Brainstorming on the future evolutions of Design Addict  

Testing linked image HREF
Below should be an image that links to an ebay item:

NO
.
No- No A HREF. Only images. I've noticed, testing (on the fireplace thread) that any attempt to use HTML that it doesn't recognize (in other words, anything other than an embedded image) just gets wiped out. I tested tags for Bold, Italic, Underline, and Horizontal Rule. They all just showed up as blank.
.

BB CODE
.
Whatever new solution is implimented for posting, we should incorporate a limitted implimentation of BB CODE.
(BB Code gives users some formatting control but gives the webmaster/site owner a higher level of security than allow direct HTML input)
THE REASON I SUGGEST LIMITTED IMPLIMENTATION-
The current forum format is very clean, and integrates well with the look and feel of the existing site. If you allowed full use of BB Code, people would be posting in all different colors, full of blinking text, and smiley faces and all that stuff which would make the design focused site very tacky. Just give people the basics:
IMAGE REFERENCE
LINKS
BOLD TYPE
ITALIC TYPE
UNDERLINE TYPE
That is probably all anyone should need.
.
http://forums.oscommerce.com/index.php?act=legends&CODE=bbcode&s=

NO AVATARS
.
On some sites, avatars are fun, and help people identify individuals. However, they can also tacky up a page. People end up using pictures of Brad Pitt or Paris HIlton for their avatars and it just, well, on a site like Design Addict, it will just degrade the aesthetic of the site.
My thoughts, anyway.
.

Keep the board classy whatever you do!
All...
I just know the quality of postings on this site will never stoop to a low like whats found on some teenage myspace. I hope anyway!
If you provide the tools to let people modify text, add avatars, use pictures of themselves... they probably will.
Look at this site that is one of the best formats for forums http://www.classracer.com
or http://www.classracer.com/cgi-bin/netboard/netboard.cgi?fid=6966&cid=101...
Look at this junked up place, filled with trolls that post 6000 times a year: http://www.nitromater.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5
These are drag racing sites that have a similar amount of traffic. They are a little more custom, than the average web board. The class racer site allows editing, images, and is searchable from within. I feel its a very good site.
That nitro mater site is for no life types, that are fans of drag racing. Still not as low as myspace though!

Search tool:
- It is not visible enough? Aren't the results satisfactory? Is it too slow? ?
It's visible enough.
It's not slow.
Results sometime are OK. Many times NO.
As ChrisG said a robust search function will be useful. In other places I saw two searching keys: 1 the site and 2 the Google key. That ChrisG said. May be if one doesn't work the other could do. You have to think it.

I don't object
in principle to classification of posts by topic -- but I agree with those who say it sometimes induces a sense of missing potentially interesting posts. After all, the only way to be sure of what's "up" would be to visit all topics, anyway -- no ? Another issue: some posts qualify simultaneously for two (or more) categories: make and model, repair of, correct use of, designer of, etc.
I agree: no avatars, no color (I see we just now have a full-color boxed ad on the page -- jarring on this beautiful site ! Would advertisers consent to reduced intensity of those colors ? Fussy, fussy, I know. . .). Just editing, links, images, placing the posting boxes with the thread visible, and perhaps the typography options mentioned (after all, this medium strains to be conversational, and some means of substitution for tone and expression, other than just CAPITALS, would be useful).
[As a digression, can anyone inform me of the keyboard functions that allow for underlining, superscript accents, etc in any context (even if not enabled here) ? I've never figured that out. . .]
I see I missed with my intention to express the image code that works here; let's try
img src="[URL]" , the whole thing bracketed with
__________________________________________________
This is the explanation of some search functions, as given on another site that uses phpBB:
Search for Keywords:
You can use AND to define words which must be in the results, OR to define words which may be in the result and NOT to define words which should not be in the result. Use * as a wildcard for partial matches.
__________________________________________________
Could someone type an example of the above, to demonstrate how it would look ? I don't get it. . .]
ThAnKs ! (smiley face here)

Oh, and
no "emoticons" ! Let's use language -- any language -- to express ourselves. . .or perhaps we could design our own "font" of expressive thumbnail illustrations, improving at least visually upon 🙂 etc and the whole range of yellow faces ?
By "editing" I mean the editing of one's own material, of course -- and the function expressed in Patrick and Alix's initial post above, which perhaps would resemble the way that Wikipedia is managed? Let's hear more about that. . .

SDR
Underscore is a u surrounded by angle brackets
Scored out is a 's'
To italicise use 'i'
to make bold use 'b'
It needs to be closed after the word sentence- letter too by using a forward slash beofre the relevant letter, also surrounded by angle brackets >
This post reminds me..
a 'Preview Post' facility would be good !

i scanned this new inf....
i scanned this new inf. briefly. as a non pro/designer who posts here occasionally, i would like to see some of it devoted to those of us who would like to be helped with design/decorator questions.

auto scroll
Is it possible for it to remember where you last were reading a particular thread and automatically scroll you to that point? Maybe previously read posts could be gray text rather than black as a visual cue what you have previously read in the thread.

auto scroll deux
or perhaps the previously read posts in a thread have a different background gray tint. The new posts are on white.

part trois
and your own posts are in a unique color/gray/background/something to visually cue you to your own posts in the thread.

First of all, let us specify...
First of all, let us specify that even if holidays are getting close, it is not in our intention to transform our pages into Christmas trees full of decorations. 🙂
The graphic soberness of the pages will be preserved and no useless functionalities will be added (avatar, funny emoticons, etc). We always paid attention to the clarity of the pages, there is no reason for us to change.
We absolutely agree to limit the use of the BB codes as proposed by Chris.
Dear Stephen, sorry not to be able to ask our advertisers to send us more discrete logos ; -) Advertising is the principal source of income on Design Addict, we try to avoid that it becomes too intrusive. But, no advertising = no DA.
Concerning the search tools: Believe that we will take into account all your remarks, even if we cannot answer point by point to all your proposals or questions. We would first need to check some technical aspects with our partners at walkingmen.com who look after the development of the site. Even if they always make their possible to carry out the changes and improvements that we need, there are often technical barriers that make things really difficult to do.
Dear ite, thank you for sharing your "Avid Search Function Fan" thoughts! Some of the functions which you recommend are already accessible in the general search of the site here: http://www.designaddict.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search
It is possible to select one or several sections of the site to limit ones research. We know that this tool is perfectible, but it is already more sophisticated than the "basic" search tool on the pages of the forum. You will understand that for ergonomics reasons, it is difficult to integrate a complete search tool on each page.
Yes, Chris, you are right, Google allows researches on individual sites. To propose a Google research as a second option can be a good idea because the power and the speed of their servers and their algorithm are incomparable. However, it it is not guaranteed that Google scans the entirety of the site, the result could thus be incomplete.
James, the auto scroll and the marking of ones own posts would be interesting. It is technically possible but would probably require to send a cookie on the users computer, which we try to avoid.
Thank you again to you all

Stuff like this would be helpful at least to me
Particularly for long threads: