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What's the deal with everyones post count dissapearing? (1 Viewer)

Kevin M

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Kevin Ray
Something I NEVER will understand: What sort of person views his own post count as some type of meaningful achievement and worthy - in and of itself - of some measure of respect.
It's along the same lines as someone who boasts about the size of his DVD collection, to me (in some cases at least) it is the same as a guy who supplements his manhood or self-respect with fast cars.
;)
 

JJR512

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Justin J. Rebbert
Ehh...I don't like it. I've been doing the BBS thing for what seems like a long time to me, probably not to many of you though, but still, I consider myself experienced at it. Heck, I even run my own, and am a moderately experienced "hacker" (I wrote the weather feature being used here, for example). I guess I'm just used to seeing post counts, and I don't like change, I guess.
 

AllanN

Supporting Actor
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Mar 15, 2002
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I could really care less about the post count feature. But what pisses me off is everyone has to change because of only a few [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED] people.
 

Dave_P.

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The disappearance doesn't bother me one bit. Then again I've been here three and a half years and only have 370 posts! ;)
 

John_Berger

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I'm looking at it from a far more practical perspective: server hits. (It's the UNIX administrator in me.)
As we all know, the HTF site has been getting slammed to the point where Ron and Parker needed to add a second server. Consider that for every full page of messages, up to 30 separate PHP calls had to be made for the post counts of every person on that page. Now, multiply that by the number of times that each page gets hit every day and we're talking about a significant number of server hits and PHP calls. I would suspect that just removing the post counts created a noticable increase in system efficiency above and beyond the addition of a second server.
Another thing that I don't believe is necessary that could probably be dropped is the Local Date and Time display. That's why people wear watches, have clocks in their houses, and so forth. Do any of us really NEED to know the local date and time of the person who posted the message? That's additional bandwidth and system calls that really don't need to be made, in my opinion.
Just my two one-hundreths of a U.S. dollar. Convert to your currency as you see fit.
 

KeithH

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Here is a question. Were some boards a haven for post-count padding or was the act spread out evenly across the HTF? First off, everyone's definition of "post-count padding" likely varies. In any event, where was post-count padding typically observed? I spend most of my time on the Audio/Video Sources and Music Area boards, and I have not seen padding on these boards.
 

JJR512

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Justin J. Rebbert
As we all know, the HTF site has been getting slammed to the point where Ron and Parker needed to add a second server. Consider that for every full page of messages, up to 30 separate PHP calls had to be made for the post counts of every person on that page. Now, multiply that by the number of times that each page gets hit every day and we're talking about a significant number of server hits and PHP calls. I would suspect that just removing the post counts created a noticable increase in system efficiency above and beyond the addition of a second server.
Speaking as someone semi-fairly-well-somewhat knowledgeable about vBulletin, I don't think it makes that much of a difference. The number 30, I suppose, is based on the number of posts displayed per page. That number is adjustable by the user, and what choices are available to the user are controllable through the administrative control panel for the message board. If 30 posts/page is a problem, perhaps that option (and any higher) should be removed. The default standard for vBulletin is 15, anyway, but the default may have been changed for this board.

The only real difference in server stress, I believe, is in the small amount of HTML that is saved, and that's maybe what, 10 characters per post? It's not like vBulletin has to look up the post count in a separate database query for each post. There's one big query that gets ALL of the useful information for the user out of the database in one shot (username, email address, home page, signature, etc.). The post count is just one tiny little piece of info included in that query, and once it's gathered, it's not even processed in any way, so there's no processing time being saved. (Some things are processed; for example, the one big query also determines if the user accepts private messages or not, then later on there's a processing step that determines, based on that, whether or not to display the "pm" icon in the posts by that user.)
 

KeithH

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Post-count padding is not the biggest problem on the HTF, in my opinion, but post-count padding has attracted a lot of attention here. People posting one-liners that may seem useless to most members but do not offend anyone are not a real problem, as I see it. Once again, whether such one-liners constitute post-count padding is open to interpretation anyway. Now, as I see it, the real problem that pervades the site is people, whether they be newbies or oldbies, not obeying forum rules or using discretion or common sense in choosing subjects to write about. People do not write on these forbidden subjects to pad their post counts. They do so because the subjects interest them, and in some cases there is an emotional element to that interest. Many members make excellent points on these subjects, but these individuals need to have a better grasp of the Forum rules and exhibit some control. Plain and simple.

Just yesterday, after post counts had become "invisible", someone started a thread on the After Hours Lounge board on ethics vs. lawlessness. Of course, this thread was closed, and rightfully so. I know I don't have to tell the moderators this, but these sorts of threads continue to pop up regularly. Such threads have become so common that "IBTL" has become regular HTF vernacular like FWIW, ROTFLMAO, AFAIK, and IMHO. That shouldn't be. Now, let me make it clear that I am not indicting Ron, Parker, or any of the moderators for not doing their jobs effectively. This is a difficult matter to control, and I know you folks are working very hard. My point is simply that people continuing to blatantly ignore HTF rules concerning proper content is a much bigger problem than is post-count padding. Again, this is just my opinion based on what I have seen and have not seen on the HTF.

Ron, Parker, and the moderators, I have tremendous respect for your efforts here. Please do not view my comments as criticism towards you.
 

Kevin M

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Kevin Ray
Fourteen threads all discussing Star Wars, Spiderman, LOTR etc. etc. doesn't help out either.
I can respect a thread that at least tries to be original or where the thread starter has a genuine desire for answers but just how hard is it to use the Search button before starting a new thread? Apparently pretty hard for some.
 

Steve Christou

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Fourteen threads all discussing Star Wars, Spiderman, LOTR etc. etc. doesn't help out either.
That bothers you but 35 tournament threads in Polls doesn't?

Now with the post counts out of view members won't be so keen to post just to see if they can reach their next post 'milestone'.
 

Rain

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That bothers you but 35 tournament threads in Polls doesn't?
I was really hoping that with the post counts out of view, we could put this tired old subject to rest once and for all.
So one more time: We are not doing tourneys to increase our post counts. We are doing them because they are harmless fun.
I couldn't care less if the Admins want to delete those threads once they finish if there are concerns about wasted bandwith.
In fact, why not start with this one. I imagine I have tons of posts in that thread. Delete it. Go right ahead. In fact, I'm asking you to please delete it as it has now served its purpose.
You know, I avoided starting any for a long time because of this "post-count padding" misconception.
After the post counts were taken down, I thought I'd try it again. Despite there being no post counts in view, there are as many participants as there always have been.
I think this adequately demonstrates that they have nothing whatsoever to do with padding of post counts.
(And I would also be perfectly fine with doing away with the counts altogether and taking them out of the member profiles as well.)
 

Kevin M

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Kevin Ray
That bothers you but 35 tournament threads in Polls doesn't?
I don't like or participate in most if not all of the tournaments and I had thought of the waste of bandwidth question well before this thread, but frankly to complain about them would be utterly pointless considering their popularity with the vast majority of forum members.
 

Rain

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Thanks, Cees. :emoji_thumbsup:
Now can we pronounce this poor horse dead...or is someone going to need to flog it a few more times? :laugh:
 

Graeme Clark

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Jan 5, 2000
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I will never offend an elder that has been a member prior to the year 2000.
Sooooooooo close. Damn those few days I spent just reading the forum.

Personally I don't care either way. I liked looking at post counts just to gauge how active someone is in the forum. People with the higher post counts tend to be a bit more knowledgeable simply because they're reading and posting in this forum on a regular basis.

But accusations of post count padding, and making it a popularity contest based on a near meaningless stat is just silly. Some other forums take it even a step further, with post counts, a member status based on the number of posts, and a user ranking based on a rating given by other members! I've been on a number of forums where people practically beg for a high ranking, and if you're considering giving them anything less than 4 (out of 5) stars, to not rank them at all.

It's sad that some people are so desperate for some sort of recognition, no matter how small. And for this reason, I'm glad the post counts are gone.
 

Jeff_A

Screenwriter
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Mar 6, 2001
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So sorry, Graeme, but that's the way it works. You missed being an ELDER by a mere seven days! :D
 

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