Message to Jim Robinson

Standard Version Illumination | 12/19/2016 | Yollopoliuhqui

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Hi Jim, I didn't know how to email you privately so I'll use one of the more casual forums. This is not a new topic, I'm sure, but let me add my voice to whatever clamor there is to migrate Free Republic to a more modern forum software package, one that

1. Has functions which are easy to see/find and invoke

2. Allows easier upload of pictures

3. That allows email notification of replies to comments

4. That allows editing after a comment is posted

5. That has text editing features so one doesn't need to know HTML code in order to add emphasis.

6. That has a Search function for previous posts

7. That is easier to navigate to the specialty forums such as "Gods, Graves, Glyphs", which, had it not been mentioned in a random post, I never would have found here on FR.

This is the modern era, there are far, far better forum software packages out there. Free Republic may well experience a rapid growth in users post Trump victory. We'll want to make joining and participating fully in FR as easy as possible.

[AndyJackson]

Hands down this forum is the most readable and easily usable of any "social media" website around.

Topics are easy to find and the flow of posts is simple to understand.

Anything can be improved, but careful. It would be easy to break it.

[ari-freedom]

I went to washington times and got an ad for those Hamilton electors

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Give it up. He’s been here 10+ years and can’t figure out how to send a PM?

And, an expert on software, to boot!

[cyclotic]

I love the simplicity of the current FR. I hate websites that try to be everything. They are slow and harder to navigate.

FR is nearly perfect. Leave it alone.

[Sans-Culotte]

BASIC HTML TAG CODE GENERATOR

[Responsibility2nd]

1. has functions which are easy to see/find and invoke

I visit other forums and sites. Nobody else has "Pings" that are as user friendly as here.

2. allows easier upload of pictures

<img.....> is too hard? Really? You know there are online and web based sites that are even easier than the img html.

3. that allows email notification of replies to comments

That last thing anyone needs is more email cluttering up their in boxes.

4. that allows editing after a comment is posted

Yeah, that would be OK, but we do have a preview. Use it.

5. that has text editing features so one doesn't need to know HTML code in order to add emphasis.

Again, there are hundreds of free download sites. Who needs to know html??

6. that has a Search function for previous posts

Google advance Search is your friend.

7. that is easier to navigate to the specialty forums such as "Gods, Graves, Glyphs", which, had it not been mentioned in a random post, I never would have found here on FR.

Freep much? GGG has been a fixture for years.

 

 

Got any more complaints? I got more snarky answers. lol

 

 

[who_would_fardels_bear]

The main reason to avoid advertising is the bandwidth.

Ad agencies aren't going to just want to put static text adds on FR. They are going to want to put elaborate images and videos that automatically start running as soon as you surf to the page they are on.

This will make loading pages on FR as annoying and painful as other conservative sites which have sold their souls to mammon.

No thank you.

[Doogle]

Pang

[Mr. Douglas]

Even the ubiquitous, but ultra useful and reliable Checker Cab bit the dust. It will happen to this format, eventually. So far it still works, but as the outside world continues to improve, it will eventually feel too clumsy to use. It’s already reaching that point.

The problem is (and I could be wrong) that it is based on a foundational paradigm that would need a project to completely throw out the old system and incorporate a new one with completely different knowledge base needs.

It’s like having software supported by the same solid staff of COBOL programmers and deciding to dump it for C# backed MVC with cloud based storage. YOu don’t make that decision lightly.

I’ve posted four topics on a couple of other sites just today. It’s just too difficult here to bother. I just wait for someone else to do it.

[Fresh Wind]

Try hanging out at Reddit for a while, or even (gasp!) 4chan/pol/, then come back here and see how good FR really is.

[Gamecock]

I love the clean layout, very uncluttered and easy to read.

I would like to be able to edit my own posts and have an app for my phone though.

[Robert DeLong]

that allows email notification of replies to comments

I for one do not want that feature at all.

[The Westerner]

OMG. Please don’t “ modernize” your template, Jim. Like Drudge, FR is a breeze to use for most of us. Elegant in its simplicity. Loads faster than all the digitalized, gray on gray sites.

[Dr. Sivana]

I am going to take exception to the content of this post. Once Jim Robinson sublets his programming to an off-the-shelf or semi-custom package, the added functionality also comes with strings.

Mandatory updates, unknown vulnerabilities, PLANTED vulnerabilities, 3rd party back doors.

Regarding advertising, yeah we love capitalism, which means you get to use whatever business model works for you. Jim Rob doesn't have to worry about advertisers pulling out because the media reported that he is sympathetic to white supremacists, or that JR called a slut a slut.

More than capitalism, freepers LOVE private property. Jim Rob has made his private property into a private forum for a few score of thousands of his best friends. Enough of us like to pitch in for the living room sofa and the lighting bill to keep it going.

If Jim Rob or others on his team were more software application programming geniuses than trustworthy political solid citizens, he could put those features in, perhaps, or if he had more money he could pay someone trustworthy to do it. That's not his world, and while capitalism lets any one of us make our own version, with Drudge and Breitbart filling in some gaps, Free Republic remains the conscience of the political side of the Internet.

[bigbob]

Can’t disagree more. Do not want any of that stuff. If you’re not smart enough to use the forum as-is, then learn.

[Gamecock]

Reddit is almost unreadable!

[Godebert]

If it ain't broke..... Don't fix it!

[sportutegrl]

I like the ads idea. We do support capitalism. Are FR donations tax deductible?

[bk1000]

I like the platform. It’s not hard to post pictures. Personally, I like that it isn’t flashy.

[Dr. Sivana]

I would like to be able to edit my own posts and have an app for my phone though.

Nothing stops anyone from authoring such an app in Android or iOS. Heck, you can even charge for it!