MAJOR Update in progress

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Ive just made a new avatar (its big 'ol Bonnie) and it was quite tricky to get the file size small enough (max 6kB).
The thing that did it was to open the advanced quality setting when saving the JPEG and turn off 'Save EXIF data' and 'Save XMP data'. That reduced the file size from 11kB down to 5.4kB saved at 90% quality. The image is 84 x 84 pixels.
... Ive just got to say Orps are so lovely! They do have some potential issues with their build, being somewhat built for Sunday roast :shock: , but strong too as long as they have a ramp up to the roost. But can fly, remarkably, like a bumble bee! Great trooper - good natured - sensible- creamy eggs - love em!

That's great, what an excellent avatar. And helpful info for others to try, thanks Rick.
When I did mine, it took ages to get it small enough and in the end Tim had to help me.
 
Haha you guys make me laugh.

No it’s affiliate commission so you have to buy something after clicking on the link, then a small percentage gets paid. I don’t know what that percentage is yet, it doesn’t seem to say. Probably because it varies between websites. I would expect 3 to 5%.

So if you buy a diamond ring, we might be able to keep the forum running for a few months ;-)

Tim
 
But why are there links showing in some posts and not in others? Is it something to do with the settings on my laptop vs settings on the tablet? Hmm.
diamond ring, chicken coop, electric toothbrush!
 
I'm sorry I haven't a clue...

All I see is a screen that 'enables' the links. There is some code that will be on the page that allows their server to 'insert' the links some way but what the rules are? Who knows!

The only one I've seen is on this page: http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10593&p=65256


Link-Example.jpg

Can everyone see this link?

Tim
 
Poultrykeeper Admin said:
So if you buy a diamond ring, we might be able to keep the forum running for a few months ;-)

Tim
Click to expand...

Fat chance of that!

I can see the link to "Only thing ...", but I could see the others anyway.
 
When I went back to the original post and clicked on the words, which are in paler type, it came up with a link to a nice new cooker from Argos.
I think this might be a suggestion about what to do with my troublesome pullet!
 
No links on either my iPad mini or my MacBook.
Is there a special exemption for moderators?

Edit; oh now I see! The words 'iPad Mini' come up in paler type, and when I clicked on it, I got an ad for an iPad holder! Nothing for my MacBook, though.

- until I posted the last sentence, found the word MacBook had come up in pale type, and then I got a link to a protective case for it - only £2.99!
This is great! The lovely new clean format isn't disfigured by banner advertisements, and you don't have to click on the words in pale type if you don't want to!
The suggestions are very random, though - in the thread about Violet, I found 'bunch of greens' was pale so I clicked and it took me to plastic wristbands in various colours to distinguish children by classroom performance - pretty useless, as too big for naughty chickens.
 
I went back again to Tim's link to LadyA's post about how to deal with Violet's pecking and noticed there were two more 'pale' words. 'gardening gloves' were suggested as a way of protecting myself. What came up was an impressively pugilistic pair of boxing gloves - available in ten lovely bright colours - a bit over the top for dear little Violet, I felt. The unexpectedness of these links does make you want to click, if not to buy!
 
Marigold said:
No links on either my iPad mini or my MacBook.
Is there a special exemption for moderators?

Edit; oh now I see! The words 'iPad Mini' come up in paler type, and when I clicked on it, I got an ad for an iPad holder! Nothing for my MacBook, though.

- until I posted the last sentence, found the word MacBook had come up in pale type, and then I got a link to a protective case for it - only £2.99!
This is great! The lovely new clean format isn't disfigured by banner advertisements, and you don't have to click on the words in pale type if you don't want to!
The suggestions are very random, though - in the thread about Violet, I found 'bunch of greens' was pale so I clicked and it took me to plastic wristbands in various colours to distinguish children by classroom performance - pretty useless, as too big for naughty chickens.
Click to expand...

I'm not seeing the links for your ipad mini! Seems all a bit random!! :D
 
:( Wish I could figure out how to do pics. I want an Avatar! And I just can't get the hang of it at all.
 
Oh dear... yes it seems the links can be a little 'random' without a great deal of intelligence behind them. That was why I added every Amazon link on the main poultrykeeper.com site by hand - Quality control you could say!

Marigold pointed out to me that people don't realise what happens on the 'admin' side and might be interested.

Yesterday evening I did a clean up of users - I deleted every user that hasn't posted a post before 2018. There could be someone that logs in and just browses but we do clearly say POST or get DELETED! It's amazing how many people create accounts and then never visit again. At one point we had over 3500 users before I discovered the 'pruning' function! And it's very satisfying :lol:

Anyway, I then went through EVERY user with a website link in the members list (you can see this list top left in the menu). People can post a website link in their profile.

Links from a website 'endorse' another site in Google's eyes and help rankings so this is one of the reasons forums get spammed. They are people trying to get links to sites you wouldn't normally link to. You know those 'action romance sites' or sites selling pills that are the 'chemical equivalent to a tent pole' are an example...

So we should only link to 'reputable sites' to remain a friend of the search engines and the links shouldn't be broken.

I checked every link to a personal website loaded - and - checked it was a reasonable site: either a personal blog or another poultry related site.

Well, would you believe I found one 'Online Pharmacy' and one 'Action Romance' site that had been linked for years. Cheeky spammers must have managed to get through at some point. Both of those users got deleted!

I also found a couple of other unsuitable sites to link to (one was hacked, one about drainage solutions in the US that was obviously a user who visited years ago just to post the link and a few other sites that no longer existed so I removed the links).

So clean up of users is complete. That all helps to take strain off the server.

We now have 1400 members - interesting to click on the Members link (top left) and sort by the 'last active' column to see how many people visit us regularly. There are 25 listed per page so you can work out how many visited before a date quite easily. I counted about 55 members in 2018.

I do wonder whether we shouldn't just 'force reactivation' of members that haven't visited for 2 years or something - give them a month and if they don't re-activate, then delete the account but maybe I am getting too keen with my pruning....

Then again they say prune back hard for strong re-growth don't they? :lol:

I do find it sad as well when I see members who were really active with hundreds of posts (you can sort by that column too) that haven't visited for a few years. I wonder sometimes if they left the hobby, something happened to them or if they are still active but moved to Facebook :evil:
 
Hi Tim, I've just noticed that the link to main Poultrykeeper site no longer appears at the bottom of each forum page, or indeed anywhere else obvious that I've noticed. I meant to post a link to one of your articles today but couldn't find it.
I know you can get to it from the rather mysterious Poultrykeeper Links section at the bottom of the Index page but this says

Poultrykeeper Links
Topics: 0, Posts: 0, No posts
- not encouraging or informative, but the actual links are very useful. Could they become apparent, do you think?

Also, from the other direction as it were, could there be an explicit link from the top menu on the Poultrykeeper site, saying Forum - there is a link but it's hidden away in the More section, so could be missed by someone had found Poultrykeeper but who didn't know the Forum existed. .
 
I do know several people who were, in years gone by, stalwarts of the PP forum are no longer involved in poultry keeping, mostly because of life changes, or changes in circumstances. And I think in general, the hobby keeper - the two or three hens in a back garden as pets - that's just not as popular anymore either.
 
I like the new layout, its very clear and quick to navigate. I like the fact its a different colour to many other forums (it feels pretentious to write fora!) and all round thank you very much! I really appreciate this forum as a comforting mix of chicken chat and wider subjects, without FB nonsense. I think many people migrated to FB and many others no longer keep chooks or because they are in the routine, and unless you have an emergency or take things to the next level in terms of showing or something specialised, perhaps most folks don't feel the need. I miss my birds and its lovely to hear about others' or to help if I can. I am also aware we are quite spread out geographically, its nice to hear about different things going on.

On the subject of greyed out links, I do get them but pay no attention to them. The most recent was in the thread on fly strike. 'Full bottom' is greyed out, but I dare not click through!
 
Facebook is totally unsatisfactory when you need to look something up, as it's linear with no organisation into topics. You can't have a decent conversation, or look up something that was posted a long time ago.
 
Thanks for the kind words about our forum MrsBiscuit.

I think there are definitely fewer chicken keepers these days. I guess bird flu would have also discouraged a lot of people as well over the last few years.

It’s also becoming very difficult to keep chickens as gardens get smaller in new houses although I know it doesn’t stop some people!

Tim
 
Marigold said:
Facebook is totally unsatisfactory when you need to look something up, as it's linear with no organisation into topics. You can't have a decent conversation, or look up something that was posted a long time ago.
Click to expand...

Totes agree with you there hun! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Oh, if there's anything that makes my blood boil, it's being referred to as "hun" online! Always tempted to say "Yes, that's me. First name, Attila." :D
 
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