You should really consider changing your forums. Go for a type that allows the user's more freedom..to delete , edit, block....be able to delete "your own" entire post, be able to delete unwanted users posting in your thread....etc..
This will enable users to clean up when they make mistakes..or edit posts they have made ..ie-spelling , grammer
Get rid of that "timelimit" for delete button.
Instead of using old outdated gestapo software.
Have a look at "scalemates" forums.

I tried. Scalemates doesn't have a forum it would seem. Also (in case Tim reads this) they seem to be blocking Google from indexing their site (???) as when I search "Scalemates" their site doesn't even come up.

I can appreciate you wanting more control of your posts to remove or delete them when you make comments you regret or some you want to change later. The whole point of having the time limit is to avoid threads becoming completely useless from people who get mad and decide to take all their toys out of the sandbox if they can't get their way. Granted these types of users are a small minority, but they kind of screw things up for everyone else when they fly off the handle. People are funny sometimes.

FYI though I do have plans to make user profile pages that work more like Facebook. Then you will have all the features you asked for if you want to post things to your buddies on your page.

Cheers,
Jim

Good God, Jim - no! Not more Face-Ache! Can't stand that sort of clique-ist antisocial networking stuff. Bad enough Photobucket decided it wants to be more like Facebook than a proper photo-storing site...

I vote to keep the "social media" component of Kitmaker out in the cold daylight of the public forums - where it belongs. Folks who just want to post to their buddies can always send email.

Well, that's my ranting over - for now.


PS: On the OP, I'm happy we cannot get any more episodes of the old "blanket delete" like of old. A lot of useful Tiger info disappeared in that famous toy-throwing sulk a couple years ago...

I'm with Tom on this, if you want facebook then we do have a facebook presence but I will not use it until facebook become proactive in regard to 'our' security and privacy instead of reactive like they are now.

Email or PM's work if you want to talk with a buddy.

I agree with Jim's stance on not being able to delete content. I have seen some great content get deleted in the past because of temper tantrums.

On that note of deleted content, I would like to see a higher quota for members photo gallery as too often when they have to resort to of site photo hosting they get forgotten or deleted and the threads where the photos were become almost useless. I do understand that there is a cost to this but some good info is gone because the pictures disappeared.

Cheers Rob.

There is a face book link to the site already I believe. I wouldn't want it to become like that. This is a modelling site where we can interact on a hobby we enjoy - personally I avoid face book like the plague.

I agree the idea of people being able to delete what they don't want isn't a good one, whilst being able to edit to correct spellings etc is.

Tom pretty much sums it up for me too.

Al

I totally agree with TOM's views on the matter!

Cheers,
Joe

Scalemates is fun you have to admit..if you never tried it, you should.
But, I'm just talking about having more control over your own post's . That's all, nothing more.
I did a google search & some forum admins have a problem with it. Why? Because they are control freaks that's why. I'm not saying you guys at Armorama are, you never created the forum - ie phpBB I'm talking about the forum developers.
There has to be another forum out there that gives the user's more control.
I seen the post in phpBB where the guy actually say's "the best solution in my opinion is for timed -editing" lol . For who? Why would they even think of that as developers?
I mean, honestly, your admins or moderators can't even delete / edit post's with the forums you are using. You guys as admins need more control as well.
Even giving your admins/moderators the ability to delete & edit or even block would be good enough.
My 2 cents.

And here's my three cents:

If you post something, then live with it. Being able to do blanket deletes later on because your knickers got in a knot for some reason is idiotic. If you published a book or magazine article and then later got mad about something, you can't recall and pulp them. Why should you be able to do that on the Internet?

Use the "block" button if someone pisses you off. It works and it means you don't see what they wrote. But I find that those who get the most upset about what others are saying to them can't WAIT for the next "nasty" post so they can get their knickers further knotted up. I someone is bugging you, ignore them.

Finally, suggestions are good, but at the end of the day, this is Jim's commercial entity, and he is going to do what is best for the majority so that members and advertisers continue to make this place as great as it is.

My general suggestion on most of these issues is "get over yourself." We're all just one member among thousands and if Armorama doesn't do it for you, then there are other fora out there. Though it's interesting that the individuals who get the angriest about non-modeling topics tend to take their ball and go home at forum after forum. Ever notice that?

It's good to debate out these kind of issues, but for what it's worth here's my twopence worth;
I like the fact that when I type something up and hit the button then it's out there and there is no going back. It makes me consider carefully what I am trying to say and often before pressing the button I will read over and edit sometimes two or three times. Maybe a background in book printing has created this kind of dicipline but I believe it makes for better and clearer communication.

Amen to that! I wish more people would follow these pointers.

Mario

Totally agree. And I also agree on keeping Facebook out of the picture. I even tried to get rid of Whats App when it was bought by Facebook...

Totally agree!

For what it's worth, I agree with Tom. Too much good info being exchanged to allow it to get compartmentalized. If someone has something they really need to be secret squirrel about, take it somewhere else. Just my $0.02...

How about a longer period to do edits of our own posts - say maybe 24 to 48 hours.

I usually try to proofread my posts, but it's hard sometimes to catch all the mistakes. Often I'll see something the next day or think of a better way to describe or explain something, but that might only become obvious with a bit of time.

I really felt like a big PITA after I screwed up the title to my last thread and had to pester the mods to go back and change it for me. What started as a little fumble-fingered typo turned became something all out of proportion to the effort required to fix it.

FWIW, I'm all for keeping delete function more or less like it is with no blanket delete ability. I'm also not in favor if being able to block other posters or only allow your "friends" to post on your threads.

However, some more time to self-edit (to include thread titles which can't be edited by the poster at all now) would be nice.

Amen to being able to edit thread titles! This is one idea that really needs to be done. It'd be really nice when you add things to your sales ad, or put new material in your build log to note that it was updated on such and such date in the title without having to go through a moderator.

Funny the disdain a mention of Facebook gets (I dislike it myself), but Jim was only talking about doing that on the profile pages, not on the forums themselves. At least that's how I read his post. To that I say go for it, if you want to. I very rarely visit my profile page so it won't matter to me.

I agree with the others who don't feel blanket deletions would be a good thing. If there's a real problem on a thread I would like to think one of the folks in the upper "chain of command" would be able to act on it.

From a programmer prospective, leaving the ability to edit thread titles can be a little more work than you think. The thread title tends to be the single item that identifies the thread, and is also used to set up search indexes. While changes are possible, it would affect the effectiveness of search engines as well as any potential links to the original thread.

I believe if you post it, then live with it, it makes you think twice whether is really needs to be posted then.

And just because you do have the ability to edit, does not mean what you have originally posted is not out there in the worldwide webs for someone to refer to later. Alot of search engines cache information.

I like it the way it is, I vote for no changes.

I don't get it, some people say they can't edit their posts yet I have the edit function available on posts/topics i've started, going way back..?

Just realized people can't edit their "title" of a thread also. That is frustrating because I just made a mistake in my new thread..New tank by Dragon with L60 gun....found out it is a L42 gun , not L60, I can't go back & correct the title at all. I look like a newb.

I'd like a tweeny-weeny meanie (catch the reference?) piece of this pie since it's on a revamp topic...

I agree with the idea of extending the edit period for posts. I think that a thread title edit function should exist for a limited period of time i.e 24 hours or such so that if someone catches a mistake they've made they at least have some time to fix it. I believe the delete function ought to stay the way it is but extended by maybe 24 hours.

On the topic of site revamp: I feel like the site here has a bit of an "older" and obviously boxy feel to it. I think a general redo of the layout to make it look a bit more... welcoming(?) and a tad more open. Maybe introducing some more rounds corners, beveled edges might open it up a bit? IMHO the site seems, to try to put it into something more understandable, sort of like a Soviet made car with lots of Agent Smiths inside. I feel like it would do better to be re-upped to some kind of a more interesting type of car... I'd like to provide an example of another forum... (please don't take anything of this, I'm just using this as an example because I know of not many others that would fit the bill). The example I'm going to use is FSM's forum: http://cs.finescale.com/f/ (again, I realize it's a competing company and magazine but it's the only forum I know of that provides an almost direct comparison). It just looks a bit more open than this forum (no offense) to me. Sort of like the differences between these two: http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/forums.html and http://www.airsoftsociety.com/ (again, just for comparison's sake and comparison's sake alone) (and yes, to answer anyone's question I am a member of both those airsoft forums but no I no longer participate in one of them and rarely even visit the other and no I don't actively participate in the activity.)

Also, the way in which comments are posted on an existing thread could use an update, in my opinion. Instead of having to be directed to a new page to post the comment then be directed back to the previous with the new content added, I feel it would be better overall and a tad faster to having the reply box similar to the "quick reply" boxes on the FSM and the Airsoft Society forums.

I also agree with having an increase in space on the gallery. Along with making the gallery easier to navigate.

Sorry for the long post but thats my 2¢

The only thing I would change is making it easier add photos to the site. Too many people use external hosting sites like photobucket where photos can be deleted at a later date making the whole build thread useless, because it is a difficult process to add images here.

I remember someone (forgotten the user name) building a destroyed T55 with full internals and really getting far into the project and then deleting the images (hosted on PB) because he had some petty bust up with someone on the forum.

I have also found that there are so many threads now it is very difficult to discern what topics have been covered already and are merely lurking somewhere in the databanks waiting to be discovered. I have found that if I try to do a keyword search of the forums I get a meaningful response one time, after which if I try to change my search parameters I get results from across the web, even if I selected the radio button to only search kitmaker net.

IMHO, having a more streamlined way to explore and search the forums would be great. I also recognize my opinion would carry more weight if I got off my tail and became a subscriber.

Hi Jim, I did (a bit late I know)

I just checked and from a Google perspective everything seems to work fine. But as Google has different results based on the location it does not mean a thing that I can see results

Do you still have the issue? When I search for scalemates the first 2 results are from us. Also when I check Webmaster tools 99% of our product database is in there.

Thx!
Tim