Yuku free message boards

cedar: I've added it to your board's css Reph. You shouldn't be seeing anymore of the default Yuku avatars now - only the ones that people have personally selected.

Thanks! I didn't know it was possible to remove them.

alison: I really don't think that you can hold us responsible for the change in posting habits at your board.

Nothing changed except that our board was moved to yuku. The decline in posts on Support was sudden and dramatic. We're afraid that people new to tinnitus who want help may be discouraged by the new look of the home page, which includes a login. Visitors can read threads without logging in, they just can't post, but they may not know that. Those who don't have accounts at ezboard or yuku may just go away. Many people who get severe tinnitus become depressed and suicidal at the beginning. They have a hard time coping with the simplest tasks. We provide help and support to them, but only if they find us.

If you want to move the focus your message board back to more on-topic discussions, then I suggest you ask at skins for help. For example, they could show you how to hide all the interact menus, removing avatars or disabling other features that you don't wish to offer to your members.

As I posted earlier, we have done some of these things.

It's quite true that all developer time requires payment. And that costs must be passed on. However unfortunately this isn't something that can parcelled out in chunks.

Throw . . . baby . . . bathwater? I suggest that the costs of some features that yuku offers and ezboard doesn't can be estimated and the pricing structure changed to enable communities that don't need these features to do without them and not pay a rate with the costs of the features built in. I understand that many communities want these features. Fine. Far be it from me to deny them the features. Only let those communities' members pay for them. At present, yuku charges all boards alike, with just one distinction based on size. It's as if a supermarket charged the same price per pound for the ugly little green apples I use for applesauce as for the nice big shiny red apples I eat raw.

You cannot possibly say that posting and replying to messages is not interaction. That is purely what it is. The act of posting and replying is interaction.

Well, the menu at the left does make a distinction by saying "INTERACT."

It seems to me that some posts from yesterday have been removed. Is that correct?

Nantucket and Bob, I'd stop complaining if the yuku administrators addressed all my complaints meaningfully and respectfully. Sometimes the answer is only "This is a documented bug" - not much help! The fact is, I'm going to have to buy a new computer sooner than I'd planned to, because this one (Mac G3 iBook) won't support a browser adequate for yuku. (In a post that I can't find now, someone suggested other browsers. Thank you. However, one of our admins has Netscape and can't use it here. I tried to download Opera and couldn't.) The G3 isn't so antique that you can't still buy a used one from a dealer. Presumably some people out there still have them.

Yes, the redirect from ezboard works. Google skills aren't the problem. I'll restate the problems in detail, since my posts above don't seem to have communicated them clearly. (1) Some browsers can use Google but can't use yuku. A person with such a browser who clicks on the link at Google will go to a page that represents the Tinnitus Support board but isn't usable. Most text is missing. That page is a dead end. (2) Assuming that a new visitor has a modern browser, here's the second obstacle. We don't know what the TSMB directory looks like to a person who has no history with ezboard or yuku; similarly for a person who was a member of ezboard forums that are still on ezboard. My directory always says I've been upgraded to yuku, please log in. Does the directory have the login fields? Does it require a new person to create an account? We want visitors to be able to read the Support forum before they need to decide whether to join something.

Okay, then. We may add a statement to the directory to tell first-time visitors they can read without logging in. The directory has to be as welcoming to newbies as possible, short of slobbering all over them and leaving lipstick marks.

Thanks for your information.