Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself? [Threadbanned users in 1st post]

Goldengirl

One could see Boards die another bit a day at a time if the CA forum changed to group access only .

If people can't see what's trending on CA it loses the Current in Current Affairs ..except for a few in the know .of course.

Not sure how that helps the site.

@ShamoBuc

@ShamoBuc id argue the more cumbersome thing re vanilla is how groups are a pain to find! Requesting access is not a big deal if you genuinely are interested imo.

Besides it used to be more difficult you had to read the Charter and find out the two phrases in italics to demonstrate you did, which had to be in your request! I think you mentioned above that’s no longer the case.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003153#Comment_122003153

Yep it became infested with people banned from the soccer forum.

Why was it allowed run so long?

Necro

As a current soccer mod I'm not opposed to having an open access forum. I'm sure Boards lost a bit of traffic with Soccer going private even if a lot could only view the threads. It's not really for me to decide though, I'm only one voice. There is a yearly feedback thread which runs at the close of the season and that's probably the best place to get a discussion going on public vs private. Most of the current posters there may very well be quite happy with the current set up.

If it was to go public access though, the forum would definitely need a good few more mods especially in the beginning and as ShamoBuc has highlighted getting people to help out is quite challenging.

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003170#Comment_122003170

Yep old forum had that issue surely. Now it's just a one liner post to request access. You're right about the groups though, sometimes we find people requesting access that had been grandfathered in with the Vanilla switch and they didn't even know. So we will always tell people to check under Groups for Soccer now to point them in the right direction.

ShamoBuc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003170#Comment_122003170

Looking for the 2 phrases was a bit of a chore - we also had to remember to change them all the time too !

I think that AH Soccer thread that was eventually closed, could be an example of what Could happen if we opened it up again - but if the powers that be wish to Trial it we could see if it is in some way feasable.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003325#Comment_122003325

I used to just access it to hear about the team I followed but tried lately and I can't access it anymore. Is there a time frame that you need to be active or you get removed? I never posted so was never banned!

pjohnson

Tbf the reason its only megathreads is because thanks to vanilla you cant just follow the entire "soccer" board anymore. Thus any new op's posted in the private group dont appear in the homepage and obviously aren't followed by any regulars (as it was just created) so it goes unseen.

Before if you followed the soccer board any new thread would appear in your following section.

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003344#Comment_122003344

Just checked for you there you seem to still be a member. If you select the Groups option on the side menu it should show up for you

Feisar

I like boards, always have since I stumbled across it back in the day. On my second username as I forgot the password for my previous one after a hiatus. The Irish-centric(ness) across a broad range of topics is great. Sure there is r/ireland on reddit but that's just After Hours/Current Affairs not much specialist stuff there. Also the upvote/downvote thing, I like reading forums in a cohesive manner. One could hear about something and come on here and get a flavour of both sides of a debate/topic. Unfortunately the format doesn't suit younger people these days. I'd say that's the way with forums generally and not just a boards.ie specific issue.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003191#Comment_122003191

We don’t really close threads just because they surround a topic where a forum exists already. some seem to think AH is only here so you can have a place to shitpost or take the piss but its really more of a general discussion forum.

There’s few threads in AH closed or moved to be honest and usually I’d only do it myself in cases where it’s an obvious troll, the OP is lost and is looking for a serious answer to a question/some advice or it’s AMKC.

bucketybuck

In the last two soccer feedback threads I very strongly got the sense that mods were happy with how the forum was running, how there was very little disruption, few flashpoints, little trolling, it was ticking away nicely.

Yet few seemed to point out the obvious, there is no trouble because there is no anything, it is a ghost town. Of course there are no bar fights, nobody goes to your bar.

If the priority is a tidy bar and less work for the mods then grand, carry on then. It will be nice and tidy when it finally closes.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003530#Comment_122003530

Not sure how you got this impression.

Firstly, in the feedback threads it is users who post their views on how things are going (particularly how the moderation is going), not the mods. The feedback from soccer users the past number of years has been overwhelmingly positive.

As for it being a ghost town, Soccer is very active, probably the most active of all sports forums and one of the most active forums on the site outside of AH and CA.

Making it public again has been discussed numerous times by the mods and admins. Soccer used to be a mess with trolls and re-regs, and the question is whether the potential increase in post quantity is worth the drop in post quality. So far the answer has been no.

Hodors Appletart

One more thing, and it's more of a meta comment than anything really.

When this type of thread comes up every once in a while, there is invariably a flurry of engagement from Mods, Cmods, Admins and whoever else, and they always say there are good points being made, they are being discussed on the mod forums, between cmods and admins etc, and sometimes there's even a promise that at some undefined future point they'll come back and give updates. That last part never happens.

What I think would be good to see would be a sort of list of things from this thread that are being discussed, and then come back in, say, 4 weeks and outline the outcome.

We heard you saying x, y, z and here are the changes we are implementing in relation to those points.

We heard you saying a, b, c but there aren't really any changes we can make there due to restraints of Vanilla

We heard you saying m, n, o and we don't think the points were constructive, and we think we are doing ok on those things and nothing will be changing

Then leave the thread open for a further week for any feedback in relation to decisions made, then close it.

I don't want to go digging for previous threads, but it's almost guaranteed to be the case that the eventually get locked, piddle out and there is never any feedback about the feedback - it'd be amazing, if this time that was different.

Big Bag of Chips

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004259#Comment_122004259

Absolutely!

I know posters don't know what's going on in the background and often it can seem like absolutely nothing is being done. But there is always discussion ongoing in the background. Always.

Lots of the issues posters have raised here are issues the moderators are aware of. Bearing in mind all the moderators are posters themselves. So the things that frustrate posters also frustrate moderators. But sometimes it's not a simple solution.

There are complaints of heavy handed moderation, deleting or closing threads etc. Yet there's also calls for certain posters to be actioned and their right to post be removed etc because they are rubbing people up the wrong way. This sort of thing is very difficult to call. And whatever decision is made will inevitably annoy someone!

We will bring feedback to the thread. That's something that should be done. Posters really have invested a lot of time and consideration into providing feedback. I know we have acknowledged it all and we do appreciate the time people have taken. We've ruled out some suggestions on the thread already, but have absolutely taken other suggestions back to the moderators. All moderators have been asked to read this thread and we even have a feedback-on-the-feedback thread running ourselves at the moment!

I've said it already on thread, there's not going to be one quick fix to the issues people are having. It will be an ongoing process to make Boards.ie the type of place the huge majority of posters who are already here want to remain in and continue contributing to. But - it's the internet. There will always be the cranks and the loons! But I think what this thread has shown is the majority of posters here are looking for the same thing. A community where we can discuss, debate, argue, advise, have a laugh at the trivial stuff and support posters with difficult stuff. I honestly do believe the majority of posters want that, and indeed already do that! So we just need to deal with the minority.

Changes will be made. The posters are the community (moderators included). We're the ones who set the tone of the community. I think overall it's a great site, with a few problem areas. The problem areas will be looked at to see how they can be managed better.

Feedback will be provided 👍🏻😊

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122002658#Comment_122002658

If they're entertaining or at least every second one, what's the problem??

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004587#Comment_122004587

I suppose they could vaguely be called entertaining if that is the type of threads some want. If so have a dedicated section for them instead of being on every forum and being closed because they aren't relevant to that forum.

Big Bag of Chips

If a thread isn't relevant in a particular forum it should, where possible, be moved to a more appropriate forum. Personally I don't like to see loads of locked threads in a forum. It makes the forum look very uninviting. Some threads will need to be locked of course. But (personally) I think it's something that should be used sparingly.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004817#Comment_122004817

Any chance of a Pondering forum for a certain type of poster to post away!

Calahonda52

Human nature being what it is, I think a month of rigorous deletion of stuff would show the carckheads who post such stuff that it it won't stay up, leaving to in place is indulging them.

As a matter of interest, what are the criteria that prevent mass deletion?

folk have no right to be indulged, any sense of entitlement must be killed off at source, since it is just an imagined reality.

over on AAM, BB replaces the delete button on his computer every few months!

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004667#Comment_122004667

Isn't that exactly what After Hours is for?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004919#Comment_122004919

If only they would post there though.

Leg End Reject

I've seen the weather forum mentioned a few times and it's a great forum.

I have no technical knowledge, but always read it ahead of big weather events, the knowledgeable posters are very welcoming to the clueless posters like me. The snow threads are epic and always nudge me to stock up just in case, it was a godsend during the last big one.

Irish Aris

I still enjoy the site. I mostly avoid subjects that can get heated (namely politics and religion) so I don't frequent to CA, AH or politics - the few times I decided to take part it was short lived as it is very difficult to distinguish who posts in good faith and who's trolling.

I really like that there are many users that genuinely try to help if you have a question.

The gigs & events threads are very useful for me to keep up with what's going on and I have tried to contribute a bit more recently.

The weather Forum was mentioned a few times - kudos to the posters there that provide good insights, especially during weather events.

The current situation in the soccer forum also suits me. Easier to have a discussion especially in the megathreads. Still a bit of tribalism but nothing major.

I was also a big fan and frequent contributor in the forum games. Really got me through the pandemic. Between things back to normal and the vanilla interruption we lost momentum , it's a shame that we haven't been able to bring "traffic" back up.

Don't have anything negative to observe - I don't post as much anymore, but still check daily on what's going on.

Thank you for all the effort in running the site @Big Bag of Chips and everyone else!! 🙂

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004059#Comment_122004059

The last feedback thread in soccer had 14 replies, 5 of them from mods. The overwhelming feedback is that it's dead. Pretty much like the rest of boards a small hardcore of regular posters keeping it going

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122006021#Comment_122006021

Are they good quality posts or poor quality though?
this thread for example has 38 pages for example but every post is not worth reading.

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122006039#Comment_122006039

Both. In forums like that people would argue over which side of bread to butter so there's still a bit of that & there's a lot of nothing posts too like commenting during a game. Neither good or bad just a comment. I don't really post there anymore just have an odd read at times

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122006039#Comment_122006039

Am surprised at that comment because I think the feedback has been very good generally and appropriate bar one or two .

If it's feedback all posts deserve to be read surely ?

Not calling you Shirley !

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122006416#Comment_122006416

Look, I think you’re misreading my post. I am simply saying that quantity doesn’t = quality.

1000’s of posts a day means F all if there’s a ton of rubbish posted. That is specifically referring to opening up soccer only because there’s fewer posters than if it were public access.

Arghus

The super threads are going fine in soccer, which is good, but it is a pity that the more random football related threads seem to have largely died off. Figure a lot of it has to do with the slightly trickier means to access the forum and the fact that you usually have to click on "all discussions" to show beyond the first few threads, so they just kind of stay there and the rest quickly disappear.

Can someone remind me again why forum games couldn't be ran on the new platform. That was a great forum: the walruses were fantastic and the once off competitions to decide the best of something were fantastic - I remember the epic competition to decide the best Beatles tune three (I think) years ago - really showed what made boards great: a thread with a diversity of opinions about a particular subject, progressing in a linear fashion etc, etc. It was a shame that all died on its arse with the changeover.