FX-Sabers.com

Attention! all Members & Guests - Please Read! => Repair Bays (Site Questions) => Topic started by: Yoda on November 20, 2017, 07:53:15 AM

Title: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Yoda on November 20, 2017, 07:53:15 AM
Hello Everyone

With the ever growing use of Social Media sites like Facebook etc... we want to be able to
make improvements to the fx-sabers site and forum in order to better serve the community.

We would like to hear your opinions and what you'd like to see moving forward so please post
your suggestions here so we can try to implement those things that will be beneficial for all.

I want to thank all the members here for for their continued support over the years and hope
to be able to keep serving the community in the years to come.

(please note this is not meant as a complaint or help desk topic)

MTFBWY
always
YODA
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 20, 2017, 08:46:28 AM
I actually don't have any personal gripes or complaints about anyone here personal. But I also would love to see more action here on a daily basis! It wasn't even til recently that I was aware that there's tension and in fighting and old grudges and all that kind of stuff... it's stuff I'd personally rather not know about. I have fun on multiple forums and when someone does something great I like, promote and post and show to others.

Maybe a way to get a lot more action is asking guild members and other popular builders who are using their own websites and FB have their main contact be thru FXS so people who don't bother checking the forums and are only on FB will be directed this direction.

I do in fact love the fact that this site goes above and beyond to try too keep scum and villoni out of here!

However, my only real personal experience was I don't use FB (I also don't appreciate all the insults and negativity) but I really wanted to get in on the Tusken Slayer run from Watto's junkyard. This was "after" their Google preorder sign up had been taken down. The only way I could contact them was thru this site! I got one coming so, huge victory in my opinion.

But they said they haven't really checked in and out and posting updates here because they're still waiting for approval to do saber runs here so I felt kind of disappointed about that... non the less, I was able to get an email to them thru here and that's great!

I don't know about internal politics so to speak but it seems like that's a good group (Watto's Junkyard that is) doing some great stuff!

It should probably be easier for a good group like that to break in for some of the great stuff they offer...

So other than that I do really like stopping in every day. I guess I'd like to see more action from the big players just in what they happen to be up too? New videos of builds and that kind of stuff, new ideas they're working on and the like. I think that always generates good conversations amongst other posts and rabbit trails get chased down and new threads get started and it also encourages others to post videos and pics they might not otherwise and just frankly show off a bit, I wanna see peoples stuff.

It generates further great ideas...

It's not dead, people are stopping they just aren't signing in and posting. But I think this thread alone is a great step in the right direction!

Thanks Yoda...
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on November 20, 2017, 01:02:01 PM
Personally I don't understand why people go to facebook for this stuff.
It's darn near impossible to find things on Facebook. :(

I think there is a lot of things that this forum could do to attract more users though, but not all are simple.

First of all, the picture posting problem needs to be solved. Without pictures, people will just move elsewhere.
Second, an RSS feed would be nice so that I could pick up new stuff in Feedly. (Other Android/iOS app integration might also work.)
Third, a focus on howtos and helping new users and information will attract new users. Maybe pair up the forum with a Wiki?
Fourth, the "unread posts" feature should to be fixed, half the time it shows the wrong thing because I moved from one computer to another.
The "Media" and "For Sale" sections of the top bar seems useless, can we either use them or remove them?
Make it possible to pay for a higher mailbox quota.

Oh, and I'd like a pony!



Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 20, 2017, 03:08:27 PM
Lol! For crying out loud! Will someone get profezzorn a pony!!!
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: jbkuma on November 20, 2017, 04:01:23 PM
Thank you, Yoda, for your fine work and your openness and willingness to improve the community.

I think the forum could use a section for open source development.  Currently these efforts have been relegated to the "new ideas" section simply because there's no better home.  Projects such as LightSaberOS(now FX-SaberOS) and TeensySaber have now been around for over a year and pioneered an popularized pixel blades and other features now found in commercial solutions. 

Obi_1 and I have lively interactions supporting FX-SaberOS with a multinational user base that is growing and maturing.  I expect profezzorn has similar experience with his excellent TeensySaber development.  These are often users that can't afford $3500 shelf dandies, but have an eagerness to innovate with creative solutions unique to those with more desire than means.  There has been a couple recent posts lamenting the loss of that kind of energy. Things have improved lately, but historically we've often been told that development is a distraction that doesn't belong here.  For this reason, at least for FX/LSOS, we've intentionally kept discussion mostly elsewhere, recently encouraging users toward Facebook.

A section where we could list these projects would be very helpful both to the developers and user base.  The fresh blood and ideas can only serve to strengthen the community at large.

(edit: if you need someone to moderate such a section I guess I just volunteered)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on November 20, 2017, 06:36:27 PM
First of all, the picture posting problem needs to be solved. Without pictures, people will just move elsewhere.
Second, an RSS feed would be nice so that I could pick up new stuff in Feedly. (Other Android/iOS app integration might also work.)
Third, a focus on howtos and helping new users and information will attract new users. Maybe pair up the forum with a Wiki?
Fourth, the "unread posts" feature should to be fixed, half the time it shows the wrong thing because I moved from one computer to another.
The "Media" and "For Sale" sections of the top bar seems useless, can we either use them or remove them?
Make it possible to pay for a higher mailbox quota.

to address your issues (since they are technical issues, not social or management issues)
1- How should we resolve "the picture thing"?  We've always had people use external pictures - because Yoda can't afford to pay the bandwisth and storage to become a new photobox. There are some possibilities (like maybe people pay a small fee to get access to the use the gallery, etc) but I leave that decision to Ypda, since that ia a management decision. :)   but the simple solution to the picture issue is "find another site that will let you host picture" :D

2- There is an RSS feed.   See the RSS icon up at the very top right corner of the screen (next to the facebook icon)

3- There is an FAQ and a Knowledgebase (see the main menu)  If people are willing to write how-to articles, they can be added to either of those sections.

4- I am unsure what you mean by the unread posts feature needs to be fixed.  It works exactly right...  How is it not working or you.

5- The media and for sale sections are sections that Yoda has not decided what to do with yet...   They will eventually be used once he decides how he wants them handled.  If they are not going to be used, then they will indeed be removed, but, as we all lead busy lives, it may take some time to work out the details.


6- as for the pony...   Nope. no pony for you.  I only have this one horned goat.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on November 20, 2017, 08:15:46 PM
First of all, the picture posting problem needs to be solved. Without pictures, people will just move elsewhere.
Second, an RSS feed would be nice so that I could pick up new stuff in Feedly. (Other Android/iOS app integration might also work.)
Third, a focus on howtos and helping new users and information will attract new users. Maybe pair up the forum with a Wiki?
Fourth, the "unread posts" feature should to be fixed, half the time it shows the wrong thing because I moved from one computer to another.
The "Media" and "For Sale" sections of the top bar seems useless, can we either use them or remove them?
Make it possible to pay for a higher mailbox quota.

to address your issues (since they are technical issues, not social or management issues)
1- How should we resolve "the picture thing"?  We've always had people use external pictures - because Yoda can't afford to pay the bandwisth and storage to become a new photobox. There are some possibilities (like maybe people pay a small fee to get access to the use the gallery, etc) but I leave that decision to Ypda, since that ia a management decision. :)   but the simple solution to the picture issue is "find another site that will let you host picture" :D

2- There is an RSS feed.   See the RSS icon up at the very top right corner of the screen (next to the facebook icon)

3- There is an FAQ and a Knowledgebase (see the main menu)  If people are willing to write how-to articles, they can be added to either of those sections.

4- I am unsure what you mean by the unread posts feature needs to be fixed.  It works exactly right...  How is it not working or you.

5- The media and for sale sections are sections that Yoda has not decided what to do with yet...   They will eventually be used once he decides how he wants them handled.  If they are not going to be used, then they will indeed be removed, but, as we all lead busy lives, it may take some time to work out the details.


6- as for the pony...   Nope. no pony for you.  I only have this one horned goat.

1. Mostly I think it's finding a site that works, recommend it and write a tutorial.

2. Yay, I've looked for that for over a year without finding it....

3. The FAQ seems to be about the forum, not about how to make sabers.  The knowledge base seems to have nothing in it. How do I write a knowledge base article?

4. I'm not sure what the problem is, but sometimes it show very few unread articles so I have to click "show all unread".

5. Well, either use them or hide them until he figures it out, right now they are just confusing.

6. Doesn't hurt to ask... :)


Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on November 20, 2017, 08:24:09 PM
Hmm, the RSS feed is pretty limited since it clips all but the shortest posts.
Is there a way to fix that?

Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: IceSaber on November 21, 2017, 03:21:55 AM
I keep watch on this site but it's definitely been very slow to be updated with things and facebook just easier. You'll never really get around that but many of the suppliers listed here will post on their respective facebook pages more than here. For that reason you're always 1 or more steps behind with the information and products here.

Also being from the UK, this place isn't the best source of local sabers for me and it costs more so I prefer to follow certain companies closer to home who also post more on facebook than on here.

Theres also a bunch of behind the scenes politics which ive come across fairly recently and it doesnt really inspire much confidence in the people who see themselves at the forfront of the saber industry (not you Yoda, you've been great).

I'd suggest having a "european/uk" section for those outside of the US so we know where to get parts from easier, and cheaper due to customs costs if we were to import from the states. I'd also possibly combining or renaming some of the more less active areas of the forum as they really don't seem to add any value. I posted in 1 or 2 other sections (near the top) and barely got a reply, if at all.  Those areas just seems quite convoluted. It's much more effective to post in specific dedicated areas for manufacturers. Many of these manufacturers have their own websites and they update those more often than post on FX sabers so providing links would be nice for newbies.

Another thing I've noticed is in relation to saber "runs". They're often posted in the manufacturers own section and a user has to find it manually. Why not have a "Current runs" (name can be changed lol) section that contains all of the active runs? It makes them all so much easier to monitor. Also on this topic, they are often left for months and months with no updates too but it's difficult to maintain if the owner of that product isn't very active or is away. I mean how many times have you seen "is this still happening?" on a "run" thread? I've seen it a lot.

A personal issue I have with this place is it's largely focused on its own little affiliate community and theres very little info on anyone who isn't "in the club". For this reason Facebook is a much more neutral platform for me. Granted there are different affiliations within many of the groups there too but there are just as many, if not more who have zero affiliation and are there purely for the hobby alone. You wont ever really break down this barrier without being more open to other saber smiths imo. Times are changing and forums are a dying breed when everyone has a much more commonly used platform like Facebook. I still emjoy using dedicated forums and I was a very active member of a car club for years, until they upgraded the forum to a new design which just didn't work very well, and also life took over for me. Then I found sabers and found myself here. It has a lot of info but over time it's just been very.. quiet and facebook has become much more active for me and many manufacturers.

I know theres not much to be done here but when things are for sale, people are asked to donate to the forum. I understand why and I don't really mind but as a point to note.. facebook is free. No charge, but also I understand it comes with a degree of uncertainty. You can better trust the forum has members who aren't going to scam you, but as somebody whos usually very careful about such things, facebook suits me fine.

Something I'd very much like to see is a section that is dedicated to each particular type of movie saber or weilder. I.e Graflex, Obi-Wan, Vader, etc. Maybe even if they were under an umbrella section called "Movie Sabers". It took me a while to figure out what saber was what, and who sold each type. Much of the info is already here but its all over the place.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 21, 2017, 09:35:32 AM
If this works I'll start another thread... but this is a picture test.

My wife and I discussing all the benefits of the Dark Side and considering a career change with Kylo Ren

(https://vgy.me/WnjRzS.jpg)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 21, 2017, 09:37:09 AM
Ok, the file is high def and made a huge pic... not sure why yet I'll figure something out and come back!

Stay tuned boys and girls
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 21, 2017, 09:49:49 AM
Here's a lower res pic test

(https://vgy.me/OSRqhH.jpg)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 21, 2017, 09:51:05 AM
Pics from this source are huge! I'll figure something out later...

But I'm on to something
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on November 21, 2017, 10:10:46 AM
Pics from this source are huge! I'll figure something out later...

But I'm on to something

I just see "image not found" though.
Btw, I think image hosting services would be a lot happier if we used their supported embeddable image widgets instead of just links to raw images.
(Kind of how youtube videos work.)

Not sure which services provide these widgets though.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Darth Brooks on November 21, 2017, 10:35:47 AM
Pics from this source are huge! I'll figure something out later...

But I'm on to something

I just see "image not found" though.
Btw, I think image hosting services would be a lot happier if we used their supported embeddable image widgets instead of just links to raw images.
(Kind of how youtube videos work.)

Not sure which services provide these widgets though.
I actually deleted the images from the site I was on so thinking that may be why you can see them? But maybe not? Cause I can still see them? I posted from a Galaxy S6 Active not sure if that has anything to do with it either?

But the files were in high res and it won't break it down to a smaller res so I don't think at this point it's a viable option unfortunately?

I'm sure it has something to do with some sort or formatting though cause these same images work on TRA?
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on November 21, 2017, 11:06:04 AM
Stupid question: how much would it cost to host the images on the forum?
Is it reasonable to raise that money somehow?
(maybe with ads? pay for image quota? pay for mailbox quota? upping the 2% donation to 5%?)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: SharkyMcShark on November 21, 2017, 04:16:04 PM
I browse FX maybe once every three days.

1. GUILD (and Colony) Members have to use it or lose it - some GUILD and colony members haven't posted in years. Some have posted less than 10 times in 2017. I know from following this hobby through Facebook too that some of the GUILD and Colony Members who are dormant on FX still post runs and new product updates on social media frequently. If you're going to set up this system where we're being told that these members are the ones we should be looking to spend with, they need to be active here or the site just looks dead. It needs a clean out of non contributing vendors too.

2. The site as it stands essentially functions as a cartel, which is not particularly welcoming - we're not allowed to talk about some manufacturers at all, anyone not already in isn't allowed to advertise services through here, and we're all told to spend our money with the chosen few in the GUILD. Whether any of the FX team admits it or not, part of the purpose of this place is to channel money to their chosen vendors. When the GUILD is so limited already, and you combine that with the fact that most of them are never present, a lot of people would feel that there's no point signing up here when they can skip on past to any of the more open and broad forums for conversation.

3. We need to do something about the rules on Ultrasabers and Saberforge. I'd wager a good two thirds of people start this hobby with one of these before realising that there's more out there. We should really be looking to welcome those people and introduce them to the wider world of sabees, not just have a grumpy admin post a link to the rules about how they're unmentionable here.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: jbkuma on November 21, 2017, 04:19:44 PM
3. We need to do something about the rules on Ultrasabers and Saberforge. I'd wager a good two thirds of people start this hobby with one of these before realising that there's more out there. We should really be looking to welcome those people and introduce them to the wider world of sabees, not just have a grumpy admin post a link to the rules about how they're unmentionable here.
On this point it isn't cronyism excluding the unnameables, it's that certain manufacturers demand that their products not be discussed. (not exactly sure how that played out case by case)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Forgetful Jedi Knight on November 21, 2017, 04:44:30 PM
Ultrasabers and SF earned their "banishment" through their actions on this forum. And yes, at the time they WERE here. But, as was he case with others, they took their ball and went elsewhere when they were told they couldn’tdo as they pleased (regardless of what it did to anyone else). Many may be too new to know their history here, but they did have a history here (though most of it was likely fed to the Saalaac pit).
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: SharkyMcShark on November 21, 2017, 08:13:58 PM
I'm aware of the history behind all of it.

I'm not saying that they should be reinstated as GUILD or Colony members. I'm just saying that if you're not allowing any discussion on what for the vast majority of people is the entry point into this hobby, you're only going to alienate potential new members.

Yes I am aware that that they've THREATENED LEGAL ACTION IF OUR PRODUCTS ARE DISCUSSED ON FX SABERS. It's an empty, garbage threat on a legal and practical level.


The point is that as it stands, can anyone think of any reason for anyone to sign up here?
- Can't sell sabers without 3 months/50 posts
- Can't talk about two of the major entry level saber vendors
- Wider variety of vendors and more active discussions available not only on Facebook but other forums.
- Most of the GUILD members don't bother updating their sections, ever.
- The runs that are happening through this site are very infrequently updated and are generally years behind.
- No 'special access' to vendors or similar - you're more likely to have a one on one conversation with the owners of any of the vendors here through Facebook, or on Reddit, than through FX.

It makes me feel bad for the very few officially sanctioned vendors that actually put in the effort to regularly log in and update and converse with people (which as far as I can see it is basically erv, korbanth, LDM, SpaceWindu and that's it really).

Sanjuro hasn't posted in more than two years.
Parksabers website is a mess and their section is never updated.
madcow infrequently advertises Badaxx/Vector/Ascend runs on here compared to on his Facebook and has posted 8 times in the last year, most of which was shilling for some digital collectors platform. He doesn't even share his one off customs on here anymore.
Novastar has posted 4 times in 2 years. 

All of which is fine because life happens and things get in the way and, hey if it's not viable for vendors to log in for a chat and update because they make good money elsewhere then that's fine. To an outsider though it looks like a dead website because you've got a list of the special exalted few in the GUILD, most of whom never bother posting.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: RyDiddy on November 21, 2017, 08:27:39 PM
I'm aware of the history behind all of it.

I'm not saying that they should be reinstated as GUILD or Colony members. I'm just saying that if you're not allowing any discussion on what for the vast majority of people is the entry point into this hobby, you're only going to alienate potential new members.

Yes I am aware that that they've THREATENED LEGAL ACTION IF OUR PRODUCTS ARE DISCUSSED ON FX SABERS. It's an empty, garbage threat on a legal and practical level.


The point is that as it stands, can anyone think of any reason for anyone to sign up here?
- Can't sell sabers without 3 months/50 posts
- Can't talk about two of the major entry level saber vendors
- Wider variety of vendors and more active discussions available not only on Facebook but other forums.
- Most of the GUILD members don't bother updating their sections, ever.
- The runs that are happening through this site are very infrequently updated and are generally years behind.
- No 'special access' to vendors or similar - you're more likely to have a one on one conversation with the owners of any of the vendors here through Facebook, or on Reddit, than through FX.

It makes me feel bad for the very few officially sanctioned vendors that actually put in the effort to regularly log in and update and converse with people (which as far as I can see it is basically erv, korbanth, LDM, SpaceWindu and that's it really).

Sanjuro hasn't posted in more than two years.
Parksabers website is a mess and their section is never updated.
madcow infrequently advertises Badaxx/Vector/Ascend runs on here compared to on his Facebook and has posted 8 times in the last year, most of which was shilling for some digital collectors platform. He doesn't even share his one off customs on here anymore.
Novastar has posted 4 times in 2 years. 

All of which is fine because life happens and things get in the way and, hey if it's not viable for vendors to log in for a chat and update because they make good money elsewhere then that's fine. To an outsider though it looks like a dead website because you've got a list of the special exalted few in the GUILD, most of whom never bother posting.

This post hits on several of the reasons I’ve been frustrated and posted as such in the first place.  While I understand the unfortunate restrictions on some vendors being critically reviewed here because of threats of litigation, which is very costly and time consuming even when the claims are meritless, the issues with inactivity of the authorized dealers is the biggest problem this forum faces.

The old generation has moved on.  There was no opportunity to promote a new generation of builders.  In fact, those efforts were usually quashed by the moderators who aggressively censor posts to make sure only existing mining colony and GUILD members were allowed to promote themselves here, although almost none of them have done much of any business on this forum for years. 

I can personally say each and every time I posted stands for sale I received a scolding message because of some wording in my post could potentially be interpreted as I am accepting a commission.  Never once anything positive or guidelines about how to get promoted to that area. It’s discouraging, and sucks the fun out of the hobby :/
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: bombarta on November 21, 2017, 11:57:32 PM
Sharky and RyDiddy are bang on with their comments.
Even mentioning someone somewhere else doing a saber run gets you a warning if they are not guild or colony members here and then the comment is removed. ( must not give money to outsiders ) that's what it feels like.

Mentioning saberF and ultraS to just discuss the handling, weight and so on should not be a problem. Just not allowing derogatory comments about the vendor's should be good enough.
But then I've witnessed a certain guild member here having a pop at a forum members because they complained about one little thing of that guild members saber, does said guild member think that everything they make will be perfect and never have an issue? Sabers no matter who makes them have issue's so if your unresponsive to e-mail then don't be surprised when the customer pops up here asking if anyone has heard from you and complains.
Sounds like the chronic censorship of a dictatorship to me.

I do like the selling rules especially if we've not seen that person elsewhere in the community.
I also think non guild and colony members should be able to do runs here if they've been a participating member for say a year and have 500+ posts, this means people like Spacewindu, Rydiddy, plus others and myself could bring what we do here and not just to FB and other forums. This would most certainly help to boost things by allowing this.
Some people have complained about the lack of runs here but theres tons all over FB but, those people can't post them here and we can't mention those runs, so it doesn't take a lot to figure where all the issues are.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: SirRawThunderMan on November 23, 2017, 06:16:00 AM
Forgive me for veering away from the conversation about selling sabers. I've got no dog in that fight. I'm a just a nerd who joined this forum and the saber making hobby because he wanted to learn how to make sabers, and then show them off in the forum gallery. I've had a fair bit of fun doing that.

I have got a fairly simple suggestion for improvement, though: can we clean up some of the more out of date sticky posts in the various forums? the Data Sheets board is almost full with old threads, most of which haven't had a post since 2011. The Questions board has a sticky warning about mixing battery brands, which given that almost every saber made these days uses Li-ion batteries, is a little irrelevant.

There's plenty of good stuff there that I personally have learned tons from. Darth Chasm's and E57's tutorials have plenty of value. But less so from converting a 2005 Master Replica Yoda that hasn't seen any new posts since 2009.

I would also like to echo Profezzorn's call for a more dedicated how-to/tutorial section. The list of tutorials in the Padawan's Training room is so-so, now. There's some good info there, but there's a lot of out of date info, too. And it doesn't help that most of those tutorial threads have lost their very useful pictures due to photobucket being an unspeakable bunch of sithspawn.  :mad:

That's my two cents.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: jbkuma on November 23, 2017, 06:31:33 PM
To SRTM's point, not only are a lot of the stickies out of date, but many of the authors haven't posted here in years.  It's clogged up with out of date tutorials with broken links, missing images, and nobody around to fix them up. 
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on November 27, 2017, 08:13:01 AM
I'd agree with your analysis of the stickies. :)

Updating that information has to be left to Master Yoda and the other knowledgeable saber-smiths - but I'd recommend that the updates be made part of the FAQ or KB instead of stickies.   And have ONE sticky post that contains a TOC-like set of links to the appropriate FAQ/KB section.

After all, we have the technology for the KB/FAQ, why not use it. :D


(incidentally, the KB was taken from the main (non-forum) site - which is why it's a little sparse at the moment.)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Morannon on November 28, 2017, 09:11:27 PM
I Haven't been here nearly as long as most of you, but I can say that I would greatly prefer this to alternatives if some issues were worked out. I find that there is very little incentive to be active. This is the reason I didn't create an account for a long time, and when I did, I wasn't participating. No exciting runs, or even one offs  from guild members, let alone just a few  updates every once and a while. It's hard to want to be involved when the people that got everyone excited don't participate anymore. I understand that Facebook has arguably been best for business, simply because of the amount of people, but if the forum that got everyone started takes a back seat, it's discouraging. I'm sure the boom in the past couple of years has made everyone unbelievably busy, but I hope that once it's under control they will make a prompt return to the passion projects that made this place so alive.

Anyways, my humble opinions:

- More active guild members lead to a more active forum
- I like the sales rule. Makes it more difficult for scammers
- Allowing runs from well known members that are actually active sounds great. Whether thats a change in rules, or a change in mining colony members etc.
- Seems like the legal threats from certain manufacturers, though likely bluffs based on the people behind them, could not be, and need to be heeded for the sake of the forum
- Photos need to be solved, but thats an effort for the community as a whole, not necessarily the moderators

Thanks for all the work you guys do
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: SharkyMcShark on December 04, 2017, 05:09:58 PM
Look, I don't mean this as a call out and I'm hoping it's not taken that way, but a perfect example of what I was referencing above is that Vader's Vault last week launched a whole new product line (their own branding of the NeoPixel tech) and haven't announced or discussed it here in any way, only though their official Facebook store page and the Facebook group that they coordinate.

Your own guild members are funneling discussion and product launches away from this forum to their own controlled social media.

As above, I do understand that people are too busy actually running businesses to post on every forum about their products. The point I'm making is that if a saber smith is being held out by FX-Sabers as one of the leading/trusted brands in the saber industry and has been given their own subforum and admin status they should really be using FX as one of their first ports of call for announcements and discussion.

Again, this is symptomatic of the decline of this website. Most of the current GUILD members have either disappeared or are drumming up business elsewhere. They need refreshing and rotating, urgently.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on January 03, 2018, 08:09:47 AM
4. I'm not sure what the problem is, but sometimes it show very few unread articles so I have to click "show all unread".

I realized that I never answered this.

Yes. The system is acting completely as designed/intended. (Although apparently not as you expected)

--- the "unread" link in the header is "unread posts since last login" (although the actual algorithm is somewhat more complicated)
So, basically, if you log in, view unread, check out a few of them and then leave...   the next time you come back, the system will likely only show the posts made AFTER the last login.
You always have the option to "view all unread" -- but this is not the default option because that database query is probably the most expensive query that the system uses (in terms of server resources).
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on January 03, 2018, 08:22:11 AM
4. I'm not sure what the problem is, but sometimes it show very few unread articles so I have to click "show all unread".

I realized that I never answered this.

Yes. The system is acting completely as designed/intended. (Although apparently not as you expected)

--- the "unread" link in the header is "unread posts since last login" (although the actual algorithm is somewhat more complicated)
So, basically, if you log in, view unread, check out a few of them and then leave...   the next time you come back, the system will likely only show the posts made AFTER the last login.
You always have the option to "view all unread" -- but this is not the default option because that database query is probably the most expensive query that the system uses (in terms of server resources).

The problem is that I don't "leave", I visit this place from work, from home, from my phone and possibly more places. Usually I leave the tab(s) open.
I'm not sure how the forum calculates "last visit", but I think it gets a bit confused in this case.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on January 03, 2018, 08:41:35 AM
sessions time out after a certain amount of inactivity -- even if you leave the tab open.
If you have the system set to "leave you logged in" - then you won't NOTICE the session time out, because, when you open a new browser or even just start reusing an existing window, there are handshakes that happen in the background to re-establish a session. The system can't leave sessions open forever - that would quickly fill the database sessions table beyond capacity with any sort of active forum.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on January 04, 2018, 06:37:22 AM
sessions time out after a certain amount of inactivity -- even if you leave the tab open.
If you have the system set to "leave you logged in" - then you won't NOTICE the session time out, because, when you open a new browser or even just start reusing an existing window, there are handshakes that happen in the background to re-establish a session. The system can't leave sessions open forever - that would quickly fill the database sessions table beyond capacity with any sort of active forum.

New theory: My problem is I tend to come here and click "replies" a few times a day, but I only click "unread" once per day.
If I understand the implementation correctly, every time I exit a session without clicking the "unread" link, I will "miss" some post. (Except of course that I then click "all unread" so that I don't miss them.)
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on January 05, 2018, 05:53:23 AM
yes, that is a possibility.

There's no good way to "fix" that, though...   as noted, the unread posts is an expensive query (in terms of database and server resources) and is purposefully limited by the software to avoid overloading the server resources on a shared host.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: IceSaber on January 08, 2018, 08:02:11 AM
Advanced search needs to be an option under the regular box, not hidden away in FAQ. Also posts should be ordered by newest date first by default in the regular search. Searching by "most relevant" (seemingly default option for regular searches) doesn't really work in practise. If you search for ROTJ or a simple known saber phrase, you seemingly get a dump of every thing with ROTJ in the title.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: DARTH VADER on January 08, 2018, 11:00:55 AM
on Search, if you click the search box (magnifying glass) it will bring up the option to do advanced search.
Unfortunately, adding a link to advanced search under that would, IMO, make the screen crowded.

Changing the quick search to by date would require a hard-coded change...  I understand your point, but I'm not sure...
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Yoda on January 08, 2018, 06:54:43 PM
I use the advanced search now and again and it comes up just like it does in any other forum after
the basic search so it is literally another click away after the first basic search.

IF it doesn't please let us know
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: IceSaber on January 09, 2018, 04:06:29 AM
Okay I see the Advanced search button after either Quick Searching for something, or just clicking the magnifying glass. It's not obvious though and even for those who know about it, it takes 2 clicks just to get to it, and then you have to click a few more times to arrange by date (which is probably what most people want to search using anyway). I just don't think it's very user friendly. A small bit of text saying "advanced" will hardly take much space but I didn't code the site.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: Obi_1 on January 09, 2018, 07:25:28 AM
I have a proposal too to make the site more attractive: I personally think that the Forum structure needs a serious rework to reflect the actual state of the saber hobby.

In particular, if I look back at the last 2 years, ~70% of the topics generating any significant interest and a meaningful discussion were related to open source, Arduino based saber core development (i.e. DIYino, TeensySaber, smooth swing, LSOS, FX-SaberOS). Still these topics are still relegated to a nondescript part of the forum called New Ideas and Technologies. It's time these topics get their own dedicated room so people can better find entries they are interested in.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: K-2SO on January 09, 2018, 09:28:36 AM
A reorganization of the site is being discussed.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: profezzorn on February 20, 2018, 02:20:15 PM
Can we add this:
Code: [Select]
<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="upgrade-insecure-requests">

to this site?
It will make http: images which are *also* available as https: images start working.
Title: Re: FX-Sabers Forum / Site (suggestions for improvements)
Post by: K-2SO on February 20, 2018, 03:30:35 PM
Can we add this:
Code: [Select]
<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="upgrade-insecure-requests">

to this site?
It will make http: images which are *also* available as https: images start working.

This will be taken under advisement. I’m not sure how it will affect other things that are set up on the site.