I need an e-mail fix change.

if the committee aprove it i think it would be a good idea to have maybe a paypal link that people could make donations for the upkeep of the site if they want to. we appreciate the great work you do.
stephen.

Thanks Stephen, thats one of several options we are looking at for paying the bills!

Cheers,
~Al

Frank
try this to see it it suits your current needs:

If you go into your User Control Panel (click on the ' www.irishastronomy.org ' link at the top of this page, then on the Welome page, on the left side menu, click on User Control Panel, and select from there for e-mail notification to 'No'.
Yet, each time you browse this sites latest posts since your last visit, if there is one you want to be kept in touch with via the e-mails, check the box for Notify me when a reply is posted when you have replied to that post.

Note: to use this option you must reply to a thread. You will not get specific replies to your desired threads otherwise, as the option does not exist, otherwise.

Apart from this, nless Alberts suggested option becomes available in this form of phpBB, then you might try looking at the RSS option, suggested by Dave Grennan.

Seanie.

In fairness to Bart he's stuck up numerous threads asking people to make suggestions regarding the site and it's always the same few heads who reply. I'm sure it's a little more than frustrating.

Maybe the forums just aren't a good medium for these discussions- the threads tend to lose focus or just run out of steam before everyone gets a chance to see them.

Unfortunately I don't really have a good solution to this problem. Maybe create a online questionnaire with controlled questions? Or use the poll function to get a general consensus about certain things? Have a notice pop up when you visit the site asking people to fill out the form before they go into the website? Do a bit of a PR blitz on it!

Whatever it takes to avoid the deadly meandering thread.....

You can't force people to give you opinions when you need them, all you can do is ask and those who feel strongly enough to contribute do and those who don't don't. As usesfull as it may be to get everyone's opinion with a "forced" survey I think the negative feelings emparted by this "in your face" approach would probably out-weigh the usefullness.

TBH I'm quite happy with the responses I get when I post up threads asking questions. It is perfecly fine people not to have an opinion on things. Those that do, can contribute, those that don't care can ignore! I can't remember who's blog I was reading recently where he mentioned that a big problem in software development is that everyone feels then must have an opinion on everything, even if they don't so they make one up and then get insulted when it's ignored! I'm happy to get only genuine, heart-felt opinions, even if they are often a little sparse on the ground.

You can't force people to give you opinions when you need them

Tell that to Jack Bauer...

I didnt mean force them, I just meant attract their attention to it (like the Private Message pop-up) A lot of folks dont visit the board that often and dont get a chance to see the thread. The formulation of a questionnaire would also help give quantitive, measurable data as opposed to opinions/general comments.

Probably a bit late in the game at this stage though.

Cheers,
Dave P

Why does a questionnaire a la Dave Power need to be 'in your face'? I don't particularly see people answering that in a negative way because they're miffed they got a questionairre to answer...

Why not use the polls ability of the site? That's worked well in the past...

Lots of web sites use pop-ups or similar to improve customer service - you can always just close it if you don't want to do it.

And isn't one of the remits if IFAS to 'promote' amatuer astronomy? One method is the provision of this board. I would have thought that some kind of organised poll, questionnaire, you name it, would be key to its success.

Clearly, over recent months, many folks have been asking for change. The logo, the site, functionality etc. And with the greatest respect to the IFAS committee who are unpaid volunteers, we are in, er , exactly the same position we were, er, in some months ago.

Sorry folks, this is becoming very tedious. Anyone coming to the pub?

Dave