Small announcement about AVForums

[Stuart Wright]

great! If the survey system is advanced enough then I will surely buy it.
So what are you going to do with reviews?

Great. We've written a complete bespoke CMS and front end for the news, reviews and articles covering home cinema, gadgets, movies and games (and pretty much anything else) at AVForums and it will all work within the Xenforo framework.
Writing user reviews will, for example, get people trophy points. Though I still haven't got a good plan on how to make trophy points worth more than cudos. Which I think they need to be.
The editorial system is so bespoke that it's unlikely to suit anyone else's needs. And it's been extremely expensive. And it will be so good that I don't want to lose our competitive advantage by allowing it out.

I would like to purchase a copy of both ad blocker and image counter when you release it via Chris or even before you release it if I can to help you recoup the investment

Thanks. I would wait to see what they are like, first as they may not do what you need.
The adblocker currently checks for a commonly blocked element of advertising and if it's been blocked, a secondary usergroup is activated for that member which limits their private messages to 5, prevents them from participating in our classifieds, stops the downloading of thumbnails and a few other things. It's toggled automatically dependent upon the presence of this advertising element.
Obviously it's a contentious issue, but without advertising, there would be no AVForums, so I think we're justified in giving more to those people who allow the ads.

 

[Brent W]

That is interesting, Stuart. Though I don't tend to fight with my members about ad blocking as people who are going to do that will always find a way around it. I try not to call anymore attention to it than necessary.

 

[Mike Edge]

Thanks. I would wait to see what they are like, first as they may not do what you need.
The adblocker currently checks for a commonly blocked element of advertising and if it's been blocked, a secondary usergroup is activated for that member which limits their private messages to 5, prevents them from participating in our classifieds, stops the downloading of thumbnails and a few other things. It's toggled automatically dependent upon the presence of this advertising element.
Obviously it's a contentious issue, but without advertising, there would be no AVForums, so I think we're justified in giving more to those people who allow the ads.

Yeap, would be exactly what I would want so I can remove certain perks via another user group for those that choose to block ads.

 

[Stuart Wright]

Going forced fixed width was a big issue when we did it. I justified the decision to the members with increased income from paid site restyling and masses of evidence that reading is made easier with text columns below a certain number of characters, but some still 'hack' the css to get themselves fluid width forums. They are a tiny minority though.
Ditto ad blocking. Some will hack the site, but most will just pick the addon from the Firefox list or install it by default in Chrome without appreciating the ramifications to sites like ours. Those people are more likely to decide to turn it off for AVForums.
They can still block ads, but they can't use our free classifieds service at the same time.

 

[0ptima]

Are you going to be importing paid subscriptions from vb3 ?

 

[0ptima]

They can still block ads, but they can't use our free classifieds service at the same time.

This is a nifty idea Do people complain that they cant access the classifieds? If so, what is there reaction when they tell them it is due to banner blocking?

 

[Foxy]

Good news, though you do realise @Stuart Wright that it's all your fault I spend too much on tech and spent ages on the living room after hours of trawling through the DIY threads

 

[Stuart Wright]

Are you going to be importing paid subscriptions from vb3 ?

We don't have any paid subscriptions. I haven't found a reason to use them.

This is a nifty idea Do people complain that they cant access the classifieds? If so, what is there reaction when they tell them it is due to banner blocking?

No they don't ask as we have a permanent message under their Avatar in their drop-down menu that lets them know why their access to the site is restricted.
Often they will just unblock ads for AVForums, but we still have 4,079 ad blockers (out of 277,355 members plus 937 barred from trading in the classifieds plus 28,716 banned accounts).

 

[Stuart Wright]

Good news, though you do realise @Stuart Wright that it's all your fault I spend too much on tech and spent ages on the living room after hours of trawling through the DIY threads

But you got a system to be proud of, right? And you understand why it's better than if you'd just plonked some kit in the room.

 

[Lee]

Great. We've written a complete bespoke CMS and front end for the news, reviews and articles covering home cinema, gadgets, movies and games (and pretty much anything else) at AVForums and it will all work within the Xenforo framework.
Writing user reviews will, for example, get people trophy points. Though I still haven't got a good plan on how to make trophy points worth more than cudos. Which I think they need to be.
The editorial system is so bespoke that it's unlikely to suit anyone else's needs. And it's been extremely expensive. And it will be so good that I don't want to lose our competitive advantage by allowing it out.


Thanks. I would wait to see what they are like, first as they may not do what you need.
The adblocker currently checks for a commonly blocked element of advertising and if it's been blocked, a secondary usergroup is activated for that member which limits their private messages to 5, prevents them from participating in our classifieds, stops the downloading of thumbnails and a few other things. It's toggled automatically dependent upon the presence of this advertising element.
Obviously it's a contentious issue, but without advertising, there would be no AVForums, so I think we're justified in giving more to those people who allow the ads.

Who is making your CMS for you?

 

[Hornstar]

Do you think the fast importer will work with 3.8.7? And will you release that as paid or free?

 

[Arkshine]

Great news. By the way, just take a look at your forum, it's awful fast & reactive. Rarely seen such site, I'm kind of amazed.

 

[James]

The adblocker currently checks for a commonly blocked element of advertising and if it's been blocked, a secondary usergroup is activated for that member which limits their private messages to 5, prevents them from participating in our classifieds, stops the downloading of thumbnails and a few other things. It's toggled automatically dependent upon the presence of this advertising element.
Obviously it's a contentious issue, but without advertising, there would be no AVForums, so I think we're justified in giving more to those people who allow the ads.

I really like that idea. It encourages people to keep ads enabled.

 

[Stuart Wright]

Who is making your CMS for you?

John Warwick, a veteran vB coder, now learning XF.

Do you think the fast importer will work with 3.8.7? And will you release that as paid or free?

I don't know, I'm afraid. Jake is the person to ask. I'm paying him to make our import work. Nothing more than that. I did ask Jake if he wanted to release it, but he's not interested in supporting it.

Great news. By the way, just take a look at your forum, it's awful fast & reactive. Rarely seen such site, I'm kind of amazed.

Thanks, but since it's vB3, if it *is* fast and reactive it's because we spend ££££ a month on servers. Once we move to Xenforo I expect it to be lightening quick by comparison.

 

[Hornstar]

@Jake Bunce will the fast import that you're making work on vb3.8.7?
And will you release it paid or free?

When I did my trial import it took me over a day, so I'd like to cut that down

 

[Lee]

John Warwick, a veteran vB coder, now learning XF.

I don't know, I'm afraid. Jake is the person to ask. I'm paying him to make our import work. Nothing more than that. I did ask Jake if he wanted to release it, but he's not interested in supporting it.

Thanks, but since it's vB3, if it *is* fast and reactive it's because we spend ££££ a month on servers. Once we move to Xenforo I expect it to be lightening quick by comparison.

Sweet. I have been thinking about getting something like that made up.

Might write a feature draft and get it sorted - we shall see

 

[0ptima]

Once we move to Xenforo I expect it to be lightening quick by comparison.

Please update the XF community with your performance results before/post upgrade.

 

[John]

Congrats Stuart, I know you've been wanting to do this since our private screening of XF 3 years ago, nearly. All the best to you!

 

[Jake Bunce]

@Jake Bunce will the fast import that you're making work on vb3.8.7?

Yes.

And will you release it paid or free?

Paid. It's DP's importer with modifications by Slavik and I.

 

[Hornstar]

Very happy to hear we (3.8 boards) will have access to a fast importer.