Is it just me, or (in the last few hours) have the little red numbers that show how many unread threads/posts in a forum/thread disappeared? :confused:

Nope, not just you.

its happening to me also.

wow the board seems so much faster now that the red numbers are gone hmmmmmm.........

It sux! Admin, please change it back.

obviously something that should have been tested in dev first :)

Any thought to deprecating the click-click-back-back and putting ratings back?

Not having the unread posts count makes us look more like the SNDG board.

Any thought to deprecating the click-click-back-back and putting ratings back?

i dropped that idea after the powers that be decided it was not wanted. if i remember correctly, john chapman voiced a concern about having that info so close to the name on the message board. (it might not have been john as it was a couple years ago) the powers that be agreed it should not be so readily accessible, so i let it go. the last i saw it, the code is still in place, just commented out, so an IT person could easily reestablish the functionality

Not having the unread posts count makes us look more like the SNDG board.


I thought exactly the same thing. I figured the ghost of UPM was in the machine. /msgboard/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Any thought to deprecating the click-click-back-back and putting ratings back?

i dropped that idea after the powers that be decided it was not wanted. if i remember correctly, john chapman voiced a concern about having that info so close to the name on the message board. (it might not have been john as it was a couple years ago) the powers that be agreed it should not be so readily accessible, so i let it go. the last i saw it, the code is still in place, just commented out, so an IT person could easily reestablish the functionality



It was me. I figure if you want to see my rating, go find it elsewhere on the site. It's not relevant to 99.999% of anything on the MB. And I was not the only person that complained. I had several emails and 2 phone calls from members the day it happened, AND the double query you were using crashed the PDGA website later in the day. My suggestion would be to not go down that road again. :)

I personally liked the little red numbers, because it was easier for me to know what I had read and hadn't read. With those numbers gone, I'm much less likely to read and post here, because I don't want to take the time and effort to figure out what I haven't read yet. But that's just me.

Chap

I agree that it will cut down on the number of threads I explore.

I also noticed that the history of polls taken was lost as well.

I really dislike the change as well. I can't just open a section and look at all the threads and have an easy indicator of what is unread.

I don't necessarily read all the threads from the top down every time.

it's not that hard to figure out unread threads people. on the main index yellow light bulbs mean new content. white light bulbs mean nothing new. on the sub forums the folders on the left are yellow when there is new content and white when there isn't. all it doesn't tell you is how many new posts per thread. and all new posts get the header highlighted a bright color(that is different depending on what colors you use for your MB theme) and all old posts are a flat color.

it's really not that annoying

: ) :

okay i just set my motherboard theme back to default and it doesn't highlight the unread posts.

go to "My Home" > display preferences, and style sheet(skin). i use the blue/black and it highlights unread posts yellow.

: ) :

I would prefer to have the previous functionality back or an explanation for why it was removed.

Plus the EDGE topic is constantly marked as new and unread even though I have read all three comments in that topic several times trying to find the new material.

I would prefer to have the previous functionality back or an explanation for why it was removed.



Yup. This is dookie, I tell ya...and hopefully fixable if broken.

it's not that hard to figure out unread threads people. on the main index yellow light bulbs mean new content. white light bulbs mean nothing new. on the sub forums the folders on the left are yellow when there is new content and white when there isn't. all it doesn't tell you is how many new posts per thread. and all new posts get the header highlighted a bright color(that is different depending on what colors you use for your MB theme) and all old posts are a flat color.

it's really not that annoying

: ) :



Except that some threads show up as a yellow light bulb, even if I've read them several times. The Flying Disc Magazine thread always shows up as unread, even though I've read those 2 posts numerous times.

I agree. Without the red unread numbers I'm not looking at anything b/c I don't know for sure if I haven't read them or not. It takes a lot more time to get through the message board. Please bring them back. I see no good reason for them being gone. Maybe a few extra seconds of download time but that is it. And that's not a good enough reason to get rid of them.

Just for the record, I think I can safely speak for the moderation staff in that we have no idea why the functionality no longer works and would prefer it returned as well. :confused:

Ah, Ok. Well good luck getting it fixed then.

Jeff, is anyone working on it? If not, logging in is pretty much useless. I might as well lurk and log in only when I need to post.

yes please fix this....

this sucks.

badly.

its annoying.

Who would be the person to ask about fixing it?

Has anyone received any info on why the change took place?

Maybe this is a strategy to run message board offenders off the board...by running us all off? Bring back the <font color="red">red numbers!!! </font>

yes please fix this....

please

Maybe this is a strategy to run message board offenders off the board...by running us all off? Bring back the <font color="red">red numbers!!! </font>



that's the first thing I though also

the board sure doesn't seem as busy, sometimes I wouldn't want to read a large thread without the proper time to do so and you never know how big it is with just the yellow lights/folders :confused:

wonder who the proper person to find out what/why happened with it???

That's been asked a few times I think. Seems like those responsible don't care, or if it's a question that's gonna hurt feelings, it'll just get swept under the carpet.

i think David Gentry and Theo Pozzy are message board admins. they might be able to shed some light here.

its still the old way on the dev site, so it should be simple to restore

That's been asked a few times I think. Seems like those responsible don't care, or if it's a question that's gonna hurt feelings, it'll just get swept under the carpet.



Or no one's bothered to ask them directly.

The PDGA message board is going down hill. It won't tell us if there are new posts on a thread anymore which is retarded. You can't even participate in an old fashioned argument anymore without the thought of getting suspended. People are getting suspended for saying something you hear on the radio or TV everyday. What, are we in Church?

And what the heck is wrong with having your player rating next to your username? Only paying members use this board, right? So why not have your rating there instead of having to click on the persons profile to view it?

I also miss seeing a persons post count next to their username as well. It may not be relevant information to some people but I'm sure plenty of MB users would like to see it there instead of some useless origin date (?).

What a joke.

I agree with everything MC expect the argument stuff for obvious reasons.

Losing the number of new posts is annoying, and losing the post count info was dumb. At one point they put your world ranking (based on ur player rating) next to your name, but that only lasted a few days. I thought it was a great idea.

I agree with everything MC expect the argument stuff for obvious reasons.





Yeah arguments can get out of hand don't get me wrong. But I still can't believe a person got suspended for calling another person a moron. Didn't someone get reprimanded for calling someone an idiot as well? Give me a break.

Why can't you use the "New To Me" option at the top of the page? That's what I have been doing ever since I could log on 6 months ago. It gives a list of all the posts that have been made since you last checked. It doesn't sum the new posts by topic a la the red numbers, but it is one way to find new posts.

I agree with everything MC expect the argument stuff for obvious reasons.





Yeah arguments can get out of hand don't get me wrong. But I still can't believe a person got suspended for calling another person a moron. Didn't someone get reprimanded for calling someone an idiot as well? Give me a break.



I think the term used was "ignoramous of unbridled proportions." Hardly a term that burns one's ears.

Why can't you use the "New To Me" option at the top of the page? That's what I have been doing ever since I could log on 6 months ago. It gives a list of all the posts that have been made since you last checked. It doesn't sum the new posts by topic a la the red numbers, but it is one way to find new posts.

while in some ways you are correct, bill, the questiopn people are asking is "why did they make take away a feature and make lots of us adjust?" without an answer it makes us want to add the word "needlessly".

There's a folder on the left side by they topics, when it's yellow there are new posts.

But you don't know whether there are 2 new posts or 200. The red numbers, therefore, were (and should still be) VERY useful.

how many new posts are there?

And what the heck is wrong with having your player rating next to your username? Only paying members use this board, right? So why not have your rating there instead of having to click on the persons profile to view it?



If you'd like your player rating to appear in your posts, just put your player rating in your signature line. You're more than welcome to do that. Personally, I DON'T want my player rating to appear next to my name, and shouldn't have to have it appear there. My player rating has NOTHING to do with the "discussions" I take part in on this board, unless I were trying to give someone advice on how to throw an anhyzer, and trust me, I haven't and won't do that here. If player rating ever appears again on the MB next to my name, I will remove my account from the message board, and ask that all my past posts be removed.


I also miss seeing a persons post count next to their username as well. It may not be relevant information to some people but I'm sure plenty of MB users would like to see it there instead of some useless origin date (?).

What a joke.



The problem with post counts was that some people were making posts SIMPLY for the purpose of raising their post count, and it was gumming up the works, so to speak. I don't expect to see post counts come back.

Chap

The PDGA Discussion board is a tool that we can use to talk about discs, tourneys, and rules. We can debate topics both serious and not. We are all PDGA members and as such, are representative of the PDGA, and indirectly, disc golf as a whole. The motto of the discussion board could be "respect and responsibility." Discussion/debate which degrades to personal attacks and name calling is not respectful and is not permitted.

"Old fashioned arguments" which include personal attacks and name calling will never be permitted here. If that's what some people are looking for, there are literally thousands of other message boards more suited for those needs.

And what the heck is wrong with having your player rating next to your username? Only paying members use this board, right? So why not have your rating there instead of having to click on the persons profile to view it?



If you'd like your player rating to appear in your posts, just put your player rating in your signature line. You're more than welcome to do that. Personally, I DON'T want my player rating to appear next to my name, and shouldn't have to have it appear there. My player rating has NOTHING to do with the "discussions" I take part in on this board, unless I were trying to give someone advice on how to throw an anhyzer, and trust me, I haven't and won't do that here. If player rating ever appears again on the MB next to my name, I will remove my account from the message board, and ask that all my past posts be removed.




Believe it or not this is a Professional DISC GOLF Association provided message board. Ratings are directly associated with you and the PDGA. You can't get on this board without being a paying member which probably means you have played sanctioned tournaments and developed a player rating. Personally I like knowing what caliber of golfer I am in discussion with, especially when he/she is bragging about their message board Distance -OR- disagreeing with you about what disc is better or what technique to use. I view MB user profiles all the time just to see their rating. It takes at least two clicks to check out a persons player rating when their is plenty of room to place it under an avatar. It makes sense.

I don't get why you are so against showing a player rating? It's only two inconvenient clicks away but I'm sure you have your reasons.

To me it's the obvious thing to do and it would be a nice touch to the PDGA message board.

If you want to read a thread, what difference if there's 1 new post of 100?

The dates are there, by the author's name, too. Little difference than having a red number.

And, as far as I know, you don't have to be a member to read the board. Post yes, but not read.

If you want to read a thread, what difference if there's 1 new post of 100?





There is a difference if you ask me...of course I probably waste more time on here than you do.

That's been asked a few times I think. Seems like those responsible don't care, or if it's a question that's gonna hurt feelings, it'll just get swept under the carpet.



Or no one's bothered to ask them directly.



I asked via the contact link on top of the page, I think it went to the moderation team

maybe its not important to most but if there's a thread with a large number of post I'd like to know so I could make sure to read it when I had the proper time, perhaps there's a good reason that the red numbers are no longer there, I'm just curious what though

"Old fashioned arguments" which include personal attacks and name calling will never be permitted here. If that's what some people are looking for, there are literally thousands of other message boards more suited for those needs.



run for cover it's the message board police!!

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/charliesfryes/stoolspuppy.gif

sorry jeff i had to do it :D:D

i really dont like not being able to glance at specific headings and seeing how many new posts have been posted since i was on line last.
the option of "new to me" is a waste of time.
my wife is already disinhearted with the time i spend on this board and now it takes mutch longer to read relevent post b ecause i have to scan so many post to find discussion points i desire.
very frustrating.
who made this change?with what athority?who got to vote on this change? it sucks!!
from a regular users point of view i'm frustrated enough to get my registration funds back for my 2008 membership, as i look at this board as a primary benifit of membership.

<font color="red"> Got red numbers?</font>

not any more!!!!

i think David Gentry and Theo Pozzy are message board admins. they might be able to shed some light here.



Rhett, will you please email David Gentry and ask if this a permanent change or an error? Your response rate is much higher than mine.

Thanks,
Lou

FYI: David Gentry and Peter Shive have both been made aware that many within the Mb community are unhappy with the change. Your concerns have been noted, and I'd expect an official response soon.

Sorry I'm sounded so vague. I just wanted to let you folks know that you're not being ignored and your concerns have been passed on and forwarded to the appropriate parties..

Dave responded in the PDGA ANNOUNCEMENTS thread.

to everyone:

Mesage board response times have been slowing down due to the volume of information it processes. David Gentry and I have been experimenting with ways to correct this. The first fix was to remove the unread threads feature, as David has explained on the "PDGA announcements" thread.

This has lead to an improvement, but at the cost of a desired feature. There are other measures we can try. Ultimately most effective may be to archive material more than, say, two years old. That might result in an even greater improvement, such that we could restore the unread threads feature. We plan to test this in the future, when we are less busy with other things.

Believe it or not this is a Professional DISC GOLF Association provided message board. Ratings are directly associated with you and the PDGA.



For tournament play, you are correct. For 99% of the discussions on this message board, my player rating has absolutely NO bearing, and shouldn't be placed there by my name on the message. As you said, my rating is just a couple of clicks away...if someone is really interested, they can look it up. It CAN be prejudicial....some people will think you don't know what you're talking about just because your rating is low. If I'm trying to explain to someone how to throw an anhyzer, then yes, my player rating might have some bearing on the conversation. If I'm talking about the application of PDGA Rules, then I'm going to be a lot more of an authority on than 99% of all 1000+ rated players, even though my PLAYING rating is 894. In otherwords, my rules knowledge and player rating are mutually exclusive of each other.


You can't get on this board without being a paying member which probably means you have played sanctioned tournaments and developed a player rating. Personally I like knowing what caliber of golfer I am in discussion with, especially when he/she is bragging about their message board Distance -OR- disagreeing with you about what disc is better or what technique to use.



Then look up their rating. I don't gab about my playing prowess (I don't have any), nor my prodigious distance (I can barely throw 300' anymore), so my player rating is not going to be relevant to the topics I choose to discuss.


I view MB user profiles all the time just to see their rating. It takes at least two clicks to check out a persons player rating when their is plenty of room to place it under an avatar. It makes sense.



No, it doesn't. It can be prejudicial.


I don't get why you are so against showing a player rating? It's only two inconvenient clicks away but I'm sure you have your reasons.



I don't have any problem with people seeing my player rating. I have a BIG problem having it placed next to my name on the MB.



To me it's the obvious thing to do and it would be a nice touch to the PDGA message board.



If it happens, I'll not post on the message board again until it's removed, if then. I got about 15 complaints by email and/or phone the day it happened the last time (it crashed the website later that day, so they had to take it down), and almost all the people I talked to at the 2006 (maybe it was 2005) Memorial a few days after this happened also thought it was a bad idea.

Chap

I'll tell you what, MC. If they can make this an OPTIONAL feature, where the individual can turn it on or off, then I'm all for it.

I have to ask, what is the server we're using? I find it hard to believe that anything that I see here could inundate a modern server. I'm guessing the one we're using is several years old. These days for a relatively small investment you can buy a quad core Dell that would handle everything here fairly easily.

I'll tell you what, MC. If they can make this an OPTIONAL feature, where the individual can turn it on or off, then I'm all for it.



I hear you, Chap...if a player does not want their player rating shown there is nothing wrong with that. But I really do miss the "red numbers" :D

I have to ask, what is the server we're using? I find it hard to believe that anything that I see here could inundate a modern server. I'm guessing the one we're using is several years old. These days for a relatively small investment you can buy a quad core Dell that would handle everything here fairly easily.



You'd probably have to ask Theo that question. I just know that the double query that was used to post the ratings and ratings rank by people's names on the MB slowed down the MB dramatically at first, and eventually crashed it later in the day. Also, remember that this happened almost two years ago...newer servers may be more equipped to handle the load. I'm not an IT geek, just a regular geek.

Chap

I'm not a huge techno geek either but I manage some of them. :)

What I know is that the cost structure on very powerful servers has plummeted in the last 5 years. My company owns some quad core servers that are about 4 years old that ran us somewhere around $50,000. Today we can replace those servers with better machines for around $4,000.

We're an insurance company and all our documents are Tiff 4 imaged. We have an office in Omaha that accesses those images from our Houston server farm. If we can handle this traffic with our $4,000 servers then the PDGA should be able to jump through hoops with the minor searches going on at this site.

Lyle,

We currently have three servers that perform various functions housed at a facility in Las Vegas. Those servers are of varying capacity and functionality and have been around the block a few times. We are in the process of kicking the tires on a new server to replace one of the older servers, but I�m not sure of the exact timeline of this. It will probably come online with the new website that we are developing (hopefully sometime early next year). As most of the current budget for IT related items is focused on the new website design and implementation, we have limited resources that we can throw at hardware for the time being. Also, with our current hosting agreement, it�s not as simple as just spending $4,000 for a new server. It�s more of a monthly charge.

Currently I am working on a new server for the PDGA office that will allow our staff to work more efficiently and become more productive in performing the many projects that are on their plate. I also hope that it will help to streamline the process of our fulfillment of new and renewing memberships and automate some of the repetitive tasks that they now complete manually.

I will be installing the server software this weekend. (If anyone knows anything about how to configure ISA server in conjunction with a SBS2003 installation, please contact me.) Wish me good luck.

If you have any other related PDGA IT questions, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

I suspect as much, thanks Todd!

BTW - does the host manage our servers? That's the way it sounds from your description. That sounds a little strange but I have limited knowledge of such relationships.

Last thing. I'd donate $10 or so for a faster better MB server simply because of the overall benefit, I suspect some other members might also. I like the notion of a fund raiser for this issue. I understand that the web site development complicates this but there you have it.

BTW - let me be the first to thank your efforts on this. I hope your weekend isn't too miserable.

I miss the red numbers.

we need <font color="red"> red</font> #'s please

You're all a bunch of commies, red this and red that. I want some red, white and blue here!

Next thing ya know you'll be asking for French fries at your local NT! :D

we need <font color="red"> red</font> #'s please



http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Number=770762&amp;an=0&amp;page=0#Post7 70762

I guess deleting old posts is out of the question?

New to Me is hard to use if you just want to get in and get out of the MB.

Plus, shouldn't the rest of the website be on a different server than the resource hog that is the MB?


(On the positive side, my job productivity has gone up since the change.)

thanks

I guess deleting old posts is out of the question?

New to Me is hard to use if you just want to get in and get out of the MB.

Plus, shouldn't the rest of the website be on a different server than the resource hog that is the MB?


(On the positive side, my job productivity has gone up since the change.)




If you have any other related PDGA IT questions, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Todd Andrews
PDGA # 13590
PDGA IT Committee, Board Liaison

Wish me good luck.





Thx for the update, Todd. We REALLY miss the red numbers ;)

I STILL MISS THE RED NUMBERS!!!

losing the red numbers is one thing. a technical reason for it has been offered. i dont like it, but i spose i need to live with it.

but what about the folders that always show that new messages exist when in fact they dont. its one thing to remove certain information. it is another thing to display incorrect info. can we get it set so that the folder color correctly indicates new messages?

but what about the folders that always show that new messages exist when in fact they dont. its one thing to remove certain information. it is another thing to display incorrect info. can we get it set so that the folder color correctly indicates new messages?




If you have any other related PDGA IT questions, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Todd Andrews
PDGA # 13590
PDGA IT Committee, Board Liaison

<font color="blue">Post deleted by author, thereby saving the moderation team the trouble.</font>

What is the plan to bring back the red numbers?

If the "jump to first unread post" link actually worked it wouldn't be that big of a deal...but it doesn't and it is a big deal.

Yeah, what happened to the <font color="red"> red </font> numbers? ;)

Apparantly the server runs faster without them.

Maybe there are just less people logging on now that the board is not as good as it used to be. :confused:

Bring back the <font color="red">RED</font> numbers. :mad::p

Did I see some little numbers reappear? :cool:

YAY, lil red numbers! :cool:Now where'd my chit-eatin' grin of an avatar go? :mad:

WOOHOO! Red #s.

Which grin is that?

This one? http://www.giveusahome.com/discus/clipart/proud.gif

The red numbers may be short lived. They're already gone for me when looking at the Main page. They're just in the topic areas for now.

I'm not finding the area in My Home for posting or modifying an avatar...am I the only one? /msgboard/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I'm not finding the area in My Home for posting or modifying an avatar...am I the only one? /msgboard/images/graemlins/ooo.gif



You're not the only one. The powers-that-be have been notified however and will hopefully make the fix soon.

hopefully not before sunday! lol