Search feature should also be in the plans of gettin fixed
One of the ways we can do that is through a planned auto-archive feature, which would also have the effect of eliminating "grave digging." Rather than purging all posts beyond page 20, which used to be the case under ezboard, or storing tens of thousands of posts in our active forums, as we've done with Yuku, it makes sense to automatically move old posts to corresponding archive forums, where users can still view, but not reply, to them. This would help prevent some of the performance issues we experienced this year from recurring as the complexity of the database increases, while at the same time making our primary discussion forums easier to browse and search.
One of the problems people have with the search now is that they get too many results due to vague or general search terms and if they sort by relevance rather than date, odds are they're going to get a ton of topics from months and even years ago. Auto-archiving would ensure that you only receive recent posts in your search results - unless you choose to include the corresponding archive forum(s) in your search.
Down the road, it may be possible to use some very cool trend recognition technology to develop a set of evolving standardized search tags. The current search tag feature is worthless because (1) users don't use them and (2) if they do, they rarely take the time to match their tags with existing ones. Using a "jordan" tag in the jordan forum is worthless, but using "13" to refer to the "XIII" or "AJXIII" prevents the tag from accurately encapsulating all related content. We also have the problem of idiots using search tags as secondary punchlines. (Like the "Vol." trend wasn't bad enough.) An "intelligent," adaptive search tag feature is the only way to make search tags functional on a large forum. Otherwise, you need editorial control (as per newsblogs) or a very coordinated user base to maintain standardized tags.
We know that many people choose NikeTalk for the latest sneaker news, but find it difficult to keep up with our fast moving forums. We have some solutions in mind that will leverage the full power of our forums without dumbing down the forum experience for our core group of regulars.
Ask Meth of the dimensions and build some, then ask him to implement it. I know you guys aren't going to ask Meth to make the banner also.
In general that's a nice idea. I'm not, by any stretch, a graphic design artist, but out of necessity I've had to create the Dr. King tribute banner, the NT logo, the original t-shirt design, etc. Back in the day, I also had to hand code the old NikeChat website and the rules page in a text editor - and that had me playing out of position like Magic Johnson starting at center in game 6.
Our greatest strength is our diversity. It doesn't make sense for us to slap together a banner like this
in under 5 minutes if an artist is passionate enough about the idea to really give it the time and effort it deserves.
It's definitely something we'd consider, but I wouldn't worry about it until next year. I can't even give you standard banner dimensions because I honestly don't know what they'll be at that time.
I also want to avoid the temptation to do what Google does and create 365 different banners, because that makes it less meaningful when we do use an alternate.
