DOS Games Discussion

I know this is a complicated thing to ask for when it comes to using a pre-established forum software but maybe someone knows of a plugin or easy way to make it work. I'm especially interested in RSS or Atom feeds for new threads, site-wide or for each sub-forum: it would help a lot keeping up with new content here by using a reader, as with most other sites nowadays.

Maybe updating the forum package would enable this feature, since the currently used version seems to be from 2005? Again, I understand an upgrade isn't as easy as it sounds... just thought I'd share my thoughts as a newcomer who just found out about this forum today

RSS/Atom feeds are still a useful technology to have around, in the right context. I do use them for some things (news aggregates, for example), but I don't really have any interest in using them for forums, personally.

That implies that you have a habit of coming back here and checking new threads like this one, right? That's not a habit I have and I'll probably never develop it. For me and other people interested in the forum, but not to the extent of coming back daily or so for updates, some sort of subscriptions feed is a necessity.

Any up-to-date forum package offers that nowadays. Here is a fast example from EN World's general RPG board (a site that has been around since 1999, just like DOS Games) http://www.enworld.org/forum/external.p ... forumids=2

Another example from the RPG Codex general Video Game board http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.ph ... /index.rss

I guess if all websites nowadays feature feeds for their threads, it must be pretty useful? At least for people like me, as described above.

This forum is not really active enough to warrant a feed, IMO - and it would require much more vigilant spam filtering, which I suspect would otherwise become the main content of the stream.

javelinrl wrote:That implies that you have a habit of coming back here and checking new threads like this one, right? That's not a habit I have and I'll probably never develop it. For me and other people interested in the forum, but not to the extent of coming back daily or so for updates, some sort of subscriptions feed is a necessity.

Yes, and good point. Definitely, in your case (and for others in the same situation), having a feed available would be extremely useful. Still, that said, to answer your poll question: I would not personally use it, because, as you've surmised, I'm the sort more inclined to come back and check threads for replies directly. This is in part due to old habits, in part due to the number of communities I'm registered at, in part due to just not really wanting to deal with too many different feeds at once from too many different sites. I get where you're coming from though. :-)

"not really active enough to warrant a feed"? What does forum activity have to do with having a feed or not? Maybe it would become more active if it had feeds for all the people like me?

Spam filtering? What does this have to do at all with RSS feeds? I honestly have no idea.

I like the idea generally, especially since I don't have anything to do with the setup work, but I'd never use it personally. Oh, well!

An RSS feed from a commercial news site is pretty clean of silly comments, but to achieve this here you would either have to have someone on a daily basis selecting what posts to allow - filtering out spam seems to currently be an almost manual task.

So constantly monitoring a stream would be a good way to receive spam unchecked, since noone would likely do the filtering.
As you know, we do allow guest postings, which attracts spammers.

Coming here to check more seldom, the deluge is most often hidden from your eyes already. What is left visible is usually the good guests and registered posters, but it's not a constant flow.

This makes no sense at all. The RSS feed would only be the result of the posts made in the forum. If the forum has spam, the feed has spam. Having a feed does not increase or decrease spam.

I'm not suggesting a single forum-wide feed but per-thread or per-board feed - as with any other forum that supports feeds. You'd need not subscribe to every single post made here. It's just common sense.

Rwolf wrote:As you know, we do allow guest postings, which attracts spammers.

I think guest posting was disabled completely a while ago, still doesn't keep the spammers away completely though.

Aha, so that at least is filtered.
Well, whoever would be doing any RSS feeds of these forums, it's not my business.