Theres no place to put suggestions about the forum on here, so i'll put this here.

I'm just wondering why this forum is short on features...you don't have smilie faces, and you don't have the ability to insert a image...them are really the only 2 things that bother me...

No biggie though, just wondering where they went. :D

EDIT - Oh yeah, there aren't avatar's either..I find that them usually help people tell what is posted by who easier, and it makes the forum look better... =P

Sorry, just some suggestions...

Howdy from Texas,

Yeah, there's no place to put suggestions about the forum, so what does that tell you? That we don't need any stinkin' suggestions! Just kidding. Actually I'm always open to suggestions, you know, as long as there any good.

<< you don't have smilie faces >>

Nope, no smilies, and I have to confess I did this on purpose. I'm very proud that there's no smilies. They're just too informal and ugly for me. Too distracting, especially the animated ones. My goal here, as a very cranky old fart, was to establish a home for other cranky old farts like me who were primarily interested in purely technical discussions. Generally you don't need smilies for those. And don't you realize Frank Granovski prowls this board? Do you have any idea how far overboard he would go if I gave him a bunch of smilies to play with? That guy is already out of control as it is, man. I've also seen emoticons used as a method of getting away with flaming... somebody slams someone, pastes a smilie after it and that supposedly makes it all better. I can't stand that. You can always get away with inserting your own text emoticons... :-) But no graphic ones, ever! Because I'm no fun at all, see?

<< you don't have the ability to insert a image >>

This limitation is primarily due to bandwidth considerations. You can always insert a link to an image. If someone needs to show an image, the bandwidth is on their dime, not mine (even with just text alone, our monthly traffic amount is already pretty high). If someone needs to show an image but doesn't have a web site of their own to FTP to, they can email it to myself or Jeff or Ken and we'll host it either from dvinfo.net or one of our personal sites... in fact, we do this all the time.

<< there aren't avatar's either -- I find that them usually help people tell what is posted by who easier, and it makes the forum look better>>

I've thought about this. We might implement avatars for the forum moderators and for anyone else who has a high post count. They would be real photos, like head shots. We already have a few of them set up, just not yet integrated into the forum software... take a look at our wrangler's page (http://www.dvinfo.net/network/wranglers.php) and you'll see what I mean.

Hope this helps... and don't I recognize your writing from the dv.com forums? I really like that place, so it's nice to see some cross-dressing -- oops, I mean cross-traffic from there.

>>My goal here, as a very cranky old fart, was to establish a home for other cranky old farts like me who were primarily interested in purely technical discussions.

Hey Chris,

I just wanted to give you a vote of confidence for your philosophy and the fantastic site that you run. I really appreciate the straightforward, uncluttered interface. I'm glad that you don't have all the bells and whistles or annoying ads of some other sites, and it pays off in speed and responsiveness. Keep it simple, and keep up the good work!

(from another cranky old fart ;-)

ditto Boyd. Who needs those kiddie visuals? Let's keep this professional.

If you're into emoticons, t'ain't nuthin' stoppin' ya from makin' 'em the old fashioned way.

"Cranky Old Farts"

Hmmm, badge of honor or derrogatory discription...

What are the qualification for achieviing this rank?

"Cranky" - Having or possesing numerous cranks of varying size and purpose?

"Old" - Over twenty? Over thirty? Over the hill? Over the counter life support necessary?

"Farts" - Suffering from Terminal Flatulance or one who is trying to "Fart higher than his Asshole" as my Fencing Master used to say.


Cheers
Richard

I don't miss the modern animated smilies. They suck.
Old school Smilies rule! (oYo) }:-)

The avatars for moderators and respected posters (and even Frank Granovski too) would be a nice idea actually.

If you want to be able to post pictures directly, Chris Hurd will probably accept large cash donations to help cover bandwidth costs!

Chris:

Thanks for not allowing the graphical version of emoticons in this forum.

Now, to cement my status as an old fart, I wish you could eliminate punctuation emoticons, too! I've hated them since they infested the virtual world so long ago. (If you wish to change my forum role from MP to OF, you have my permission.)

Yr fthfl & obdnt srvnt,
W. Fastie

Oh, and by the way, I vote against avatars or any other reward for high post count contributors.

In any forum I've visited where post count was rewarded, there was always at least one idiot who posted meaningless messages to drive the count. In one forum, a guy posted 50-100 messages per day, most of the "I couldn't agree with you more" genre. He had 3500 messages when I arrived. I don't go there anymore.

Good content should be rewarded, not count.

I have to admit, in the beginning of my dv.com days, I never used icons. In fact, I was always nice (really). But people kept sneeking in insults, and of course, putting one of those smilers at the end of the text. So, yours truly got smart (well, maybe, smart _ssish), and decided if icons is what they want, I'll give 'em icons! I do try and keep them nice, however, and do not try to insult anyone. Life's too short to make people unhappy, so I try to do the opposite. Click here for my favourite icon:

http://www.8palm.com/nose1.gif

The text smilies are more than good enough. I too am thankful that some of that garbage isn't available here.

Matt Drudge was on C-SPAN the other day. He said that he really likes text only websites without all the weird Javascripts and prefers linking to them. My sentiments too.

Keep going the way you are Chris, ;-) ;-) ;-) (Now isn't that better than dancing gerbils?)

Yah, I heard drug use causes an increase in the use of smilies, avatars, emoticons and your fingers twitch incessantly when near the semi colon key.

"Stick with video. That's a legal and non lethal high."

Refer to the thread about Robert Crane, and the movie Auto Focus. :) :) :) :) :) ( Trying not to be a too cranky old fart :)

As for this forum, I think it is fine the way it is... maybe too uptight and stiff collared at times, but very much to the point. I like it proffessional, even if I tend to slip from the path myself... sometimes :)

As for the pictures vs avatars, that could get ugly... :)

Let's see... 3 comments @ .02 each... I guess that would be my .06 cents worth...

Chris, those photos of the wranglers were excellent, and I couldn't stop laughing! Will you be placing the real ones up anytime soon?............ ;)

Aaron

I've read the FAQ, I've searched the Forums, I still can't find a legend explaining all the Post Icons used in this community.

- The Envelope icon with a bullet hole in the center is one I've participated in.
- A right arrow icon indicates the thread was moved to a different forum.
- The Envelope icon with a lock on it is a closed thread.

?What is the Envelope icon with four hairs on it's head (plain or bullet hole)?

?What is an orange colored open Envelope icon and how is this different from an yellow colored open Envelope icon?

?Why did they change the taste of Coke?

Look at the bottom of a forums page. Scroll to the bottom of this page. (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=35)

Oh, and by the way, I vote against avatars or any other reward for high post count contributors.

In any forum I've visited where post count was rewarded, there was always at least one idiot who posted meaningless messages to drive the count. In one forum, a guy posted 50-100 messages per day, most of the "I couldn't agree with you more" genre. He had 3500 messages when I arrived. I don't go there anymore.

Good content should be rewarded, not count.
I definitely am against rewarding people for the number of posts they may have. That immediately got my attention as being wrong. But then you have to know my ideology to understand why. I am absolutely against any and all manifestations of elitism.

The immediate equalization of all knowledge among all beings.

I believe we should each be rewarded for the quality of our thinking and how we share it. That has nothing to do with the number of posts a person may or not have.

I came here because I really wanted to post my own avatar. And yes, it is a picture of myself. I am proud of who I am, and becoming more proud of how I look in my advancing (1956>now) years. I think the concern over having real photographs associated with our real names sounds almost paranoid. The very fact that we post our real names means that anyone who's ambitious enough can search us down even without a photo. So there's no real legitimate point in complaining about photo avatars.

Xavian-Anderson Macpherson
ShingoshiDao