miniBB ® 

miniBB

®
Support Forums
  
 | Start | Register | Search | Statistics | File Bank | Manual |
The Other miniBB Support Forums / The Other /  
 

Ultimate BB. no chaos, build concensus

 
Author Christopher
Partaker
#1 | Posted: 21 Dec 2002 08:51 
The Ultimate BB is needed on planet earth (especially America). Who is the software producer that can build it?

After spending way too many hours on bulletin boards that were supposed to be on a specific subject, I realized that the posters who were serious and capable of productive discussion were approximately 25% of the total. They were buried in compulsive expression that had no tangible product. I made this proposal you are reading on the one forum and it was answered with. Way beyond the capabilities of this software. So I have come here to present the concept.

What follows is the beginning proposal that could develop the largest and most functional forum to exist on planet earth ever. I believe those who really care know how badly this is needed.

The more I think about the moderators power I realize that the poll feature requirement for each post is really the best way and thereby lets the posters themselves order the issues of the topic as they see fit. It needs three options to serve well.
Since the diversity of topic and division of topic appears as such a force of confusion in this medium, I feel that many posters have a degree of anxiety they self treat with their expressions. There are no bad intentions in this case. Only a varyingly manifested indulgence in compulsion. This is a very human matter. It is a case of frivolity, humor, incidentals etc. My question is are we prepared to sacrifice function to empower such things and if we are not going to, what is the most fair and functional way to empower it to order itself?
That is really what this topic I've started is about for the most part. So here goes.

The first of three poll options, for optimized performance seems best as, ON TOPIC?. When a person responds to that poll option they express whether or not the post is in the realm of the topic at all. The next is a rating of how relevant the the post to the order of the topic issues.
Redundancy is the most congestive element of a topic. Posts that address preexisting issues of the topic which already have a poll majority standing indicating agreement, need to be attached to their area of agreement with a descending order as to their relevance on the issue they reply to.

In order to reply to a post in a topic issue thread it would be required to address the poll query for the reply to that post, the issue importance/relevance as well as the post content as to currency with the development of the issues as it relates to the topic; something like this three digit number;
143
1 = ON TOPIC ( only 1 YES or, 2 NO)
4= ISSUE RELEVANCE TO TOPIC(1, more important or essential, less up to 9)
3 = RELEVANCE IN CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF ISSUE. (1 more, or less up to 9)

After a certain number of three digit reply poll responses on a single post that looked like this, 111, rather than this, 299, the post would be at the top of the posts in that issue for importance/relevance within the issue.

Posts within the topic are initially sorted into common issue threads from the topic by the second digit. Each topic would have nine issues. Topics only two layers. The topic itself and the second layer of issues within it. Off topic postings have no thread and fill out the bottom of the topic past the ninth issue. If a poster gets too many 2's in the first digit position, the off topic posts they have made are deleted and they cannot post on the topic any longer.

The posts in an issue are ordered to relevancy by the third digit and the newest post is always the second on the issue thread, while the most relevant post is first. This way a more relevant post to the issue can replace the first when its accumulation of low numbers by the poll response of subsequent reply exceeds with reply quantity while still dropping below the third digit totals of the top post. Postings would tend to be shorter, more focused and address the issues of the topic with far less redundancy. Posters would best describe their application of ratings in the polls to compel readers to in turn post in reply with low numbers in the second and third digits in their poll responses of their reply post.

When visiting the topic, the user sees up to ten different posts. The first of which is the original post creating the topic. The following nine are the relative importance of the addressed issues with a descending order establishing the users perceived importance/relativity of the issues to the topic.
If they decide the relative order of issues in the topic is not correct they go down to an issue thread in the topic they believe is most relevant to the topic, post in reply to its first post, and give the ON TOPIC? a number 1 in the first digit. If the content of the post addressing the order of importance/relevance issues to the topic is agreed upon a 1 or higher number is put in the second digit position and the development aspect. the third digit higher, then address with content why the higher number was used with regard to topic position and seek reply/poll in support.

That post now rests second in the issue thread. Again, by supporting the relevance to the topic of the top post on an issue the second post gathers, by virtue of its assertion that the entire issue is rated too low in the topics order of issues, and gathering low numbers in the second and third digit positions of reply/poll enough times, the post moves to top post in the issue. If it remains there gathering a majority of number 1's in the second and third digit positions by subsequent posts then the entire issue moves upward towards the number one issue of the topic. It is likely that this will happen quickly and opposition from higher rated issues will have to fairly justify their application of higher numbers in the second and third digit positions with posted content or risk very high numbers by those posting in reply to their posts and placing high numbers in the second and third digit positions. When issues ascend they should be fairly stable in a short time.

If issues in a topic move around too often then it is likely that the issues of the topic are actually sub topics in the forum and then could be listed immediately below the initiating topic in the forum. The main index would show the forums list, the forums the topics, the topics the issues. Only by the issues becoming so controversial in a topic, could they by numeration of poll product, become sub topics in the forum. Of course the poll fields and accumulated total reply/poll responses with the totals for the second and third digit potions would have to be a part of the POST REPLY PAGE. It seems that the second layer of the issues and the database that crunches and orders the issues of the topic and the posts of the issues is really the only new aspect of software.

The proposal is imperfect and certainly complicated enough to justify a flow chart to eliminate confusion and refine function. The fiefdoms that tend to coalesce may still dominate occasionally, but that may make them legitimate by asserting that a majority does not necessarily need to make perfect sense but instead makes its point by showing it feels very strongly on certain issues and is capable of mounting notable opposition to a given, accepted logic. In many ways defining what maybe, a new forum.

At any rate it will take getting used to. Everyone will have to read better and create more relevant content. At some point an entire topic could be very much a done deal. Entering into a new status altogether as an archived topic or new forum with a fully distilled set of issues that would be very educational to any one new to the site. No more controversy, settled, gone. History. Until conditions in the world change, and they will eventually. With this kind of message board empowering responsibly and logically with technology, the changes will be for the best.

Author Team
8-)
#2 | Posted: 23 Dec 2002 10:59 
Amen.

Author PeKa
Partaker
#3 | Posted: 23 Dec 2002 17:50 
Christopher
Most people just want to discuss and forget about HOW to discuss. I think about 10% of all the posters in any forum have read the manual and/or understood it.

Any `feature` they will see aside posting a reply or creating a new thread will make them to forget what using a forum is about - discussing with people and having fun! Whenever there`s a system that verifies a thread or posting as `useful` or the opposite, there will always be greed, jealousy and cheating about having a higher rank than others.

I tink that totally destroys a private forum.

If you want to create a discussion-forum for a company where people can make themselves to think by logic rather than acting by emotion, your idea might be the better choice.

But I think any perfect system is so far away from the average user, as soon as they understood the system fully, they will see it`s still about the two things I mentioned above: Discussing with people and having fun!

Author Anonymous
Guest
#4 | Posted: 6 Jan 2003 14:50 
I've run a very active forum since 1997 -- currently 20,000 registered members and 800,000 posts.

No one uses the thread rating options. The best way to do this would be based on actual views. People are at a forum to read what interests them -- usually that is indicated by the topic. If a thread has a high level of views, it is popular .. isn't that really the point? If you want to bubble the most popular threads to the top, this can be done based on views -- views per day / since created -- views per capita .. there are many options.

Author lozmatic
Partaker
#5 | Posted: 21 Feb 2003 10:28 
Content is king and the user is the queen. A a site which has focus, quality content and of a topic that warrants discussion (and members prone to do so) will feature a successful BB no matter what it is. And success is not necessarily measured in page views. Quality is important too.

I like miniBB because of its simplicity and speed. I would say that, generally, only a small percentage of active posters require the sophistication of other BBs. So instead of spending time installing a BB with ratings, polls, private messages, etc... I'm dedicating my time to interface design and establishing those links between my BB and my site's content that will result in more quality discussions.

The Other miniBB Support Forums / The Other /
 Ultimate BB. no chaos, build concensus
 Share Topic's Link

Your Reply Click this icon to move up to the quoted message


  ?
Post as a Guest, leaving the Password field blank. You could also enter a Guest name, if it's not taken by a member yet. Sign-in and post at once, or just sign-in, bypassing the message's text.


Before posting, make sure your message is compliant with forum rules; otherwise it could be locked or removed with no explanation.

 

 
miniBB Support Forums Powered by Forum Software miniBB ® Home  Features  Requirements  Demo  Download  Showcase  Gallery of Arts
Compiler  Premium Extensions  Premium Support  License  Contact Us
Proceed with the Captcha add-on: protect your miniBB-forums from the automated spam and flood.


  ⇑