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[Barrus]

I love SMF.. so much better than this junk.. The moderation tools are great.

The ability to set a particular user so that all their posts have to be approved prior to posting, so much more effective than short bans..

Wonder if thats available in the current cn software...

Dim, doesn't your site have a forum? It really would seem to be another added feature to an already great site. Or is that demo-forum a demo for a forum that would be added?

 

[Amsterhammer]

I love SMF.. so much better than this junk.. The moderation tools are great.

The ability to set a particular troublesome user so that all their posts have to be approved prior to posting, so much more effective than short bans..

Wonder if thats available in the current cn software...

By one of those coincidences, we are talking about exactly this option on a forum where I moderate, though specifically for new posters, many of whom turn out to be spammers! Do you happen to know if PunBB offers this option? I'm asking you because us mods there have just as much difficulty getting an answer from head office as we are having here with this issue.

 

[Anonymous]

Dim, doesn't your site have a forum? It really would seem to be another added feature to an already great site. Or is that demo-forum a demo for a forum that would be added?

we had one when the site first started, but to be honest, it was pretty much redundant as we use facebook, twitter for discussion more. Forums, unless they have a lot of regular posters are largely redundant, in fact a forum with only -20 regular posters is more negative than positive.

That is purely a demo of a smf forum, that just happens to be hosted on tsf webspace as that was the webspace i had to hand this morning..

the great thing about smf (andphpbb) is the amount of extras you can add, calendars, plugins for various things. really wish CN had a full time board admin to put new features on etc..

 

[Anonymous]

By one of those coincidences, we are talking about exactly this option on a forum where I moderate, though specifically for new posters, many of whom turn out to be spammers! Do you happen to know if PunBB offers this option? I'm asking you because us mods there have just as much difficulty getting an answer from head office as we are having here with this issue.

You can setup user groups, same as you would do mod group, or glob mod group, and set up a user group for troublesome users, and then set that group to auto approve.. then if members are troublesome move them into that group, but its not nearly as effective as having it as as setting. I dont think PunBB allows that as default.

SMF works with a slider, when you warn someone you are given a slider and as you increase the level of warning it goes through various settings, add to moderators watchlist so they can monitor what the person does, forced approval for posts, blocked from posting through to a full ban.. the slider can be increased, decreased as needed. And yes, it also does things like force members with 10 posts or less to have their posts approved..

its actually more effective than dishing out warnings.. if three or four forum posters are fighting with each other you just put them onto post approval for 24 hours until they have calmed down.

You can also set areas that guests can post in, so if a user is banned they can use the banned user section of the forum to discuss their case etc.. Moderator only threads etc.. Things that if CN pulled their fingers out and implemented would make mods job easier and the forum a better place.. sadly they have time to implement adverts but not forum upgrades..

 

[Granville57]

Try right clicking it. There will probably be some sort of adblock option there.

Like a charm. Thanks for that.

 

[doolols]

I've got rid of the Tour of Britain ad, too. So inserting those inline ads has been a backward step

TSF - yep, I love the Small Machines forum software. Free, and flexible.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got rid of the Tour of Britain ad, too. So inserting those inline ads has been a backward step

TSF - yep, I love the Small Machines forum software. Free, and flexible.

first time ive had a real serious play. Been a globmod on smf in the past but first time ive had a serious look at the admin options.

So many plugins available. and the calendar feature is superb.. Click on the calendar, find a race and just click it to go straight to the race thread. It seems there is a calendar on here but nobody ever uses it.. (Ive just confused everyone by adding an event. )

another thing i discovered.. the option to have paid subscriptions, and the option to prevent ads from being shown to certain users (ie subscribers).. wonder why cn havnt thought of that *rolleyes*

 

[Amsterhammer]

You can setup user groups, same as you would do mod group, or glob mod group, and set up a user group for troublesome users, and then set that group to auto approve.. then if members are troublesome move them into that group, but its not nearly as effective as having it as as setting. I dont think PunBB allows that as default.

SMF works with a slider, when you warn someone you are given a slider and as you increase the level of warning it goes through various settings, add to moderators watchlist so they can monitor what the person does, forced approval for posts, blocked from posting through to a full ban.. the slider can be increased, decreased as needed. And yes, it also does things like force members with 10 posts or less to have their posts approved..

its actually more effective than dishing out warnings.. if three or four forum posters are fighting with each other you just put them onto post approval for 24 hours until they have calmed down.

You can also set areas that guests can post in, so if a user is banned they can use the banned user section of the forum to discuss their case etc.. Moderator only threads etc.. Things that if CN pulled their fingers out and implemented would make mods job easier and the forum a better place.. sadly they have time to implement adverts but not forum upgrades..

Cheers Dim, much appreciated.

 

[mewmewmew13]

To show how simple it is.. demo smf install. More features than the cn forum, things like calendars as well so race threads can be linked to a calendar.., took all of an hour to install, and you can control how it works.
link here

admin logon - demo
password - demo

Mod logon - mod
password - mod

feel free to mess about to your hearts content..

note: this is a demo forum and in no way intended to replace the cn forum. It is purely for demonstration purposes to show how easy it is to create a forum and control its look, ads etc and make FP aware that there are alternatives

Thnx dim! Will give a go when I get a chance.

 

[Deagol]

to Steve.Hulbert@futurenet.com; Charlotte.Pratten@futurenet.com
Advertising Sales Manager - Online; Group Marketing Manager

=====

Hi Charlotte and Steve,

.....

Yours Truly,

Very well said. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
I am with most others here in that I find these adds tastless and out of place, distracting, annoying, etc..

I'll give it a while, but if they stick around, I might find someplace less cluttered if I can..

 

[Mr.DNA]

Opera users....

Opera users... to disable these ads: right click a forum page, go to "Edit site preferences", go to the Display tab and uncheck "Enable inline frames".

 

[Anonymous]

Opera users... to disable these ads: right click a forum page, go to "Edit site preferences", go to the Display tab and uncheck "Enable inline frames".

they werent even appearing in my opera to start with.. with no blocking, or anything.. but then im on 12.00 beta

 

[Martin318is]

One other option. The ads currently appear after the first post on a page. If you change your setttings to see 40 posts per page rather than the standard 10, you will see the ads a lot less.

 

[Anonymous]

Right, after thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days..

First things first, a test forum was setup today just to show how easy it is. It doesnt take a lot of technical skill, it doesnt even have to cost much, £10-20 for a domain and about £15 for a basic vps (1gb ram, 100mbit bandwidth), and fund it with minimal advertising and donations. The point is CN, you dont have a unique product with the forum.. It is easily replicated.

What isnt easily replicated is the users. They are what ultimately what makes a forum, not where it is hosted, what site it is affiliated with, what software it uses. CN forum isnt what it is because of cycling news, or Dan Benson, or Future Publishing. Its what it is because of the people who post here. People you are in danger of alienating.

You have a good thing here. The CN forum has a massive reputation. Yes, to a lot of people its a den of hate and doping talk, but it is also recognised as one of the best sources of information on cycling on the net. I dont think it would be wrong to suggest that the forum has far more information than the actual site, and without the forum you are just that. A site. Another cycling news site, and there are a lot of them about.

We all understand that the market is changing, revenues are down, and the website as a whole needs to be profitable. But the forum does a massive amount for you. It gets you more ad views than you will ever get on the website, it provides content that is updated on a minute by minute basis and keeps people coming back, but there is a fine line between the forum being a positive thing for FP and a negative thing for its users.

Nobody is ever going to object to certain forms of advertising. Header banners, side banners are all the norm on any website nowadays, but intrusive advertising, trying to make money from our contributions is a step to far just as skimwords was. And all this at a time when CN are using our comments, our "work" as main articles on the website.

I dont want to see this forum die. Im sure you guys dont, but in return for the massive amount of information we provide for you, you need to show a bit of respect to us and not try and take advantage of what we are doing for you. Because what you are currently doing (and have been doing) will drive people away.

Of course, future may say that the forum costs far outweigh what it makes in advertising.. I doubt it. I can calculate fairly easily what it costs to run this and it certainly pays for itself. Maybe not if you have it on some superserver that hosts the site itself, but the forum is not here to subsidise the site. If it is then thats a very poor business plan.

As I say, I understand the economcs, but theres a fine line between economics and taking the **** out of the users.

Dont bite the hand that feeds you... With no forum, you are just another cycling site.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Right, after thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days..

Dont bite the hand that feeds you... With no forum, you are just another cycling site.

Bravo, Dim! Bravo! Thank you!

You simply and brilliantly covered all the necessary bases. I really, really, hope that someone in authority actually reads this. Mods/Admins, please do your part and forward as you see fit.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Right, after thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days..

First things first, a test forum was setup today just to show how easy it is. It doesnt take a lot of technical skill, it doesnt even have to cost much, £10-20 for a domain and about £15 for a basic vps (1gb ram, 100mbit bandwidth), and fund it with minimal advertising and donations. The point is CN, you dont have a unique product with the forum.. It is easily replicated.

What isnt easily replicated is the users. They are what ultimately what makes a forum, not where it is hosted, what site it is affiliated with, what software it uses. CN forum isnt what it is because of cycling news, or Dan Benson, or Future Publishing. Its what it is because of the people who post here. People you are in danger of alienating.

You have a good thing here. The CN forum has a massive reputation. Yes, to a lot of people its a den of hate and doping talk, but it is also recognised as one of the best sources of information on cycling on the net. I dont think it would be wrong to suggest that the forum has far more information than the actual site, and without the forum you are just that. A site. Another cycling news site, and there are a lot of them about.

We all understand that the market is changing, revenues are down, and the website as a whole needs to be profitable. But the forum does a massive amount for you. It gets you more ad views than you will ever get on the website, it provides content that is updated on a minute by minute basis and keeps people coming back, but there is a fine line between the forum being a positive thing for FP and a negative thing for its users.

Nobody is ever going to object to certain forms of advertising. Header banners, side banners are all the norm on any website nowadays, but intrusive advertising, trying to make money from our contributions is a step to far just as skimwords was. And all this at a time when CN are using our comments, our "work" as main articles on the website.

I dont want to see this forum die. Im sure you guys dont, but in return for the massive amount of information we provide for you, you need to show a bit of respect to us and not try and take advantage of what we are doing for you. Because what you are currently doing (and have been doing) will drive people away.

Of course, future may say that the forum costs far outweigh what it makes in advertising.. I doubt it. I can calculate fairly easily what it costs to run this and it certainly pays for itself. Maybe not if you have it on some superserver that hosts the site itself, but the forum is not here to subsidise the site. If it is then thats a very poor business plan.

As I say, I understand the economcs, but theres a fine line between economics and taking the **** out of the users.

Dont bite the hand that feeds you... With no forum, you are just another cycling site.

RETWEET!! ditto from this forum user

Thanx perfectly stated dim.

 

[Martin318is]

Bravo, Dim! Bravo! Thank you!

You simply and brilliantly covered all the necessary bases. I really, really, hope that someone in authority actually reads this. Mods/Admins, please do your part and forward as you see fit.

Be assured that the moderators have been doing what we can to help to find a solution to this

 

[ultimobici]

First they'll lose people from the forum, so that revenue stream will wither and die.

Then, as they've managed to alienate CN Forum members, they're likely to see a dip in circulation of Procycling & Cyclingplus.

Rule one of any business, never ever alienate your audience. Once you've lost them it's a major struggle to get even a small percentage back.

 

[Maxiton]

Right, after thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days..

First things first, a test forum was setup today just to show how easy it is. It doesnt take a lot of technical skill, it doesnt even have to cost much, £10-20 for a domain and about £15 for a basic vps (1gb ram, 100mbit bandwidth), and fund it with minimal advertising and donations. The point is CN, you dont have a unique product with the forum.. It is easily replicated.

What isnt easily replicated is the users. They are what ultimately what makes a forum, not where it is hosted, what site it is affiliated with, what software it uses. CN forum isnt what it is because of cycling news, or Dan Benson, or Future Publishing. Its what it is because of the people who post here. People you are in danger of alienating.

You have a good thing here. The CN forum has a massive reputation. Yes, to a lot of people its a den of hate and doping talk, but it is also recognized as one of the best sources of information on cycling on the net. I dont think it would be wrong to suggest that the forum has far more information than the actual site, and without the forum you are just that. A site. Another cycling news site, and there are a lot of them about.

We all understand that the market is changing, revenues are down, and the website as a whole needs to be profitable. But the forum does a massive amount for you. It gets you more ad views than you will ever get on the website, it provides content that is updated on a minute by minute basis and keeps people coming back, but there is a fine line between the forum being a positive thing for FP and a negative thing for its users.

Nobody is ever going to object to certain forms of advertising. Header banners, side banners are all the norm on any website nowadays, but intrusive advertising, trying to make money from our contributions is a step to far just as skimwords was. And all this at a time when CN are using our comments, our "work" as main articles on the website.

I dont want to see this forum die. Im sure you guys dont, but in return for the massive amount of information we provide for you, you need to show a bit of respect to us and not try and take advantage of what we are doing for you. Because what you are currently doing (and have been doing) will drive people away.

Of course, future may say that the forum costs far outweigh what it makes in advertising.. I doubt it. I can calculate fairly easily what it costs to run this and it certainly pays for itself. Maybe not if you have it on some superserver that hosts the site itself, but the forum is not here to subsidise the site. If it is then thats a very poor business plan.

As I say, I understand the economcs, but theres a fine line between economics and taking the **** out of the users.

Dont bite the hand that feeds you... With no forum, you are just another cycling site.

+1. And well said. As I've stated in another thread, I use NoScript and Adblock+ on my home PC, so I don't see any ads at all. But I also read the forum on my phone, and there this in-line ad thing is intrusive and really obnoxious. What follows, below, may be instructive.

At one time a site called photo.net was the most popular on the web for discussion of all things photography. In terms of the number of informed users and quality of discussion, nothing else could compete with it. The concept of this site was to leverage user knowledge by allowing the users to actually create the content. Despite avowedly depending on its users for content, however, the attitude of the site's management toward users was somewhat authoritarian, bordering at times on contempt. Somehow the site was always strapped for cash and never made a profit. Ultimately the site owners elected to sell the most intrusive ads possible - flags and banners that would fly across the page, obscuring an article you were trying to read, fake links that led to more ads, and so on. None of this really made much money for the owners in the end, but it did succeed in making the site utterly irrelevant when many users went elsewhere, never to return.

Contrast the fate of Photo.net with that of rival photography site Flickr.com. The husband-wife team who started Flickr embraced the collective wisdom of its users in a sincere way, approaching them with respect and as collaborators. And, then as now, Flickr accepted no advertising - zip, zilch. Within a couple of years of its founding, Flickr became the most popular photo site on earth and was sold to Yahoo for fifty million dollars.

You do the math.

 

[Benotti69]

still cant believe the owners are still allowing these ad banners????

shows the level of respect for forum users. zilch.

 

[sublimit]

still cant believe the owners are still allowing these ad banners????

shows the level of respect for forum users. zilch.

Its kind of lame behavior from the owners - turn the forum into a laughing stock for the pursuit of cash from such pathetic looking ads.

Still, it doesn't affect my version of Opera but i saw a peak of them on IE and its looks a joke to be fair.

 

[patricknd]

what happened to the ad offering tips for joining the mile high club? i didn't get a chance to read it and now i'm afraid i've missed out on vital information. help !!!!

 

[krebs303]

what happened to the ad offering tips for joining the mile high club? i didn't get a chance to read it and now i'm afraid i've missed out on vital information. help !!!!

It's my new avatar and signature

 

[Amsterhammer]

It's my new avatar and signature

Yes, yes, but what are the four tips? One needs to know, just in case.....

 

[boomcie]

what happened to the ad offering tips for joining the mile high club? i didn't get a chance to read it and now i'm afraid i've missed out on vital information. help !!!!

Yes, yes, but what are the four tips? One needs to know, just in case.....

Try googling it.

http://www.mademan.com/4-tips-that-can-help-you-join-the-mile-high-club/


Last part is essential:

Your best bet is to get yourselves hot and heavy on the way to the airport. Maybe even tease each other before the flight. Be nice and horny on the plane. Also, don’t bother wearing underwear. Tell her to leave her skinny jeans at home. She needs an easy access outfit. Dresses always work. Oh, and when the deed is done, don’t hold up in the bathroom cuddling. Get in, out and get back to your seats.

Those are some serious pro tips.