Off-Topic Posts in the Duramax 6600 forum

**More Power** · 08-31-2002, 18:15

Off-topic posts occur wherever there are bulletin board forums. This one is no exception. Based on what I've seen, off-topic posts appear in the wrong forum for one of two reasons.

1- The poster doesn't know any better.
2- The poster wants his post to appear in the most popular forum regardless whether it is "on-topic" (more readers - he thinks).

Posting in the wrong forum dilutes the value of that forum. Posting in the wrong forum makes it harder for people to find info they are interested in. Posting in the wrong forum creates more work for the admin.

The "Duramax 6600" forum is for engine related posts.

There has been quite a few requests for additional forums.... Like a classified ad forum, an FAQ forum, a Tech forum... and so on. You can help that to happen by posting in the correct forum and encouraging others to post in the correct forum.

Please help......

MP

**Bobcat698** · 08-31-2002, 18:56

SOrry, I just didn't know any better

I try harder next time

Garrett

**2K2AD** · 09-02-2002, 16:55

Amen, Brother! Thanks MP.

Kevin

**Paintdude** · 09-02-2002, 20:19

It seems like to me that this site could have alot of more forums..I post off topic at times and I will still do it until someone puts up a off topic forum..

No links, no pictures,no off topic, whats next???????

Sorry, I just don`t know any better..

**DMAX Daddy** · 09-02-2002, 20:38

Im not exactly sure how the site is paid for, but most sites, the more forums you have the more $$$ it costs to run them. (yes I run a few, but on different topics)

Links are always a hot topic. Usually one negative is the redirect traffic away from the site (and the advertisers paying to be here).

Another is virus protection, both for you and the server the site is hosted by. If folks could have their links open up in another window it would solve that problem, but Im not sure of the easy UBB code to do it.

My 2 cents, I would love to have a lot of the functionality but its not my board to administer and since I am the guest of someone willing to put the time in (and it eats up free time), I will play by their rules.

**Paintdude** · 09-02-2002, 21:08

It is allabout bandwidth..IMO

I help run a site that gets over 800,000 hits a month..Our forum has pictures 50k max , clickable links and Avatars for the members..All paid for by donations and advertisers with out any pop-up adds of any sort..

adding a forum only makes the site more user friendly and orginized ..IMO

This is a communitypeople meet become friends (hopefully)and might have non related info to pass on to others ...

If one of my post is in the wrong forum just move it, where?I do not know...Maybe to a new forum?

Oh by the way this thread is in the wrong forum.....

**stretch** · 09-03-2002, 03:44

I agree with MP, it gets annoying at times reading some posts that are off topic BUT in alot of cases, I see why its posted where its posted, lack of a more appropiate location. I've seen posts moved to another section that seemed less applicable (can't remember when but I recall thinking - what happened here?). I don't know what the solution is sinc having 90 different boards isn't good either. My vote for now is leave well enough alone and let the moderators earn there $$$ [img]tongue.gif[/img]

**Texas Rancher** · 09-03-2002, 08:31

First off let me state that I have respect for the admin./mods, and I WILL abide by their rules on this site but:
(my opinion>&gt

I agree with some of the previous posters that mentioned that there are not enough catagories in the first place ...I am the admin. on a 4 wheeler (ATV) site, and we have many catagories. My site is probably not near as big as this one, but it has over 1500 hits per day. I honestly do not believe that it costs more to have more 'catagories'. 'It' is ALL just bandwidth.
I do, however, see how it is sometimes easy to put a thread in the wrong catagory. If I have a TIRE question about my DURAMAX, I would probably put that question in the DURAMAX catagory. I see, now, that is not the correct way to do it...Maybe the admin. will consider more ~specific~ catagories. If the admin. was to add catagories (no, I am not talking about 90 different catagories!!!) , I think it would be cool to take a poll as to what new catagories might be added (since this is a pay site)..
I would also like to ask, respectfully, as to why we can't Private Message one another (why that feature is turned off to everyone but admin/mod) or use any type of HTML or UBB. These are things I would like to know--not just general answers, but specific--because I have a large Forum, too, and want to know what the specific dangers are...especially with the Private Message--I think that is a wonderful concept..
I am sure that this is not the correct place to post these suggestions and questions, but I could not think of a more appropriate place...

mdrag · 09-03-2002, 09:25

I believe many of the topics placed in the DURAMAX 6600 forum end up there because many refer to their 'TRUCK' as a Duramax, rather than thinking of it as a 2500HD or 3500 with a DURAMAX ENGINE.

I'm sure this has happened to most (if not all) of us. I know I frequently refer to my truck as 'a 3500 Duramax' rather than a 'Chevy 3500'

Notice Texas Rancher's sig "02 DuraMax/Allison.." to further illustrate this tendency.

This is just a possible explanation for the 'off topic' posts and not a criticism - I never really gave it much thought until I was promoted...

If you use the search feature, it makes it much quicker and easier to search 1 forum rather than all of the forums to find that post you remember reading. Occasional topics don't fit neatly into one forum or another, and some could easily be placed in more than 1 forum. I try to look for a reason NOT to move a topic, and often it is a pure judgement call...

**More Power** · 09-03-2002, 10:48

More individual forums? Sure, we can do that, but we'll need your help to keep posts "on-topic"....

UBB & HTML.... We've discussed this issue many times. The only reason these features aren't enabled right now is because of serious site security breaches we encountered in February. Having these features enabled (in this or any BB forum) opens a security hole big enough to throw a cow through.

Those people who participated here in this BB earlier this year saw the web site down as much as it was up. There were times when we couldn't keep the web servers up for more than 10 minutes at a time. This situation instantly disappeared once the image/link functions were disabled. Coincidence?

Private messaging.... If you want others to contact you privately, put your personal contact information in your sig file.

MP

**FirstDiesel** · 09-03-2002, 15:23

While we're discussing forum protocol here, what's up with allowing people to post the same topic in 2 or 3 forums. The other boards I'm on the moderators will delete the extra ones and warn the poster to only post in a single forum. Continued abuse is dealt with membership suspension.

Following a thread in 3 forums is crazy and counterproductive.

**afp** · 09-03-2002, 16:07

For what it's worth, I have never been bothered by off topic posts. I figure no one's forcing me to read them. I strongly believe in displaying good manners while posting--IE, always assume the other guy meant this in the best possible manner while viewing your own posts in the worst possible manner. I also believe in registering and being accountable for what you post. However, I am very wary of censorship. I have left BBs with over zealous moderators.

This is the United States of America, and our constitution gurantees the right of free speech. No, this doesn't mean you can say just anything you want. Common sense dictates we be polite, truthful, have integrity, etc. Usually, it's when folks violate these common sense rules that they find themselves censored by a moderator. I have no real issue with that, but I prefer the members themselves enforce these things instead of the moderator.

Now I do not think it is unreasonable for a moderator to request folks make every effort to keep post on topic. Though I have no issue with off topic posts, I also have no issue with trying to keep posts confined to specific areas. I do suggest an "open forum" area where folks can be free to talk about anything they like. This has worked well on other BBs.

I also don't see where folks cannot speak of only businesses that sponsor TDP, or cannot speak of other BBs. What the moderators here object to is a guy using TDP to advertise his business without being a paid advertiser. Other BBs have the same rules, and this too is common sense. However, I just haven't seen folks being shut down because they bought their muffler bearings from Bob's Diesel Widgets, or saying they found some good info at www.loonietruck guys.com (BTW this isn't a real website).

The bottom line is this. As long as I am able to gain valuable info from TDP; and as long as the moderators don'r get over zealous in their duties, I'll be a paying participant. So far, I am continuing to gain valuable info, and the moderators have found the proper balance.

Blaine

**Paintdude** · 09-03-2002, 16:22

MP, when you say your server was down every 10 minutes when the images and links were available..you might ask yourself "Is our sever able to handle this function-commands?"

My guess is that is the problem, not a security issue...JMHO... [img]smile.gif[/img]

We had this problem until we went with Rackspace..

**More Power** · 09-03-2002, 21:16

Blaine... You are correct in what you said. People can post urls to other web sites or other businesses if they choose to. It's when they get commercial that it gets sticky.

Paintdude.... I wish life were as simple as you imagine. Once we began having trouble with the web server, the first thing we did was move the entire web site to a new and dedicated, high-speed, dual-processor, high mem server that had not crashed for over three months prior. Our ISP also loaded all of the most recent versions of Apache and Perl, and I upgraded the forum software to the newest version (and will again before long).

Moving onto this new server and upgrading all of the software did absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Once hardware and software were ruled out, two dedicated ISP programmers watched the DP traffic continuously for 48 hours, logging every server action. We are 100% sure of what we know.

MP

**hoot** · 09-03-2002, 21:22

I would think the perpetrators could be traced by IP address?

Maybe software like this could help....

http://207.122.180.56/_1031033354_/stats.htm

**Paintdude** · 09-03-2002, 22:57

In the over 3yrs we have been operating our site we have changed to 3 different servers and 3 different software BB programs..Until Rackspace..

CSS is our next step to try and control bandwidth.

Growing pains......

I just fail see many B boards having these problems...I never knew this site was disliked so much by the diesel hackers..

**SoMnDMAX** · 09-04-2002, 01:11

Paintdude, in this situation, forfeiting the UBB code and such for server stability is a worthy tradeoff. The problems More Power has been referring to have dissappeared since the code has been disabled. No more lost posts, no more purged member profiles, no more crashed forums. Since Jim (More Power) has changed the site over to the new ISP, upload speed has improved hands down.

I look forward to the day we can post links again and possibly enjoy some of the creature comforts of a fully optioned BB, but in the mean time, I am perfectly content. Good things come to those who wait!!

Blaine, nice post. I couldn't agree with you more.

Matt

[ 09-04-2002: Message edited by: SoMnDMAX ]</p>

**hoot** · 09-04-2002, 03:54

Somebody explain to me how a hyperlink creates a security breach? Don't we have them in our signatures?

Isn't his entire website full of hyperlinks? Imagine if advertisers were not allowed to have hyperlinks as part of their advertisments.

I'm sorry but I respectfully don't buy this. This is the only site that has hyperlinks "in the body of the post" turned off.

I just feel like we are being treated like lesser people because of it. Sorry. Just had to vent.

**FirstDiesel** · 09-04-2002, 04:24

I agree with Hoot. I also belong to the Miata.net forum. That site has a lot more members and probably a lot heavier load than this site does. Links are allowed. No pics for bandwidth reasons. There has never been an outage do to having links enabled.

**BadDog** · 09-04-2002, 09:41

Well, my newbie $0.02 that nobody wants...

I'm with others who don't understand why PMs, links and pics are turned off.

Links that open in a new window are common on other boards that I am a member of. They are quite convenient and I have never heard of, or can I imagine how they would cause a problem for the DP server. Sure, linking to sites with malicious script on a page could hurt the client application (like IE) or even the client

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