Crabby old fogies on another MB

[Scarlett67]

I discovered a discussion board several weeks ago that was on just the topic I’d been looking for. I lurked periodically, and the discussions looked great. Only thing was, it was formatted in that ugly “threaded links” view (I don’t know what it’s called or what software is used) – you know, where the subject line link to a reply to an OP is indented, and replies to that are indented further, and same-level replies are indented the same amount? I currently read other boards in this format, but I find it clunky – you have to click a link to read each individual message, you have to go up and down through each thread, etc. Ugh. I prefer vB/UBB-style software to that format. But when I’m a guest in someone’s forum, I use their software. I’m happy if they switch to the kind I like, but I don’t complain.

Well, this board went down for a few days, and guess what happened when it came back? Yup, they’d upgraded to “real” board software. Well, did that ever put the piss in everyone’s cornflakes. The admins had messages in each forum explaining the reason for the change, soliciting suggestions, asking everyone to be patient and try out the new functions, etc.

Not good enough. Let the whining begin!

“Why did you have to change it? We liked it better the old way!”

“We used the other format for years! (Ah, the old “We’ve always done it this way” bit.) Put it back the way it was!”

“We don’t like all these bells and whistles! Smilies are childish! We don’t like the color! (Pale blue.) We don’t like iB codes!”

“How come I can’t do X and Y and Z??” (You CAN do X and Y and Z. God forbid you should poke around a bit and SEE what you can and can’t do. True, you can’t do M and N because they don’t seem to be enabled. But maybe if you ask for that functionality pretty please, instead of immediately WHINING about it, the admins will turn it on for you.)

A few people seem to be open-minded and even like the change, but most are griping up a storm, half a day after the board came back up. Unfortunately the admins seem to be lying low.

So I registered and posted for the first time. (Oh, no, the dreaded newbie!) I introduced myself, explained that I’d used both styles of board, and expressed my confidence that if people would just be patient, they might learn to like the new format.

In the eyes of one poster, apparently that opinion makes me the spawn of Satan, since I’m a NEWBIE and I don’t know ANYTHING about how the old board worked. Can’t you see that lots of people here HATE the new format??!

I tried to address one of the complaints she had (about not being able to reply directly to a POST) by explaining the quote function, which is working. Her reply: a snotty comment that she wants to reply directly to the POSTER (via e-mail), and the quote function doesn’t do that (no shit?), and I should read her post more fully. (Hey lady, maybe you should express yourself more clearly. You asked about replying to a post, not e-mailing a poster. So don’t get snarky with ME.)

I stayed polite, and answered a few more simple questions that people seemed to have. (I seem to be the only one answering questions – still no admins in sight. Oh well, it HAS been only half a day. Maybe they’ve taken cover from all the invective being spewed their way.) I haven’t been back since my last post to see what new garbage has been thrown my way.

I dunno. Maybe I’ll go back in a week or so and see if the mods have shown up and people have found their chill pills. I never saw so many closed minds on a MB before – or so much raw ANGER about a stinkin’ format change, without even trying it out first!!

REALLY made me appreciate the SDMB. Even through this board’s technical ups and downs, people seem to (1) be able to keep on an even keel and (2) be grateful for the admins’/mods’ efforts to provide a FREE forum.

[Kyla]

You should have seen the Dopers when AOL switched from one MB format to another, in 1997, I think. There were people complaining about the “stupid pushpin background” for MONTHS.

[AHunter3]

Yeah, not to mention that “thread” thing, instead of the normal way which was each post hanging out by itself in reverse consecutive order.

[kniz]

So what is the name of the message board? You know we are dyin’ to know.

[elmwood]

I went from Discus to vBulletin about a year ago. There were a few moans … “I’ve got to learn how to use the new format.” After things got settled in, the membership count and post count skyrocketed … not to SDMB levels, but still quite respectable.

Most good bulletin board packages out there look and function like vBulletin or Ultimate Bulletin Board. People shouldn’t be whining if a site went from phpBB ot IkonBoard to vBulletin or InvisionBoard.

[Wikkit]

The other format is better. A threaded discussion board allows you to have more than one discussion going on in a thread at a time, which is what’s ususally happening anyway. You can see what’s going on.

A well written one would have forward/backward links in the posts, as well as the ability to show all posts in a thread. You’d get the same ‘features’ as a board like this, plus it can show that much more information.

[Mangetout]

Does anyone here understand the Yahoo groups message boards; it seems like there’s no such thing as a ‘thread’ there at all; you just have to wade through a mass of posts to see if there’s one titled “Re: [whatever it was you said]”.

Or am I missing something?

[Wikkit]

It is just a mass of posts. Boards like this are based on USENET, where threaded discussions always exist, even if the browser doesn’t always show them. The Yahoo Groups interface, on the other hand, is based on an e-mail list. Since most e-mail clients aren’t multithreaded, the interface isn’t either. The threads still exist, it’s just that they chose to not show them, not even in the half-done way that boards like this show them.