[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by buck52

If you are a premium member and select to no show the the side bars...cloud bars or whatever you what to call them...they should be gone ....not just closed up...

might as well not bother donateing they still take up the space...

You can't turn it off on the forums home page at all.

[grandma77]

In another thread Mike answered this question just as John Will said:

Mike said: Remember that the option to turn off the sidebar (at least for now) applies only to when you're viewing a thread -- not to when you're looking at the home page.

I asked why can't we turn it off and he said:

I'd like to allow people to turn it off for the forum listings (which lists the threads in each category), but haven't had a chance to program that yet. There's no sense in changing it on the home page (which lists the forum categories) because it would just end with more empty space -- the forum listings aren't that wide.

So now we know why it is the way it is. I know Mike is working very hard and with little sleep to improve this site.

[JohnWill]

That's not the most pressing issue facing him right now, so I suspect that won't change any time soon.

[tomdkat]

I'm starting to dig the thread cloud. I think just need to start tagging more threads. I tagged a thread I posted in and the font size of that keyword in the cloud increased. I clicked that keyword and the thread I tagged appeared in the list of relevant threads. neat.

Peace...

[JohnWill]

Right, but until almost everyone tags intelligently, the search (when it's fixed) will still yield better quality results.

[tomdkat]

I do agree that coming up with some kind of tagging guidelines or standards would be great. One thing I don't like about searching is not knowing good search criteria. I can't count the number of times I've searched any given site for any given search terms and didn't find what I wanted yet someone could since they used different terms. What I like about the tag cloud is the terms are right there so I can use those to find threads related to the terms that catch my eye.

Almost like a different kind of search where I don't have to know the specific terms up
front.

Peace...

[JohnWill]

True, but the tag cloud won't yield any better results than the search if the tags aren't intelligently chosen. Since many of the posters are having problems and really have no idea what the tags should be, that doesn't seem likely to happen.

[tomdkat]

That's also true BUT (there's always a "but", isn't there? ):

• The tag cloud isn't intended to replace the search function so if I'm able to find what I need with the tag cloud (and a few mouse clicks), I'm happy. If I can't, I can use the search function (or vice-versa).
• Tags on threads can be edited. I don't know what the rules are governing tag editing are but at the very least I know tags can be added. So a thread with inadequate tags could possibly have better tags added to it.
• As people actually start tagging and get their brains wrapped around the concept of the tag cloud, tag quality should improve unless people intentionally want to screw it up.

The tag cloud is a new concept for just about everyone here (you and I included) and once people adjust to it they will either use it (and hopefully contribute to it) or they will ignore it and look for ways to hide it.

I do think it would be a great idea to allow those not interested in the tag cloud to be able to hide it (as well as the tagging function) to help preserve the integrity of it, meaning only those interested in it could use and contribute to it.

Peace...

[Cookiegal]

I have no objection to the tag cloud as such but more for its placement. I wish it could be put somewhere else and then the main forums screen could be stretched to the full width.

[Jason]

The main page can be found here: http://forums.techguy.org/tags.php

[tomdkat]

Ok, I've got a question about the tag cloud. How does it "refresh" itself and how often does this "refresh" occur? I ask since I've noticed some tags from spam threads which are no longer around. There are tags for "hoodies", "nike", and others currently in the cloud even though the threads those tags were entered on are no longer around.

Peace...

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Ok, I've got a question about the tag cloud. How does it "refresh" itself and how often does this "refresh" occur? I ask since I've noticed some tags from spam threads which are no longer around. There are tags for "hoodies", "nike", and others currently in the cloud even though the threads those tags were entered on are no longer around.

Peace...

If we told you how long it took to refresh that page, we'd have to ........ (never mind).

Suffice to say it does refresh eventually. Some may have been missed as we're just getting the hang of the new set up ourselves and may not have removed some of them at the beginning.

[TechGuy]

The tag cloud rebuilds roughly every 30 minutes.

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by TechGuy

The tag cloud rebuilds roughly every 30 minutes.

You're letting out all our secrets.

[TechGuy]

I knew he wouldn't tell anyone.