I hate it, some of you hate it, and the rest of you didn't even knew what am I talking about. Its like 1AM here in my timezone and I'm making a ruckus yet again on BBS, I'm talking about these "Who is still here" threads people made just because the site looks dead.

https://dollars-bbs.org/main/res/1583559736.html
https://dollars-bbs.org/main/res/1589547887.html

So here I am trying to propose an idea, what if we create a thread specifically for people to reply once a week or month just to check their online status. Like, we would count them up on every occasion or let people know how many replied from when to when.

I know, there are a lot of faulty here on this concept. Like multiple devices and double posting, and even the whole point. You might be wondering, 'why don't we just make a discussion thread entirely'. YES, I GET IT.

So please, give me your piece of thoughts. Dollars had discussed something like this before, The Genesis of Personal board. This site's foundation is based around the community's will, and I wonder if any of you would speak up. Dollars is a community they said, and I'm starting to wonder if the 'community' that were left here is just the RTT gang on Random board, or if there are still dozens of you lurking behind shadows waiting for the right time to come out.

Damn, I sounded like a delusional or something.

I'm like a REALLY new member of the Dollars but I don't think you don't sound delusional.

I really like this idea but honestly have no idea about how to get it going but if you're looking for support, you have mine. If this idea sticks then I think this site would become a lot more active because members will realise that there are indeed a lot of other Dollars out there, they might just not post or might not post often.

This would also allow for us to get a jist of how many Dollars there actually are because even though there have been a lot of dollars in the past, a lot of them aren't active now soooo.... Yeah, I really like this idea and I'd totally be on board with checking in every week.

To ilustrate how this site had changed over the years, we have something similar before. The 'Going to be Gone:Status update'.

https://dollars-bbs.org/main/res/1345781352.html

The title itself gave you an image, a window to the past if you will. How the site used to be so full of activity, so much that you wouldn't need to know how many of us were currently active because people were actually lurking and posting replies here and there. So much that they made a thread to tell people to turn themselves in when they felt like going offline from the site.

The question back then was 'How many of us are there?' because the community is thriving. In that case, no one can give you the number, because everyone is so damn active and replied to every thread every few minutes or so.

The question we now have is 'How many of us still visiting the web?' because the site lacks their once-glorious activity. And with the now-stagnant number of members with some new people joining in every month, I think its safe to try counting up now.

We've been avoiding this question from new members for quite some time and I think it's about time we shed some lights on those.

Also people who are experienced in coding and old enough to see the member counter back then, what do you think about bringing them back?

>>2 Thanks for even replying to the thread man, it means so much to me.

Maybe we should recreate going to be gone thread into "Im gonna be gone" and "Im back" thread but I dont have any particular template yet. If you can construct something I can check it for you and let's ask a few active members if they would like that and to which board should we post it.

This thread itself was supposed to spark discussion among members but it seemed to have failed. Regardless, I'll think of something that could replace the Status thread. Also trying to ask about bringing back the member counter, I've sent an email to the admin yesterday. Should just take a few days to get a reply, thanks for dropping in Kuro.

So the bad news, we can't add that member counter. We can't request an edit to be applied on the site anymore, so it's going to stay like this for the next decade or so. Assuming it survives to the next decade, hopefully.

So the only choice we now have is coming up with that potentially new thread format, just to give an update to you guys lurking around.

15k is a lot for a month lol

>>3 im on board too. i like the whole 'How many of us still visiting the web?' idea. im curious too. tho i really don't know how to help. zero coding knowledge at all. truth is i'm just a lurker TT here for the missions board. missions and personal rarely random. lol that already sounds unhelpful, just lurking. maybe i can commit to being more active?? eek sorry man, really don't have an idea how to help.

>>6 also that's sad, but understandable

The problem is that some people only visited certain boards, notably ramnik5 on Art board and NZPIEFACE on Random board.

Also, it's good enough that you visited Mission and Personal. They're the only boards that contributes to actual 'world-better-ing-ization' that helps people and the world, you can actually keep doing that. I myself try to visit every board when I got the time, which I still have due to the lockdown.

Anyway, if we want to make this work, with the current situation of people only visiting certain boards which they prefer, we will need to make the thread in every board with some exception.

I mean, who even visits the Sports board? I remember this one occasion in 2017 or 2018 where a troll cluttered that board and it took us a few days to even realize there's a mess needs cleaning, funny times.

Hmmmm. Yes I guess so. That could work.
And maybe some boards should be archived?? Or removed even? Maybe there should be a poll? Is that possible? And speaking of maybe a poll should be a regular thing just to feel the pulse of the members?

It doesn't need to be removed I think, those boards were just fell out of use. Only time will tell if the future members will take an interest on Sports or not.

Poll is unlikely, although we need to cross-check with Reltair first about their addition. He said he didn't have any plans to modify the web code or something.

So our safest best option is to create an interactive user-driven thread, whatever that is and however we did that. I wanna see how many people actually visited as well.

Guess I sounded like an old man refusing to bend to the technological advancement huh?

Well you could be an old man. But that doesn't matter haha
Hmmmm I guess "interactive user-driven thread" means something like a thread that's always always active I guess?? Which is.... Kinda makes us stuck at a wall.

Yeah, basically a thread with a specific instruction on the first post on how people were supposed to use / reply / identify themselves on the thread.

But then again, its a bulletin board system website. People were supposed to post something to let everybody know that they were there, then its up to the lurkers decision if they want to step into the spotlight or not as they decide whether to reply or not.

Like, I wouldn't even notice you had been on the site doing Missions and helping people out on Personal board if you never reply here and told me or anyone lurking out there about it.

We're stuck in the brainstorming session it seems.

we are.

Hello everybody else. What do you think?

Considering the super low usage of Suggestion board, I'd bet no one actually visits this place frequently.

But if anyone is there, reply now so you can debunk this statement!

Anyway, thread derailed lolol

Howdy. It's-a me, Chipsa-san. :P

>>16 Oh, haven't seen your name in a few days lately. So that's one spectator down.

I second the idea! I think it's cool to have something to give you an idea of who you can expect to see around on the boards and who might disappear for a while

Okay, got an idea.

We close this old thread here on >>3 and make a new one with an improved caption. We rework the rules of determining whether someone is lurking or not, we pick a reset date so everyone needs to explain their situation every month whether they'll be able to lurk and called out on the site or not.

I'd imagine it sounded along the lines of something like this :
____________________________

Check if a member you were looking for is lurking on the site!

Put up your status here! Update yours every time its the 10th day of the month, or else you'll be declared as dead until we get further notice from you.

Going to be here 24/7 this month? Tell us! Going to be gone for some predetermined date? Also tell us! So we didn't need to be worried, you know? Tell us when can you visit and will visit the site, so everyone know what you're up to or could ask what we you up to. Or just lurk and read, if you didn't want to be called out.
____________________________

You get the idea, feel free to point out any flaws on this system I might've missed. Or just blatantly ask if you still haven't understand how this would work, no one is gonna be mad heh.

No replies for 2 consecutive days, I'd assume you all lurked and see no flaw whatsoever.

Well here is what I noticed, tripless user! They're out there, and their nickname will be a primary target for trolls to use. Unless they're confident that people wouldn't be able to easily act themselves out, or if they're fine if their name are being used.

Anyone got a suggestion? Or are we going to leave this problem to the tripless member alone? But yeah, we haven't got raided by trolls for quite some time. Tis a good era for Dollars thus far, better leave those online wars in myths.

Hmmmmm, I feel as if the people that would be inclined to let us know that they're part of the active community are
1) mostly people with trips
2) people that will be hard to impersonate
Certainly nowadays, when regular active members are at what seems to be an almost alltime low.

Sooooo I don't think your flaw is as much of a flaw

Good point eh, so we gotta link a tripcode explanation thread on the first post somehow, or maybe redirect them to FAQ or the likes.

Now that it's all out of the way, I want to talk about the monthly date. Ye, what do you guys think? Picking a number doesn't seem to be that hard, or is it?

Feel free to point out any flaws on the concept as soon as you saw it, even if we're currently moving on to discuss something else regarding the thread concept.

Things to include in the first post:
- Tripcode explanation/FAQ/RTIYN thread link.
- The day of information report (monthly).
More to be added.

Iiiii think you're ready to make that thread, sir. I thought for a while but can't come up with anything else that you should include in that. Maybe I'm overlooking something important? I don't know. It seems pretty straightforward for me.

People get tripcode, let know they're alive on a specific day, or post to let us know that they died, maybe include a tiny life update in the post (I'll be on vacation, I'll be doing exams, etc.), and off they go.

>>23 Summarizes quite beautifully.

Time to start making drafts I guess, will update when progress were made. Feel free to still let me know about any 'flaw' if you managed to find any, or suggestions that contributes to the creation of the thread.

shameless bump

I'm sorry for not really giving much input about this; you see, I could use an update board now, to let you know I'm busy focusing on exams for a short while :p. The irony

>>26 :P sure m8 lmao

Another thing someone pointed out in RTT, we had a Global Map of Dollars member. The problem is, trolls would always delete them.

Nyanka then spoke, that she once tried deleting the pins monthly to get accurate numbers of the current active members. But the trolls kept deleting them every week or so, and she gave up shortly after.

The idea is to integrate both of these elements into one thread, I'd guess.

Maybe everyone should add their coordinates in the status update posts?

I didn't finish to read all the replies but i will later and i just wanted to ask something: isn't the whole point on like everybody staying online on all the boards? And i was wondering if the random board is like a board where we can all talk with each other like chilling as Dollars's member.
I'm a little bit new so maybe i still haven't get the whole thing.
Btw i wish there was a board where we could just talk.

>>29 Yes, but the member nowadays are such a cry baby that they want an exact numbers.

Also yes, Random is like the free lounge to talk. Random Thought Thread to be exact, anywhere else then you gotta stick to the theme. Apparently its the reason Random board is acting as the last light of activity on the site, at least IMO.

You could technically chat on Main board, but the topic must weigh something to support intelligent discussion. If you read the old replies, people would sometimes went off-topic and derail the conversation direction before someone yelled at them or they remember to go back on topic. Guess you could commit that lol.

About the whole board system, it's a bit of a flawed design actually. All those boards were added because people are demanding for it (except for some few). But now that those folks are gone, the place is deserted as you can see today.

idk why but yesterday it didn't upload it, but okay.

>>19 I think that's a great idea and
>>22
>>23
Also these, about the tripcode and the tiny life update, I really like that.
The idea of choosing a day (like 10th) and have to post every 10th day of the month its great and I was thinking:
We could post every 10th day of the month to prove that we're still here but also post whenever we feel to (it’s obvious, but okay-)
So, for me we can already do another thread with all these points.

That wraps it up, then? Or do we drag some people from the RTT over here to give their 10 cents?

Nah, no need. I'm working on it right now, give me time.

Your newly and improved Status Update thread has finally arrived, let everyone on Dollars knew you are HERE!

How this works? Post a glimpse of your current condition of life on the 10th day every month, tell us about when can you visit the site and potentially reply to threads. Make sure you're using a tripcode to avoid being mistaken for someone with the same name as you, or just avoiding blatant impostors.

[Tripcode Guide/Tripcode You Shouldn't Use]

Tripcode you shouldn't use will link to this thread right here

https://dollars-bbs.org/test/res/1315259692.html

Guide on Tripcodes, stolen from FAQ.

Q: How the fuck do I correctly set up the password/tripcode?

A: Simple. Put in !typewhatevershithere and then you get !somenumbershithereorwhatever. People usually get the same password because they... used the same password. They put in !password or whatever and then they get the same shit. Replacing the exclamation mark for a hash(#) also works in making a tripcode.

Wait so I'm kinda confused: where is this thread meant to be cause I can't find it 😅

It is supposed to replace the existing Status Update thread, so it doesn't exist yet xP but it'll definitely be up on Main soon.

Just some few final touches.

ohhh ok cool!

I think that would be a great idea. Then we could finally see how many people are really in the Dollars.

>>40 I'd bet we only have around 20-40 people every month

Thanks Firion, you're a true hero. I can't wait for this thread, it might spark something :)

I agree with you!!!

Your newly improved Status Update thread has finally arrived, let everyone on Dollars knew you're up there silently staring at them!

How this works? Post a glimpse of your current life condition every month, the main point is to inform us about when can you visit the site and skim the boards (and which board are you lurking in) to reply on threads. Make sure you're using a tripcode to avoid being mistaken for someone with the same name as you, or sometimes just blatant impostors.

Your status information is considered valid up to the 10th day next month, this way we could get an idea on how many people really lurked. If your status wasn't updated after the 10th day, we'll assume you're not around to visit the site until proven otherwise.

----

trying to tweak it a bit

So where do we find this thread once its finished?

On Main, fucking Main mate. I need to blow some fresh breath of air on that damned board.

Your newly improved Status Update thread has finally arrived, let everyone on Dollars knew you're up there silently staring at their replies!

How this works? Post a glimpse of your current life condition every month, the main point is to inform us about when can you visit the site and skim the boards (and which board you usually lurks in) to potentially reply on threads.

Your status information is considered valid up to the 10th day of next month, this way we could get an idea on how many people really lurked per month. If your status wasn't updated a month after, we'll assume you're not around to visit the site until proven otherwise.

------

Yeah, I think this is all. Any critics and advice to improve this are still open until next week, I'm getting tired of people making a thread asking if anyone is still alive on Main lmao. Better put this up front so I can redirect those guys to the right place.

Also removed the tripcode part, I think we're safe not using it for the time being. The site hasn't come across any drama for god knows how long, so I guess we'll be fine most of the time.

The thread is now up, mod please close this thread.