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geoberni
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Active Topics Link

Post by geoberni »

Why is the Active Topics menu only showing 3 topics, the same 3 topics it's shown since Friday, even though there are several Topics which have been commented on over the weekend? So therefore they are 'Active'.

Based on my use of other php based Forums, the Active Topics should be the list of most recently commented on within the date range specified.
Active Topics.JPG
Active Topics.JPG (56.61 KiB) Viewed 4757 times
if I expand the search to 2 weeks, it pulls in a whole 2 more topics!!
Active 2.JPG
Active 2.JPG (77.42 KiB) Viewed 4757 times
Either I've got something very strange in my default profile settings, or presumably others are experiencing this issue. ????
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geoberni
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by geoberni »

So 2 weeks have passed, I'm away from home using my phone instead of the computer and therefore it would be really useful if the Active Topics menus worked.
I'm getting 1 post listed, for the event next year!

Anyone care to comment?
Has this function always been useless? :-?
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firedrake1942
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

Yup, pretty much like the members area, the ability or lack thereof to post signature piccies, and the auditory challenged folk at the politburo in Derby do not really seem to give a flying ****
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by palacebear »

I usually access the forum from a smartphone. I've never used the Active Topic link before, as I've become very skilled at scrolling through the whole forum to find new posts or new subjects! It's so well hidden away that I hadn't even been consciously aware of it until I read geoberni's posts above. I've tried it. As above, all I can access is a thread in the Events forum, relating to Minors on Tour 2018. Having expanded the date range to cover the past three months, the search produces exactly the same results.

It would certainly be a useful feature of the forum, if it actually worked properly. In the absence of any guidance from those who know what's going on, I have to assume this is yet another issue that the Club's IT support partner should be addressing as part of their contract with the Club.

Incidentally. Whilst composing this post, I had to save a draft of it. Returning to it twenty minutes later intending to complete and submit it, I couldn't find it! Not for the first time, a saved draft had disappeared completely and without trace. Perhaps this is a further issue of which the Club's IT support partner is aware, but are unable, or 'too busy' to address.

From a users viewpoint, our forum has the potential to be, technically, extremely good. However, there are far too many flaws in it; flaws which detract from the enjoyment of using it. When the new website was launched at the start of this year, clearly it was reasonable to expect teething troubles. Nine months later, I would have expected all these problems to be rectified, and any self-respecting IT support company would have been anxious to demonstrate it's competence by making damn sure it had rectified all outstanding issues highlighted by it's clients. If the Club's IT support partner is giving feedback suggesting that some issues are not rectifiable, then perhaps they're simply out of their depth. To highlight this, a recent query to the MMOC webmaster regarding the lack of access (for some) to the forum 's Members Area, brought the reply 'in short, the Club's IT support partner [sic] says "it's broken"'. Its a string of code guys! You can't 'break' that!!

Inevitably, this leads to the asking of two questions.
Firstly, is the MMOC getting value for money from its IT support partner? (Remember - cheapness doesn't always equate to value-for-money!). Secondly, are we as fee-paying Club members getting value for money from the Club's IT support partner? Clearly a percentage of our annual subscriptions has to be used to pay for IT support. None of us would begrudge that, if we were seeing some results when it comes to getting the forum working properly.

I understand and fully appreciate that Club officials hold their posts on a voluntary basis, and that most have responsibilities outside the Club. Irrespective of this, surely someone has the official capacity and ability to ensure that the Club's IT support partner starts delivering (and continues to deliver) the level of support needed to provide and maintain a fully working and unflawed forum. Is it too much to ask for??
Last edited by palacebear on Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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firedrake1942
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

An excellent post. I usually go straight to 'New Posts' but the active posts would be better.

Whilst there are volunteers at the top end of the MMOC, I believe it is, and has been since 1980, a limited company, (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... 4/officers). It will therefore have paid officers / employees and in all likelihood a process for granting expense claims.

If it has, apart from Cam Shaw - Webmaster - anyone who can exert pressure on the forum providers to provide a decent service, then it is a very well kept secret.If there isn't, then perhaps there should be!
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by simmitc »

I would like to associate myself fully with the sentiments expressed by all posters above. Shortly before reading this topic I sent a note to Derby stating my view that none of the suggested/requested improvements have been implemented. I have now drawn attention to this topic.

I have a great deal of time and respect for both the volunteers and paid staff who work for the MMOC - the major project of acquiring new premises was executed very well indeed; and we continue to have great rallies and shows. It is sad that the new website project is perhaps somewhat sub-optimal.

Can I though remind everyone of the T&Cs that prevent negative comments about suppliers, so please do refrain from mentioning specifically naming the supplier concerned. If anyone wants to know who it is then there are ways of finding out, and I'm quite happy to respond to questions via PM.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

Goodoh. However I can put up with a website from the age of loco script and amstrad but one that is utterly craven is a step too far!
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by palacebear »

In the relatively high heat of the moment, in a post within this thread, made this morning, I included the trading/business/registered name of the Club's IT support partner who clearly must bear some responsibility for this debacle. I must thank simmitc (mod) for a timely reminder that in so doing, a breach of forum T&C's may have occurred. For this, naturally I apologise.

I have edited the post submitted this morning, removing all references to the trading name in question. This action on my part is wholly voluntary and by no means changes the opinions or concerns which I voiced in the post referred to.

It is pleasing to read that a moderator has expressed views shared by many forum users here, and communicated those views to the 'powers-that-be'. Let there be hope that simmitc's representations to Derby achieve results where others before appear so far, to have failed.
Last edited by palacebear on Sat Sep 30, 2017 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

PB not strictly speaking a supplier, and the enforcement of this aspect is selective and depends on who is being named / criticised and indeed why. It appears some can be named and criticised and others not!. For example CW seems to be an acceptable target and other similar companies not so acceptable.

Perhaps, along with the fixing of the glitches on this site, the T&C's could be revised to bring them into line - with appropriate caveats that all opinions are the responsibility of the poster - with other Minor related sites.

Now that the move to the Ivory Tower in Derby is over, perhaps some of the energy that went into that could be directed to the concerns expressed here time and again. However the words 'don't', 'hold' and 'breath' are probably appropriate.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by palacebear »

firedrake1942 wrote:
Perhaps, along with the fixing of the glitches on this site, the T&C's could be revised to bring them into line - with appropriate caveats that all opinions are the responsibility of the poster - with other Minor related sites.
Let's face it. If a major international web-based auction site, with millions of users world-wide (no names, no pack-drill), can apply the rider that 'The seller (i.e. the individual user) assumes all responsibility for their item listing... etc', thus distancing themselves from virtually any responsiblity relative to its users conduct, I'm sure a humble (by comparison) car club can come up with some wording to protect itself in much the same fashion.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

Hmmmmm ! Derby? Derby..... strange echoing noise in here!
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by millerman »

Whilst there are volunteers at the top end of the MMOC, I believe it is, and has been since 1980, a limited company, (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... 4/officers). It will therefore have paid officers / employees and in all likelihood a process for granting expense claims.

Looking at the Companies House report it would seem to me that the MMOC is, financially, in a strong position so there is no excuse, financially, for not getting this forum and the website sorted.

The report does raise questions which would make an interesting thread being as the information is in the public domain.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

Oooh do go on!
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geoberni
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by geoberni »

Well something happened, the Active Topics link doesn't return any results now!!

So I'm the Newbie around here, but I've been shocked to discover that the MMOC actually pays professionals to run/develop this site.
I've seen far smoother operations run from home by individuals.

As I've mentioned once before somewhere in the MMOC Forums, I'm a volunteer Moderator on a H&S forum. The content is irrelevant to this discussion, but the website and the forums is essentially a part time operation of 1 man with a team of Mods for the Forums.
See here for how he started it all in 2004 : https://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/about-us
If John can do all this part time, financing it from the advertising, what is the MMOC getting for it's money...?
http://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/forums/index.php
Go to the 'Quick Links' at the top Left and click 'Active Topics'. That to me is what this Forum should be delivering.
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firedrake1942
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

The difference in the website performance is clear. I had not thought of the MMOC using the forum to get advertising revenue, but it makes sense. It would be far more convenient to click straight into a supplier's / restorer's / insurer's / trader's / car seller's website from the forum rather than manually opening a new tab etc. It is, after all, now a business, albeit rather an opaque one from the members perspective.
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by les »

Well I wouldn't want to see ads floating around the forum, it's not as if the subs would go down as a result! :)

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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by firedrake1942 »

Probably not, but a useful source of finance nevertheless if for nothing else than to pay off the mortgage on the new Reich Chancellery building in Derby.

We already have advertising to some extent - Practical Classics / Insurance Company - flavour of the year, / NEC car rally
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by palacebear »

I'm in two minds about advertising within the forum. Provided it's relevant I can see that it could be beneficial. I've mentioned before that 90% of the time I use the forum, I'm using an android-powered smart-phone. As such I wouldn't want to see out-and-out advertising with graphics etc embedded within the forum. There is a risk that these would significantly reduce performance and cause unnecessary levels of buffering, particularly on smaller, slower devices with less RAM capacity.

However, if a dedicated section were introduced (perhaps entitled Parts Suppliers & Traders), containing a series of sub-sections (or 'topics'), each dedicated to one supplier or trader and including name, basic business overview, contact details and website link, that in my opinion would be satisfactory. A further advantage is that such a facility could be expanded to include smaller regional traders recommended by Club members based on their personal experiences. The only possible flaws I can forsee, are that the details would need to be kept up-to-date and a point of contact established to maintain these details. Also, and more importantly, it would need to work (none of this 'You do not have the required permission to read topics within this forum' nonsense that many of us have with the forum's Members Area section!).

Exactly how this would impact on the Club's finances, is a moot point, and not something I'd want to speculate upon here and now.
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geoberni
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Re: Active Topics Link

Post by geoberni »

The advertising aspect is a separate issue. John uses the advertising to finance the website and forums, whereas the MMOC is, as previously highlighted, trading as a Limited Company, with a healthy balance sheet.

My sole point in highlighting the Forums of HSfB was to show that a highly effective Forum site can be operated by an enthusiastic amateur and deliver a more competent service than the MMOC appears to be getting in return for it's Wonga.
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