Sam,

While you are on the task of improving the site, I just wanted to mention something that I noticed in the past couple of days. The board is set up such that when a member replies to a post, selecting text to quote, the quoted text appears at the top of the replying member's post. OK, that's not a problem, necessarily, EXCEPT that when someone does a search on a member's name to look at their replies to various threads, the search produces a page of short excerpts from the threads that the member has participated on. But since the quotes always appear at the top of each post, the search only reveals quoted text as three dots (...) and nothing of their own words shows up in the excerpt. This makes it very difficult to know which comment to select.


In order to prevent that, a member must make a concerted effort to place their comments above the code for the quoted text so that it would be featured in the excerpt and not the prior member's quote, which is cumbersome and many are unfamiliar with the search issue to know to do that. Is there a way that the board could be reconfigured to place quotes at the bottom of a post, automatically?

swissnut: Welcome Back,

Pasha Patel, and many others are missing from the board, Hope to see you guys back in action on Immigration Discussion.

Dear Swissnut: Re your post of 01-27-2008 09:09 AM, I am sending this to our tech guru for clarification. Please expect clarification in this thread in the next day or two. Thanks. - Sam.

Hi All:

I am responding here to all posts made on this thread: http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/83010766341

To ProudUSC: As mentioned in an earlier posting, we are probably going to upgrade the tech infrastructure for this board later this year. I will keep your idea about uploading in mind for the upgrade spec.

To Mike_2007, Jake01, ProudUSC, Sprint_girl07: I am not sure I understand your point about a chat room. I am under the impression we have one on this board right now. Just look at the top right corner of the board menu above, click on "go", then on "chat rooms", then on "live chat". I just tried it, and I ended up in the chat room. I was the only one there right now. But I believe if two or more people showed up at the same time, it would work. So, to summarize this issue - I believe we have a chat room, and encourage you folks to use it.

More posts on the way re the thread referred to in this post.

- Sam.

Continuing responses to posts on this thread:
http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/83010766341

To Sprint_girl07: I am Male. I did not realize that there would be any confusion about this with my name - but I guess it does not hurt to be clear.

To Sprint_girl07, explora and Caribbeanman: On the PM issue - firstly, we cannot change the basic color scheme or format due to tech limitations (however, we will certainly revisit this when we upgrade to a new infrastructure late this year). But on the problems that explora and Caribbeanman are reporting, please be aware that this feature does not create any issues for the users in our office, nor are we aware of this problem for anyone else. There is a possibility that this is cookie related - iow, you may need to verify your cookie settings are correct. Could you please check on this? In the meanwhile, I will have our tech folks look into this also, and will reply during the coming week.

Still more responses coming soon ...

- Sam.

To Sprint_girl07:

Re a point you had made about 10-15 days ago - there is a way to find out if there have been any new posts in any particular thread since your last visit to the board. Here's how to do it. On the main discussion board page ( http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/902603441 ), look at the first column on the left. If the icon is yellow, there is at least one new post in that thread since your last visit, otherwise, the icon is colorless. Hope this helps.

Re your idea of having a pic for yourself, that's no problem. You can use your pic for an avatar (though I guess it would have to be hosted somewhere if it was not part of the basic avatar set here).

Be back soon with a few more responses ...

- Sam.

Continuing responses to posts on this thread:
http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/83010766341

Re NeedHelpFast's post of 01-19-2008 11:48 AM, your point regarding lack of structure is well taken. However, structure is a two-edged sword. It both encourages AND discourages communication, so we want to proceed carefully here. I generally agree that with more traffic, more structure here will be necessary, and your idea of a simple two-fold structure (news and non-news) is perhaps a good way to begin. I would say that we would need to do 3 things before implementing a new structure: (1) wait a month or so to see how the new moderation policy is affecting the board (the indications so far seem to be that folks here are pleased with it) (2) if more is still needed, then we have to see the total traffic of posts per day - if that is still quite low, maybe structure will do more harm than good and (3) if the total posts have increased considerably, then we will take input from the community and implement the new structure with the technology upgrade coming later this year. In summary, while I am not against more structure, I am inclined to proceed cautiously in this area. The reason for caution is simple - once implemented, structure is very hard to undo.

To susie's post of 01-20-2008 02:20 AM: I encourage you to check out our new board rules at: http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/78310062631
Bad language is NOT permitted on this board. I am personally reading each and every posting, practically every working day, to enforce this rule. If someone uses foul language with you on this board, and in the unlikely event that I dont see it, please let me know immediately, and action will follow. I do realize that posters like you have been deterred in the past from more active participation due to foul language, and am determined to stamp out such behavior from the community. Thank you so much for your interest in the face of the past unruly atmosphere, and I hope you will consider more active participation in the community going forward.

- Sam.

To Susie again, re my post above: If you need to notify me of any foul language on this board, please email webmaster@ilw.com (that is the admin for the board). You can also PM me, but an official report to webmaster@ilw.com will ensure faster action.

To those who inquired re the PM feature: I am just checking my PMs and see that on the top right of the PM menu is a flag "notifications off" This is a toggle, and perhaps all you folks may need to do is to reset your settings again and save. Let me know if this does the trick.

Hello all:

I am now replying to my PMs here. As mentioned before, I will post all PMs here except that I will delete whatever is necessary (names, etc) to protect the identity of the poster.

First PM:
Dear Sam, After we all sorted out the dispute among a few of the members and Beverly, she not only posted another argumentative post in the thread "US to speed deportaion of 200K jailed Illegals" [deleted text]
But she has been dumping her Articles and duplicating them in numerous threads, please will you warn her to stop duplicating her posts, and also stop arguing with other members when the argument had already been sorted out [deleted text] Thank you for all you are doing with this Site to make it a better and happier forum to come to.

My response: Firstly, thanks for your kind words, I do hope that we will slowly but surely improve this forum. See below re structure of the board.

Second PM:
Hi Sam, I hope you don't mind me messaging you, but I am rather concerned about the kind of content being posted on the board right now. I think there has been too many posts, especially new posts, going on about illegal immigrants and anti immigrants. As an immigrant myself, if I was a newcomer I would be totally put off from posting here as it looks like an anti immigrant website. This website is for immigrants and for somewhere for immigrants to seek advice, is it not? There is a certain person who seems to be posting new threads all the time, taking over the board and knocking down important threads posted by newcomers asking for advice. Now these threads are not getting answered as they end up on page 2 or page 3, unless of course someone reads back upon their return to help them. Is there a way you can implement a way that will stop people posting many threads, especially about similar content. Or more importantly about illegal immigrants or anti immigrants. It really is a put off to anyone coming to this forum and seeing the headlines across the page. I am not against people giving their opinions, but surely can we not stop people posting many threads taking over the forum? Maybe there should be a limit set...like no one can start more then 2 threads a day or something? Not sure if your tech gurus can do something about that. Other sites have done that. Just a thought. Thank you for all your input recently, this site is definitely improving in time. Hopefully with all the new rules, this site will flourish

My response: Firstly, thanks for your kind words, I do hope that the new rules are already making a difference. You make an interesting point on structure, perhaps we can technologically limit each poster to a certain fixed number of threads a day - I had not thought of that - and the first PM above also makes what I see as a structural argument, one of duplication and cross-posting. As I have mentioned before, we will gradually - slowly - introduce more rules and structure as needed. I like the point about duplication and cross-posting. May I request the community to kindly comment on this point - should we formally ask posters not to post duplicate messages across different threads as a rule for this community? Please comment in this thread during this week on this point.

Third PM:
Hi Sam, I was wondering can I open a group up here on the site? I can't figure out how I can open up one or a separate area to where it is private and only invite certain people or accept members who fit the criteria as such. I would prefer a private group where people can post privately and also have the ability to ban them from a group if they are posting nastily. Is there a way I can do that? You may or may not have read my thread about immigrants and abuse. There are plenty of threads here about a USC being scammed and accused of abuse, or that they have been abused, but if anyone comes here and says (like me) that we have been abused, well we get slaughtered. There really is a lack of advice and help for immigrants and abuse. I am not talking of shelters and DVIS but some forum for immigrants. Its quite complexed and I think a site like here is a good place for people like me to find and seek help, advice and support. Is there a way please that I can somehow make my own group and monitor it myself? I would be grateful if you could advise me on how to do that, rather then making a private message to people. I would like anyone to join the group without having to post on the forum and be bashed by many anti immigrants. thank you

My response: I noticed that groupee does have a "group" feature for this board, but I am not sure whether it is on or off. Let me look into this with our tech guru, and come back to you later this week. Thanks.

I have two PMs from one person who has emphatically asked me NOT to post the message on the board. I will honor this person's wish for now, but do request that members of the community NOT send me messages to which I cannot reply publicly. I will delete passages to protect identity where required, as I have done with the first PM above. For this once, since the poster seems quite concerned about revealing his/her identity to the community, I will paraphrase the points in a new post to come soon, and reply to those.

Yours truly,
Sam

Hello All:

I am here paraphrasing two PMs from a community member who wants to protect his/her identity:

(1) The PM complains of duplication and cross-posting by Beverly. (2) The PM asks if we are concerned about a lawsuit by a poster. (3) The PM asks why an image poster by him/her was deleted. (4) The PM asks where the new rules for the board are posted.

My response:
(1) I appreciate the point re duplication and cross-posting. Many boards have rules against that. Perhaps it is a good idea to implement this rule for our community here also. As you can see from this thread above, I am encouraging community members to comment on this point. If enough people are in favor of instituting a rule against duplication and cross-posting, then I think that we should implement it.
(2) There is some quantity of case law that has accumulated over the years on electronic fora such as this board. Suffice it to say that we are absolutely unconcerned about anyone bringing any lawsuit against us on first amendment grounds. This board is our property, and we may administer it as we wish as far as expression of opinion is concerned (so long as we dont run afoul of libel and slander laws, which are not covered under first amendment protection anyways).
(3) I am totally befuddled by your statement that an image posted by you was deleted. Please rest assured that NO ONE is deleting anything on this board, other than those who posted things themselves. In other words, ONLY you will delete stuff that you have posted. To be sure, our admin account (webmaster@ilw.com) can delete anything but if we did so, it would be for good cause. In the last 5 years, we have deleted maybe a couple of threads, each in response to sufficient complaint. I don't remember us EVER deleting a specific image. So, whatever has happened to your image, it cannot have been due to anything knowingly done by anyone here. Please give me more details by sending a complaint re the deleted image to our admin account (webmaster@ilw.com), and we will definitely investigate the matter and revert to you. This is in the nature of a technical complaint, and will be replied to privately. A PM to me is a more public matter, since it concerns policy for the board, and for this reason, I encourage you not to PM me on such matters, but if you do, I will post the PM while deleting such of your text as may reveal your identity.
(4) Please find the new rules for the board posted here: http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/78310062631

Yours truly,
Sam

To Swissnut: I like your new cheese avatar, its an upgrade over the old one!

To Beverly: Please consider using bold text less often. Your posts are hard to read, and make threads where your posts occur harder to read. I have heard back from two other posters, so now I know that its not just me. This is not a formal rule here, but I am requesting you to use bold less. Thanks in advance.

To the anonymous poster who asked me to use italics and bold from time to time in my posts: Please see above, I am using italics now, and trust it helps you read my posts more easily.

So, the issues in my court, and the community's court at this time are as follows:

TECH ISSUES:
(1) Revert to Swissnut on replies text issue.
(2) Research PMs for Sprint_girl07, Caribbeanman, explora (the last two have to check their cookie settings and personal zone settings also)
(3) Research group feature for anonymous PMer.

NON TECH ISSUES:
The new proposed rule is now open for comment - Should we ban cross-posting and duplication in this community. I am looking forward to replies from the community in this thread. Thanks.

quote:

Should we ban cross-posting and duplication in this community.

Hi Sam - there are times when duplication happens by accident (didn't see article placed in another thread). When duplication happens deliberately, that's what needs to be addressed. So, I guess this issue is one that could be subject to debate. But, I don't think it's too much to ask for members to only post their articles once in a thread that is appropriate.

Hi Sam, yes I think we should ban cross posting and duplication, if a member wants to duplicate a post he/she has already posted, all they have to do is post a link that if you click onto it, it will direct you to the original post in question, and not post the whole article in full again. hope this makes sense LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Sam U. of ILW.COM:
Hi All:

Some responses to some posts at:
http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/19610055341/p/11

To Republicanwriter's post of 01-20-2008 08:22 PM and RoughNeighbor's post of 01-20-2008 10:06 PM and MrsB's post of 01-20-2008 10:31 PM :

I (along with a group of friends and attorneys) acquired ILW.COM in late 1999. From 1995 to 1999, ILW.COM was a web-hosting and web-design company, run by the Hake family. The only part of today's ILW.COM that dates back to that time is the Yellow Pages (Find a lawyer) feature on this website. At the time, "ILW" was an acronym for "Immigration Lawyers on the Web" - which was an apt name for the site since about 100 law-firm websites were hosted on the ILW.COM url. Today, of course, most law firms have their own urls, and we dont do any web-hosting or web-design. I like the fact that "ILW" is a short three letter url, and thus is easy to remember, and easy to type into a web browser. We like to think that ILW now means "Immigration Law on the Web" since we are probably the most-trafficked non-governmental immigration website on the net. However, we dont push that particular interpretation on anyone. However, one thing that's clear is that "ILW" has NEVER stood for Immigration Law Weekly. To the best of my knowledge there has NEVER been any publication called Immigration Law Weekly. Trust this helps clarify the situation.

- Sam.

Hi Sam,

Hope you got your rest by this time. I can see that you had been very busy here.

If there is no official name yet for ILW, then maybe we can call it "Immigration Law on the Web?"

Hi All: Just to let everyone know, I had to issue a first warning to SonofMichael on this thread: http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=691603441&f=902603441&m=42110708341 This is the second person in a week where a first warning had to be issued. Please everyone - lets all abide by the few simple rules we have for the community, posted at: http://discuss.ilw.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/902603441/m/78310062631 I dont want to have to ban anyone, but I will follow our rules. There is no point in having rules if they are not enforced fairly and firmly. - Sam.

Sam, How come when someone has say used foul language and gets a warning for it, the post where the broken rule has been committed stays there?

Would it not be better to delete or at least take out the offended word(s) from post once member has been warned?

If you think about it, the offended word(s) is there for everyone to read and be offended by reading it again.
Just a thought

Good point Sprint_girl!

Hi everyone: A quick note for all - we have added a ton of new smileys - check them out when you post next! - Sam.

P.S. I will respond to several other issues on this thread soon.