I went into "View Recent Posts" and this afternoon there is a user poll that takes up a third of my screen. I (like many on these forums I'm sure) use a laptop and don't have a surplus of screen real estate. It makes reading the list of forum posts difficult because it is all smashed together. I would recommend either shutting off the user polls if this is how they are normally displayed or having them go into their own separate forum post that can be read like any other post.

As a matter of fact it comes up on other screens as well, as I discovered when I clicked "preview comment."

I don't mind polls and even will participate on occasion, but not at the expense of the usability of the forums.
Jay

I agree with everyone. Even on a desktop, the popup poll window can be annoying.
I contacted development to see if there is an end date for this poll and also, if it could be changed, so that once you take the poll, the popup no longer is displayed, or at least a way to exit it.

As soon as I get some feedback, I will post it here

I would love to have the option of seeing who is in chat and also signing off while scanning through pages of posts. I also agree with the poll taking too much room.

As a Forum software, BB system. It sadly lacks in function. You've been running this Drupal stuff for what, a year now? It's still fairly pathetic as a BB software package. It's great for Sales and Marketing though. Which is pretty much the intent of that package.

phpBB is pretty good. vBulletin is better. Both are solely geared towards being a Forum software package. Nether is tainted by trying to be a marketing package. Even though all the BB's out there do some advertising. It is a secondary function to the software. With Drupal it is just the opposite.

You did this poll and got feedback a year ago. I still see the users controls available are poor. Ever since going to Drupal the performance of the web site has also been fair to dismal. I've kind of given up on it. Now I just scan some topics then move on.

I see really good posts sometimes and feel creepy saying 'good post',like I'm being condenscending or something.I think it would be really great if I could give a person a thumbs up for a good post.I suppose a thumbs down (for not so good) then would only be fair then huh

Codes should be made simpler.Not this one in particular...lol.

My biggest complaint,and I know putting this out there is going to come back to bite me in the arse,but I can't stand it when someone replies to a post way after others have posted,therefore putting their post up at the top...as if they are butting in.If a person ways to reply instead of post fine,I see that and do it myself sometimes,not their fault the site works that way..but..why can't each post be in order...and it can say on the top SO&SO replies to SO&SO...instead of making it the NEW post #3 and bumping everyone else?

Robin,
No worries, I completely agree with that. If you are following a thread and someone does that puts the number of new post back to include all of the ones following the poster who used the reply function. Often times the thread has changed directions and someone does that to make it back to a point. Usually when i find threads that others are using the reply function and the sequence is messed up on, I discontinue reading the thread. Or sometimes it no longer makes any since at all. If it is a long thread you then have to go find the other new post that you have not read. But it is a good point and I really dislike the way that feature works.

I do not like to see things out of date sequence. It makes it hard to follow something.
I would just assume eliminate REPLY all together. Post is fine.
But, I know there are some situations where a REPLY is what is really needed instead of a post.
It just makes it difficult when you see a thread that was updated, but when you go look at it, its half way up the page...
Maybe I am getting too old, I like.
One, Two, Three, Four

Or better still, I might be able to get Judge Judy to do a ruling!!!!!!

Paul, PM, is that a command?
Sorry

Still having those pop up polls when I log in. Will that ever change?

In order for Spine-Health to continue to provide the Patient Forum FREE of charge, they need to offset other costs and expenses. As this site grows, so does the demands and requirements for newer equipment, more servers, etc to satisfy everyone. Those costs have to be be paid and they have to come from somewhere.
So, yes, you may see a pop up, an add, etc... All that is being done to ensure that Spine-Health can continue to provide these forums without any costs to the members.
I belong to several other forum sites and we have to contribute money to stay a member. So lets hope that whatever Spine-Health needs to do to avoid charging its members, we can deal with it

I would like to have the poster's country where he/she lives displayed on the left side along with the name, join date, etc. Since there is such a disparity in the delivery of health care in the UK and the US, it would save a lot of time if we knew where the poster is located. This could be optional, if someone doesn't want to give that information...but, to me, it makes it that much easier to respond to someone if you know where they are getting their health care.

okay i admit , i don't understand what all that crap means but i do know you all are doing a very good job at helping us out. i know how to hit send... does that count??? hahahahahh
-chelle

Before I enter the chat room I would like to be able to know before entering if the person listed as being in there is on Away, Busy, or BRB.

is very difficult to change because it is a 3rd party software that do not supply the source code required for easier modifications.
We do always look at the various requests regarding CHAT changes to determine if there are those that provide a negative impact to the majority of users. Those are the ones that will get higher priority.

Threads

* Thread display options - sort by, sort order, from date
* Thread and forum subscription (notification by email optional)
* Thread preview on mouse-over (optional, via Admin CP)
* Active Users viewing thread shown
* New Post Indicator
* Printer Friendly versions on threads
* Admin tools for Threads - edit/delete/move/lock/Make sticky/ etc
* Email page to a friend option
* Similar Threads displayed on all thread views

Posts

* Linear, Threaded, Hybrid display views available
* Supports BB Code in posts
* Supports HTML in post
* Smilies
* Avatars
* Optional WYSIWYG or standard editors for posts and Private Messages
* Attachment images (.gif,.jpg, etc) are no longer in the database (optional, via Admin CP)
* Quick reply box (with optional "forced" click on post to quote)
* Preview post option
* Post rating
* User reputation
* Polls
* Post Reporting - report posts to moderators
* User post count
* Admin tools for Posts - edit/delete/move/ etc
* Preview safe attachments

Members

* Member List
* Member Search
* User Style picker
* Private Messaging
* Buddy list
* Member Birthdays shown on Forum home

Calendar Features

* Supports multiple private and public calendars
* Viewable public and private events (adminCP option)
* Weekly, monthly and yearly views
* Jump to Today option
* Add single, ranged or recurring events
* Add all day events
* Option to show calendar event on forum home page (adminCP option)
* Show events to specific usergroups (adminCP option)
* Calendar Moderation
* Private events reminder
* Ability to add custom fields

General

* Who's online
* Search

Editable user profile

This information can be viewed by other members from the member list. Custom user title, URL home page, date of birth, instant messaging medium, location, occupation, biography, interests, vB version, plus any other custom user fields that may be defined by the administrator

Profile pictures

Allows members to upload pictures that can be viewed in the users' profile.

Private Messaging

* Pop-up notification when new PM received
* Private Message Tracking
* Private Message filing in custom folders

User Options

These include Daylight Savings options, forum style chooser, selection of notification types for PM, emails etc, thread display options, WYSIWYG editor options, language chooser, vCard downloads to allow the user profile to be placed into an address book

Attachment Management

* View attachment statistics - shows limit and used space
* View the attachments you have posted (link or thumbnail views available)
* Remove attachments

Avatar Options

* Admin Defined Avatars
* Custom Avatars - upload from your own computer or specify a URL

General

* View and manage subscribed threads and forums
* Calendar event reminders for subscribed events
* Pop-up auto-refreshing buddylist with ICQ-style alerts when new buddies come online
* Signature Editor
* Email and password changes require current password
* Joinable Public User Groups

There you go Ron.

Listed by function and section.
I know Drupal can do some, not many, of these things. Get it to at least do section/thread user management that is worth a darn and you might get somewhere. Right now you have to scan every section ad thread and the only management you have is. Mark All Read... Not very impressive. Even the old outdated BBS freeware can do most of that.

Threads

* Thread display options - sort by, sort order, from date
* Thread and forum subscription (notification by email optional)
Active Drupal Addon, waiting to be implemented

* Thread preview on mouse-over (optional, via Admin CP)
* Active Users viewing thread shown
* New Post Indicator
There once inside a category, but I am not sure if that is what you are looking for
* Printer Friendly versions on threads
It was there before the recent upgrade, let me chekc

* Admin tools for Threads - edit/delete/move/lock/Make sticky/ etc
Some functions need to be limited to Admin and Moderators only, if not, nothing to stop people from making every one of their posts a sticky. There needs to be some overall control and management .
* Email page to a friend option
Agree a nice function to have
* Similar Threads displayed on all thread views

Posts

* Linear, Threaded, Hybrid display views available
* Supports BB Code in posts
Already exists

* Supports HTML in post
Already exists
* Smilies
Do I assume you mean more similes?
* Avatars
Not sure what you mean here
* Optional WYSIWYG or standard editors for posts and Private Messages
Drupal Org looked at this it their review was that it would be too difficult to implement across the releases. They are looking at this for some follow on release of Drupal
* Attachment images (.gif,.jpg, etc) are no longer in the database (optional, via Admin CP)
[=blue]Are you talking about including images from another site or a code repisotory?
* Quick reply box (with optional "forced" click on post to quote)
* Preview post option
Already exists - Preview, just as it was with PunBB
* Post rating
Option exist decision to not use this. User Points was hard enough to explain, this would set off a number of MY post is better than yours why do they rank you better?
* User reputation
Would create a worse scenario than I just mentioned above. Under no way would this option even be looked at. Sites that have done this, so many of them have had nothing but major major major problems
* Polls
Function exists but limited to Admin and Moderators only. If this was a general user function, there could be 15 polls a day
* Post Reporting - report posts to moderators
* User post count
Already exists
* Admin tools for Posts - edit/delete/move/ etc
Some Already exists... Not a general user function, should never be
* Preview safe attachments

Members

* Member List
* Member Search
* User Style picker
Drupal provides, but if used, all the Spine-Health CSS and styles would be omitted, mainly due to the main site requirements
* Private Messaging
* Buddy list
* Member Birthdays shown on Forum home
[=blue} Exists[/color]

Calendar Features
Looked at, even with PunBB at the old site, too many members to support a calendar that could be useful.
Research indicates a threshold for an effective calender would be about 500 members. Then you would need multiple calendars. With over 10,000 member, this feature just doesnt seem possible at the time.

* Supports multiple private and public calendars
* Viewable public and private events (adminCP option)
* Weekly, monthly and yearly views
* Jump to Today option
* Add single, ranged or recurring events
* Add all day events
* Option to show calendar event on forum home page (adminCP option)
* Show events to specific usergroups (adminCP option)
* Calendar Moderation
* Private events reminder
* Ability to add custom fields

General

* Who's online
* Search
Both there

Graham, I am sure that you know that many of these already existed and that you might want expanded versions. If you could detail some of them, I can do more research into them