So, What Sort of Free Republic Should This Be?

[Lead Moderator]

"Pantless driver charged over kiddie porn"

Dr Who fans to mark anniversary (40 years!)

DRUDGE "THE 'LOVE' LETTERS TO 'RUBBA' THAT MAY DESTROY JACKSON"

Seeking Help for a Computer Problem (Vanity)

'Can YOU Be A Porn Star?'

Oklahoma U. Qualifies for College Football Title Game

Man tries to smuggle bologna in shape of car seat over border

Posner is a fraud........

Screenless TV's Picture Floats In Thin Air

Syphilis Cases Rising In Idaho - many of the victims are pregnant

Michael Jackson: Take me to South America! (Midair meltdown as he returned to CA)

Teenager narrowly escapes crocodile attack

Dixie Chicks Singer Still Speaking Mind

All of the above were originally posted to news. That means that for a person having their settings for 50 threads at a time, their latest posts page would have had all of these.

All have been moved to chat.

[Old Professer]

The first step toward a solution is recognizing the problem, not ignoring or burying it.

[glock rocks]

it works when someone pings you.

[sweetliberty]

Are you logged in?

[eddie willers]

This suggestion wouldn't eliminate all errant posts, but it would reduce their number by reducing the incentive to post in News/Activism just to ensure some response even when one knew it wasn't the proper place

Bingo.
Given this option, no one should complain if it is policed HARD.

[HairOfTheDog]

The pager works if someone pings you to the news side or mail

It has never worked for other forum pings, and I wish it did.

[lepton]

yep...got it.

[Quix]

I usually try and scan the headings in 'LATEST POSTS" 3-4 times a day or more often.

I try to keep up on all MY COMMENTS msgs at least as often.

But I HAD HOPED AND ASSUMED THAT "LATEST POSTS" included ALL LATEST POSTS regardless of forum originally posted in.

Sigh.

[Quix]

Hmmmmm.

What do you think of the ideas in post 235?

[Old Professer]

Worms, minnows or chum?

I think you mean "bated breath".

[Stop Legal Plunder]

Given this option, no one should complain if it is policed HARD.

Excellent point. Another benefit of All Latests Posts that I had overlooked. It would reduce the number of complaints our overworked moderators would have to consider.

Then they'd have more time for more productive activities...like bagging leftist trolls. =)

[Admin Moderator]

I know, just a play on words.

[Quix]

I much agree.

I Love the flavor of a town hall; front porch; general store cracker barrel chat sort of flavor to FR.

And, I THINK THAT'S PART OF IT'S GREATEST STRENGTH.

I think the major aims of FR are strengthened by that ROBUST FLAVOR OF FR.

[cgk]

I know that General Interest = Chat, but this has confused the heck out of more Freepers than anyone in charge seems to realize.

I'm one of them, and I've been here long enough, but not as long as some. Though I've never had an inkling to visit chat, and have never posted stories such as those listed in the title... I've visited a few that belonged there. Weird and strange - not conservative per se.

[eddie willers]

No -If it can be done, that be fine! Especially if it were pretty customizable. People could use it to filter out and filter in what they want to see.

I'm just talking about adding what I think would be something simple.

For examble:

You post to a Live Debate thread in the News Forum and it posts in TWO places....The "News Latest Posts" and the "Super Latest Posts".

You post something to a "Jacko" thread and it posts in "General" and "Super".

I don't know software, but this seems easy.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel.

[Stop Legal Plunder]

What do you think of the name "Water Cooler" for what is now known, alternatively, as "General Interest" or "Chat?

I do think a name change for that forum should accompany the proposed "All Latest Posts" reform...

[Quix]

True. It could take some doing.

But I think the order WHILE PRESERVING THE ROBUSTNESS would be well worth it.

It would take some training for the mentally, computer-ly lazy . . . but that would or would not occur according to THEIR motivation.

[Jim Robinson]

Look, that's the way it used to be. All posts were in one forum. The complaints then were about non-news items, fluff and vanity threads, etc, swamping out the news. And the only alternative I had was to delete the chatty threads and that caused even more problems.

Now, I went to a helluvalot of trouble and John a helluvalot of reprogramming effort to give us the ability to separate the forums so people would quit screaming at us for fluff in the news categories. I'll be damned if I'm going to change it all back.

There are still some topics and threads that are grandfathered in to the news forum, but there will be a day coming soon (just a few more reprogramming jobs) when I'm going to delete the fluff topics from the news forum and move them all to the general forum, and then all forums will be separated even further.

Someday I hope to be able to click on the NEWS link and actually see the NEWS. And when I want to read about the local crime scene or the very latest in celebrity soap opera pulp, I'll click on the appropriate topic and read my fill.

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy Free Republic very much just the way it is.

Thank you.

Jim

[Quix]

NO trouble at all seeing your suggestion as part of those in #235.

I AGREE that any system will be abused. Was trying to come up with a way to minimize abuse AND protect the FR PRIORITIES AND protect the ROBUST FUN of FR.

[glock rocks]

aha. thanks.

It would be so nice if all this kind of information was gathered in one help tab somewhere for those of us who have to look at our underwear to remember our names each day.

Hi, I'm Thursday.

[eddie willers]

What do you think of the name "Water Cooler" for what is now known, alternatively, as "General Interest" or "Chat?

I like it.
It's usually derided as "The Cheese Forum".

When a thread goes there now, it's the same as sitting at the "kids table" during Thanksgiving.