Forum Makeover - TOPIC RE-OPENED FOR REVIEW

[saint6]

Certainly would be a good idea to have the forum open to viewing. Only became a closed forum in september 2011 at around the time judas left us. I certainly would never have become a member if I had not had the opportunity prior to this to view what went on on the forum. Personally I think that it will be very difficult to attract new members if they cannot view the forum prior to joining. In fact the only people likely to join are those who set out to aggravate saints supporters such as the imbecile who was around for the past two days. In short keeping the forum closed makes it more likely that the only new members will be precisely the type of people who you wish to exclude.

[dragit]

Certainly would be a good idea to have the forum open to viewing. Only became a closed forum in september 2011 at around the time judas left us. I certainly would never have become a member if I had not had the opportunity prior to this to view what went on on the forum. Personally I think that it will be very difficult to attract new members if they cannot view the forum prior to joining. In fact the only people likely to join are those who set out to aggravate saints supporters such as the imbecile who was around for the past two days. In short keeping the forum closed makes it more likely that the only new members will be precisely the type of people who you wish to exclude.

Exactly, I reckon the stats would show a serious drop in new members, threads and general traffic since it was locked down.

The only reason to keep it closed would be if we were sharing genuine inside info etc, which should be done via pm if at all.

[bergholt]

Certainly would be a good idea to have the forum open to viewing. Only became a closed forum in september 2011 at around the time judas left us. I certainly would never have become a member if I had not had the opportunity prior to this to view what went on on the forum. Personally I think that it will be very difficult to attract new members if they cannot view the forum prior to joining. In fact the only people likely to join are those who set out to aggravate saints supporters such as the imbecile who was around for the past two days. In short keeping the forum closed makes it more likely that the only new members will be precisely the type of people who you wish to exclude.

Yep. Keeping it closed makes it seem from the outside as if it's some sort of special little closed community where you have to know someone on the inside to get in. Couldn't be further from the truth, but that's what a couple of non-Saintsational Saints supporting mates have told me.

[asiu]

as in ... if you are red carded .... u can only post in the fight forum ?

if so , i like it ... coz we wouldnt have to ban anyone.
... just ship em off to 'do their time' before being allowed back into the general population.

is that the gist of the idea ?

[Richter]

You have my support also.

I'm hoping one of the changes can be that the site is phone and tablet compatible.

I'll kick in some money also if it comes to that.

This sounds good.

Bigfooty runs on Tapatalk which works well on my phone

[Richter]

SS has lost so much ground in the Saints Media stakes it cant afford to have initiation periods and probationary limits

Get it open and out there, spread the word its being properly moderated by people who actually log on (as distinct from those who wait to hear theres a problem before bothering to visit)

One gets the distinct impression the current admin want it locked behind a login wall so they dont have to visit it as often. Stiff. You agree to be a mod you accept that youre gonna have to swing by most days...or at least know one of the mods is going to. Donnt wanna visit? Fine..pass the baton to someone who does. Trolls like the tool who caused problems last night would be put off much quicker if they knew there were active mods

True Sainters and Bigfooty both have admins who regularly visit..why is this place any different?

Great work BFUSA in getting the touchpaper lit!!!!!

You are the last person to ever comment on anything forum-related

You had a huge hand in ruining it with your favouritism when you were a Moderator

Unfortunately this sort of post (from Redeemer) is part of the reason why I fear for any genuine attempt at improvement. Saints66au was one of THE most respected posters on here and is known to many forumites in real life. A more reasonable and balanced person with a genuinely benign interest in improving this place you could not find. And yet he got/gets subjected to this sort of thing.

[HitTheBoundary]

All of these changes sound great.

I was a long time lurker and I think the site should be open to view by all, registered or not.

Also, would it be possible on match day to have the score embedded on the site and updating?
I spend most of the year overseas, and often the connection is so slow that streams and radio won't open so I follow the match thread, which is often more about the umpires than the game.

It'll be great to have some mods on here. Robust discussion is great. Personal abuse is not.

[SainterK]

Agree with opening of the forum if there is adequate moderation to prevent sillies.

The fact that posters like bakesfan saint6 and others mentioned who were before my time are keen makes me optimistic.

I would also like the ignore function to remain.

Also the function to like a post instead of replying with a +1

[plugger66]

Agree with opening of the forum if there is adequate moderation to prevent sillies.

The fact that posters like bakesfan saint6 and others mentioned who were before my time are keen makes me optimistic.

I would also like the ignore function to remain.

Also the function to like a post instead of replying with a +1

+1

[Cairnsman]

I reckon someone should ask Grant Thomas to input into this topic. Obviously he is a passionate saints man that has shown his liking for modern media and SS and also he has media experience so he more than likely has some firm views on what works in the media. I reckon he'd be keen to offer some advice on this thread subject.

One of my ideas would be to invite people with star power or some type of connection with the club either past or present to become posters. Then have the star posters initiate threads that are moderated in such a way that has a no d1ckhead factor maybe even have a certain type of membership that is required before you can enter into star thread discussions. This could motivate members to behave in a way that entitles them to the star membership and enables them to rub shoulders with the star posters.

Robert Walls does a thing on SEN where he talks about famous past controversies and the GT thread earlier this year was a huge success until it got boring and predictable however if managed properly I reckon you could attract past greats or the like to come onto SS and enter into open discussion about past controversial subjects related to the club.

[bergholt]

If you care enough, vote in this poll which contains some of the suggestions on this thread:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e

I'm sure there's plenty missing (like the ability to do a poll directly on the forum, sorry!) but this might be a start. Just trying to do my bit for Saintsational improvement!

Obviously that poll is not at all secure so we're relying on people not being dickheads. Is that going to work? If you want to keep an eye on the results, they're here:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e_result

[Richter]

Tell you what I started out reading this thread very sceptical. However, the goodwill and enthusiasm of most has got me infected too so I also throw my support behind Simon's initiative.

One note of caution... the 'orange cap' scenario was referring to a time when one particular person became a mod and went a bit loopy. Milan Kundera or something his username was. So I have subsequently been of the 'less is more' school of moderation. However, over the last year I have found myself going over to BigFooty more than I had in the previous few years. I think that was due to the amount of rubbish on here which was due to the unbearable lightness of moderation... (you see what I did there?)...

Anyway, the fact that a number of long time posters seem to be positive re bfUSA is certainly reassuring to me. As is Simon's posting history.

Anyway my 5c worth. R

[asiu]

just sayn b
... re your poll thingie

... i think it was the opposition forum discussed as being eradicated
not the mensa like general forum

a boy cant just read footy posts!
... it tends towards being a bit 'circular' after a while.

[bergholt]

just sayn b
... re your poll thingie

... i think it was the opposition forum discussed as being eradicated
not the mensa like general forum

Fair point Gaz! Let's keep that in mind when interpreting the results.

[bergholt]

Bump.

Vote in this poll if you want a say in what should happen next for the forum:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e

[dragit]

Bump.

Vote in this poll if you want a say in what should happen next for the forum:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e

Thanks bergs… the low numbers are pretty alarming, maybe there are only a few of us that give a tinkers.

[bergholt]

Bump.

Vote in this poll if you want a say in what should happen next for the forum:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e

Thanks bergs… the low numbers are pretty alarming, maybe there are only a few of us that give a tinkers.

True dragit, but looking a bit better now - still plenty of time to chuck in a response if you want your opinion heard on some of these things. Takes less than a minute!

[dragit]

i did earlier cheers…

[bergholt]

i did earlier cheers…

Ah yeah, I assumed as much, sorry, it was poorly phrased.

Everyone else! If you haven't voted in the poll yet then here's the link:

http://poll.pollcode.com/d4y9e

C'mon you guys already spend hours on here every day, may as well take 30 seconds to chuck in a vote and help make it a better place for all of us.

[Buckets]

Done the poll, great idea

[Buckets]

Has this been posted on BigFooty Saints Forum?

[St Lenny]

I most certainly agree changes need to be made. Its time to modernise, keep up with the times. Its pointless having a closed forum in my book, how will it ever grow. I don't understand the reasoning behind having to have 50 posts before you can start a thread? WHat does that achieve? However, we don't want people just joining and trolling. There needs to be committed moderators and not ones who have their little favourites who can do what they like as it has been in the past. Some posters have made this place miserable and I think we all know who that is.

[Sainter93]

Might not post often on here, but do come on and read a lot. Anything to make the forum all the more better, I give my full support!

[saintspremiers]

I most certainly agree changes need to be made. Its time to modernise, keep up with the times. Its pointless having a closed forum in my book, how will it ever grow. I don't understand the reasoning behind having to have 50 posts before you can start a thread? WHat does that achieve? However, we don't want people just joining and trolling. There needs to be committed moderators and not ones who have their little favourites who can do what they like as it has been in the past. Some posters have made this place miserable and I think we all know who that is.

Needs to be more than one mod as the first step. SainterK and saint brat would be ideal.

[joffaboy]

Has this been posted on BigFooty Saints Forum?

This is an important suggestion. There are many great Saints posters over at the Saints BF site who wont come here because of the infighting.

There is a them and us attitude. If SS changes for the better i am sure we can get some of those quality posters from BF to have a look and maybe contribute.

Doesn't need to take traffic away from either site as we all benefit with more of us discussing the relevant Saints topics.

Stkildathunda's site is the same.

We need to pull our resources together and have more quality and less back biting.

I think this is a golden opportunity to clean up the firum, attract other Saints fans from other forums, and some rusted on SS'ers to look at the other forums.

A "fight" forum was used at BF (BAy13) but has been discarded over there. If they cant do it with their plethora of mods, I think itmay be a strain over on this forum.

Again, congrats BFUSA for taking the bull by the horns,. Goodwill allround from most and everyone wants a revamp.