TargetTalk

I like it as it, although there are definitely times I would prefer no guest posting. Please don't go to a social networking type venue.

I like it the way it is, though a spell checker would be nice. I also like the old format. I suppose I am resistant to change (not intended to be a political statement).

I don't understand the attack on "guest' postings. I am registered, but it's a pain to log in. I have too many user names and passwords to remember, so I have to dig through my paperwork to find the right one. If I posted all the time, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem.

This format is superior to FaceBook.

Thanks for hosting this forum.
Ray Odle
Illinois

Please keep it mostly as it is. Here are the few things I would change:
1. No guest postings in Buy Sell Trade unless they show a valid email address.
2. I wish I could delete my threads in Buy Sell Trade that have replies. Once I buy or sell something I don't think there needs to be a permanent public record of it.
3. I'd like to see a Board of Inquiry type forum where members can give feedback on transactions.

If you move to Facebook or something like it I'm outta here.

I am a member of another forum that had some advanced features that you may want to consider:

1. Some very informative threads should be selected as 'Stickies' due to their value. These are helpful as they bring new forum members up to speed on many issues and reduce the number of repetitive newbie posts. As this takes more moderator time to do this, consider appointing a very few volunteer moderators to help with this and to ease your forum owner moderator load. ETA: No, I don't want to be a moderator.

2. Set up a 'Review' section where we can post our thoughts on new equipment, etc. Also, an ability to post reviews on forum members who participate in buying and selling would help.

3. Fix the problem with being frequently logged off. On the other forum, I am always in a logged on mode whenever I enter.

4. If #3 is done, then eliminate Guest posting. Guest posting at times encourages irresponsible anonymous garbage.

5. A spell check feature would be nice.

The other forum I am on has about 50,000 registered members, and has many other advanced features that I believe are only necessary due to the forum size, and would not be needed on Target Talk.

Another thought. Scott, making this valuable forum available costs you both time and money. Set up a 'Contributions' instruction, so that members can help out. Maybe give these members a "Contributor" status as an encouragement.

Best Regards,
Slo cat

I enjoy TT because it is a very "clean" forum with lots of relevant and useful info. I often write short posts as a guest, but log in if I want to write something longer which I may want edit. I feel almost everybody here stays nicely on topic and there is very little irrelevant stuff compared to many other similar forums. This is true for the Lounge, Pistol and Rifle.

The format is nice, doesn't require "flavour ofthe month" software or other adaptations. Keep it simple!

One feature I miss on here is a mouse-over on the indexes.
If you have a look at somewhere like airgunbbs.com, when browsing the thread titles in the board index, if you hover over a title, it shows the first couple of sentences of the first post in that thread.
It's nice if there's an ambiguous topic heading that you might or might not be able to contribute to, so you can see the first sentence before you click to open it.
Lazy I know, but for those on dial-up it could save them loading unnecessary pages, making their browsing that bit more efficient.

I don't know if it's something this forum software supports, but if there's a button to just click it on/off, then turning it on would be appreciated.

Not sure what the objection to making people log on is.
The option is filling in a name panel, and having to analyse a new captcha everytime you post, or popping in a username and password that become second nature if you're using a shared computer, and which you can tell the browser to save if it's your own. Plus you get the advantages of being able to go back and edit any typos or grammatical mistakes afterwards as well as being able to PM people, etc.
For the mods, guest posting makes it difficult for people to spam threads posing as different people. There's not really anything you can do to stop the determined - hotmail accounts are easy to register so you can open lots of TT accounts - but it'd dissuade the passing spammer.
Not that that seems to be too much of a problem here (unless the mods delete an awful lot of stuff without us seeing it).

Although I don't use the trading forums, I can see why it would make sense to restrict posting privileges to members only, so there is some kind of record there.

Anything Facebook related would want to be in addition to this board, not instead of, as some people's filters at work will specifically target social netowrking sites but not so much forums.
Not quite sure why people write it off so readily (especially when they then say "but I don't know much about it"). It has enormous reach - 350million users (5% of the world's population). It gives users access to a tech-savvy audience many of whom are more than willing to refer/link material they enjoy to other social network sites such as digg, reddit, MySpace and Bebo as well as forwarding it to friends.
Writing it off as some obscure irrelevancy is a perilous route for businesses. The "United break guitars" songs hosted on YouTube were propagated in no small part by Facebook - and the fallout of that was a dip in United's share prices!
Although there have been privacy concerns in the past, it's pretty easy to lock down your account - have it omitted from searches and basically make yourself invisible to anyone you don't personally invite to be a contact.
If the admins thought about generating a Facebook group or fan page that supplemented or led to this site, it could generate extra traffic and likeminded people. Those on Facebook should try searching "Anschutz" or "Shooting". Lots of shooters on there.
As I say though, if anything is put forward, it should be a supplement only. FB can't do everything this board can (and this board can't do everything FB can), and there will always be those unwilling to sign up to Facebook.

I sometimes think the skin here looks a little dated, not quite as shiny as other boards. But then it's stable, and dial-up friendly thanks in part to it's simplicity, so I don't see any great need to change it.

Does anyone know of a way to intergrate FB with a bulletin board function like this?

Why have guest posting, and why stay away from social networking sites? Because some of us are using computers at work (during lunch, breaks, and after work) to post and read. Employer especially frowns upon social networking sites. They can be carriers of lots of spam & trash. Logging in and having the browser or computer system remember logins etc is fine for those who want all that stuff stuck in your machine, but I want/need to run as clean as possible.

Whatever the decision w/ guest vs login, please keep the forum structure!
Thanks, Coach Paula

Not sure how you would integrate them per se.
Some systems - such as IP.Board - allow login using your Facebook credentials if the admins activate the feature, or you can register separately if you're not on Facebook (i.e. standard registraion as we have done here). Not sure what passes between the systems though, whether it puts up status updates on FB when you post on the forum or whatnot. I think it just populates the name/age/sex/location fields with the information that FB already holds and generates a new account with the same credentials as your FB account.

You wouldn't want to get rid of this board because that's one thng FB really can't do well. In groups, all the threads just go in one big discussion folder. A TT group would therefore have all the general, rifle, pistol, youth and sales threads mixed up together, and be a nightmare for people to sift through. Plus, you want them posting here, where everyone can see it.

A fan page or something that leads to this forum might work.
As I say, not sure how any FB-related stuff would work, but I'm just saying if there is something that could be added, it should not be passed by because a vocal few have said "I don't use Facebook, therefore the forum should have nothing to do with it".
I imagine it being more of a basic presence on FB to generate traffic to this site, than a quasi-independent forum/discussion group in its own right. If phpBB is able to support FB logins, it would encourage people who find the board via FB to post as a registered user, not a guest (or they wouldn't have to register separately if guest postings were disabled).

Scott,

You have some folks with well thought out responses. Almost all here seem to like the current format. Although many don't like the "guest" login feature, it does allow some to post their feelings without fear of retribution. I've never logged in as a "guest", but I think it gives a voice to some who may have valid points that may not be shared by certain elite shooters. Sometimes, the less accomplished are bullied and hesitant to post their opinions.

I've never been on Facebook except to view the NRA's account here: http://www.facebook.com/rights The NRA hasn't been known for its cutting edge technology, but it looks like it is finally catching up. Facebook seems to be the current "bestseller" in websites for networking. Even my wife's 85 year old aunt has an account.

Although I'm happy with the current setup, if it would make your life easier, I'm open to change. If setting up TT on Facebook will help you, then give it a try. I'm very appreciative of your efforts in promoting international style shooting by hosting TT.

WRC wrote:Whatever the decision w/ guest vs login, please keep the forum structure!
Thanks, Coach Paula

I agree.

Regards.

.

even though I have an account, I normally make posts as a guest. One reason is because I do not want other members who know me on here to know what I'm buying or where I'm spending my money or who with.
the other reason is so that I can feel free to ask questions even tho some of the other "elite" members may feel they are stupid questions.
I'm a frequent user of facebook and do 90% of my everyday comunicating through there but not sure it would do anything to serve this forum

Format is fine as it is.

Some of the places I work won't allow me to log in, so I'm happy to be able to post as a guest.

It's my understanding that it is possible to integrate a bbs like this with Facebook, Myspace, etc. Facebook is just a social networking site; almost a virtual storefront to a person, organization, company, and the like. In theory, a 'TargetTalk' Facebook page would just be a face that links that site to this bulletin board.

Facebook is probably the newest and shiniest of this type of social format. It's a generation ahead of Myspace and other competitors. It's more interactive than anything before.

With that, one loses a lot of privacy when they sign-on to be a part of the site. Very quickly, anybody can learn someone's name, location, political affiliation and beliefs, likes, dislikes, etc. With the World we live in, most people really don't understand what match shooters like us do. As an example, the US NRA has morphed from the shooters network and technical keepers of our sport into an asymetrical political action committee, all in my short lifetime. I'm a third-generation Life Member of the NRA but I cannot afford to publicly affiliate with the group.

The bottom line is that companies make employment decisions based on the content of Facebook pages. Because I work in the public arena, everything I do and say is scrutinized.

If TargetTalk had its own Facebook page, it would have to spend quite a bit of time explaining our sport. Mr. Pilkington, I really hate to see you have to be the one who does that. Personally, I think that you've done a wonderful job developing TargetTalk into the premier English-language site for discussing Olympic/ISSF style shooting. When the best shooters in the World want to disseminate a message, they come to TargetTalk.

Facebook or not, I'd like to see this site remain basicly the same as it is. Personally, I'd like to have a forum added for Biathlon, but that's just me. Biathlon (Summer and Winter) in the English-speaking World doesn't have a forum like this.

Like it the way it is just fine.
Facebook and other social networks are the future, they are something very different from this site in its present state, but the young generation will love you for it.
I would try to keep all generations in the mix.

I have serious privacy concerns with Facebook, and I don't use it. Far too much of what anybody, even the most privacy-obsessed, puts on Facebook is defined by Facebook management to be public information. I'm with Weilers.

Please don't move to FBook.

peterz wrote:I have serious privacy concerns with Facebook, and I don't use it. Far too much of what anybody, even the most privacy-obsessed, puts on Facebook is defined by Facebook management to be public information. I'm with Weilers.

Please don't move to FBook.

+1, no to Facebook pls.

You guys do realize that this thread is 8 months old.