How can the forums be made better for DefCon?

[TheCotMan]

:-)

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Decisions will be made by the mods, and anything that is approved will be implemented.

Instead of having an ongoing todo list that is never completed, we'll finish this one out, and then consider starting a new one.

If/when a new todo list is created there may be future opportunity to submit more suggestions.

Thanks for participating!

[TheCotMan]

This has been suggested quite a few times in the past.

Yep. I am one of those people that suggested it wayyy back when. :-)

I'm not entirely sure why it has never been implemented, though.

Time, planning and feasability.
In the forums, there is no pre-built "add a test for users to complete correctly before they can become a member."
I've thought about this. One idea I had was to have the e-mail verification send the user a URL to a test web page, and have that URL contain an encrypted copy of their Account activation ID as part of a HTTP-GET based submission, and abuse cookie information to cross check before loading a testing web page, and if their results are "correct" then decrypt their activation code, and use a META redirect to the activation URL with activation ID.
This has many problems. First, I'm lazy. The rest don't really matter, but they include high risk for failure on upgrade, and reliance on code and/or API and cookie format that is subject to change.

I think I have a new idea on how to abuse the forum's software to make a "test" possible, and work to decrease spamming attacks and rule violations by new users.

It is simple, easy, and should work well through upgrades with little or no effort.

If the mods like the idea, you'll hear more. If not, you won't. (It may take 1 or 2 months before a decision is made and implemented.)

My suggestion: Fix the search button in the toolbar so it isn't all uppercase.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL UPPERCASE?
Oh. Sorry. I was yelling there. ;-)

Converge's idea from weeks back, that was encouraged here has been implemented. Other navbar links are less bright while "Search" is white. Let's see how it works.

[bascule]

Heh. I don't have my heart set on the all caps; if a better idea is found, I'm ready to test it instead. The preliminary work for the muted/bright suggestion has been done, and that is possible. It is only a question what is desired.

Sounds good to me. Just make all the other links #CCCCCC or #888888 or something...

[TheCotMan]

I think the fact that it is an eyesore means we totally accomplished what we wanted to do without any drastic measures ... go CotMan!

Heh. I don't have my heart set on the all caps; if a better idea is found, I'm ready to test it instead. The preliminary work for the muted/bright suggestion has been done, and that is possible. It is only a question what is desired.

[converge]

I think the fact that it is an eyesore means we totally accomplished what we wanted to do without any drastic measures ... go CotMan!

[TheCotMan]

This has been suggested quite a few times in the past. I'm not entirely sure why it has never been implemented, though.

My suggestion: Fix the search button in the toolbar so it isn't all uppercase. We wouldn't tolerate it in a forum post, and we shouldn't have to tolerate that eyesore every time we visit.

The change to the search link is a recent one. There was desire to draw attention to the search link and this was being tested. Another idea that was suggested by another mod was to mute the other navbar links, and brighten the search link. Many ideas have been discussed to draw attention to the search link, including use of blink.

Do you have other ideas that can be used to draw attention to the search link at the top, in the navagation bar?

[Voltage Spike]

I believe it's been suggested before but how about a short quiz during the registration process

This has been suggested quite a few times in the past. I'm not entirely sure why it has never been implemented, though.

My suggestion: Fix the search button in the toolbar so it isn't all uppercase. We wouldn't tolerate it in a forum post, and we shouldn't have to tolerate that eyesore every time we visit.

[fluoxetine]

I believe it's been suggested before but how about a short quiz during the registration process, it could be multiple choice - something like:

"Hi, I'm new posts" should...:
a) be posted anywhere
b) only posted in the Community Talk forum
c) only posted in the Defcon 14 forum
d) not be posted... ever!

[converge]

I'm appalled... I can't even believe verisign was an option... dood!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...verisign+-self

thawte has yet to give me pain (even though it was bought up by Verisign, so technically part of the evil), some links from a google of other peoples comparisons:
http://www.getonline.co.uk/faq/secure-servers/faq-03/
http://www.aota.net/E-Commerce/TvsV.php4

Also to be noted (as shown here) GeoTrust certs do not cover the compatibility realm so much for teh browsers. There are other underdog possibilities like XRamp, but I have no experiences to offer, their site generally pissed me off with an awkward sales feel, and it looks like their browser compatibility is about the same as GeoTrust ... so it looks like compatibility is the tradeoff for cheaper price.

[TheCotMan]

OOpps.. I forgot about that.. my browser doesn't complain, so I forgot about it. I think the solution is a non-self-signed cert. I'll have to go buy one someplace for maximum compatibility.

You defeated my attempt to hide the name of the person from the masses.

I was thinking verisign, geotrust, or thwate.. any suggestions?

"Not Verisign" is all I'd like to suggest.

[The Dark Tangent]

My bad.

OOpps.. I forgot about that.. my browser doesn't complain, so I forgot about it. I think the solution is a non-self-signed cert. I'll have to go buy one someplace for maximum compatibility.

I was thinking verisign, geotrust, or thwate.. any suggestions?

[TheCotMan]

Security Error: Domain Name Mismatch

You have attempted to establish a connection with "forum.defcon.org". However, the security certificate presented belongs to "forum.defcon.org". It is possible, though unlikely, that someone may be trying to intercept your communication with this website.

If you suspect the certificate shown does not belong to "forum.defcon.org", please cancel the connection and notify the site administrator.


This is what I get everytime I come here using https:// . Using Mozilla 1.7.12

Thanks for the reminder. This has been on the to-do since around the time we moved over to support https. I think a decision was made to deal with this, but it has not been put into action.

I'll go bug the person that proposed the solution to see what was finally decided in fixing this.

[klepto]

Security Error: Domain Name Mismatch

You have attempted to establish a connection with "forum.defcon.org". However, the security certificate presented belongs to "forum.defcon.org". It is possible, though unlikely, that someone may be trying to intercept your communication with this website.

If you suspect the certificate shown does not belong to "forum.defcon.org", please cancel the connection and notify the site administrator.


This is what I get everytime I come here using https:// . Using Mozilla 1.7.12

[converge]

I like that too.. the forums used to be like that a while back, but changed after an upgrade. I always assumed that vB had changed the basic structure altogether, but if we can go back.. that would be nice :)

[bascule]

Without extending the list of forums, how would you suggest adding a "Tech News" forum?

Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say a Tech News forum would probably get a lot more use than the "Wireless Technology" forum. I don't know where exactly you'd end up putting that, but if there's one forum I'd say doesn't belong on the front page it's that one. (Just looking down the list of forums on the front page you'll see it's the least used of the major discussion forums)