Registered: Apr 2014
Location: In the House
Posts: 608

I think it's safe to say that the people who post in this Discussion Forum are curling fans. I believe it's also safe to say that, as curling fans, we appreciate this Forum.
But it can also be said that this Forum is going downhill. There are fewer posts and fewer people posting every year.
If no action is taken, this Forum will very likely die.
It's time to resurrect it - before it's too late.

One of the reasons that this discussion forum is not nearly as busy as it should be is surely due to the incredible amount of spam messages.
It's incredible how much spam there is here. It would be nice if someone could actually monitor this site, rather than just let it go to hell.

This is, sadly, the only real discussion forum focused on curling. As such, it should be valued, should function better than it is working, and should be busier than it is.
This site (or at least the discussion forum portion) was due for an upgrade several years ago.

phpBB is free, open source Forum software that would work very well for this discussion forum. I am not literate in software, etc., but I am a member of a phpBB for another subject, and it works wonderfully. AND IT'S FREE.
I truly hope that someone around here will seriously look into that before this discussion forum is lost completely as members keep being driven away by the ubiquitous spam and old, out of date format.

(I have absolutely no affiliation with phpBB - I am simply familiar with another discussion forum which uses that format, and it is very, very efficient and very, very good.)

Take a look at phpBB here...

https://www.phpbb.com

and

https://my.kualo.com/knowledgebase/...m-in-phpbb.html

There are also tutorial videos on how to create a phpBB Forum for people who have some degree of knowledge of this stuff.

__________________
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own... but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last edited by On The Nose on 03-15-23 at 11:43PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 612

Yup. I'll second that.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2014
Location: In the House
Posts: 608

Over 200 views of my post, and only 1 person replying.
Maybe I was wrong when I said that people value this discussion forum and want to keep it alive.

I can't imagine that people are happy with the way that it's functioning (well, I'm sure the people responsible for the spam posts are quite happy). The amount of spam, the old and outdated format, being logged out automatically after about 10 minutes of inactivity...
As we see everywhere on the internet - it is possible to do significantly better than this.


If people don't let it be known that you'd like this discussion forum to improve - that is, to stop the overwhelming amount of spam, and to update to a decent forum format from this obsolete one - if people don't voice their views, then you're basically ready to let this forum die. Because it is definitely dying, and without some sort of intervention, it will die completely.

So, if you don't want this forum to continue to deteriorate, speak up, people...

And if any of you can help with the technical aspects of updating to a better, more up-to-date format, let that be known, as well, and hopefully the ball can get rolling. I can't help with the technical aspects, but I'm willing to help with whatever I'm capable of helping with.

The first step toward change is identifying the need to change, and then evolving.

__________________
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own... but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2019
Location:
Posts: 1523

quote:

---

Originally posted by On The Nose
Over 200 views of my post, and only 1 person replying.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Mar 2019
Location:
Posts: 659

quote:

---

Originally posted by On The Nose
Over 200 views of my post, and only 1 person replying.
Maybe I was wrong when I said that people value this discussion forum and want to keep it alive.

I can't imagine that people are happy with the way that it's functioning (well, I'm sure the people responsible for the spam posts are quite happy). The amount of spam, the old and outdated format, being logged out automatically after about 10 minutes of inactivity...
As we see everywhere on the internet - it is possible to do significantly better than this.


If people don't let it be known that you'd like this discussion forum to improve - that is, to stop the overwhelming amount of spam, and to update to a decent forum format from this obsolete one - if people don't voice their views, then you're basically ready to let this forum die. Because it is definitely dying, and without some sort of intervention, it will die completely.

So, if you don't want this forum to continue to deteriorate, speak up, people...

And if any of you can help with the technical aspects of updating to a better, more up-to-date format, let that be known, as well, and hopefully the ball can get rolling. I can't help with the technical aspects, but I'm willing to help with whatever I'm capable of helping with.

The first step toward change is identifying the need to change, and then evolving.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2018
Location:
Posts: 699

Alternatively you could join my curling group which is active and not spam-filled and trolls are removed:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/252763282107627

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2014
Location: In the House
Posts: 608

I like to avoid facebook as much as possible.

I think there is an audience - a participatory audience - for a discussion forum on curling. I believe the 'if you build it, they will come' approach is applicable here.

I am a member of a phpBB-based discussion forum for another sport, and it works very, very well - and without any advertizing at all. One guy set it up with a little help from one or two others, then some of us helped with tweaking it here and there, and it was fully functional within a week. It actually replaced a discussion forum on the same sport that was being shut down. The one it replaced was based on a different platform... and when we learned that the operator was going to shut it down, we (the members) went to work to find - and create - an alternative.

We wanted to avoid facebook/twitter/reddit, etc. platform, because we wanted to maintain the discussion forum context. Someone found the free phpBB, and had enough technical knowledge to set it up (it doesn't require a genius), and that was that.
I'm sure that something very similar could be done here - all it takes is someone with the technical knowledge and the willingness to set it up. Ideally, it would be 'hosted' here on Curling Zone - because Curling Zone is an established 'location'. But if Gerry refuses that, then it could be set up entirely independently, just as we did with the phpBB discussion forum for the other sport that I mentioned.

Realistically, it's either that, or we keep putting up with the status quo, with all of its restrictions and spam, until it simply withers away and dies - and that dying point is getting nearer and nearer...

__________________
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own... but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2018
Location:
Posts: 699

Oh I'm fine with forums too; used to use them all the time before social media crept up. Those where the days!

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 612

A simple CAPTCHA interface could be easily added for any new poster to eliminate the spam.

Last edited by johnnysmoke on 03-18-23 at 12:05PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2023
Location:
Posts: 1

My friend told me a few weeks ago that he couldn't stop playing a game called Tunnel Rush. I don't play PC games very often, but he made it sound so crazy fun that I had to try it.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged