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Yeah, and if that continues I will probably discuss removing it the shoutbox altogether with Beccah and see what she thinks. Talking about pheromone related stuff there kind of defeats the whole purpose of a forum doesn't it?

I remember the same thing coming up at pherotalk a couple of years ago too.

yeah remove the forums and leave the shoutbox

Just say a newbie got a quick question. The shoutbox is ideal for that. Some chit-chat? Shoutbox!
Maybe also some good content gets buried in the shoutbox, but that's always the risk. Ths shoutbox is also less of an obstacle to post some quick theories or findings of some testings, before doing a full write-up.

IMO it's all good as it is, right now.

If a newbie has a quick question that probably means that others would too, and it it's posted as a thread the same question doesn't have to be answered over and over. Plus, if the question deserves an answer of more than just a few words it doesn't get the proper attention being answered in the shoutbox anyway.

A theory or finding posted in the shoutbox gets buried within minutes depending on how active the shoutbox is, (read that as whether omg is logged in or not ) And the only ones that may see or contribute to it are those who are watching the shoutbox, at that time.

Making the shoutbox searchable would not be an easy thing to do, because it is not a myBB component and cannot be included in the standard myBB search scripting. So, it would require modifying the plugin to run a Google or Bing search of the database, and would mean that putting a second search function on the site.

How many people would want to have to search in 2 separate places trying to find the information they are looking for, and how just woud valuable would anything in a conversation that went something like this be to anyone:

abc: went out last night wearing superduper pheromone
xyz: how was it?
abc: great lot's of ioi's
lmn: hey everyone!
opq: ehy lmn, how was last night
xyz: really? did you get lucky?
def: hey lmn where have yu been?
opq: man it was off the chain
opq: ive got to remember the combo i wore
abc: going to be, bye
aaa: hey everyone
bbb: .....
ccc: .....
ddd: .....

It is not a big deal, just a suggestion.

The example you gave is one of the reasons I suggested a search function. No one wants to go through 76 pages of this kind conversation, like I did yesterday, just to find a conversation between me and chris if PG is good enough to dissolve crystalized pheromones in. The answers are instant because you know who is on at that time. I don't want to start a thread on every little question
I have that I know could have been answered in the 1k+ shoutbox conversations.

cheers

SS, the example you gave is actually an even better example of why the shoutbox is not the place for that question.

I'm sure there are others who would also be interested in the answer too, but didn't see the question and had not thought of asking it. In the shoutbox it may disappear from view in as quickly as a few minutes. If the question were posted as a thread it remains in view for a lot longer, and the thread picked up by seach engines for others to easily find later.

And more importantly, it stands out for everyone else to see, and maybe jump in to get the answer or even contribute to the thread. In the shoutbox, once a question is answered, it's forgotten and quickly buried from view and continuing any kind of conversation.

Makes perfect sense

usually watever we talk on shoutbox taht is important, we always post it on some thread. If its only important to oneself, then its his/her responsibility to save it.

From my experience with web development and forums such as this one, the file structure is enormously complex, and if you try to customize the forum to do something for which it was not originally designed, and with no available module or plugins available, it's next to impossible. I can understand marks position on this completely, he wouldn't have a single strand of hair left on his head by the time he could finish the project and debug hundreds of files and probably ten thousand plus of lines of code.

What I would recommend however is keeping the forum updated from time to time with some cool new modules (if they are available).

If there were, for instance, a module for instant messaging (aside from PM system) where members can instantly communicate with each other without the shout box (which is way overcrowded) and without the PM space filling up in record time, that would be very very cool.

I think mark has done a good job on this place. Remember tho, there are only 24 hours in a day, and he has to make a living with what I know can be an extremely frustrating job (web development). Asking him to reinvent the wheel and reverse engineer and customize the forum would drive any man in his shoes to the brink of insanity and beyond.

Mark, is there any way for us to check out the modules which are available for this forum, and maybe have some feedback from members as to updates which are realistic and possible?