Barcobird Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Good morning Derek and Keith, just a thought I receive an email every Sunday from wild camping and motorhome fun forums listing latest/interesting topics. Is this something you would consider, I for one would certainly participate more if it were put in front of me rather than remembering to go searching. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Good morning Peter, I believe this will be a feature of the forums software and unfortunately am not aware of any way to do this with the software that Warner's use for this forum, which whilst rather dated does still work pretty well. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 I agree with Keith that the forum as it is for all it's foibles works pretty well for most of us for most of the time. We are all individuals and one man's interesting is another man's boring and on that basis whoever composes the content would probably be on a hiding to nothing from some! Personally I have no problem in seeking out that which interests me without anyone plonking their ideas in front of me! Carry on the great work Keith (and Derek) and from me at least many thanks for your efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barcobird Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Tracker - 2021-02-14 11:03 AM I agree with Keith that the forum as it is for all it's foibles works pretty well for most of us for most of the time. We are all individuals and one man's interesting is another man's boring and on that basis whoever composes the content would probably be on a hiding to nothing from some! Personally I have no problem in seeking out that which interests me without anyone plonking their ideas in front of me! Carry on the great work Keith (and Derek) and from me at least many thanks for your efforts. The point I was trying to make is not that I can’t be bothered to search the forum but a weekly jog that the forum is there. I know some people religiously log in every day, I possibly have busier days and don’t think Sunday morning oh I must log on to the forum but if an email arrives with a link it reminds and encourages me to have a look. Just my opinion :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 My own perspective is that Forums exist for three reasons, obtaining information or help, giving information or help, and entertainment and personally I have no difficulty seeking out whichever is the reason of the moment without the need for any reminders and if such a reminder were available I would very probably opt out of it because I do not like the intrusion of needless emails. That is a purely personal perspective we all have different perspectives so I am not saying your perspective is wrong, just pointing out that the take up might well not justify the commitment involved to set up and operate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Barcobird - 2021-02-14 10:12 AM Good morning Derek and Keith, just a thought I receive an email every Sunday from wild camping and motorhome fun forums listing latest/interesting topics. Is this something you would consider, I for one would certainly participate more if it were put in front of me rather than remembering to go searching. Peter I too get those email digests and actually had one from Wild Camping today, , they are OK , I scan through them just to see but I am on the forums most days due to being unable to roam in the van as I would normally be doing, The E mails are good when on the road in Spain Portugal etc too as keeps one up to date, I think this forum is still in the dark ages really , try posting pictures it is a nightmare , many on here seem to be a bit stick in the mud and do not like change so I think you may be flogging a dead horse here , just my opinion of course, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barcobird Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 vindiboy - 2021-02-14 1:01 PM Barcobird - 2021-02-14 10:12 AM Good morning Derek and Keith, just a thought I receive an email every Sunday from wild camping and motorhome fun forums listing latest/interesting topics. Is this something you would consider, I for one would certainly participate more if it were put in front of me rather than remembering to go searching. Peter I too get those email digests and actually had one from Wild Camping today, , they are OK , I scan through them just to see but I am on the forums most days due to being unable to roam in the van as I would normaly be doing, The E mails are good when on the road in Spain Portugal etc too as keeps one up to date, I think this forum is still in the dark ages really , try posting pictures it is a nightmare , many on here seem to be a bit stick in the mud and do not like change so I think you may be flogging a dead horse here , just my opinion of course, Totally agree with you, technology moves on sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Wouldn’t of thought Warner’s were short of a few Bob. Strange I get bombarded with emails with special offers etc at renewal time of MMM magazine. Just my opinion of course (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Last month, when I was in contact with the Out&AboutLive forum Administrator, I was told that a forum overhaul had been due to be carried out during 2021, but the economic impact of lockdown and COVID-19 had put this on hold. The original structure of the O&AL forums matched the Warners hardcopy ‘leisure’ magazines that were being published in 2005 when these forums were created. Some forums have been added over the years (Warners Show News, Your Views, Chatterbox and Hints and Tips) but - except for Chatterbox - those forums have little activity. Deleting the Warners Show News, Your Views, and Chatterbox forums would be no loss in my view. Hints and Tips has always sat uneasily in the forum structure and is probably best amalgamated with Motorhome Matters, though I don’t think the Administrator could do that. I don’t know what software underlies the O&AL forums, but my understanding is that any significant changes to the basic concept would need to be handled by a 3rd party. This is what happened when the forums were hit by a spam attack in 2016 and a human vetting procedure replaced the original automated method. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Congratulations/45591/ Assuming that it were practicable for an email option similar to that offered on the Wildcamping and MHFun forums to be added to the present O&AL forums, the task would need to be outsourced. Obviously, that would cost and, realistically, the chances of those costs somehow being recouped by Warners are nil. vindiboy - 2021-02-14 1:01 PM ...I think this forum is still in the dark ages really, try posting pictures it is a nightmare.., It amazes me, as an ex-programmer, that the O&AL forum's largely unchanged software still manages to operate fairly reliably after 15 years. As a Moderator I can attach to a posting a file up to 200kB in size (rather than the standard 100kB limit) and it might be feasible to increase the 100kB limit to (say) 1mB fairly easily. But you can bet your life there would still be people complaining that 1mB was still insufficient. If the forum’s word processor (‘rich text’) worked properly to begin with, it certainly does not now, but it doesn’t break my heart to not have better word processing. The direct ‘competitor’ to the O&AL forums is probably the Practical Caravan/Practical Motorhome forum that was updated in late-2019. https://www.practicalcaravan.com/news/forum-update The update involved a move to the commercially available Xenforo platform, but (at least for the caravan part) the previous structure and historical data were retained. Bringing the caravan and motorhome forums under one roof made sense, but the Practical Motorhome forum had been on life support long before the update and activity there is very rare. Xenforo has many optional features, and attaching large files to postings is easy and there’s a good word processor. But - despite its ancient software - I’d still much rather participate on the O&AL forums than on the Practical Caravan/Motorhome forum with all its ‘Facebooky’ bells and whistles. I’ve sometimes wondered what benefit Warners might get out of spending good money on the O&AL forums. I’m very sceptical that the forums part of the O&AL website increases Warners revenue, so - unless there is a large ongoing cost for paying someone to look after the present software - I’d be thinking very carefully about a root-and-branch update. (Of course, after 15 years, IT people familiar with the legacy software that forms the basis of the O&AL forums may well be thin on the ground and a major update to a modern platform might be considered worthwhile solely for future-proofing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 You could "like" MMM's Facebook page & then get notifications when they post anything new. Or sign up to their separate e-mails, but those don't always contain a link to this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 The Out&AboutLive forums do have some ‘email’ features that are described in the Forums FAQ section of the Forum User Guide at the top of the forum’s homepage. Question: I'm having trouble keeping track of the threads I'm interested in. Is there a way to 'keep them to hand', so to speak? Answer: There are two ways to keep track of threads easily - the first is to enable email notification. To do this, click on the 'Toggle email notification' link underneath the most recent response. This means that when a reply is posted you'll be sent an email notification. The other way is to use the 'New threads' link in your toolbar at the top of the forums screen (you must be logged in to use this feature). This will present you with a list of threads that have been updated since your last visit - if the name of the thread you're interested in doesn't appear, it means that there have been no new posts since the last time you used the forums. You can also choose how you want to 'order' the threads on the forum screen - 'Creation' displays the posts in the order which they were started (newest first), while 'Last Post' keeps the busiest threads at the top of the screen as it shows them in the order of most recent message. (The FAQ section is well worth reading as it includes useful guidance on attaching files to posts, adding avatar pictures, etc.) As flicka has said, there are also Facebook and Twitter possibilities https://www.facebook.com/motorhomemags/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I receive prompts from a couple of local forums/online magazines and often find them a pain. I personally would much rather seek out my own places to review. I have 25 subscribed sites on tube that I scan from time to time and if I find any interest I open them. That process suits me fine. So it would seem that my needs somewhat align with Rich (aka Tracker). As he was once known to finish; no rights or wrongs just different!! This site is no more clunky than two others I watch for local forums. Obviously the cost to update out weighs any potential benefits. cheers, PS as I hit the post button Derek's post dropped in at just after 5am UK time, now there is enthusiasm for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 If it ain't broke don't fix it Leave well alone the other forums that have been mentioned are funded by subscriptions This one is at least Free Where's the problem to resize a picture or shorten a link lets not knock what we got Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 The Practical Caravan/Practical Motorhome forum is also free and the Xenforo platform that it's based on is 'state of the art'. The snag - at least where motorcaravans are concerned - is that there is little genuine motorhome expertise within the core of that forum's community and a cursory glance though the threads makes this apparent. Although the O&AL forums may not be broke, they are certainly rusty, and difficulties handling photos and the effect of overly long links are not things that a forum participant should be expected to have to deal with in 2021. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barcobird Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Derek Uzzell - 2021-02-15 2:27 PM Although the O&AL forums may not be broke, they are certainly rusty, and difficulties handling photos and the effect of overly long links are not things that a forum participant should be expected to have to deal with in 2021. Agreed, emojis are sadly lacking as well *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I can't say more (or 'better') emojis would be high on my priority list for an updated version of the Out&AboutLive forums, though - if this study if to be believed - one regular forum participant must have a red-hot romantic life. ;-) https://www.vice.com/en/article/3kxq8w/study-finds-that-people-who-use-more-emojis-have-more-sex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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