Mini-questions and mini-answers about this forum

[Korn]

So anybody else not receiving topic reply notifications?

I think we had one or two persons with the same problem - she created a new account and then everything worked fine. Let's see if this improves with version 4 of the forum software, due within less than a month.

I'm receiving notifications of replies to topics I didn't even subscribe to?

If you want, I can have a look at your account and disable all subscriptions - then you can reactivate them for only the threads you are interested in. Just send me a PM if you want me to do this...

[Korn]

Here's a question from another user...

could you stop this stupid bs and either give me back ability to PM/make threads to explain to me why I'm not allowed to? Surely you're not that childish to just take it away without reason.

The reason we have "We reserve the right to delete/moderate accounts and posts - for any reason - without further explanation." in our board rules is due to capacity limits. While I'd really like to meet and chat with all our 10,000 members, there's simply not enough resources/time to explain our moderation policy in detail to those who want it. The board rules should explain why we have the moderation policy we have.

Admins on all relatively large boards get angry mails from various people for a number of reasons. For instance, many non-approved members are annoyed because they can post here even if they aren't vegans, and want a discussion about this. In such and similar cases all we can do is to hope that they either have read or will read our board rules, which explains who this board is meant for.

In the future, boards like this will hopefully be run by people who has it as their (paid) job, and therefore can spend all the time they ideally should spend on discussing various issues with members whenever needed. Currently, the situation is very far from that ideal solution.

Not only are admins expected to respond to spend time on every vegan or non-vegan who wants a discussion about or board rules, but we are also expected to pay various bills from our own pocket whenever we need support, to pay for server rental, or take time off our real work to deal with urgent situations. That's why we have the donation system, but even that only covers (some of the) real expenses, not 'support' time expected by users who don't agree in our straight-forwards rules, or haven't even been bothered with reading them, let alone the time needed just to keep the site up and running.

Earlier this week, a member, who have asked me to deactivate her account had someone ask me why she couldn't post (!). Another member asked why she couldn't post (s/he declared that she wasn't a vegan, and this is a site for vegans, so...). Then there are of course regular questions about quirks with certain accounts etc, removing spam almost daily, approving new members (manually, to avoid spam). We also work on updating the forum, meaning lots of hours involved in looking at solutions, trying out early versions/making backups and much more. Version 4 will be much better in many ways, but sometimes it's good to wait with installing new versions, which is what we have been looking at. Then there's the communication with the server guys regarding certain database error messages we seem to get occasionally, especially around 1.30 AM-1.30 AM GMT, and also problems with the so called 'shell access' we need to create extra backups needed. Then we have paid for some design/support to people who haven't done the job, which needs to be followed up... and more, including nice posts from people who registered as non-vegans but who now are vegans

So when someone asks me to stop the 'stupid bullshit' - I simply have to ignore it. I don't remember why that account was on (temp.?) moderated posts anymore, but my interest in diving into investigating this is reduced to a minimum level when people communicate the way that poster did. I simple don't have time to discuss whether I'm so "childish" that I take away people's posting abilities without reason. Of course we don't - but not all accounts are having full access from day 1, for various reasons.

Accusing someone for 'stupid bullshit' is a pretty good example of the kind of communication we're not interested in on this board. Like it or not - our rules about this board being reserved for 'friendly communication' (or at least - we don't want 'unfriendly' communication!) also apply to communication with the moderators!

[fiamma]

What's happened to the post count? It feels weird without it...

[Korn]

It's still in your profile. You probably feel weird without it because you are used to it. There was a period we didn't have post counts in the message user info area at all, and nobody seemed to miss it...

[Korn]

Some more comments/questions that we have received lately...

"I want to arrange a meet-up with someone, but my Private Message function isn't enabled."
Just post in the forums. (We may actually change our policy re. PMs, in that new users won't have PM abilities for a little while.)


"I've heard from that people have offered to help you mod and admin in the past, and you've never accepted."
We have had several moderators for many years. We may have had one or two cases were someone has offered moderator help, which we haven't used, simply because we haven't been needing (more) moderators then.

Re. moderation: Ideally, a forum like this shouldn't need any moderation at all. If people disagree in our board rules and how the site is run, it's actually much better if they use another forum, because whether we've had 3 or 30 people involved in running the site, it's many ways to spend the energy better than (sometimes rather rude) people who don't agree in our policy. If someone with a normal account has been put on delayed/moderated posts, we actually expect that they will understand why if they look at the board rules. If they don't, that decreases the chance they'll be happy with this site, and definitely decrease the chances that they'll get unmoderated PM and posting abilities back. If you think what we do is "stupid bullshit", you shouldn't use this board in the first place, and you won't get full access to the site.

"I'm on moderated posts, but perhaps I would donate money to the site if I weren't." (This was from the poster who talked about stupid bullshit, 'childish' etc. earlier).
Donating isn't linked to PM access or moderated/unmoderated posts, and we actually encourage people *not* to donate unless they have a feeling that this is a forum which already is run in a way they're happy with...

"I don't know how to contact the admin/mods."
Just use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page...

These question may pop up soon, so I'll respond right away:

"Why does the forum have fewer members and posts today than a few days ago?"
The server guys initially said that we had so large database that this would slow down the forum, and at some point said that we needed another, more expensive solution with such a large database (of members, threads and posts).
After that, we removed members who had never posted and hadn't been online for more than a year, and removed a number of old or outdated threads. This means that if someone searches the forum, it will be a smaller amount of data for the server to go through which improves the performance.

"When will you update to vBulletin 4.0?"
Most likely, within a couple of weeks. The current 4.0 version is more CPU intensive than the version we use, so we'll wait until some bugs have been fixed and the software puts less strain on the server.

"Why the label 'ex-admin'"?
Because this is a site for people who don't need to be administrated.
I don't like the idea of "administrating" anyone, so due to how internet democracy works - instead of trying to change the policy of a forum or admin you're not happy with, use a forum that suits you better. This makes sense, because part of that 'Internet democracy' means that people are free to start any forum they like with the profile they want. Even with 100 moderators, it wouldn't make sense to discuss everything we do with everybody who wants to.

This is a forum for discussing vegan related topics and meet and chat with other vegans, not for discussing the forum as such - but constructive critique is always welcome.

We do have a lot of traffic, and relatively low amount of financial support, so we won't increase the forum use (and expenses) to accommodate wishes from people who would like this forum to be something which it is not intended to be. It is clearly intended for those who are capable of *not* communicate in an unfriendly way.

[veganwitch]

What happened to the visitor message section and the recent visitors section?

[Korn]

Hi,
We started a poll about how many people who wanted to keep various features not long ago. We had another thread earlier about these features as well, and as a result of the feedback from these two threads, these two features have now been disabled.

[veganwitch]

Ah well, I'll miss them. But I'll get over it

[Korn]

But I'll get over it

Good!

Here's another question I just got:

I can't post anywhere but in this section, and I can't edit my group memberships! I'm so confused! I really want to be successful in going vegan, but I really need the support of others who have been there and I can't post anywhere!!!

Welcome!

We used to have an area for discussions with non-vegans, but that section has been changed to a section where new and potential vegans can ask questions (only).

Please check this subforum: New newbie questions


Most likely, your questions already have been answered either here...

Vegan FAQ


...or here:

Other/old newbie threads

[veganwitch]

I'm getting the database error when I try to get into my private messages and user profile. I can get around the rest of the forum okay though. But, ah, I'll be going through withdrawal soon if I can't get to my PM's

[veganwitch]

Crisis and withdrawal averted on my end. Now I'm not having a problem.
LMNOP, maybe ours are just overloaded

[Korn]

Hi. I am able to post to threads, but haven't been able to post pictures. The only option for me is to upload a hyperlink to a separate site w/pics on it; however i would really like to just be able to upload pics directly to the site. Could someone please let me know why I cannot do this and/or how to fix it?

Hi, we would need *a lot* more server space and capacity to offer that. Some people post a lot of pictures, sometimes rather large, and in some cases many pictures that are relatively similar to each other etc. - so unfortunately we don't offer that option. Maybe in the future?

[Korn]

I have been getting so many responses to threads that my email is overloaded.

Hi,
you need to go here:
http://www.veganforum.com/forums/pro...do=editoptions
Look for "Default Thread Subscription Mode", and just choose another setting.

[RubyDuby]

My user group subscriptions aren't working... none of them are showing up in my control panel anymore, no matter how many times I post in them.

[Korn]

trying to change my signature. it used to be a link to my bloggy and now it is blank.

I don't remember what happened, links to other sites in signatures shouldn't be possible anymore (as far as I remember)... our FAQ says "Links to relevant sites are welcome. Please post only one link, and do it in 'Links, news, articles', or in 'Projects, products & companies'", and we'll keep it that way at least for now...

I want it to say ["excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don't work on." {return/new line}
"I'm not not licking toads." -H. Jay Simpson], but every time I type or paste something into the space for a signature, it becomes underlined and then denied as a disallowed code.

I've never heard about that problem before - maybe someone else can chime in?

My user group subscriptions aren't working... none of them are showing up in my control panel anymore, no matter how many times I post in them.

Do you mean the list of subscribed threads in any forums? Or subforums you 'subscribe to'/threads in these subforums?

[trudatman]

I assume the problem was that my signature was a link and then that became disallowed. now it's kind of stuck as that type of text, no matter what I do. if I want it to say "hello" or nothing at all and then switch it to regular text, that isn't allowed because I can't make the underlining (evidence of a link) go away. lame.

how about the username change?

[Korn]

I removed your sig and changed your capital T now...

[RubyDuby]

Do you mean the list of subscribed threads in any forums? Or subforums you 'subscribe to'/threads in these subforums?

my subscribed threads in the User Groups sub-forum. It's not subscribing me when I post in them. They don't show up in my control panel.

[Korn]

I've changed some settings now - if the problem is still there, please name one of the subforums that has this problem...

Are there any others out there with the same problem?

[RubyDuby]

They seem to be sticking now. thank you!

[Marrers]

I had this message just now:-

This forum requires that you wait 500 seconds between posts. Please try again in 205 seconds.

Surely there must be a fault as this is far too long a gap - I thought it used to be a just minute wait between posts.

[Korn]

Fixed.

[Marrers]

[sandra]

My email notification of posts seems to be going very slow. I'm getting told about posts that were posted the day before............I don't know if it's just a problem with my email service or not! Is anyone else finding this?

[Korn]

From an email I just got:

Ever since the forum closed for a week a little while back, every time I go to the main forum page, I get a message about not having permission to access that page. I said in my registration that I'm a vegan, and I don't think I was getting that message before, so I don't know why I'm getting it now. Whenever I navigate away from that page (by clicking "Forum" to get to the message board page) everything seems fine again. Other than the message, it doesn't seem like there are any permissions problems with my account.

I've received some similar reports today, and have changed some settings. If any of you still gets this message: exactly which URL are you trying to access:

veganforum.com
veganforum.com/forums/forum.php
veganforum.com/forums/index.php
veganforum.com/forums/front.html

Or something else?

[Korn]

My email notification of posts seems to be going very slow. I'm getting told about posts that were posted the day before............I don't know if it's just a problem with my email service or not! Is anyone else finding this?

Oops, I missed that message. Still having those problems?

[Cricket24]

http://www.veganforum.com/forums/
That's where I get the message about permissions.

[Korn]

That should be a temp. problem, because since you haven't specified anything more than a folder (and not a real php or html file), the server tries to take you to the index file of a new section that isn't open yet, and which therefor only I have access to.

Does this make sense at all? If not, just try eg. http://www.veganforum.com instead. or just veganforum.com.

Or, in eg. Safari, all you need to type is veganforum, and you will come to http://www.veganforum.com/forums/forum.php (I guess this may work in other browsers as well).

[Risker]

Would it be possible to allow the use of a smaller text size for posting long lists etc?

[Korn]

I'm sorry that I haven responded to this question earlier, Risker! It appears that the text size options can't be enabled/disabled for lists only, so we'll keep the current solution, at least for now.

Another question I've received is: why is the forum always a little slower, for a period, before noon (European time)?
Answer: This is because automatic backups are being made daily around this time - without closing the forum.

[harpy]

Is there any easy way to list any recent unanswered posts (so that we can make sure people do get an answer), please, Korn?

[Korn]

Unfortunately not. But here's an idea: if you go inside a subforum, and click on the word Replies (in Replies/Views) twice, the threads will be sorted, ascending, after how many replies they have received. If there are any threads which haven't been responded to at all, they should now appear at the top of the list.

Thanks for bringing this up!

[Back-Space]

That's a great idea idea though. Or is there someway of keeping the most recent threads on a page, without them disappearing after being read? It's kind of a challenge to get back to a thread if no one else has posted in it since you have. Like a "Most active threads" section or something like that.

[Korn]

You can use Today's Posts instead of New Posts?

Other than that, you need to go to the forum itself and look for a thread list there.

Alternatively, bookmark all important threads, the search engine, and whatever else you may want easy access to in your browsers Bookmarks Bar (folder).

[Back-Space]

Oh, I never even knew about that Thanks. I can't seem to use the search all that well. I'll type something in and it will find the complete opposite of what I'm looking for

[Korn]

Look closely on the search various options you have there... and it will start to make more sense.

[Risker]

I find searching a lot simpler if you click the 'Search Single Content Type' tab at the top.

[Korn]

Yes - if the search type is set to "Posts".
But the whole thing needs to be redone - it's rather counterintuitive and much more complex than the old search feature.

[twinkle]

I've only read the first page so hope this isn't a repeat, but is there any way to hide threads?

There are some that keep cropping up that I am not interested in replying to because they've already been exhaustively covered in my opinion, so I'd rather not see them any more, is there an option to hide them or will I just have to suck it up?

[Korn]

Sorry, the software doesn't have such an option, unless these threads are in a subforum which belongs to a so called "permission group". Then you can leave that group, if you have joined it, to avoid the thread popping up.

[vava]

Any chance of some more cute smileys - don't know how smileys work - do you have to buy them?

Fab ones here www.minimins.com

[Back-Space]

You can add your own. I do that once in a while just by copying the URL of the smilie and putting it in [ I M G ] brackets.

<< I love this one

[vava]

Heh! Thanks for that.

[Back-Space]

Heh! Thanks for that.

Lol, I like it

[Korn]

1)

Someone ( a new member) just asked if we moderate all posts here.
We don't, except in the Vegan FAQ section, where posts are moderated always (except for long time members with a high post count).

The question came from one who probably haven't read our board rules, because he managed to post 4-5 posts before his account was approved, all (but one) about promoting another site - in various threads. We've had similar situations before, and the only thing that seems to work with people who seem to register to promote another forum or site is to have them on moderated posts - otherwise, they'll just keep 'spamming' our threads with comments that "happen to" be about that other site (which they sometimes own, moderate or admin).



2)
Here's an excerpt from what another person wrote in "About yourself" recently:

"First of all I just want to say this registration process is awful..."

...and...

"What exactly is this nonsense under the option title??
What is the first word in this sentence?"


There are lots of 'robots' computers who constantly try to register on forums only to post spam etc. To ensure a registration doesn't come from a robot, we now have this question saying "What is the first word in this sentence?". The answer is of course "What", but a robot don't understand this...

We also have this Captcha/Re-Captcha thing (typing in random characters from an image file) to prevent bots, but this solution has been hacked not long ago, and therefore isn't working as it should at the moment.

I have manually approved thousands of accounts over the last years - it takes time, but means that we have a forum that's relatively spam (and omni!) free.

This user has now told me that I should tell him exactly how to respond to the registration procedure "without any childish games or riddles" or else I will be investigated and reported for "discrimination against foreign and dyslexic vegans, alienating, monopolising and branding veganism in your own personal opinions."

The only short and honest response I can offer to such an approach may appear brutal, but here it is: someone who come up with threats, talk about alienating, monopolizing, childishness, awful, silly games, 'branding' and more even before he is a member here unfortunately represents a typical example of the kind of communication we don't want at this site. I have no idea who he is or what his opinions are about anything, and of course this has nothing to do with opinions. Sometimes I see 10-15 new registrations when I log in, and I can't respond to all of those who aren't approved personally. That's too bad, actually, but that's how it is.

Some other sites worth trying:
http://www.veganrepresent.com
http://www.vegtalk.org/
http://veganclub.org/forums/
http://www.vegfamily.com/forums/
http://www.vegfamily.com/forums/
http://goveganforum.yuku.com/
http://rawveganforum.com/

[vava]

Once again Korn you have been amazingly patient - if it was my site they would be given a two word answer.

[Korn]

Thanks, Vava.

Another one which came in today:

I understand [...] that some of my posts have fallen foul of section 9 of your rules (which contains errors, BTW).

Will I be informed of this, and what my offending posts said, so that I may correct them?

Sorry, but when someone logs in and mainly posts messages promoting a product/site/other forum - repeatedly, in many threads, we don't discuss thee messages/cases on an individual basis. Plus, it should be clear from our rules that we don't want people to spam various threads with repeated promotion of... anything. We just delete such posts, especially in cases like yours, where there already have been people promoting the same stuff you want to promote (several times, in multiple threads, including a dedicated thread), and where your intention here clearly is to promote something, whatever the thread you post in.

In general, it doesn't help If such a member fail to see that s/he has broken our board rules - or need help to understand that this has happened.

Pardon my English about spelling errors - I'll have look at the FAQ soon. Thanks for the tip.

[cobweb]

Korn please don't let nastiness get you down.

[Korn]

I'll do my best.

Here are a couple of legitimate questions from today:

"Hi, I have a couple of issues I'm hoping you can sort out

Firstly whenever I sign in, it says 'thank you for logging in...' but then loads up a page that says I need to register.

Secondly I've received a few PMs that say my post has been removed and I don't really understand why."

Last question first: we remove old/outdated posts regularly, especially from these forums which have an announcement about posts regularly being removed. Don't worry. I have turned off the automatic message about deleted etc. posts from a couple of subforums lately.

Re. the login issue: One other person who have mentioned this, and we haven't been able to sort out why it happens, If other have the same problem, please let us know!

[vava]

OMG! - how does this stuff not drive you to distraction? Makes me mad - and I don't even have to deal with it! grrrr