Why autohide the BSOD forum?

[Benny26]

I can't really understand why there's an option to show/hide the BSOD forum in the "Currently active topics" menu. I can understand the option for the "Virus and Malware Removal" forum, with it being dedicated to a special group of helpers and off limits to the general members, but with the BSOD forum being open for everyone to help out, I am quite puzzled. The BSOD forum is one of the best and most active also. There may well be some BSOD topics that get missed because some people don't use the "Forums" main tab (people like me who don't use it very often)

I had noticed recently that some threads were missing from the active topics menu when i refresh it, and now i know why...It's because the show/hide is default on "hide" (after the first hit from logging on).

So i would love to ask why the BSOD?...Or in fact why hide it at all?

Edit: I posted this in the "Forum Restructuring" thread but i guess it was missed...or it was just the wrong place anyway.

Edit 2: It's my Birthday today

Anyway, thanks !

 

[Mizzou]

First of all, let me wish you a Happy Birthday Benny

Secondly, I like the ability to hide the Virus and BSOD threads.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

The malware and BSOD sections are strictly geared toward tech support threads, and as you noted, they're among the most trafficked on the board so they occupy a large portion of the active threads. While the BSOD forum isn't restricted to qualified helpers, only a small minority of users regularly participate in such threads. For the rest of the community, those support-related topics just make it more difficult for the average user to find topics that are actually of interest to them. At least that's my take on it, anyway.

 

[LookinAround]

I also like the auto-hide feature for reasons as Matthew explained.

But sometimes i do like breezing through all the topics (including BSODs and malware). For that case, i view Currently Active Topics while logged out. (Operationally, i find that easier then changing my auto-hide option back and forth)


p.s. A very Happy B-day Benny

 

[Benny26]

Hmmm....From my point of view, the Techspot forum is all about "Look at this!" and "Help me!". I would have thought that the majority of "active members" here would be here more for the "Help Me!" part, and by auto-hiding a big "Help me!" topic in that menu, I would have deduced that to be a more worse act.

I would guess that everyone here has had a blue screen of death...It's just for this reason i thought i would inquire about it; because (some) people could be missing topics where they might have some key information for the person who needs help.

Long story short: I don't personally see the BSOD forum any different from the "Windows OS" forum because of the fact that anyone can jump in and offer help...unlike "Virus and Malware".

Some interesting answers from you though.

PS: Thanks for the Birthday messages

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Although most of the board's topics are help-oriented in some shape or form, the point remains that only a handful of members actively participate in assisting with BSODs and malware removal. For the rest of the users, it's just a lot of noise cluttering the active topic filter. Of course, if you do want to participate in those threads, they're only one click away. Oh, and happy birthday sir!

 

[Archean]

Belated happy b'day Benny

 

[Benny26]

Thanks for the B-Day messages Matthew and Archean

Matthew said:
Although most of the board's topics are help-oriented in some shape or form, the point remains that only a handful of members actively participate in assisting with BSODs and malware removal. For the rest of the users, it's just a lot of noise cluttering the active topic filter. Of course, if you do want to participate in those threads, they're only one click away. Oh, and happy birthday sir!

Yeah, one click away...I just thought i would bring it up to find the true reason behind it. I can understand the busyness behind it, It was just the 'auto-hide' as opposed to 'auto-show' and hide them if you have no interest.

Come to think of it, an option to hide specific topics that you've no interest or bother with from say your control panel would be a good thing...but maybe that's a beyond what's needed for everyone at this time i suppose, since you can freely browse any forum you wish to anyway.

 

[Julio Franco]

There's an additional consideration for doing this...

BSOD and Malware related threads are usually two-way threads where only the thread starter and helper participate in, back and forth, with a flurry of updates that are irrelevant to the general conversation and flow of the forum.

Because of this we were seeing an overwhelming number of support threads taking the top spots in the most active daily threads, and even our malware helpers were happy with the change so that no other users (who candidly wanted to help) would become an obstacle between helper and user in need of support.

PS: Happy bday Benny , thanks for sharing with us your concern.

 

[Zen]

I hate to look uneducated and or for a better word "stupid", but what's this "auto hide" feature thing you all are talking about? I don't think I've ever seen any sort of function option that gives me the ability to "hide" certain subjects on the forum!

If this is the case, I might like to hide the Malware and BSOD sections, since I'm running with Ubuntu 10.10 those areas don't affect me at all.

 

[Benny26]

There's an additional consideration for doing this...

BSOD and Malware related threads are usually two-way threads where only the thread starter and helper participate in, back and forth, with a flurry of updates that are irrelevant to the general conversation and flow of the forum.

Because of this we were seeing an overwhelming number of support threads taking the top spots in the most active daily threads, and even our malware helpers were happy with the change so that no other users (who candidly wanted to help) would become an obstacle between helper and user in need of support.

PS: Happy bday Benny , thanks for sharing with us your concern.

Thanks for the feedback and Birthday message Julio

Glad my conscience has been cleared up over that.

I hate to look uneducated and or for a better word "stupid", but what's this "auto hide" feature thing you all are talking about? I don't think I've ever seen any sort of function option that gives me the ability to "hide" certain subjects on the forum!

If this is the case, I might like to hide the Malware and BSOD sections, since I'm running with Ubuntu 10.10 those areas don't affect me at all.

It applys to the "Currently Active Topics" board (the one that shows you what's been posted in latest). With the first click after logging on or coming back to the site, It will display info regarding any and every forum that's been posted in or any threads that have been started in those forums. If you click it again afterward though, It will auto-hide the BSOD and Virus forums (or "Tech Support" forums).

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Zen, if you run a search using the "Currently Active Topics" or "New Posts" filters, you should see the option to Show/Hide the BSOD/Malware topics above the search results.

*Edit*

Benny beat me.

 

[LookinAround]

Thanks for asking Zen

LOL I completely forgot the active/hide option was so conveniently located. i thought it was buried somewhere in my profile! My bad

 

[Zen]

Thanks for asking Zen

LOL I completely forgot the active/hide option was so conveniently located. i thought it was buried somewhere in my profile! My bad

Your welcome my friend, hay at least I'm not the only one feeling a bit "stupid" about all of this!