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Subscriptions
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Posted by: feldon23

Please for the LOVE OF GOD add a Subscription account for $10 a year that gives us unlimited Private Message mailbox and removes the 60 second limit when posting or replying to messages.

My PM mailbox is always nearly full and there's no way to download a copy of my PMs (vB3 gives you this option).

The 60 second limit doesn't stop spammers any more than a 30 second limit would. It prevents helpful people from answering more questions. People have said that the 60 second rule simply prevents short or flippant answers. This is not true.

I type 75wpm and I have had DOZENS of messages, some 2-3 paragraphs long, completely blown away by the 60 second rule. For any lengthy posts, I now use an external word processor to type my messages. This prevents me from contributing more to the forum.

Also, because all the forum messages are automatically marked read after 15 minutes, I instead open the forum index and Shift-Click each topic I want to read and then write Quick Replies in each one. So I've got 20-30 replies queued up and I switch back and forth between them, waiting for the 60 second rule to expire until I can hit Send. Sometimes I will click too soon on one and when I click BACK, the message has been cleared.

I just wrote 3 Private Message replies to people with the "Delete Original" checkbox checked (to deal with the tiny mailbox). Not only did 1 message get blocked by the 60 second rule, but when I hit Back, not only was MY reply deleted, but THEIR message was deleted so now I can't even reply to their message!!

I can't believe more people aren't clamoring for this!

I'd gladly pay $10 or more a year to fix these 2 issues.

Posted by: David Bott

Hummm...first and foremost....Go into the PM area...use the check boxes, and then at the bottom, click E-MAIL!!!!! We have had that option for a very long time. Then go back and remove some of your messages.

Sorry you type so fast. Slow down and think before you post. ;) Have some coffee. Watch a show you have on TiVo. :D

Posted by: feldon23

In other words "We don't need your 'helpful replies'."

Posted by: feldon23

AND I JUST LOST A GOD DAMN 2 paragraph MESSAGE BECAUSE OF THE 60 SECOND RULE!!

Posted by: David Bott

I am sorry, but what gets me is you know about the rule...yet you still have issues with the posts like you just mentioned above.

Posted by: feldon23

Yeah, it's amazing that I might actually want to use the forum in SPITE of the rules and the expectations you've given some of the users to "Expect courteous, instant help no matter how simple the question."

You seem to think that the popularity of the forum somehow proves that you've reached perfection. It doesn't. People will accept something that's 80% good and 20% not-so-good.

You know what amazes me is how your forum and my forum have the same basic philosophy and the same high quality of users, but the execution is so different. My forum is driven by the users. Your forum almost operates

I still haven't seen any logical explanation for the 60 second rule.

Short one-word answers?
There's a hack for vB2 (I see you're peppering vB2 with more hacks as we speak -- 'Subscribed') and a built-in feature for vB3 for this.
Spam?
Once you find someone spamming, you can purge all posts by that user in 1 button press. A 30 second limit would double the spam, not multiply it by 10. Also I have yet to see widespread spam that would require this. You've already blocked URLs from people with <5 posts.

I think you're focusing on one problem that pales in comparison to bigger problems. For every 1 person who might spam, you have 10 asking "What's a multiswitch?" which sets off flamewars and stresses out the forum regulars.

Posted by: David Bott

You know...let me go one step further. I just looked up your posts and looking at your posting times. Know what? It really should not affect you as much as you are saying. I only find a few case where it may have based on the posting times. Going further, those posts that are close together in time are more or line one or two line posts.

I am sorry, but I think you are really taking this a little to far. Especially when you post the line in your post.

Oh...did you find the e-mail PM button?

Posted by: David Bott

"I still haven't seen any logical explanation for the 60 second rule."

Don't recall you asking for one. It is for flood control and spamming. (Lets the server breath.) Oh, and to compare the operation of your forum to this one or AVS is a far shot. Meaning you are really not close to dealing with the traffic issues/server issues. Sorry....but not really the same.

This choice of setting really does not affect 99% of the people on this site or even AVS Forum with over 3,000 new posts a day.

I am not going to continue to argue this with you. It is more or less pointless. Please do not continue to attack this in posts like you have been by quoting the timer message.

Posted by: feldon23

Like I said, I'd be glad to see a subscription service. We'd get a little star next to our name, have a larger Private Message box, reduce the 60-second rule to 30-minute rule, and maybe 5-10 mb of space to post images.

quote:
Please do not continue to attack this in posts like you have been by quoting the timer message.

What do you want me to do when a 2 paragraph informative post gets deleted because I clicked Send 30-40 seconds AFTER I posted a short post in another thread? Bang my head on the wall?

I fully expect the topic to be closed at this point. Anyone who has strongly disagreed has simply left the forums. Which I did for almost a year, but weighed things out and felt that I could be useful in the HDTV TiVo forum.

Posted by: David Bott

Sorry...not looking to add a subscription service (I already have a hack I bought that was used on AVS forum a special forum area.). I am not here to make $ from the members. (Sponsors are here to support site operations.) The subscription service could open me then up to legal issues and member issues when money is concerned.

Posted by: kilcher

A 60 second rule is the default and pretty much standard on all boards. I have people bugging me to disable it on mine too but those people tend to use it for chit-chat. I'm not saying you do, I'm not familiar with your posts. I'm just saying more people may abuse it than would benefit from it.

If I could find a way to charge for lowering the limit I would. I'd make a ton. :)

Posted by: feldon23

I set mine to 30 seconds over 2 years ago based on my experiences on this forum.

So far, I have received 0 complaints from my 1,100 members.

As for the fear of chit-chat, the #1 subforum here is the dedicated Coffee House which has 81,000 posts (it probably had 3x that before the Archiving). :)

Posted by: bobnick

quote:
Originally posted by David Bott

I am sorry, but I think you are really taking this a little to far. Especially when you post the line in your post.

Actually, this crazy timing is the most frustrating thing about this forum. The points above about changing the 60 seconds down to 30 seconds are very true - it'll make next to no difference in spam.
I'm giving up my time to help people - and I'm having to drag my heals when replying. There's the same strain on the servcer, it's just I'm having to waste my time.

With the increase in tabbed browsing, decent replies can be finished in far less than a minute.
The number of decent posts that have been swallowed up by the time-gap rule must be huge.

Why have 60 seconds in place, when 30 or 45 would still stop the spam and yet allow members to help more easily?

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by feldon23
As for the fear of chit-chat, the #1 subforum here is the dedicated Coffee House which has 81,000 posts (it probably had 3x that before the Archiving). :)

You're forgetting Happy Hour with over 400k posts. I believe that's where most of the chit-chat "abuse" would occur.

I don't know if separate posting rules can be applied.

Posted by: David Bott

quote:
"You're forgetting Happy Hour with over 400k posts. I believe that's where most of the chit-chat "abuse" would occur.

I don't know if separate posting rules can be applied."

Your are correct on both parts. Sorry, I am not going to change this setting at this time. I see no real reason to and it is in place for more than just spam control as mentioned.

Posted by: Turtleboy

Feldon,

When you get hit by the 60 second rule, instead of hitting "back" in your browser, just wait a few seconds and hit "reload."

Your browser will attempt to send the message again, and if the time limit has elapsed, you won't lose it.

Posted by: ybrew

Feldon hasn't posted in over a year - why the bump?

Posted by: David Bott

02-12-2004 is the post date of this thread ybrew. :)

Posted by: ybrew

I coulda sworn it was 2003. And I even checked Feldon's profle. Again, I coulda sworn 2003 there too.

I hadn't seen him post in a long time.

Nevermind.

Hi feldon, long time no see!

Posted by: Marco

Feldon's been VERY busy in the HDTV TiVo area.

Posted by: dswallow

quote:
Originally posted by ybrew
I coulda sworn it was 2003. And I even checked Feldon's profle. Again, I coulda sworn 2003 there too.

I hadn't seen him post in a long time.

Nevermind.

Hi feldon, long time no see!

He'd sorta disappeared from here into AVSForum and has been back around since much of the DirecTV HD DVR discussion began.

Posted by: ybrew

quote:
Originally posted by Marco
Feldon's been VERY busy in the HDTV TiVo area.

Yeah, I remember him being very big in the HDTV world.

One of these days, I'll hopefully have some questions for him about this subject.

Posted by: jsmeeker

I hope he's still there.. He's a great resource on HDTV.. He was a good resource back when he was active in the HH. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Houston. (and seeing you again as well, ybrew).

Posted by: feldon23

Well I didn't have to pay David $10. So happy to be able to post at my rabbit pace. :D :) :D :)

Hi ybrew. I thought you'd abandoned the TiVo forum too. I know I did for about a year. I was hanging out on AVS Forum for a while. I came back here when the HDTiVo was announced and wanted to help out unofficially on the newly-created HDTiVo forum.

I also peek into the DirecTV forum from time-to-time to see if anyone could use a diagram or has questions about SBC and stacking satellite signals.

I'm still staying out of the rest of the TiVo forum because frankly I don't have enough free time to do so and the FAQ issue. It's really a big issue for me and the alternative is for me to butt heads with David until I'm banned. I figure my energy is best spent on other things than that. :)

Hopefully some day, the TiVo forum will have a prominent link to a well-written, oft-maintained FAQ for TiVos and DirecTV TiVos. www.tivofaq.com ain't it. The multiswitch FAQ is great, but I think you practically have to be an electrical engineer to grasp it. :)

I'm happy to have a section of the playground to hang out in. :)

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