23 replies to this topic

[electriic ink]

MEMBERS,

Cast your vote to let us know what it is that you love about Trap17 (sorry, KS). Anyone who enters will be entered to into a RANDOM PRIZE DRAW. There are five top prizes available, all of which are "clean sheets" - we will reset your warning level to zero and the next time you break a forum rule (whatever it is) we will not warn you. There is a cash alternative available if you would prefer that instead, equal to the cash value of the prize on offer.

NB: This is part of KS's ongoing commitment for self-betterment. The feedback YOU provide will help us improve as we strive to become the internet's most popular free web hosting provider. If you have any specific suggestions, please don't post them here as we won't read them; instead email spam@xisto.com.

Moderators are admins are free to enter.

Thank you.

[Baniboy]

Wow... fail. Multiply a facepalm by...
This? "ongoing self betternment"?! Wow... this is the first act of even remote willingness to improve this sutra disaster in a very, very long time. I wouldn't call it ongoing. Anyway, Shree has already proven that he doesn't care what the members think about how he does things (or to be more correct, how he DOESN'T do things). By changing the unique name to this... by upgrading the forum, by adding little balls and dinosaurs to the footer instead of writing the mycent script and finally, by leaving the damn place.

Second, your list sucks. It really does. It's like nazi germany, only one party to vote for. "Attentive moderating team"? Are you bleeping kidding me? NONE OF THE ABOVE. And I can say the same thing on behalf of probably most of the users. The only thing that attracts me to this place is the users. I come here to see if wd, anwiii or other people are here so I can have a chat with them. There is no moderating team, the are no admins doing anything here (admins who listen? LMAO), where the hell is the sig of the month? Me not likes the name and this is NOT A LIVELY AND ACTIVE FORUM. ARE YOU BEING SARCASTIC?!

Third, get clean sheets? haha. There is nobody giving people warnings anyway! Ridiculous.

Quote

If you have any specific suggestions, please don't post them here as we won't read them; instead email spam@xisto.com.

Please wait while I try not to choke on laughter... You aren't really helping your case here, you know. I'm not supposed to take special action to make you fix your disaster. If you want suggestions you better read them right here, damnit.
FIX THE DAMN JAVASCRIPT, it's slowing the forum down. It's really pathetic.
"internet's most popular free web hosting provider"?! Learn to make a forum that works first, then go chase the big fish.

Excuse me because of the extensive use of capital letters in my post. It may seem that I'm shouting... Because I am.
Add "members" to the list. There is nothing fun about this dead piece of slow junk anymore. MyCENTs are just a bonus for me... And even they don't update regularly enough.

Fourth, I don't see how you can become a popular free web hosting provider when the sole mechanism of getting free hosting is this forum, which is dead in case you didn't notice. And how you knowing what we like the most benefits you in becoming a popular web host? Shouldn't you be concentrating on fixing the things that don't work so we can like things here? Get real.

[electriic ink]

Banify, thank you for response to this topic. I'll make an exception in this case by responding to your ideas in the topic but, in future, please use the email address provided.

Firstly, Shree has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes in order to improve the user experience. Feedback from users in the past indicated that they felt the site wasn't making progress. This is why recently you have seen a lot of changes, most notably the name, forum software and the progression from Hosting Credits to myCents. Similar developments are in the pipeline and will be released soon.

Secondly, the aim of the poll is to try and encourage positive feedback from users. Recently, we have felt that there has been too much negativity in the forums regarding recent developments. Besides, by selecting one of the five options as your favourite feature about KS, you are, by implication, saying the other four need work. Also, we appreciate the fact that you feel that we have fostered a strong community atmosphere and therefore suggest that you vote "Lively and active forum" in the poll.

To address your third point, unfortunately, there are members out there with warnings, although recent efforts to increase members' understanding of the rules have been largely successful. (As you correctly point out, the number of warnings handed out per week is at an all time low). This is why we have included the ability to break a rule as part of the prize.

Parts of improvements in the pipeline are improvements to the JS. We would point out that despite this, Alexa ranks us as faster than 6% of all other sites out there so we're not doing too badly.

Efforts are being made to further increase forum activity. Site traffic is up 41% from this time last month.

[Baniboy]

Nice that you kept it calm, if I had been you I would've bashed right back!
Also, thanks for the name suggestion. I was thinking of getting rid of the boy in the end and replacing it with something... Banify seems good.

Quote

Firstly, Shree has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes in order to improve the user experience. Feedback from users in the past indicated that they felt the site wasn't making progress. This is why recently you have seen a lot of changes, most notably the name, forum software and the progression from Hosting Credits to myCents. Similar developments are in the pipeline and will be released soon.

When you find out you have a problem, you don't solve it by creating new problems. And the word you use here... "recently", isn't a very good word to describe things that happened like what more than six months ago? Shree doesn't do planning, just like he didn't plan the upgrade in advance so he lost users because of the mycents screw-up. Do want to know what has been happening 'recently'? Nothing. "Similar developments"...

Secondly, my point was that they all need work, some of them are non-existent so they need creation. The mycent's script doesn't run often enough, there are no moderators around, the admins aren't listening and this is not a lively and active forum. And there is nobody making sotws because nobody is participating in them. I blame the users. I used to like the members, now there aren't any here. I would be doing the exact opposite of what I want by voting active and lively forum because the truth is far from it.

If alexa ranks you faster than 6 % of other sites that is not an accomplishment. I interpret that as failure if you're in the fastest 94 % of all sites. If you meant that the sutradisaster is in the 6 % fastest sites, then I interpret that as a failure on alexa's part. Because waiting 20 seconds for a page to load on a 1 Mbps connection is pathetic.

I'm not afraid of these "changes". Changes themselves don't annoy me. The fact that the forum doesn't work, mycents don't run, there are no members active, no mods active and no admins active is what annoys me. I'm not demanding activity, I'm just saying that there isn't enough of it and the problem lies in there. Shree screwing up the forum for 3 months or more before getting the mycents working just made it worse, the fact that the forums died after that made the situation even worse than that. All that is left is this junk... which still earns Shree his bucks.

Stop adding new things and instead just fix the ones that you have already added. Then, move onto the new things. And start planning ahead, Shree (if he bothers to read this). I smell that you're going to change things again. We don't need another one of your screw-ups. PLAN AHEAD.

If this is a forum, better start acting like it is one. Btw, why is it spam@xisto? Is there a hidden message here? I seriously do think you're kidding. Sarcasm isn't funny. Anyway, I'm serious with my rant, glad you found it funny.

The site traffic being up... yes. I see more guests on the forum than I used to. Still no new and active members.

Edited by Baniboy, 21 February 2011 - 12:10 AM.

[electriic ink]

It's true that nothing has happened in the very recent past. This is simply because the developments are implemented in batches. A while ago you had the last batch of upgrades and very soon you will have the next batch. KS is still a relatively new website (less than a year old) and we're still learning how things are best done. The mistakes made in the past will not be made again - rest assured!

Running the mycent script takes a while and puts a huge strain on the server when it runs. It is therefore important to find the right balance between frequent updates and server strain. The set up at the moment is the one we feel is most appropriate. Moderators are around; perhaps you just don't see them. I, myself, have been online for quite a few hours today.

Part of the developments in progress will fix the existing problems, as well as adding some new fantastic new features. One of the problems it will hope to fix is the fact that we're only faster than 6% of all sites. We aim to at least triple this figure!

I'm sorry you think I'm being sarcastic and it's a sad testimony to the KS brand that you think I am. We accept that this past year things have not been perfect, which is why we're making all these improvements.

There may well be no new, active members but more site traffic means more guests which means more revenue for the site, revenue which we can spend developing our ideas. This, in turn, attracts more people to become regular posters.

[anwiii]

sorry. i got pissed off when i saw this thread. sorry, but those are the most ridiculous choices. i voted for the name because it was the only obvious choice that was better than all the others. whoever voted that the admins listen to the users have absolutely no clue what is going on her WHATSOEVER.

anyway, the name is the best part for now. although opaque is working on things in the background, he is FAR from finished. so if you are just referring to KS as it stands now, then i really don't understand the voting poll at all. you are actually forcing a person's vote even if it's not even worth voting on. the only other option is to not vote at all....

this whole thread is ridiculous to me.....

electrric ink- when you say "we"....who exactly are you referring to? my observation states that you haven't even been an active member not to mention moderator for a while now. who exactly is "we". i want to know because i want to critisize the people who thinks it's ok to let certain people NOT be held accountable for their actions. you know why warning are at an all time low? because there are less active member. all you have are the members who basically get their account suspended after i flag the thread. yes...after *I* flag it. i probably flag twice as pany posts compared to all the other active members combined. just because there are less warnings doesn't mean there are less bans or spam. in fact, the bans and spam has INCREASED if you are going to compare it to the active member ratio.

if i win, i will create my own thread and contest. a more logical and realiztic one and giveaway my prize. also, if i win, i don't need my wanring levels clearned....EVER. i for one will say right now that i don't mind being held accountable for my actions here. if i did a crime, i should do the time.

Edited by anwiii, 21 February 2011 - 03:07 AM.

[rvalkass]

electriic ink, on 20 February 2011 - 09:59 PM, said:

There are five top prizes available, all of which are "clean sheets" - we will reset your warning level to zero and the next time you break a forum rule (whatever it is) we will not warn you.

NB: This is part of KS's ongoing commitment for self-betterment. The feedback YOU provide will help us improve as we strive to become the internet's most popular free web hosting provider. If you have any specific suggestions, please don't post them here as we won't read them; instead email spam@xisto.com.

This is a joke, right? I mean, that's certainly what I thought when I first saw it. Allowing members to break the rules makes little sense as a prize - one of the main problems we have at the moment is the amount of spam and low-quality posts that get submitted to the forums, and you are suggesting we combat this by offering that right as a prize? Also, the final comment seems very sarcastic, especially the selection of email address.

Baniboy, on 20 February 2011 - 10:37 PM, said:

Third, get clean sheets? haha. There is nobody giving people warnings anyway! Ridiculous.

Do you know why I'm giving out fewer warnings than before? I simply can't wait for the pages to load. Most of the warnings I issue are for advertising spam, from members unlikely to ever return here. So, when there's a 35 - 120 second wait (yes, it can take upwards of 2 minutes!) for each page to load, the three pageloads I have to go through to send a warning seem incredibly laborious, especially when the person on the receiving end of it was unlikely to ever come back anyway.

electriic ink, on 20 February 2011 - 11:13 PM, said:

Firstly, Shree has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes in order to improve the user experience. Feedback from users in the past indicated that they felt the site wasn't making progress. This is why recently you have seen a lot of changes, most notably the name, forum software and the progression from Hosting Credits to myCents. Similar developments are in the pipeline and will be released soon.

Changing a name is not progress. It makes no material difference to the user experience. The change in forum software also hasn't really brought much to the user experience, but has made the forum look like a half-hearted attempt at a social networking site. The change to myCENTs was a great idea - the increased flexibility is great. But you get so few of them, so infrequently, that they are practically useless. Let's just give you one example: me. Before, I could pay my hosting bills fine with credits, getting the one credit per day I needed. It was a no-brainer to stick with Trap17. Now, I am having to pay for my hosting using my debit card. So, each time my hosting is up for renewal I am looking around for alternative companies.

If there are new features in the pipeline - TELL US! At the moment, members have absolutely nothing to look forward to. There has been no statement of "We're implementing feature X! It'll be released by March! Woo!", just vague promises that something might happen at some point. Possibly. Though we don't know what. And it's all being heard second hand rather than from OpaQue or BH. And we all remember the problems and the time taken changing to myCENTs, so we don't hold out much hope.

electriic ink, on 20 February 2011 - 11:13 PM, said:

Parts of improvements in the pipeline are improvements to the JS. We would point out that despite this, Alexa ranks us as faster than 6% of all other sites out there so we're not doing too badly.

Efforts are being made to further increase forum activity. Site traffic is up 41% from this time last month.

If you're faster than 6%, you're slower than 94%. That is shocking.

Site traffic is up 41%? OK, what's the percentage increase for new member registrations and forum activity? Bet it's not 41%... I wonder why.

Got to go to lecture now, but I shall be back with more comments this evening.

[electriic ink]

Anwii, as it stands, there are no votes for Admins who Listen, the only two votes are for the great name. Also, no one is forcing anyone to vote for anything. You can also click "Null Vote" by way of protest.

It is true that I haven't been an active member these past couple of years, although last week I returned for a bit and got chatting to OpaQue about why things are the way they are. He gives me his full assurance that things are fine and more improvements are on the way. I don't know who these "certain people" are to whom you refer but if you want to tell me then I will investigate. We thank you for your contributions by way of reporting posts and, by we, I mean the KS Admin. I cannot comment on the Ban:Active member ratio as I do not have that statistic and it would be wrong for me to speculate.


Rvalkass, as has been previously mentioned, we aim to increase the page load times with the next batch of updates, tripling our rank from being faster than 6% to faster than 20% of all sites. We know that being in the top 94% is unacceptable; hence the eventual improvement.

You clearly have a problem with the prize being issued, hence the cash alternative, which may be taken up by winners who feel the main prize is unethical. As a moderator, we would invite you submit your suggestions for an alternative main prize in the Staff forum. We would offer some form of hosting as a prize but traffic (and consequently advertising revenue) is down 27% from last quarter; couple this and having to pay for our brand new offices we are a bit strapped for cash at the moment.

We are pleased that you like the myCent system and we will let the developers know you appreciate its flexibility. Wrt future developments, it would be wrong to give a date for their release until we know for sure that it is a target that we can meet. And if we told you what they were it would spoil the surprise :-).

[anwiii]

electric ink- there was a vote for the admins when i had voted. if you weren't aware of that, that isn't my problem.

you supporting people breaking the rules WILL be my problem though. i am not in favor of it one bit.

you keep using "we". who is WE. you aren't even doing anything here and you talk like your a big part of what is going on and the changes. i wan't to know who "we" is.

you're right. i deleted my vote. i am against this thread and the choices to vote on. i encourage everyone to do the same. i am surprised we are seeing this from a moderator. personally, i think it's VERY unprofessional.

[rvalkass]

electriic ink, on 21 February 2011 - 02:52 PM, said:

Rvalkass, as has been previously mentioned, we aim to increase the page load times with the next batch of updates, tripling our rank from being faster than 6% to faster than 20% of all sites. We know that being in the top 94% is unacceptable; hence the eventual improvement.

The problem there is the word "eventual". At the moment you have a critical issue here - people are not posting because it takes too long. A 2 minute page load over a 12Mbps connection?! Come on! That is entirely unusable. This is not a feature for the wishlist - it is a critical problem with the site that you should be spending night and day fixing. When pages load without members having time to make a cup of tea between each one, then perhaps you can focus on other features. Imagine how many members arrive at this site and sit staring at a blank page for a few seconds. How long are they going to wait before giving up and assuming the site just doesn't work. If it was my first time here, I sure as hell would not wait 2 minutes.

electriic ink, on 21 February 2011 - 02:52 PM, said:

We are pleased that you like the myCent system and we will let the developers know you appreciate its flexibility. Wrt future developments, it would be wrong to give a date for their release until we know for sure that it is a target that we can meet. And if we told you what they were it would spoil the surprise :-).

At the moment, people have nothing to look forward to. Forget the surprise - tell us what is coming. If you don't, people have no reason to assume things are going to get better.

Edit: Also, nice to see the Konqueror logo in the new offices, even if it is the old version and doesn't cite the original author of the work.