I agree

Yes, that would be nice! Unfortunately, the software that we use will screw up the thread's discussion progress, forcing new viewers of a thread to start from the bottom and work their way up or be completely lost because they've dropped in at the tail end.

I know many forums nowadays allow for displaying new postings in a separate column (at least the latest post), but our software is "old-fangled." (hehe)

We're actually going to redo the entire forum system shortly to upgrade to php-oriented systems with a better heirarchy and more clearly defined areas.

On a personal note, though, I've really tried to send folks to the CR Forum on CompuServe. Our link in the Forums page sends you directly to the scopist subforum there. That's why our own forum system has been so neglected. It's not that we're affiliated in any way, either professionally or financially; I just prefer as an optimum situation to have everybody participating at one place if possible. We certainly don't want to drive traffic away from our own site but, as a scopist myself, it's as you said: a PITB to have to parse all these sites and forums out there to get the latest scoop! I mean, wouldn't it be cool if there was one big forum that everyone participated in? That's an optimal situation, to me. The CR Forum seems like it would be THE place, if only because they have such an inroad to the reporter community. Yeah, back in the day, for the old-timers out there, they used to kinda suck (sorry for the language). But they're a whole new animal these days, from what I've seen.

I'm actually starting to gravitate toward the idea of hosting an avatar-oriented chat area on our site, for regular get-togethers on, say, a monthly basis. Some of the new systems let you have little cartoon people interacting in an environment such as a conference room, etc. I think it would be much more interesting to have these kind of discussions. It's a huge build, but I think it would be worth it. Part of its allure is for other users to be able to use the "room" for their own get-togethers for whatever they like. It would be really cool to have technical folks from the major vendors to even host virtual seminars on the latest tips and tricks, etc., and maybe hand out freebies to the attendees. Right now, this concept is in the Pie-in-the-Sky phase, but it's a start.

Geez, I did it again. I tend to generate epistles when I mean to just drop a quick note. Sorry. I do it so often, I've coined my own phrase. I call them ePistles! (hehe)

- Charley (webmaster)

"If you always tell the truth, you won't have to remember what you said!"

Nick:	CharleySober
Date/Time:	Monday, January 15, 2007 at 1:56:20 PM CST
Browser/OS:	Microsoft Internet Explorer V7.0 using Windows NT 5.1
Subject:	I agree
Message:
Yes, that would be nice! Unfortunately, the software that we use will screw up the thread's discussion progress, forcing new viewers of a thread to start from the bottom and work their way up or be completely lost because they've dropped in at the tail end. I know many forums nowadays allow for displaying new postings in a separate column (at least the latest post), but our software is "old-fangled." (hehe) We're actually going to redo the entire forum system shortly to upgrade to php-oriented systems with a better heirarchy and more clearly defined areas. On a personal note, though, I've really tried to send folks to the CR Forum on CompuServe. Our link in the Forums page sends you directly to the scopist subforum there. That's why our own forum system has been so neglected. It's not that we're affiliated in any way, either professionally or financially; I just prefer as an optimum situation to have everybody participating at one place if possible. We certainly don't want to drive traffic away from our own site but, as a scopist myself, it's as you said: a PITB to have to parse all these sites and forums out there to get the latest scoop! I mean, wouldn't it be cool if there was one big forum that everyone participated in? That's an optimal situation, to me. The CR Forum seems like it would be THE place, if only because they have such an inroad to the reporter community. Yeah, back in the day, for the old-timers out there, they used to kinda suck (sorry for the language). But they're a whole new animal these days, from what I've seen. I'm actually starting to gravitate toward the idea of hosting an avatar-oriented chat area on our site, for regular get-togethers on, say, a monthly basis. Some of the new systems let you have little cartoon people interacting in an environment such as a conference room, etc. I think it would be much more interesting to have these kind of discussions. It's a huge build, but I think it would be worth it. Part of its allure is for other users to be able to use the "room" for their own get-togethers for whatever they like. It would be really cool to have technical folks from the major vendors to even host virtual seminars on the latest tips and tricks, etc., and maybe hand out freebies to the attendees. Right now, this concept is in the Pie-in-the-Sky phase, but it's a start. Geez, I did it again. I tend to generate epistles when I mean to just drop a quick note. Sorry. I do it so often, I've coined my own phrase. I call them ePistles! (hehe) - Charley (webmaster) "If you always tell the truth, you won't have to remember what you said!"

Nick:	Pat
Date/Time:	Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 1:28:16 PM CST
Browser/OS:	Microsoft Internet Explorer V6.0 using Windows NT 5.1
Subject:	I Agree
Message:
One terrific aspect of this website is that there are no strings attached. Also, we can pretty much say any- and everything we want. I think traffic here would increase if people were aware of those two things. And the freelance directory is a wonderful tool. Can't wait to see the changes you have planned.