I mentioned this some years ago, and the situation appeared again today (It has many times recently, not just now, but finally thought to make the request again)... TreeFrogTrader has apparently put me on block and/or ignore. I generally navigate the site first through the 4 tabs at the top of the screen, and I scan the thread titles. Like so... The bolded blue threads have new posts I have not read yet. That's why they are bolded blue. (I rarely look at the author nick at first glance). So I clicked the one in green at the bottom (which was bolded blue before I clicked it, heh) and I get... So the first post I see is El Gato saying Babylon Bee. I'm like, huh? Then I notice the author in green and see why the thread makes no sense. Because obviously, TFT posted an article or link to BabBee. We should be able to choose to filter that thread out of what we can see, but not by having to block or ignore the OP. Just a simple check-box next to each thread title that says "hide thread".
I think a lot of the problems with the Ignore / Block is just setup that way so that the problems between members aren't really resolved...putting all the weight on the member to ignore / not responding to the poster to not respond... Offending poster gets mad for being ignored / block or you're mad because you can see when they post when you should not be able to see their user name because you have them on ignore / block. Poster then creates another alias (violation of Baron's TOU policy) for the sole purpose to be able copy the poster and logs back in via the original alias that's ignored to then say... Baron...something is wrong with your ignore / block. I can still quote those that have me on ignore / block. Baron then wastes his time trying to figure out whats wrong with his ignore / block button when there's nothing wrong with it. The problem, the asswipes have figure out a way to navigate around it. I have a lot of people on ignore / blocked list...because of such...many threads I read just do not make any sense as if there's ghost members in the thread that members not on ignore are responding too ghost members. If its a well known ET troll (ghost member), I can quickly figure out the ET troll has stated something offensive to the person that's not on my ignore list based upon how the person not on my ignore has responded to the ET troll. Yet, I can quickly determine via someone that's being trolled...whom he / she was responding too and what they most likely were saying via the words of those not on my ignore / block. What I Don't Like New members joining the forum and within a dozen or so message posts...they enter the Political threads to start shit with me as a new member...as a member that obviously has a prior alias that's on my ignore / block list. I quickly put those new members on my ignore / block list too regardless if they've been here as a new member for a few days, few weeks or few months. I know its some former asswipe that either created a new alias or rarely posting via their old alias. The idiots (those I ignore / block) will post a simple public message here at ET that announce they're leaving the forum or no longer interested in trading when in reality they've created a new alias and has never left. That's why I'm quick to ignore / block new asswipes because they're here at ET just to start shit with people or to continue trolling someone when in reality they no longer have an interest in trading. With all that said, I strongly agree with you...Baron needs to fix that Off-Topic Message Threads category because it has a glitch / flaw...I too can see people listed in threads even when they are on my Ignore / Block list as highlighted in red AFTER I log into the forum. People in the red should NOT be shown in the "New Off-Topic Threads" when I already have them on ignore / block. Then again, maybe they are shown to alert us but it should just say "ignored member" similar to what we see when we click on the thread that's started by a member not on the ignore but those on the ignore are posting in the thread of someone not on the ignore. Yet, if I were to then go into the POLITICAL thread section and see all the threads...those members that are shown in the above image of "New Off-Topic Messages"... Those members in the POLITICAL thread section will then show as "Ignored Member". Simply, you can see whom they are in the "New Off Topic Messages" but you can not see whom they are in the actual thread whenever they post messages in that thread...I'm really not sure if that's a glitch / flaw or if Baron intentionally wanted it that way. wrbtrader
Let me explain the situation using an example that you may be able to understand better than if I just used a bunch of software development lingo. Imagine you own a taxi company and you just bought a fleet of vans for picking up groups of people and delivering them to their destinations. The vans are new but after a while certain passengers are complaining that the back half of the vans are hotter than the front half and it's uncomfortable. Upon further inspection, you notice that the air vents in the back of the vans simply are not big enough, and there aren't enough of them to cool the back of the vehicles when they are loaded with passengers. You call the dealer that sold you the vans but they respond that the manufacturer is aware of the problem and is implementing a fix on the next upgrade of the van line which will be coming out in about two years. That's not really a solution to your problem so you try to come with bolt-on solutions. You first tint the windows in the van to help keep some of the heat and light from the outdoors from coming into the van to begin with. That helps a little bit but not much. After doing a little research, you discover that a third-party company makes a custom fan that mounts in the very back of the van to help circulate the air better. That solution does help out a little bit but people are still complaining about the heat, but also that the fan in the back is very noisy. So in a nutshell, here's the essence of your problem. 1. You didn't manufacture the vehicle and are in no position to actually fix the core problem about the design of vents and A/C system. 2. You try some bolt-on solutions but they don't really fix the problem, and in the case of the fan system in the back, actually create an additional problem because they are noisy. 3. The only true fix is to wait for the redesigned vehicles, but that's years away from now and you've already put your available resources into the current fleet. That's basically where we are at with the block/ignore function and many other issues that get complained about here. So to complete the analogy, here is the dilemma: 1. We don't manufacture the software platform we use and are in no position to redesign the platform to fix the issues mentioned. 2. We try bolt-on solutions but the bolt-ons such as the 4 tabs of thread summaries on the homepage and the block/ignore feature are essentially just add-on modules that are created by independent third-party companies, and aren't a true fix to the underlying problem. (For example, the company that makes the thread summaries and the company that makes the block feature are two separate companies and they don't interoperate with each other. That's why the threads from your blocked users still show up on the thread summaries.) 3. We have to wait for a newer version of the overall forum software platform to come out, but that is often 12 - 18 months away, but in our case, there's no guarantee from the developers that the issues we are complaining about will actually be fixed. They are fielding complaints from lots of other customers and are only prioritizing the problems that are critical. 4. When the new platform does get a major upgrade, it usually requires that the entire website be redone from the ground up because they've implemented a completely different architecture that is not compatible with the current setup. So that's where we are at.
Some forums require x number of posts before allowing posting on other sections. This deters most alt-trolls and they get booted if they spam trying to up their post count. Dunno if your platform allows for it. As WB describes, it's annoying seeing 'new posts' from ignored members, but reckon that requires a fix at platform level.
I think part of the problem is that we as members of your forum are relying too heavily upon your ignore / block feature to do the job for us in ignoring a member for whatever reason. Simply, we must also take responsibility in just not replying to a troll because the forum system isn't perfect and trolls will find a way to navigate around whatever you have setup to minimize the noise ratio here at your forum. Therefore, if someone answers a troll when they're on your ignore / block...it then encourages the troll to keep trolling. In fact, I think some people enjoy being trolled which is why they never complain about it. Yet, I draw the line when such occurs in the trading threads outside of the Political threads...that's when I'll contact you directly via private message with screenshots of the trolling in your trading threads for verification of a problem. Thus, someone can never say I didn't contact you about a problem because I've seen trade journal threads ruined by trolling, I've seen technical analysis threads ruined by trolling, I've seen Wall St. News threads ruined by trolling... Trolls take their Political arguments into the trading threads as if its payback when its just an immature adult behaving like a child with a temper tantrum. The offender then runs back to the Political threads as if its a clean getaway from a crime they just committed with the illusion they had the right to behave as a troll under façade its trading info. In my opinion, there is a problem fixer...only share any trading info via private messages only although I would much rather see a private area of the forum that members pay you a fee to join in which you heavily moderate to keep out the trolling crap... Sort'uv like paying an extra fee for commercial free TV such as a premium cable movie channel. wrbtrader
If I understand the system if I put another poster on ignore not only will i not see their posts but they won't be able to see my posts. This is a little frustrating as the entertainment value of some of the threads goes down when you only see half the conversation. Another member has me on ignore and I don't get to see their posts.
It's probably because the other member has you blocked (bad feature for a forum, in my opinion). To work around this, you can read posts without logging in.