From the Editor's Desk

[krishnandu.sarkar]

^^^+1

And I would like to add something.

1. The "Post Quick Reply" button doesn't works it is redirects to advance page. And that "This forum requires that you wait 30 seconds between posts" error is wat I always face even I'm posting ater 30 sec's and already the reply has been posted. Thats why we always encounter same posts two times(which we need to edit everytime).

2. The edit button never works in a single click.

3. The forum is so heavy that when I'm running utorrent the forum never opens, even doesn't get refresh. I need to pause utorrent each time if I need to reply to a thread, create a new thread or just refresh or clicking "new posts" links. Please make it light.

4. As krow said, make the forum wider please.

5. The ads is either side and top and bottom are no problem as said by krow. But this BenQ rollover add is really frustrating. I don't remember how many times I have clicked that add while cliking "New Posts". Please fix it.

6. And my last suggestion would be.....I know you all are really busy with the Magazine and for all your hard effort the magazine is No. 1 magazine of India(May be in the World). So assign some admins/mod for the forum. With whom we can interact if we r facing any problems and get fast reply. I mean if there is no problem assign some peoples who will only work as admin/mod for the forum. Otherwise you can also give mod permission to trusty, old members of this forum(like desiibond, Krow, rhitwick etc.) We can contact them for any prblem and in turn they can contact you(if needed).

Lastly thanx for the great magazine. Loooking forward for a great forum as well. And sorry for my bad english. Please manage.

[tarey_g]

We need active mods.

[desiibond]

hi guys,

send mail to help@thinkdigit.com and editor@thinkdigit.com. I sent few thought to them yesterday.

[Raaabo]

Even when I scroll the page, as you can see in the pic, the rollover ad stays expanded.

And when I click on edit, nothing happens and I see error at the bottom right corner:

I'm looking at the code to see why the error happens.

For the rollover AD. If you keep your mouse hovered over the ad it will stay large, move your mouse away from the ad and it returns to normal size.

I've tried IE 6 / 7 / 8, with the latest flash player version, on XP, Vista and 7, and I still cannot recreate a problem with that ad. It seems to function the way it is supposed to.

---------- Post added at 03:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 PM ----------

# Pick up 3-4 mods and give them moderator access throughout the forum. Don't choose people who are good advisors, rather choose those who can command and take care of the sections swiftly and won't be intimated so easily even if the majority of the people decide to go wild. Create order by flushing out the chaos.

I will be reviewing the mods we have. Most of them are doing a splendid job. The problems with this forum are, however, not something the mods can fix, and thus when complaints are made, they are helpless.

# After a month/2 months of cleanup, depending who did what, assign super moderator acess who have cleaned the forums as admins- most likely 2. Give them a chance of around 2 weeks and then exchange the super mod rights with the other 2.

Again, the problems that exist cannot be solved from a control panel. The only rights the mods do not have are to this feedback forum, which is controlled only by team digit, and delete user rights. Other stuff like running SQL queries, or making announcements, which Admins can do, are also not possible for the mods.

# Assign someone who is responsible enough to be something like an assistant admin. Let him make decisions what is good for the forum and make changes accordingly.
-
This will take a lot of time (a year atleast) but its way more effective in the long run. As a tech forum who runs a tech magazine is naturally assumed to be ethically bound to make a healthy community.

Team Digit will be taking more initiative here. So far, we've started interacting with the community in so many other ways, including offline interactions, and webinars, workshops and the like, apart from making sure the magazine and DVDs and Fast Track and Digit TV are done in time, so free time is scarce. However, we'll make a renewed effort here, starting today.

Also, I think its best if apology is not used as well . Don't take it in the wrong way, but these people have been loyalists for a very long time, and I am sure you agree that apologizing to people who hoped for a change for ages is pretty much equivalent to rubbing salt on one's wound. Make the call!

I'm also one of those loyalists, and am trying to make sure that we can fix whatever possible as quickly as possible. It will take a few weeks, but everything ought to be as good as new soon. I'm not ashamed to admit that in the past year or so, I haven't had too much time for this forum, and that was a mistake. As I've told you guys before, I treat other Digitians as family, and before even starting to fix the errors, I felt I should apologise for not making more time. I fail to see how me apologising is rubbing salt in anyone's wounds, and those who feel that way most certainly do not know me well enough, or long enough.

Here's what's going to change:

1. Code bugs have to be found and fixed. We have an action plan that should have this completely sorted in no more than a month. This applies to errors and the broken Ajax.

2. Things need to be speeded up again, and the theme needs to be changed. I'm open to suggestions for the theme. Suggest them here, and then we can then post a poll to decide on what themes are popular amongst the members. There is only one criteria, the theme should be minimalistic and fast when loading. I suggest Kirsch, because it was my favourite.

3. Some re-ordering of content has to be done - more forums and sub-forums to re-order all the hundreds of thousands of posts that are here. I'm also usually against deleting content, but I think a little pruning in sections will not hurt. I will need the mods to help me with this.

4. Trying to find a more fool-proof way of keeping the spammers off the forum, to enable a slight relaxation of rules for the others. This should end the "cannot post for 30 seconds" error, and the code fixes should prevent the double post error.

5. I'm also looking at other ways to improve the interactivity here, and will keep you posted on the changes made.

I will start a new thread once we start making changes in a week or so, to make sure everyone's aware of what's happening, every step of the way.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

^^^Thanx raaaboo.

Wow...!! Atlast they are listening us.

Hope to see TDF in new way in new year.....!!

[saqib_khan]

^^Thats great if you are seriously taking this matter. One suggestion. Can you please make mods which are more active. See this list. I never find online most of these mods. Or they dont even care to open this forum. Just seeing MetalHead Gautham online. But what about else. This forum need more active mods.

[Raaabo]

As I said, I will take the moderator list under consideration. Most of the mods / admins surf in invisible mode.

Made a few changes:

1. Re-ordered the forum home page to make a little more sense.
2. Added thread prefixes ("Want to Buy" & "Want to Sell"). So choose the appropriate thread prefix when posting in Bazaar.

Do you think it's better to have thread prefixes instead of the "I want..." forum? The prefixes enables anyone to sort by people selling or buying, so it might be better to have everything in one Bazaar forum, so that those just surfing can see both sellers' and buyers' threads... your thoughts please.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

^^^Thats a great idea raaaboo. You are right. Rather than "I want...." the prefixes will be much better. And all the post related to transactions will be in same bazaar section and can be identified by WTB/WTS.

It's really a brilliant idea.

[rhitwick]

Hey Raaabo good to see you actively replying here.

Well, we had one "Forum Improvement..." thread, u made it sticky, how about digging it up?

And the basic requirement I think we need is speed, the forum loads so slowly in IE that it just diminishes the excitement of being connected with digit family for a newbie.

Then, obviously bug fixing...
>Edit
>Double post
>Quick reply
>Attachments
>Search function

As u mentioned Kirsch is ur fav, well it was our fav too...8)

>Got the point u r running out of people to dedicate themselves on forum work apart from their day-to-day responsibilities. Why not give temporary access to some trusty members who can do freelancing for you (it includes security issues, but it can be considered)

>If ads are impossible to ignore, how about disowning flash ads (anyway we use NeatDigit )


@Others, I think MODs are doing good job. Now we don't have the SPAM probs as previous so having 3-4 mods online always is not required I think.

I would suggest take 4 mods from existing and ask them their most suitable time for visiting the forum and order them as well.
Divide them as Day mod and Night mod (as not everyone would be able to MOD this forum everytime)
In day time MOD A will take care of forum on his suitable days of week (eg. Sun, Mon, Tue) and MOD B rest of the days. Similar for Night mods.

[Raaabo]

Hey Raaabo good to see you actively replying here.
>Why not give temporary access to some trusty members who can do freelancing for you (it includes security issues, but it can be considered)

>If ads are impossible to ignore, how about disowning flash ads (anyway we use NeatDigit )

I would suggest take 4 mods from existing and ask them their most suitable time for visiting the forum and order them as well.
Divide them as Day mod and Night mod (as not everyone would be able to MOD this forum everytime)
In day time MOD A will take care of forum on his suitable days of week (eg. Sun, Mon, Tue) and MOD B rest of the days. Similar for Night mods.

1. Full control access is a tricky deal, with, as you said yourself, security issues.
2. I know about NeatDigit, and I even featured it in the magazine, if you guys remember Let me see what can be done about ADs. They will always be there, we can't avoid that, but let's see how we can improve them.
3. As I said, I'll see the activity of the current mods, and then decide. I will also see how we can increase the amount of time that other Admins spend here.

[azzu]

^ really happy to see u active Raaabo
the Re-arrangement of the forum is good Make's good sense ( but i did like the Old arrangement it was the TDF trade mark )
iam still having the quick reply problem ( saying try after 30 secs but its already posted)
hope to solve it sooon

[Krazzy Warrior]

Really happy to see that Raaabo is active! I'm getting a feeling that this forum will undergo some good changes soon..

[Raaabo]

iam still having the quick reply problem ( saying try after 30 secs but its already posted)
hope to solve it sooon

I think that was the buggy / broken Ajax causing that. It seems to not happen when Ajax is disabled.

I've now kept Ajax disabled, so can someone post a few places and confirm that this stupid problem is now fixed? Temporarily, of course, because I will need to fix the darn Ajax and get quick reply / edit / other stuff working with Ajax sometime soon. Works for me in the mod sandbox...

---------- Post added at 08:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:26 PM ----------

test... for double-post prevention errors

---------- Post added at 08:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:30 PM ----------

Hmm.... it all seems to work now, without Ajax of course... I'll check back here later today for replies from you guys after you run some tests... I'm hungry now, so going home

[ico]

Thanks for the replies, Raaabo.

Here are a few more problems:

1)
I think you can notice the missing options. The text is missing over there. If you click on those empty rectangles, they do lead you to the desired page.

2)
When I click on my name, it doesn't lead my to my profile which it does in other forums. So, when I tend to receive a visitor message, I have to find a random post of mine and go to my profile from there.

[desiibond]

Raabo,

thanks for tying to fix the bugs in the forum. Edit looks to be fine now in Ubuntu FF. haven't testing it yet on IE8. will let you know.

regarding the rollover ad. that benq ad stays in expanded mode when page is loaded initially and then works the way it has to. Still it irritates a lot as I use the path under "Featured Story" to go through posts and because of this ad, i have to move the mouse carefully so that the mouse don't go to that border. Is it possible to put some gap between the path and the ad or just disable the rollover action and let that ad be just an ad.

also, In the images that I posted earlier, my mouse was NOT on the and it was nowhere near that.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Thanks raaabooo......Its really great to see you replying and modifying actively.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Wow......!! Both the buttons are working fine.....!!

Now please try to make the forum lighter.

---------- Post added at 09:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

Posting using Quick Reply is taking so much time. Tried it 3times and the case is same. Dunno why. And ya that 30 sec problem is gone.

---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------

Tried to delete a post. But its not getting deleted. Is this any problem related with code?? Or just a temporary problem??? Or providing the reason for delete is must???

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

Yup the post got deleted after providing the reason.

[desiibond]

Here is the video that shows the problem with rollover ad that stays in expanded mode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNGbCIztxIY

sorry for the crappy quality but next will try to record using black mouse pointer and broad day light

[Raaabo]

2) When I click on my name, it doesn't lead my to my profile which it does in other forums. So, when I tend to receive a visitor message, I have to find a random post of mine and go to my profile from there.

Fixed that working on the others

[ico]

Yea, that thing is fixed now.

Secondly, I was thinking whether a fresh install of all the vBulletin scripts might fix most of the problems? Because I think, AJAX problems are actually quite deep. Image attachments also don't work. I do understand that you might have to do considerable amount of modifications even after that.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Ya its looking fixed now. All the features are working correctly and fast. Is there any way out to make the forum lighter. Because we always need to pause torrent when browsing through forums.

---------- Post added at 12:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 AM ----------

Hey raaaboo please check the first problem posted by ico. The problem with Quick Links one.

[Raaabo]

1) I think you can notice the missing options. The text is missing over there. If you click on those empty rectangles, they do lead you to the desired page.

Ok that's fixed as well...

---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 AM ----------

desiibond, I give up, I can't recreate your problem, and since you're saying it works the way it's supposed to after loading, I'm downgrading your "problem" to "weird one-off minor irritant". Just live with the ad while I fix other things.

Try playing minesweeper, it improves pointer accuracy

---------- Post added at 01:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 AM ----------

Oh and as for the Ajax... huuuge problem and tonnes of code / modifications to go through before I find the error, so don't expect that fix before a few weeks.

I can keep doing minor ones like these though , so keep those coming.

Specifics, please, like ico did. Makes my life much easier. Thanks ico.

[ico]

Infact we should thank you.

[Raaabo]

Ok, changed the whole navigation bar to what the latest version of VB should have. tell me if you like this better.

[ico]

Yes, this is certainly better. The community menu has also started to work now which it wasn't earlier.

Gamerz section is visited regularly and can be above the Education section on the main board. Keeping it at the bottom isn't justified.

A separate forum for the discussion of Broadband related problems (ISPs, plans, advice) can be made. Thats what many forums have done. Earlier we had BSNL and MTNL threads which were stuck in the Chit-Chat section, but they are now lost. Threads related to the ISPs and Broadband equipments are popping up in random sections, thats why I feel a separate section would/can be better.

I just saw that vBulletin 4.0 is out and it is a major upgrade. If ThinkDigit is planning to implement it on the site, then it is highly likely that an upgrade might solve most of the issues as it will be clearing out the bugged PHP scripts of the current version.

[vamsi_krishna]

First of all, my Sincere respect to you for Starting this 'Clean the messup' mission. If you have started this mission before a week or two..would have been very nice of you. It is sad to know that only a rebel thread or members leaving only will grab your attention. What i mean is.. don't you know that there is problem with quick reply, edit, page loadings, ads, server downs, etc...etc... before? And you didn't paid attention towards these flaws. I am not blaming you.. coz, we are equally responsible for the bad time of this forum. And please understand that i said these words because of the love and affection i have towards this forum.

Any way.. my suggestions...

1) Content is what makes the members stick to the forum. If the forum is facing the bad time.. it is not because of the quick reply feature, roll over ads, edit buttons, theme, etc. All these problems will not have a chance before a information distribution and community creation. By the gods grace the community creation has been a success because.. every one in the forum loves every one. But the content is what lacking in the forum.. except in the chit chat section.. new threads are not rolling in... And there is only updation of old threads. There should be change in this attitude. Members need initiative for that change. And that initiative should be from you guys. Mods are not being active in general forum business and add admins in this department too(anorion is exception for this). Admins and mods Spend ample amount of time in sharing the information. After all they are the forum leaders.

2) Next major thing you should think about is about the attachments. Please fix the attachment bug or simply remove that feature.

3) At any point of time.. the number of registered users who use neatdigit or CSS who don't click even a single ad will be less than the guests who don't use neatdigit extension and CSS who don't click the ads either because of the ugly forum look. It is not the theme that is making the forum to look ugly.. It is the banners on the two sides.. Banner on left side is acceptable for some extent. I know that you are not the guys who made that decision.. but please do take the risk of telling our problems to your officials. And always remember that what most matters is, 'how forum will appeal to guests' as they are your future registered members

4) For good or bad.. Remove the Users' Post count feature.

5) And Change the head of CHIT-CHAT and FIGHT CLUB from 'Bandwidth' wastage to some thing other like 'FREE TIME TALK', 'GOD'S GRACE','HEAVEN'S SAKE','MOUTH FREAKS',etc. It really hurts to know when the section named 'BANDWIDTH WASTAGE' is the most active section in the forum.

6) A dedicated section for INTERNET, FREEWARES, GAMING CONSOLES, will increase the extent of information exchange in the forum.

7) I know this sounds awkward to you.. please increase the size of the user's avatar.

8) now after 7, what is the number??? A smiley? Please take care of this.. It hurts back there when i post a number and it converts into smiley.


9)A bit close interaction with the user's will be appreciated. I mean.. To send PM wishing for birthdays, Dropping a Email when he has been miserabled, Encouragement PMs if you see a new guy posting something good or great.

If i have posted something wrong, it should be obvious to you/everyone as I am a noob.

/me still scratching head.. what happened to TDF IRC channel?

[rhitwick]

8) now after 7, what is the number??? A smiley? Please take care of this.. It hurts back there when i post a number and it converts into smiley.

Are this is a functionality not bug.
Its like u post ": - D" (more closer though) and it turns to

9)A bit close interaction with the user's will be appreciated. I mean.. To send PM wishing for birthdays, Dropping a Email when he has been miserabled, Encouragement PMs if you see a new guy posting something good or great.

Tell me u r not serious!!!

[TheHumanBot]

VBulletin 4 out and its 175$ for just upgrade

just install a fresh vb package will solve most of the problems and
i guess its hardly takes 30 mnts for all.
but its not the geek way to solve problems
so just keep doing what your doing

just my thoughts

[tarey_g]

Here is the video that shows the problem with rollover ad that stays in expanded mode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNGbCIztxIY

sorry for the crappy quality but next will try to record using black mouse pointer and broad day light

You could have used fraps, gamer .

Anyways good to see the changes. Looks like this time was the last we compalined about same problemss .

[azzu]

2) Next major thing you should think about is about the attachments. Please fix the attachment bug or simply remove that feature.

removing the feature is simply not an Option

4) For good or bad.. Remove the Users' Post count feature.

Y is that ? i cant understand y tellin that ?

It really hurts to know when the section named 'BANDWIDTH WASTAGE' is the most active section in the forum.

Your right , but changing the Name of the section wont solve the Problem

6) A dedicated section for INTERNET, FREEWARES, GAMING CONSOLES, will increase the extent of information exchange in the forum.

Xcellent Idea Dunno about Internet and gamin consoles but Freewares would be GREAT

9)A bit close interaction with the user's will be appreciated. I mean.. To send PM wishing for birthdays, Dropping a Email when he has been miserabled, Encouragement PMs if you see a new guy posting something good or great.

Great Suggestions Vamci anna


will be posting As much as usefull threads from now on
Tryin to make a Great Forum (LOVE TDF)