Howdy!

[Marine Hokie]

That's pretty much it. Other than customer forums, successful message boards are hard to come by these days. They had a good thing going, but killed it by trying to fit their base into the system they wanted. VB was dated when they switched to it. There was no benefit for them to switch, especially not to the implementation they have.
The non-UWS boards aren't what they once were. There was a time when I could go on the free or sub football board and read interesting football commentary, learn from people who knew what they were talking about, etc. Now it seems like mostly a lot of noise and a bigger waste of time than the lounge.
It's impressive that their base has been loyal enough to get them by this long, but I don't see it lasting without some major changes that they aren't likely to do. I've suspected for years that they've been dumping money into a web development company that doesn't know what they're doing... buggy site, horrible UI/UX, went years with an old and insecure version of WordPress, dated forum software, etc.

I think that's what this is really about. People have bolted over the years for various reasons and they haven't been able to attract new blood to the site. So they're blaming the VBulletin nightmare and UWS, saying we give the whole site a bad name. I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Most of originals and long termers are middle aged. Back in our day, forums were cool. Not so to the younger generation. And so when they changed the technology, the older posters couldn't follow it anymore and bolted. Plus it's gotten stale. Plus the middle aged posters have children and not as much time to goof off on message boards. So the demographics have shifted on them.

I think they should stop messing with the forums. Just let them stay mostly the same with minor improvements like images and a spell checker of some sort. Get into social media, FB, etc for the younger guys. The younger posters are turned off by the older ones anyway. They're often mean to them, plus there's just a generational gap. So let the social media stuff be the playground for the younger audience and leave the forums to the older guys. And then when something else new comes along, the current 20-30 somethings will still hang onto their social media while the new 20-30 somethings use whatever is hip in their time. And then of course use forum users will just move on down the food chain.

Anyway, I think their approach is just going to drive more people away. They should create new service offerings that will attract new and younger users while not confusing and alienating the older posters.

Eh, odds are it's the beginning of the end for TSL. You can't run an online community like it's 1999 and hope to make money.

[USN_Hokie]

The site update tried to be all things to all people and wound up not being liked by anyone.

It's obnoxious on mobile (by the way, there is a Tapatalk plugin for phpbb - I can install it if there is interest) and is very poorly designed.

You want to make behaviors that you are trying to encourage (reading/posting on the message boards, reading articles) easy, not make people scroll around all over creation to find what they were looking for.

To switch to a different forum, you have to hover over the "forums" box and then click the forum you want. So if someone is casually surfing or they are on their phone, by introducing that extra step, you've just made it slightly less likely that someone is going to do that.

I think that's what this is really about. People have bolted over the years for various reasons and they haven't been able to attract new blood to the site. So they're blaming the VBulletin nightmare and UWS, saying we give the whole site a bad name. I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Most of originals and long termers are middle aged. Back in our day, forums were cool. Not so to the younger generation. And so when they changed the technology, the older posters couldn't follow it anymore and bolted. Plus it's gotten stale. Plus the middle aged posters have children and not as much time to goof off on message boards. So the demographics have shifted on them.

I think they should stop messing with the forums. Just let them stay mostly the same with minor improvements like images and a spell checker of some sort. Get into social media, FB, etc for the younger guys. The younger posters are turned off by the older ones anyway. They're often mean to them, plus there's just a generational gap. So let the social media stuff be the playground for the younger audience and leave the forums to the older guys. And then when something else new comes along, the current 20-30 somethings will still hang onto their social media while the new 20-30 somethings use whatever is hip in their time. And then of course use forum users will just move on down the food chain.

Anyway, I think their approach is just going to drive more people away. They should create new service offerings that will attract new and younger users while not confusing and alienating the older posters.

Absolutely. I give up in frustration trying the navigate that site all the time. I've been here for probably a total of 5 minutes and it's already light-years ahead of TSL.

[USN_Hokie]

That's pretty much it. Other than customer forums, successful message boards are hard to come by these days. They had a good thing going, but killed it by trying to fit their base into the system they wanted. VB was dated when they switched to it. There was no benefit for them to switch, especially not to the implementation they have.
The non-UWS boards aren't what they once were. There was a time when I could go on the free or sub football board and read interesting football commentary, learn from people who knew what they were talking about, etc. Now it seems like mostly a lot of noise and a bigger waste of time than the lounge.
It's impressive that their base has been loyal enough to get them by this long, but I don't see it lasting without some major changes that they aren't likely to do. I've suspected for years that they've been dumping money into a web development company that doesn't know what they're doing... buggy site, horrible UI/UX, went years with an old and insecure version of WordPress, dated forum software, etc.

I think that's what this is really about. People have bolted over the years for various reasons and they haven't been able to attract new blood to the site. So they're blaming the VBulletin nightmare and UWS, saying we give the whole site a bad name. I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Most of originals and long termers are middle aged. Back in our day, forums were cool. Not so to the younger generation. And so when they changed the technology, the older posters couldn't follow it anymore and bolted. Plus it's gotten stale. Plus the middle aged posters have children and not as much time to goof off on message boards. So the demographics have shifted on them.

I think they should stop messing with the forums. Just let them stay mostly the same with minor improvements like images and a spell checker of some sort. Get into social media, FB, etc for the younger guys. The younger posters are turned off by the older ones anyway. They're often mean to them, plus there's just a generational gap. So let the social media stuff be the playground for the younger audience and leave the forums to the older guys. And then when something else new comes along, the current 20-30 somethings will still hang onto their social media while the new 20-30 somethings use whatever is hip in their time. And then of course use forum users will just move on down the food chain.

Anyway, I think their approach is just going to drive more people away. They should create new service offerings that will attract new and younger users while not confusing and alienating the older posters.

Eh, odds are it's the beginning of the end for TSL. You can't run an online community like it's 1999 and hope to make money.

Yep, and on top of all that...when things went south, they polled the people who DIDN'T LEAVE to decide their next step.

[Marine Hokie]

Yeah that was odd.

That's pretty much it. Other than customer forums, successful message boards are hard to come by these days. They had a good thing going, but killed it by trying to fit their base into the system they wanted. VB was dated when they switched to it. There was no benefit for them to switch, especially not to the implementation they have.
The non-UWS boards aren't what they once were. There was a time when I could go on the free or sub football board and read interesting football commentary, learn from people who knew what they were talking about, etc. Now it seems like mostly a lot of noise and a bigger waste of time than the lounge.
It's impressive that their base has been loyal enough to get them by this long, but I don't see it lasting without some major changes that they aren't likely to do. I've suspected for years that they've been dumping money into a web development company that doesn't know what they're doing... buggy site, horrible UI/UX, went years with an old and insecure version of WordPress, dated forum software, etc.

I think that's what this is really about. People have bolted over the years for various reasons and they haven't been able to attract new blood to the site. So they're blaming the VBulletin nightmare and UWS, saying we give the whole site a bad name. I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Most of originals and long termers are middle aged. Back in our day, forums were cool. Not so to the younger generation. And so when they changed the technology, the older posters couldn't follow it anymore and bolted. Plus it's gotten stale. Plus the middle aged posters have children and not as much time to goof off on message boards. So the demographics have shifted on them.

I think they should stop messing with the forums. Just let them stay mostly the same with minor improvements like images and a spell checker of some sort. Get into social media, FB, etc for the younger guys. The younger posters are turned off by the older ones anyway. They're often mean to them, plus there's just a generational gap. So let the social media stuff be the playground for the younger audience and leave the forums to the older guys. And then when something else new comes along, the current 20-30 somethings will still hang onto their social media while the new 20-30 somethings use whatever is hip in their time. And then of course use forum users will just move on down the food chain.

Anyway, I think their approach is just going to drive more people away. They should create new service offerings that will attract new and younger users while not confusing and alienating the older posters.

Eh, odds are it's the beginning of the end for TSL. You can't run an online community like it's 1999 and hope to make money.

Yep, and on top of all that...when things went south, they polled the people who DIDN'T LEAVE to decide their next step.

[awesome guy]

do the subscriber boards move faster? I can't remember a more dead FB board this close to the season. Back in the day, you were lucky to see a post on the screen for 15 minutes. I saw some up half the day yesterday. Seems like they're in a big tail spin.

[BigDave]

The first post on the subscriber board is almost exactly 1 day old. But the subscriber board has a mega-thread from Will about whether or not TSL should have a call-in show.

do the subscriber boards move faster? I can't remember a more dead FB board this close to the season. Back in the day, you were lucky to see a post on the screen for 15 minutes. I saw some up half the day yesterday. Seems like they're in a big tail spin.

[USN_Hokie]

do the subscriber boards move faster? I can't remember a more dead FB board this close to the season. Back in the day, you were lucky to see a post on the screen for 15 minutes. I saw some up half the day yesterday. Seems like they're in a big tail spin.

Not in my opinion. They aren't filled with much of anything useful, either - though the rules seem to be enforced a little more "loosely" (more cussing, etc.). You're right IRT the FB board traffic as well, though who's to say how much of it is due to the team being in a "rebuilding year." I do recall days when messages would scroll off the main page pretty quick.

[awesome guy]

Not in my opinion. They aren't filled with much of anything useful, either - though the rules seem to be enforced a little more "loosely" (more cussing, etc.). You're right IRT the FB board traffic as well, though who's to say how much of it is due to the team being in a "rebuilding year." I do recall days when messages would scroll off the main page pretty quick.

That's what sent me to the lounge and UWS, the other boards were just too fast moving. Seemed more like a mob or trying to have a conversation while going through the gates into Lane. And then on the Lounge, there was the HokieTT cliche(who seems to have passed on his knowledge to AB04) and that pretty much killed the lounge for me. So I was left with UWS. And now that's gone, and me too I don't see them being around for very long with their current staff and user base. They're going to have to cut back or branch into something more than articles and forums.

[TheH2]

Not in my opinion. They aren't filled with much of anything useful, either - though the rules seem to be enforced a little more "loosely" (more cussing, etc.). You're right IRT the FB board traffic as well, though who's to say how much of it is due to the team being in a "rebuilding year." I do recall days when messages would scroll off the main page pretty quick.

That's what sent me to the lounge and UWS, the other boards were just too fast moving. Seemed more like a mob or trying to have a conversation while going through the gates into Lane. And then on the Lounge, there was the HokieTT cliche(who seems to have passed on his knowledge to AB04) and that pretty much killed the lounge for me. So I was left with UWS. And now that's gone, and me too I don't see them being around for very long with their current staff and user base. They're going to have to cut back or branch into something more than articles and forums.

The Jenna Bush post was brilliant. One of the funniest things I've ever seen on a message board. You probably "crossed the line" with Greenberg's family but that was all the more brilliant considering how everyone said Beamer's daughter was hot for years.

[awesome guy]

thanks man. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm letting you know they're in the past. I'm taking up the FloHo love movement over here. Not a sappy version, but one to be more forgiving and to not hold grudges. So please forgive me for all my past insults I've thrown your way. I actually enjoy reading your posts, even when we were having a spat.

Not in my opinion. They aren't filled with much of anything useful, either - though the rules seem to be enforced a little more "loosely" (more cussing, etc.). You're right IRT the FB board traffic as well, though who's to say how much of it is due to the team being in a "rebuilding year." I do recall days when messages would scroll off the main page pretty quick.

That's what sent me to the lounge and UWS, the other boards were just too fast moving. Seemed more like a mob or trying to have a conversation while going through the gates into Lane. And then on the Lounge, there was the HokieTT cliche(who seems to have passed on his knowledge to AB04) and that pretty much killed the lounge for me. So I was left with UWS. And now that's gone, and me too I don't see them being around for very long with their current staff and user base. They're going to have to cut back or branch into something more than articles and forums.

The Jenna Bush post was brilliant. One of the funniest things I've ever seen on a message board. You probably "crossed the line" with Greenberg's family but that was all the more brilliant considering how everyone said Beamer's daughter was hot for years.

[TheH2]

thanks man. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm letting you know they're in the past. I'm taking up the FloHo love movement over here. Not a sappy version, but one to be more forgiving and to not hold grudges. So please forgive me for all my past insults I've thrown your way. I actually enjoy reading your posts, even when we were having a spat.

[/quote]

Agree completely. I'm also sorry for the insults I've thrown your way. I've definitely enjoyed our threads that unfortunately from time to time get out of hand. I'm sure they will at times in the future (hopefully no insults though) but I think we can agree to not hold grudges.

[Florida Hokie]

thanks man. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm letting you know they're in the past. I'm taking up the FloHo love movement over here. Not a sappy version, but one to be more forgiving and to not hold grudges.

Heck yeah - I sap down too my friend!