This is the question to the forum admin. Is there any rules defining what is appropriate to post to this form and what isn't? Recently i was very surprised (unpleasantly) when my message (the whole thread, actually) just disappeared overnight without any notice. I understand that forum like this requires a significant amount of moderation to keep it clean, but if you will let know the users what is expected here they may be able to cooperate better (IMHO).

Thank you

Only the obvious stuff -- Blatant spamming, flame wars, anything totally lacking in class, etc.I haven't deleted anything for quite a while. The last thing I remember deleting was the latter part of a thread that degenerated into a petty flame war. But that was quite a few months ago. And the first dozen or so messages were still good, so I left most of it intact.

What was in the subject line of the thread you can't find?

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

Jonathon,

I'm wondering if this is the problem:

If I load the discussion page for the first time in the day I'm taken to a page that lists all the most recent posts regardless of the forum.

After I've opened a few threads I can't seem to get back to the original general listing. When I try to get back to topics I only seem to be able to get to the particular listing page for that specific forum.

For the rest of the day, whenever I visit "Dancetalk" I'm always shown the listings for the last forum (e.g. Swing Dancing) instead of the general listings of recent posts from all forums.

So, if I posted on Hip Hop, which I would expect to see on the recent posts board this would mistakenly make it look like a thread had been removed because I'm being taken to the Swing board instead. As all the discussion pages look similar it's easy to miss the title of the forum.

The next morning when I sign in I'm always taken to the general recent messages again.

Regards,

OB

Exactly as I said.

I just tried getting back to the original Dancetalk start page using my "Back" button but it keeps taking me to "Requests & Suggestions" instead.

I want to post a message on another thread. The only way I can is to go through the forum listings. As I didn't make note of which forum the thread was on I'd have to work through one by one to find it.

Tomorrow, when I sign in Dance talk will take me to the recent messages forum again.

Ain't life a mystery!

OB

Jonathon,

Aha!

If I close my browser and relauch I get back to the Recent Posts board.

If I don't I can't get the recent posts board again.

Strange.

OB

Take a look at the forum listing in the blue band near the top of the page (directly under the "next page" button and "post new message" link).

You might see something like this:

FORUMS
All -> Announcements&Events -> Events -> Competitions

On the far right is the forum you're currently viewing. To the left of that are the parent forum(s). (So, for example, "Events" is the parent of "Competitions", and "Annoucnements & Events" is the parent of "Events"). On the far left is the "All" forum.

All of these forum names are also links, which will take you to the specified forum when clicked. So if you want to view all possible messages on the message board, you simply click on the "All" link.

Notice also that there is a tiny down-pointing arrow to the right of the forum name. When you hover your mouse over the arrow, a list of forums will appear. More specifically, it will list the forums that are children of the current forum. For example, if you're in the "Feedback & Support" forum, hovering over the arrow will show you the "Feedback", "Technical Support", and "Requests & Suggestions" forums.

With these two navigation techniues, you should be able to move around the forums much in the same way you navigate through folders in Microsoft Windows.

There are other ways to navigate through forums as well. For example, you can see a complete list of forums by clicking the "view forums" link on the left-hand side of the page, under the "Message Board" link. Or you can navigate directly to a forum on the "view topics" page by clicking on the name of the forum listed for any particular topic.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

Take a look at the forum listing in the blue band near the top of the page (directly under the "next page" button and "post new message" link).

You might see something like this:

FORUMS
All -> Announcements&Events -> Events -> Competitions

On the far right is the forum you're currently viewing. To the left of that are the parent forum(s). (So, for example, "Events" is the parent of "Competitions", and "Annoucnements & Events" is the parent of "Events"). On the far left is the "All" forum.

All of these forum names are also links, which will take you to the specified forum when clicked. So if you want to view all possible messages on the message board, you simply click on the "All" link.

Notice also that there is a tiny down-pointing arrow to the right of the forum name. When you hover your mouse over the arrow, a list of forums will appear. More specifically, it will list the forums that are children of the current forum. For example, if you're in the "Feedback & Support" forum, hovering over the arrow will show you the "Feedback", "Technical Support", and "Requests & Suggestions" forums.

With these two navigation techniues, you should be able to move around the forums much in the same way you navigate through folders in Microsoft Windows.

There are other ways to navigate through forums as well. For example, you can see a complete list of forums by clicking the "view forums" link on the left-hand side of the page, under the "Message Board" link. Or you can navigate directly to a forum on the "view topics" page by clicking on the name of the forum listed for any particular topic.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

Jonathon,

Thanks but that's not quite what I'm referring to.

1. Click "BRD.com" then "Dancetalk" it takes me to the "All Forums" recent posts page and yes it indicates the various forums to the right (but I don't mentally note each thread and forum).

2. Pick a forum and read. Click "back" and I'm back at the "All Forums" page.

3. Pick another thread and read. Click "back" and I'm not returned to the "All Forums" page. Instead I'm redirected to the master page listing all threads for the particular forum I was just reading.

If I leave BRD.com, come back later and click "Dancetalk" I go to the master page of the forum I was reading last instead of the "All Forums" page.

If you were not familiar with the message boards at BRD.com you'd think any previous posting you'd done had been removed.

OB

Jonathon,

More simply put.

Using the "Back" button or "History" in my browser is forcing me to a page I've never visited before.

I recognize I'm moving up the hierarchy of that forum but nothing I do gets me to the "All Messages" page which is the usual start page when I click "Dancetalk".

Even if I leave BRD.com and come back later pressing "Dancetalk" does not take me to the "All Messages" board like it used to.

That's why I think the poster thinks her thread was removed. She's not seeing the page she expects to see.

OB

You shouldn't need to use your back button. Of course, you can navigate however you like, but the navigation is designed so that you are never required to use your browser buttons.

By using the buttons on the page, you can almost always get to where you're going in as many or fewer clicks than you would by using your browser history or navigation buttons.

Sure there is... it's the "All" button, which is farthest to the left on the heirarchical list of forums on the "view topics" page.

I'll look into why it changes the forum automatically after you post a message. I remember there was a reason for it, but I don't remember what that reason was. Maybe when I see the code again, it'll jog my memory. If there's no apparent reason, or if the reason seems trivial enough, I'll change the code so that the forum doesn't change when you post a message.

As for the navigation, I'm pretty happy with the way it works. To change it to allow you use your back button to visit previous forums would require a near overhaul of the navigation part of the code, which relies on cookies to remember your forum. That's why you'll stay in the same forum, even when you go back to previously visited pages (the actual page is the same no matter what forum you're in). If I change it, I'll have to use less elegant techniques, which may only do a mediocre job of remembering your forum. The cookie method is lean and slick, even though it doesn't necessarily cooperate with your browser's history.

Once you've found that "All" button, and after having used it for a while, let me know if it still bothers you.

Regards,
Jonathan