Important message about changes to this site (Feb 2011)

[Kevin H]

Please read this important message about changes to the way the bristolcars.info web site functions.

For clarification, the bristolcars.info site contains "forums" such as "6cyl Bristol cars", which in turn contain discussion "threads", comprising "posts" (individual messages).

The system that powers the site currently uses an Email Integration "add-on" which provides instant email notification of new threads and posts in the forums and enables people to respond to posts by email. For a number of reasons I have decided to stop using the Email Integration add-on.

We will now utilise email notification features which are built into the system which powers the site. These will allow you to subscribe to receive email notifications for forums or individual threads, so you will still be able to receive email notifications of new threads and posts, but there are some important differences.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

The email notification functions will now be "Opt in", rather than "Opt out". This means you will need to Opt-in (subscribe) to the forums and/or discussion threads which interest you if you wish to receive email notifications of new threads or posts.

Posting to the forums BY EMAIL will no longer be possible, you will need to log into the web site to post in the forums, however each notification email will include a direct link to the discussion thread. Replies to NOTIFICATION emails will be ignored.

Email notification of new threads or posts across a WHOLE FORUM, for example "6cyl Bristol cars", will be available only on either a DAILY or WEEKLY basis.

Instant email notification of all new posts is only possible on a PER THREAD basis, so if you are an active participant in a particular discussion thread you might want to subscribe to instant email notifications for that particular discussion thread.

Instructions on subscribing to a single discussion THREAD are here;
Bristol Cars - Owners and Enthusiasts Forum - FAQ: Visual Guide - Subscribing to a thread

NB: If you create a new discussion thread you will automatically be subscribed to instant email notifications of replies to that thread

Instructions on how to subscribe to forums is explained here;
Bristol Cars - Owners and Enthusiasts Forum - FAQ: Visual Guide - Subscribing to a forum

You may also manage your subscriptions within the MEMBER OPTIONS section of the site. A guide can be found here Bristol Cars - Owners and Enthusiasts Forum - FAQ: Visual Guide - Editing/Removing Forum Subscription

PLEASE NOTE: To perform any of these functions you must be logged into the site using your username and password.

NEED HELP?
If you have forgotten your username and/or password please try using the "Reset Password" link above the Login button on the top right hand side of the site Home page.

If you need further assistance please ask here (in this thread) or use the Contact Webmaster link which is also at the bottom of every page on the site.

[Claude]

Hi Kevin, I figured out how to cut over, but I fear we may lose some members as it was not all that easy to find where to opt in. Why don't you switch it to opt out? Claude

[julf]

Any chance of a RSS feed? I know I will just stop following the forums if I have to remember to actively go and check them.

[julf]

vBulletin Forum Add / Turn on RSS / XML Feed Support

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Claude

Why don't you switch it to opt out? Claude

Claude, I did have Opt Out as the default, but unfortunately I continually have to deal with members who (presumably) didn't read the spiel when they signed up, don't take the time to look into how they can unsubscribe, then complain to me about the emails they receive, mostly politely, but sometimes not. Either way it creates a support overhead because I have to go in an unsubscribe them. Some just spit the dummy and ask for their account to be cancelled.

With Opt Out as default there would be an ongoing issue for me as new people subscribe.

There's also the risk that people who get fed up with the emails and can't be bothered to work out how to unsubscribe, flag the site as a source of spam with a "block list" operator.

I believe that people who are really interested in keeping in touch with the site will take the trouble to subscribe and if they can't work out how to do it they will ask me for help.

Originally Posted by julf

Any chance of a RSS feed? I know I will just stop following the forums if I have to remember to actively go and check them.

Done. RSS Feeds are turned on.

[Kevin H]

Julf, it looks like vBulletin creates one RSS feed for the whole site. If that's not ideal you could always subscribe to daily updates for each forum you are interested in. I will do it for you if you want.

Regards,
Kevin

[GREG]

[quote=. I will do it for you if you want.

Regards,
Kevin[/QUOTE]

Thanks Kevin ,I will let Cass, Lou Lou, PW, Yorick, Nic, Dick and Eric know. But not sure if Eric will be happy !

I had no idea what Julf was going on about so I checked the interweb !

( RSS = Royal Shakespeare Society [British] (DI) )

Now it's all clear - a big improvement. :-)

Thanks

Greg

[Kevin H]

It never ceases to amaze me how people who never contribute anything to this site in terms of content, feel entitled to criticize it and send me pointless messages, like this one I received this evening;

I'm finding quite wearisome-I accepted as a "password' either one of two words: 'doctor1' or possibly 'indie'. Perhaps this obscurity is some kind of joke???

To other members who use the "Reset Password" function - if the site serves up a password you don't like, just log in and change it! (Member Options > Edit Your Details)

If you get stuck I'm happy to help, but I won't waste my time responding to petulant messages like the one above.

[Claude]

Hi Kevin,

As I experience the new format, it seems that all I get in my inbox is a notice that someone has made a posting. It does not include the content of that posting. To get that, I must go to the forum and read. I fear that this will result in the decline of use of your valuable forum.

There are times when the contributions to the forum are on a subject of no interest to to a member of the forum. They hit the delete key on the email and move on. However, to have to click on the thread to find out they am not interested becomes too cumbersome, too time consuming. Thus, it is likely that the forum will receive fewer posts.

The old system that was instant to the inbox may have caused you managerial problems but it did work and it was effective. I think it is essential that the message that is posted accompany the email notice. This is not an uncommon feature of forum software, including free open-source, and it may be a switch you can set on the control panel.

Claude

[Nick Challacombe]

Originally Posted by Claude

Hi Kevin,

As I experience the new format, it seems that all I get in my inbox is a notice that someone has made a posting. It does not include the content of that posting. To get that, I must go to the forum and read. I fear that this will result in the decline of use of your valuable forum.

There are times when the contributions to the forum are on a subject of no interest to to a member of the forum. They hit the delete key on the email and move on. However, to have to click on the thread to find out they am not interested becomes too cumbersome, too time consuming. Thus, it is likely that the forum will receive fewer posts.

The old system that was instant to the inbox may have caused you managerial problems but it did work and it was effective. I think it is essential that the message that is posted accompany the email notice. This is not an uncommon feature of forum software, including free open-source, and it may be a switch you can set on the control panel.

Claude

Kevin,
I thought it was just me being a thick old git, but I did enjoy receiving the full text of threads. Perhaps there is a way to do it but although I am opted in to all threads I cannot find a way of getting the full text without visiting the web site. If that is what you intended then I will put up with it but I could not see anything wrong with the way it was before.
regards and thanks, Nick

[Kevin H]

Nick, Claude, et al,

Rest assured I am looking into a "hybrid" solution so that those of you who want to participate in the forums on a regular basis can continue to do so without too much inconvenience. But I had to put a stop to the old email intergration because it was causing too much of an admin overhead.

In the mean time I have set up a facility through a Google service which will deliver all new posts to you (in full) via a daily email. I have tested it and it appears to do what we need. You can subscribe to this daily email service here.

regards,
Kevin

[Nick Challacombe]

Thank you Kevin,

I have subsribed and await to see if it is as good as you hope. Thanks for finding a solution we can try so quickly.

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by julf

Any chance of a RSS feed? I know I will just stop following the forums if I have to remember to actively go and check them.

Julf, if you take a look at the site now you should see an RSS feed for each forum. There is also a feed for all Bristol forums and all non Bristol forums.

I will in due course set something up so that people can get these feeds via email.