[computer-go] Why not forums?

[Mark Boon]

On 7-feb-07, at 02:20, Dmitry Kamenetsky wrote:

> I have been reading this list for nearly a year now and it is very  
> discouraging to receive so much criticism for my first post.

Don't be discouraged please. The  big-mouths don't always represent  
what the majority thinks.

>
> The yahoo groups was merely an example to show how easy it is to  
> get a forum started. I also agree that yahoo appends too much spam  
> to its forums and I am sure there are many much much better free  
> forums out there.
>
> The forums that I really like are the TopCoder forums (http:// 
> forums.topcoder.com/). I like them for these reasons:
>
> * One can post in various sections. The sections we can have here  
> could be: Monte Carlo Go, Search in Go, Learning in Go, CGOS, KGS,  
> Human Go.
> * Threads are easy to find and each thread has a post count. The  
> post count is a good indication of how interesting that thread is.  
> For example if there are many threads that I haven't had time to  
> read, then I will first read the ones with the most post count.
> * Different viewing options: flat (newest first), threaded or tree.  
> These can be useful for various purposes.
> * Each post has a '+' and '-' associated with it. This means that  
> if you agree with the post then you simply press the '+' button and  
> the plus count goes up, similarly if you disagree you press the '-'  
> button. This serves two purposes: you don't have to post extra  
> posts just to show your agreement/disagreement, which saves space  
> and your time; also this is a great way to make votes - those in  
> favour press '+', those against press '-'.
> * Each post is associated with a date and time. Also it is easy to  
> ressurect threads that are years old.
> * If you had a typo or a mistake in your post, you can easily edit  
> it. This is extremely useful.
> * It is not necessary, but it is always nice to see who you are  
> talking to.
> * There is a very powerful message searching engine, which  
> incorporates: section type, date range and member name.
> * You can watch threads that are of interest to you.
>
> I hope I have given some good reasons for having a forum. Since so  
> many people here are against losing the list, why not the  
> following: we keep the list, but give members the option of using a  
> forum? This way we can all be happy :)

I agree a forum would be a superior platform. The reasons against it  
I see posted cling too much to old known ways instead of being open  
to new possibilities. A typical way to respond to this is to point  
out the deficiencies of one particular example and use it as an  
argument not to change. People don't like change until it has  
happened. The computer-Go community is just as conservative in this  
respect as any other.

There's no reason why we can't have a forum that includes an option  
of having all messages e-mailed to you and allow for posting through  
an e-mail reply. In that sense it would act the same as the current  
mailing-list for those who don't like to have any extra features.  
It's just a matter of finding one that suits our needs best.

One particular feature I've come to appreciate on forums is a  
'recommendation' feature. Every member can recommend a post he/she  
likes in particular. When short in time one can select to read the  
messages with a lot of recommendations only. This is similar to the  
'+' and '-' feature you mentioned. Threading of messages on the same  
subject is a very useful feature too of course.

The number of messages posted to this list is rather limited, so a  
mailing-list still works. So there's no screaming need for change.  
But if someone can find a good forum to act as a host instead it  
would be an improvement.

Mark