Forum restructure

[CoreyPlover]

I have completed a restructure of the forums, primarily to reduce the number of sub forums (previously there were 64 sub-forums, there is now 30) and to group the topics into, what I felt, are more logical subdivisions: Exetel essentials, service issues, auxiliary services, technical assistance, administration and other.

Suggestions for any further forum improvements are welcome and encouraged. Improvements that require modification to phpBB code will probably not get implemented however, but it is always good to get feedback from users to know what is desired as there may, for instance, be an extension that can be easily installed of a configuration option that can be tweaked.

For example:

• I'd love to know why there is no option in the phpBB code for "view all unread posts". "View new posts" only shows a subset of unread posts so perhaps there is an extension that addresses this?
• After the forum-wide option to remember logins is implemented, it can be re-evaluated to see if any further improvements can be made (i.e. IP based auto-login? Perhaps auto-login if the forum is accessed from within a logged-in Member facilities page, etc)

[Mixer]

Corey thanks for all your work in shaping a rapidly growing tree.

Areas that I feel might be discussed include:

I see a lot of people who post for help and give no indication of physical location, service type/s and hardware.
If there was some way of displaying basic Exetel side stats that do not impinge on privacy etc..such as state and ADSL type it may help to short circuit a lot of dialogue. The hardware stats are up to the user so...

Limitations with the search function frustrate me and I end up resorting to Google site search.
I assume that bots would get auto access with the new log in process and that I can still do this?

Anyway thanks for the effort

[CoreyPlover]

I assume that bots would get auto access with the new log in process and that I can still do this?

Doubt it.

I'll look into the search / indexing options in phpBB to see if any improvements can be made

[CoreyPlover]

I assume that bots would get auto access with the new log in process and that I can still do this?

Doubt it.

I'll look into the search / indexing options in phpBB to see if any improvements can be made

Actually, it seems as though the password option has been changed to apply only to posting, not viewing. Therefore, Google and search engine bots will still be able to trawl pages

[CoreyPlover]

Search options have now been modified to allow for 2 character words as well as common terms like "ADSL" and "phone", etc

[thomashouseman]

Where has the "Live Chat" link gone that was at the top that pointed to the Java run Exetel IRC channel? Can we still access it somewhere?

[CoreyPlover]

Not sure. I know that about a week ago I added the "Exetel Wiki" link and the "Live Chat" was already removed. I wonder if live chat has been deprecated; there are, after all, lots of support avenues (email, helpdesk, forum, wiki). I'll raise it with the system administrator

[thomashouseman]

Thanks. I always got the best support ever via that avenue.

[Ravenous]

Probably got removed due to morons logging on, being abusive and quoting certain communications out of context on other fora.