New servers, hooraaaay! More bandwidth, more power.
I am trying to do an upgrade of freetextbooks and courseworkbank at xmas. I will try and change the whole websites to using joomla. Will mean a lot more features over the next year, including a document search.
And... I don't believe it's cuz of Facebook. Facebook is the least interesting place to have organised discussions. You can shout, abuse and curse the other person and nobody will say anything. And on the other hand you have people sharing silly quotes and statuses. A forum like SF is much better in my opinion, for discussions. It gives a sense of belonging.
You're right... I still miss the old days. Still remember when I got the offer for a moderator from astar, so excited. March 11, 2010! Sweet memories I can't answer for all people, and that will be generalization too, so I'll try to answer for myself. Why I personally don't come here as much as I used to.Firstly, it's because there's nothing interesting to discuss... Yes, there's a few games on chit chat like "shout loud", "how come", "what are you eating?" etc. But they're dead boring...Secondly, at least in the beginning, I was heavily motivated by the "Reputation" functionality. Back then, not many people had high reputation and it was a challenge to help others TO gain reputation and further my status. That's not the case now. Now if any moderator reps someone, his reputation increases by some 100+ points in one go. Basically every member who's been active for a week or so has 1000 rep. You have no incentive to increase reputation by posting. Posts barely increase reputation. All you have to do is to please a moderator and your rep will increase by 100.Finally, and the most important: I believe the decision which killed the forum is: Forbidding discussion on controversial matters (religious, political or "flame topics"). I remember back in the debating days: Debating controversial matters were the most interesting and that which actually made me stick to the forum! I can't emphasise how much this has harmed the forum! I remember when I first registered here, it was just to debate in one topic!When you have discussion on controversial matters, people actually stick to the forum. When people stick to the forum, this means more posts not only to the controversial topic, but a range of other topics as people explore the forum. And that is what livens up the forum.Granted, we've had fair share of fights between us on this issue, with nid, Ari and others (including me) leaving because they felt their views were thumbed down. A certain administrator tried to force such rules on us. I won't name him/her here and I wish him/her all the best, what has happened has happened. Above all, I don't blame them. I've been in the moderator team once and I know I have to bear the fair share of the blame, since I remember supporting such policies.The moment we curtailed free speech by introducing the "controversial rule", the forum effectively became a dictatorship, breaking the cycle of the "member-recycling" process. Obviously, those from a different standpoint would naturally be afraid to post in the forum. This effectively became an Islamic, conservative forum, rather than a place where you can express your views, discuss anything freely regardless of your standpoint. If you don't get what I mean, what if you come across a Student forum, where many topics are about "loving jesus christ"? Will you be willing to register and post there, being a Muslim? Religion is just one issue. Politics is another, equally important one.In case anyone is wondering which rule I'm referring to, it's this: "No DEBATING about Religions, politics or adult topics anywhere in this Forum! Debating about them will result in a ban depending on the situation at hand.Only threads for special occasions and peaceful discussions about one religion are allowed and that also in only Chit Chat Board."Start a few controversial/sensitive/taboo topics on the Debate/chitchat forum, let a few old members get the ball rolling, dissenting with each other, and see how quickly users get attracted there and start posting.If you doubt what i'm saying, go check the debate section. Sort the topics in descending order (https://studentforums.biz/index.php?board=24.0;sort=replies;desc)Which topics do you see with the most replies?Marriage, Boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, homosexuality (now moved, again because of so-called taboo rule), Kuwait (original discussion about Israel/palestine), Kashmir, Love, Divorce, Freedom of speech, 9/11....... Many other topics which would've been there are now sitting in Permanent bin, only because of our short-sightedness.Nobody loves "peaceful discussions". It's too boring. I can tell, because I was personally in charge of the Debate section from March, 2010. Just to highlight the importance of "controversy topics" and not blowing my own trumpet: While I was allowed to do my duty freely, without any interference from administrators, the forum saw it's highest activity ever in May, 2010.
You... posted? Since Sept, you didn't come here.
And yes. I do agree with you. The forum was at its best when the debates section was alive.
Thanks. And the slow process of decay started as soon as we forbid religions/political and other "sensitive" discussions.
They haven't left. They, like me, visit the forum often but turn away when they find nothing interesting .
co-incidence is gonna creep the hell out of u now hahaah
Alright, then why not allow those debates and begin debating?If they're around, they'd join in. Come on S.E and Alpha- this is for youuuu.
