Subscribing to topics

[Wobbi]

Is it me, or is the only way to subsribe to a topic by replying on it?

I tried to subscribe via the topic options, but it just takes me back to the home page and doesn't add the topic to my subscriptions.

[I1]

On most forums you can subscribe to a topic without participating. As far as I can tell, the developers of this software consider that you should participate to monitor posts, thus (as far as I can find) you do need to participate. I don't know what happens if you post, subscribe and then delete your post.

However, be warned, this forum software also has no “mail flooding” limitations so, if it is a lively topic and you don’t check regularly you could be a bit flooded with mails notifying you of each post (most forums send one mail message then stop until you have visited the topic when you mail notifications will, restart).

I don't know how new you are to this forum but there are quite a few more limitations and things that don't work here than on most other forums (e.g. there is nothing telling you I have edited this message several times - even should I edit it after others have made posts afterwards). And there is a risk that you may get an update notification for each time the message is edited (if you have subscribed to this topic you may have received several notifications for my single post - interesting to know if you did).

[Tresco]

Sorry to jump in here and not respond to the original enquiry, but the mail flooding thing is really starting to get to me.

I have never asked to be notified when someone responds to a thread I have posted in, yet I frequently receive Emails informing me 'someone has replied etc etc'. There is no rhyme and reason to it either, sometimes I get the notification, sometimes I don't. The thing is, I don't want to be notified.

When I get up in the morning, and see 10 items in my 'in box', I want to think, ahh, all my brothers and sisters want to talk to me, not, 'ooooh, what's happening in the tsunami thread on LF?'.

tresco

[Ex Forum Admin]

Hi Tresco,

In your 'control panel' under 'topic subscriptions', is there any topics that you are currently subscribed to? If so you can delete your subscription to the topic there. If not then it is puzzling why you are receiving notifications that you haven't requested, I'd have to look into that.

 

 

[I1]

These days with SPAM problems and the like, mail flooding is pretty rude as its not difficult to implement prevention (other forums have it) – I agree with your comment.

Most forum systems have an option in your personal settings (or Control Panel) which allows you to set the default to request notifications or not to request notifications. It have been unable to find such functionality with this forum. I have found quite a few things that don’t work here and I guess it sounds like you have found another. If you never use notifications atall, you could always change your e-mail address to something (e.g. [email protected]) and whilst this address would get the messages you would never see them (and they would probably bounce back to LF).

[Tresco]

[quote]Hi Tresco, In your 'control panel' under 'topic subscriptions', is there any topics that you are currently subscribed to? If so you can delete your subscription to the topic there. If not then it is ...[/quote]

Just checked, there were 13 topics there, now all deleted.

Subscribing to a topics you have posted on is an active choice which you make at the bottom of the 'reply' page when posting, and I know I have never ticked that box.

I'll let you know if it happens again, Forum Admin.

tresco

 

[Wobbi]

Just had this error message trying to reply to a post:

Server Error in '/' Application.

The resource cannot be found.

Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested Url: /post.aspx

I1, i only had one notification per post, so if you edited your post I didn't get any notification...

Still no joy with the subscriptions.

What's wrong with all that free forum software everyone else uses?

[I1]

“What's wrong with all that free forum software everyone else uses?”

Don’t ask. Many of us users have been asking that question for some time now. Don’t know if the post is still available, but it was revealed how much LF paid for this forum software and it was not cheap. I’ve gone on a length about the quality of this system, its bugs, poor functionality, etc. (particularly when compared to the free stuff, e.g. phpBB).

However, it seems that LF (or rather Archant) IT/IS have a “strategy” that involves ignoring the users, providing then with buggy and inadequate software, etc. but the good thing is that it is entirely Microsoft based.

[Ex Forum Admin]

I1,

IS is certainly NOT ignoring this issue, Tim is away at present and is due to take a look at this next week when he is back.

 

 

[I1]

Apologies, I was being careless with words when I said that Archant IT/IS are ignoring users (which they are not).

What I meant to say is that whilst users want a forum with decent functionality (and facilities), where facilities that do exist facilities and do what they should, where there is a degree of reliability, where users do not spend ages tidying up after bugs if forum software, etc., Archant IT/IS feel their IS strategy (“Microsoft everything”) is more important. However, the “Microsoft everything” IT strategy is only one of many possible strategies available – and at present LF forum users are suffering because this strategy is more important that the users.

[Iceni]

Remember, I1, "he who pays the piper calls the tune" and as you ain't paying, you cannot expect to call (well, perhaps you can but may be considered unreasonable for so doing).

John

not

[I1]

[quote]Remember, I1, "he who pays the piper calls the tune" and as you ain't paying, you cannot expect to call (well, perhaps you can but may be considered unreasonable for so doing). John not[/quote]

True. However, I work on the assumption that Archant and LF like people to contribute to this forum. Having a lively and informative forum is actually to their commercial benefit.

The other thing that disappoints me about this is that it represents a all too frequent failure of an IT group. As I have gone on in similar threads, when IT lose sight of their purpose (to provide facilities for users) is when it all starts to go wrong. The function of IT is to provide services. Other than is a few more specialist companies (e.g. those that develop then sell software) IT is not an end in itself but rather provides services for others. When IT lose sight of this the users suffer (users I the broadest sense of the word, including internal company users and customers and external users).

Archant have decided to bear with the failures of the forum software and to “work with” the forum software developers. What this means is that the forum users (you and me) are actually providing a free testing service (indirectly) for the forum developers whilst enduring all these problems. Despite the “close working relationship” Archant have with the forum software developers, they can give no timescales with regard to rectification of bugs, etc. I wish I had customers like that i.e. one that would endure such bug-ridden software, help me test it for free, allow me not to commit to any timescales to correct the bugs, etc. –a customer from heaven (I wont say more).

(For those recording these "Unhandles Exception errors, I just got another trying to post this response).