How to make this site better?

[SV_Dude]

Lets see if we can get past the train wreck from this last week and try to improve on this forum.

Any ideas or thoughts that you guys have that will make this forum better, more functional, more user friendly? Another forum I visit once in a while has a chat box on the top of the main screen. I thought that was pretty cool so the active members can chat about whatever.

Post up your ideas and lets see how we can improve this forum.

Hijacked by admin

[SIZE=+1]Here is the list of suggested site enhancements, with their statuses[/SIZE]

1. Shout tags [Done]
2. Larger PM inbox and message limits [Done]
3. Ability to append [OP] to the name (Thread Starter) [Done]
4. Recent threads sidebar [Done]
5. More smilies [Done]
6. Leaving thread unread until visiting it [Researching]
7. Chat applet [Under Consideration]
8. Tagging people in the thread [Done]. More help here: http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/docs/usertagging/
9. Improve new member emails and include HOWTO guides [Will do]
10. Remove "new" from Garage section [Done]
11. Better reputation scores [Researching]
12. Better user titles that change with the reputation [Researching]
13. Larger Post Limit [Will do]
14. Larger picture limit [Will do]
15. Build thread link under avatar [Researching]
16. Look at better spam filtering [Researching]
17. Make location mandatory upon registration [Done]
18. Strict Classified Section thread title rules [Under Consideration]
19. Review sub-forum consolidation (detailing & maintenance, suspension and performance) [Under Consideration]
20. Do not anonymize MOD actions [Researching]
21. Display thread start date in search results [Researching]
22. Do not allow users to use links in signature until they reach at least 5 posts[Done]
23. Include age under avatar[Done]
24. Relaxed censorship filter[Done]

Thanks @SV_Dude for starting this thread

 

[rebelbowtie]

Not really anything a moderator can do but I see almost daily post people complaining about the forum being plagued with malware of some sorts.

I could really care less about other features like a chat box since I exclusively browse via tapatalk. But activating shout tags would be a nice touch.

 

[vitamin]

Permanently ban the high post count folks who engage in personal attacks and feel the need to comment on every post. Their long time on the forum and high post count should be irrelevant, especially if they rarely, if ever, have 4runner topics to contribute.

Lacking this, switch to forum software that allows blocking the posts from the contentious time wasters.

 

[SV_Dude]

Not really anything a moderator can do but I see almost daily post people complaining about the forum being plagued with malware of some sorts.

I could really care less about other features like a chat box since I exclusively browse via tapatalk. But activating shout tags would be a nice touch.

The admin is working on issues with spam and other junk on the forum. That is an ongoing issue with a lot of forums.

What is a shout tag?

Permanently ban the high post count folks who engage in personal attacks and feel the need to comment on every post. Their long time on the forum and high post count should be irrelevant, especially if they rarely, if ever, have 4runner topics to contribute.

Lacking this, switch to forum software that allows blocking the posts from the contentious time wasters.

Let's try and keep this a productive thread. If you don't like reading someone's posts then you can ignore them in the user cp page.

 

[rebelbowtie]

Shout tag is a feature that allows you to tag a person in a post and it sends them a message with a link to the post. Example would be if someone post a thread and I know a member that can answer his question quickly I simply say @thatusersname and they are sent a link to the thread.

 

[superman3043]

I'd like to see the character limit on the PM's gone or at least upped by a lot. I find myself having to send 3 separate messages to folks at times.

On the same subject, I'd like to see the mailbox size increased.

 

[4Running Daily]

I'd like [OP] next to the op's name. It would help while reading really long threads.

Example

SV Dude [OP]

 

[SCRunner12]

I posted this before in the suggestions/comments section of this forum. I'm actually really annoyed at the lack of involvement from admin. 90% of the threads in the comments/suggestions section are uninvolved by the admin or any moderator and it seems like any changes to the site happen every few years.

OP] Next to the original posters name. I like this feature because it helps keep track of who originally asked the question or made the thread. I find it useful for the really long threads that go 5+ pages long.

More space for private messages. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds the 100 messages too little. I constantly have to erase old messages when making transactions. Plus I like to keep helpful messages for a later use, but that often reduces the number of new messages I can receive/send.

A spot for names/ages under the users avatar. Not super important, but could be a cool option.

Recent Threads page. I know you've tried this before and it didn't go over well, but I find it really convenient. Plus it helps people branch out of their respective subforums more often. Maybe be able to make this an option if possible.

More "Smilies". Is there any way to get more smilies? The ones we have are great, but there are so many more out there and it would be nice to see some different "faces" up on the site.

Also it was mentioned before, leaving the unread post labeled as unread till you actually visit them. Often times I will read a couple of threads and then exit T4R and all the threads I didn't visit become read. It just gets annoying.

 

[superman3043]

Oh and yeah, I think a chat applet would be nice.

 

[kevinpt]

We need chat. Also being able link someone in your post would be nice. That way they get a notification

 

[SV_Dude]

I posted this in the off topic instead of the comments and suggestions section because I don't think that most people scroll much further south than the off-topic section. I am hoping that this will get more visibility here. I will also pm the other moderators and admin to get some more attention to this thread as well.

This is a great forum but I think with a little bit of tinkering here and there we can make it a lot better and possibly help this forum grow a little bit.

I think that we could use a lot more involvement from our vendors too. Big props to DucMonsta for making a stand in the T4ROTM threads and giving away prizes to the winners. If we can get more support from the other vendors, I think it will go a long way. I'm not suggesting that they all start throwing money away at us, but at least a little more participation in the day to day threads and topics here instead of the casual bump for their products. That could also help pimp their names too and remind everyone that they not only have good products but good customer involvement as well.

 

[downpour11]

I agree ^^^ Ducmonsta is great along with outdoor logic showing us their new builds of products and using all of our opinions to make the product better and tailored to our wants/needs. Helps everyone!
Also agree with the PM storage and character length in the messages, shout tags and the idea on the [OP] next to the op's name.

 

[SV_Dude]

What if we had supporting members? For example: you got a star or a special icon under your username or avatar that shows you're a supporting member of this forum. Basically, you would buy a $10-$15 annual subscription (not mandatory) for the forum. Maybe that will help pay for the upgrades to the web-site and take away a lot of the adds too. Would anyone be interested in this? I would definitely pay a few bucks a year to improve on this site.

 

[Thai]

Less moderation would be a good start IMHO, especially in the Off-Topic section. It's Off-topic for a reason.

 

[4Running Daily]

Less moderation would be a good start IMHO, especially in the Off-Topic section. It's Off-topic for a reason.

HAHA, yes.

 

[SV_Dude]

Less moderation would be a good start IMHO, especially in the Off-Topic section. It's Off-topic for a reason.

HAHA, yes.

As long as we can be respectful of other members there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[Thai]

As long as we can be respectful of other members there shouldn't be any issues.

I am always respectful! But, the passion of an argument may make it seem otherwise. :

 

[CXS]

What if we had supporting members? For example: you got a star or a special icon under your username or avatar that shows you're a supporting member of this forum. Basically, you would buy a $10-$15 annual subscription (not mandatory) for the forum. Maybe that will help pay for the upgrades to the web-site and take away a lot of the adds too. Would anyone be interested in this? I would definitely pay a few bucks a year to improve on this site.

IMHO that's a horrible idea - look at the big local (CO) forum, if that's what you want go for it and I'll be gone along with others since people with a star tend to feel like they own the forum and have a bigger say, blah, blah, blah.

Help pay for upgrades? C'mon, vBulletin upgrades are free unless you want to go to vBulletin 5's attempt at a "social site." Bad idea too. There are tons of free add-ons too. Please don't BS users by making it sound like this is expensive to run.

More smilies? I vote for less. To the guy with 20 posts saying those with a lot of posts should be restricted is pretty funny.

BTW, I have no idea what happened earlier to prompt this because like many of the users I rarely go out go my generation forum.

Remember, forums are for discussions, trying to make it more is a waste of time and energy. I'm in favor of a chat box, it keeps trivial stuff from getting posted.

Just one guys opinion worth what you paid for it.

 

[CXS]

Lacking this, switch to forum software that allows blocking the posts from the contentious time wasters.

How about making new users read how to use the forum? That way they won't make suggestions for features that already exist?

Sorry vitamin but making such suggestions make you look kind of silly.

 

[Antman]

Can we get the *new* removed from the (stillborn)Garage section at the top of the page? Please?