As to not sway the vote, I will not comment here. Please read the choices and vote what your thoughts are. It is regards to the linked thread.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=34841

I'd be willing to bet many of us go to bed at night professing to just walk away, yet wake up the next day or get home from work the next evening having had someone thrash you, your posts or your beliefs all over again.

You're right. And I was able to step away from the thread by putting the person making the posts on my ignore list. That makes it a lot easier to ignore a thread.

I like the lounge and think it is great that we have a section for Rants & Raves. However, I click straight on New Posts 95% of the time, and have absolutely no interest in some of the "boylove, lesbian, bisexual, abortion, etc" threads that pop up. I choose to not read them, but would prefer to have a way to not see them entirely, lol. It seems like those threads tend to disappear on their own after a while anyway. After initial curiosity there arent enough people interested to keep them alive for long.

You know, I think I have a solution that would make all of us happy (or all of us equally miserable, same dif). Disable the "new threads"; and "top 5"; function entirely. Make it so that the only way any thread can be accessed is by going through the forum that the thread is in. That way, no one can have threads "forced" upon them and no one can say that they didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Really, come on now folks, what would be so bad about having a way to choose if you want R&R to show in your New Posts or not? Sheesh! Turning off New posts and Top 5 (I don't think I even knew there was a Top 5-I like to look at a lot more than 5 threads) is not a solution, giving us an option to view it or not is much more "fair."

Sorry, my lack of sleep is making it hard for me to write what I'm thinking.

Really, come on now folks, what would be so bad about having a way to choose if you want R&R to show in your New Posts or not? Sheesh! Turning off New posts and Top 5 (I don't think I even knew there was a Top 5-I like to look at a lot more than 5 threads) is not a solution, giving us an option to view it or not is much more "fair."

That's true, and it's actually the point I was trying to make. People wouldn't be so happy about having to go directly to the forum when it's the posts that they want to see. Like I've said before, I have no real problem with people having the option of whether or not they see certain threads. I just have a problem with them deciding what threads everyone else can see.

That's true, and it's actually the point I was trying to make. People wouldn't be so happy about having to go directly to the forum when it's the posts that they want to see. Like I've said before, I have no real problem with people having the option of whether or not they see certain threads. I just have a problem with them deciding what threads everyone else can see.

So then you agree that the ignore/hide feature would be acceptable?

So then you agree that the ignore/hide feature would be acceptable?

Yes, it would. I even voted for it.

I am exhausted just from reading this thread...wow!

I see nothing wrong with having a feature that allows people to ignore and hide things they are not interested in if they choose to do so. The thing I don't like is having those decisions made for "newbies" or others in order to protect them. To me that seems paternalistic and condescending. But hey, that's just me. But on the other hand, having extra options to hide and ignore things by choice. Now that sounds like a great idea.

Unless, of course, people would rather reconsider my Clockwork Orange option.

I see nothing wrong with having a feature that allows people to ignore and hide things they are not interested in if they choose to do so. The thing I don't like is having those decisions made for "newbies" or others in order to protect them. To me that seems paternalistic and condescending. But hey, that's just me. But on the other hand, having extra options to hide and ignore things by choice. Now that sounds like a great idea.

I totally agree with you, Mark. I think people should have the CHOICE of whether or not to see a thread or a forum, but I don't think the decision should be made for them. And if ultimately, they end up in the RnR forum because they clicked when they shouldn't have, then tough. They should have read about what the forums were before they started posting.

Unless, of course, people would rather reconsider my Clockwork Orange option.

Or my option of turning off the "new posts" and "top 5" entirely, and making LBT inconvenient for everyone.

I see nothing wrong with having a feature that allows people to ignore and hide things they are not interested in if they choose to do so. The thing I don't like is having those decisions made for "newbies" or others in order to protect them. To me that seems paternalistic and condescending. But hey, that's just me. But on the other hand, having extra options to hide and ignore things by choice. Now that sounds like a great idea.

Unless, of course, people would rather reconsider my Clockwork Orange option.

I agree, everyone should have the choice of what they wish to see or not.

Really, come on now folks, what would be so bad about having a way to choose if you want R&R to show in your New Posts or not? Sheesh! Turning off New posts and Top 5 (I don't think I even knew there was a Top 5-I like to look at a lot more than 5 threads) is not a solution, giving us an option to view it or not is much more "fair."

Sorry, my lack of sleep is making it hard for me to write what I'm thinking.

There IS a way to prevent the section from coming up in New Posts, as I described above. Just mark it "Read" before clicking on New Posts. Easy Peasy!!

So though it's currently possible to prevent entire sections from appearing in New Posts, I'm hearing that people want a way to prevent specific threads from appearing. I'm not the techno brain behind this board, but I will ask the owner if that is possible. If it is, I don't see any problem.

We certainly want to be responsive and I appreciate Neal's effort to make improvements. However, it seems obvious to me that the onus must be on those who would want to filter threads rather than our trying to devise a system-wide change that will make everyone happy. People just coming on to the site should see everything, so they get a full idea of what this place is about. For every person who might be offended or bemused by the R&R section, there may be another who is attracted to LBT specifically because we have a lively debate section here. Who can say? So I think it's absolutely preferable to allow registered members to change their own preferences, rather than our trying to make decisions for the masses.

Personally, I'd be fine with the Top 5 threads being disabled, but PLEASE not the New Posts feature! Neal, by the way, the names of the moderators show on every forum listing page. I'm guessing you use New Posts almost exclusively, and don't see those?

Right now. looks like its running down the middle.

However, its night time. this may be picked up more in the day.

It might be running right down the middle but 2/3rds are saying they would like it changed.

I see nothing wrong with having a feature that allows people to ignore and hide things they are not interested in if they choose to do so. The thing I don't like is having those decisions made for "newbies" or others in order to protect them. To me that seems paternalistic and condescending. But hey, that's just me. But on the other hand, having extra options to hide and ignore things by choice. Now that sounds like a great idea.

Unless, of course, people would rather reconsider my Clockwork Orange option.

I agree!!! :clap2:

(clockwork orange creeps me out though...)

It might be running right down the middle but 2/3rds are saying they would like it changed.

While 2/3 of the people may want some type of "change," I don't think it is totally accurate to say that 2/3 would like "it" changed. People can vote for more than one category in this poll. I think many of the people who voted to "keep it the same" also voted to allow people the option of blocking unwanted threads. Reading what people have written in their posts, I think most people would like to have the system we now have stay in place with the added feature that allows people to block unwanted threads.