If you could change one thing at Ozzu what would you change?

My eyes are not very good anymore and I would like more contrast for the text. If the white text was bold, it would really help. Or a bigger font. I see that the browser font controls do not work. Perhaps a JS/CSS button that can make adjustments for those that need it....?

I didn't realize you had so much content, and I found several posts I could respond to in just a few minutes of looking around.

Based on some other posts and one in particular that was somewhat abusive and uncalled for, I think you need to keep the standards high for what is acceptable and what is not in professional behavior.

Truthfully, I am not sure what I would change. The site seems quite informative to me.
Perhaps a section on tech job listings or tips..

I like this forum. I t has a lot of good information you can't really find anywhere else. I haven't been here much because I haven't had much problem with my computer lately to tell you the truth...

I posted a poll where people voted on how Nvidia Sucks. The two choices given were YES IT DOES and YES IT DOES. 6 people voted for both making Nvidia suck 6 times as much. For me, any site that gives one the option to make two of the choices the same is great, even if the site doesn't have a purpose in the first place. So lets just say the purpose of this site is to give users the ability to create polls with similar choices. OZZU rocks!

I've broken the rules before, why not do it again right?

My "one and only" suggestion would be to expand the site. Perhaps offer (as a few have mentioned before) a script repository, maybe a Javascript and/or CSS test ground (kind of like w3schools.com has).

Other things that bug me:
- Not being able to use HTML. This means I have to use hyphens instead of a list. Why not use a regular expression and filter out any that will harm the forum?
- More color schemes. Sometimes the dark colors don't do me well.
- RSS Feeds on posts and forums. This would eliminate the need for the watch this topic feature that forces me to click the link and load the page to see if I want to even respond.
- Someone said it before, but I have a slightly different view on it. The site could me more organized. Perhaps add a few more categories, and change the description on a few. I don't know how many times I have wondered whether to post a topic in the Web Hosting forum, Web Design Forum, or the Programming Forum because it had to do with HTACCESS....which is related them all.
- Mods, mods, mods. Well, because I don't mind singling people out, Axe, Axe, Axe and Jessica, Jessica, Jessica. I read that post someone had linked to a bit back about rude admins, and I must say, that is ridiculous.
- Lastly, and NOT ANY LESS IMPORTANT, Mailbox space. Especially in the era where Google and Yahoo are offering 1GB+ of mailbox space, our pathetic TEXT ONLY message limit that uses up maybe 100KB of space is harsh. I hate having to DELETE GOOD INFORMATION so someone can send me a PM telling me to review their site. Just up our message limit...a lot.

I won't talk anybody's ear off though. Those are the things off the top of my head.

Well, I completely forgot I joined up here. That PM you sent out reminded me.

I just joined that usergroup for competitions, so hopefully those messages will remind me to come here.

Maybe a monthly email newsletter or something.

I haven't been here in a while because I felt too stupid to be here. I will agree with pervious comments about the mods. I was made to feel as though I were stupid, and was treated rudely. Sometimes it's hard to understand answers to questions when you really are new to a subject. This leads to more questions, and when those questions are made out to be "stupid questions" it tends to hurt one's feelings.

There is a clique on Ozzu. And if you don't belong, then you are just another Newbie.

I would change ownership of this amazing place to myself.

I'm in agreement with Rabid Dog. I'd love to see a code snippet/sample library and some nice code challenges. Other than that, I'd have to agree with MeineChrista too in that it would be nice if the programming section were broken down by language. You wouldn't have to cover ALL languages, just the most discussed ones here on Ozzu. This would make it easier to search and also help prevent the "Which language are you using?" posts when someone asks a question without specifying the language.

Other than those few things, I cant think of anything else I'd change.

I'm not really sure what more one can expect for a community such as Ozzu. Ozzu isn't unique by any stretch, although it has a much less formal feel to it than any other large techy online forum space that I've been to. I don't know... Ozzu is what I need it to be... I'm not a moderator, just a member, so I guess I don't much care about the ancillary stuff that is posted here. It stays put on the General board where it belongs, and for the most part, the Mods tolerate it as long as it does stay there (as I feel they should...)

Someone said something about moderator attitudes... I've crossed the mods now and then (actually... not really that much, but a couple times), and you know... who cares. This IS a community, and there NEEDS to be some sort of standard, which by extensions, REQUIRES that there be some way to enforce those standards, AKA, Moderators. If you are willing to operate within the norms set forth, in general, by the community, then you won't have a problem with the Mods. If you consistantly prefer to operate outside those norms, then you need to seriously consider whether Ozzu is a community you should frequent... The mods are doing the job asked of them, and while no one can always be 100% impartial, I think the mods do a pretty good job here, much better than other places, for sure, both in keeping it clean, and being flexible as appropriate.

I guess I would agree that some form of FAQ might be in order. The problem isn't that people are lazy and don't bother looking before asking... (yes, that does happen a lot), but in many cases, its happened to me in fact, the search terms that actually locate an answer aren't the terms a person thinks to use. Or, more importantly, the person isn't that fluent in English perhaps, the web is international after all.

The thing is... a FAQ would be difficult to narrow down to where it would be remotely useful. Go peruse the various forums, there are thousands and thousands of questions being asked and answered all the time, some are repetitive, others not.... but you'd have to comb through WAY too much data to compile a good list, and no one's getting paid enough for that.

No, I really like Ozzu as it is, for what it is, and for what it's not...

Maybe a chat room of some sort

.c

I am not a regular visitor, so let me not misdirect you with my inputs. But at a first glance, it is so dark. I just don't want to stay here for long.

I fully agree there needs to be a "standard" that people adhere to in order to particiapte on an ongoing basis in any forum community. The thread I linked to isn't about adhering to a standard, it's about a mod being a jerk because someone asked a question (a valid question at that) about the nofollow being used in signatures. IMO mods should be setting the example for the community, not lashing out at people for asking questions and telling them to "post elsewhere".

If there was one thing that impacted the amount of time I spend reading here (besides having a hectic life), it would be the high contrast white on black theme.

In the space of 10 minutes worth of reading, I find myself doing an awful amount of blinking at the excessive contrast in text to bgcolor.

Thanks for listening, eh...


Cold Canuck

Here I shall now commit Ozzu suicide and criticize the one force I should not.

If there was one thing I could change about Ozzu it would be the attitude sometimes displayed be the Moderators and wannabe moderates. In general the forum is well maintained, spam is promptly dealt with and offensive and unacceptable post are quickly removed. The problems with the moderation, in my mind, come when posters commit minor social faux pas and are responded to with short venomous repartee. If you feel someone's post is badly phrased, or could be better solved through the use of Google or Ozzu's search function; simply say so in a pleasant and friendly manner, or even better ignore their post and leave it for someone else that may have the time and patience to walk the poster through their problem.

To illustrate this problem I'll briefly tell you of a post I didn't recently make; and more importantly why I didn't make it. The post would have been related to my new computer and a problem I currently have with Flash. I've upgraded to 64bit, I'm running a 64bit OS and use 64bit Firefox, there is no 64bit Flash Plugin and 32bit Flash doesn't work with Firefox 64. Therefore anyone using 64bit Firefox is without Flash and I see this as a growing problem that developers (especially those in Macromedia) should be aware of. The solution to this problem, given by Macromedia, is to run a 32bit browser; I and many other users are not will to take a technological step backwards for a software company that is so pathetically run that they can't recompile a piece of software. I was going to write a post to this affect, as I thought it would be of interest to many of the users of Ozzu, but, as I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of computers I felt sure someone else must have experienced the same problem and written a post related to it. I ran a search of Ozzu (Flash 64) which came up with fifty nine pages of results, I read through the first couple of pages and thought sod it; I can't face trawling through fifty nine pages of posts. So I left no post just to avoid the negativity I'd have to carry round for the rest of the day on the off chance someone else had made a post on this subject and all I'd get in reply would be,



In summary I think the Moderators would be well placed if they remembered the old adage, 'If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.'

That said, maybe I'm wrong and the current situation is the perfect balance between anarchy and strict control; I've never run a forum and therefore not had a chance to see the effect of different levels of control. And, in general Ozzu is the only forum I regularly visit and one of the reasons is the fact the moderators here do a good job in keeping a lot of the rubbish and idiots off the boards.

I had completely forgotten I'd signed up here, I must admit, so if you'll humour me here are just a couple of things that hit me as soon as I logged in:

1. Although I happen to like the skin, I can see why others do not. Just giving a choice of skins (sorry if this has been mentioned) would make a difference.

2. A Tutorial section would be worth its theoretical weight in gold; nobody wants to read through pages, for what might be gleaned from a single, well-written post.

Other than that I'd stick to just changing whatever you guys feel is best, I suspect I'll be visiting here more often. Now I know what it is.