The new mod/help us improve thread.

Discussion in 'Soccer Boots' started by Dr. Boots, Jul 26, 2012.

  1. Dr. Boots

    Dr. Boots Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    There have been a few of you that have reached out to Apple and I with an interest in becoming a mod in this forum. So I am creating a thread to seek some input into what you as contributors would like to see happen around here.

    We are seeking comment on things we can do to improve the forum; these requests must be reasonable to be considered. For example, if you ask us to convert to the old BS forum lay out...it isn't happening. Also, we cannot and will not ban people that you personally dislike, just because you request it.....we are all adult(ish) here so let's keep this mature from a suggestion standpoint.

    As for a new mod, we have several people interested in taking on the added responsibility. Before we go there I must let anyone interested know that the position is not a means to abuse authority or target individual people for harsh treatment. I know I have had my spats with people, but I think we can all agree I have been fair in dealing with punishments and I have not abused my ability to delete posts or card people that I do not like or agree with. As for Apple, she is nicer than me, so I don't even need to touch that one.

    Additionally, this is not a sure thing, we are only considering the idea based on which posters show real interest and what you as a forum thinks of adding a third mod. We will respond accordingly and all candidates will be vetted thoroughly. We do not want to upset the balance that has been so hard to establish on the forum.

    So let us know how we can make your experience better and let us know if you think we should add a third. Please refrain from self nomination or the nomination of someone else on here. For that, you can PM Apple and I (at the same time please).
     
  2. David89

    David89 Member+

    Apr 3, 2009
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I think some of the threads need looking at (sizing & new releases) as everyone just posts in the nike/adidas/puma threads instead. Maybe add a stand alone reviews thread as we have people who write/review for websites keep it grouped together.

    I also think we should have something to cater for those who aren't looking/can't afford the top tier boots and want info on the 2nd/lower tier boots because in most cases they offer a great boot for half the price and I think newer members or people on a budget might feel like they have to go spend 100+ on boots when its not really the case.

    You could also run some comps in the post your boots thread maybe with a voting poll 'best looking boots of the week/most creative picture' etc.. Just something different and a bit of fun.
     
    MeganB and jackrmee repped this.
  3. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Laughed at that.

    I'll have a think and reply to this thread at a later date.
     
  4. homeutdfan

    homeutdfan Member

    Nov 9, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    I think it would be a good idea to have a thread where people can list out all the boots they own, and keep the post updated on the conditions of the boots, how often they're used, etc.

    For example, with boots that supposedly have durability problems, we rarely hear from the people who actually have not faced any problems. From there we are unable to make a fair conclusion when trying to decide on a pair of new boots maybe. I think many 'lurkers' would love to post in a thread like this!
     
  5. David89

    David89 Member+

    Apr 3, 2009
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    But thats what post your boots thread is? and people would post the condition of there boots in the which ever brand thread, take someones puma eve speed after playing on sand astro.
     
  6. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    David, I also have an idea for a proper review thread. But I'm a bit busy at the moment so I can't help out yet.
     
  7. homeutdfan

    homeutdfan Member

    Nov 9, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    That is true, but what i am suggesting is something slightly different. What i would like to see is a list of boots each person has, and a post which updates how long they have lasted, and how well they are holding up. You don't see anyone posting "Oh look, my xxx boots have lasted me a whole season without any problems".
     
  8. David89

    David89 Member+

    Apr 3, 2009
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I get what your saying, but you get people saying in post your pictures 'oh i wear these twice a week etc'
    and then you get the defects thread where people say how long the boot lasted before it split/tore etc
     
  9. p-nutz

    p-nutz Member

    Nov 1, 2009
    Northern Ireland
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    Northern Ireland
    JC, one thing about an extra mod, as far as I know both yourself and Apple are in the UK? Might be worth having someone in another time zone so the night shift is covered. I'd be interested in moderating, although I am in the UK aswell, and genuinely think someone in another time zone would be a better idea!
     
  10. Dr. Boots

    Dr. Boots Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I am actually in the USA; I wish I was in the UK, hahaha. We don't really work on shifts, per say; we just check in a few times a day.
     
  11. Arachas

    Arachas Member

    Aug 23, 2011
    Netherlands
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    I would like to add that I'm noticing a lot of SPAM posts: seemingly bots. It would be appreciated if those posts were to be removed.
     
  12. jackrmee

    jackrmee Member

    Oct 9, 2012
    Swansea, UK
    Club:
    Swansea City AFC
    Nat'l Team:
    Wales
    On some forums I use there are "trophies" and "prizes" (not real ones) for the amount of "thanks" collected by a person. This encourages people to help others more.
    I think you have the "rep" button on this site, but I'm not quite sure what that does. Can someone enlighten me?
    Thanks
     
  13. appleCORR7

    appleCORR7 Member+

    Jul 3, 2004
    UK
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    If you rep someone it gives them points - so you can see how useful/helpful a memeber has been. You cannot rep the same person repeatedly you have to spread the rep around. I feel its a good enough system.

    appleCORR
     
    jackrmee repped this.
  14. digby novascotia

    Aug 27, 2006
    I got to say I've been around for quite some time now, and overall the quality of this forum has improved greatly. people spamming is inevitable and will never stop. personally my biggest issue with some of the threads is that theres too much personal conversations taking place within the threads aka getting off topic. people need to watch what they are dragging on and realize is this something that people that come on here want to read? there is and off-topic thread and personal msgs for a reason.
     
  15. rc121

    rc121 Member

    Jun 17, 2012
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Having only recently joined this forum but having been a part of other forums (non-soccer related) for some time, I think one of the biggest things that could improve is making some of the threads into sub-forums. So a nike, adidas, puma, mizuno, etc. thread would become sub-forums in the soccer boots forum rather than just individual threads that have pages and pages of stuff that might not be relevant (i.e. the ronaldo v. messi debate that is seemingly continuous in the nike thread). This way, if someone were looking say the for release dates/colors for the MV IX, they wouldn't have to sift through pages of stuff , they would find the thread in the Nike forum for new releases or the Vapor thread.

    I think it would serve several functional purposes. First, it would stop the mods from having to lock and open new threads once they get too long. This, in turn, would also stop people that wanted to look for old boots or old posts from having to dig through the 10+ threads for nike or adidas. Second, all of the posts would read a lot more coherently. Sometimes you can see several different conversations happening at the same time in one thread. By having a sub-forum and individual threads for each topic, this should be minimized. So rather than 10 people discussing messi v. ronaldo and every other post intermingled discussing boot release times or fit or whatever, there would be separate threads on each of those topics. Want to know how the MV III fits? Go to the nike subforum and find the MV III thread, rather than ask for the 1000th time in the nike thread because you couldn't find the answer. Lastly, I think the current setup really hinders the search function. As it stands, you have to search the entire soccer boots forum and cannot limit it to nike, adidas, mizuno, etc. By making them subforums, you could do individual searches of each one.
     
  16. b0sk1

    b0sk1 Member+

    Jan 28, 2011
    Virginia Beach, VA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    rc121 While I think you bring up some good points I think sub-forums would lead to too many threads to click through. With the threads broad, yes they can occasionally get clogged up, but I think spreading it out will generally make it more difficult to fully absorb all the information that this site posses. I like coming on to the site, clicking the Nike thread and seeing everything thats happened since I last logged on. Maybe it was someone discussing durability of the vapors, or maybe someone got a pic of a new release, I don't want to have to click every single sub forum to catch up on all things Nike.
     
    Dr. Boots repped this.
  17. appleCORR7

    appleCORR7 Member+

    Jul 3, 2004
    UK
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I think the way the forum is displayed is fine, especially since the new design started and there are little 'new' tags on posts you've not seen. As for threads going off topic we do try and keep ontop of things. If its the same members doing it all the time they will be warned, but we try not too be too strict on here and let the threads flow, but i know what you mean it annoyes me when someone takes the thread off topic and it just runs and runs thats what the private chat function is for.

    appleCORR
     
  18. C-dub57

    C-dub57 Member

    Jun 4, 2008
    Iowa
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I realize I haven't posted in a long time (can't play anymore :() , but in my time when I was a very active member, I have to say you (JC and Apple) run the board really well.

    Aside from better sorting options in the swapshop, the only thing I can think of that would be helpful is a section of "real" boot info. What I mean is have someone (ONE) make a section comparing the boots they have compiling information that would be most helpful for someone on the boot buying market, basically a FAQ section for boots. Obviously more than one person could do it; what I meant to stress was that it was JC comparing how CTRS fit for him to how Vapors fit for him, not how they fit for Apple, as to make the information more consistent. There are enough members on this board that have 6+ boots that they could compare fits and such to give people a better and more consistent reviews/information.
     
  19. appleCORR7

    appleCORR7 Member+

    Jul 3, 2004
    UK
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    One thing that does my head in on this board is the 'what size do i need' question. Unless its something like an older pair of boots like Mania's or a boot that you can no longer buy. Why can't these people go and try them on in a store? they dont have to buy them from there! they can still order them online.

    I always we can tell you how the boot fits our foot but not yours when i answer that question. I just think some people dont want to make an effort and go to a store.

    My other gripe about reviews is people reviewing a boot after the first time they have worn them. They have new boot syndrome - of course they are going to be the best boot you've ever worn! I prefer it for memeber to give it say a month and then review the product again. Those 3 weeks could be the difference between you saying how great the boot are to you trying to get a refund because the sole is hanging off.

    C-Dub come back to the board we miss senior member like you!! :) Thought i hadn't seen you in a while.

    appleCORR
     
  20. C-dub57

    C-dub57 Member

    Jun 4, 2008
    Iowa
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I had to stop myself from buying boots since I can't play anymore, so I went with the cold-turkey approach (is that a meaningful phrase outside of the US) and just stopped following boots all together. My wallet is thanking me!

    For me, the sizing and reviews helped a lot. For a few years, the closest store was about a 2 hour drive from me, which made it really difficult to try on boots and a lot of time they wouldn't have much in stock. When I needed a boot quickly, I found sizing info especially helpful since other users would be able to get their hands on boots more quickly than I do. It's probably more of a problem for people living in the US, as soccer specialty stores aren't all that common.

    Having long time posters with a more boot experience (you, JC, soupster, frannie) that hopefully wouldn't jump to conclusions and give consistent opinions on boots would've been really helpful to someone in my situation a few years back. I realize JC has his own site (last I knew), but it'd just be a nice addition to BS imo. When I first joined BS, I joined because I was deciding between F50.8s and powerswerves. As a newbie, I had no idea who knew what they were talking about and just took the first piece of advice I saw and got the F50s and they turned out to be complete shite! Having a designated section of reviews and maybe even boot preference rankings done by people who know what they are talking about would just help people more reliable help. I'm not saying there are a bunch of people giving bad advice around here, I'm just saying if you can ask a teacher of the class or a student, the teacher is probably going to be able to give you a better answer.
     
    Soccerfan010 and Mercurial4991 repped this.
  21. x67mustangfb

    x67mustangfb Member

    Jul 17, 2012
    I think you guys do a great job. I just wish more people knew about/ used the swap shop. Brilliant idea.
     
  22. appleCORR7

    appleCORR7 Member+

    Jul 3, 2004
    UK
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I think most people know about it. I think people just prefer to sell their boots in other ways as we can't offer sellers or buyers the same protection sites like ebay do, and sadly some of the forum members have been scammed. It is a great idea if you are looking to buy or sell boots but members choose to do so at their own risk.

    appleCORR
     
  23. x67mustangfb

    x67mustangfb Member

    Jul 17, 2012
    Very true. I wish there was a universal auction site like ebay that was only for boots. Its not easy to get your hands on discontinued cleats ha
     
  24. sanyal#10

    sanyal#10 Member

    May 30, 2004
    Norf Cacka
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, anyway ive been a member since 04 and have never had issues with posting to "pictures of your boots" thread and now the thread is saying i have limited privilidges...etc, just curious about why, no gripes
     
  25. appleCORR7

    appleCORR7 Member+

    Jul 3, 2004
    UK
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Try now - A member went a little bit crazy a week or so ago posting in lots of old threads to try and bump his post rating. I had to go and close a lot of the threads he had bumped and accidently closed the pictures of your boots thread. I've re-opened it so you should be able to post in it with no problems now.

    appleCORR
     
    sanyal#10 repped this.

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