locations

i see we are about to lose a new member. ive said it before, and ill say it again. your program should be updated to force the registrant to place his location in the location field, and then thats it. it can then add it when they post.... other boards do it.
-or-
it can just be in thier profile, then if i want to see where they are, i can click on thier profile assuming we are internet savvy enough to post, why does it have to be in the signature?

heres my thoughts.

to lock someones post is rude. no matter what you post asking them to add a signature, it comes across rude.

i added my location in my profile when i registered and then had to go throught the threats. id also like to add i posted a question and my thread was locked, because a respondant had not added the "required" information

what is the necessity? i could change my location to be incorrect, such as "moon base 1", "alcatraz", "neverland"

anyway, assuming we loose one person, maybe he has an invention,solution, parts source we could all use??? then what?

rant off

This issue is being worked on as we speak. Steelsoldiers in trying to get the program rewritten so that the location is a required field. Until then we can only ask or lock posts. I'm at a loss as to how so many folks can register, get logged on and post without reading the requirements in the welcome email and at the top of each forum. I could understand the frustration if what the forum was asking was difficult but lets face it, it's
not too difficult to type a state and click a box. I think starting a deuce or a CUCV would be much more involved and thought provoking. As far as referring to the profile, if one can't type a state and click a button, how are they going to find a profile? I'm sorry, I'm on board with LH7 on this matter. If I'm out of place, I apologize to each and every member of this forum but I still think that the location on the bottom of the posts is important. Next?

i dont care if you ask me to stand on one leg when i type (i would if i had to). location is a board requirement. i have and do agree to abide by the rules.....

im only saying i DID put my location in the fields when i regstered. its this program that doesnt work. i read the board requirements before i signed on. its not ver clear in the sign on. how about in the sign in faq:

"please add your location in the signature field, and make sure you check 'add signature' when you post. we realize we are asking you to do this twice, but our current software does not add your location when you post, and we would like to know where you are from."

this would have alerted me that simply adding my location where it asks for it does not fulfill the board rules.

im in no way complaining, im just trying to help, and theres no inference in typed sentences. the guy who is upset does have his location in the location fields in his profile

McInfantry,

I am aware of the failure in the new member sign up process! Because it is confusing to the new members, what I look for is an attempt to provide the location somewhere in the profile!

If they enter a state, I will edit their post and add the state! You may have seen this in several posts every day!

Until the software is fixed, we will have to continue to be rude and enforce the rules! [complaining] :devil:

Rules are rules. If the moderators (and site owner) choose to require that the location be posted ---> enough said. I don't think it is the end of the world if they don't post it, but who cares? Enforce the rules or we eventually have an uncontrollable board and everyone leaves!

ok, so we agree. rules are rules (notice i HAVE a signature!)

Look, if someone wants to pony up the dough to switch steelsoldiers to a site host who has a server who supports PHP boards and pony up the cash to buy some PHP forum software I am by all means accepting donations. I looked long and hard at forum software before puchasing this one. None of the ASP based or PERL based forum I found had location as a mandatory requirement or a sig as a mandatory requirement. I have made several monetary offers to the designer of this software to add that feature to this site, but he hasn't done anything yet. I am sorry this has become such a big thorn in everyones' side. This site and forum is not my job, even though it sure as heck feels like it at times. It is however a passion of mine as you can tell or else I wouldn't have taken it from a 2 page "Chris' CUCV Homepage" in 1999 to the monster that it is today. I really enjoy getting all these MV folks together and am proud of what has been accomplished over the past 5 or 6 years. I am really looking forward to the Rally at Haspin. I do not want to see petty bickering bring this site to its knees as we approach 800 members. Having the location at the bottom of the post is very handy. To those who don't want it there for personal reasons, I'm sorry. To those who want it there but the software I bought can't support it, I appologize. Let's just stop the pissing and moaning please and enjoy this forum for what it was designed for.

Please keep in mind that not a single one of you pays to be a member here. I like it that way. There are many MV folks out there that can't afford a $25 yearly fee, but have much to offer. Just don't expect state of the art upgrades on a regular basis with my limited budget. The mods don't get paid either. They do this out of the love for the hobby. If they seem pushy or overbearing sometime just remember that they are the only thing that keeps this place together as we go thru our growing pains.

Also, every member is important to me and I don't want to lose a single one. If you have a problem with the way things work around here, please email me or PM me and I will see what I can do. Just don't go away pissed off. That's all I have to offer right now. This email is not directed at anyone in particular. It is just a general statement about how I feel things have been going lately.

Membership, please feel free to respond. I encourage participation of everyone in these discussions for the good of the site.

All I can say is thank you. This board provides a wealth of information and mucho enjoyment. Reading the threads is one of my daily indulgences.

I agree with all points. I can see how it is frustrating for a new member to deal with the sig problem, especially if they are new to internet forums. Lets face it, a lot of guys can turn wrenches like nobody's business, but are utterly lost on the internet. It's not a huge problem, and we're all smart guys who can figure this stuff out eventually. However I do agree with Lee that it's not only a pain for the new guy, but for everyone when we encounter a locked post. I know it's a means to an end, but the purpose of forums is to share information, and I am against anything that hinders the transfer and sharing of such information. Now, I'm not saying that you should let everyone run rampant and do whatever they want, and I also agree it is useful to have the location clearly displayed. I think we just need to think of a better way to enforce the rule. I know a few guys who aren't Mods will jump in and try and help out to take a little load of you guys and help out. Maybe we could do more of that, until the noob fixes their sig.
And Chris, please don't take this as bitching or anything, I know you put a lot into this site, and it is much appreciated. This is just a simple discussion, and who knows, someone might pop up with an answer. I know you are probably tired of hearing about it. I sort of watch the Mods forum and look to see what the thread titles are, so I know you guys have been working on this since the changeover. If I knew an answer or a way to help out, I would gladly pitch in. On that note, exactly how much cash are we talking about to swap servers and/or get new software? I doubt anyone person would want to fork out a load of cash, but maybe we could set a goal and pitch in and sell some old parts or something to help out. I know the last thing you want to do is another changeover, but if it would solve the problem, it may be worth discussing if nothing else. The site is definately growing and it may be better to iron out some of these details before it gets bigger. Just my .02

I appreciate the input folks. The switch to a new host and forum software is not an easy process. It can be very time consuming. We may lose a lot of important posts. We may lose members. I'll do some checking. We may be able to make the switch later this year, but I just don't have the time to put into it right now. I welcome the help in the forum encouraging noobs to fill out their sig. I am a member if the TDR, www.turbodieselregister.com, and there is no requirement at all for signatures. The forum software does not force you to fill it out. But, it is well understood that people need to fill out their sig before posting and if the noobs don't fill it out the general membership reminds them to do so. It works very well. Locking posts may not be the best way to go about it, but it was the only thing I could come up with to get folks to comply. Maybe if we can get the general membership involved in actively encouraging noobs to fill out their sigs, we'll make some progress here.

On the other hand, I may just adopt the Pirate 4x4 mentality and anyone who doesn't comply gets berated and flamed until they either fix it or leave the forum. I'll make sure to unlock all the profanity and put the little middle finger smilie in the posts too.

Yeah, yeah, I know, this is a family forum and we won't go that far. But something has to change dang it. Consider this my appeal to the SS masses for help. If eveyone can pitch it and help me and the rest of the Mods out, it would be much appreciated. I like a filled out sig. The majority of the members I have talked like a full sig too. It is going to be an SS policy to have it filled out, but maybe it will work a LOT better if everyone can pitch in. From here on out, I will only lock posts if a member refuses repeated warnings to comply from Mods and members. I will continue to block and delete accounts of any member that uses profanity or becomes belligerent.

We'll try this and see how it works. Feel free to keep chiming in here folks! All of your 2 cents adds up to be a lot of help.

I agree with the boss. Lets just chip in in the masses and giude all the new guys to do the right thing. Maybe we can come up with a friendly worded canned message to post when folks overlook the sig. I also think its kinda cool to just glance down and know what kind of motorpool the guy your chatting with has. With that in mind, consider adding the motorpool when updating sigs. I honestly have to say that with a forum this size, it's amazing how well we do get along! Thanks Big Dog for a great place to be!

just to chime in- I love this site and I've seen it come a long way. Unlike other sites that are unmoderated, I like the fact that there are mods to keep everything in line. I've been on dozens of boards with no mods and it just gets old seeing all the fighting and cussing and off topic stuff. I agree there are some drawbacks to locking posts and continually having to tell new members to fix the sig, but it's not that big a deal to me. I appreciate everything you guys are doing

Would it be difficult to change the Control Panel software so that the required information had to be entered in order to proceed? I see that a lot of times on other panels, address zip codes etc.

Does the steelsoldiers.com forum run on dotnetBB with VB.NET source code available? If you guys every want me to customize some VB.NET code, let me know. I am a software engineer with a microsoft certification in VB.NET/ASP.NET. Did I mention I would do it for FREE....

Colomil

Calhan,CO

Plug my side business:
www.codedsolutions.net

Thanks for the offer! I may just take you up on it if I can get my hands on the source. I'll get with you when I get back in town on the 11th. Got to catch a 6am flight tomorrow for another biz trip.