[78rm400c]

Wouldn't it be easier to make the state a required section of a post???? Meaning, add a box for it when we post something. If it's left blank, you can't advance.

Deleting all these posts has to be work for you folks, I know it's frustrating for us. :cuss:

[Mal H]

Your suggestion would add a relatively complex hack of the standard vBulletin software made even more complex since it would be required for only a few forums. That's something we are not prone to try.

"Deleting all these posts has to be work for you folks ..."
Not really ... you just press two buttons and ... zap!

But think about it, if a few extra seconds - what, maybe 3? - were taken and the state was added to the title at the start, this particular thread wouldn't have even been necessary. Compare that with composing the text, uploading any pictures, etc., and the cost of those 3 seconds sure seem like a real bargain in time gained.

[78rm400c]

Mal,

I'm not complaining about the time it takes to add in the state. It's just that sometimes we forget, and the end result is a deleted post?

" you just press two buttons and ... zap! " This statement gives the impression that you are waiting for us to screw up so you can jump on those two buttons. Not a good attitude if you want more people to sign up, which is where the money is for the site.

[Mal H]

Sounds like you have gotten the wrong impression. I and several other moderators have gone out of our way to try to get all members to help us in those particular forums. We still go to great lengths to assist the members with abiding by the state rule, at least I know I do.

You said that deleting the posts must be alot of work; I related how it wasn't - no attitude should be implied from that comment. You can take that to the bank.

[Byron Quick]

Not a good attitude if you want more people to sign up, which is where the money is for the site.

That might be a good point if the moderators were here for the money. We're not. Most of the moderators have contributed several hundred dollars to this site's operation. Some have contributed several thousand.

After much discussion among the staff, we decided to take member donations when we were faced with significant upgrade in hardware and operating expense.

Right now we have as much as we need to operate. The wolf is not at the door.

We try to avoid acquiring attitudes beyond attitudes that attract members who are willing to make THR what it is. Acquiring more members at the cost of losing the high road would be counterproductive.

[lesjones]

One relatively painless solution might be to make the required state field using JavaScript. Basically you'd have:

* A drop-down menu of states. Easy squeezy.
* JavaScript code to make sure that the state menu only appears on the classified forums (where f=22, 23, or 38).
* JavaScript code to make sure that a choice has been made from the menu. If not, an alert will appear. You can find JavaScript verification scripts on the Net.
* Another snippet of JavaScript code to append the state name from the dropdown menu to the post title