A few board operational updates

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>I want to give a quick update on a few things we are working on with respect to the board.<br /><br />Steve Verkman made a good suggestion about having the thread, or at least post, concerning the US Mail, and the processes it takes to get something from point A to point B, as a permanent fixture on the board. For the last few days Brian and I have been discussing a new area of the board. It will contain threads (I will most likely lock them, as they are ancient anyway) that have been the most informational. To do this we might have to come up with a new design for the top of the board, though I am leaning towards not doing a whole new look. Regardless of any of that the way the board is structured, technically, will remain the same. The same way threads are all together and the most recent post goes to the top will stay the same. The Buy/Sell/Trade area will remain the same and the other forums will remain the same, operationally speaking. I feel they have done well and while there are always opinions of doing things differently, they have worked fine for about the last 2 1/2 yrs. I know the BST has been debated, but if we can remember to let them go to about 60-70 posts, it would make that area better. I don't see an overwhelming need to change at this point (other than hopefully letting them go a little longer).<br /><br />The banner ads are here to stay. With that being said we are going to have a banner to advertise the static banner ad in the upper right (it will be in that spot). It will be in orange and rather loud. It won't be flashing, buzzing, or doing other weird stuff you see from some other sites. Since there are ads there is no reason not to promote them. Many companies have found they are a great place to advertise and the comments I get about them, from advertisers and members alike, are overwhelmingly positive. I know of many valuable submissions that auction houses have acquired due to the ads. I know of many instances where board members have told me they didn't remember something until they saw the ad. They work and it's a fact. We get over 9,000 unique IP's every month on this board.....(we have data to back up the claim)....I believe there could be about 20% of those folks that use computers at home and work but there are definitely over 6000 different people a month (conservatively) that look at this board. Thanks to everyone for making this such a popular place. I know of no other place on the internet like it and am proud to moderate it. Brian and I are always thinking of ways to make it better too. best regards<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Dave Hornish</b><p>Leon: Is it possible to "pin" certain topics and only add new posts to them if run through the moderator (or something like that). Some threads still have activity a long time after they seem shut down, especially informational topics.

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Posted By: <b>Rich Klein</b><p>Topics that are informational and could serve as FAQ's; are frequently pinned to the top of the chat board for an indefinite period of time, if there is a such way to do that with the threads suggested; and not an overload -- we can have those informational threads locked at the top; and yes they could be added to, and then the brand new threads underneath. That should not affect the board too much<br /><br />Rich

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Posted By: <b>Jason L</b><p>where locked-up information-rich threads could be memorialized, so to speak?<br />That way, you won't have to worry about them getting lost in the main board's pages as they age.<br /><br />For example:<br />Vintage Card Forum<br />Vintage Memorabilia Forum<br />BST<br />Informational Threads

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>Hey Guys,<br />Personally, I don't care for the "pinned" to the top threads I see on other boards. Call me weird (many do) but every time I go to a board that has pinned to the top threads I look at them first, then have to scroll down for the "today" threads which are current. I think I prefer a seperate place for them. We will take time and go back and search for the really good threads, then post them permanently, in that space. I am not trying to "censor" when I lock them, I just want that space to remain orderly. This board is always a work in progress and this seems like a good idea. And btw, I wish I could take credit for this new area being talked about again, but it was a suggestion I got from a board member. We looked at doing this in the past but this recent request spurred the thought once more. I don't want to take credit for only listening to a suggestion (unless of course the credit is for listening to a suggestion <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>) regards

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>A simple thread that we just had asking to rate the difficulty of E92 backs should be somehow saved. Perhaps not everyone's opinion needs to be archived, but since Richard seemed to get the list exactly right, that specifically should be saved somewhere.<br /><br />Likewise threads rating the toughest colors in E94 and E98, the order of toughest T206 backs, etc. provide useful information that I know a computer challenged person like myself could always use.<br /><br />How about some kind of reference encyclopedia that always is just a click away? And any time a new topic with that kind of information appears, we could save it. We would just need to take a vote on whose list, or analysis, is the one most worth keeping.

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>Great ideas and ones I have thought about. It sounds like you might be suggesting that we cut and paste the best posts, time stamped and complete, and put them in the place we are speaking about, instead of the whole thread? I thought about deleting the irrelevent posts in the threads but I don't like deleting anything. I am all for what you are suggesting though. We just need to hash a few details out. We are open to suggestion. regards

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>You are welcome to delete my discussion of baseball card shops and brothels if that helps you to condense. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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Posted By: <b>Mike</b><p>I'll second Barry's opinion about the recent E92 back difficulty thread. Exactly the sort of great information to have easily accessible.<br /><br />I found the same for 205's via the search utility, but quality information like that should be readily accessible.<br />

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Posted By: <b>Dave Hornish</b><p>Leon, I don't care one way or the other as to format, so long as it's accessible and updatable if new info becomes available. Will this only be on the vintage card board for now?

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Every time I get an M101-4 I forget the order of back rarity. I have a vague idea but there are so many different that I lose track. I would love to have that list readily available.

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Posted By: <b>Matt</b><p>Perhaps what would be best is a vintage card wiki? Entries for an issue would include information about scarcity, tips on spotting counterfits, etc. Just like a wiki, those with the best information usually end up having the most input as edited by the readers.

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Posted By: <b>Jerry Hrechka</b><p>Barry - SLOATES & THROATS will always be a Net54 classic.