Hello staff,

I am wondering if you have gotten any requests or comments about forum displays?

The reason I'm asking is that I see the need to do 1 of 2 things concerning certain forums, in particular, the HJT forum.

It's sad that not only non HJT members can't post to those threads, what's worst is that when we come to the site, we are forced to see them anyway. Last week sometime, when I was away for a few days, I logged in here, and I had 21 pages of threads. As I done the counting of the threads per page, then subtracted the duplicates that carry over to the next page, I ended up with a total of 16 HJT pages worth of threads, out of 21 pages, but actually it could have been only 5 pages if they were blocked. Now let's be honest,,, that's waayyyy too many pages a person has to sift through just to read relevant threads/posts, (One Man's Opinion)

Please, by all means explain the downfall of making a tab at the top of the page, like the other tabs, and have a HJT label, and all HJT posts go there, and no one has to even see them.

Also, please explain the downfall of not doing the above suggestion, but adding the feature inside of the members Control Panel, and in there they can put a checkmark next to every forum they don't want to see, and then save the changes, and when they load the site, those forums will no longer show up?

Although I suspect the comments/ideas will be knocked down for whatever reasons, but this is something really needed on this site.

I also remember with one of my ideas someone talked about server loads and all that stuff, but I would only guess that the calling up on many threads, which equal pages, didn't occur as a server load on both ends. And that is a fact. If threads/forums can be blocked, it would definitely be a win-win on both sides.

The site isn't slow at all, but that same someone also talked about people being on slow internet connections, and why the ideas I had wouldn't fly. This will make page loads much quicker, and at the same time, reduce the bandwidth strain, and most importantly, allow the members to see what they want to see, and not see what they don't want to see, and are not allowed to post there either.

Don't get me wrong either, I can, and will continue to be a member here and still post if you didn't do anything about this, but at the same time, it's an old worn out ordeal to have to look at (mostly) nothing but HJT posts. That's why they need to be separated from the main forum, and mainly, again, the HJT posts are the most posts that dominate this forum. So why would I want to see them and I can't contribute? I would say that is wasting people's bandwidth, and page loading time.

One Man's Opinion

Are you talking about blocking them from "view new posts" or blocking the HJT forums from displaying on the forum list page. You can do the latter by clicking on the little "-" at the right of the deeper blue bar that contains "HJT Team."
Cheers,
John

This has been asked before. It was one of the first things I asked about after joining BC. Basically we've been told that the function to exclude an entire forum subject isn't available in the IPB software. (my non-tech interpretation of the explanation we've been given)

To jgweed,

I tried the category Security, which houses the HJT forum, but that closes all forums in that category.

I just had another idea though....... check this out.

This forum is on:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/

what about creating another forum located at:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forumshjt/

and then on this site, make another tab on the top of the page with the HJT and link it to the other forum. I'm sure that can be done, and still have both forums share the same database. I've done web sites that had different shopping carts (php), yet they shared the same database.

I've had Invision Power Board for some time now, and other BB systems, so what I'm going to do is test that out, and also test out if the forums can be manipulated through the Control Panel of the members. The Control Panel method may be the easiest/best way to do it, but I'll find out soon enough.

If I pull it off, either one, or both ideas,, would you at least consider implementing it here? I'll also provide all the codes and whatever else requested. One thing though, the version I have, I think it's v2.2.2 (or something similar)

I think that the suggestion being made here is pretty reasonable. I do not know if it is possible with the IPB software though. The seperating the HJT from the normal forums would make it a whole lot better and perhapes easier for new comers to spot the HJT forum for their help.

-Steve

I do not know whether this software allows user defined vision and do not know what kind of ramnifications it has in general.

If you mean at times you view 'closed' HJT threads. This can happen when they are sorted through and closed.

I prefer to look at it in a positive way. It means that our fantastic HJT Team is kicking bootie!

Not quite, Scarlett. What we're talking about here is the ability to go into our own settings and somehow make a "choice" to block any and all HJT threads from showing. For most of us, probably 80 to 90% of the "View New Posts" are from the HJT topic/thread. So everyday when I come to check for new posts, I get an average of 10 pages. The non-HJT posts would probably only fill 2 pages, if that.

I do read one now and then if something catches my eye in the title. A few times I could have added something that might have been useful information, but it's closed for any replies from the rest of the membership. Yet, we still must scroll through all of them....

It is quite annoying. I still think that walkmans idea of a whole new section on the BC page for HJT would be nice. I sometimes click on one and it ends up being a closed HJT log. Kind of sucks when my only internet connection is a PSP.

-Steve

I thought it important to note that this suggestion was brought up for discussion at a Staff meeting this week, and there was general agreement that this ability would be useful. At present, the best method of implementing it is under investigation.
Regards,
John
Global Moderator

You know,

I've been an Admin on two other boards, and sometimes even a really great suggestion simply isn't possible using certain BBS software without altering (hacking) the product. Unfortunately, when the board then gets an upgrade, the hack may have to be re-done each time. According to the situation, the board owners simply may not be able to take the time to do this repeatedly.

It is admirable that the staff here is willing to give consideration to suggestions presented in a beneficial manner.

Have been watching this topic with interest and agree with the sentiments expressed. If it can be done, I think this would a real gain for most members - if not, well it's not the end of the world.

Well it's been a while, but I would like to know what has come of it?