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Truthfully...I noticed the same thing.  I think its a valid concern PG.

PG - we are already looking at this concern.  I expressed this same concern to Julie a few days ago and she is looking into it.  My suggestion was not to allow the unusally unsual forum to post as a recent topic.  IMHO, it is an oddball forum that Bob created to allow people to post non-baseball topics.  People who like to post there know where to find it and can check there for recent activity imho.  IMHO, only the baseball forums should reflect on the recent activity as this is first and foremost a baseball site. 

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"I also think it might cause some to actually run the other way."

On the other hand it may draw people in as well!

Your concern is quite valid PG. I'm sure there must be a method by which the Unusually Unusual forum, along with its Between Barack and a hard place! thread, can be isolated/quarantined/corralled/herded such that it isn't front and center. Those of us who frequent that percolating pool of political pugilistic pap will have no trouble finding our easy chairs there. So please Mom, if its possible, go ahead and park us someplace not so prominent...pronto!

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Thanks guys, glad I'm not alone with this opinion. 

Woody - I think you have it about right.  For now, I've closed the Barack Obam,a thread and will re-open it after we get this thing all figured out.  I ask kindly that people do not start any new political threads until we do indeed get it figured out.  Thanks - CD.

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I read your comment on the Between Barack and a hard place! thread CD. Locking us up temporarily is fine with me, but please don't dawdle on finding a fix, cuz' we need our 'fix' too!

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Gw4s,

My greatest fear would be that topic drawing a lot of people to this site.  That would change the site even more. I think you and CD have a good idea. I understand there are several members who participate in that topic. To me... The election is over! Besides I hate politics! I do know we can't avoid it. However, that is not really my concern. 

Julie has a day job so she can't respond to these things instantaneously.  I have a good feeling she'll resolve many of these issues this weekend when her day job is not affecting her.  She can then devote all her time at the fine wage of 0$/hour into resolving some of this.

I am sure that other people know far more about the backend software than me. But here is my two cents anyway,.

With Most forum software the sub forums can be made public or private. Public subforums(?) can be seen by people who view the site but are not logged in. For Private subforums to be viewed a user must be logged in.

So would it be possible to make the unusually unusual private. This would probably hide this in the recent posts form new users who have not yet decided to log in.

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I'm glad to read that CD...I always imagined Mom spending all of her time up there on the tundra just casually hooky bobbing from place to place to pass the time. I'll bet she hooky bobs just a bit.

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Good suggestion.  Hopefully Julie can consider that - thanks!

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"I am sure that other people know far more about the backend software than me. But here is my two cents anyway."

Well if your knowledge stretches beyond this when it comes to 'backend software' I know you've got me beat!

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/...ed-toilet-seats.html

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I agree with PGStaff.

Our members should be able to discuss issues they care about, but those non-baseball sidebar discussions should not become the first impression we present to new visitors.  

It would be a shame to lock down the Barack and a Hard Place thread at a time when they seem soooo close to reaching consensus and creating solutions that everyone can agree on.   However, it does seem like a prudent measure until Julie figures out how to keep our crazy aunt locked in the attic, so to speak.

I know this isn’t a big deal, but it certainly is something that doesn’t appear to be working correctly.

In case its useful, I’m using FireFox 14.1 under Windows 7, using an I-7 processor with 8G of RAM.

When I 1^st go to HSBBW, my icon doesn’t show up as being online, and if I go to a thread where I’ve posted, the icon doesn’t show there either. But, if I go out and come back again it does.

Not a big deal, but it doesn’t seem correct.

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"However, it does seem like a prudent measure until Julie figures out how to keep our crazy aunt locked in the attic, so to speak."

"There ain't no attic can keep me bootled away!"

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"I know this isn’t a big deal, but it certainly is something that doesn’t appear to be working correctly."

Sorry...the withdrawal pangs have been brutal!

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I'm using Netscape 1.1 on an 8-bit Commodore 64 with 64kB of RAM (512 bits color), and it looks pretty good on this end.

I can't seem to pull up Woody's photos; but, I've concluded that I'm not missing anything.

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"I can't seem to pull up Woody's photos; but, I've concluded that I'm not missing anything."

I've picked out something very special for you Prepster.

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/...-photos-on-white.jpg

Could you please let me know your mailing address?

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I absolutely agree with this concern, and as ClevelandDad (Dan) mentioned, he and I were already discussing it.

As Dan noted, Unusually Unusual was created as a place to put non-baseball topics that we did NOT want to appear front-and-center.  We'll try to figure out a long term fix this weekend.

Thanks!

Julie

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Thanks!

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It hasn't been fixed yet apparently. My recent post in 'Between Barack and a hard place' still shows up in the 'Recent Topic' box. That is where we are trying to eliminate it...right?

Thanks for opening the thread back up while a solution is being sought.

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I have a suggestion if it can't be made Private.  Could you folks change it to a "dialog" instead, and invite anyone who wants to talk about whatever it is you talk about on that thread (never been there myself!) to join that dialog?

Maybe that is a simple solution, or maybe not.

I agree with PG et al that this should be tweaked. We want newcomers to immediately see how rich this site is with fabulous baseball information.

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I don't think that would work. But thanks for the idea.

We need to find some way that recent posts in that thread are not featured...that's all.

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Tech support confirmed that our forum software does NOT currently have a setting to exclude topics or forums from appearing in the All Topics list. So here's the best fix we could come up with for now:

• Created a new hidden / permission-only forum and moved the "Barack" topic there.
• Created a new permission group and added all the members to it who had commented in the "Barack" topic in the past week (about a dozen).

Now, only those dozen members who were added to to the "Barack" permissions group will see the topic in either the All Topics list, or the forum directory. The Barack topic is hidden from guests and other members.

Send me a Dialog (PM) if you want to be removed from the "Barack" permissions group, or added!

Julie

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You can keep me on the list I guess, but I'm pretty much done with that thread given the constraints put on it. My motivation for contributing there was not to argue over the recent election results, but rather to showcase news items that are routinely and puposefully ignored by the mainstream media.

For those viewers who enjoyed following that thread please visit the Drudge Report, the various Breitbart sites, Glenn Beck's The Blaze site, the NewsBusters site, the Daily Caller site, and the Real Clear Politics (and other Real Clear sites). They're not for everybody obviously, but the shortcomings of our mainstream media are routinely featured and exposed on these sites. They are among the new and emerging conservative media. The old mainstream media types don't like all of these new kids on the block, but they have to deal with them. They're not going away! And, in my opinion, they are doing a great and necessary job.

There, I'm done.

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I'm a regular participant of the "Barack" thread. As a businessman I agree it is not wise to have the thread appear as one of the first things a new visitor will see. While the debate in the thread is usually three on three the title lends itself to the fiew the site has a political position. It's bad for business and bad for businesses advertising on this site. If I were PG I would be concerned as an advertiser visitors to the site believe his organization supports a certain political view. Regardless of what PGs or any other advertiser's political beliefs may be I don't think they want to advertise it publicly.

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I could be wrong, but it looks as though the entire Unusually Unusual forum is now no longer accessible to non-members and members who are not signed in. The purge of  non-baseball discussion seems to be complete.

I was proud of starting threads with a political slant and then managing to keep them reasonably civil, certainly as compared to everything else out there on the web. The format and the restraints that were built into the HSBBW made that fairly easy to do and I appreciate the opportunity that once existed to do that.

I wish nothing but much success to the newly formatted HSBBW. I do hope it meets everyone's needs.

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Gotwood,

"it looks as though the entire Unusually Unusual forum is now no longer accessible to non-members and members who are not signed in."

I didn't notice that until you pointed it out. I had temporarily made the Unusually Unusual forum visible only to logged in Members while we were figuring out how to try to keep non-baseball content out of the All Topics highlights.

I'm open to suggestions on whether we should keep it this way - so logged in members can access the UU forum but visitors don't see non-baseball threads first in All Topics - or switch Unusually Unusual back to fully public.

Thanks,

Julie 

I believe blocking the UU threads from the recent posts is a sound business decision. Members know it's there. Anyone new to the board will eventually go through all the sections and find it. 

You could change the name of the thread eliminating "Barack." it could be called "Today In America."

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I was surprised to see that change, but really Julie it doesn't matter to me. Do what is best for the website.

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RJM,

Advertising had absolutely nothing to do with my concern.  I do understand how it might concern others, but I am not a good enough business person to think that way. Truth is I never wanted to advertise anything in the first place. It might be difficult to understand, but I have the same reasons as "most" for participating on this site.  It started a long time before any advertising was on the site.

On the other hand, I know this site has been beneficial to us most of the time.  But I would still be a big fan if PG were never mentioned.  If people want to talk about politics it's ok with me. I just think that people come to this site for other reasons. If they see that thread being featured every day as a popular topic, some might get the wrong impression. Others might see it as a representive of the views of this site. Maybe it is, but then it becomes a form of advertising similar to all the ads we are bombarded with before the election.

Once again, if some want to read or participate, it doesn't bother me at all.  My concern is the site, not my political views or business purposes.

I'll close with my political view... Both parties have their priorities screwed up. 

Julie figured it out. Aside from the posts not showing on the homepage, the thread is invisible unless logged in. Once a new person logs in its the last area they would notice.