RSS Feed (bot)
 

Ok gang, I just spent about 45 minutes removing 7 pages of "new posts" by ourt new friend.

Most were moved to the "garbage can" so you guys and gals wouldn't be bothered with having to sift through 7 pages of news and advertisements to get to the meat and potatoes of the forum.

I left the threads that were more Corvette related in place.

Rich is aware of the issue and since I'm not in the "computer loop" (they don't let me play with computers:NoNo:, I break things:rofl1:!), I'll leave the decisions to him and his computer peeps:thumbsup:

Although the "bot" has it's own section (florida news, automotive news, etc.) it still clutters up (IMO) the "new posts" screen so badly that a new person or even an existing member, trying to find the new posts of the day or continuing post of a previous day, will have to scan several pages to find them.

Again, these posts were not deleted and may return at Rich's descretion.

Hope this makes todays reading and posting a little less bothersome.

If you want the news sections back, just say the word?

Gordon

Thanks Bro.

Well heck, I set up those news feeds. But I'm not married to them if no one likes the idea. The whole idea was to add some related content of interest to the site via some external sources.

I know I just don't have time to read the newspapers or watch the news on TV, so some mechanism that would filter the news items and give me a short synopsis of newsworthy events seemed to be just the ticket.

But maybe not everyone feels that way about it.

So let me know...........

The idea is great:thumbsup: I hardly ever read the newspaper and don't have time to watch TV. If i don't get it off the internet or radio, I don't get it at all.

I found a lot of that news to be very interesting and left some of it in place when I moved the rest to the canh.

I think the news sections are fine, but this automated "bot" is jamming the place up with 100's of news articles at a time:eek:New and old members are going to have to sift through pages and pages of "news" just to get to the meat and potatoes of the site:( A real inconvenience IMO.

Is there any way of controlling that "bot" so it a member would have to specifically look in that section to see the news instead of having it jammed down thier throats?

Obviously we can post our own links to florida news and happenings like the other sites and as we grow, I'm sure more and more will.

Is there some way of reaching a happy medium with this?

Possibly. I've set those forums so that posts there are not included in the index, so they will not clog up the RECENT POSTS function (theoretically, anyway). That function is about the only impact I can think of that might be bothersome. Otherwise, no one really needs to look into those forums unless they are interested in viewing the content.

Well I don't know if that indexing exclusion worked or not. The latest run MIGHT have taken place before I made the change in the forum settings.

I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

Oh, one other thing. I can LIMIT these RSS feed posts in a number of ways. Limit the number of them brought in at one time, and also limit the frequency of checking for updates. I think the max is every 12 hours. So I may be able to fine tune it a bit as I get a better feel for what it is actually doing.

Yeah, they did, but I'm going to leave them alone. Kinda like the border security problem. The new fence is up. Let's see if they get through again. :rofl1:

Well, obviously the "New Posts" function does not work on indexing and keywords and most apparently work on a simple "Date Posted" scheme. The latest posts from the RSS feed are showing up in the New Posts listing.

I may have to see if I can get my programmer to customize the forum setup screen to exclude any RSS forums I set up from being picked up that way.

Didn't think it would be THAT simple to fix... :banghead:

"Houston, We Have A Problem"

IMO, I like it the way it was before...

Noticed, not too many posts from the regulars...

I have always went to the New Posts button upon entering the site. It has always been the easiest way to keep up on all the new posts. The RSS Feed has made it more difficult to find the regular posts.

I enjoy the news, but maybe it needs to be in a box off to the side or just not show up as a new post. JMHO :shrug01:

I vote no
 

I'm with Steve K. I log on for Corvette news; if I want up to date news I turn on Bay News 9 or log on to a news network. Keep it Corvette related, please! :thumbsdown:

ALS, Steve, Pres, hang in there guys. Rich is trying to get this worked out.

I agreee, I always use the new post function 1st and this BOT is a PITA! Took me almost an hour this morning to sift through 7 pages of automated Bot****, only to find it was put here:hehehe:

The idea is to keep it here for those, kind of like myself, that don't really have time or the inclination to watch the news or read the paper. We can still find the news (although most of this seems to come out of South Florida?), while keeping it from shoing up during a new post search:thumbsup:

If that can't be accomplished, I think Rich may do away with it. It's whatever is best for the members 1st:thumbsup:

Please be patient while we beat the s**t out of.....I mean massage the system....:thumbsup:

How about we just hang in there and see how this pans out? The RSS feeds will get a LOT of initial messages at first until things get caught up. Then they SHOULD be just a few here and there as new items are added to the source sites.

I am picking relevant topics, BTW, FLORIDA and CORVETTES.

I am also checking with my programmer to see if there is a way to exclude those posted threads from being listed in the New Posts display. So give me some time, OK? I think this is better than just shutting down the site while I figure things out, don't you?

I dont mind the posts, would be good if it didnt show up under new posts though...

Sorry but I do Agree with ya and Steve K.:yesnod:

That's what was supposed to happen. Rich tried to make it happen that way and it didn't. Hang in there and we'll get it worked out. It's just computer stuff....:(

Rich, we have confidence in ya son.:thumbsup:

Please stop the "Robot feeds"
 

Rich Z,

I appreciate the thought process about bring some news to the site...however, its overwhelming!
IMO, they should be removed from the site. I guess I'm lucky, since I'm retired I have time to get all the news I can stand elsewhere.
I come here to read about Corvettes and the people who love them.

Thanks for listening.
Hardball

+1

OK... I changed the setting so that the news feed will only pull in a max of 10 new messages every 12 hours. So that is going to only be 20 new messages per day. Will that work?

I think my programmer takes off during the weekends, so I probably won't hear back from him till Monday about my exclusion request. :shrug01:

Yeah, I know not everyone is going to like everything new here, but some likely will. Just as not everyone would like it if I just left the site alone and made NO changes whatsoever. Some wouldn't like that either. All I am doing is trying my best to make this site better for the majority. I have no doubts whatsoever that I can't please absolutely everyone.

The whole idea of this is to try to get new input to stimulate discussions on this site. Instead of me or someone else finding such news items and posting them here, I am using an automated news feed instead.

And in case anyone has forgotten, this site is not just about Corvettes, but is also about Florida. So yes, this is somewhat different from other sites in that it has a dual focus. That was my plan from the very beginning. That is why I chose the name CorvetteFlorida for this site.

Now if anyone has any ideas on how to more finely tune the keyword search (within technically realistic options) I am certainly willing to listen to those suggestions.

Can't they all go into there section instead of the New post section,Just a lot to look at.:shrug01::eek:

That's what I want to ask my programmer to do, but he is not available right now, apparently.

Thats exactly what I asked Rich yesterday and what he attempted to do. Unfortunately, it didn't work the way we thought it would.

A short list for the rest of the day isn't a big deal and the programmer should be able to fix this tomorrow or so:thumbsup:

Hang in there, it's growing pains, but we'll all get through it with your patience and dedication:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Ok:thumbsup::thumbsup:

I don't go to the "new posts" section when I sign on. I just go to the forums and scan the posts, so it's not a problem. When I want to read the RSS stuff I go to that section. I looked at the "new posts" and I see what you mean. Takes some time to go through it all...:yesnod:
Anyway, I'm sure it will all work out as things always seem to do :thumbsup: Go Rich!!

I agree with vettboy, Steve K., and Pres 712. I live and work in Massachusetts and get to my house in Florida 8 or 10 times a year. Florida specific news doesn't interest me, but Florida CORVETTE specific new/info DOES. Please find a way to put the "News" into it's own box so that it doesn't fill up the New Posts section. Darn bot already has over 1200 posts and a rep power of 11 and only started this month. So much for the rep points too.
Andy Anderson :wavey:

Well actually I think that RSS Feeds guy is a pretty cool dude, if I must say so myself...... :hehehe: Doesn't surprise me in the least that he has gotten positive rep points so quickly...

What I have done is to set the RSS Feed forums up so that they require a password to view the threads within them. In this way, if you don't want to see them, you don't have to, and those threads will not show up in the New Posts page.

The password is simply enter.

This is the first time I have ever set up a password protected forum, so I don't know how persistent that entry is. In other words, if you enter once, I don't know if that entry permission is then stored with your login info in your cookie, and then you are ALWAYS able to enter that forum. Or perhaps it times out after you leave it, or you have to actually log OUT of the site to release that access. :shrug01:

Several still got through when i hit "new post"? Is it just me or ???

It may be because of your "super moderator" status....

:lmao::lmao:

BTW, What the hell is/was a "super moderator" anyway? I never got a cape or mask? Whats up with that.......????:rofl1:

What???!?!??!?! You didn't get the *package*? Those bright red tights cost a pretty penny......

No dammit!:lmao:

And maybe we're all better off for it;):thumbsup:

Ok, I want my cape and mask back!!!! They're still here!!!!:banghead::banghead:

My programmer got back to me about this and told me what I needed to do. So let's see if this works. I removed the password requirement on those RSS forums and the code now SHOULD exclude the threads within them from being display on the New Posts display.

Let me know if it works or not, please.

Check tis out.... it depends on which New Posts button I use....

Yeah, I noticed the duplicate menu bar.... Has it ALWAYS been like that? I swear I can't remember... But in any event, I asked my programmer to take out the lower one, so hopefully that will take place shortly.

As it was, I had to alter the code in four different places, so I didn't feel like tracking down this additional area if it was going to be gone shortly anyway.

No the bar was there when you tried different colors and then it just came back when you added RSS.

Hmm, that's odd. The RSS stuff has nothing at all to do with that line, so it must be something in the style sheet being used with this version of the site and apparently used prior. I took a look at the style code but couldn't find the code for the New Posts link in that lower menu bar. So for the interim (until I can either find the code or have those links removed) please use the upper menu bar for that function and it will ignore the RSS threads.

Thanks,

Rich Z.