VBulletin or ProBoard Forum Discussion

[Karla25]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

Hey, Karla! Well, like I said, I am paranoid in general, but especially on the internet, which is why I never use my real name anywhere that I can help it and never post that I will be away on vacation bc people who really want to can learn things you don't want them to know. I'm not interested in real people being excluded, just wanting the riff raff kept out. If you take a look at what used to be the Collage forum (if it can still be found) it is full of spam junk. I realize it looks worse bc there are no people posting there anymore but still. Without anyone making sure people joining are real people I just worry that could happen. But that's just my comfort level and it doesn't sound like anyone else is really worried about it. Thanks for asking!

Originally Posted by Buzzer

I agree with Vantreesta. You can get spammers, bots, people who are selling their fitness thing/workout that jump in everywhere exclaiming how wonderful the workout is (and they get paid for every post). You will get random people who jump in to shame people or say rude things, and even rambunctious teens and adults who will start drama just to watch it roll out. Without any sort of vetting, it will be the Wild West... check out reddit or any of those open forums. It gets nuts and all the old VF'ers will disappear and the idiots and bots will take over. If people can advertise their product for free, no matter where it is, they will advertise it for free. I am a moderator for a Facebook group in my area, and the amount of people that want to advertise for free, or "duct cleaners" if you will, is insane. Plus the people who want to start drama. There is bannings constantly. We have 6 moderators for a community of 1500. We need that many too!!!

Anyhow, I am all for vetting contributors. It's a crazy world out there.

Originally Posted by fatkat555

Honestly, isn’t the bot problem part of what contributed to what’s going on here at VF now? That’s why there are no new members approved. Before I understood about trolls, I couldn’t understand all the drama that occurred in the General Discussion here. Some of it was just so mean and of course now I know it was s**t stirrers. For years, I retreated to the check-in only and then disappeared for several years from VF as a regular poster (I did lurk). Although our group is small, it’s nice not to have the dust-ups of the past.

I do wish Wendy would at least let the moderators take over the updating and running of the board even if she retained monetary control over the subscription aspect.

Originally Posted by BunnyHop

I'm not certain I understand where you're coming from with this.

You've set up a forum without having any prior knowledge of the sorts of problems that can crop up when running a forum from day to day, year to year?? I can't help thinking you've maybe bitten off more than you can chew.

I was a moderator on another forum for a while, and even though I didn't see ALL the stuff that can happen, I've got a pretty good sense of how much work it can be to keep the community functioning. Making the time to approve those who can post seems mostly to be about weeding out the applicants who are just planning to use their interactions as a way to reach a larger audience without themselves being actual members of the community.

People use their knowledge of coding for all kinds of reasons, some benign, some greedy, some toxic, some unapologeticly fetishy and weird. Respecting other people's boundaries isn't always a consideration. IMO, the people in charge of a forum have an obligation to screen the membership to lessen the volume of problematic members and posts.

Sometimes people join online forums for reasons that have nothing to do with the subject at hand. Some of them are simply not sane enough to conduct themselves appropriately when interacting with online communities.
If the people in charge of a forum don't have any idea how to manage such things, the community is going to suffer.

IMO, forum management is all about being able to keep your cool even as you interact with people who aren't at their best.

In my experience, the majority of the day to day problems tend to come from an eventually predictable set of regulars who think the rules shouldn't apply to them, for whatever reasons. Even so, endless numbers of bots will try to sneak past any screening process just to gain access to the forum.

How would you cope if someone were clearly having a mental health crisis started posting a lot of angry rants all over the forum and lies about the forum elsewhere online? What if you got sued by a company who objected to product reviews that are anything but uncritical and glowing? What about people who claim to be scholars doing research, who would find it useful for you to let them use your membership for study?
Would you find it dispiriting to realize that some of the regular trouble makers had no interest in changing their behavior, and present a falsely friendly persona to the membership at large so they can make money from them, no matter how much nuisance they make for the moderators?



I've seen more than one forum fade away because the mods just got exhausted and handed the reins off to others who didn't manage things as well.

The work involved in running a forum is far more stressful than most people realize. Software updates have been a major issue for some groups I've seen, eventually there's just too much that needs to be done to keep things rolling smoothly.


What the membership sees on the surface is just a tiny bit of the work that goes on behind the scenes.

Thank you for your responses. It appears that 3 of you are worried about things that MIGHT happen. I have no problem blocking spammers, nut cases, or downright mean people and deleting their posts. I want people to feel comfortable and be happy.

So far, nothing like what the three of you have described has happened at the new forum. The Home Video Fitness Forum is a gathering place for VF members and friends that want a place to fall back on when/if this forum goes under.

You're all welcome to join, but if you're too concerned about things that might happen someday, I understand.

[Leonana]

Karla, I know you don’t have much time, with taking care of your disabled husband. So I understand why approval of new members sounds like a big undertaking. And I agree that I don’t think you’d have as big a problem now that forums aren’t as popular.

I was thinking of a compromise, perhaps the moderators could approve new members. That would save time for you.

I am an admin for the Jessica Smith Junkees FB group. We approve new members and it doesn’t take too much time. You just need about three questions. Such as How did you learn about the group. How long have you been exercising and favorite workout. We also have a statement about the group being bully free etc., if you agree answer yes. Most requests don’t answer the questions and you can delete them.

[fatkat555]

Was the new forum deleted?

I was looking forward to a landing spot when this forum no longer works.

[adawn]

Originally Posted by fatkat555

Was the new forum deleted?

I was looking forward to a landing spot when this forum no longer works.

-There is a VF Roost Tapatalk forum set up awhile back. Not real active but we did see a big surge in membership recently when talks came up on regular VF about where to go/meetup in case VF disappears. So we have a little over 355 members now (but again, not much activity there since VF still exists).

Here is the link: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vfroost/

-There is also the forum Karla set up on proboards:

https://homefitness.freeforums.net/

-There is also the totalfitnessdvds tapatalk forum* that I think was originally set up for people when the collage and yayas forums went away (looks to have 470 members):

https://totalfitnessdvdsforum.com/

*I think this one was originally more of an old school forum setup and then later changed to a tapatalk forum.

-I think there may still be the original VF Roost group on Facebook that's been in existence for a long time (years?). I'm not on facebook and it's not public so I don't know anything about it except you need to get approved to be a member and I forget which VFers are the ones who manage membership.

This link may work for Facebook members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357899254402542

[hch]

Originally Posted by fatkat555

Was the new forum deleted?

I was looking forward to a landing spot when this forum no longer works.

Earlier there was a "code 300" error message, but the forum's working now. On the support forum, members of other forums there have reported code 300; what I found in a quick search suggests some problem that never seems to last for very long. I hope for smoother times ahead!

[Karla25]

Originally Posted by Leonana

Karla, I know you don’t have much time, with taking care of your disabled husband. So I understand why approval of new members sounds like a big undertaking. And I agree that I don’t think you’d have as big a problem now that forums aren’t as popular.

I was thinking of a compromise, perhaps the moderators could approve new members. That would save time for you.

I am an admin for the Jessica Smith Junkees FB group. We approve new members and it doesn’t take too much time. You just need about three questions. Such as How did you learn about the group. How long have you been exercising and favorite workout. We also have a statement about the group being bully free etc., if you agree answer yes. Most requests don’t answer the questions and you can delete them.

Thanks for the suggestion. If one of my moderators wants to screen new people with a question about exercise that's okay with me. I want people to be happy. I will set-up a screen question now.

[Joni O]

I think I just joined Karla's board by following adawn's link above. Do I really have to give a CC number to activate my account, though?

Also, I guess I already had a proboards account. Just needed to change my password because I had no clue. Unless it's one I recently joined. I'm so confused. :-)

[cataddict]

Originally Posted by Joni O

I think I just joined Karla's board by following adawn's link above. Do I really have to give a CC number to activate my account, though?

Also, I guess I already had a proboards account. Just needed to change my password because I had no clue. Unless it's one I recently joined. I'm so confused. :-)

Joni, I don't recall having to provide a cc number or being asked for one when I signed up for the pro boards forum? Maybe I did something wrong?

Karla, thanks again for taking the time and making the effort to find a landing spot for the group. What you've done may not suit everyone, but you are doing SOMETHING, and I for one appreciate it.

[Leonana]

Joni, it shouldn’t require a cc number. I was not asked for one. Perhaps that is to pay for ad free?

[Karla25]

Originally Posted by Joni O

I think I just joined Karla's board by following adawn's link above. Do I really have to give a CC number to activate my account, though?

Also, I guess I already had a proboards account. Just needed to change my password because I had no clue. Unless it's one I recently joined. I'm so confused. :-)

It's free to join the group If the group becomes more active, I will pay for the ad free version which covers everyone.