# Dear Mr. Cecil, Your website is such a sh... shhhh. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 28, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010 "2006-01-28T20:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![socal57chevy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@socal57chevy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socal57chevy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/21 "2006-01-30T08:50:20Z")
I post on another board (a near mirror image of this one) which is also a vBulletin board and they have a search box for the threads. This makes it incredibly easy to research a topic based on thread content. I agree that it would be a welcome addition to this board. The other site is [saltwaterfish.com](http://saltwaterfish.com) if any mods would like to take a look and make suggestions to administrators to include it here. I found this board while searching for some fish related bit of nonsense and it was some time before I realized it was part of some newspaper conspiracy to get me to part with my wife’shard earned cash. HE he he just kidding there!!! There is also a clearly marked “start new thread” button on each page which is also very convenient. As a board it could be more user friendly, it just takes a little getting used to. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/22 "2006-01-30T14:55:40Z")
There’s two search hyperlinks on every page; one for the thread and one for the board in general. Your usual board may have some edits/additions we do not. We tend to not go far afield from plain ol’ vB regular, as any upgrade wipes out all changes/hacks and it’s a pain to put them in over and over again. TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/23 "2006-01-30T14:59:39Z")
To expand on **TubaDiva** ’s answer, guests may not search. Search is only enabled for paying members. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/24 "2006-01-30T18:19:27Z")
Okay, folks, I think I see what **Witch** is trying to say. I think she (witch is a female name, right?) means > [@](#): > > Dear Cecil, > I see a number of design flaws in your website. I enjoy reading your articles. I notice that some of them contain replies from readers. There is at least one article I would like to reply to, and have my response included in your column. However there is no obvious way to contact you. I clicked on the link “comment on this answer” but it took me to a message board instead. Your website needs a more obvious link to contact you directly. Is that what you meant, **Witch**? For what it’s worth, I agree with you. I myself first stumbled accross this board when I tried to contact Cecil. I’d been reading his columns for a while, without realising this board exists. The message board is not clearly indicated on the Straight Dope home page. It is poorly designed in that respect. However, **Witch** , now that you’ve stumbled accross the board, why not stay for a while? It’s a fun place to be. You might enjoy it. To contact Cecil directly, you can email him: [cecil@chicagoreader.com](mailto:cecil@chicagoreader.com) ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/25 "2006-01-30T18:55:57Z")
> [@HolyDoom Witch](#): > > I must say that it is one of the most user-UNfriendly and the most frustrating one. Nowhere have you written clearly that how you have to actually post a “reply”, or rather “start” a reply, that would be a ‘comment’ to your column. I’m not a moderator or admin for the board, but to a large degree, this is true. There really isn’t a way to guarantee that your reply is published in the Chicago _Reader_, and there is no function to automatically add your reply to the bottom of Cecil’s column. For people who have become accustomed to the new-fangled blog-style of “everybody’s contributions get published on the page,” this isn’t one of those places and isn’t likely to become so. Sometimes Cecil’s columns contain replies from readers, notably the one about “Why do pigeons bob their heads?” and “Who invented the Have A Nice Day happy face?” but those are replies _that were published in the newspaper_, not emails sent in by random browsers. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/26 "2006-01-30T23:14:17Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > For what it’s worth, I agree with you. I myself first stumbled accross this board when I tried to contact Cecil. I’d been reading his columns for a while, without realising this board exists. The message board is not clearly indicated on the Straight Dope home page. It is poorly designed in that respect. Yup, that’s how I got here too. I read his column in the Portland Phoenix, and tried to find a way to write to him, ending up here. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/27 "2006-01-30T23:36:13Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > FWIW, Miss Manners’ columns on the Washington Post archive all have links to blogs (about the column) directly from the column’s front page. Interesting. I don’t feel like registering for the WP, so I can’t see it first hand. I suppose it depends on how intrinsically the paper sees its web outlet in conjunction with the rest of its operation. I think it’s fairly clear from he last couple of years that the Reader management at large does not see (or, more likely, can’t afford to see) the SDMB as an intrinsic part of its operation, and so does not see fit to streamline the connection between reprints of the column and user commentary. ---
**Author:** ![socal57chevy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@socal57chevy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socal57chevy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/28 "2006-01-31T01:12:16Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > To expand on **TubaDiva** ’s answer, guests may not search. Search is only enabled for paying members. Thanks Frank. I looked and looked and found no search box. Guess that splains it. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010/29 "2006-01-31T21:04:37Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > FWIW, this website [hasn’t really changed](http://web.archive.org/web/19961230204507/http://www.straightdope.com/) in a decade. And let’s keep sending those emails, people! We’d hate to live in a world without _The Straight Dope_ TV show on A&E! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-mr-cecil-your-website-is-such-a-sh-shhhh/342010.md?page=1)