I feel that there are some changes that would make the Halomaps forum a more active, and manageable place, and I am fully prepared to defend these opinions

ADDITIONS
general topics thread
site suggestions thread
"report user" option
"report post/thread" option
add spoiler tag support ([spoiler][/spoiler])

MODIFICATIONS
allow for the deletion of individual posts - this will cut down on spam, and forum flame
allow for comments/reviews in the maps thread (accessible only to registered members)

While I appreciate your input and will take these ideas under advisement. Changes to the forum will not be forthcoming anytime soon.

I will however address the things that will not occur
This will never happen. This forum was setup to be a ON-Topic forum only and that is the charter. General and off-topic subject sections will not happen.

I am assuming that you mean to allow comments on the hce.halomaps.org file archive for each map. That is not going to happen either. I first thought about doing that, thought it might help people decide on the maps, but just look at the comments in the forum and you can see why I decided against it. Managing a comment section as well as the forum is outside the scope of what I am will to invest in the websites. And no you can't help. As for the reasons you can look in the FAQ for as to why and it will also answer many other questions normally asked.

Understandable

thank you for the consideration, if anything, I think the ability to delete single posts, and a report post option would be the most important.

Maybe adding the ability to rate posts : o? (like how facepunch does it?)

Since you can edit your post the need to delete one is not something I would entertain. as it is It allows people to post something then remove it before getting into trouble. Deleting the post entirely would make it worse. If anything I would prefer to keep everything including a published post's revisions.

This is one of the things I had on the to-do list.
As useless as that function is it is something that could be added so I'll add it to the to-do list.

Edited by Dennis on Dec 20, 2012 at 10:12 PM

On the topic of rating posts, you could perhaps also include rating entire threads.

What if we had a button next to each thread that would take us to where we last left off in the thread like the one below?



The NEW post feature on Halomaps is convenient but often times, to get to the post we last left off on, we have to scroll (sometimes a lot considering there are walls of text/pictures) through 30 posts to get to the 31st. Also considering someone is gone for a day or two and has no idea what page he left off on (as some topics can build up several pages quite quickly).

Dennis, users should be able to rate threads rather then rate posts, that way others can see that maybe some threads are more interesting then others.

Looks like there are more =DG= here than I thought...

Haha sorry but thanks x)

so... how far along is the to-do list?

can we expect anything with the year?

I think the report function might be nice, and the spoiler tags could be usefull. But I am very glad that he isn't adding any off topic sections. I personally like things the way they are mostly.

Honestly, no matter what he does, so long as he keeps this site up I will love it. lol.

Lestat is right. Whatever you may think of it.

Dennis has gifted this community with hundred of hours of time over the years, is providing us with a stable community hub and host. While he does have a to-do list, I think he knows his business is what should come first.

Now of course, many in the past have offered to help Dennis moderate the forums, give a hand in diverse topics but he has always refused for "safety" reasons. While I personally do not agree with that reason since even pro forums often use "guest" admins (such as Bungie.net), it's his site and his decisions.

Therefore, I think we should ask ourselves what We can do to help this site run better. Of course there's all the good conduct stuff but also on the monetary aspect. Hosting all these maps does cost something. There's a "Donate" button on the homepage to help defer the cost of bandwidth. Not everyone has the money to contribute but for some of us who have grown here and do have the means to spend if only 5$ should consider doing it.

this website is corporate owned, only employees may be moderators, and Dennis is the only employee here.

Hopefully you did read the rest of the message. That's not my point. Dennis does what he wants and sets the rule he wants. Just like Bungie allows non-employees to moderate a corporate owned website.


I bet he'd be extremely happy to disagree with this statement. Besides, the Time he spends on this site isn't something you count on money. That's something you learn over the years.


You wish. All in all, he's stated it's for security and safety, to avoid exploits and others, I guess. In the end, it's his site and he makes his rule thus I do not wish to challenge that or change them. Just don't make silly excuses.


And it also generated insane bandwidth cost


In the end, instead of picking on a part of my message where I simple state "Dennis makes his own rule even others do differently", I refer both of you to the intro and Outro of my message.
Dennis is contributing a lot to this community and anything we/you can do to help, you should do. And that sometimes means donating money.

(I put that in bold so you don't miss it this time, no offense)

I can assure you that these sites are not anywhere near "practically free" to run. They are subsidized in a small part by the ads on the site and a major part by UXB Internet which by that I mean me. The flack I take in the forum from the users pales in comparison to the scathing steely eyed stares I receive from my accountant each month as we review the books. Especially since the recession dealt a crippling blow to the market segment we serve. Nothing about these sites is free or even close to it. They all cost real money. Money she would prefer go to other things.

It is much simpler that that. I have contracts with my corporate clients that prevent me from allowing non employees or paying contracted customers from accessing the administration functions of any of the servers or applications we host.

As for these sites being an example of our capabilities.... we tend to hide that fact as it does not fit our actual client base and often is a detriment or extended discussion when known.
Edited by Dennis on Feb 4, 2013 at 10:25 PM

I'm confused, you don't want people to see this site as an example, but 3 of its pages are in the first page of your portfolio? :S



In terms of operating cost, How much of a money hole is this site?

Poll support? It'd be really useful for critique on things such as map design, etc.

I understand your confusion. Design and ownership are two different things in the realm of customer perceptions. We don't deny it we just don't use it as a selling point.

We do not expose financial information but let's just say I could have purchased a new car... or two.

Thanks for confirming what I've been trying to say.

The poll feature has already been disabled.

I know there is disagreement about this but a forum, unless one specifically designed for it which this isn't, is not the place to archive tutorials because old threads get deleted over time and the information gets lost. That is why we have tutorials sections in the file archive and in the video site.

One of the things on the to do list is a hide posts from user feature.