|
Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Moderators of the discussion forums on CFD Online have been discussing to perhaps switch to a different forum software. The reasons to switch are:
1. We need a forum that requires registration and has some form of validation test in order to better prevent spam. Today moderators spend at least an hour every day to delete and block spam from the forums. 2. Other forum softwares have features like equation rendering using LaTeX, ability to attach pictures and files with posts etc. This would be nice to have. Peter, one of the forum moderators, has suggested that we switch to vBulletin. A vBulletin forum looks quite different from our current forum though. For examples of how a vBulletin forum looks you can take a look at: http://www.physicsforums.com/ or http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/ As you can see these forums are quite different from the simple threaded forums we have today. What do you think about switching to a vBulletin based forum on CFD Online? If we decide to switch to vBulletin we should also have a discussion about what forums to create and how to best structure the different new forums, but lets wait with that discussion until we have decided to switch. I don't want to enforce this switch without a clear majority of forum readers being positive. Switching forum software will create the following problems: Registration will be required to post and we will loose the simple threaded layout, which I know many users, me included, like. The benefits are many: Better spam control possibilities and many other nice features that our current forum lacks. Give us your opinions! |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
For me the best forums (those i visit regularly are)
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1000 http://www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php (sorry they are all photography related, I spend too much time there). The best part of dpr forum is its view and the ease with i can browse it. dpc forums are easy to read and the best part is ability to edit the message whenever i wish. I am all for registration and i think its a good idea if it can stop spam. vbulletin type forum is also okey if it is easer to implement, as i understand suddenly changing face of cfd-online won't be so easy. thanks for your efforts jonas. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
i support the idea!
i do not work with vbulletin, but i was moderators of forums based on Discuz! 6.0.0 also Discuz! 6.1.0 for a year, its very nice and i suggest for you. you can visit our forums here: http://www.abcdfree.com/ http://passfans.com/forum/index.php only issue i faced was infection by a hacker only once, which is solved very soon and we did not miss any data. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I think that LaTeX feature si a must to have. I have visited the forum above and i think vBulletin is better
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I agree that the dpreview forum looks very nice. I'm not sure which software they are using and if it is available for others.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
i have no idea what dpr is using for forum, but a small email to the owner (phil) might help. He usually replies in forums too, so might be able to at least tell what they are doing.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I agree, the LaTeX functionality would really improve the forum. For an example of how a LaTeX enabled forum message could look see for example http://www.recom.org/forum/showpost....04&postcount=3
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I don't like the idea of a forum with registration at all. Some discussions are only possible anonymous.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted-----
Hi Jonas,
I think updating the forum software is a great idea. The ability to add pictures, attach files, etc would make it much easier to communicate issues, though I imagine some restrictions would apply, such as a maximum file size. How do you intend to manage this? Also, if it is possible to differentiate between professional and academic members, would you choose to do so? LaTeX is a lost art for many, so introducing it to the forum would not only make it easier to post equations, but also introduce many forum users to a very useful tool for writing equations. As for forum sections, I don't recommend creating too many, such as sections for meshing, post-processing, solvers, etc. as many of these issues are simply too intertwined to separate. For instance, what appears to be a meshing issue may actually be a solver issue, or a problem with geometry, or both. I would prefer to see forum sections based on the software provider (much as they are now), since this will correspond more closely with the software available to a forum member. On that note, I think it is time to merge the CFX and FLUENT forums into a single ANSYS CFD forum, as there is much that these users have (or will have) in common. I have used vBulletin forums before and believe it would be up for the job. CycLone |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted-----
Oh, and any software that will not result in Safari or Firefox randomly inserting [b]"
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I agree that anonymity is important, however I think registration just means you need to go through a registration process, not that you need to use your real name. In the examples given there are very few real names being used.
-CycLone (...is not my real name, of course :) |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Registration doesn't require you to give your real identity.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I personally prefer scrolling in a thread over having to click on every single response. Scrolling can be done without the mouse and saving a full thread for reference is easier. Vbulletin seems like an improvement in this respect. It would also be nice to have customized style-sheets depending on the login. Maybe you like to have a dark background or different font because of impaired eye-sight. To read a thread or use the search should always be possible without login. I hope the cfd-online server can handle the extra load if the forum gets more functions like LaTex support, personal messages, file attachments etc.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
As many people do not prefer registration, an option might be using CAPTCHA. The ubuntuforums ( www.ubuntuforums.org) uses a format of asking simple questions. If we can use either of the two, registration can be avoided and the simple format of the forum can still be retained. It might be a good idea to have a poll on cfd-online page to let uses choose which format they would prefer.
Harish |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
vBulletin allows both a threaded view in which you have to click on each message to read it and a full linear view that displays all messages in a thread.
The server should have no problems to run the forum. CFD Online has plenty of spare resources, both in terms of disk space and processing power. I will start to install a vBulletin forum now. It will take some time to get it up and running though, so don't expect a switch to happen until 2009. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I checked the ubuntu forums and they seem to require registration also. When registering one has to enter some form of validation though to ensure that it is a human being that registers and not a web robot. I think that I prefer the "simple question" type of validation test. Captcha's using obfuscated text are often diffucult to read. Recently new spam tools that can break these captchas have started to emerge also.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
the one from physics forum is clearer.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
It is better with registration
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I vote for CHANGE !!
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
i do agree with changing to a new forum that prevent spamming.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
If you want to change the software to reduce spam, go ahead and do it. I am convinced that the forum's new look and its new features will be more than satisfying.
Keep up the good work Jonas and Peter. Steve |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
In addition to switching software, would you please consider breaking the current Star-CD User Forum into:
STAR-CD User Forum & STAR-CCM+ User Forum |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
We can discuss which forums to open once we have the system up and running. Right now we have our hands full to install the new system and transfer all old messages. There are more than 200,000 old messages, dating back more than 10 years, that we need to transfer to the new forums.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
good to hear that, may be you can consider a forum for open source codes, good luck
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I don't mind losing the simple format as long as there is a search function included. This would help me find what I am looking for a lot quicker than trawling through a lot of questions such as 'What is CFD??' etc.
V bulletin allows people to thank or rate other's posts, and so you can perhaps build up a certain level of trust in those who have a higher ranking. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
May I suggest that the poster can use any alias when posting, similar to today. So the registration is only needed in order to log in and be allowed to post.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Jonas,
Reluctantly, I agree that it's time for a change. The Latex ability should really help simplify things! Of course, that's AFTER I learn to use it (I've successfully avoided learning it for years now). The examples of sites to emulate (Pun?)seem to be pretty similar. As of now, go with what makes the most sense from an administrative point of view. Question: How would/will this impact the Wikipedia? Thanks again for your years of time setting up and managing cfd-online! OTD |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
It will not affect CFD-Wiki. I see it just as a replacement for the forum section. We might also be moving the news and announcement section, but at first we will work on the forum switch. Peter has already installed vBulletin and started to prepare the switch.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I'd personally like to lose many of the posts relating to "please send me this paper" or "please send me a solutions manual" as well. But I'm sure those will persist.
Looking forward to seeing the new format once it's ready. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I would welcome a new vBulletin interface and equation rendering using LaTeX for the forums.
For registration, would it be possible to make users specify their level of expertise with the CFD packages? The reason I am suggesting this is that when someone posts a question, the level of detail required for the answer depends on how expereinced the person is with the software. Thanks for all your hard work keeping CFD-Online great! |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Agree with CDE.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
If you are looking at a wider scope than just the forum, then maybe it's worth considering an open source Content Management System (CMS), such as Drupal or Joomla. The CMS base systems are good for organizing content such as news and forums - they also support user id management. Beyond the base system there is near infinite scope to expand functionality using additional modules, such as email newsletters.
As an example here at Symscape we use Drupal. Out of the box it supports: We also use an email newsletter module. Worth considering as part of a larger website redesign maybe. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I would agree with a VBulletin forum. It is good to the eye, and as far as I know, there are good features for the administrators. For the registration part, I think it's crucial, due to some spam messages that pop-up.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I really like this one:
http://www.motec.com.au/forum/ http://www.phpbb.com/ Easy on the eyes and really intuitive to browse thru. Defitnely should include a forum for open source info. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
I think also like: I don't like the idea of a forum with registration at all. Some discussions are only possible anonymous.
|
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Jonas,
It would be great to have a play-around of the new site, when you've got it running. It might be useful to send posts to both sites in parallel for a while, until all the bugs are ironed out. Best of success. Regards, mw... www.adthermtech.com/wordpress3 |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted-----
The Ubuntu forums use vBulletin, and I think that they have proved it to be very customizable. One of the really nice things they do is apply a rating to the user given the amount of effort he/she puts into helping people, i.e. from beginner to a super_forum_user of some sort. I think that this is a nice feature, and such an scheme could give the CFD community more of a reason to help out their fellow colleagues.
|
When?
So Jonas, when do you expect to make the change? I'm looking forward to it already.
-CycLone |
Re: When?
It will not happen this year. We are currently struggling to import the more than 100,000 old messages from the current forums into vBulletin. The import functions in vBulletin aren't as good as I expected, so I am writing parts of the import routines myself instead.
At this stage it is a bit early to give a time estimate of the switch. |
Re: Switching Forum Software, Opinions Wanted
Why not to use software to control spam, similar to the software used to control spam in e-mails. They are pretty effective. I think that the registration requirement would not reduce spam. Simply, someone register with an alias name and post spam. If you block him from posting he will register under another fake name and keep spamming, unless the registered names are real. But that would kill this forum.
Angen |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 21:18. |