Website Tips - How to use BBF

ElQuintron

PL1 It's also very extensible and open source, but like many extensible things (and this is my opinion, and not necessarily the rest of management) they start off pretty barebones and you customize it to meet your needs. It's probably the second best thing to writing it from scratch.

Donoreo

ElQuintron It's also very extensible and open source, but like many extensible things (and this is my opinion, and not necessarily the rest of management) they start off pretty barebones

I hope we see some of that soon, especially on navigation features.

PL1

broknsymetry I'm happy with it. It's not perfect, but I've gotten the hang of it. There is always room for improvement.

I've tamed it to be usable for me by ignoring every tag I'm not interested in, and then as I see a thread I'm not interested in, I ignore that as well. This took a lot of work initially, but now it takes very little effort to maintain. My landing page is https://broadbandbulletin.com/all

The best commercial forum software I've used is Fora (VerticalScope) used by AVS, Tivocommunity, howardforums, etc.

Blackbird

PL1 I've tamed it to be usable for me by ignoring every tag I'm not interested in, and then as I see a thread I'm not interested in, I ignore that as well. This took a lot of work initially, but now it takes very little effort to maintain. My landing page is https://broadbandbulletin.com/all

I've done exactly the same thing, and (for me), it's a lot easier now than a couple weeks ago. In addition, I use a browser with a bookmarks bar, and I've got a few favorite BBB 'tags' bookmarked there for quick access to just those areas.

Things are certainly different here than from DSLR, and it takes some getting used to... but that's the case as well with almost all software alternatives that are different from what one's used for a long time. I'm just grateful there's a place to go now that DSLR is gone, and that somebody has cared enough to create this site.

Somewhat-Reticent

Is there a "search this Discussion" function available?
Phone-style display of a few (more) posts at a time defeats most normal search functions.

SLC_96

Somewhat-Reticent Is there a "search this Discussion" function available?

Yes, see first post for how-to

OzarkEdge

SLC_96 This website uses different terminology than you may be used to. Some websites may use the term, forums, here we call them tags. Similarly, other websites may use something called threads, here they are called discussions.

Can you comment on what is happening behind the Notification, "Someone re-tags a discussion to a tag I'm following"... does re-tagging 'move' the discussion/thread to a different forum?

SLC_96 You can hide all discussions with a particular tag.

Does this mean the same as 'you can hide all discussions/threads in a particular forum', i.e., hide the entire forum?

I have no problems understanding the website terminology... it all makes sense and looks plenty good to me... thanks for setting it up. But I am a bit confused by your definition of a tag... for me, a tag is a tag. I have tagged nothing... I have no tags to follow or browse... but I am browsing forums and reading their discussions/threads.

Kathy_9

OzarkEdge Here is the AI generated answer to what tags are.

The tags are created by the Admin of the forum. Think of them as forum names. So if you are following a tag, it's the same as following a forum. So, tags and forums are one and the same.

OzarkEdge

Kathy_9

I agree with AI... tags on Flarum forums are used to categorize discussions/threads to make it easier for the user to find discussions/threads of their interest. A tag is not a forum.

Here is an AI-generated answer to, 'Is a Flarum tag a forum?':

But nevermind. And I apologize for posting AI-generated content on this forum.

Kathy_9

OzarkEdge No need to apologize.

It all depends on your definition of a forum. One could contend that Broadband Bulletin Forum is the one and only forum here and that everything else are discussions that are tagged. Some might also refer to these tagged discussions as boards.

But, I think most people here are thinking in terms of the "forums" they followed on DSLR and that is what the Tags are comparable to.

Andyross

Just found out something the hard way. I decided to try the "mark all as read" button. I thought, like most any forum site, it would only mark messages in that particular forum (tag?) as read. NO IT DID NOT! It marked EVERYTHING on the ENTIRE SITE as read. Not what I wanted.

Donoreo

Andyross Just found out something the hard way. I decided to try the "mark all as read" button. I thought, like most any forum site, it would only mark messages in that particular forum (tag?) as read. NO IT DID NOT! It marked EVERYTHING on the ENTIRE SITE as read. Not what I wanted.

Yes, that is a very annoying "feature". We need a "mark this tag read" option to get to what is normal elsewhere.

SLC_96

camper The site will ask you to choose a primary tag when you are trying to post a discussion. If you are trying to follow a tag and you see that you are in the wrong place. The site will try to follow your system theme. You can toggle the theme by pressing the selector at the top right.

Donoreo Agreed

camper

SLC_96 This website uses different terminology than you may be used to. Some websites may use the term, forums, here we call them tags. Similarly, other websites may use something called threads, here they are called discussions.

You can add your favorite Tags to “My tags” for easy access.

Easy access? I remain to be convinced of that.

OK, I am following the instructions given ...

I am prompted to choose a "primary tag." I do not want to have a primary tag, but, I'll go along ...

I chose the BroadBand Bulletin tag.

I am now prompted to post a discussion.

I do not want to post a discussion, I want to select the forums, excuse me, "tags" I am interested in.

And now I seem to be tossed out of that conversation with the site.

And, I also have to ask, why is my participation here now in "dark more?" I did not chose that, quite the contrary, I dislike that mode.

Why make it so difficult to participate here?

camper

SLC_96 The site will ask you to choose a primary tag when you are trying to post a discussion. If you are trying to follow a tag and you see that you are in the wrong place. The site will try to follow your system theme. You can toggle the theme by pressing the selector at the top right.

Yeah, all that's good. But it still does not answer my concern.

How do I select the fora (excuse me, tags) I want to see without having to scroll through an seemingly endless stream of tags I have zero interest in?

While I do applaud BBF for the wide variety of subjects (tags) it provides, why is it so difficult to select those I have an interest in?

At this point, I am asking myself, why bother with this site?

SLC_96

camper

Click on the tag you are interested in
Click Follow
Click Following

Rook

Click "Confirm Subscription"

px_eliezer_

Click on the tag you are interested in
Click Follow
Click Following
Click "Confirm Subscription"

Exactly.

And then the chosen tag (or tags) will appear on the top right of the home page (the northeast corner, for those who like maps).

Camper--please do not Decamp. 🙂

px_eliezer_

ALSO....!

The sections (tags/forums) can be accessed directly by their URL, which if you further desire, can be bookmarked on your browser.

FOR EXAMPLE:

If you want to go to the APPLE SECTION, you can just go to:

https://broadbandbulletin.com/t/apple

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

If you want to go to SECURITY, just go to:

https://broadbandbulletin.com/t/security

And any of these can be used as Bookmarks (Favorites) on your browsers.

Hope this helps, Camper. 🙂

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