Chat threads?

[livinoz]

I am not sure why SI is not a viable option here. Are you loathe to it's existence?
ScubaBoard is divided up into two largely distinct areas: Scuba and non-Scuba.

Our moderation is different depending on the location of the post/thread. I am not sure why there seems to be some need for an exception here, but it is definitely not a "Scuba" thread. While Scuba may be referred to in the thread (As is also done in the infamous MOF/NMOF), the thrust of the thread is chat. This is done for consistency throughout our forum.

I hope this helps, but I kinda doubt it.

Not at all.

When you enter the "Feedback" forum it says :

We know that it is you, our membership, that is responsible for the phenomenal success of this board. We want to know what all of our members think about our community as it is today - both the positive & the negative - so that we can continue to make ScubaBoard the best possible place for scuba divers to spend their time above the water. Feel free to give us your comments, remarks and feedback, on any policy / moderation topic that you think we need to hear about.

Some members were giving feedback about a decision, and asking whether this particular policy should be examined, that's all.

 

[The Chairman]

Some members were giving feedback about a decision, and asking whether this particular policy should be examined, that's all.

I have no doubt that they were giving invaluable feedback... that's why I asked the questions for clarification. Why do they find the SI lacking? Is it something we can fix for them?

The end product should be a ScubaBoard that is friendly and useful for as many as possible. Keeping things as consistent as possible is one of the ways we keep people happy. Heck, yesterday I realized that I had contributed (initiated?) to a hijack of a thread about glow sticks and night dives in the Basic Scuba section. We was havin' fun! But it just wasn't right in that section. I reported my own post and asked staff to clean it up. Were still having fun, but now it's in the humor section of diving. That's really where it belongs since its focus is humor and diving.

 

[livinoz]

Okay.


May I ask then, why is SI an "opt-in" forum? Is it because of the nature of the threads or posts in there or for some other reason? To my way of thinking if you just want to separate "chat" threads from the scuba-related forums then there is a forum for non-diving related material that doesn't require an opt-in. I'm just curious.

 

[The Chairman]

Okay.


May I ask then, why is SI an "opt-in" forum? Is it because of the nature of the threads or posts in there or for some other reason? To my way of thinking if you just want to separate "chat" threads from the scuba-related forums then there is a forum for non-diving related material that doesn't require an opt-in. I'm just curious.

Good question.

They are not Scuba specific.

We are searched by the finest search engines all day long. Threads that are in our Scuba areas are indexed. Those in our non-Scuba areas are not. ScubaBoard needs to be as relevant to Scuba Diving as possible: we owe our existence to the sport. Yet, we still want to provide for our community. The "opt-in" status keeps the bots out since they can not opt-in. It also makes it easier for those who use the All Things Scuba option under New Posts.

In the end, we truly endeavor to please as many people as we possibly can. We try to keep things sorted consistently, and to provide ample areas for you, our user, to be able to talk off topic. Most of you are already subscribed to the thread, so your use should not be affected in the least! Again the move was not meant to be arbitrary but rather to make things that much more consistent. BTW, if you see something that looks out of place, please alert us to it using the

Button! It's how we found this anomaly.

I hope that helps.

 

[D_B]

I understand the chat thread/search thing, and I did wonder why it was not in the SI ... but I also understand that you could also just not click on the threads that you dont want to see in each area of SB that you search

Edit: OK, that makes sense , and I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to just opt in to the SI in the first place .. you still dont have to look at threads that don't interest you
... thanks Pete

 

[livinoz]

Okay I guess that answers my questions, thanks.

For me personally I'll just use my subscribed threads to post in HH from now on.

 

[The Chairman]

My work is almost done then! I hear that there is a clean-up over in Basic Scuba! Tchuss!

 

[tiggrr]

Thanks for the detailed explaination Netdoc. Didn't know about all of that search engine bot stuff. Cool. Now back to talking about diving but, not diving. I miss being UW.

 

[The Chairman]

There is a method to our madness, or is that a madness to our method? You be the judge!

ScubaBoard exists for YOU and not the other way around. I have often said, and it bears repeating, that while I own the domain scubaboard.com, I don't own the community. This is your place and I am but your humble servant... or janitor... or both! Have fun, dive often but dive safe! Don't forget to tell us about it!

 

[Sas]

I am curious to know why it took 11k posts in this thread (and nearly 16k) in the other thread for you to come to this decision. The reason why I (and I know others who post in the HH's thread) would prefer it in the Humour section is because lots of people have found it that way as a friendly place to come and chat. This is less likely to happen in the SI area due to it being an opt-in place.

I can't help but think this is a 'political' decision as I know for a fact a fair few people whinged about it not being in the SI who weren't even participating in the thread in a positive way. I have no idea why they cared, but they did, it was a bit pathetic really. Is this your reason for moving it?

Anyway, I would prefer it to be in a regional forum than the SI. And quite honestly I fail to see what was such a big deal about it being in the Humour section. Who goes there for scuba related stuff only? It is well established there and should have been left there!