Hey all- I'm contemplating pulling the trigger on an upgrade to the site. It's been running pretty well for quite a while with an old version of the software, and I think it's starting to show its age a bit... some image formats don't work, some links aren't recognized... basically the Internet is evolving, but this forum software isn't keeping up. It's not that it's broken, it's just changing enough that it's becoming more and more noticeable that it's getting old... aren't we all? Just chatting with @Binary (who knows this forum software light years better than I do), he says the latest version is a complete rewrite, and that the rep module is not an option... so if we did pull the trigger on an update, we'd no longer have reps. Personally, I don't care... reps were fun on the old TMMB because they were (eventually) public, and it was funny to sit on the sidelines and watch people either get their dick sucked or just fucking lambasted. I tend to think that the crowd that drops by here any more isn't really that same crowd from before, and that a new and improved PM system would be a more useful and appreciated feature than reps. What do you think?
I use reps regularly to send quick messages to people on their post topics like agreements, comments, whatever doesn't seem worth a public post. We seem to run between 150-200 reps per month if I haven't completely fucked up my SQL queries. Not that my opinion should count for more than anyone else's, just providing a counterpoint for people to consider and agree/disagree with.
I just wanted to add that I find the entire user profile section of this forum software to be difficult to use. Any time I want to look at a rep, it takes me 10 minutes to figure out how. I am in favor of the upgrade, and ditching the rep system because the upgraded software has to be better.
I agree... but it's busted UI/UX for that feature, as others have mentioned. Too short of a message, and hard to navigate to see the entire message, etc. I'm hoping that a newer version would have better private messaging abilities that would fill that use case better than reps did. Do you have any insight into that?
I agree with what the other said. I usually use it to send a quick little side note or comment that doesn't warrant its own post. I also agree with what frebis said, which is at the user profile is really unwieldy and hard to navigate. It would be nice to have a quick p.m. function similar to the Reps that allow more characters. It's more of a symptom of me being really fucking wordy, but sometimes I have to reword stuff like 5 times so that I can get my point across and have it fit.
I agree - the reps don't really mean anything anymore. Dropping them for better function is a good trade-off.
Reps going away especially makes sense since no one posts pics in the boobie/booty threads any more. People used to only do that for reps. Could we replace the rep with a paypal link? Maybe that would bring them back. #MTiBGA
This kind of sums it up... we don't need reps, we need better PM functionality. Again, I'm curious as to what a software upgrade will do to improve that PM functionality. I'm thinking it will be much better.
I'll see if there's something that would substitute for reps. From my initial research, it appeared that nothing was available - there's really no short message function. But I'll do another check. Can someone expand on the problem(s) with the PM system? I don't find it particularly problematic but I've admin'd XenForo on multiple boards for years. From what I can tell, 2.0 is very similar for PMs. I'll spin up a test upgrade so people can look, but it probably won't happen until after the holidays unless I get particularly sick of my family.
But, if we have no rep how will I know that I am popular?! How will I ever feel good about myself with no rep? HOW I ASK?
I think when you post in the boobie thread, those questions will be answered for you. I don't care about the points easier, but I do like the short quick rep advantage over the full PM. Like, I want to high five somebody for making a good point, but I don't want to start a whole conversation about it. Or, if one of the lovely TiBettes posts something clever, I can rep with "Ha ha! Good one!" or whatever, and no response is expected or needed. But, if she gets a PM, she's all, "Ew, one of the olds is sending me something. I should just ignore that." knowing that if she replies, I'll just follow up asking her to "send noods" in the response back.
The ability to just click "quick note/pm", have a small window open up, type in a message (usually a private comment about the post you're reading), click "send", and the popup closes, is a very simple and enjoyable process. Having to start up a whole new conversation and leave the page you're viewing is more work, so much so that I'm not sure I'd do it for half the messages I send. It's like the difference between a text message and a full-on email... one's more formal and more work than the other. At least that's my take on it.
I agree with what everyone else said that it’s great as a quick pm kinda thing. But since opinions on the internet don’t matter, I’d just like to say thanks to the mods, admin and our Great Ruler for keeping this place free and continually updating it even when there is literally zero reason for them to do such.
This latest round of software was totally the work of @Binary ... he paid for it and did all the work. I just host it on a server.