I'll tell you that because the Message Board is so clunky and difficult to use, the search function that got taken away in the middle of this season was its only saving grace. In our league the Message Board is actually used for things that actually affect the game. Messages left earlier in the season can affect certain things later in the season. We need some way of quickly locating messages that does not involve searching through pages and pages of messages.
If the Message Board were looked like these forums, where many thread topics are listed on a single page, and then you could click on the thread you were interested in and read only those messages in the thread you were interested in, there would be little need for the search function. But a clunky awful Message Board with no search function is just intolerable.
Who could possibly believe that the design of the Message Boards for individual leagues would not be seriously improved by being changed so that it is identical to that of the forums? No one who actually needs to use the Message Board for league business. It's infuriating to be talking about this very problematic Message Board on a message board that is so nonproblematic.
Seriously--we are moving to ESPN next year because of this. The taking away of the search function was the final straw. It makes me sad because there is a lot to like about this website. The Message Boards are absolutely ridiculous though.
This is a must change. I hope you can stay with FF if they do make a move to a forum style message board. Search, topic thread, sticky and Commish Mod features are a must have.
I agree with above. Additionally, I have addressed a relative concern in my thread titled "Addition to League Rules tab to post leagues constitution and bylaws" that would alleviate some of the congestion. Just like you, I have received NO response from the Flea Flicker administrative team answering the issue.
No, and I apologize for not clearing this up earlier, but we are staying here for 2011 because shortly after my post those in control at Flea Flicker put the search feature back.
And there really is a LOT to like about Flea Flicker, especially if you have a league where the scoring system awards different positions slightly different numbers of points for the same things. ESPN won't allow that kind of thing.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to your league's Message Board, and if you look on the upper right, you'll see a little box there, and you can use that to search for previous messages. They took that away at some point in the middle of last season--that's what prompted my post.
I continue to believe the Message Boards are clunky and unattractive and difficult to use, but the search box makes them not completely intolerable for our purposes.
This one that we are talking on right now is the one example I would cite. These forums are pretty much exactly like the way the league message boards at Yahoo work as well, so Yahoo's free fantasy league message boards would be another example.
One of the biggest problems with the ones in the leagues here is that the front page fits only a few messages, and the titles sort of get a little lost amongst all the words in the messages themselves, and the thing ends up just looking up cluttered and I think it deters some folks from reading things and enjoying it.
If we could have just a large list of topics on the front page, so you could see only the topics, and then you could just click on the one you were interested in or the important one or whatever, and open only that thread--that would be a huge improvement in my opinion.
This is the way Yahoo's leagues still are, I believe.
Now, if you could also give commissioners the ability to make some of the threads "sticky," by which I mean certain important topics would always stay at the very top--a feature of many forums and message boards all over the web--that would truly be excellent.
But making our league message boards look just like these forums do, in my opinion, would be a huge improvement.
I think Yahoo actually puts the most recently posted few topics right under the standings, and then in that general area is a link to the bigger list of topics. That'd be pretty cool, I think.
The Yahoo message board SUCKS!!! It is clumsey and you continually have to jump to another page. There is no continuity of conversation. It is cumbersome and annoying.
Say what you want about FF message board, but at least it is chronalogical in order and the outline format is easy to follow.
You are right about the search feature.
An improvement would be to HIGHLIGHT all NEW POSTS better......the new posts should be easier to detect.......my only complaint.
Since Fleaflicker was sold to AOL I'm not sure that anyone who can change this board even reads it anymore. I sort of doubt it because they don't seem to be interested in making the message board upgrades that we have asked for.
The limitations of WBBS are more discouraging than are the problems which you describe. I also posted a thread where I requested that V-Bulletin software would provide a much better message board. V-Bulletin is proven and offers much more fun for users.
Not only that, but if you take the time to space out a message so it looks presentable, when you see it on the message board, it removes multiple spaces (used to align columns for example) and extra <returns> used to separate paragraphs.
RobertKellyThu 11/18/10 9:45 AM
I'll tell you that because the Message Board is so clunky and difficult to use, the search function that got taken away in the middle of this season was its only saving grace. In our league the Message Board is actually used for things that actually affect the game. Messages left earlier in the season can affect certain things later in the season. We need some way of quickly locating messages that does not involve searching through pages and pages of messages.
If the Message Board were looked like these forums, where many thread topics are listed on a single page, and then you could click on the thread you were interested in and read only those messages in the thread you were interested in, there would be little need for the search function. But a clunky awful Message Board with no search function is just intolerable.
Who could possibly believe that the design of the Message Boards for individual leagues would not be seriously improved by being changed so that it is identical to that of the forums? No one who actually needs to use the Message Board for league business. It's infuriating to be talking about this very problematic Message Board on a message board that is so nonproblematic.
Seriously--we are moving to ESPN next year because of this. The taking away of the search function was the final straw. It makes me sad because there is a lot to like about this website. The Message Boards are absolutely ridiculous though.
Thanks,
OOFFL Commissioner
VeritasWed 8/10/11 3:17 AM
We have been screaming about fixing the message board for years. This is a big part of fantasy football. FIX IT ALREADY.
PortgazTue 8/9/11 8:33 AM
This is a must change. I hope you can stay with FF if they do make a move to a forum style message board. Search, topic thread, sticky and Commish Mod features are a must have.
Pee-DeeSat 8/13/11 12:41 AM
E, no one cares what you are regurgitating.
KKrenzkeSat 8/6/11 9:45 AM
I agree with above. Additionally, I have addressed a relative concern in my thread titled "Addition to League Rules tab to post leagues constitution and bylaws" that would alleviate some of the congestion. Just like you, I have received NO response from the Flea Flicker administrative team answering the issue.
PortgazTue 8/9/11 8:33 AM
Sticky on a thread topic would solve this and much more.
RobertKellyFri 8/5/11 10:46 AM
So, I guess AOL isn't in control anymore. How about making the Message Boards in our leagues look like these forums, with threads and whatnot? Please?
Search feature is still here, thankfully.
rbc1959Mon 8/15/11 11:35 PM
I thought you went to ESPN already ???????
RobertKellyTue 8/16/11 2:09 PM
No, and I apologize for not clearing this up earlier, but we are staying here for 2011 because shortly after my post those in control at Flea Flicker put the search feature back.
And there really is a LOT to like about Flea Flicker, especially if you have a league where the scoring system awards different positions slightly different numbers of points for the same things. ESPN won't allow that kind of thing.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to your league's Message Board, and if you look on the upper right, you'll see a little box there, and you can use that to search for previous messages. They took that away at some point in the middle of last season--that's what prompted my post.
I continue to believe the Message Boards are clunky and unattractive and difficult to use, but the search box makes them not completely intolerable for our purposes.
Thanks,
OOFFL Commissioner
fleafounder AdminTue 8/16/11 4:48 PM
Can you give some examples of message boards that you like? Thanks.
RobertKellyTue 8/16/11 6:09 PM
This one that we are talking on right now is the one example I would cite. These forums are pretty much exactly like the way the league message boards at Yahoo work as well, so Yahoo's free fantasy league message boards would be another example.
One of the biggest problems with the ones in the leagues here is that the front page fits only a few messages, and the titles sort of get a little lost amongst all the words in the messages themselves, and the thing ends up just looking up cluttered and I think it deters some folks from reading things and enjoying it.
If we could have just a large list of topics on the front page, so you could see only the topics, and then you could just click on the one you were interested in or the important one or whatever, and open only that thread--that would be a huge improvement in my opinion.
This is the way Yahoo's leagues still are, I believe.
Now, if you could also give commissioners the ability to make some of the threads "sticky," by which I mean certain important topics would always stay at the very top--a feature of many forums and message boards all over the web--that would truly be excellent.
But making our league message boards look just like these forums do, in my opinion, would be a huge improvement.
I think Yahoo actually puts the most recently posted few topics right under the standings, and then in that general area is a link to the bigger list of topics. That'd be pretty cool, I think.
Thanks,
OOFFL Commissioner
thekingofsecondThu 8/25/11 1:52 AM
The Yahoo message board SUCKS!!! It is clumsey and you continually have to jump to another page. There is no continuity of conversation. It is cumbersome and annoying.
Say what you want about FF message board, but at least it is chronalogical in order and the outline format is easy to follow.
You are right about the search feature.
An improvement would be to HIGHLIGHT all NEW POSTS better......the new posts should be easier to detect.......my only complaint.
fleafounder AdminThu 8/25/11 8:17 AM
Highlighting is a good idea and easy to fix, thanks for the suggestion.
I think it boils down to preference--some people prefer a board with separate topics instead of one continuous thread.
It's possible for us to offer both so I'll think about how best to implement it.
rangerdaveWed 8/17/11 4:57 PM
I would like to see customizable message boards with the ability to contain categories and sub-categories, along with the ability to search forums.
RRManSat 1/22/11 3:41 PM
Since Fleaflicker was sold to AOL I'm not sure that anyone who can change this board even reads it anymore. I sort of doubt it because they don't seem to be interested in making the message board upgrades that we have asked for.
scottfrenchSun 1/9/11 7:33 PM
There should be a modirator
Pee-DeeSat 8/13/11 12:42 AM
Yeah, the commish
RRManSat 1/8/11 9:10 PM
The limitations of WBBS are more discouraging than are the problems which you describe. I also posted a thread where I requested that V-Bulletin software would provide a much better message board. V-Bulletin is proven and offers much more fun for users.
jiminhixsonWed 1/5/11 11:32 AM
Not only that, but if you take the time to space out a message so it looks presentable, when you see it on the message board, it removes multiple spaces (used to align columns for example) and extra <returns> used to separate paragraphs.
Clunky is an understatement.
RobertKellyTue 8/23/11 11:44 AM
I'm sayin'.
thekingofsecondThu 8/25/11 1:57 AM
You are right about the presentation. It should appear the same as what is typed; with the same spacing, paragraphs, etc.
I don't suppose a spell check is in the works...............