This board is great in terms of content, but I feel it's using an extremely out dated message board system. Are there any oncoming updates to use for example, the ikonboard system, where posts are viewed differently, and we can sign up as users, have avatars, etc?
This has been mentioned very occasionally before and there has never been a major consensus for change. On the contrary most people have no issue with the boards M.O.
While the opinions of all mebers are respected and taken into account here, the board is running very smoothly on all levels and there are no plans to change the way it is set up at this time.
Dean, one of your friendly moderation team (Hey-that rhymes!)
Bingo! All content, all the time, without the bells and whistles that bog down the server and gobble expensive bandwidth.
Put it this way, MLHH isn't the place with all the goodies. It also isn't the place that you get frequent "server is too busy" pages.
While I openly admit that I prefer the interface at LHC, those 'server too busy' messages are annoying and something we don't face here.
I agree. If it isn't broken, don't fix it (I have trouble following that advice). It is very efficient, easy to use and does exactly what it's intended for. Though it's always fun to try out new features. I've written message boards before, and realize how much work it is.
Mathew
haha
I find turning the monitor sideways gives me a different view when I need one.
Agreeing the most with your first four words,
Elizabeth
Yes, --- and don't forget to also try up-side-down as well!
Bill
Great pic you guys, for a second I thought I had stumbled on one of Karsten's updates :)
I also enjoyed your website Ken (since you are such a computer geek Ken :), I am assuming Bill helped some? ) its fun whoever did it :)
Hey Ken, I'm jealous. Mine can't do any of the above. (It's rusted.) Oh well, what can one expect when the monitor they own was probably manufactured someplace in the Land of Oz. LOL
Suddenly, your pose in your avatar is making sense.
Hi Elizabeth,
"... I find turning the monitor sideways gives me a different view when I need one."
Good one! :) Reminds of the time I was talking with a good friend of mine a few years ago. He had a small TV tipped on its side, close to his bed. A friend of his asked him why his TV was on its side. He replied, "Because I can't sleep standing up!"
I like the software like it is [my opinion]. It's easy to use, reliable, and the pages load fast. What more can you ask for! :)
--Rick
So sorry about your feelings being the way they are about the "outdated," but to the best of my knowledge all is to continue as it has. However, at least you are happy with "This board is great in terms of content." This comes as good news indeed. Thanks!
This board may seem outdated to some but it is a VERY complex system hand crafted and maintained exclusively for us (not some off the shelf type system) by Bill. Designing and maintaining this board (and then moving its domain) is an incredible amount of work and Bill has been doing it mostluy single handedly for a very long time. Without his tremendous efforts in the last weeks this board would have COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED! Many many thank yous are in order to Bill for his near miraculous ability to keep this place operational!
I much prefer that this board continue as long as possible as is!
Yikes, Chris, you've got me to blushing!
I will say that the board you see here looks very much like the original software package that was distributed in 1995; however it has been enhanced behind-the-scenes almost beyond recognition. We've intentionally kept it the way it looks because this is familiar to Internet users, and because it does not clutter the users' screens and slow down their enjoyment of the site with decorative stuff they really aren't here to see. Our goal is for users to forget about the interface while here, and to immerse themselves totally in the CONTENT - what other users are saying and what photos they are showing. You can't forget about the interface if it is slow to load, or if it is blinking at you or throwing gaudy colors at you.
We have placed the site on one of the highest-speed web hosts in the business, and we have rewritten the software so all the pages load twice as fast as the original software package did. To keep the site fast, we throw nothing at users but text, plus photos that go with the text. And we have made many changes, including these:
We have reviewed the alternatives out there, and they just don't provide the environment that we've come to like here.
I'll add that with the shift of the board to being operated by a group, that we're now able to build more depth when it comes to personnel maintaining the technical side of the system. Our goal in time is for it to be less reliant on any one person than it has heretofore been.
Bill
Again, a big THANK YOU!! to all involved.
This may be the old fart in me coming out, but the other formats make me crazy!
Bruce
Bill,
Have you put the threaded views back since the move? I like the one with the three panes the best.
Alun
Yep! There's a link to the thread views on the top of the main page where the other links are. It goes to the two-pane view, and once in either view, there are links at the top to navigate between both of them and back to the standard view.
Bill