Matthew Klahn <mklahn at mac.com> writes: > You know, I've wondered for the past couple of days if the mailing > list might be better presented in some form of web forum, like phpbb > or ubbthreads. Opinions are likely to vary. I, personally, have not yet found any web forum that is even vaguely tolerable from a useability point of view. I find it nearly impossible to follow multiple discussions, and I find it takes 5 times as much time to even *try* to do so (and not get as good an outcome). > I say this not so that we can have picture sigs or any > of that crap, but rather just that it would be much easier to trim out > stuff and might make reading a particular thread a little nicer. Also, > if you ignore an entire thread, you don't have to delete it from your > Inbox. I know that most people won't like this suggestion, but it > occurred to me. Oh, and, you can do things like password protect the > forums and have people have to register to post, etc. so that you > don't have trouble with bots posting, etc. I find quoting and editing to be two of the features that are far *harder* on every web forum I've played with. We don't seem to have bot problems here, or on about any other mailing list I'm on. I think that's a solved problem. The big problem, though, is finding new messages. Which is such a basic function that I'm croggled, but *nobody* has an even vaguely competent system yet. I occasionally think about trying to solve the problem, but I suspect it's a *hard* problem and my head would start tot hurt. Still, I wonder if there's a big market for a really good online forum system? > Thoughts, opinions, flames? Btw, I do appreciate having this mailing > list, and I also appreciate the people that make it possible. I'm not > trying to offend anyone or raise any hackles, but just wondering > something outloud... err... in text. It is, of course, simple and easy and fairly cheap for you to start such a web forum. Mentioning it in a posting here would be entirely appropriate, as would including it in your signature here and elsewhere, and I imagine I'd link to it from the web site. Despite the fact that *I* think it's a bad idea :-). -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b at dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Photos: <dd-b.lighthunters.net> Snapshots: <www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>