State of the forum 01-06-2002

[M. A. Dockter]

The following address has been posted here in order to provide an arena for feedback and comments. No special rules apply, nor are any of the existing rules exempt from enforcement in this thread, so please be advised.
After-Post Notice: This is a very long post.

It's been since early 1999 that these forums have been up and running in their current state. Few of us reading this can remember a time when the PC Mechanic forums were nothing less than a threaded text based forum. If we had 100 regular visitors, we were lucky. Now, we use a PHP front end and a SQL database that provides 10000+ users accounts. The system might have changed, but the wealth of information within has not changed. I remember when I first found PC Mech. It was actually through the forums. I was having some bad difficulty with a friend's old 486 computer that was recently upgraded to Windows 95. There was a warning message upon bootup that there were two different Drivespace drivers loaded, obviously conflicting with each other. Config.sys and Autoexec.bat were cleaned, I couldn't figure out what the deal was. Eventually, the situation was resolved. That was a long time ago. Now we cover a wide variety of topics; we have many more forums of discussion that we ever did before. We started out with a CGI and text based forum called UBB, and migrated and continue to use VB 2.0. When we moved from that text based threaded forum to UBB, it was amazing. We had the ability to create sub-forums for individual topics and assign moderators to those forums that were able delete discussions and edit each and every post. Times have changed. We can now pretty much do everything and anything we have ever wanted to VB 2.0. We have PMs, many, many more moderators than I ever thought we'd have, and an incredible number of users, a number I thought we'd never see. From the beginning, the small staff of moderators and I have worked to make this forum a place for free technical discussion for anyone. We don't cater to "haxorz" or techno geeks or any group. We only cater to decent people willing to have civil discussion, those that wish to provide help, those that desperately (or not so) need help with their PC, or folks that just want to saddle up in the General Discussion forum and converse with the great user base we are now known for. We range from the conspiracy minded Texans, to Middle aged professionals, to 12-year-old children, to grandmas that just want to fix their computer so they can email their family. We are lawyers, network administrators, programmers, A/V wizards, unemployed, bus drivers, doctors, and teachers. I am the administrator of these forums. I have been ever since we moved away from that threaded forum long ago. The folks that have been here as long as I have know me well, in fact, most of them now serve with me as staff on the forums. Some of them have contributed to the articles on pcmech.com and maximum3d.com. We have worked for over 2 years to provide a place for anyone to post, so long as they kept discussion legal, respectful, and morally decent. The moderators are diverse as the user base, except for the initial crew, which in majority has long since departed, they are hand picked from the user base as above average posters by the moderators and myself as a whole. We work for free, we do this because it's fun, and we do this because we enjoy it. I personally enjoy seeing all the posts of people finding these forums. They come via word of mouth; they have heard great things about this place. Nice people, helpful people, civil atmosphere. I like to think of it as most other forums, except without a thousand boneheads trying to start a fight with you just because they can't get into trouble. Many of you do not know how exactly the "Staff Lounge" works. In fact, most of you see a category for it, but do not see any forums within it. Inside, every moderator, PC Media President David Risley, Maximum3D.com Chief Editor Scott Meyers and myself all conduct the every day business of the forums. As a whole, we read every post made on the forums, sometimes even twice. We alert each other to threads that we feel violate decency policies, or those that could possibly erupt into a "flame war." We issue users warnings, and some extreme cases we vote for banishment of a user. Each of us has one vote, including myself, and the two other individuals that are not moderators but yet have access to the admin forum. As the administrator, I have the responsibility to keep these forums running smoothly. I report to David Risley in these matters, as his time is drawn thin with all the other issues that concern PC Media. He's a busy guy doing web development, and he's good at it. I am the one that usually does the dirty work such as banishment, and up until recently when my time was temporarily limited, I assisted in forum software upgrades and what not. I create the new forums and I do a lot of behind the scenes work. Because of this, I am sometimes viewed as a jerk or my actions as harsh and intolerant. I am not upset with that, nor does it bother me. If I would have it any other way I don't think I would. I enjoy reading all the posts saying that people are happy to be here, and heard from so-and-so that it was a great place. If I have to be a total arse to keep that up, I will do so. I can say with honesty that I only remove the users that I feel will tarnish the environment we have here at PC Mechanic. Recently a user gave some information to a Webmaster of another forum that caused a very big PR Disaster. This would not be a big deal, but the user was a moderator, and this partial information that they leaked was from the private Admin forum, a place that is secret so that there is no outside influences effecting our decisions. This has now changed, as one of our own leaked information out which was seemed to me to maliciously make Maximum3D's Scott look like a jerk, which in fact he is not, and if he released the context to which the statement was made, it would not carry the connotation it did. Moderators are afraid to say what they feel inside of the Staff Forum. This has me upset, beyond upset. I can assure each and every one of you that this moderator has not just caused a serious blemish on the environment and reputation of PC Mechanic Forums, but has ensured for himself or herself and anyone aligned with them repercussions far and beyond what has been seen here at PC Mechanic. If anyone thinks I'm bluffing, you obviously haven't been around long enough, or do not know me well enough, to realize the extent of what I am willing to do in order to return these forums to a state which is once again free of fecal matter such as this. Most of you will not even notice such a thing has happened. If you do fall into the wake of this incident, I wish to apologize for the person that caused them, he or she has shown that they are too low to face up to what they have done and admit such a thing. I have given this person a great deal of time to contact me and tell me the reason which they leaked this information, after all it is possible there was due reason. Their time has run out. Other than these troubles, the forums are doing the best they have ever. In fact, they are suspect to be causing a few random server overloads during the day. Some of you may notice that from time to time the forums seem to be down. In fact, that's because our database, which also runs all other sites, is going haywire from activity. Although it's a bad thing for a server to belch, I am very proud of this forum for causing it! Within a span of 15 minutes, we have up to 60 different users online. Although, compared to some internet giants this may seem like a drop in a bucket, but each user is a quality contributor in some way or another, whether they read posts, post a lot, or post just a little bit, they all help make these forums a hot spot for the Internet user that is sick of flame wars and people arguing and fighting just for the sake of fighting. To those of you that are a positive part of these forums, I cannot thank you enough. I feel I have actually affected a lot of people by doing what I do here, and it drives me to do other things, continuing a cycle. To those of you that provide a negative feeling, I have nothing more to say to you right now. We will speak on an individual basis sometime in the future, I will guarantee. You will all see a lot of changes in the weeks and months to come. I will try my best to make sure that all of these changes are for the better. I’m not Miss Cleo, so I will not be able to tell for certain if the changes will always come out the better. I have experience behind me, and by the looks of things, things are going pretty darn good. This is an ever-changing place; the user base is always changing. The structure of the forums must change with it. I plan to do much of that in the near future. Rules will be reworded and added to, forums will be added and merged, and the moderating staff will change.

[LawyerRon]

OK, so who was the moderator?

[M. A. Dockter]

Good question....I'm going to consult Miss Cleo on that one

[HAL9000]

Wow, it has been a long time hasn't it. I see by the members list that you and dris are shown as members as of March of 1999, coming up to 3 years really quick. I joined 9 months later in December after finding this place and reading about half a dozen posts. I think Toaster was one of the more intriguing people of the posts that I had read. Well, I signed up, made my presence, even got on your bad side once Dok (not sure if you remember that or not). I personally see nothing wrong with your iron fist form of rule. The way flame wars can easily break out, it sometimes have to be done and unfortunately, yes, sometimes you have to be viewed as the dictator, or "jerk". Well, many sites come and go, hopefully the MECH is the one that stays.

Here's to many more PCMECH birthdays to come!

[Xayd]

Well, for all of the bad blood that seems to travel around lately over petty incidents, my personal experiences...

I've never hesitated for one moment to speak my mind to either Dris or Dok about anything. We've had several argumentative issues between the staff of this forum before, and both in posts and real-time conversation, I've always spoken my mind without a second thought, and never had one negative response from doing so. Neither of them is unreasonable or elitist in the slightest when dealing with another individual personally.

That pretty much goes for everyone else amongst the userbase as well. We're not here to censor or babysit. You can't have discussion without disagreement, that's what discussion is for. Be honest, be polite, and other folks will extend you the same courtesy.

[glc]

Amen. I knew I was in the right place when I followed Reboot over here from 56k.com and I was warmly welcomed by WJWheels.

[MadMax]

My hat goes off to those that keep PCMECH up and running.
A swimming hole where the lifeguard is always on duty.
No one drowns, and no one gets sand kicked in their face.

[Kubie]

I can honestly say that I would have given up on pcs' if not for this site. I know I'm not too sharp with them and as yet, and no one has rubbed it in.
Thanks to everybody for your help and keep up the good work.
Carl

[Charliey]

Well, ive been here just as long as HAL, although i dont post quite as much, but im here alot and i read alot of posts. I usually stay out of disscussions which could turn into an argument, but thats not just on the forum, thats how i am in life too. Although i stay away from posting, i do read them, and Doc and the Admin have always steped in to make sure nothing gets out of hand.

Thanks for running this great forum.

[Guardian]

I'm not a Moderator or anything special, just a curious user, but I'm certainly glad that somebody, ie., M.A. Dockter and you other Moderators, have a handle on how to run a proper newsgroup!

I'm all for free speech and everything, but I'm also for being civil and getting treated like an intelligent human even if I do ask a dumb question once in awhile!

To all of you, keep up the good work and I'll keep coming back to this Forum for a long time.

If no one has said it lately...Thanks for all your hard work!

[Cricket]

Well, I've mentioned this a few times already and I guess repeating it here won't hurt...

Personally, I've always felt that this was the best tech forum on the net...bar none. I've been to a few other forum where the atmosphere is...well...wild and unruly. Flame wars seem to be the norm. I've also been to a few where the mods are actually the worse offenders (belittling newbies for their lack of knowledge or just attacking others who question them or their suggestions). Mind you, there are a few decent ones out there...but most are places I'd rather not hang out in.

What I really like about this forum is the fact that you get your questions answered in a very civilized manner. The people here are very knowledgeable, patient, helpful and most of all courteous (something that you see less and less of nowadays). I've seen a few instances where someone will lash out at another member, but it's never allowed to get out of hand. Thankfully, those kind of incidences aren't something you see here very often and that's because the members here are very civil, mature and respect one another.

I'd like to thank the moderators and administrators for keeping things under control here. I've never felt they were heavy handed or unjust...in fact, I never really notice them that much. Quiet, but effective.

The quality of a forum is a reflection of it's membership, it's moderators and it's administrators. This forum is very good for a very good reason.

Cricket

[mc2phat]

Very well said, Cricket. I'll add my thanks to M. Dockter, the Moderators, and the PCMech Forum membership for the friendliest and most informative stop on the web.


Regards,
-phfat

[Scotty]

Ditto's X 100gigs

[SARGE]

And just WHO is the "conspiracy minded Texan" you refer to in your address, Doc?

BTW, good work.

[audiyoda]

Originally posted by SARGE And just WHO is the "conspiracy minded Texan" you refer to in your address, Doc? BTW, good work.

Quit worrying Sarge, it's not you. Anyway, didn't we tell you: You're no longer a Texan. Has something to do with AlGore when he created the Internet -- it all changed the state boundries. Now you're a Canadian. HAL and ReBoot are Texans.

-Craig

[bob]

It ain't me SARGE.

[The Kamer]

Hello im new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself. Its good to find a forum with such high standards and and lack of stupid threads

[DrZaius]

I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said. PC Mech is the best online community, period. And what makes it the best are the members, the mods, and the PC Mech staff. Thanks, and here's to another 3 great years.

And welcome to the forums The Kamer! Stick around, you'll like it here.

[Toaster]

Hello folks,
AQs you folks are aware, this site is evolving. With evolution comes change and the problems dealing with that change.
There will be some problems to sort out as most agree.
This of course takes a bit of time.
Evolution is a great thing but it comes with a whole new set of hurdles to overcome and surpass. Frankly folks, the site seems to be evolving faster then we anticipated and your patience with these changes will be rewarded by more concise content.
Here at the 'Mech, we are proud to the fact that folks can discuss without risk of "flaming" or other anomolies that could alienate any given user.
There are going to be mods tripping over the toes of other mods and even users.
This is a natural thing when dealing with change.
Everyone has their idea on how certain things should be addressed. We mods and the ADMIN are from all over the globe and what one might deem unacceptable, another deems acceptable. For this we ask your patience.
It goes without saying that you the readers are "why" the 'Mech is here.
Its fun, its a learning experience and great to interact with folks all over the small world we all infest. (bad wording maybe...infest)
Here we try to avoid "boundries" and "boarders" that our various countries had drawn into the sand. With this interaction and human nature comes difficulties that need to be overcome.
There have been some recent materials posted within this particular forum that have caused some heated debates and maybe even bad feelings.
So now, the whole of the 'Mech is being "redefined" so to speak.
We're dealing with change, human nature, boarders and variuos customs.
Your invaluable input goes a long way to enacting and taking advantage of this change. The process may take some time but is being addressed.

Closing notes:
I personally want to thank you the readers for making the 'Mech what it is today. I trust you folks have more great input and needs you would like to see addressed. Thanks again for making the 'Mech a pleasant experience.

[Hpro]

Personal
Computer
Multi
Education
Class
Home

It's easy to put up a website - it's hard to maintain it - but it's even harder to make it successful - Dok and all the Mods and not last the users - Thank you guys - you've created a Website which is like a Gold Box - just there for you to open up a grab what you need..

Edit
I forgot that one :
PcMech, The best on the Web..

Thanks again
Hpro

[kraken]

I havn't been here for a while, but I will say that this is the best place for discussing in a free atmosphere the variences that the IT industy provides.

M.A.D. ok provides the best in terms of moderating what should be discussed in this place of sanctity for all of us looking for the technological edge and sharing of information. I have personally benefitted from my early times in answering questions ( gave me references to look up) and finding little gems of information from the various people who make up PCmech forums.

While not always in agreeance with the rulings, I nontheless wholeheartedly support how this forum is run. It is good to see that the number of members is growing and it is harder to find familiar names in amongst the crowd.

As we share knowledge I am drawn to this site to learn as much, if not more, than I give back.

3 cheers for DOK

Hiccup Hiccup Hooray.

[SARGE]

Welcome back

[Nuclear Krusader]

PC Mech is my favorite web site, it is indeed one of the best community sites if not the best.

Wheter I have a computer or a personal problem I know I'll always find good advise here in this fine site.

Kudos for this site Dok!

And so many thanks to all the mods and the members! And the people that made possible the existence of PC Mech!

Hope to see you all here the next year!

Best regards,
Krusader.

[jessho]

I noticed today that PC Mechanic is linked on Intel's web site. I would be proud of this accomplishment, even if I had to pay them to do it.

[archie]

As much as I did like the original forum, I actually like these forums better than the first one ... so in a way, this is chapter 2 and we're going on to chapter 3.

[Floppyman]

Originally posted by jessho I noticed today that PC Mechanic is linked on Intel's web site. I would be proud of this accomplishment, even if I had to pay them to do it.

Indeed it is! For those that want to take a look go here:

http://www.intel.com/home/tech/resource_library.htm

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by jessho I noticed today that PC Mechanic is linked on Intel's web site. I would be proud of this accomplishment, even if I had to pay them to do it.

WHOOO HOOO!!!

[Computer Hobbyist]

I'm just happy you all haven't kicked me off yet.

Seriously, I have suggested that my State Bar Association adopt the PCMech forum layout in place of their solo and small firm listserve. The design is outstanding.

I lurked about this site for a long time before I made my first post. I learned a lot, and I learn a lot more every day. The real strenght of PCMech is its feeling of community. It's almost like a local Pub (without darts or beer.) If you have a problem somebody here is willing to help.

Thanks to all.

CH

[jefftire]

I'm just grateful that I don't have to pay for all the info I've learned here.
Keep up the great work!

[lil Jimmie]

Originally posted by jefftire I'm just grateful that I don't have to pay for all the info I've learned here. Keep up the great work!

Shhhhh..... don't give the mods any ideas!

This is a great site with wonderful people and I am so grateful to all of those that make it happen. I have been on a continuing learning curve from the moment I found PCMECH.

Thanks Everyone