Seems like the peeps at tealit have finally worked out what a discussion forum is. They even have the stats for lurkers as well as posters. Seems like they upped the ante Gus, so whatcha gonna do about it?
The tealit forum does look good, but much of the contents scare me.
I mean that the boards record the number of views as well as the number of replies to a particular topic … so you can see how many lurkers there are out there.
The whole Tealit forum setup appears a generation more advanced than this version of UBB.
Yeah, but look at most of the people posting there – doesn’t matter how good the board is if the posters are a bunch of whiny children.
I can see where it might be easier to find answers to FAQs with the layout on Tealit, but I agree that the posting is really sophmoric.
Anyway, I don’t think it’ll come down to some kind of head to head confrontation.
Terry
Thanks for the tip about the new Tealit forums. Looks good, real nice. I’ve always been a fan of phpBB.
btw, folks, this excellent bit of software is free of charge! (Hint: one less reason to not start your own Taiwan website 
) As its name suggests, phpBB is written in a “web language” called PHP. I’ve been tinkering around with PHP recently, and it is a beautiful thing. It’s fast, stable, and has a growing number of scripts (programs). Unfortunately, I haven’t made the time to really learn it well, and I don’t have any plans to pick it up anytime soon (ok, that’s not completely true, there’s a job opportunity I’m eyeing where it might come in handy)
Best of all, phpBB can import threads from the Ubb(!), which is what this forum uses. If you know anyone who wants to help me convert these ORIENTED forums to phpBB, I’d like to talk to them. My schedule opens up in August, so I would be hoping (and happy) to talk to prospective co-developers then.
Upped the ante, monkey? Now, shucks, why would I want to match that? It’s not as if I’m making any money off of you guys, anyway 
Seriously, I’m hoping that this “pie” we share is big and growing. What can I say? I’m an indominable optimist. And if “Taiwan’s global community” is instead “small and shrinking” – all the more reason to share it, I say.
I once offered tealit a banner exchange – but they haven’t gotten back to me. It’s high time, I follow it up. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were just a mouse click away?
actually, i don’t like the way that tealit is laid out. i’m sure it’s just a configuration setting, but the threading kinda sucks(all replies look like replies to the original post). and threads are ordered by the time that the original post is made…not by the follow-ups.
for a much better laid out board, check out:
http://forums.prounreal.com/
it’s a forum i read related to a game, but it also uses phpbb and uses a MUCH better lay-out, imo. i guess it depends on taste, though.
btw, folks, this excellent bit of software is free of charge
Which one is free?
Jennifer
My Taipei Baby
I understand from the user guide that you need some sort of database access, so I doubt that free webspace providers (such as tripod, geocities etc.) would be able to run phpBB.
BTW, I noticed that TEALIT has now changed their display, using the original one that shows all threads and replies. I hate to say it, but it looks great.
Ok, I looked at two of the boards that have been mentioned. http://forums.prounreal.com/ looks like it’s set up the same as these, but with different colors (“ick” IMHO)
The tealit boards are awful! I hate that format. It takes forever to read thru a thread and the forum covers are a mess with all the indentation of threads.
Gus, I was so impressed with the oriented forums when I first saw them. You’ve also done a great job of tailoring them to the community. It’s always tempting to change things when something new comes along, but if something ain’t broke…
Thanks for crediting me with “tailoring” the O forums to the community, but this isn’t completely accurate. Let me clarify:
-
ORIENTED is the brainchild of two people. Yeah, it’s our “baby” but at least one of us (uh, me) is hoping the baby finally move out of the house and lives on it’s own – in other words, grows in its own way.
The last several forums were proposed and “staffed” by regular members – so many thanks again to folks like Bu Lai En, Maoman, IronLady, Cranky Laowai, among others, for making these forums that much more relevant
Despite the welcome outcomes thus far with said “community-generated” forums, I am the cog in the works that usually slows down the creation of new forums. Thus, how odd for me to take credit for any “tailoring”
And not least, as Sandman mentioned above, what makes this forum truly valuable are the cool people who contribute to it. A good example of a tree falling in the forest…[/list]
With regard to a potential change of the ORIENTED Forums to phpBB: this is driven more by stability than anything else. I’m still testing the administration of it, and I yet have much to learn about php.
John, good point about MySQL not being free. This is true – rarely is MySQL access offered for free.
I have to agree with JackB, I think the Tealit forums are a mess. If the server was faster I could just about cope with have to click on each post and reply individually, but only just! I think the Oriented forum is much more attractive and far easier to use. Tealit reminds me of the old fashioned Unix newsgroups.
There I was yesterday having a bit of a wander round the various e-boards relating to Taiwan. Came across the Tealit.com board. Someone asking about working for the various English language papers in Taiwan. So, helpful sod that I am, I posted a reply - directing them to the current Oriented discussion on the open forum.
Checked back in a while - gone. Strange I thought. Didn’t think I used any swear words - but hey you never know. So I re-posted, being extra careful not to be offensve - very few words used - just the link to the Oriented site.
Checked back - gone again. Checked my e-mail to see if I had been told why. Nada. So I tried to post a response to a different topic - only to find that I had been banned from posting.
Couldn’t find an e-mail address for the moderator - so sent a polite mail to the contact@tealit.com asking what rule I had transgressed. Again no response.
So I am left with the opinion that Tealit.com are a bunch of paranoid (insert your favourite expletive here) who objected to Oriented being referenced on their site… what a friendly bunch of (second favourite expletive here). :s
You were banned from www.tealit.com for linking to ORIENTED?!?! Now THAT’S funny! 
Unlike ORIENTED.org, Tealit (Click here to visit their website 
) is a business – I attended their presentation to bushibans and language companies last year at the Grand Formosa Regent (read that: not cheap)
Tealit’s average posting age must be about 15 and their discussion topics are less intellectually stimulating than an Australian soap opera. On the other hand, Oriented is chock full of interesting and enlightened forumites, like Biker_Dude, etc.
But they consider Oriented, which is not a business, to be a threat!? :?
Ha! So I wasn’t alone.
It was about roughly 6 months ago that I visited tealit website. So, a lot of people there asking questions about applying papers like driving licenses in Taiwan, how to find housing and so on. I tried to help, which I did, and I left my e-mail addie just in case they need further contact. But after 2 attemps I gave up.
Why?
Because the first response I got was from some FM thigie, telling me, when I refer people to find housing information, I should simply refer them to the tealit housing ad. (instead of those which I had really tried and found useful?!?! Doh!) The second one was really nasty, I got an e-mail accusing me for having attitude in my RHETORIC post, about how and where to apply driving license. Doh again! Did I really spit out fancy RHETORIC english post like he said? How could something so simple be rhetorical? Too bad I couldn’t reply and find out since that was an invalid/fake/typoed e-mail addie he had.
End of story. I never did and never will return to tealit again. :raspberry:
Thanxforyourtimehaveanicedaypleasedrivethrough.
Tealit.com also bans your IP address if you dare to disagree with the moderator’s opinions of life in Taiwan - that opion being that Taiwan is Utopia (ha!). I personally know 3 people that have had their IP addreses banned from tealit.com.
Come here for the really deal.
Are the people that run tealit the same clowns that operate “This Month In Taiwan”? Seriously, who is at the controls over there?
In a response to someone looking for info on getting married here in Taiwan, I suggested searching good ole oriented.org. Tealit moderators deleted the ENTIRE thread within half an hour. ASSHOLLLLLLESSSSSSSSS.