Forum upgrade

Brandon Staggs

Brandon Staggs

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Staff member
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We just completed a major upgrade of the forum software. Hope you like it. :D
 
Great new look! You've been busy!
 
Brandon Staggs said:
We just completed a major upgrade of the forum software. Hope you like it. :D
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Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can see you now!

JUST kidding!

Right now I can't say I like the new forum, but I don't dislike it.

Sometimes new things take time to get used to.

I'm sure you've given this a lot of time and thought, and so I'm sure this will in the end be a great change.

The bottom line: I appreciate all you invest in ministering to us.
 
PastorTim said:
Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can see you now!
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We could see you, too -- if you upload an picture. Click the "User CP" link at the top right and you can put your own picture. The "avatar" is what shows next to your posts, whereas the profile picture just shows in your profile.

Sometimes new things take time to get used to.
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I know what you mean. I had to drop the old forum software if I was going to keep maintaining the forum, because it was just too susceptible to spam attempts. I spent too much time going through mostly phony user registrations. The new system offers a lot of things I'm still learning, but the best thing is that it is better designed so that "bots" have a harder time registering, and I haven't had to delete a fake user since uploading the new one.
 
Brandon Staggs said:
We could see you, too -- if you upload an picture. Click the "User CP" link at the top right and you can put your own picture. The "avatar" is what shows next to your posts, whereas the profile picture just shows in your profile.
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It's too close to Halloween. Someone is sure to think I'm wearing a mask! :rolleyes:

Brandon Staggs said:
I know what you mean. I had to drop the old forum software if I was going to keep maintaining the forum, because it was just too susceptible to spam attempts. I spent too much time going through mostly phony user registrations. The new system offers a lot of things I'm still learning, but the best thing is that it is better designed so that "bots" have a harder time registering, and I haven't had to delete a fake user since uploading the new one.
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Praise the Lord for that!
 
Brandon Staggs said:
We could see you, too -- if you upload an picture. Click the "User CP" link at the top right and you can put your own picture. The "avatar" is what shows next to your posts, whereas the profile picture just shows in your profile.
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Sooooooo...

How do you like my avatar? :D
 
Brandon Staggs said:
We just completed a major upgrade of the forum software. Hope you like it. :D
Click to expand...

If one of the forums, for instance the Coffee Table, has more than one new thread (or replies to more than one thread), will only the latest thread or reply show on the main forum page?

I like all the smilies. :p

Is there a way we can be notified of all new postings to all threads, whether we've been participating or not? :)
 
marty said:
If one of the forums, for instance the Coffee Table, has more than one new thread (or replies to more than one thread), will only the latest thread or reply show on the main forum page?
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Yes -- the main forum page just shows a "preview" of what's going on in the forums. Clicking the forum name will open the thread list and all of the "new" threads, or threads with new posts, will be in bold.

Also, you can try the "New Posts" link at the top, which loads up all the threads with new posts. Next to each thread title is an "arrow" link button for going to the first new post in the thread... once read, click the "New Posts" link again (not your back button), and then that thread will be removed from your new threads list... once you get the flow down, it gets pretty easy to breeze through all the new posts.


Is there a way we can be notified of all new postings to all threads, whether we've been participating or not? :)
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You can "subscribe to a forum" rather than to threads. Click a forum name on the main then click the "Forum Tools" link and select "Subscribe to forum." In your "User CP" area you should be able to set it to send you an email notification when there is a new post in your subscribed areas. You just need to subscribe to the forums that interest you the most.
 
I like the RSS feed. I use Firefox for my browser and now have SS forum on my live bookmark toolbar.

Will the beta forum messages be available in the RSS feed?
 
wsbones said:
Will the beta forum messages be available in the RSS feed?
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I don't think vBulletin includes private forums in the RSS feed -- the Beta forum is not a public forum.
 
Brandon,

I know of another forum which uses this system {I believe} and they have Google ads {ostensibly Christian friendly} appear in the forum BUT ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT LOGGED IN.

This does 2 things:

Raises some funds to help support the forum.

Encourages casual viewers to register and become a part of the community.

Just thought I would mention it, in case you hadn't thought about it.
 
Thanks Tim, but the forums are just part of the business. SwordSearcher is supported by its users buying it, and the cost of this forum isn't enough to warrant seeking out an additional means of income for it.

Thanks for the consideration, though.

All this forum really needs are more participants. Later this month I'll be actively encouraging people to check it out...
 
Brandon Staggs said:
All this forum really needs are more participants. Later this month I'll be actively encouraging people to check it out...
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What do you envision for this forum, Brandon? What topics would you like to see here? :)
 
Ah, marty, you've asked a question I have no clear answer to! :eek:

I'd simply like to see this as a place where people interesting in SwordSearcher could freely talk about it, and Bible study in general... Hopefully we'll see more people offering their own SwordSearcher modules, etc... I hope that the Bible Topics and Prayer Requests forums get some use by people just looking for a place to talk with like-minded people online.

Specifically for SwordSearcher, seeing people talk about how they use it, and ask questions about how to perform tasks and the conversations between users based on those questions, really help me see where I need to improve things and what's already working well.

Stuff like that. :)
 
Brandon Staggs said:
Ah, marty, you've asked a question I have no clear answer to! :eek:

I'd simply like to see this as a place where people interesting in SwordSearcher could freely talk about it, and Bible study in general... Hopefully we'll see more people offering their own SwordSearcher modules, etc... I hope that the Bible Topics and Prayer Requests forums get some use by people just looking for a place to talk with like-minded people online.

Specifically for SwordSearcher, seeing people talk about how they use it, and ask questions about how to perform tasks and the conversations between users based on those questions, really help me see where I need to improve things and what's already working well.

Stuff like that. :)
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Hmmm... sure does sound like some good reasons to try to have a directed chat once in a while... :cool:
 
Brandon Staggs said:
Ah, marty, you've asked a question I have no clear answer to! :eek:

I'd simply like to see this as a place where people interesting in SwordSearcher could freely talk about it, and Bible study in general... Hopefully we'll see more people offering their own SwordSearcher modules, etc... I hope that the Bible Topics and Prayer Requests forums get some use by people just looking for a place to talk with like-minded people online.

Specifically for SwordSearcher, seeing people talk about how they use it, and ask questions about how to perform tasks and the conversations between users based on those questions, really help me see where I need to improve things and what's already working well.

Stuff like that. :)
Click to expand...

Mostly we all communicate just with you right now instead of with each other. We've been using the forum mainly for beta testing SwordSearcher, and haven't 'personalized' it. Having the avatars helps, and knowing that you don't like banana bread, but that JaeByrd does, is another help... Maybe with some encouragement we'll loosen up a little. ;)

May I say that I make great banana bread? But I don't bake often because I don't need to eat it... as you can see by my avatar. Soon my friends will be back and we'll be taking day-trips into the desert, looking at old mines, pretty scenery and mountains. I'll get some much needed exercise then. Also, we're planning a trip into Mexico for a month this winter. Hablaremos espa?ol. I enjoy looking at the Spanish Bible that's included with SwordSearcher to see if I can read it. :)
 
Thanks Brandon for the forums. I am new to these but not to Swordsearcher, nor Daily Prayer. I love both.

Thanks to Daily Prayer, I am in the process of reading The Bible for the forth straight year.

And thanks to Swordsearcher, I think I have been with it for about 6 to 8 years.

I have always wondered if you were in the Military when you were in Hawaii? Then a few years ago I see that you moved to Ok. Did you get out?

Anyway thanks for the great programs and keep up the great work.
 
freeop said:
I have always wondered if you were in the Military when you were in Hawaii? Then a few years ago I see that you moved to Ok. Did you get out?
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No, I've never served in the military. I moved to Hawaii when I married my wife, who was born and raised there. We recently relocated for cost of living reasons.

Thanks for all of your kind comments.
 
Brandon Staggs said:
No, I've never served in the military. I moved to Hawaii when I married my wife, who was born and raised there. We recently relocated for cost of living reasons.

Thanks for all of your kind comments.
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You are very welcome.

The reason I asked about Hawaii, was that was stationed there for over seven years. My son was born there and even has his Hawaiian Birth Certificate. He loves that.

Once I retired from the Navy, we moved back to Texas, which is Baja Oklahoma :razz:

But again thanks for the quick response and you all will be seeing a lot more of me now that I have found this forum. I already have found the posts very helpful and look forward to more info.
 
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