I don't think you did....



"Hey i got a great idea. Why dont you set up a hidden forum where a select group of members can bad mouth everyone else while pretending to be your friends.

no wait that already exists. "

Moses, I agree with you, I don't think he answered either.

Nebe, what do you suggest we do about your gripe? answer here or PM JohnR.

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, what do you suggest we do?

To answer John's question, I think the site is fine just like Clammer said.
I'm gonna go back and hide in the plug forum now.

You should see if you can intgrate Google Map into it....that would be kind of cool.

Tide charts would be good also. Articles, maybe a Guilt free Photo gallery where people can post pics of there catches.

while i didnt answer johns question, i feel that i brought a very neagative feature of the board to a public forum.

If my suggestions matter, then i suggest that the ledge be done with or just allow moderators to use it. I know my name has been mentioned in there a couple of times, but i could care less what people think of me ..I fish when i can, i catch what i can and thats all that matters to me. If someone wants to sit behind a keyboard and criticize who i am, who i am not and, wehre i fish and what i am up to, by all means go ahead, but i have a good memory and i know who said what about me. my gripe is that the forum exists and that there are board members who are not moderators who are allowed to view it. Why should i dontate cash, my artwork or the plugs i make to a site that i do not have full access to??

well said eben, while I have not donated anything (monitarily anyway) to this site anyway exept the one time to bassmaster, I think eben brings up a good point, why should he or anyone else donate, support and contribute to a site that doesnt give him full access. You may say that it is for mods, however it clearly is not, why are the select few allowed and it is clearly 15 to 20 people that are certainly not mods?? and why should anyone support something that has a private room where others can chit chat about them however they please?? the whole things smells bad.......

You have Tlap in there jenn,clammer,fishwee,goose,daves,bassmaster..etc the list goes on...Are these guys mods????????

There are a lot of people here and there are almost as many opinions as to what's the best things to do. You can't please everyone all the time.

We continually try to make things better

Its not as easy as it looks.

Ahh, yes, the super secret member forum. So secret I get asked about it all the time - really, I do.

We created a forum a couple years ago so we could discuss site issues amung a group of people that had been on the site for a few years and people that I and the moderators thought could give us the straight poop and help us steer this site through the crap - which was getting REAL miserable at the time with people PUI (posting under the influence), the teenagers SSX/SSN, and a half dozen other people making the site miserable at the time. . About six eiught months into it, I decided it was not doing as well as what I wanted it too so I capped the members, removed a few that were were really not helping out in there, and have not added anyone since. We have about every "group" of the site in there, the hardcore surf guy, the boat guys, Clammer, guys from MSBA, RI clubs, NJ clubs, NY clubs, we have people from CT, RI, Ma, The Cape (really a seperate entity), NY, NJ, plug people, regular fishers, business owners, and all. We have a few people of just about every "click" on this board. That also allows us to fix problems before they get out of whack too...

And it is not that secret, funny you should ask but a bunch of people, including some voicing about no secret forums, have asked to get access. And it has not been a problem when some people have asked to have their own forum.

That forum has been debated back and forth on whether or not it should even stay open and for us to close it. But it still has some uses. Recently it was used to discuss a problem that if had been made public initially instead of researched, some wrong conclusions could have been made. Not often enough did it do what I wanted it to do - a so called steering commitee for the site, but it has been used that way successfully a lot too. That forum, like some of the other aspects of this site are under review as well.

Spots don't get bragged about and no super secret spot X fishing done there. Again, the intention was to help steer the site.

Bill - that forum started long after you left, and when you came back, nobody else has been put in. It's not supposed to be a social club. There are a lot of people I would put in there, you included, if I felt that the forum was being used as good as it should be. A lot of people have asked to have access in there over time, Canalman, F18, Eben, Swimmer, Ahours, and others, people that could, in my opinion, assist in a "steering" with the site and there are other I would ask. But the forum does not always work as intended so it has not been expanded in well over 18 months and it has been deliberated on a few occasions whether or not to shut it down alltogether.

One of the greatest things about that forum? I - AND THE OTHER MODERATORS, can vent and blow off steam in private, or look into stuff too before opening our big fat traps on the main board...

And don't think this is the only site that has a forum for a few people. Almost all do. As will all larger entities, you have (or certainly should) some people that help manage things and a place to do it - THAT was what it was for. Even though it occasionally gets carried away. Oh, and we do let people swear in there :eek5:

Oh - one more thing, it really is not a super secret - a lot of people have asked me about it and I have never denied it, whether or exists or what goes on there (and certainly its intention).


Now I would like this to get back on topic to make this place better. That is what I want us to do.... If you have any issues with this, or about that forum, address them to me or to the moderators...


Thanks,


John

Fewer forums is a good idea. This site for the most part is great, but remember it is internet hosted, thus you can't take or interpret everything you read on the internet as a personal attack. I don't. Half the time I read stuff here and can't determine if guys are serious or not. If I bust balls or god forbid, someone busts mine, big f)(*^&%%n deal. Get over it. It should be all in fun, no private back rooms with gold keys needed to enter unless it is business. Also, #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& and Piemma make this site rock! Some of the posts are too funny! You can't tear the guys up in private for what has been posted here on the site. I have never read anything that was too far out of bounds to be called fun. BTW, is there anything about me in there I should know about?

Aside from the pictures of you with the mule and bottle of Jack? No, nothing...

:wiggle:

-spence

Your suggestions do matter and although I don't feel this is thread for it - be sure to read my response above. Unfortunately, doing this at lunchtime (late lunch) and the first time I can get down to the machine. As for who is in there, a lot of people and all that were year long before you came on board. If things were different, you would be in there too. As for having access to everything on the site? Nobody does except the mods. If this site were a like a private business, a few people would have ultimate reign on everything, but it is not. If it were not something "owned" it would probably have an ewlected e-board - it does not, instead, it has twenty something people that have been here 4 years and as many as 6 years, that I can ask and run things by...

So, I agree with what Nebe stated in his last post. For those of you who think we are off base I ask the question. How would you feel if you know that you and your name was being run through the mud on a private forum? You probably would be as PO'ed as I am.

I don't care if people want to drag me down but do it to my face, not behind my back. These are guys that I have fished with who are supposedly friends. I will not forget the names of my "friends".

I have seen the posts and know everyone who is responsible.

4 the last time let's get this post back on track, we are not discussing private forums on this post any longer, if some of you would take the time to read each and every post instead of skimming, alot of crap on the boards would go away. If you had read everything you would have seen John put the kabosh on it in this post. ff If you want to talk about the private forum, pm John or start a new thread in the grumpy section.

John I think this place is fine, and would like to say thank you for all of your time.

John it might be time tp restrict peoples editing again...

Honestly, aside from some sort of tide/weather chart thing, This site is top notch, I couldn't ask for more...:cool:

Thanks alot John for all you do to keep the lights on...you da man :claps:

I like the site. Be nice to link straight to weather/tides from here but most of us probably have a site bookmarked anyway. I bet some of you feel the pull of the moon in your blood.

I would like to be able to access a list of all sponsors with their links from the message board.

John, Thanks for your time.

Maybe update a photo gallery of sorts, Maybe have saltheart or mike cc do up a how to basic rod building? Put Bm's articles in a how to?

I still like your idea of a S-B surfcaster Ninja outfit:uhuh:

very interesting !!!

Chris, didnt you mention an SB dating service? :lasso: :humpty:

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& and I have talked about this. I said some crap in the heat of the moment I should have worded a lot better and he took some stuff out of context and we're cool.

If anyone has a problem, PM me please... THanks,

When I get home in a few hours, I'm going to split this thread into the part about making the site better and the part about the "secret" forum that most knew about anyway...

John...

Maybe a trip planning forum?

Gotta agree tho, it don't need to be tweaked much, if at all

Live broadcast or previous recorded seminars and tutorials of which members can view without actually being there.

It can be taken a step further where the internet audience can answer questions remotely or just keep it simple for now and just have a video/audio link.
I would volunteer my time to make this happen.

latest uploded photo to the top corner of the main page ?

I would like to beable to upload more than 2 photos maybe 4 or 5
altough it does raise your post count.

:buds: Free beer!

And cash awards for every 50 posts you put up!:laughs:

Create a filter to block posts that exceed fifty/day. :sleeps:

Hey...you don't have to read em......but enjoy anyway!:laughs:

President of Lackey Society:humpty:

I still enjoy your post and everyone elses otherwise it could get stale in here.