Praise Danneaux for EASE OF LOGGING IN to the Thorn Forum

[Andre Jute]

I don't know if Dan set up the forum to be considerate of the members' time when he renewed the forum several years ago, or whether he chose software for being human-friendly, but either way he gets the credit.

Especially, I must say, compared to Facebook, which every time I want to log in to my group for other writers, Indie Authors International, sends me on a runaround which can consume anything from twenty minutes to twenty hours of my time, and does it several times a day. You'd really think that Meta, with all its billions and umpteen thousands programmers, would do better than a single volunteer, but you'd be wrong. Signing in to the Thorn Forum by contrast to Facebook is a two-click operation and then you're in.

Hurrah for simplicity! Thanks, Dan.

[Danneaux]

A global Thank You, Andre, for the kind comment! Though a bit clunky and old, our Forum software is nicely tunable to need and I've set it up for a balance of convenience and security.

If members experience problems, they are always welcome to contact me via Forum PM and I'll see the note when I logon. Keep in mind my 8-hour time offset from ThornLand; I could be asleep when you contact me.

Note in advance: If you can't logon and need me, I'm available through this username at the "big G" mail provider.

This is a good time to express my gratitude for our membership and their mutually supportive, "let's help" nature and kindly demeanor. It is a pleasure and honor to be associated with this community.

Best, Dan.

Danneaux, Thorn Cycles Forum Administrator

[PH]

I don't always agree with Andre, but in this case 100%, thanks Dan.

[Moronic]

Yes, the login does work nicely for me too, and thanks Dan.

Since we're on the topic of forum architecture, one thing I've missed here is the ability to "like" someone's post. When this option first popped up on my favourite motorcycle forum, Adventure Rider, I thought it was annoying gimmick. But I've realised it allows members to endorse someone's remarks without having to create a new post that merely endorses what a prior poster has said.

Case in point: the original post here from Andre. Which might have garnered many more likes than it's picked up replies.

I'm guessing the background software doesn't allow it.

[Danneaux]

Thanks, All, for the kind words; much appreciated!

I've missed here is the ability to "like" someone's post...

I'm always open to suggestions. I've been Forum Admin for the last 15 years now, and followed the Forum daily as a nonmember for 7 years before that, so I knew most of the faces when I signed on. Back in the day, the Forum's "Karma" setting was enabled, then switched off early on. Still available, is is described thusly:

"Karma is a feature that shows the popularity of a member. Members, if allowed, can 'applaud' or 'smite' other members, which is how their popularity is calculated".

This doesn't sound like what Moronic has in mind, and I fear it could lead to divisiness or diversion from our main purpose of "discussive camaraderie and mutual aid" as it can lead to competiveness in posting, gaming the system, or retribution in the case of feuds. Reading the Admin chatter on various fora, there can be a number of unintended consequences. I think if I could find a way to add only the thumbs-up as Monorinic suggested, that could work well. Something similar using emojis seems to work pretty well for Facebook, barring the sarcastic or inappropriate use of the "laughter" emoji.

An AI query returned this useful summary of the Karma opton pros and cons...

The pros and cons of the karma setting in SMF 2.0 can be summarized as follows:
Pros:
Allows users to earn and lose karma based on their contributions, fostering a sense of community and accountability.
Encourages users to engage in discussions and contribute to the forum, as karma can be gained or lost depending on their activity.
Provides a way to reward users for their active participation and engagement with the community.
Cons:
May lead to a negative perception of the forum if karma is not managed properly, as it can be seen as a form of "pay-to-win" or "gaming" the system.
Requires careful management to ensure that karma is awarded fairly and not abused by a small group of users.
May not be suitable for all types of forums, especially those that prioritize a more neutral or neutralizing approach to user contributions.
It is important for forum administrators to carefully consider the pros and cons of the karma setting and to implement it in a way that promotes a healthy and balanced community.

In contrast, I do like the idea of a "thumbs-up" for liked posts and agree it would encourage more open expression of approval for topics of interest. A quick check of the "SMS Forum Forum" shows it is on the development list and may be available soon as the open-source coders get to it. I'm not yet sure if it will be an inbuilt option or available as a "mod" (modification) that can be installed and then activated. I have generally tried to avoid mods over the years, as they can conflict with or are broken by later updates and can cause a mess. Some are innocuous yet useful, and those are high on my interest list. Even those bear watching for unintended consequences. Thumbs up/down options often affect page rankings, as on YouTube listings, so negatively rated posts can slide down the listings independent of date and vice versa for postive feedback. The result can present difficulty for those who just want to logon and see "the latest". Rankings work better and are more appropriate on a monetized platform.

Meantime, I can see view counts on each topic and I use that as a general measure of reader interest. It has been long enough since I logged in as a regular member, I'm not sure if most can see that or not. For me, the count appears just to the right of the topic title when viewing the topic and replies to it.

I do wish the Forum's internal mail system was back online and available. Ours broke in an upgrade and our (mine and Thorn's IT specialist) best efforts to restore it have been frustrated. There's a couple more things on my personal wish list I keep looking to implement and will, when available.

Thanks again for the kind words and suggestions!

Best, Dan.

[Andre Jute]

As of right now -- 10.17am on 4 May -- this thread has been read 482 times. I too think that is the truest reflection of what value the members put on posters and their posts. But this is the first time in a long time, a couple of years or so, that the viewer count has caught my eye.

I agree with Paul. I don't expect 100% of readers to agree with me 100% of the time. 95% of readers 95% of the time will be just fine. (That's a troll, for those who don't instantly recognize it as such. In real life people who don't agree with one are a valuable knowledge resource.)

I don't like the 'karma' idea at all. It's too clever for its own good. And it will inevitably end up being transactional. Worse, it could end up partitioning the forum into little gangs of mutual support. The negative component in the implementation of 'karma' is invidious.

As an experiment, years ago I left the Facebook 'like' button on Indie Authors International, which with 45,000 members actually rarely sees it used because I don't let in the people who tend to turn it transactional, providers of services to writers and so on. But I've seen other fora where the like button is the cause of degeneration into mutual admiration bogs. The great advantage of the like button is that it positively excludes a negative element.

In short, I find the status quo on this group generally acceptable, in fact almost perfect.