Author Topic: We need your help!  (Read 16183 times)

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Offline The Chief

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« Topic Start: July 05, 2005, 10:28:10 PM »
Forum members and guests, this site is in its infancy, and any suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated!  If there's anything you'd like to see here, please let us know and we'll do our best to incorporate commonly requested features (within reason of course ;) )

Welcome and have fun!

Offline JMW IV

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« Reply #1: July 05, 2005, 11:16:25 PM »
I'd like to see some forums for Minor League Chatter.

so fans of our Minor League affiliates will have someplace to chat, since there are little to no Minor League message boards.

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #2: July 05, 2005, 11:24:46 PM »
Quote from: "JMadisonIV"
I'd like to see some forums for Minor League Chatter.

so fans of our Minor League affiliates will have someplace to chat, since there are little to no Minor League message boards.


Sounds reasonable.  I'll make a blanket minor league section for now, and if it gets too cluttered, it can be split into smaller sections later on.

Offline JMW IV

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« Reply #3: July 06, 2005, 12:08:30 AM »
also, now that I think of it...

an "Off-Topic" Forum might be necessary in the future

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #4: July 06, 2005, 12:13:17 AM »
Quote from: "JMadisonIV"
also, now that I think of it...

an "Off-Topic" Forum might be necessary in the future


Indeed.  I'll add it to the community section if traffic demands.  For now I want to keep things pretty simple so as not to overwhelm anyone coming from the MLB boards who might not be accustomed to PHPBB's multi-forum layout.

gosensgo05

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« Reply #5: July 06, 2005, 12:26:45 AM »
You should add a section for people who want to post about the other MLB baseball teams.

Offline mjteggy05

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« Reply #6: July 06, 2005, 01:18:12 AM »
gosensgo05 wrote:
Quote
You should add a section for people who want to post about the other MLB baseball teams.


I like that idea... maybe just call it General MLB Discussion or something along those lines?

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #7: July 06, 2005, 01:48:34 AM »
Quote from: "mjteggy05"
gosensgo05 wrote:
Quote
You should add a section for people who want to post about the other MLB baseball teams.


I like that idea... maybe just call it General MLB Discussion or something along those lines?


OK, added an "other guys" category with AL and NL sections.  If you guys have suggestions for better names let me know.  Mine always end up being too plain or too corny  :lol:

Also added a "visitor's dugout" for any visiting fans who happen to find us here.

caldercup0

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« Reply #8: July 06, 2005, 01:54:46 AM »
Minor league discussion should be listed under "washington nationals" seeing as they are our farm teams.

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #9: July 06, 2005, 01:59:01 AM »
Quote from: "caldercup0"
Minor league discussion should be listed under "washington nationals" seeing as they are our farm teams.


Done...  I think it looks a little better that way, less clutter.

Offline bote

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« Reply #10: July 06, 2005, 02:59:04 AM »
Quote from: "The Chief"


Done...  I think it looks a little better that way, less clutter.


I was going to expand on the 'less clutter' approach and suggest *less* fragmentation of topics. Basically, we're all here to discuss the Nationals, and aside from the good suggestion to provide a minor league forum, the Nats are the topic of discussion.

I can see where the same dicussion might fit under Today's Game, Trade Discussion, and General. Here we are approaching the trade deadline in a few weeks, so talk of today's game might hinge on who will be traded or who will arrive in D.C. via a trade.

In my experience, when there are more topic areas than there are natural divisions between discussions, it creates some confusion in the mind of the poster--where to post?

On top of that, if you are strict about adhering to topic it stifles the naturally free flow of conversations; if you are loose about it, then you really didn't need that much granularity of forums in the first place.

So to simplify, have four forums:
Washington Nationals
Minor league affiliates
Stats, stats, and more stats
Administrivia, forum ideas, suggestion box

That's it.

Something to consider for your new endeavor. Best success to you!

GO NATS!

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #11: July 06, 2005, 03:07:00 AM »
Thanks for the suggestions.  I've been considering a lot of this myself, but at this point it's just too early to be sure of much of anything.  As we (hopefully) get more members, I'm sure we'll get more suggestions/requests, and decisions will become less and less clear cut...  can't please everyone all of the time.

I appreciate the well thought out post!  Hopefully you'll stick around and join the fun  :)

Offline tomterp

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« Reply #12: July 09, 2005, 10:49:14 AM »
There is a feature on the MLB site that I depend on quite a bit, and don't see it here.  When I view the list of threads (MLB), it indicates how many "new" messages exist versus total messages.  I can thus see at a glance if I have read every message in a thread, without having to revisit threads I've already read in their entirety.

Do you have this capability here, am I missing something perhaps?

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #13: July 09, 2005, 10:53:07 AM »
There is a link on the main page that says "View posts since your last visit" which should do the trick.  It will show threads with new posts (including brand new threads) since your last logged visit to the board.  During the same session, it will mark threads with new posts in yellow (as opposed to dull white/grey if you have already checked that thread during this visit)

If this isn't what you meant, let me know.  I'm still looking at a variety of mods and add-ins to make the board more useable, and will likely be asking for member input on such mods as we try them out.

Offline tomterp

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« Reply #14: July 09, 2005, 11:07:13 AM »
Yes, I think that is what I'm looking for, basically a way to quickly identify and move to new posts without ploughing old ground.

I've seen this style of message board before but have not really used it extensively, so I'm still getting used to the tools.  Thanks for getting back to me so promptly.

Offline Kenz aFan

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« Reply #15: July 09, 2005, 12:43:36 PM »
I wonder if it would make sense to add a section called "Remembering our Roots" or a "Blasts from the past" where visitors can talk about the Washington Senators and their history, and maybe even the Montreal Expos and there's.

So far the sections have been right on and have been excellent ideas. The Off Topic and Visitors Dugout are great ideas... there's not much more than can be added, unless you want to add a humor section or things like that. I like it as it is now, so even if it doesn't change much its still all cool.

Diehard_Nationals_Fan

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« Reply #16: July 12, 2005, 11:07:35 PM »
Hey Chief...

I post over on another board,a nd I belive its run off of the same software that this one you ahve set up is.  

www.bigsoccer.com

Its far and away on of the NICEST and BEST RUN Message boards youll come  across.  Its very similar to this one, with lots of features, bells and whistles.

I might suggest as the forum "owner" here, that you register a free account over there, and spend some time tooling around in it.  Its a VERY LARGE place as its pretty much the soccer forum for the WORLD.

Check out what features they use, how they use them etc. I think it might be very helpful to you in running this board here.

Also, might i suggest you turn on the PM's?  (private messaging feature)  Its a handy way to take topics such as things not appropriate for this board, off the board and directly to another poster.   Like the guy who posted in my intro thread and started the little "tiff" I guess you could call it which he brought over from the MLB.com boards.. I would have PMed him about it in stead of posting, but I could not get it to work.

Anyway, I just thought you would find visiting bigsoccer very useful.  Hope you find things there that will help you out here!

Thanks!

Diehard_Nationals_Fan

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« Reply #17: July 12, 2005, 11:47:36 PM »
Another good one to check out is  www.extremeskins.com

Theyve got pretty good boards too.

 :D