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View Full Version : Changes for 2010 – Have Your Say!



Lee Roberts
25-12-2009, 02:52 AM
Well it’s that time of year again and 2010 is just around the corner, I hope you all have a great new year and I can’t wait to see what new project you will be starting!

For the New Year I’m currently hoping to revamp the site a little, for the most part the site will remain forum community based; however I’m going to be adding some new features to the site.

I won’t name them all but I would like to give you an idea of what is to come, there will be a new section for each member to have their own “blog” area, this will work great for your build log’s as now you can keep everything in one place and arrange everything with more flexibility.

Each member will also have their own Album section, agreed we do already have that with the current gallery system we use, however the new system is much better integrated into the forum and adding your pics to posts and so on really shouldn’t be as problematic as it has been for some.

While not a totally “new feature” I’m confident you will find it easier to use and manage. As time has gone on I’ve noticed more and more of you using 3rd party sites to host your images and while I don’t have a problem with anyone doing it that way, I know it can be tricky for some.

The other thing to remember is if you use the site hosting for this kind of thing your images will be shared site wide in the various sections and more importantly increasing the overall site content for new comers to browse through. Did I mention it’s totally free with no limits in place?

The other big thing we will be making use of is an “Article” system, my plans are to stream line the wealth of information the site offers to new comers of the cnc world. People looking to build their first machine, who need lots of questions answered and could really do with some of the basics pointed out to them for consideration or would really benefit from a guild, will be able to read articles produced by you on particular things.

Generally what I’m looking to do is make this kind of information really easy to find and follow more along the lines of a resource and reference; maybe we could have a tutorial section as well.

The way the new system will work is like this, you post your content as you do now only this time we will have the options to promote your content to an article right into the heart of what will be the sites “Main” content.

Again, this will be fully supported by the forums and not that much different to the way you currently have discussions, however what it really means is you can actively contribute to what the site can offer and will be.

One of the biggest errors any Community Manager can do is to dramatically change a product without going to the masses first. What I would like is your feedback, there must be things YOU would like to see added, changed or maybe there is something you really struggle with on the site and really wish this was sorted out once and for all.

Well Now is your chance, there is nothing I like more than pleasing people and if I can make the site more about what YOU want/need, then I will do my best for you.

:feedback:

Yours,
Lee

irving2008
25-12-2009, 10:53 AM
Looking forward to some of the changes Lee.

From a moderator perspective one of the biggest changes would be more control over who can register and blocking of IP addresses and ranges of addresses or ISPs to reduce the 30 or so spammers a week I block on average. You get the same IP addresses popping up day after day...

Wobblybootie
25-12-2009, 05:02 PM
The idea of an “Article” system sounds very good to me. As a newbie I have shed loads of questions, queries, and other brain numbing problems to contend with, along with the simple decisions that I need to take on the road to CNC Nivarna. To have a method of finding answers and information in an organised system rather than having to trawl through assorted posts in my somewhat haphazard manner would be a major plus point.

The 'Tutorial' on motor selection was a superb example of the sort of content I will be looking for, my compliments!! :clap:

Other than that ... for me .... don't fix what 'ain't broke!!

Lee Roberts
26-12-2009, 02:41 AM
Looking forward to some of the changes Lee.

From a moderator perspective one of the biggest changes would be more control over who can register and blocking of IP addresses and ranges of addresses or ISPs to reduce the 30 or so spammers a week I block on average. You get the same IP addresses popping up day after day...

I understand what you’re saying mate, I’ve just had a quick look and I can’t see anything in the vB CP's that will allow us to ban using IP's. This can be done via the server firewall however, I currently get email every time an attack takes place on any of the server login systems for instance, after a number of try's they are perma banned and this happens allot.

The only problem I’ve got with ranges is just that. Blocking a range or ISP is going to mean a possibility of denying access to a genuine visitor?


The idea of an “Article” system sounds very good to me. As a newbie I have shed loads of questions, queries, and other brain numbing problems to contend with, along with the simple decisions that I need to take on the road to CNC Nivarna. To have a method of finding answers and information in an organised system rather than having to trawl through assorted posts in my somewhat haphazard manner would be a major plus point.

The 'Tutorial' on motor selection was a superb example of the sort of content I will be looking for, my compliments!! :clap:

Other than that ... for me .... don't fix what 'ain't broke!!


Right, "organised system" is right to the point. I had to go looking for this "motor selection" tutorial you talk about!?!?

Great feedback mate, you confirm my thoughts of this being a good direction for the site to go in.

Now I’m excited!

Lee

Smiler
26-12-2009, 06:03 PM
So you did shell out for vB4 then:smile:

Hope you got it for the pre-release offer Lee like I did.

Anyway, good luck with it, it IS the way websites/forums are going and I can't think of a better subject than a CNC site to put it to use. Takes a lot of work to set it up, especially if you want to move from the default skin (please do that, it is worth it).

If you want any help just drop me a line, the CMS can be a mind-bender at times.

Jeff

monza
04-01-2010, 12:07 AM
Good stuff always good to add some useful features to a forum. One thing I have noticed is plans, diagrams and drawings seem to be scattered all over the internet, it would be good to get a repository of plans, diagrams etc and also one for uk parts and suppliers as most of the bits I find are from the US :)

Lee Roberts
04-01-2010, 01:04 PM
Good stuff always good to add some useful features to a forum. One thing I have noticed is plans, diagrams and drawings seem to be scattered all over the internet, it would be good to get a repository of plans, diagrams etc and also one for uk parts and suppliers as most of the bits I find are from the US :)

Yea these will come, just never enuff time to do everything...

Robin Hewitt
21-01-2010, 12:01 PM
This is how the smilies show for me, a sort of limited selection and unscrollable.

Is it me or is it everyone?

irving2008
21-01-2010, 12:58 PM
Its everyone...

I had a quick look round but I dont know enough about VB4 to figure out where this can be changed from. I suspect its a template change.... Will have to wait for Lee to fix it.

irving2008
21-01-2010, 01:08 PM
Ok, think I have temporarily fixed that... might not be the right way but it seems to work...

Robin Hewitt
21-01-2010, 03:16 PM
Ok, think I have temporarily fixed that... might not be the right way but it seems to work...


All my favorites are back,
:smile::whistling::beer::heehee: still won't let me insert anything after the last smiley but better :naughty:

irving2008
21-01-2010, 03:23 PM
No i noticed that too... :whistling:I suspect thats a code issue rather than a configuration issue... and thats def one for Lee, as I don't as far as I can see, have access to the code.

The trick it seems is to put a double space in then insert the smiley in between the two spaces :smile: then you can type afterwards.... definitely a code/buffer issue

Smiler
23-01-2010, 11:43 AM
IMO, you have one of the best anti-spammer tools right there in your AdminCP. We run a vB website/forum and have never had a single spammer able to register. Use the human verification system. Set up three or four EASY questions, answers to which anyone who has an interest in the subject would know. Sometihng like "name a common motor used in CNC" answer would be stepper or servo (or whatever else), you could even put the answer in the question, the bot can't understand it. This alone cut out 100% of our spam applications. Spammers are LAZY, they aren't going to hang around researching CNC so they can post a spam message. If anyone does have a problem answering the question, well there is always the "contact us" button.

to make 100% certain, moderate every application with an email to verify before you activate them. I can see it would be a pain if you have 100 genuine applications a week but you don't so it's doable.

Jeff.

irving2008
23-01-2010, 06:12 PM
Jeff,

Most of the Bot type spamming has gone, we are using the reCAPTCHA human verification system that requires two words to be entered. We still experience a level of spam from clearly human operators based in India and China primarily, with a smattering of Russian/Eastern Europe. Some of these are manufacturers trying to advertise by posting 'leading questions' such as 'has anyone bought a SuperXYZ yet'. While the Q&A might stop the mobile phone ads it won't stop these... they are very persistant, to the point of using the same IP address, and what I would like to do, is block specific or ranges, of IP addresses.

Currently I moderate new users about every other day and captrue one or two that way. Its not too onerous now.

Smiler
26-01-2010, 06:34 PM
Fairy Nuff,

In case of moderating by IP and Geo location, get lee to have a look at this mod. (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=231315)

Jeff.