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Tunes
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 05:05 pm: | 
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I must be doing it wrong. I've tried the features as suggested... I'm sorry, I just don't like to search and read topics in that manner.
The KV - Knowledge Vault reminds me of a safe. You place valuables into them and then lock it. I do not expect to find questions in the KV... I expect to find answers. I see the XBoard as a place to have a discussion(s) on a vareity of topics, some of which I'm interested in, some not. Knowledge is gained by these discussions and their contents are placed in the KV. I see that as a flow from the XBoard to the KV, not the reverse. You may not have designed the board to be viewed this way or understood this way, but that's how I view it. The amount of knowledge stored in the KV AND the people who frequent this site is mind-boggling. I enjoy reading the XBoard open banter over various topics. I search the KV when I'm looking for an answer. I seldom find it... and have stopped posting topics for fear of being told it belongs in the KV. So, what I do now is wait for someone else to ask the question and start a new topic... however, I will ask a question in a current topic and I always recieve multiple, prompt, and quality answers. The knowledge I have gained here is priceless. Good work.
I'm sorry if I don't get the "search" feature, cause I just don't like it... and nothing of what I've said is meant to insult anyone. I know it takes alot of time and dedication to put this board on. Again, good work! |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 06:29 pm: |
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Blake may I suggest using vBulletin?
Most of my favorite forums use this (they are MUCH larger than bwb). I really like the fact that each user can customize there experience. From interface, to what message format they like.
I looked at the cost of leasing a license. I was surprised how economical it is. I do not know the back end cost (server, database, etc...)
They can be found here
http://www.vbulletin.com/ |
Buellshyter
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 07:07 pm: |
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This reminds me of back in elementary school when we learned the metric system because we all were going to change over to it - I'm still waiting  |
Henrik
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 07:47 pm: |
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I sense some stubborness on this topic from some admins. This board wouldn't exist without members...why not adapt to the members rather than try to dictate policy?
Just to make sure you're aware - I'm not Admin or a Custodian.
I am however hopelessly anal about organization and not wasting time and effort.
I'm a computer guy and I find it easier/better to just browse.
If you *really* mean that Don, and if you really *have* given the "New Message Utility" a chance, then you have me stomped - I simply do not understand  If it is anything more than a taste/preferrence thing (can't argue with taste), can you elaborate?
Henrik |
M1combat
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 07:54 pm: |
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Alright... I'll give the "New Message Utility" a proper workout.
I tried it a few times and my impression was that it gives me stuff I don't want as opposed to seeing an intriguing thread title and becoming an active poster on that thread and then looking (manually) for that thread later. I figure if it's not interesting enough for me to remember to seek it out on my own I don't need to be there...
It's subtle .
I'll give it another shot and see if I think it puts me in the KV more often . |
Henrik
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 08:04 pm: |
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Alright... I'll give the "New Message Utility" a proper workout.
That's all anyone can ask. Thanks for taking the time to check it out. 
Henrik |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 10:50 pm: |
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Henrik,
Minor correction, you're stumped, not stomped. And I'm right there with you.
I just sailed through a very logically arranged search result that found 190 posts on 67 pages in 11 topics with the New Message search.
I read about 10-15 items of interest, posted to a couple, skipped past all the stuff I'm not interested in by spotting that in the topic names/thread subject lines, and I'm almost out of here.
To me it is like reading the daily paper. YOu skim the lead lines and read the stuff that interests you. You get it all here, drama, humor, politics, stupidity, cunning, technical details, etc. And you can get it quickly or you can flounder through every topic looking for new posts by the dates and times.
Jack
(Message edited by jackbequick on July 21, 2006) |
Henrik
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 12:52 am: |
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Oh well, stomped - stumped ...
... and that's the New Message Utility ... 
Henrik |
Woolf
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 02:11 am: |
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vbulletin is definitely the way to go |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 09:35 am: |
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"..vbulletin is definitely the way to go..."
Woolf,
I'm not arguing about your suggestion and/or the choice between discus and vbulletin, just trying to best use what we have. Blake may or may not be interested in another software and I'm sure he has noted your comments.
Can you tell me of a bike forum using it? I'd like to see it in action.
Jack |
Mdm
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 01:07 pm: |
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Jack, see
http://www.buelletinboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=07932110cc824718ffef3173 ace3dbf7&f=8 |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 05:23 pm: |
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The biggest vbulletin motorcycle site I know is cycleforums.
http://www.cycleforums.com/
Others would be
http://www.sportbikes.net
http://www.sport-touring.net/
For those that are into stats look here. EN&sort=members,http://rankings.big-boards.com/?filter=vBulletin,EN&sort=members
Big boards is kind of like nielsen's is for TV. They rank by the amount of active users, and post count.
The link I have provide limits the search to sites that are in English, use vBulletin, and it is sorted by size.
As you can see there are some HUGE sites that use vB. |
Blake
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 08:03 pm: |
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Don,
Again, before taking off the a new trial run of the "New Messages" utility please be sure to review your "Favorite Topics" selections and your "Preferences" settings in your user-proifle.
If you generally don't care to view certain board topics, then select and choose only the topics desired in your profile's "Favorite Topics" selections and then also be sure to select the option under your profile's "Preferences" section entitled "When using Last Day or Last Week, display only results from my "Favorite" topics.".
VBulletin fans,
If we ever do ditch Discus, VBulletin is a top contender for its successor. The option to customize the look of the site to suit one's taste is neat, but it can put a significant hit on CPU workload.
All,
I'm not sure the majority of the board is in agreement with the folks who don't care for the "New Messages" utility. And I've never once told anyone in this discussion that they were using the board wrongly as Macbuell seems to think.
My point is that, hey, there's this wonderful and efficient way to browse BadWeB; y'all ought to give it a try for a week or so if you haven't already. And... hey, it would be very much appreciated if we could try to post tech topics to the KV so that we can help keep otherthe XBoard topics on the active page for more than a day or two.
No one is telling anyone that they are "doing it wrong." We're really just hoping to improve the ease and enjoyment of BadWeB for everyone. The board already has different topics, and I think everyone would agree that having just one solitary topics page would be a big problem for BadWeB. It would be confusing and disorganized and WAY too busy. The XBoard is itself approaching that same state, and so it would seem to make sense to maybe try to organize some categories of posts. Is that really unreasonable? Some folks apparently think so. 
Rather than use the KV for informational threads/questions, would you rather we add another layer to the XBoard, where instead of all the currently active topics you would be presented with a few choices of logically categorized XBoard subtopics?
I can see some conflict and the cause of some confusion. The "Quick Board" is for random topics, the XBoard is the home for XBuellers, and the "Knowledge Vault" is for tech and other informational/diagnostic threads. The XBoard overlaps with both the Quick Board and the KV.
Good discussion. More to ponder. In the mean time...
Thank you sincerely to everyone who can find it within themselves to give it a go with the KV and the "New Messages" utility. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 08:04 pm: |
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Thanks Michael and Jamie,
I signed up on the buelletinboard and cycleforums. I registered and spend about 30 minutes on each of them. And I'll visit both of them several times a day in the next few days.
I see different but I don't see better yet. That's my initial impression.
If either of you guys have not tried the New Message Search Utility here, try it now. I called your bluff, now you can call mine.
I'll follow up in a few days with my opinion of vbulletin versus discus forum softwares.
Jack |
M1combat
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 12:46 am: |
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Ahhh, so that's why it's giving me all the results... I did choose my favorite topics but didn't make that other check box checked...
I'll go do that now. So far not too bad except I just saw the EFFING FX RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That just about kills it right there for me. I didn't even realize that you needed to put a full sentence before ANY post with results... I thought it was only the thread title and FIRST post... DAMNIT!
I went through the board in my normal way and saw spoiler warnings and didn't click on that thread. Then I went and did a search to make sure I didn't miss anything and could see the new threads/posts in the KV and BAM... ruined one of the races I've been planning to watch for weeks tomorrow. The most important one of course... That does indeed make me mad and if I hadn't been using the search util I could have avoided it. Granted... It shouldn't have been posted like that anyway...
Good job on the place they got though . |
Hardcorps
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 07:05 am: |
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Blake,
How much extra work would it be to create in the KV a XB section and a Tuber section and a Thumper section. Just curious?
Hard Corps |
Pcmodeler
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 10:39 am: |
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Here's why I hate the Knowledge section. People typically go there and post when they have a problem. However, the large majority of folks do not go there to answer questions. I do not log onto this site daily to enter the knowledge vault to see who I can help. It's not that I don't want to help. If I see someone post a technical question in the XB section that I can answer, I will. |
Skyguy
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 11:13 am: |
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I tried the new method of searching for posts and I did not like it.
Why? To much to go through, To hard a font to read easily and it actually took longer to search than to just pull up a page.
I will try for a couple of more days but so far? UGH! |
Mdm
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 02:10 pm: |
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I have been trying it too. Its truly the BW interface that sucks using this tool.
Threads, why does author block take up so much horizontal room. On My screen its mostly blank. The icons next to the date. No hover text, what do they do, must click to find out).
Then, on the 'search for new posts since I last searched for new posts' feature the posts are cut off and the screen is mostly empty brown space.
The search for new posts since I last searched for new posts feature would be MUCH more usfull if I could just use that (the results page) to read the new posts !!
Also, if I could bookmark the query.
MDM |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 04:23 pm: |
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Mark (Pcmodeler),
For the most part, the people that use the New Message Utility (lets call them "NMU types" for brevity) are the backbone for fielding questions in the KV and basically keeping it going. That is because the NMU types see every question in a search result list and, if they have an interest or some knowledge, can read it and may respond.
If it happens that none of the NMU types respond to a question and if no one else who happens to cruise that section of the KV, read the question, and replies to it, then the question can go unanswered.
There is no guarantee that every question will be read and responded to.
Jack
(Message edited by jackbequick on July 23, 2006) |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 05:52 pm: |
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Tim (Skyguy),
If you have a slow connection I guess it could take some time to pull the search result from the BadWeb server and display it. Mine only takes 3-5 seconds to do that.
And on the font being hard to read, if the issue the font size, and you are already viewing the result in a full window, maybe you can increase the displayed size in your browser?
But what I review quickly in the Search Result would take hours to find any other way. I don't want to miss anything so I skim the result and read some of it.
Jack |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 06:45 pm: |
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Michael (Mdm),
"Threads, why does author block take up so much horizontal room."
Are you viewing that in a full screen window? When I do that, I don't see any scroll bars and can read the full width of the Author and Message columns. You might try maximizing your window.
"..on the (Search Results) the posts are cut off and the screen is mostly empty brown space."
That is what I see too, the intent is to give a hint or preview of the thread from it's subject and the snippets from the new posts. If you click on the subject you'll see the thread in a new window (best if maximized again), If you click on an author's name you'll see the thread starting with that post. In either case, you can read and respond from the new window. When done, close that window you are back at the Search Result and can browse for the next result of interest to you.
"..new posts feature would be MUCH more usfull if I could just use that (the results page) to read the new posts !!"
You can, as I explained above. As you move your cursor over the Search Result page, when it turns into a pointing hand, it is an active link and will open in a new window if you click on it. Not using the active links may have been what you were missing here, it may be the key to your liking this better.
"Also, if I could bookmark the query."
You can bookmark the Search Board:
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/search.cgi
If you go there and click the "Registered users:" button (the Search by Date checkbox will check itself when you do that) and fill in your username and password (if they do not already appear there), then click Perform Search at the bottom, you'll get the Search Result.
One warning, if you close the Search Result page you will lose the result and cannot get it back again because a cookie was reset.
The BadWeb server stores a cookie that keeps track of what posts are new since the last time you used the New Message utility. Your Search Result will only show the new ones. That cookie works no matter what computer you use the New Message utility from.
If you want to check the board but not read it all then or be able to do it again later from home or something, you can check the "Don't remember this search" button before you press Perform Search and it will show you all the same messages again when you repeat the search later (plus any newer messages too).
Jack |
Jhanz
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 07:00 pm: |
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In my opinion, I don't think that the Knowledge Vault works the way it is intended (at least re: XB specifics). I have posted questions there and never received a response and I have also tried to search specific topics and not been able to find the information/topics that I was looking for. I think that more people are viewing the XB forum on a daily basis and therefore, posts are viewed more regularly, therefore making it easier to retrieve XB info. |
Skyguy
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 07:27 pm: |
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Jack, I do not want to add the step of increasing the font size just for BWB. I bounce back and forth between many different sites and that would just not work for me.
I think it comes down to a simple difference in the way some people experience The Net. Some were raised on DOS others on Windows. Then you got them weird arse MAC types but we won't go there. Why? Because we all know they will cast evil spells and incantations to some kind of OS God at us. |
Mdm
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 07:36 pm: |
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MAC, Windows ? UNIX, the good old days ! Apollo, AIX, HPUX ahhhhh |
Henrik
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 09:17 pm: |
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Don; sorry about the race result. I try to post a reminder every year to include "Spoiler" in the title as well as not posting revealing information in the first few lines of race related posts. It usually doesn't work more than a few day though
I do not log onto this site daily to enter the knowledge vault to see who I can help.
Hmmm. I do. Using the NMU it takes me a few minutes to scan all boards, and if I come across questions where I think I may be able to contribute something useful - well, then I do. Nothing heroic or spectacular about it, but if I can help, then why not ...?
And now I'm gonna go do some Mac incantations
Henrik |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 10:08 pm: |
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Henrik,
I'm like you, I want to help too and feel bad when I can't. I also enjoy all the different subjects and stuff.
On Macs, did you see that cheapshot Mac commercial during the race today? They had the one guy looking like Bill Gates and the Mac guy looked like a normal human being. How far out of touch with reality was that!
At least they quit bragging about how much better the processors are in the Macs. Now that they have gone to using Intel Pentiums.
PC's were perfect for me. I was a cryptologic technician, I was used to nothing every making sense without a lot of guesswork, manuals, and indepth analysis. I almost had the code broken on the DOS 1.0 User's Manual when they made me retire. I was that! close.
Jack |
Henrik
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 08:52 am: |
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Jack; take a peek here for all the new Mac adds:
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
While not entirely fair to the PC community they're still good for a laugh. John Hodgman (the PC guy) is hilarious. He does "reporting" skids at The Daily Show as well.
And the whole processor deal - well yeah. There's another poor horse pummeled to mush
For me, I'm a sucker for "ease of use", so you know my OS preference
Henrik |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 10:28 am: |
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Do I need another Quicktime update? I'm not seeing anything?
Here is Apple's Report Card, if they are not careful they are going to get grounded!
http://www.slate.com/id/2143810/#
I found this one, I like the humor in it.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2751590
I try to not take any of this too seriously. But then, I had a hard time liking the WWF and NASCAR. And I'm the guy that bought a H-D and have not changed my wardrobe or personal grooming.
Jack |
Henrik
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 01:04 pm: |
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Don't know about needing a QT update. You can always check. Shows up fine for me - one of the clips starts playing. Links to the others appear below the screen.
Absolutely *love* the spoof in the second link. Perfect!
Henrik |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 09:18 pm: |
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My crack about the Quicktime update had to do the the rather "stealthy" link you posted.
Jack |
Eboos
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 09:53 pm: |
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In 4 days this thread about the Knowledge Vault got 91 posts. How many posts were in the Knowledge Vault in these 4 days? |
Eboos
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 10:04 pm: |
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Here is an idea, I do not know if your software will support this:
When a new topic is being written, if there were a box to check for auto archiving, after a certain period of time, into the correct section of the Knowledge Vault. This way, the question will get maximum exposure in Quick board, Old School, XB or Thumper, and then be accessible for someone looking for an answer later down the road. |
Typeone
| | Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 - 10:33 pm: |
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i still dont understand why there just isn't an XB section (who cares if its just 'talk' or 'knowledge' and talk usually ends up as knowledge anyway), a Tuber section, a Uly section and a Blast section.
If i've got a particular bike, i want all related to that particular bike in one area. the KV is useless. it just confuses those who want/need help. but i do think that some of the organizational categories are beneficial, they just need to be within EACH bike type. i do searches in the KV for stuff and i get Tuber info, no offense but i could care less. i want XB info.
QuickBoard makes sense, its Quick and potentially random. easy.
some of the other topics make sense, Racing, about the site, etc. easy.
too many choices make for confused and lost users. please don't add more layers. think as simply as possible. look at that evil topic list when you first enter the site. no wonder users continuously post 'knowledge' topics in the XBoard. its right there, plain as day. make the entire structure as easy and you'll be much more successful.
(Message edited by typeone on July 24, 2006) |
Blake
| | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 02:37 pm: |
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Just back from a WONDERFUL two-week vacation. Life is great! The big news?... Eagles are back at Chautauqua Lake, NY!
Someone please remind me, what is all this about again.  An evil topic list or logically compartmentalized knowledge (anal retentiveness) versus chaos? 
I may have to go Mac for a different perspective on the whole personal computer experience. My first computer experience was writing/running basic in High School on a Wang that used cassette tapes for removable data storage, which reminds me of the public address system announcer at LTV Aerospace who took much delight in announcing the changes in status of the word processing system there. He would emphatically announce with excess drama that "The Wang is UP! " or that "The Wang is down  " It was funny the first couple times. The following 100+ times got to be annoying.
The ultimate solution for tech discussions/questions/answers/advice is the intended plan to implement a topic driven input form for all such threads that will automatically put the thread in the appropriate place sorted according to motorcycle year/model applicability and applicable area of concern/interest.
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