Thread: Your Comments Needed - Revision to InspectionNews

I am very happy to announce that there will be a major revision to InspectionNews coming in the next month or two.

There will be many changes to the coding and performance of the site as well as upgrades to the features and user experience.

Now is the time for your input and suggestions.

The more information I have from you the better the site will be for you.

Please list all your likes, dislikes and suggestions for the future release. Let me know what you like about other message boards and what you don't (why are you even going to other message boards ).

This is your chance to help create your perfect message board.

Thank you for you help!

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Originally Posted by Brian Hannigan

Please list all your likes, dislikes and suggestions for the future release. Let me know what you like about other message boards and what you don't (why are you even going to other message boards

Every msg board has a culture and a personality that is derived from the regular posters. Certain behaviors are tolerated or promoted. Sometimes the regular posters overrun the board with posts/replies and can either encourage more posters or chase people away. I percieve the culture of this board as expecting a mid to high level of technical knowledge when posting replies/answers. Simple questions are expected but answers must have a verifiable public resource to validate. No just winging from the hip. Thats neither right nor wrong, it just is.

I follow several msg boards to get a broader view regarding the home inspection industry. Some of them are hosted by home inspector associations. Association specific topics are discussed "within the inner circle" so there is not the bickering about whose club is best. They all agree their club is best and everyone else is a dolt. They discuss technical issues but not anywhere close to the same volume as this msg board.

Another board tends to be more "best practices" vs. "code based" type answers. They often suggest ignoring code in favor of "how much damage has happened as a result of the defect". It provides a good balance to the code centric nature of this board. It has a smaller audience feel about it. The owner encourages participation from members in his area of operations so there tends to be more information about the problems in that part of the world.

I sometimes think this board is under moderated. While lively discussion is part of the process, sometimes a gentle reminder by moderators in a run away topic to keep it civil helps to keep personalities in check. I am not a fan of locking topics as a general rule but sometimes it just turns into a sandbox shouting match. It would be nice if someone would step in to out of hand topics and tell them if you can't say anthing nice, then don't say anything at all. Suggestions to play nice by "regular" posters has not seemed to be very effective.

What I do like is this board seems to have a wider draw of inspectors so it is not just the same 10 people answering every question. The answers come from a wider sampling and it helps to see what is "normal" in other parts of the country, continent, world.

I like the ability to post multiple photos in a single post. I love that spellcheck works. I love the New Posts and Todays Post options. Sometimes I have plenty of time to read everything and other times I only have time to scan the headlines. I love how easy it is to quote previous replies/topics. I like that people are supposed to be registering under their real name. I think it helps to keep people from being quite so ugly.

I would like to see it as what I think you intended it to be and that is a message board intended for "Home Inspectors".

We have all seen the number of "DIY" type questions increase and then it appears that the HI's all get into a competition mode on who can out answer the other guy..

A DIY section would be okay, but I think the rest of the board should be locked out for the persons not practicing as HI's.

You can see how this is handled on many of boards such as the HVAC contractors board where sections are locked out to those who can't verify they are licensed.

JMHO

Rick

I'm glad you asked.
Suggestions:
I think it would be helpful to have a rating system for each post.
Kinda like FB.
Better answers would rank high.
Giving a pat on the back to those that deserve it.
While squabbles, rants, and abuse would rank low.
Collect enough lows and Your Out.
Kind of self moderating.

Some people have posted some really useful information. It would be good if we could Tag it to make it easy to find later.

Dislikes:
If I just roll across FB, Share,.... it pops up.
Can you slow the pop up a little.

Likes:
Overall quality of information
Variety of viewpoints.
Pix of sexy women, Sorry, wrong site. (But think about it)

Originally Posted by Bruce Ramsey

Every msg board has a culture and a personality that is derived from the regular posters. Certain behaviors are tolerated or promoted. Sometimes the regular posters overrun the board with posts/replies and can either encourage more posters or chase people away. I percieve the culture of this board as expecting a mid to high level of technical knowledge when posting replies/answers. Simple questions are expected but answers must have a verifiable public resource to validate. No just winging from the hip. Thats neither right nor wrong, it just is.

I follow several msg boards to get a broader view regarding the home inspection industry. Some of them are hosted by home inspector associations. Association specific topics are discussed "within the inner circle" so there is not the bickering about whose club is best. They all agree their club is best and everyone else is a dolt. They discuss technical issues but not anywhere close to the same volume as this msg board.

Another board tends to be more "best practices" vs. "code based" type answers. They often suggest ignoring code in favor of "how much damage has happened as a result of the defect". It provides a good balance to the code centric nature of this board. It has a smaller audience feel about it. The owner encourages participation from members in his area of operations so there tends to be more information about the problems in that part of the world.

I sometimes think this board is under moderated. While lively discussion is part of the process, sometimes a gentle reminder by moderators in a run away topic to keep it civil helps to keep personalities in check. I am not a fan of locking topics as a general rule but sometimes it just turns into a sandbox shouting match. It would be nice if someone would step in to out of hand topics and tell them if you can't say anthing nice, then don't say anything at all. Suggestions to play nice by "regular" posters has not seemed to be very effective.

What I do like is this board seems to have a wider draw of inspectors so it is not just the same 10 people answering every question. The answers come from a wider sampling and it helps to see what is "normal" in other parts of the country, continent, world.

I like the ability to post multiple photos in a single post. I love that spellcheck works. I love the New Posts and Todays Post options. Sometimes I have plenty of time to read everything and other times I only have time to scan the headlines. I love how easy it is to quote previous replies/topics. I like that people are supposed to be registering under their real name. I think it helps to keep people from being quite so ugly.

X2 to everything here.... this is basically my exact feeling too.

Only other thing I can think of... any chance of a mobile phone app to allow reading/replying to posts from an Android or Iphone? I have a lot of 10-15 min spaces of time to kill when I'd love to be reading or replying... I do it sometimes in the broad form but it's overall too much of a hassle to really get much out of it.

Overall, this site is great and thank you for being here.

First I will sate that I am not a HI, but I am an licensed electrical contractor and inspector. I get called by HI to take a look at certain issues.
I agree with all the previousposts. A forum is a place where members can ask a question and get feedback. This can be done without any name calling or degrading anyone.
This should be a place where members can learn from each other.
Codes are used, but in any given area the codes may ammended or certain sections not used completely. This where everyone can learn, by seing what is adopted in certain areas of the country
This leads to possibly having HI's pushing to certain codes or sections of codes adopted in the area for betterment for all.
AsI stated thsi should be done without going after any member, so a ranking system might be the way to go.

How about a Canadian section given differences in codes, regional/geographic considerations ....?

Also just my opinion but the forum needs to be cleaned up, it looks cluttered with advertisements, links at top, bottom, sides?

Strike-through.

Forget a thread.

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

Also just my opinion but the forum needs to be cleaned up, it looks cluttered with advertisements, links at top, bottom, sides?

I suspect Brian would love to only have this ad on the site.
InspectionNews Donations

First off, I really enjoy the info that can be found on this site.

• I like the search features for finding topics
• I agree with Ricks idea about post rating
• I would like to see a designation next to the posters name, i.e. member- home inspector,licensed electrician, plumber, engineer or DIY, etc.
• Personally I enjoy having trade professionals as part of the forum with technical problems, just would like to know upfront who they are, I feel as though there may be some posers on here at times just shooting from the hip.( which helps no-one)
• I too would like to see some form of phone app, I have windows phone so please include that with the droid and iPhone . It could be helpful when out in field to ask a quick question while at the property still, just a thought.

Best wishes with the reno on the site, I look forward to seeing it!

I would like to see all discussions about home inspector associations totaly and completely banned. Tired of all the bickering about whose club is better than the other clubs.

They each cater to a different niche segment. Belonging to one or all does not make the inspector better. It is the inspector who makes the club better. Each association has their own msg board and marketing department to answer questions from prospective canidadtes.

Association debates are worse than discussing politics and religion. Take it elsewhere.

This is one of the easier boards to use and navigate. Very few glitches as well.
I don't like the pop-up by the post reply tab, but it's a minor annoyance.

The differences of opinions are sometimes entertaining and it is easy enough to ignore a bit of bullying. Some people are afraid to ask questions because they may get ridiculed. They must overcome their fears if they wish to expand their knowledge.
I appreciate the input from trades people. They see HI from a different point of view, and it makes for a well rounded discussion.
Posters should try to ensure the questions have been answered before going off on tangents, but it hasn't been a problem of late. I don't want to see people banned for voicing a strong opinion, but there could be limits placed on volume of posts. Nobody reads a 6 paragraph rant. It's a waste of space.

I would love to see a ban on all fictitious names on this board. About the only way I can see that happening would be to charge a small fee to all that want to post, but have it free to anyone that just wants to look. Say $10 a year that needs to be paid by a credit card. This would put an end to the vast majority of folks that are using false names, and it would also stop a bunch of the spammers we see from time to time. I don't know if it is even feasible to do something like that.

This site is well worth a $10 a year admission fee!

Scott

Thats a great idea. Too many have no profile. I don't take much stock in posters who have no profile.

I say, charge a fee to be on this site. Make it $10 like SP said or even $20...or more. Im sure the money will help maintain the site. But I think I should have a year free for this great suggestion.

Scott & Marc, I like that Idea! Do I get $5 off for seconding?
Make it $50 for lifetime membership.

No profile, no deals.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I would love to see a ban on all fictitious names on this board. About the only way I can see that happening would be to charge a small fee to all that want to post, but have it free to anyone that just wants to look. Say $10 a year that needs to be paid by a credit card. This would put an end to the vast majority of folks that are using false names, and it would also stop a bunch of the spammers we see from time to time. I don't know if it is even feasible to do something like that.

This site is well worth a $10 a year admission fee!

Now there is an excellent idea. Think about it Brian.....

Hi Brian
I would like a easier way to place pictures perhaps (such as larger file size and also placement in post) and also when clicking "new posts" would like to have it load any posts since the last time I checked in.
If there was a fee someone else will start a forum that is free and most of the guys would go there .

Originally Posted by Brian Hannigan

I am very happy to announce that there will be a major revision to InspectionNews coming in the next month or two.

There will be many changes to the coding and performance of the site as well as upgrades to the features and user experience.

Now is the time for your input and suggestions.

The more information I have from you the better the site will be for you.

Please list all your likes, dislikes and suggestions for the future release. Let me know what you like about other message boards and what you don't (why are you even going to other message boards ).

This is your chance to help create your perfect message board.

Thank you for you help!

Hi Brian, First of all thank you and all the members that respond to question. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST FEATURES of the site. I like to see the ability to be able to enlarge the picture sent by members. so one could see more details, so give a better or more accurate answer to a question .

About the $10 fee.
Not speaking for Brian, but thinking like a web host

The website generates money from advertisers.
Advertisers look for web sites that:
Has a large membership base
High ranking (lots of post)
Targeted audience (HI, home repairs, home owners)

The membership numbers will most certainly drop if not free.
No home owners,
no one timers,
few part timers,
and just a few HIs
The number of post will drop with fewer members.
The target group would be HI only.

The web site will likely make less money from advertisers being a paid subscription than it does as an open to all membership.

The idea of a web site is to:
Get as many people to sign up as you can
Have those people return as often as you can
Have as many post as you can
So that advertisers will buy space.

Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by fidel gonzales

I like to see the ability to be able to enlarge the picture sent by members. so one could see more details, so give a better or more accurate answer to a question .

You can do that now. In the lower right corner of your screen you should see 100%. Click on the arrow next to it and you can change the image size up to 400%

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

About the $10 fee.
Not speaking for Brian, but thinking like a web host

The website generates money from advertisers.
Advertisers look for web sites that:
Has a large membership base
High ranking (lots of post)
Targeted audience (HI, home repairs, home owners)

The membership numbers will most certainly drop if not free.
No home owners,
no one timers,
few part timers,
and just a few HIs
The number of post will drop with fewer members.
The target group would be HI only.

The web site will likely make less money from advertisers being a paid subscription than it does as an open to all membership.

The idea of a web site is to:
Get as many people to sign up as you can
Have those people return as often as you can
Have as many post as you can
So that advertisers will buy space.

Just my opinion.

Good points, but a fee to just verify that the person is not a spammer or is not just a fictitious name would not be a big profit center. I guess there would be ways that could be made so homeowners, etc could still post. Perhaps your first 10 post or your first 30 days would be free and then it would be $10 a year or $50 for a lifetime membership or 2 live chickens.

Just some food for thought.

Talking about spammers
Compared to other forums I go to*, this forum has very few spammers.
When I see spam I just hit "Report" and type "SPAM", Brian most often deletes the post. No more spam. I have even sent emails to spammers web sites asking them not to spam.

*Several landlord sites, property maintenance, flying, alarm.

Someone above made the comment of android users being able to post and read the threads. Yu can already. I check in during the day with an android phone and post from it.

As far as a fee Rick Cantrell is right. Any fee at all would drop the readers/posters/members in general by half. Thousands read on here all the time but never post. Charge a fee to be a member for verification and the stats die. Great idea, but it won't work. It will have nothing but an adverse affect.

Some talk has also been done of shooting from the hip answering posts ... yeah. No one has the time to look up codes for every single question asked and give a best answer off the top of there head. Nop problem with that at all. Besides it makes things much more interesting than

Hi

My name is Bob.

The answer to that question is XXXXX

Thank you very much

By now

Oh yeah

A way to search for people by name, State, and City State.

What there is now is not very useful.

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

About the $10 fee.
Not speaking for Brian, but thinking like a web host

The website generates money from advertisers.
Advertisers look for web sites that:
Has a large membership base
High ranking (lots of post)
Targeted audience (HI, home repairs, home owners)

The membership numbers will most certainly drop if not free.
No home owners,
no one timers,
few part timers,
and just a few HIs
The number of post will drop with fewer members.
The target group would be HI only.

The web site will likely make less money from advertisers being a paid subscription than it does as an open to all membership.

The idea of a web site is to:
Get as many people to sign up as you can
Have those people return as often as you can
Have as many post as you can
So that advertisers will buy space.

Just my opinion.

When I joined this site years ago, it was targeted towards home inspectors who could come on here and ask questions and get help from fellow home inspectors. I don't remember all the Homeowners being on here as now we see.

Now you throw in the "Homeowners", the "DIY" to the site and they must think that many of the home inspectors out there don't have a clue what they are doing out there cause they are on here asking the same type questions they have. Think about it, do you want your tommorrow's client viewing the board and see you asking "is this sub panel ok" or "does this roof look ok". I think the board should be left to just home inspectors. They have other sites for DIY's type questions.

I'd pay a 100. a year for such a site. Heck attending a CEU class would cost you more than that.

Again, JMHO

rick

I got it.
Have inspectors take an on-line quiz , they have to pass it in 6 tries , then give them an IN super duper logo, the title of an Certified " IN" Super Elete Master Inspector " then charge a .25 fee to anyone that wants an answer from a Cetrified "IN " Elete Master Inspector

I'm not questioning the need for an HI site only.
I was only pointing out that looking at it as a money generating venture.
More members = More post= More hits = More advertisers= More revenue

I doubt that paid subscriptions would even come close to advertisers.

Of course thats just my opinion

Only my view... I avoid reading posts with more than 10-15 replies.

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

Oh yeah

A way to search for people by name, State, and City State.

What there is now is not very useful.

A few years ago I believe this site had some type of lead program where we paid into a kiddie X amount of dollars for leads. Do we still have that?

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I would love to see a ban on all fictitious names on this board. About the only way I can see that happening would be to charge a small fee to all that want to post, but have it free to anyone that just wants to look. Say $10 a year that needs to be paid by a credit card. This would put an end to the vast majority of folks that are using false names, and it would also stop a bunch of the spammers we see from time to time. I don't know if it is even feasible to do something like that.

This site is well worth a $10 a year admission fee!

That might deal with the riffraff but it will likely reduce the number of contributors.Like it or not, even some great inspectors are cheap. I'm not sure how big of an issue it is to cause a major change that affects everyone.Banning fictitious names as a policy is good idea but may best be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Using the "report" button when someone spots an obvious fake might be the simplest way t deal with it.. We have seen the nefarious use of fictitious names by certain parties that many actually knew the real names of. Making it a policy and booting them on a case by case basis might be enough. Banning them based on IP address cold help make it stick.

I would move the post reply button up to the end of the comments area versus below advertising. Depending on what computer screen I am on I may have to scroll farther down to get to it. And it is easier to find.

Also the ranking system is good idea to weight the good discussions higher.

Also though the DIY'ers may be a bit of a sidetrack there has been some good conversation that have come out of some. So having a classification of poster ie, HI/Electrician/HVAC/DIY'er can be helpful then you can ignore if you want to.

I can tell you I learn from many here even when the rant begins, but we can self police a bit (ranking button). We are all big boys/girls are we not.

Also I would suggest having a donation badge for those who want to donate then they can have this badge besides their profile showing they are a contributor. This not as pat on the back but to be a inspiration for all of us that find this forum helpful and would like to be a contributing member.

Thank you to all the regular posters here, in my opinion this is as about as good as it gets for a forum. There is always a compromise.

Some great suggestions and comments.

Please keep them coming. Now is the time for everyone to make a suggestion to improve the board.

I'm listening and taking notes.

You asked

Have a banner ad for a prize, maybe a ticket to a HI expo.
Banner ad will show up at random times and places.
To enter for the prize, Click on the banner when you see it.
Click on the banner as often as you can.
The more times you click the banner, the better chance you have to win
This will encourage them to come back often, not just once.

Registered membership will go up
Return of members will go up
Length of time on this site will go up
Got to be good for selling ads

Just a thought.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I would love to see a ban on all fictitious names on this board. About the only way I can see that happening would be to charge a small fee to all that want to post, but have it free to anyone that just wants to look. Say $10 a year that needs to be paid by a credit card. This would put an end to the vast majority of folks that are using false names, and it would also stop a bunch of the spammers we see from time to time. I don't know if it is even feasible to do something like that.

This site is well worth a $10 a year admission fee!

I would second that if the posts were a little more professional. It is disconcerting to read some of the personal attacks and so forth . . . but perhaps a small fee, as suggested, would be one way to address that.

Funny, I thought I would get flamed if I mentioned a paid site as an improvement, but it looks like others wouldn't mind that either. It would be nice if it were primarily pro inspectors. I'm not sure how that works with your advertisers, or if you'd need the advertisers.

Otherwise, when replying maybe a way to flip the view from newest first to oldest first.
I'll try to think of some more.

My biggest request would be to make it a "PRIVATE FORUM. I don't think any inspector wants people to view there posts when they do a general search for them on the internet. There are many things that inspectors discus on the forum, including legal issues. Just do a random search on yourself and you will see many posts from Inspection News come up. Our posts and comments should be private not just pop up when someone is doing a general search for us or our business. I believe what's said here should stay here.

I used to worry that clients would find my here and wonder if I was capable if I was asking questions on a msg board. Conversely I think it shows that as an inspector you are keeping abreast of technology as well as sharing/learning. Not sure if making it private would effect that SEO effect of adding my website to my tagline.

I would be willing to pay a modest fee to play here but I am concerned that it might scare off newer inspectors who do not yet know the value of the board. Weeding out the DIYers would be fine with me but I think the influx of newer and lesser experienced inspectors is important to keep the board fresh and generate new questions.

Originally Posted by Trent Tarter

My biggest request would be to make it a "PRIVATE FORUM. I don't think any inspector wants people to view there posts when they do a general search for them on the internet. There are many things that inspectors discus on the forum, including legal issues. Just do a random search on yourself and you will see many posts from Inspection News come up. Our posts and comments should be private not just pop up when someone is doing a general search for us or our business. I believe what's said here should stay here.

Trent gets it.... I agree a 100% with you.

Rick

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I would love to see a ban on all fictitious names on this board. About the only way I can see that happening would be to charge a small fee to all that want to post, but have it free to anyone that just wants to look. Say $10 a year that needs to be paid by a credit card. This would put an end to the vast majority of folks that are using false names, and it would also stop a bunch of the spammers we see from time to time. I don't know if it is even feasible to do something like that.

This site is well worth a $10 a year admission fee!

Me too! If someone can't show their true name and location then should anyone take anything they post seriously? Small fee to post? I have no problem with that especially if it eliminated the need to sell advertising space to some organizations.

Originally Posted by Stuart Brooks

Me too! If someone can't show their true name and location then should anyone take anything they post seriously? Small fee to post? I have no problem with that especially if it eliminated the need to sell advertising space to some organizations.

Well

Ah, never mind :-)


In all seriousness, I know this has been mentioned, charge a few and lose a great number of folks that are members or possible future members. The idea that it is free and open shows it has nothing to hide and pulls more and more folks in. Folks make comments you do not like then don't read it ... like mine some time :-)

As far as the "you can't know who I am so nothing can come back on me thing" You will lose some but not many at all. Most folks on here do not care if everyone knows who they are.

If information is restricted such as being a member to see it or to reply to it then it goes both ways. It won't show up on a search if folks type a search about a subject and it won't show up in a search if you type someones name in. This is the absolute best blog one could think of belonging to as well as our own personal advertising with websites and such.

Watch out what you ask for. You may just get it. I get calls from clients all the time from my involvement on here. Especially the ones that want an inspector that speaks his mind and does not hold back (giving all my stuff away here) and tells it like it is. Some lead to work instantly and others I get referrals from later as they are calling me to ask a question, or 2, or 3, or 4 and I answer them the best I can and (even shoot from the hip because I do not have tome to look up the technical answer).

So all you folks looking for an Inspector in the DFW area of Texas.

Call me. I will give you what info I can at the moment. Just pass my name around for my fee to you for answering your questions.

Oh yeah. Thank you.

How about the ability to click on a photo attachment and cycle through all the attached photos, instead of closing the first, clicking the next, etc.

Dom.

Brian, I will be happy to put $20.00 on my credit card to help keep the site running. I have donated before, but can’t find the information needed to donate now. If you will post it, I will pay it. It would be alright with me to have a star beside my name, indicating I ams who I ams, by virtue of the all mighty credit card. Maybe you could look back and put a star beside all who have donated within the last ? months.

The format is very good, with questions from all levels of expertise. The questions are as important a part of this forum as the answers. While not all answers are correct, even they have value in instilling thought and discussion. I would not discourage new questions or answers from any who will participate.

I have no problem with anyone knowing I have asked a question, regardless of how basic it may be. The only dumb question is the one that is not asked. I have the same feeling about medical doctors, the ones that think they know it all are the ones that will put you in an early grave. Having my name on here, with a starJ, should help keep me civil and professional, as all of us should keep in mind while we type those irretrievable words.

Kudos to you Brian, for asking us what we'd like to see as improvements.

If I just want to learn more about a specific topic, I'll often come to Inspection News, and do a search on it, but the results are often not targeted very well, and there is a lot of chaff to go through to get to the wheat. I would appreciate it if the search feature could be improved by making it more accurate.

One idea I'd suggest to encourage people to stay on topic, and to provide postings that are appreciated by others would be to put "Like" and "Inappropriate" buttons and counters on each posting, and, show a running tally next to each poster's name. That way, if a person is really a helpful contributor that is appreciated by his or her peers, they could boost his self-esteem, and encourage more good contributions by loading him up with a lot of "Likes". But, if he is continually rude, abrasive, or off topic, maybe he'll get the message by seeing that the majority of his peers don't appreciate his behavior. Only allow one vote per posting by a contributor, and allow the votes to be anonymous.

Brian,

1. I would like to see some alternative to vB coding. Can it be made so that it is easier to add quotes, attahcments etc.

2. I'd like to see a cut and paste in the "reply to post"

3. Have the ability to insert a larger picture, or have the "software" scale down the picture to size automatically.

4. would be nice to know who is online, for a chat.

as to charging fees all that agree to that can always donate to the cause and let the rest of us enjoy free membership. the moment you start charging a fee is when you lose someone posting because of it. you never know when a good question or answer is going to come from. we need people from all walks to post questions so we can learn from all walks of life what concerns are out there. sometimes there are answers but not always from a hi. if you close the doors and let only "select people in" then your closing the doors to the rest of the world. everything has it's pros and cons, but in an open door world you see alot more thru the doors then you do with doors closed to the rest of the world. just my humble opinion.

Too many abuse the quote button, quoting the whole post in their replies. This is needless, it takes up a lot of space, and rather than quoting they should use one or two sentences to quote in replies, or use the persons name who they are actually replying to.

Originally Posted by Trent Tarter

My biggest request would be to make it a "PRIVATE FORUM. I don't think any inspector wants people to view there posts when they do a general search for them on the internet. There are many things that inspectors discus on the forum, including legal issues. Just do a random search on yourself and you will see many posts from Inspection News come up. Our posts and comments should be private not just pop up when someone is doing a general search for us or our business. I believe what's said here should stay here.

Not a problem for me. I am Google-Proof.

All should be required to post a pic of themselves so we can 'see' who (or 'what) they are. Of course, Ted already has that covered...but he could have picked someplace else to sit when they took the picture, than on the toilet....oops...I mean water-closet.

Whatever is done, please keep the discussion board open and public so that it will show up on the various searches. I bet I average around 12+ inspections a year that I can attribute to this site. I'm constantly having clients tell me that they found my post on IN or Google and chose me because I appear to be active in the profession.

Originally Posted by Glenn Curtis

All should be required to post a pic of themselves so we can 'see' who (or 'what) they are. Of course, Ted already has that covered...but he could have picked someplace else to sit when they took the picture, than on the toilet....oops...I mean water-closet.

So you are actually Steven Segal?

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

So you are actually Steven Segal?

Thanks for noticin' the resemblance! Stunt-double actually

Brian,
Lately seems to be a lot of muddling of topics within the search feature, see my last two posts for examples. Is it possible to keep off topic posts out of the keyword searches? In particular, general chit chat questions that get a lot of posts such as "What's your worst find?", or "How are you feeling today?", aren't really that pertinent to a specific word search, are they? Posts such as those take much longer to load, and my squirrel is getting tired....
thanks,
j.

If the posts go private, I am afraid I won't be coming here once in a while. not that I think that my posts are worth that much.

It's just that I am a believer of transparency, even in the gov .

Secrets for what??? It's not worth it on my book. no pun intended. We are in a democracy.

Originally Posted by Joao Vieira

If the posts go private, I am afraid I won't be coming here once in a while. not that I think that my posts are worth that much.

It's just that I am a believer of transparency, even in the gov .

Secrets for what??? It's not worth it on my book. no pun intended. We are in a democracy.

Technically the USA is republic not a democracy... but I digress.

This form is definitely not a democracy, it is a business venture for Brian and he makes the rules. As guests in his forum, we can request things but Brian makes all the decisions.

The site is slow, so a speed increase would be nice.

Also, how about keeping the site free, and offering an ad free version available for a small charge?

Dom.

Fee to close posting will reduce postings that may be of interest. If I do not like it I do not read it. If DIY is an affront to some to bad, usually the DIY questions are a last ditched effort to get an answer. If nothing else this forum will give them the information that they should get professional help rather than do it wrong themselves.

An obvious posting location at the top of the list for those non-HI and DIY questions.

A screening that would keep the type of advertising as the " Bob" attemp to get google hits and advertising at the forums expense.

Clickable links in the digest releases as they once were.

Originally Posted by Dom D'Agostino

The site is slow, so a speed increase would be nice.

Also, how about keeping the site free, and offering an ad free version available for a small charge?

Dom.

It is either you computer memory or just the computer itself or the web browser you are using. Since I changed to Firefox some time ago I have not had a problem with it. Explorer was pretty slow.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

It is either you computer memory or just the computer itself or the web browser you are using. Since I changed to Firefox some time ago I have not had a problem with it. Explorer was pretty slow.

Sorry, but it is this site only. Other BB's are fine, my internet connection and PC are fast enough for all other sites, just this site is noticeably slow. (especially because of the ads).

I also switched to Firefox and while it's much faster the IE, it still lags here.

Dom

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

It is either you computer memory or just the computer itself or the web browser you are using. Since I changed to Firefox some time ago I have not had a problem with it. Explorer was pretty slow.

I haven't had a speed issue either. Perhaps Dom has a problem with a particular server or ISP issue?

Originally Posted by Stuart Brooks

I haven't had a speed issue either. Perhaps Dom has a problem with a particular server or ISP issue?

Well you know, he IS from Florida I think it is that heavy salt air and the Jerry Peck influence or something

Sorry Dom, just did not know what to say. My main computer is a bit slower due to the fact it only has a max of a gig memory and programs today use so darn much of it. God forbid you want to open up email or go to particular sets of the web, it about stops at times. I always have to clear everything out. My termite folks had a problem with their computers. I cleaned the disks up and added another gig of memory to their computers and they act like brand new computers. They also only had a gig of memory. I added 2 gig to each. One of my lap tops only had 500 meg. What a joke that was. Added another 500 meg to top it off for the max and it speeds along like a new computer. All those cookies and history and temp files seriously bog down computers. Add the start up items that do not have to kick on at start up and you just added new life to an old horse.

My next desk top will be a quad core with well over a gig of cache and at least 12 gig of memory and a terabyte hard drive with a back up terabyte hard drive. That should carry me to a ripe old age. Lets not forget a huge video card. Desk tops sell so inexpensive today you can get all that and a 24 inch screen for a 1000 or so.I am tired of waiting as I get older. It was bad enough when I was younger or even now. I can only see my impatient self at 80

". I can only see my impatient self at 80 "

It seems that growing old is about the only thing you do not have to wait on.

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

". I can only see my impatient self at 80 "

It seems that growing old is about the only thing you do not have to wait on.

57 last month. I'll tell yeah though. I have met many a folks lately in their upper 80s and even 90s that are still kicking hard and strong. Thinking of it like that I could have 30 to 40 years of active kicking around. As long as I can still move and eat and breath and get out doors and walk and drive around I will be very happy.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

57 last month. I'll tell yeah though. I have met many a folks lately in their upper 80s and even 90s that are still kicking hard and strong. Thinking of it like that I could have 30 to 40 years of active kicking around. As long as I can still move and eat and breath and get out doors and walk and drive around I will be very happy.

Add - and no one has to change my diaper for me.