"Should/could TMP modernise?" Topic

A recent post, in a long line, extending over many years, suggests this would attract more followers for TMP.

This poll should reflect both your experience with TMP & what you think "the others" – who don't come here – might find attractive.

I think a list of new features might be a starting point.

I'm pretty satisfied (& used to) the way TMP works.
If I had one "improvement", I'd like threads to rise to the top of the message board list on the home page, when it gets a new post.

Threads with lots of replies tend to get buried as time passes & they sink lower on the list.

Simple answer is YES. It needs to do so.

The two sites I use for the hobby are TMP and Lead Adventure Forum. Each works in their own way and I'm satisfied with both.

I have more than half the boards turned off so my homepage goes back 10-14 days. Occasionally I peruse the other boards.

The one thing I would like to see is a better search feature. One that could be narrowed down to a specific board.

I don't know what that would mean. I am still on TMP because it is easy to use. I have been on Lead Adventure and found it cumbersome to use, so I quit. I am an old fart, so whatever is best for TMP itself and the majority is what I will deal with. Admittedly, it is hard to drive a Model T when everyone else is in a (whatever would be representative of the present state of automobiles).

I would be happy if the security warning went away

If I had one "improvement", I'd like threads to rise to the top of the message board list on the home page, when it gets a new post.

I'm glad you used the word improvement instead of modernization. Modernization in the case of an Internet service generally means using more recent technology. I would say this suggestion is not a modernization, since this capability has been around since the 70's, and the function already exists for the boards, just not implemented for the homepage.

Threads with lots of replies tend to get buried as time passes & they sink lower on the list.

Agreed, but also newer threads tend to get pushed down the list inside the boards (which are organized by last post) by more volatile threads. How much depends on how often you visit.

I think it would be a good option to add to the homepage configuration.

Potential Improvements:

1.) Better thread search system. The current one simply doesn't work.

2.) Some way for users to flag threads of high interest so that these threads for that user appear in an easy to access manner. (Like a Favorites Link on the first page— you flag a thread as Favorite, and it appears in a list with other Favorites, in order of most recent post on your personal Favorites page, accessible from that link.)

3.) Ability to edit posts for at least 24 hours.

4.) A "Hot Topic" link— opens a page that lists the most active threads over the last week (or longer).

5.) A "No Interest" flag, so that specific threads can be removed from a user's view when a user desires to do so. This would go a long way towards cleaning up the front page from each user's perspective.

6.) Fix "The Bug" once and for all. No more of this meshing of one person's starter post with another person's starter post resulting in the thread title being for the wrong post.

Otherwise, I like the general functionality of TMP— it's not cluttered, and not difficult to navigate. Plus the look is just cleaner than most current forums. I'd miss this style if it went away.

Yes

TMP is a great site!
However….
Payed for adds that appear in a timely fashion -- even more so now that advertisers are not allowed to show their products on the message boards.

Russ Dunaway

Most posts only get one or two posted responses. So having a "number of views" counter would let the OP know if there is any "real" interest in the posting. And if a post gets numerous "views" it would encourage the poster to post more of the same because the interest is there.

Nope. I am still mourning the demise of the Yahoo forums. Since Facebook has come to dominate TMP is my only place to engage fellow gamers and be exposed to new products and info.

No. I like it just the way it is. Great site.
Leave good enough alone.

I don't think it's changed since i first started coming to the site back in what, 97? 98? I like how it is fine, but after almost 30 years, a little facelift might be nice

Surely included in the poll should be how much each of us are prepared to pay for the improvements? (If your numerical answer is $0 USD, your verbal answer will autofill to "I'm fine with TMP the way it is.")

$5 USD a year for an improved search feature and posts sorted by recency of reply.

Too often software designers do not appear to be able to tell the difference between "change" and "improvement". If there are ways to add USEFUL features that's great, but changing the color pallet or moving a tab won't help things much.

The law of unintended consequences applies, I'd hesitate to perturb a functioning complex system.

It would be great to be able to have a picture hosted on Word Press to be seen here, but that may not even be a TMP issue.

I would like TMP become less of a forum for expressing political views, rather than more interesting content, but that's just me!

Drop and drag or simple way to get pics onto the page. Linking to other sources is difficult for many. And I like those that share game images and painted figs.

"but that's just me!"

No, it's not.

My main complaint is it should be easier to post pictures. I would post on here FAR more often if it wasn't such a pain in the a**

My most wished for improvement/change/addition would be to make it easier to post photos. I believe many more folks would post photos of their work if it was easier to do so, and that would make the forum much more interesting IMHO.

And +1 to Herkybird regarding the desire for less (very) thinly veiled political commentary. Turning the Modern Boards off eliminated being exposed to most of it, though.

Agree with Titchmonster – make it easier to post pictures.

I had another thought….a 'like' button.

Not so much because we should all be nice & cuddly to each other but because it's an acknowledgement.
That is, we vaguely approve of the post but don't have anything to add. It would be a sort of low key affirmation that might encourage people posting.

I would hurry to write we should NOT have a 'dislike' button but that's obvious.

I've been on TMP for decades and I'm fairly familiar with the interface, so I've got it set up largely how I like it.

Within the limitations of the technology, two obvious improvements have already been suggested: allowing the front page to ordered by recent update as well as order of first posting , plus a 'like' button.

Obviously it was also be nice to get able to upload photos as easily as FB or blogger, but I guess Bill would need to buy a lot more servers to host the content.

1. Make photos easier to post, they should be hosted here so that when some other hosting service goes out of service we can still see the photos.

2. A like button would be nice so we can see how many people were interested in the posting. Just a like, not dislike or any other emoji is fine.

3. The security certificate, is it that hard or expensive to get one? With all the hacking and stuff going on it seems reasonable to get one.

Other than that, it's fine.

Bunkermeister

Ability to post photos directly from my hard drive instead of having to use a third party. Lead Adventures has this feature and it is so much easier to post photos.

I would like to be able to edit mistakes/typos of the topic title. I would also like to be able to delete a duplicate post entirely including the title topic instead of having to wait until dear Editor has time to delete it (he is a busy fellow.)

I can do without the like button. I maybe wrong but I seem to remember the last time the topic of a like button came up, it was pointed out there was already something similar or am I thinking of the complaint button?

One thing I like about TMP is when you edit your post it doesn't get sent out every time you do it. Please don't change that. People get really annoyed when they get five emails because it has been edited that many times.

The single biggest thing I'd wish TMP had is an indication for threads whether they have new posts since I last viewed them.

But the site has been stuck in the '90s for a generation now, I figure if Bill had any interest in modernization something would have happened by now …

I'd like to see a reason given for removing a thread. Some reasons are obvious, but at other times it's hard to see where the rules were broken.

I agree with having threads displayed in the order of the most recent post.

PS A way to go straight to the latest post in a multi-page thread would also be helpful.

Shagnasty,

Most of the Yahoo Groups migrated to io Groups.

link

No, its the last bastion for Luddites.

Thank you OC, I'll check it out. I like the guy's attitude.

My one caveat: Minimize the use of JavaScript! I can't count the number of websites that use very poorly coded JavaScript— especially those of most major media outlets. On most sites, JavaScript invariably freezes, hangs, boots me back up to the top of the page long after I've scrolled way down, throws up pop-up windows for the latest lame video completely unrelated to what I'm reading about (or my interests), and then crashes with a "this page reloaded because a problem occurred." Clearly, those sites have very poor coders who don't bother to debug anything.

I know TMP uses JavaScript for certain things, and I commend the Editor for in those cases keeping the coding tight— but for most activities on TMP the viewer can even turn it off, and will be unlikely to notice a difference. (Which is what I tend to do; alas, there are two other forums I frequently participate in which won't function without it, but they at least also keep the coding tight. So aside from those and any online stores (and my library's online services), I spend most of my day with JavaScript turned off. I'd like that to remain the case for TMP!

So avoid JS if at all possible.

AND NO EFFIN' POP UP WINDOWS! EVER!

‘Nuff said.

Yes it should be. The updating thing always hit me when i want to surf it. And on a personal note. I cannot start a new topic. I can comment, but only that. The armintrout has tried to look at it, but nothing happened. I must also say, that since i dont pay for my surfing on this site, i do not complain.

You should be able to cut and paste photos…. By just clicking paste after copying them from elsewhere.

Allowing pictures from my "Photos" would be nice.
And I think I'll reverse my previous stand against a "LIKE" button. Now, I like them.

I don't understand Editor's dislike of "security". I hate being reminded that "this site is not secure" every time I try to post, or edit. 🤷

I agree that inserting photos should be quick and easy. The appeal of FB are the pictures, and seeing the figs/terrain/games are what this hobby is all about.

Yes to many previously mentioned items, esp. the ability to post photos directly from a hard drive -- I know almost ALL my older photos from more than a few years ago have vanished from TMP due to PhotoBucket not being my friend any longer -- and improving the Search engine.

I'd also like the ability to have a "View My Posts" tab within my Member Profile, so I can locate again things I've written without having to painfully Search for them. Many times I want to correct something or see follow-up posts but can't find my way back to the original Subject or Topic.

Other than that, I like the current simplicity of navigation. I don't want to see this become cluttered or dysfunctional like some forums, or impossibly "busy" and confounding the way Discord is to me.