Dollars-BBS has gone through increases and decreases of membership over the years with many users wanting to keep it at a steady increase. There are always missions sprouting up about raising our numbers in response to that. However, those ideas are often shot down because we simply can't handle a large influx of users with how the site is set up.

There are a lot of different ways to respond to this issue and all sorts of suggestions that could be made to Reltair. We could increase our moderators or make the site more technically secure to handle a larger influx. Or do nothing while still advertising and let the site devolve into anarchy. Or, we can just stay how we are and keep avoiding greater recognition, sticking to the close-kit community of the BBS. Or whatever you think could be done (bringing me to the main point):

What is your opinion, as a member of the community, about what (if anything) could be done with this? Reltair may opt for no change to anything in the end, but I figured it'd be nice to see what others think with regard to increasing the memberbase or fixing the site to handle it.

tl;dr: We can't advertise the site or do any big projects with it or else newfags and trolls will rape every board immediately. What do????

Ok... I got a lot to say to this. Are there even moderators?

Anyways, the real problem here is that this site is totally anonymous, and the way it is laid out you CANNOT expect it to be organized or rather cannot even attempt to organize it unless you want a hoard of moderators working full-time to clean the boards, which even then won't do much since you have to resort to permasaging.

If there was accounts, it would actually allow for more moderation since people would be more worried about bans and would be more aware of their account's reputation.

Another thing is that since this is based off the group from Durarara, people expect it to follow the same concept, and that is that there is no actual leader, there are no rules. So when you say "anarchy", you're actually speaking nonsense as there isn't any real authority to go against except the site developer (which as in the anime, isn't very active).

Lastly, advertising isn't what will drive this group to be something bigger, it's actual leadership or cooperation between members. Unlike in DRRR, the group is spread out in the world, so problems associated with the group itself are very generic rather than specific. As long as the site continues to be in the format it is now, it won't move away from a fan-site where people can share ideas and things anonymously.

>>2 Yes, there are moderators.

"Are there even moderators?"
Yes. This site's just a project of Reltair's - not all his livelihood. We rely on moderators to take care of most of the spam and such.

"the real problem here is that this site is totally anonymous, and the way it is laid out you CANNOT expect it to be organized"
It wouldn't be the first time an anonymous board got its shit together through a little bit of organization. It's not some massive project that nobody has ever succeeded in doing before.

"If there was accounts, it would actually allow for more moderation since people would be more worried about bans and would be more aware of their account's reputation."
Banning members is already a feature we have. Banning people is the same with or without anonymity; the only difference on a site with accounts is that the account also gets deleted or frozen.

"people expect it to follow the same concept"
That's their problem, not ours. Their misconceptions that nothing to do with how the actually site can be set up.

"it's actual leadership or cooperation between members"
That has nothing to do with what this thread is about. I'm not talking about expanding the group or making some high functioning gang - I'm only talking about site traffic. It's not about what kind of advertising is better or how people should communicate. I could care less about that; we're just discussing how the site could handle a large flow of visitors.

"As long as the site continues to be in the format it is now"
That's literally the entire reason this thread was made - to discuss other back-end formats we can use to organize it better.

have nothing*
dayum typos.

Also with accounts, that's a lot of shit aside from topics and posts the database would have to keep record of. Without accounts, it will keep site-lag down to a minimum.

>>4

Ok, sorry for not properly understanding your rather unclear question. After further analysing your comments I think you're asking how to have more users frequenting the site while keeping the forums organized.

Well first of all, try dealing with it at is it now. It's very unorganized and people make threads in the wrong place all the time. If you can improve the organization and reduce misplaced threads, that's a start.

If you can manage that, then you might want to later on clarify what this site is about. If it's not a fan-site based off the Dollars group from DRRR, you should probably make it very clear of what this site actually is.

After this is done I think it would be a good time to "advertise" or whatever, if you want.

I'll leave this here in case you actually choose to care what I think, as from your last reply it doesn't seem that you take arguments too well.

>>7 "If you can improve the organization and reduce misplaced threads, that's a start." We've been "improving the organization" for years now, directing noobs to the right boards, getting mods to permasage misplaced threads, covering Main in every kind of "how-to" and help guide thread we can make, etc. But there's only so much we can do on the user end.

"you should probably make it very clear of what this site actually is" Have you ever bothered to read the About that's always linked at the top of every page? Or the FAQ that's on the first page of the site when you log in? Both of those explain what the site is about and what it is.

"After this is done I think it would be a good time to 'advertise'" No, because we've already done that, and it doesn't work. That's why I'm saying we need to discuss what can be done with the actual back-end of the site, as said in the last post. The back-end is the technical side, not the user side. It's security measures we can request the admin to implement since we're running out of options as users.

"it doesn't seem that you take arguments too well." Since when was anyone arguing? o-o This is just a casual conversation last I checked. You need to chill if you think my explaining the purpose of a thread is an attempt at an argument.

I've always been one to treasure the close-knit communities I'm a part of and have been rather glad that the BBS, for better or worse, has stayed close-knit for the years I've been here. However, now that I have outside contact info for a lot of my friends here (as they do mine), I don't find it real necessary for the BBS to maintain its generally low-key but not quite circlejerky community atmosphere. I wouldn't be opposed to it staying the same as it is, but I do find it fun when cool new folk come by and decide to stay and get to know the site and the rest of us. While advertising would add people, it's also a total uncertainty what kind of responses and in what quantity those participating in the influx will exhibit.

Advertising the BBS in the wrong places is essentially asking for trouble. The internet is a big place, and just about the only thing bigger than it is the amount time on the hands of those who reside on it too long for their own good. I say if we advertise, do so with relative caution and expect to be held accountable if you knowingly advertise the BBS in a place with people prone to attack it. What that accountability is exactly, I don't know. I think a ban would seem too harsh without repeated offenses, but you guys can discuss the plausibility and options of that if you want.

I think more importantly, especially with three split-cour runs of DRRR!! occurring over the next 18-ish months (and the time afterwards/during that it will likely be dubbed), it would be foolish to underestimate the impact the average "come once, don't read FAQ, post bullshit, never return" guy has on the site. And the sheer number of them, dear oh dear, the number. It's going to take more than one or two mods like we currently have in order to keep us as clean then as those one or two are now. I believe you were here back when season 1 was actively airing in the States, Barabi, and I'm sure you remember how much worse the clutter was then compared to how it's been the last year or so. For anyone who wasn't; really, it's terrible. Prepare your anuses.

So ultimately it wouldn't hurt to ask Reltair for new mod appointments regardless of site advertising. We're gonna need it soon.

Along with that, I think the two other things that would help (and they would go at odds with the site aesthetics though frankly I care less and less for that excuse over improved functionality each day) are:

-----a reorganization of Main so that the About page isn't its own thing but instead a permanent block at the top of the Main board, directing people to an FAQ as its own mod-operated page instead of a thread that needs continuous bumping and recreating every couple of months. Sort of like the Help page is now, except, ya know, the whole FAQ instead.
and
-----in some kind of clear and noticeable text, near the Create New Thread button, an explicit reminder for people to look at View All Threads before they commence creating a new thread. Hasty creation of duplicate threads remains the most common rule broken here, and while that's obviously the fault of the creator and those who don't read the FAQ, it's something that, by restating our rule in a more prominent place, could decrease in frequency. Again, I understand both of those things would be overhauls of a system we've defended for a long time as efficient but it's obviously not completely alright or we wouldn't deal with those problems as often as we do. I apologize if either of those things have been discussed and/or discarded prior to this as I don't visit Suggestions often, but they seem plausible to me and I don't see the harm in trying even if they don't succeed.

apologies for possible typos in advance

>>9 Exactly. I didn't want to say it explicitly since it seemed like a bad omen, but that's my biggest concern: season two is coming, and the collective anus of the BBS isn't ready. And yeah, I was here all through Durr's runtime in the states. It's hell. The influx will be even worse this time since all the people who already know about the site are going to be reminded as it airs and tell even more new people.

I really like both of these ideas. The first one reminds me of one we discussed way back about having the password redirect to a page with a welcome guide that you have to read to find the main password. The second one also sounds like it could be super easy for Reltair to implement above the side and bottom "Create New Thread" buttons.

I think almost every problem we have with our current population (ie., no large influx of users) is more mods and stickies. Sticky the Read This If You're New, have a thread like that for every single board stickied, and more mods.

Our system as it stands puts anyone new at a fairly significant disadvantage. Most new users here have never, ever used a BBS before. We should keep this in mind when we decide what to do from here.

More people coming in would require a rework of the site, and I don't think Reltair really has time for that. Besides, if you want larger communities online, you can go to reddit or something. I like the smaller community. I'm fine with less users and less traffic. We already have a giant free advertisement (eg, DRRR!!) that will continue to draw users for years. If we ever run low, we can start invites. I see no need for any other ads.

>>11 Er, "can be solved with" more mods and stickies...

After reading all of the post stated here I will now make my comment known.

Despite what reality has in stored for us we ultimately must come to a better decision than what we are making. It would be best to both have more moderators and moving to a more secure site. The bigger challenge is once this site is made; will we go on to being who we are now? Or will we become what we have aimed to be. Currently I feel we have not done anything to which created this atmosphere of "The Dollars" I don't feel like there has been actual reactions to what has been created. I cant say I am new here only due to me being on here off and on. Using different internet sources and IPs None the less it will not matter if we do this change unless things will actually change with us. Though this may seem harsh it is only me speaking truthfully about the subject.

>>11 I don't mean just advertising the site on banners or some shit like that. Unintentional shit. For example, there are some reasonable Mission ideas that I hate shooting down, but we have to because they'd draw too much attention to the site and flood the boards. And in general, I don't think people should need to second guess themselves before mentioning the site in fear some troll will come and rape the boards when the mod is on vacation. I don't think the site's design should be such a limiting factor for its members.

Do you really think people are going to read the stickies? I know that I usually skip right over them when I'm on a forum with stickies at the top. As discussed previously, we're pretty sure Kareha couldn't support them, right? :o

bump over saged :o

What if we suggested to our good friends to join? You know tell the ones who are in a good group and who's friends of friends are also in the good group. >>16 I agree with the no banner thing since I know a few people who go out of their way just to do that.

>>17 Even if we invite just people we know, more people still find the site on a regular basis :O The second season is coming soon, which means a ton of people who watch it are going to look up the Dollars to see if it's legit, and we're the fourth result in Google. (It was the first for a while, surpassing any mention of the currency. A new site and Wikipedia adjusted their SEO to fix that a bit ago lol)

so there's gonna be floods of people no matter whut we do. It's just about handling them :o

How could we make this site more technically secure? Sorry, I'm not exactly computer Savvy. And I have suggestions but I'm not on here often. One thing I'd like to suggest (and please keep in mind I'm not exactly computer savvy) is separate. Make smaller cells of dollars. Have links to other websites for each country. And have one moderator for each. Please no need to be rude. If this plan seems too far fetched, simply tell me so. ( I've had rude people shoot me down in the past)

>>19 This is actually a pretty sound idea, but I think it would be better to have this in addition to what we have now. I do think the region should be population defined to maintain anonymity... (excluding cities of course) This would make things safe for people who might live far away from others and would otherwise be tracked down easily for whatever reason.

>>18 Glad someone else is thinking along these lines... I am also worried about this but I think that there are also plenty of people willing to help fix any problems that crop up... I myself am not experienced but perhaps asking these questions in the technology threads and such would help us out...

>mfw 60 permasaged threads on Main

I'm reconsidering that post I made on the thread about locking Main from posts :| That might not be a bad idea.

>>19 - >>21 This is too far fetched. If you want a new site for your group that's technically secured, make it yourself (and don't advertise it here). I can't imagine Reltair making different sites with unique mods for every single cell.

>>22 Or, we could remove the Create New Thread shortcut so people don't know how to make threads before they know how to make them properly.

If you look at the number of legitimate threads created per day, it becomes clear the shortcut does not save a great deal of time for anyone.

>>23

Maybe only for Main?

>>24 At least for Main. Perhaps that's the only board that really has a problem with that button, but there's clearly an issue if no one is making threads properly.

bumping this thread

Here's what I say:

- Keep the anonymous posting
- Keep using Kareha or whatever software this is based off of, but feel free to modify it at will
- Add in re-captcha captchas for anyone that posts too often. This can be done easily in PHP or whatever language you like, but make sure you use a captcha like ReCaptcha because most others can be cracked with simple OCR algorithms.
- Allow more topics per board. Maybe 10 or 15? the current limit feels really small and makes the site seem really inactive if you don't come here often. It also pushes older threads off the board extremely quickly
- Update the copyright date (It says 2012 is the most recent copyright .-.)

If you want, I could also look through the site source to make sure you don't have any obvious vulnerabilities, or run the site through a web vuln checker. That could keep us safe from the security standpoint.

Anyway, that's everything I can think of. Feel free to comment on it.

>>27 >feel free to modify it at will

Easier said than done, unfortunately. This is a source of problems we have had in the past.

>>28
What do you mean? You've had problems when modifying the textboard software?

I do computer security and program IRL so I could help if you guys run into any problems or anything.

>>28 >Easier said than done, unfortunately. This is a source of problems we have had in the past.

Why not use another(open-source recommended) framework?
Please don't kill me.

>>30 It would require a lot of work, and no one has expressed interest in doing this.

To be fair, the site works right now, so it might not be worth it for a handful of upgrades or bonuses. If you look in the Technology board, there have been countless developers that have expressed interest in creating a simple mobile app for the site, and have never actually produced it. If that's the case, I can't see someone recreating the entire site.

It's a big job and no one would get paid for it. That's the main issue.

>>30 That's the same as creating an entirely new site, and it's not really up to us to decide on a huge change like that.

>>23 I'm up for this.

BarabiSama, you make an extremely good point and i feel a great deal of good can come from this. I feel this has been on a lot of minds, and thank you for bringing this to light where it can be discussed. I support this and will follow this thread for as long as it concerns others, if you need help with anything please let me know. I'm a person that can do a lot with whatever is in front of me at the moment, just let me know if you ever need an extra set of hands for anything.

I agree with >>33 I think it is already pretty big. It would be nice if we can support the growing number of members. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions on how to fix the issue you present. Also, although we may get trolls, you saw in DRRR the site ends up taking a life of it's own with all sorts of people. But the anime and it's fans who can recruit others are definitely advertise enough for this website.

We should just switch to TinyBoard and import all the BBS pages.
Wouldn't be hard to do.

.