of them but separate in from the slightly more serious discussion. Plus GD threads can get lost to page 2 in an hour
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I'd strongly counsel against this. The GDZ/GDC (?) forums were awful, the thing died a death.
 
- Allowing trades and offers of trades in the for sale section.
- As said tighter MM rules.
- Some form of email when someone leaves a trust comment; this would also be reminding you to do the same.
- Possible RSS feed on most popular/viewed sub-forums.

Just a few possible suggestions, most things are pretty spot on.
 
Stricter MM entry requirements.

Anything that gets moderated I feel we should have the right to ask for a full explanation of why it happened. I'm specificaly talking about the suspension and/or banning of members.

But probably the most important, a clamp down on the spam in GD. Theres threads in there that aren't even worthy of being opened.

Other than that, it's pretty spot on.
 
i think the forums seem pretty good tbh
- being able to start polls would be useful for if you're undecided of what to get
- a "spec me random ****" section instead of all in GD lol
- a different colour scheme maybe?
 
MM-

300 posts and 3 months membership to post on the forum, anyone can view the forum. Trust system is fantastic so no need for change there.

General-

Possibly have a forum dedicated to meets (or something along those lines, somewhere that promotes local gatherings), something needs to be done about regaining the community spirit here imo. I post on talkphotography forums and the community/meet culture is great, I’m out every week or two with people from the forums, and it would be really great to have that here. I’ve been to 3 OcUK meets and I’d like to see a lot more, regardless of the main meet members of old not being here.

It would be great to somehow increase the average age (or apparent average age) of posters. Especially in the lifestyle forums. It sometimes seems as though it’s a bit of a haven for unruly kids. If the forums could attract more mature users they would post more interesting threads and attract more and so on.

The photography forum needs some energy, appoint new dons (me tbh :P, or even better get cyk back) and really build on what’s there, it could be a great place for people to learn and share ideas and results. I’m studying an MA in cinematography this year and I’m having to join forums in the USA to find information and tips, but these people are lurking on OcUK lol, they just need more of a reason to post. At the moment it just seems like a place to discuss gear.

Rules and mod decisions-

Firstly, I think that it would be beneficial to the community to be a little more open about mod decisions and strategy/thinking, because people appreciate that. It helps people to feel as though they are a part of the moderation (which promotes self moderation). Obviously total transparency would be problematic, but a little bit of explanation would be great.
I don’t think that the rules overall are as draconian as some might suggest. The rules on language are good, competitors policy is fair enough, bad attitudes are dealt with fairly well. Rules against nudity and medical advise are fair enough, warez the same, but the rule against criticizing your posts (this post is directed to Spie, R.E the OP/suggestions etc) might be a little OTT, because is gives carte blanche to bannings etc for anyone who disagrees (admittedly I’ve never been banned for disagreeing in a civil manner, but the rule would indicate that it’s agree or be banned), maybe you could re-word that so that it’s a little more aimed towards the troublemakers. Sometimes it feels like it's 'fit in or **** off', which doesn't lend it-self to a balanced forum. Opinions should be catered for and respected as equal etc (ideally, and if community spirit etc is to be built, which is really what my whole posts about).

Of course I’m a daft lefty :P, but I do like the OcUK forums and I think that these are good suggestions.
 
Maybe add a 'suggestions' section to let people add their ideas about rules and the forum like this thread :)
A laptop section would be great too :D
 
Ulfhedjinn said:
This is why we need to split it up so people like you stop getting their knickers in a twist.
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Haha. I don't own any of them; it was merely because it's downright silly people reading everyone's arguments in there and I thought I would touch someone's nerve posting by posting the above. (And indeed it would seem I did?)


Oh, how could I forget to suggest having the laptop section. Although it would be hard to judge where to read/post about problems not necessarily laptop related but common to all.
 
Another by me...

You have to be a member for 48hrs+, and have at least 10 posts before you can post pictures or links.

I've seen it done on other sites with vB.. would certainly deter wannabe spammers :)
 
SherberT* said:
God, all you people requiring bigger signiture sizes etc. What is the point? Moving Images are nearly always annoying and tacky. Same with flash animations.
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I agree completely, I was actually just writing my own post to say pretty much the same thing.

No sig size changes, no new avatars, no new smilies.
 
Members to actually make more use of the rtm button..
It's all very well complaining about the amount of bickering in the Graphics Card forum (for instance) but if all you ever rtm is oversize sigs then that doesn't help when you feel people are being overly agressive:)
 
Baz said:
Firefox has a decent spillchucker available... Works on other websites... :)
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I see what you did there...or at least I hope you meant to do that!

I think the forums are fine as they are, the only problem I see is the number of complete spanners that seem to appear and post stupid and pointless threads/posts.

I have to agree on the MM ideas too, it really could do with tightening up, I'm not there much, but it would be helpful to stop people getting scammed.

Sigs are fine as they are, everyone is getting by fine, so we don't need a change there.
Avatars could do with being made female for the ladies, either by the fact that they signed up as a female, or by appointment from a Don (so people that are known to be female).

I like how many rules there are here, and to be honest sometimes I feel there should be more. The place is organised and clean and generally quite friendly, unlike many other forums I've been on. :)

InvG
 
JohnnyG said:
Members to actually make more use of the rtm button..
It's all very well complaining about the amount of bickering in the Graphics Card forum (for instance) but if all you ever rtm is oversize sigs then that doesn't help when you feel people are being overly agressive:)
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Haha! That's quite funny seeing as that's how Zefan got made up to Don ;)

:p
 
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