09 Apr 10 - 05:24 PM (#2883161)
Subject: RE: Tech: Should Mudcat be updated?
From: Joe Offer
I usually close threads like this, because we generally don't allow discussion of Mudcat policy. Most often, these discussions end up being gripe sessions about how outdated Mudcat technology is, and how arbitrary and dictatorial the moderators are. We all know how outdated Mudcat's technology is - most things have been more-or-less the same here since about 2000. We all know that some people think our moderators are arbitrary and dictatorial because they slavishly adhere to Mudcat's free-speech policy and refuse to delete all kinds of offensive stuff. As long as this thread doesn't turn into a gripe session about things we can't fix, I'll leave it open.
We do get some complaints about posts being deleted arbitrarily, and we take those complaints seriously. Most times when I investigate, I find that there is no deleted post (I can see deleted posts) - and all I can figure is that the post didn't "take." This is most often a problem with the user's browser, and sometimes a glitch in Mudcat. Best to be safe - before you submit a post you've worked hard on, highlight [CTRL-A] and copy [CTRL-C] what you've typed, so you have a copy on your computer's "clipboard" in case the message doesn't "take." Then if you need to, you can paste [CTRL-V] the post into a message again, or save it in a word processor until Mudcat is working better.
And yes, we all know the search engine "needs fixed," as Max and his compatriots say in Pennsylvania - but do take a look at the alternative search engines explained in the FAQ. With a little ingenuity, you can search for and find almost anything here.
In answer to Paul's post, let me say that although it has disadvantages, one of the best qualities about Mudcat is its simplicity. Maybe it's partly because I'm used to it, but I think Mudcat's forum menu is easier to read and more colorful than vBulletin and most other discussion forum indexes, and it contains more relevant information. The simplicity and lack of features of Mudcat have motivated Mudcatters to be inventive, and to use outside sources to provide what Mudcat hasn't provided. It even motivated one Mudcatter, Jon Freeman, to create an ideal forum for folk music information, http://www.folkinfo.org.
There was a time when we had a technician, Jeff, working on Mudcat almost full-time. He and I would chat into the wee hours of the morning, and we'd try all sorts of new features he'd develop and he often permanently added several features overnight. And at the beginning of Mudcat, we had an entire company, Onstagemedia, available to work on Mudcat. Alas, our technical staff has dwindled to one person, Mudcat's owner, Max, who has to take time out to make a living and care for children. So, our main technical priority these days is simply to keep things running.
Still, Paul has some good suggestions, and many of them can be done with just a little bit of help. You'll find that we have many talented Mudcatters who are very willing to help. And if you can't find something, contact me by personal message or e-mail (joe@mudcat.org) - I'm the contact person and I can direct your request to the right place.
So, let's look at Paul's list and see what we can do:
- ability to post recordings of songs, videos, music scores etc.
People post recordings on MySpace and videos on YouTube, and music scores and photos on a huge number of free online services - and then they post links to that stuff in the Forum. And if you can't do it yourself, contact me and I'm happy to find somebody to help you.
- simpler method of entering links ("blue clickies")
Try the Make a link ("blue clicky") tool at the bottom of the message entry box. It works quite well. And if you have trouble, just post the URL you want people to see. Oftentimes, Mudcatters will come along and post a link in the next message, or a moderator will change your URL to a link. Note that we've recently had a problem with clickable links within the texts of personal messages. Probably best not to try links there unless you test them with the "preview" function.
- better text formatting without having to enter HTML code
Our biggest HTML problem was lack of line breaks, so Max did put in automatic line breaks (which you can switch off if you need to do something fancy). The automatic line breaks do cause a problem with links in personal messages. I have notified Max about that.
You can use most HTML functions within Mudcat messages - but you have to learn the functions. They're not all that hard, and many of us have learned a lot of HTML here. I learned all the HTML I know, right here, and now I use it to maintain three different Websites. There's a Mudcat HTML guide listed in the PermaThread Index, and you can experiment with HTML all day using the "preview" function in any thread.
- show pictures / thumbnails of Mudcatters, like on Facebook. A Mudcatter came up to me at Sale Folk Club last week and said it was nice to put a face to the name
Our regular Mudcat photos section is not being updated, due to database corruption problems, but it has photos of lots of Mudcatters. You'll find it in the QuickLinks dropdown menu on most Mudcat pages. Katlaughing worked up a temporary Mudcat Photos page on MyOpera, and you can send photos to her or to me for posting - details in this thread. You may not be able to post your picture in every message, but you can post a link to your photo wherever you want.
- a spel chekker!!
Well, this once would have been a very good idea, and we did experiment with some options. But nowadays, why bother? If you have almost any browser other than Internet Explorer, there's a spellchecker built in. So why should Mudcat bog itself down with a spellchecker, when browsers have them built in?
Oh, and the search function, which is a perennial problem - and which Max keeps fixing and it still keeps going haywire. BUT let me tell you that I worked very hard to explain all our search tools in the FAQ, and I think we have NINE different search tools, of varying levels of effectiveness. But if you experiment with them, you will find that you can locate almost anything without using our bug-ridden, index-based search engine.
I suppose my "do-it-yourself" answers won't satisfy some people, but there's something to be said for working with the reality that confronts you. If you take the time to learn a few things, or if you take the time to ask how something can be done, you can do almost anything here. That's always been the greatest benefit of Mudcat - you have the freedom to do whatever your ingenuity will allow you to do. Want some examples of what people have done with Mudcat? - take a look at the PermaThread Index.
-Joe-
joe@mudcat.org
P.S. That being said, I acknowledge that there are a number of functions like photos and the search engine that need to be fixed, and we should fix it so people can't post no-name Guest messages.
|
