New Site Format Thread

tod osier said:
Start fresh, all but post count [w00t].
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Agree with the consensus above. Re: post count . . .

Add a post count leaders board, with separate divisions for past month, past year, and all-time.

I suspect a few members who have left us would be at the top of the all time list. Steve Sutton?
 
Jeff Reardon said:
I suspect a few members who have left us would be at the top of the all time list. Steve Sutton?
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I'm sure he was the leader on several of the original forum versions... Look out Carl.

I was mostly joking about the post count, thinking about it now, I wouldn't have Eric spend an extra minute or an extra dollar to transfer it over. We have lost post count multiple times in forum transfers in the last 20 years, it really is meaningless.

T
 
Tod

I'm pretty sure people's post counts will not be reset. I don't think we as a community have ever really paid attention to them. I will say I think Harker would top the list if he was still around. When he passed away he had far more than anybody else. It took years for anyone to catch him. He was like the Roberto Clemente of this site. He put up big numbers, was a perennial all star, helped a lot of people, loved by everybody, and gone too soon.

Eric
 
Eric Patterson said:
Tod

I'm pretty sure people's post counts will not be reset. I don't think we as a community have ever really paid attention to them. I will say I think Harker would top the list if he was still around. When he passed away he had far more than anybody else. It took years for anyone to catch him. He was like the Roberto Clemente of this site. He put up big numbers, was a perennial all star, helped a lot of people, loved by everybody, and gone too soon.

Eric
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thumbs up
 
Eric Patterson said:
Some progress is being made on the new format. I've identified a company that can help make the transition to the new forum software and we are starting to talk technical specifics of the way the new format should be laid out.

I would like to use this thread to bounce some ideas off everyone and get input.

Here is my current question. Would you rather have this forum's content migrated to the new format, meaning accounts, posts, pictures, PMs, etc. are folded into the new format. In this case there might be some missing fields and "peculiarities"? Or would you rather start fresh with a new forum, but have all the old content a click away and in it's current format and fully intact. In this case I'd disable posting but you could search and pull up anything you can today. There would be a link on the new format that takes you straight to this forum, albeit disabled to new posts.

Input appreciated.

Eric
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I think a fresh start with all the old content a click away is preferable to me.
 
Might be a good idea for us all to download our photos from readers rigs and resources so we have them if the old stuff goes away.
 
New software is always exciting and intimidating at the same time. Personally, I use the reference and resource area a lot. I like the history. Those areas were created when this format was introduced if I remember right. I hope you can retain that and possibly add a link to access this forum if you make a change.
 
Everyone

I want to let you know over the past week I've made little progress on the new site format. I am juggling a lot of projects with some family needs mixed in and working 12-14 or more hours a day trying to get everything accomplished. I will return to the new forum launch work when this wave of activity passes and that is at least a week or two away.

Eric
 
Eric Patterson said:
Everyone

I want to let you know over the past week I've made little progress on the new site format. I am juggling a lot of projects with some family needs mixed in and working 12-14 or more hours a day trying to get everything accomplished. I will return to the new forum launch work when this wave of activity passes and that is at least a week or two away.

Eric
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Slacker. :) Let us know when funds are needed.
 
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Progress is underway. I have hired an individual who comes highly recommended to handle the migration from the current forum to the new one and he will also tackle customization. He is to start work on this project a week from today.

So with that said I've been kicking around some ideas that I'd like to get feedback on. I'll toss a few out now.

The new format will be mobile device friendly and should make adding images to your posts easy. What if video were an option? Do you see yourself adding video to posts? Embedding youtube video is one way, but the new forum can be set up allowing video straight from your phone or desktop. Is this a capability you'd like to have? Would you be willing to pay a small fee to have your account video upload capable. In other words if you don't want to upload video there would be no fee, if you did there would be a small annual fee to cover that cost. Of course youtube embedded videos don't require server space/bandwidth so you could upload them there and embed them here and not pay the fee. Going straight from your phone expedites and simplifies the posting process for you.

One of the sections that really needs an overhaul is the is the Resources & Reference section which is mostly static files. Or just get rid of it. The commercial duckboat list is out-of-date and to be honest I'm not really interested in tracking down all the various manufacturers out there and inputting their ever changing data. I'd rather they be members and do that themselves. I'll be working with the developer to come up with a solution for that. If a manufacturer doesn't want to be a member here then they just won't get listed. The specs section is something I'd like to grow, but rather than me enter data I'm thinking users could upload pictures/info for any boat ever made for which they have info on. Perhaps the section would be organized by manufacturer and pictures grouped accordingly. Any feedback on this appreciated. Or if you want to do away with all of the current static content and stick with just the forum, since it is 99% of the activity here that is an option too. The current Resources & Reference sections needs a new approach! Hit me with ideas.

Eric
 
Eric, thank you first off, and good job!

I think free is a pretty good price as far as being able to shoot a video straight from your phone or computer, I think most folks that are doing videos generally are familiar with staging them on Youtube and giving the link. They are probably already putting them up on Youtube or Rumble or Bit Chute anyway.


It would be neat if there was a way to copy and paste entire batches of content straight from something like substack or from an actual email that would allow the author to do it in a simple selection of the text and photos as they are in the substack or email and just paste them into the new thread all at once. It may be a different process to enable this functionality from a PC vs Apple setup ... There may already be a way to do this and I just am not savvy enough with the computer to do so
Other than that, I think that you are spot on with what you mentioned. I think that the forum is the top priority, maybe have a thing next to the avatar that lists things that the member may be exceptionally experienced with, so if any other member wants plans or specs or input, they can contact the expert in that particular aspect of Duckboats/decoys etc and then that particular member could offer feedback...

Thanks again
 
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todd tennyson said:
Eric, thank you first off, and good job!

I think free is a pretty good price as far as being able to shoot a video straight from your phone or computer, I think most folks that are doing videos generally are familiar with staging them on Youtube and giving the link.
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I'm unclear on your response. The question is would you be willing to pay a small annual fee to get video straight from your phone to a post? There will be the free option of using youtube, but that entails you to take extra steps.

Appreciate your input. Thanks.

Eric
 
todd tennyson said:
It would be neat if there was a way to copy and paste entire batches of content straight from something like substack
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I just went to substack and grabbed a post with pictures and text and copied it in one action and then pasted it in a post using the new forum software. The new post looked just like the substack one. I'm impressed.
 
I'm not big on videos, so I'm good either way.
Static content: I'd like to keep the resources page. Seems like someone is always asking for help with blinds, silhouette patterns, decoys patterns, etc. but it could use some upgrading.
The commercial boats section is outdated, easy to find all that online these days. Drop it.
Reader Rigs: I like that, good for newbies and guys looking for build/rebuild ideas. But members need to update.
 
I don't think it's necessary to post videos directly from a mobile device. As others have said most people who do video post to YouTube, I think its easy enough to just post a link to a YouTube video or Instagram video.
 
Charles H. said:
I don't think it's necessary to post videos directly from a mobile device. As others have said most people who do video post to YouTube, I think its easy enough to just post a link to a YouTube video or Instagram video.
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I agree with Charles
 
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