# Improving the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 25, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640 "2008-03-25T03:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/61 "2008-03-26T00:04:10Z")
[QUOTE=jimmmy] Thanks man that makes sense. So if we decide not to renew do our paying memberships become “inactive” and then we need to re-join under a new name or will they migrate us to a new free account with our posting history? [/QUOTE] In all likelihood the latter, although you should wait for an official answer. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/62 "2008-03-26T00:07:03Z")
[QUOTE=jimmmy] Thanks man that makes sense. So if we decide not to renew do our paying memberships become “inactive” and then we need to re-join under a new name or will they migrate us to a new free account with our posting history? [/QUOTE] I’m guessing that it will be like when we went P2P, you didn’t have to re-register then and you shouldn’t now. It’ll just be an undoing of what has been done. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/63 "2008-03-26T02:12:42Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I disagree. Charter Members are cheapskates who might very well not even be here if they had to pay full price. People like me who were out of the country at the time and missed the deadline but still pay FULL PRICE are keeping this place afloat. If the powers that be decide to devote any time to discussing titles, I’d suggest titles reflect join date. Maybe something based on year. Or, to be fair, Charter Members become “Half Price Payer” or something more genuinely descriptive of their status here. Charter Member is meaningless, unless maybe you joined in '99. [/QUOTE] Well, how about the SDMB do what’s been suggested hundreds of times before and charge a little extra for custom titles? The people who really like their “Charter Member” title can keep that, old-skoolers can be “Joined in 99”, **Tuba** can be “Humble,” you can be “Pays Full Price,” I can be “Wangus Maximus,” **Ed** can be “Cecil,” everyone else can be what ever they want (for a price), those that don’t care don’t pay, and every single one of us is happy. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/64 "2008-03-26T02:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=zut] Well, how about the SDMB do what’s been suggested hundreds of times before and charge a little extra for custom titles? The people who really like their “Charter Member” title can keep that, old-skoolers can be “Joined in 99”, **Tuba** can be “Humble,” you can be “Pays Full Price,” I can be “Wangus Maximus,” **Ed** can be “Cecil,” everyone else can be what ever they want (for a price), those that don’t care don’t pay, and every single one of us is happy. [/QUOTE] Along these lines, the powers that be ought to take a good look at SomethingAwful. I certainly wouldn’t us to try to imitate them, but they are a profitable website that’s largely centered around a messageboard. It might make a good case study. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/65 "2008-03-26T02:38:38Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I disagree. Charter Members are cheapskates who might very well not even be here if they had to pay full price. People like me who were out of the country at the time and missed the deadline but still pay FULL PRICE are keeping this place afloat. [/QUOTE] Um, I was out of the country too, but I found a way to ensure I got on the bandwagon. I don’t see what your problem was. . . I agree with **Duck Duck Goose** –not that it’s a badge of honor, or something to fling in someone’s face, but dammit, I’m a Charter Member and I like it that way. Tripler . . . and I joined in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/66 "2008-03-26T03:07:19Z")
**Tuba** has already _suggested_ I take my views elsewhere, so people continuing to respond to me here is unfair. I got pitted. Maybe you could respond there. My views and opinions in this thread are not welcome. I assume my responses to others’ views and opinions is equally unwelcome. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/67 "2008-03-26T04:34:47Z")
Free posting is back! Hurrah! I’m looking forward to a big surge in overall quality. > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > for one thing, we’ll be serving up Straight Dope column pages off a database, as opposed to the static HTML pages we use now. Does that mean the search function for the articles will actually work worth a damn now? > [@Cluricaun](#): > > That said, I too would like to be able to keep my Charter Member title even if it becomes anachronism. I believe those of us who’ve stuck by the board have earned a slight distinction, no matter how slight that may be. > [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > I paid for that “Charter Member” and I want to keep it, dammit. It has deep emotional resonance and symbolism for me. Seconded, especially since I’ve been here for my entire adult life and I feel like I’m an integral part of the SDMB’s history, almost as much as it is of mine. > [@alterego](#): > > That’s usually about the time that you fire your system administrator. _Thank_ you. Solving database problems by deleting data or taking the site down for 15 minutes? And you’re _paying_ this guy? Surely there’s a competetent LAMP professional out there _somewhere_, right? Now that you’ll be getting all the new ad revenue, maybe you can invest in that guy. ETA: I just realize that this whole post sounds really backhanded. Let me say it once more, with feeling: Hurrah! Free posting is back! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/68 "2008-03-26T05:46:59Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Please, please, oh please tell me that “modernizing” doesn’t imply avatars and animated smileys (or at least that it includes a way to shut them off). [/QUOTE] I would be pleased if such pathetic concerns weren’t held in very high account. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/69 "2008-03-26T05:56:52Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] I would be pleased if such pathetic concerns weren’t held in very high account. [/QUOTE] Being a Luddite, I regularly access this board over a dial-up connection. Avatars would triple my load time at the very least. It’s an important feature to me. Allow avatars if it makes people happy, but please allow me to turn them off. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/70 "2008-03-26T06:10:32Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] Being a Luddite, I regularly access this board over a dial-up connection. Avatars would triple my load time at the very least. It’s an important feature to me. Allow avatars if it makes people happy, but please allow me to turn them off. [/QUOTE] Sure thing. See that “User CP” on the top left-hand corner. Click on it, then click on “Edit Options”, now scroll a little ways down. Unclick! > [@](#): > > Visible Post ElementsYou have the option to show or hide various elements of messages, which may be of use to users on slow internet connections, or who want to remove extraneous clutter from posts. > Show Signatures > Show Avatars > Show Images (including attached images and images in [IMG] code) ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/71 "2008-03-26T07:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] Being a Luddite, I regularly access this board over a dial-up connection. Avatars would triple my load time at the very least. It’s an important feature to me. Allow avatars if it makes people happy, but please allow me to turn them off. [/QUOTE] You shoulder really be using a text based browser such as lynx. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/72 "2008-03-26T10:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] I would be pleased if such pathetic concerns weren’t held in very high account. [/QUOTE] Pathetic concerns of whom, the avatars being a possibility, or of **InvisibleWombat**? I’m anti-avatar myself. . . Tripler I like words. Pictures, notsomuch. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/73 "2008-03-26T12:56:52Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] **Tuba** has already _suggested_ I take my views elsewhere, so people continuing to respond to me here is unfair. I got pitted. Maybe you could respond there. My views and opinions in this thread are not welcome. I assume my responses to others’ views and opinions is equally unwelcome. [/QUOTE] Not at all. I simply told you that About This Message Board is not a forum where you air your grievances about how things are run here. That’s what the Pit is for. Forum description for ATMB: > [@](#): > > For **technical questions and concerns about the SDMB.** Forum description for the Pit: > [@](#): > > If you gotta flame, do it here. **This is the place for all complaints and other discussion regarding administration of the SDMB.** Your views and opinions are welcome in the appropriate forum, just like everyone else. Including Charter Members. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/74 "2008-03-26T14:32:49Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Charter Member is meaningless, unless maybe you joined in '99. [/QUOTE] Unh…check out my join date. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/75 "2008-03-26T18:08:14Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] [QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Please, please, oh please tell me that “modernizing” doesn’t imply avatars and animated smileys (or at least that it includes a way to shut them off). [/QUOTE] I would be pleased if such pathetic concerns weren’t held in very high account. [/QUOTE] I do so enjoy being trivialized. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, **CarnalK** , but the Web is filled with message boards frequented by 12-year-olds that are solid wall-to-wall animated flashing blinking distractions. The signal-to-noise ratio is awful. By contrast, the SDMB seems peaceful and calming, and indicates that the denizens of the board take it seriously. Why do I care when it can be shut off in user options? Because the “high-visual-noise” environment seems to attract the LOL OMG kiddies that we’ve so successfully kept out of here. And because people on such boards tend to use their avatars, embedded photos, animated smileys, and so on as integral parts of their posts, so when they’re shut off, their drivel becomes even harder to understand. You may consider my concerns “pathetic,” but to me the lack of visual noise on this board is one of its greatest strengths, and I’d hate to lose it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/76 "2008-03-26T18:35:25Z")
This is enough information that I may resubscribe on April 30. However, I would like an update on progress before then, since it’s still just a promise of fixing something later. If it’s not upgraded within a reasonably low number of months, well, that’ll say something unfortunate. As to the “Charter Member” titles I could not care less, nor do I care about post count. I want simple, clean interfaces that work, with a search function. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/77 "2008-03-26T18:47:58Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Why do I care when it can be shut off in user options? Because the “high-visual-noise” environment seems to attract the LOL OMG kiddies that we’ve so successfully kept out of here. And because people on such boards tend to use their avatars, embedded photos, animated smileys, and so on as integral parts of their posts, so when they’re shut off, their drivel becomes even harder to understand. > > You may consider my concerns “pathetic,” but to me the lack of visual noise on this board is one of its greatest strengths, and I’d hate to lose it. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/78 "2008-03-26T19:09:30Z")
And thirded. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/79 "2008-03-26T19:12:55Z")
Same here, excellent point **InvisibleWombat**. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640/80 "2008-03-26T19:14:54Z")
I only became a charter member for the discount as well. So free makes me even happier. Those whom it concerns may substitute ‘cheapskate’ for ‘charter member’ in their minds whenever they see my title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improving-the-sdmb/442640.md?page=5)