Forum feedback

[Hambeast]

Is there anything in particular which is making it easy to hit? I could move things around but that could end up with something else being hit instead

[Carnage]

No, it's just as I'm scrolling down, occasionally I'll hit it and the report box appears, I have to find & hit the same button on whatever post it was to get rid of it. It's probably just my big fat thumb, I wouldn't bother if nobody else is having an issue.

[Eoin McLove]

I get it too sometimes.

[Hambeast]

Can I get a screenshot of the box you're talking about? When I click the 3 dots I get a "Report to moderator" box at the bottom of the screen but I can tap anywhere and it disappears. What you're describing sounds a lot more annoying if you're having to find where to close it.

[Carnage]

It's the same one, and that tap anywhere bit works - but here's the thing: it didn't before, which is why I brought it up in the first place. Might have been an update in the interval but now that it does that, problem sorted.

[Hambeast]

That's odd as there haven't been any changes made for at least a few weeks. If it appears again, try to grab a screenshot so I can figure out what's happening.

[Carnage]

Sound.

There's another difference I just noticed: I tapped the 3 dots on your post above just for a look and the 3 dots were highlighted (highlit?) in the background. That wasn't the case before, hence having to hunt for thr right post.

Maybe a Chrome update? (I'm using Chrome on an Android phone.)

[Carnage]

Can I get a screenshot of the box you're talking about? When I click the 3 dots I get a "Report to moderator" box at the bottom of the screen but I can tap anywhere and it disappears. What you're describing sounds a lot more annoying if you're having to find where to close it.

Just happened again and I had to find the right post to get rid of it, tapping elsewhere on the screen had no effect. It was in the Nightwish thread, if that's of any relevence. (No idea why it attached twice, sorry):

[Hambeast]

Interesting. Looks like something isn't loading correctly which is causing it to look like that. The blue text in your screenshot is also a lighter shade than it's meant to be and the emoji is messed up (white eyes and mouth instead of black). I'll have a look and see if there's any problems loading JavaScript or CSS in the background. Thanks!

[The Butcher]

Any considerations for adding a review section? Would bring some more views/awareness from social media sharing of review links and by extension potential users to the site...that could be both good and bad

Any poster that wants to contribute might be given access to a hidden section so that they can look at what's available for review and take one on. Or maybe an email list of reviewers - Surely can come up with a process that would work. Doesn't have to become a monster or a burden, could limit it to Irish releases only and if that works, branch out to others like MI had. Thoughts?

[ochoill]

I like the idea, I doubt I'd be able to contribute much but do think it would be a bonus to the site to have a reviews section for Irish stuff particularly.

To be fair even a release round-up each week/month of Irish releases with a line or two and genre tag on new albums and EPs with a link to them would be a good handy start, and if anyone wanted to review one after the fact they could get in touch.  Nothing overly hectic but more of a catalog of what's out, if you had a submissions email people would definitely send releases to it and maybe 3-4 of us here could help sift it and do up the little blurb list/genre tags and links.  I'd help with that if you like.

[Hambeast]

The idea of a review section has been floated around a few times. At one point there was a front page on the site which had gig listings and a review section but it was fairly short lived, as there was only the one review submitted. There's no ads (intentionally) on the site so there's no income or way to compensate anyone for their work which makes it hard to set up a steady stream of new content. Ideally there would be a reliable source to cover new releases, but it's unfair to expect that from unpaid volunteers. I also have no experience or knowledge of how to plan and organise this kind of thing which makes it all the more difficult. I figured it would be better to switch the site to "forum only" rather than having a stale front page.

I'm not against the idea. I think it'd be great. I just have no idea how to make it happen. Did MetalIreland have some form of income, and were people paid for content?

[Eoin McLove]

I generally submitted reviews for free but CT did pay me £100 I think it was at one point as a thank you. But yeah, there was no formal arrangement and I was just happy to contribute. Not sure I would have the time or energy to dedicate to writing reviews these days but maybe I could fire out a few interviews with local bands. Irish local  There are some good new bands knocking about who it would be interesting to hear from.

[hellfire]

The idea of a review section has been floated around a few times. At one point there was a front page on the site which had gig listings and a review section but it was fairly short lived, as there was only the one review submitted. There's no ads (intentionally) on the site so there's no income or way to compensate anyone for their work which makes it hard to set up a steady stream of new content. Ideally there would be a reliable source to cover new releases, but it's unfair to expect that from unpaid volunteers. I also have no experience or knowledge of how to plan and organise this kind of thing which makes it all the more difficult. I figured it would be better to switch the site to "forum only" rather than having a stale front page.

I'm not against the idea. I think it'd be great. I just have no idea how to make it happen. Did MetalIreland have some form of income, and were people paid for content?

I don't think including a PayPal link on the site for maintenance/hosting costs would be a bad idea? A pay what you can type thing. I know the resource needs are small for a site with this many users and low demand type of traffic, but it wouldn't hurt. Could give you a few bob towards improvements.

[Hambeast]

The current running costs are fairly negligible so it's not really a concern unless the site got a lot bigger. The donation thing could be useful to help pay towards contributors with reviews etc, or maybe some kind of "tip jar" on each review which goes directly to the reviewer. If there's enough people genuinely interested in contributing, it's something I'd try to get set up again. I'd definitely need help setting it up/organising/running the whole operation. I can create a new sub-forum for anyone interested to talk about it further.

On the side, I was contacted earlier asking about placing an ad banner on the forum. How does everyone feel about it? I'm generally anti-ad, but if it's something related to the Irish metal scene then it'd be more like promoting something local which is kind of the entire purpose of the forum. Any ads would be relevant, non-intrusive, no horrible tracking bullshit, and I'd give logged-in users the option to disable them for people who really don't want to see them. Let me know what you all think.