mugwump
Having been on this forum through two administrations don't envy that responsibility. Over this period which dates back through two user names and numerous changes in format have never bellyached about the forum as my criticism is certainly outweighed by my appreciation of the benefit.That being said I now am asking why the constant changes? In the past it has been the custom of the present administration to ask members their opinions of a new format, and perhaps I am now jumping the gun before that question will once again be asked, but frankly am wondering why the need for change? It always requires some adjusting which is certainly feasible, BUT why do it? This puppet jerking approach seems needless if what is working seems satisfactory, and frankly fail to see anything progressive about this latest change. In fact the lack of dating the post replies is hardly advancing anything.
balipod-admin
It's the same reason why we don't use DOS on our computers, or use floppy disks. Software is always in a state of flux. No matter what computer or phone you have, you always have to update it. The forum software is the same. If you don't update it constantly, you are at risk of it getting hacked, or having it stop working. Keeping up with the updates is good practice. It is easier to do each small update than upgrade from a very old version to the latest version of something.Most websites use a combination of open source software. One is reliant on another to operate. These are being updated all of the time. So this means that each piece needs to be upgraded in turn. Software developers change, software and webdesign changes and so on.There is no denying that Facebook has had a huge impact on forums. Anyone on FB can create a group in seconds, while starting a forum takes a bit of money, some level of expertise and a huge amount of time to start and maintain. Forum software developers I think feel they need to try and keep with the various features Facebook put out.
mugwump
Thanks for the information. I guess what concerned me was the necessity of not dating the replies. That may seem trivial, but my reasoning is based upon a concern for the activity and a hope for return to the past when there were more contributors and the encouragement of new member/contributors. Recently there has seemed to be an upturn in activity which can be readily measured by dating the replies. If that encouraged hacking the rationale for change is understood.
balipod-admin
Another big change has been the development of mobile/smart phones and tablets. Over 50% of the site's traffic now comes from mobile devices. The forum is at least manageable on a mobile phone and it wasn't really possible with older software.
balipod-admin
The replies will all be dated as usual. If it is a recent post it will say something like "10 minutes ago".
