# Can we build better forum software?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-build-better-forum-software/615723>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [March 14, 2012, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-build-better-forum-software/615723 "2012-03-14T06:22:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 179

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**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-build-better-forum-software/615723/179 "2013-07-07T19:00:52Z")

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> [@BigT](#):
>
> I still don’t get why this thread was allowed in the first place, let alone why we keep letting the guy come in and tell us how horrible we are.

Yes…yes, it IS terrible when someone says how horrible Dopers are.

> [@Fuck You, Girlfriend's Brother Part 2: Electric Boogaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-girlfriends-brother-part-2-electric-boogaloo/662626/32):
>
> And this is why you never ask for relationship advice on the Dope, \<snip \> In general, few people here have advice for how to deal with life other than run away from it.
> 
> If you want advice for stuff like this, go to a board that specializes in this stuff, not a board that specializes in misanthropic people.

By the way, are you still stalking him off-board, sending him e-mails demanding he respond to you and so forth?  
As an aside to anyone else who’s not freaked out by the idea of discussing different forum paradigms, I think the discussion’s fascinating. I like that Coding Horror is looking at other ideas for how message-boards could function. I think that the front page of his site is fugly beyond words (although, it’d be 50% less fugly if you got rid of the “participants” column. Man, that’s useless AND horrible looking). But some of the ideas are good…or at least worth talking about. Using Irishman’s great summary, #s 3 and 5 are great ideas for discussion.

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