Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Any way I could implement it myself then? Because this is the only thing that's keeping me from changing to PunBB from phpBB.

[img]http://www.webexpo.org/users/airwave/MeetTheBadgersAnimated.gif[/img]

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

haha.... I'm so frustrated, but the reason is a good one! 

I made a comment on this thread a while ago, and GUESS WHAT... I forgot to his "subscribe to this topic"!

I wish:
1)  There was a "subscribe to topic" check box in the quick reply.
2)  There was an option to always have "subscribe to topic" default checked when I reply.  I don't think I have EVER replied to a post and not wanted to see the replies.  Meaning I've ALWAYS wanted to be subscribed to posts I respond to.  An interesting example, on eBay, whenever you contact a seller about an item it automatically enters that item into your "watched items" page.  It is assumed that if you are going to the trouble of contacting them, you must be interested in watching the item.  Similar concept here.
3)  I read about the possibility for a "subscribe to forum".  That would be an EXCELLENT idea and would automatically resolve a lot of the issues addressed above.

my $.02

...now, after I post, I'll wait, and then have to subscribe to topic.  I hope I can remember to do that this time!

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

make a mod then and ebay is a different thing completely

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I'd love to make a mod... but I am mod challenged.  smile 

Yes, eBay itself is completely different, but the concept is the same.  If you are interested in a thread enough to post, wouldn't you be interested enough to receive notifications of replies?

I'd be curious to know how many people ALWAYS subscribe to posts to which they reply, and how many don't.

(by the way... see how fast my reply was?  Because I remembered to go back and hit subscribe to topic).

I think most, if not all of us, want our users to keep coming back to our forums.  This is our bread and butter.  If a small change like this will help us retain 50% more visitors, and increase usage by 40% wouldn't it be worth it?

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

i either, vist the forum regularly (like this one i post in almost every topic) or i visit hardly ever and post in maybe 1-5 topics which i subscribe too, subscribing to 5 topics isn't hard so i'm happy, also if the default behaviour is for it to subscribe you to topics then the server load is gonna be huge

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I agree that if everyone was subscribed to every thread than the server load would be huge.  I'm simply saying that people should be given easier ways to subscribe to threads they would already choose to be subscribed to.  For example, I wish I had been subscribed to this thread when I posted... but I wasn't!   I would have visited this page MANY more times over the past month if I was subscribed... but I wasn't and I didn't.

If my site got 100k more pageviews per month because of implementing these features, it would definitely increase the server load... but my guess is that it would be worth it. 

Of all the many requests for addons that I see posted on this board, I think this feature is more than just "bells and whistles", but is actually a tool that increases user retention and repeat visitors.   

An exaggerated illustration:  If I could increase the overall popularity of a site by 100% it would put a lot more strain on the server.  Does this mean that I shouldn't advertise and that I should discourage people to visit my site because I don't want to add strain to my server?

Sure, if this feature is added my load will probably increase, but I think my usage / retention will increase proportionately and I believe this is something every board / forum owner wants.

Is a board owner's first goal to increase "customer" usage, or decrease resource usage?

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

32

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

On the forum I spend the most time I have it set to subscribe to all topics I participate in. I have turned off mailing on reply in subscribed topics. Then, in the control panel, it shows all subscribed threads that someone have responeded to, that's perfect for keeping up with what has happened. Though it's a bit annoying that it also shows the contact list, containing all users that have participated in a thread I have, it's 392 persons and the list take some time to load and probably puts ineccescary strain on the server.

That function seems to be missing from this forum, hmm someone should fix that.



BTW: Ihe forum I'm talking about is sweclockers.com.

33

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Any way to have a daily digest of topics they subscribe to once a day?

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I just had a user request more ways to be notified of new posts / topics.

Is there anything in the works, here are some things that I believe could be considered and implemented... either with the base application or as hacks / mods:

1)  Default "Subscribe to topic" settings so you are automatically subscribed to every topic you reply to.
2)  "Subscribe to Category"  The ability to get emails whenever a new topic is started in a specific category
3)  Daily / weekly digests of new topics for a forum and/or for categories.

As I mentioned before I think all forum owners want more visitors, more participation, and more sticky users.   These things mentioned in this thread are the types of tools that will help us achieve MORE!  big_smile

The goal of punbb is to be fast and lightweight.  Can the programmer types comment on how each of the items above would impact how fast and lightweight punbb is?

Thanks!

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

They're bloat, pure and simple tongue
1. Would lead to a lot of stress on the mailserver of a larger board due to the amount of emails it would have to send every time someone posted. Imagine a 1k post thread with just as many subscribers.
2. Similar to above, would send out a HUGE amount of emails on a regular basis.
3. There's a digest mod for 1.1.5 I'm planning on updating to work for 1.2.5

36

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

1 and 2 depend on your provider and the general amount of traffic on your board.
Mine has like 2 postings in a week on average. (Which was the main reason for me to switch to a forum from a mailinglist)

Especialy 2 is quite harmless, as it only gives a mail for a NEW topic. You can decide on your own, if you want to subscribe to it later on.

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I wouldn't say 2 is harmless. What if a thousand people subscribe to that category? Then, every time someone posts a new topic in that category, a thousand e-mails have to be sent out.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I don't know if I agree or understand some of the logic above.   Sure, I agree that the items above will add more stress to the server, but so do almost all of the features of this great script.   If we really are trying to make something that will simply "function" without resource usage, then we should strip off the subscribe function altogether.  Of course I'm not serious, but hopefully you get my point.  Somewhere along the line it was decided that the ROI of having a subscribe feature and all the "stress"  (investment) it would add to the server would provide enough return on that investment.

I'm simply suggesting the same thing, the ability to add a bit more resource usage in exchange for more visits and sticky users.

In response to "What if a thousand people subscribe to that category?", I say HALLELUIA... that means I've got 1,000 members and also 1,000 members who will be getting an email THEY SIGNED UP FOR.  I figure a majority may come back to my forums that otherwise may not have.

Am I making any sense?   Where are my marketing buddies on here that can see what I'm saying??? Are most of you people here programmers?  big_smile

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

39

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

reviewum.com wrote:

Am I making any sense?   Where are my marketing buddies on here that can see what I'm saying??? Are most of you people here programmers?  big_smile

If you are running a commercial site then you are making sense but then of course you will have it running on a decent commercial server and have paid for the privilege of stressing it to your hearts content.

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Will any / all of those three additions really make such a huge resource usage impact on the server?   I'll have to rely on the group's collective coding experience on this one.   Are we saying a 1%, 10%, 25% 50% or 100% increase in resource usage over what the forum script is already using?   

It is hard for me to figure out the pro's and con's without the proper information.   Or am I not looking at this the right way?

Also, I'm a bit mod adverse.  Not being a programmer I get frustrated when I hack a script and/or use a mod and then a new version of the kernel/base script comes out and my mod is broke and I don't have a way to fix it.

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
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41

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Rickard wrote:

I wouldn't say 2 is harmless. What if a thousand people subscribe to that category? Then, every time someone posts a new topic in that category, a thousand e-mails have to be sent out.

I mostly have to agree with reviewum.com on this: It highgly depends on your forum's size and your hoster.

And it's always a trade-off thing. On a really large forum, I would even consider disabling subcribing at all.

If all of this is so critical <feature!>it could be made selectable per group, so that only "trusted" people can use it</feature!> (not that I really vote for that feature, but it had to be mentioned.)

42

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

reviewum.com wrote:

Also, I'm a bit mod adverse.  Not being a programmer I get frustrated when I hack a script and/or use a mod and then a new version of the kernel/base script comes out and my mod is broke and I don't have a way to fix it.

Despite being a programmer (but php isn't my language), I have the same problem:

When there is a new (security) release out there, I want to update as fast as possible. And having to retro-fit mods isn't on thse lines, really. That's basicly, why I run the plain version, no mods, no changes, etc.

I know, Rickard is doing a lot of work to make adding mods, etc. easier and I respect that work.

43 (edited by almost_there 2005-05-07 14:11)

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

I don't know....if it's important enough to subscribe to......just check the box when you reply.....takes a fraction of a second.....

Edited to add:

I hate being automatically subscribed to a topic just because I posted a reply.

44

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

almost_there wrote:

II hate being automatically subscribed to a topic just because I posted a reply.

That's, why that feature should be user settable.

Although my interest mostly lies in "NEW topic notification"

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Elrond wrote:

Although my interest mostly lies in "NEW topic notification"

I tend to agree.  My guess (not being a programmer) is that another check each time someone posts to see if they have the autosubscribe set to on / off would put more unnecessary load on the server.  The "return" of not having to select subscribe isn't as big as the "risk" of more resource usage.   Oh, but what about a small subscribe checkbox under the quick reply box?

I think the "NEW topic notification" and/or weekly/daily digests is a winner.  big_smile

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

auto subscribe would be in the user table, and so would be grabbed every pageview anyway wink

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

if you want new topic notification then educate your users on rss feeds wink

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Oh... well, then, GO FOR IT!!!   big_smile    I mean, heck, if the process will only add more emails to the sytem, but not resources during every post / pageview then it should totally be a user defined option.

almost_there said, "I hate being automatically subscribed to a topic just because I posted a reply."

I respect that opinion, but don't understand it at all.   Maybe I've just got too much time on my hands, but I ALWAYS want to know what people say in reply to my posts... you know, to see if they flame me or praise my greatness! cool

Don't most of you feel the same way when you look at your forum experiences... wouldn't you USUALLY want to see replies to a topic you replied to?

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

reviewum.com wrote:

Oh... well, then, GO FOR IT!!!   big_smile    I mean, heck, if the process will only add more emails to the sytem, but not resources during every post / pageview then it should totally be a user defined option.

Erm, who said that? tongue
I said the option to auto-subscribe would be a user table thing. I didn't mention the fact that it would have to send all the emails as well.

Re: Remember "Subscribe to this topic" checkbox

Sorry, bad communication on my end:  I'm saying that the system will just be sending a few additional emails for those people who forgot to hit "subscribe".   I was concerned that each and every pageview/post would have one more query, but the additional emails isn't an issue since the user's would have wanted them in the first place if they had only remembered to hit subscribe.

Rob Ludlow 
www.Nifty-Stuff.com - Repository of all Stuff Nifty!
www.reviewum.com - Professor Ratings + Teacher Reviews