December 06, 2012
[sorry, it sent before I finished editing].
I was just mentioning a related post from a couple months back:

http://forum.dlang.org/thread/kyzloucxyqsfshttbuxw@forum.dlang.org#post-kyzloucxyqsfshttbuxw:40forum.dlang.org

[enhancing forum features: 1click upvote, sorting, 1click duplicate etc (eg: userecho use case)]

Basically, you're not alone wishing the forum was more modern (eg stackoverflow, quora.com etc)
December 06, 2012
On Thursday, December 06, 2012 14:30:43 Walter Bright wrote:
> > Something like that already exists - the "Help" link.
> 
> To me, help implies something different.

Yes. I would generally expect a button or link saying "help" to be for me to seek help rather than provide it. For instance, it's very common with applications to have a help menu, and it's for the user to seek help, not for them to provide it. "Contribute" or "Get the Source Code Here" or something like that would probably be better.

- Jonathan M Davis
December 06, 2012
On Thursday, December 06, 2012 05:41:53 timotheecour wrote:
> enhancing forum features: 1click upvote, sorting, 1click
> duplicate etc (eg: userecho use case)

What's the voting supposed to do? What are you voting on? Whatever it is, it can't have any effect beyond those who use the web interface, so unless it's specifically something that only affects you account, I don't see how it could really work.

- Jonathan M Davis
December 06, 2012
On 12/6/2012 2:29 PM, Mike Parker wrote:
> At home, I've been reading via Thunderbird and posting via the web
> interface. Since I installed Thunderbird on my new system, I've been
> unable to post from it at all. A few reinstalls fruitless web searches
> later, I give up. At work, I use the web interface.

I use TB to post from multiple machines. Something is wrong with your setup.
December 06, 2012
On 12/6/2012 4:47 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> What's the voting supposed to do? What are you voting on? Whatever it is, it
> can't have any effect beyond those who use the web interface, so unless it's
> specifically something that only affects you account, I don't see how it could
> really work.

Also, voting systems are easily manipulated and abused. Fixing that requires, well, a larger investment in thinking about it, human moderation, etc.

Doesn't seem worth it, to me.

I wouldn't underestimate the ongoing effort forums like reddit and hackernews put into voting systems.

December 06, 2012
On Thu, Dec 06, 2012 at 05:11:59PM +1100, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 12/6/2012 4:47 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> >What's the voting supposed to do? What are you voting on? Whatever it is, it can't have any effect beyond those who use the web interface, so unless it's specifically something that only affects you account, I don't see how it could really work.
> 
> Also, voting systems are easily manipulated and abused. Fixing that requires, well, a larger investment in thinking about it, human moderation, etc.
> 
> Doesn't seem worth it, to me.
> 
> I wouldn't underestimate the ongoing effort forums like reddit and hackernews put into voting systems.

Voting is one of those things that everybody thinks is a good idea. Until it's put into practice, then you realize it needs further refinement. Which adds yet another layer of adjustments, and then you realize that *that* also has its shortcomings, and needs yet another layer of adjustments, ad nauseaum.

But nobody ever takes a step back and wonder, why do we even *need* a voting system? What does it mean for a forum post to be rated X, for some value of X? I mean, this isn't a popularity contest here. We're trying to have a technical discussion. It should be the technical merit of a post that establishes its value, not some arbitrary integer that got randomly assigned to it. And frankly, when you're browsing the archive for past discussions on a specific topic, do you even care how many votes it had? What you care for is the meat: the technical points raised in the post itself. The number attached to it holds no meaning whatsoever.


T

-- 
The early bird gets the worm. Moral: ewww...
December 06, 2012
On Thursday, 6 December 2012 at 06:09:13 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 12/6/2012 2:29 PM, Mike Parker wrote:
>> At home, I've been reading via Thunderbird and posting via the web
>> interface. Since I installed Thunderbird on my new system, I've been
>> unable to post from it at all. A few reinstalls fruitless web searches
>> later, I give up. At work, I use the web interface.
>
> I use TB to post from multiple machines. Something is wrong with your setup.


Yes, I've used TB for years and never had a problem until I installed it on my new box. I'm stumped.
December 06, 2012
On 12/6/2012 7:59 PM, Mike Parker wrote:
> Yes, I've used TB for years and never had a problem until I installed it
> on my new box. I'm stumped.

When I have a problem with TB on one machine and not another, I carefully compare the "account settings" for each, because it's usually there.
December 06, 2012
On Thursday, December 06, 2012 20:44:23 Walter Bright wrote:
> On 12/6/2012 7:59 PM, Mike Parker wrote:
> > Yes, I've used TB for years and never had a problem until I installed it on my new box. I'm stumped.
> 
> When I have a problem with TB on one machine and not another, I carefully compare the "account settings" for each, because it's usually there.

I don't use thunderbird, so I don't know how well it would work, but I generally try and just copy all of the files associated with my e-mail client from machine to machine so that I don't have to worry about setting everything up from scratch every time, and that also tends to avoid issues where one machine has different settings from another machine.

- Jonathan M Davis
December 06, 2012
On 2012-12-06 07:09, Walter Bright wrote:

> I use TB to post from multiple machines. Something is wrong with your
> setup.

Same here. I also use Dropbox for syncing.

-- 
/Jacob Carlborg