Please help and vote :)

[Moses]

Hello everyone :)

Our forum working on new software (vBulletin-engine) one year. All of you aren't new to his layout anymore, all have own habits how to start your visits to the forum. Please share your experience here :)

P.S. let's keep this thread on rails as long as possible :)
P.P.S. it is anonymous voting

[cdnmatt]

What's New - Activity Stream for me. :)

[Manforallseasons]

It is just plain facinating.

[Smiles]

Straight to the Forums page. Never ever been anywhere else.

[Tintin]

Moses, I believe you can easily obtain this type of information from your web statistics. These should be able to tell you at which entry points most of the visitors start their visit.

Or do you want to check the honesty of the forum members? ;)

[Moses]

Moses, I believe you can easily obtain this type of information from your web statistics. These should be able to tell you at which entry points most of the visitors start their visit.

Or do you want to check the honesty of the forum members? ;)

Sure, but I can't view who does it - member or visitor... (Ok, I can, but it will be be quite long job - to sort daily log file about 25-30 mb of plain text tens thousands lines )

[colmx]

never let me down:
https://www.weblogexpert.com/
(and relatively cheap too!)

[neddy3]

Straight to the Forums page. Never ever been anywhere else.

Me too.

[Moses]

never let me down:
https://www.weblogexpert.com/
(and relatively cheap too!)

Yes, I have log analyzer, but I still need to find way how to sort members and visitors in log. Much more easy just to ask members :)

[frequent]

Frankly Moses I'm still waiting for you to implement an RSS feed which was a feature of the previous Forum software http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?17203-Subscribing-to-a-topic&highlight=feed

[Moses]

Frankly Moses I'm still waiting for you to implement an RSS feed which was a feature of the previous Forum software http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?17203-Subscribing-to-a-topic&highlight=feed

Honest answer: 2 things that will work against forum's interests - RSS and forum's chat. Both will decrease q-ty of posts, RSS will also decrease q-ty of visitors in case we will allow to pull full-text version. Forum has RSS option, it is just switched OFF by me.

[frequent]

Honest answer: 2 things that will work against forum's interests - RSS and forum's chat. Both will decrease q-ty of posts, RSS will also decrease q-ty of visitors in case we will allow to pull full-text version. Forum has RSS option, it is just switched OFF by me.I assume by "q-ty" you mean quantity rather than quality? I don't think the quality of posts could fall much further. As for visitors - I assume that this somehow supports advertisers who pay for eyeballs? But what about those of us who use tools like Ghostery, TrackMeNot, AdBlock and so on, that are deliberately deployed to frustrate such activity?

[Moses]

I assume by "q-ty" you mean quantity rather than quality?

yup


As for visitors - I assume that this somehow supports advertisers who pay for eyeballs?

correct


But what about those of us who use tools like Ghostery, TrackMeNot, AdBlock and so on, that are deliberately deployed to frustrate such activity?

Frst two don't have impact of q-ty of views, AdBlock doesn't blocking our ads "on the fly" - I have Adblock as well and I do check that at time of placement. For to block ads here person should do it in manual regime and that means person will see ads at first, second: that will also means person isn't interested in content of our ads - so I don't care... but at least ads will be watched by this person first, in case of RSS ads will be skipped...

[Nirish guy]

For to block ads here person should do it in manual regime and that means person will see ads at first, second: that will also means person isn't interested in content of our ads - so I don't care... but at least ads will be watched by this person first .

You're making one big leap of faith assumption there perhaps and that's that the readership will hang about long enough to bother reading and posting once Ad's start popping up on the site, one of the benefits / features of this site was that in general there were few if any Ad's, if that changes in any meaningful way it might be interesting to see what that does to your readership and poster numbers maybe??

Tread careful I would think should be the watch word there, especially after SG previously informing us all that the site now costs a very modest sum to host and run and indeed a fraction of what it used to cost in Neal's day - and that was never that huge amount an amount to start with anyway and a very small yearly subscription by each of us would have covered that I was always told, just he chose not to bother.

[Moses]

You're making one big leap of faith assumption there perhaps and that's that the readership will hang about long enough to bother reading and posting once Ad's start popping up on the site, one of the benefits / features of this site was that in general there were few if any Ad's, if that changes in any meaningful way it might be interesting to see what that does to your readership and poster numbers maybe??

Assumption? Ads are here from March 2016 - advertising of SiamRoads, Thaimasseur, BKK-tours. Each been made by me and placed carefully with Adblock and forum design in mind. If (!) I will place here other third-party ads, they will be placed with the same policy: they should be not blocked by adblockers and be "at right place" in design.

[arsenal]

Freaky moaned:
"Frankly Moses I'm still waiting for you to implement an RSS feed which was a feature of the previous Forum software."

Moses replied:
"Honest answer: 2 things that will work against forum's interests - RSS and forum's chat. Both will decrease q-ty of posts, RSS will also decrease q-ty of visitors in case we will allow to pull full-text version. Forum has RSS option, it is just switched OFF by me."

It's 3 things really. If you want Moses to do something don't be a total cunt. Just a suggestion.

[Nirish guy]

Actually I always assumed those "ad's" ( which are quite acceptable) were more something to do with your own or friends businesses and hence as you say they were carefully placed to be seen but not be in your face, I was thinking more of random Ad's / Banners for the likes of Skyscanner, Tripadvisor or random insurance companies i.e. random ad's from random advertisers that most of us would I'm guessing prefer not to see popping up on the site every two pages like some other forums I visit ( I'm not referring to any of the other usual Thai gay sites there by the way).

[Nirish guy]

,,,,,,,RSS and forum's chat. Both will decrease q-ty of posts, RSS will also decrease q-ty of visitors in case we will allow to pull full-text version

There more cynical amongst us might say and yes there's exactly the reason they were requested ......but I'm sure that's not the case.....probably ? ! :-P

[Moses]

random Ad's / Banners for the likes of Skyscanner, Tripadvisor or random insurance companies i.e. random ad's from random advertisers that most of us would I'm guessing prefer not to see popping up on the site every two pages like some other forums I visit ( I'm not referring to any of the other usual Thai gay sites there by the way).

I have no plans to add here such adverts, but year ago I offered and still have the same position: forum offers FREE advertising here at forum to owners of gay business located in Thailand and SE Asia (some limitation applied).

[arsenal]

Well Moses half the go go bars have websites so why not drop them an e-mail. Try and get them to agree to post one video a week on said websites. Win win all round methinks.

[Moses]

so why not drop them an e-mail

cuz even after one year of work, I still have list to-do, and looking for advertisers "for free" is one of lowest position at this list... I wrote one year ago: "if somebody knows owners - you may let em to know" about such opportunity... they can PM me here

[Nirish guy]

I have no plans to add here such adverts,,,,,,,, forum offers FREE advertising here at forum to owners of gay business located in Thailand .

Good for you Moses, that's a nice offer to businesses and nice to see you're not out for the last dollar always, it' seems its MY assumptions that were wrong and not yours, I stand corrected !

[Smiles]

Moses ... now that you are the new owner of Sawadee I have just one point to make. I hope you will take into consideration the results of your poll: they could make it much easier for you.
The results point out with glaring clarity. A very large majority seem to come here to Sawatdee to read, to post, to argue, to receive information, to have some fun ... all to a great extent centered around gay Thailand on some level.

Having yourself polled that result: do you think it's do-able to ~ heavily ~ simplify the general look of this board? This place is overloaded with coloured squares, coloured ovals, facts about countries which are hardily read (a 'South East Asia' Forum could easily cover The Others), nine Forums. Nine! (where four would easily suffice), hidden stuff which folks need (for instance, a settings button right up front, instead of buried who knows where), unnecessarily Help Mates which are hardly helpful (e.g. "Quick Navigations" to Forums when everyone already knows where they are ... i.e. in the Forum List), overly long descriptions which seem both clunky and braggadocio ("Welcome to the Sawatdee Gay Thailand the oldest and most popular gay forum on Thailand and South East Asia.") ... and duplicated??

Check out GayButton Board (forget The Hammer et al. That's another story): It's simplicity personified. And it's minimalism guarantees that members can drop in and look things over, drop a post/reply, attack a few dorks, annoy Cndmatt, and quickly get outta Dodge.

Right now this place is simply a horror to navigate. It's chore to be here.

(This folks is my opinion only ... from a guy who enjoys these old fashioned message boards, as opposed to the cesspool that the ghastly and mind-numbing Social Media phenomena have become, and which is, as we watch, taking over the entire Universe.)

[Moses]

Moses ... now that you are the new owner of Sawadee I have just one point to make. I hope you will take into consideration the results of your poll: they could make it much easier for you.
The results point out with glaring clarity. A very large majority seem to come here to Sawatdee to read, to post, to argue, to receive information, to have some fun ... all to a great extent centered around gay Thailand on some level.

Having yourself polled that result: do you think it's do-able to ~ heavily ~ simplify the general look of this board? This place is overloaded with coloured squares, coloured ovals, facts about countries which are hardily read (a 'South East Asia' Forum could easily cover The Others), nine Forums. Nine! (where four would easily suffice), hidden stuff which folks need (for instance, a settings button right up front, instead of buried who knows where), unnecessarily Help Mates which are hardly helpful (e.g. "Quick Navigations" to Forums when everyone already knows where they are ... i.e. in the Forum List), overly long descriptions which seem both clunky and braggadocio ("Welcome to the Sawatdee Gay Thailand the oldest and most popular gay forum on Thailand and South East Asia.") ... and duplicated??

Check out GayButton Board (forget The Hammer et al. That's another story): It's simplicity personified. And it's minimalism guarantees that members can drop in and look things over, drop a post/reply, attack a few dorks, annoy Cndmatt, and quickly get outta Dodge.

Right now this place is simply a horror to navigate. It's chore to be here.

(This folks is my opinion only ... from a guy who enjoys these old fashioned message boards, as opposed to the cesspool that the ghastly and mind-numbing Social Media phenomena have become, and which is, as we watch, taking over the entire Universe.)

Smiles, you made strange conclusion. Poll is "where do you start to read forum?", not "why you are here?" :)

I made this poll to understand in what sequence should be placed some buttons of interface for quick navigation.

[Smiles]

Semantics.
Polls provide numbers. You can ~ if you are wise ~ use them for differing conclusions beyond the original intent.
If you want to ignore suggestions related to your own numbers-gathering ... up to you.

[Moses]

Let me explain how it works nowadays: Surfcrest bought license for vBulletin software - it is name of our engine. Default design for it is nightmare (everyone may check it - just switch to it at left-bottom corner). I bought year ago most advanced and popular design from third-party developer - Pixel Goose (known design company). This theme of design has own name "Metro" and available in 10 colors and we use it now. I spend about week to tune it up: mostly to make forum better readable: somewhere more contrast, somewhere bigger font sizes.

I'm OK with adding another design: in addition to this one. So if someone would like another design - this person may choose it here https://themeforest.net/category/forums/vbulletin?utf8=✓&referrer=search&view=list&sort=sales and buy it. I promise to add that design to forum as well "as it is" and that person may switch to "his" design and use it. No problem.

Once again: forum has name "vBulletin v.4" and I promise to add here any design what you will bring what is suitable for "vBulletin v4" - you will have posibility to switch to it at left bottom corner. But. I. Have. No. Plans. To Draw. Design. For. Forum. By. Myself.

[cdnmatt]

No, please don't switch the design! A new theme may contain totally different HTML formatting, making it near impossible for me to navigate this site. :(

I like the current theme, as it's nice and easy for me to navigate. They have proper use of "h1" tags, all posts are wrapped in "blockquote" tags, et. That, and I remember when I could see, this was a really nice theme. Clean, clear, and concise.

[Moses]

No, please don't switch the design! A new theme may contain totally different HTML formatting, making it near impossible for me to navigate this site. :(

I like the current theme, as it's nice and easy for me to navigate. They have proper use of "h1" tags, all posts are wrapped in "blockquote" tags, et. That, and I remember when I could see, this was a really nice theme. Clean, clear, and concise.

I have no plan to change this default "Metro" theme. I just promise to add additional theme which someone may want to use. This person and other persons who will like new theme will have possibility to switch to it and to use it.

[christianpfc]

This theme of design has own name "Metro" and available in 10 colors and we use it now.
I certainly don't need 10 colors, and cdnmatt needs none!

I agree with Smiles that this forum (and gaythailand) are a bit messy, but now I'm used to it.
Gaybutton gets the prize for the most easily to navigate forum.