new rant

[Concept]

I recently went on a rant concerning an unmentioned individual, the resultant of this was an apology by a member of this board, basically if the cap fits wear it, I have no intention of naming the individual that promoted this post in the first place.

The net result was that I believe many people now appreciate a little more how hard it is that AJ works on this board, I also hope that members appreciate the number of guests who are viewing this board with intent to join, and the content of some of these forums will sway them one way or another.

Other than the odd guest being a search engine bot, there is a fair amount of guest use , and a number of members joining daily.

The reason people search this forum is for information, hence the forums are broken down accordingly, I quite like pipefish actually but I am also thankful not to receive notification if and when Marylou has a problem, but I do want to be notified if there is a response to a post about my tank or another's tank having issues where I may be able to help with an immediate answer.

This board is becoming very Canadian, and very localized, there is a good chance that you saw someone today that you spoke to last night without realizing it, there will be trading and buying and selling of products all over the place,it is bound to happen that a small few of these will go wrong, it is important that trading issues do not affect the board, with such a close knit community here it would be a shame to have personal conflict rearing its ugly head on the boards, please keep these to a private room within the chat area, and if you wish choose a moderator to join you to act as a moderator (that's what they do) lets keep it civil.

I guess where I am heading with this is that the forums are not a God given right, they are there to be used in a constructive manner, to be used, not abused. There are rules on the board and penalties to go with breaking those rules, seems to me AJ could play God, but has decided not to rock the boat, the same way some trading on here has not been the sweetest of transactions,yet no negative feedback has yet been posted which is exactly what it is there for, people in general tend not to stir things up!

I have a couple of suggestions that are up for discussion.

1) I believe AJ has the right to pull, or move or sensor, any or all of the threads of his choice.

2) When posts get off topic he has the right to split or delete the post or use the system to alert the poster of off topic posting.

3) I would prefer that guests do not see any of the bickering that has become blatant recently along with mud slinging and insults flying, I suggest these posts are removed to an hidden location that members only may view, and email alerts from those areas not activated.

4) If a warning system is adopted there should be in place a method of viewing who issued the warning and to who and why, with a method of it being removed if dealt with in a satisfactory matter (moderator controlled) disputes to be settled again in an unseen location

4a) A positive rating system can also indicate the credibility of the poster! ( a method used on many web based forums)

5) a built in spellchecker would be a huge bonus here AJ (not for the ones that need it) for us the ones that have to translate it.

there may well be many more simple solutions to difficult problems that I have not delved into, feel free to post more constructive comment so that this board will be a welcome relief from a hard days work and not the opposite.

stepping down now

Paul

[ajx22]

Paul,

First let me start my thanking you for the kind words. I have indeed put a lot into creating and maintaining AquariumPros.ca - and do greatly appreciate knowing that all the work is not in vain. :)

I can completely understand your points on only wanting to be notified of 'relevant' posts to threads you have subscribed to. Due to the way that Public Forums work...any member can post to any open forum - and if there is a subscription to that thread...you will be notified of any and all posts - relevant or not. I have created a few "Off the Topic" forums to house the banter...but again - as it is indeed a public forum - I do not control what each individual posts nor where.

In respect to your numbered points:

1.) - I do have this right...but only exercise it if the post is in poor taste, offensive or directly violates the posting guidelines for AquariumPros.ca ~ http://www.aquariumpros.ca/tou.html

2.) - This may well be a good idea. I would be interested in hearing the thoughts regarding this possibility from other members of AquariumPros.ca.

3.) - I again agree 100%. I will make some forum permission edits to only show the "Reef Related" forums to non-members. Reefers Pub is now only visible if you are registered

4.) - This is kinda funny that you should mention this. We think a little too much alike. I have just added a feature to the forums called "Karma" - which is based on a Peer Review system - giving or removing Karma Points to/from a member - based on the communities thoughts of their individual posts. More about this can be read about by clicking here ~ Karma Peer Review System (http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4533)

5.) - There used to be a built-in spellchecker for vBulletin Forums from a company called SpellChecker.net (http://www.spellchecker.net). This WAS a free service - but now has changed to a paid service. $150.00 USD for each 10,000 spell checks - only purchased in blocks of 10,000. At this time - I do not have the resources (money) to add this to the AquariumPros.ca Forums. If this is something that many people would really like to see here - I can take up a donations collection for the addition (please post here if you would like to have this added - and what you would be able/willing to donate). SpellChecker.net service is nice, as it adds the following features:
The SpellChecker operates in a separate browser window so your work is not obstructed
Corrected text is automatically returned to the form
Includes English language Grammar Checker and Thesaurus
HTML tags are ignored during the Spell Check process
custom dictionary is supported for each user

Thank you again Paul for your appreciated Constructive Criticism.

Sincerely,

[afss]

Hey AJ why not put a link to I-spell somewhere on the main page. The people can get their own stand alone version.

Scott

[ajx22]

Link to DL iespell is in the Downloads section shown on the main page.

[Michael_Lambert]

I recently went on a rant concerning an unmentioned individual, the resultant of this was an apology by a member of this board, basically if the cap fits wear it, I have no intention of naming the individual that promoted this post in the first place.

My Apology, was not related at all to what Concept.ca had to say, But related to what other had to say such as,

Paul_BB_guy, AFSS, AJ, Mike,Tj and others.. .

I just needed the cooling down period to think about and read what i wrote, No different than anything i have done in the past as most know me.. I'm like a Friend called me a "Firecracker in a metal shed on a hot day" Just never know when I'm going to go off .. and like a couple of others times with Tim ( Sohal Tang) i had lost it.. then stated my apologies!

On a side note.. Lately i have too noticed many people logged on as "Guest" but yet preforming task, Such as editing post, replying to post ? How is this possible? they are already members but staying hidden as guest???

thanks

Mike

[ajx22]

Originally posted by Toooloud
On a side note.. Latly i have too noticed many people logged on as "Guest" but yet preforming task, Such as editing post, replying to post ? How is this possible? they are allready members but staying hidden as guest???

thanks

Mike

Guests observed apparently in Member locations (like the ones you mentioned) - are bots and crawlers from internet search sites such as Google, Yahoo, etc. - spidering the site for submittal. They try to enter in every possible cgi tag to see the whole site. While they appear to be places...they actually are not (hard to explain).

A guest is not able to edit a post regardless of who they are. The only way to do the member things (edit posts, replying, etc.) - is to be logged in as a member.