The Evangelical Universalist Forum

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#1

Dear Board:

Perhaps it’s just me, but this site is becoming something of a beast to navigate. :frowning: :cry:

To be sure the “updatedBoard Rules and Policies – Please Read – Updated 1/25/10”

which adds helpful changes like this:
“4) Members may not excessively post new topics with minimal followup to the topics”

is a step in the right direction.

But I am finding that I simply cannot keep up to date on ALL the threads like I could earlier on. And it is getting really difficult to keep them all straight. Of course I realize and accept that MY time limitations are not really YOUR problem… Further, there is what I shall refer to as the problem of the “clutter” of a certain poster that is particularly distracting. And of course that too is my problem more than yours.

And yet, there are some really wonderful thoughts and ideas being shared on this site by some very insightful people. :smiley: :smiley: It is for this that I joined this site nearly a year ago. What bothers me then is that I dislike the awareness that I have missed something that one of our insightful and wise participants (you know who you are!! :smiley: :laughing: ) has written which would be helpful to me.

Here’s a perfect example. I was surfing looking for something else and stumbled onto the thread “Re: A Confession to Make” – what had drawn my attention was JeffA’s comment to RanRan saying Ran’s comment made JeffA better understand him. Curious, I read RanRan and I too was impressed/moved. That of course drew me back to read the entire thread and It was wonderful I thought. I simply loved the attitude and humility of F&B in that thread. And in the process of reading I came across this post…

by Aaron on Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:21 am
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=717&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

…and it seemed to me like such an extraordinary gem. Something very “right” for me at that moment. A real blessing. And to think I almost missed it.

:bulb: :arrow_right: So my question/request is along the lines of if it’s possible for folks to post links (not that I actually know how to DO this) to specific comments which they found an extraordinary blessing for various personal reasons? Maybe a way of sifting through all the mass of threads and gleaning out the real gems? Maybe I can’t read everything, but obviously everything gets read by someone.

Clearly something like this could be abused in various ways. But if we included the location of what we liked, briefly what it said, and a brief statement of WHY it blessed us, that might help the reader decide if they too wold be interested. Thus I could share that “Aaron has written something in response to the charge that “Jesus never taught UR” that I found very helpful. He has shared, in part at least, a framework and synthesis of Jesus’ life and teachings that can in fact be seen as sustaining the concept of UR.”

These would not need to be listed as “new topics” but just listed. Should one want to comment on that person’s shared wisdom, he could go to the linked thread and do so.

Anyway thanks for listening and I realize this may create more work for someone out there. If it seems worthwhile, I’ll thank you in advance!!! :smiley: :smiley:

TotalVictory
Bobx3

#2

TV,
I can look into a MOD (modification) for this forum PHPbb 3.0 to see if that is something available. But it will take some time.
Mod’s can be quite difficult and I’m trying to avoid them at all costs.

I’ll have to look at the MOD to make sure it’s not too difficult to install.

If there is not or it’s too difficult, perhaps a All time forum will help where was can post up our favorite responses. The only bad thing about this is that people tend to score points where others might not. It’s might make someone feel as though they’ve got nothing good to contribute. I don’t know if there is a rating system which is anynonmous which would be nice.

One way to handle such would be to request an Admin to post it up as a member “anynomous” so that people won’t see TV putting up TGB’s posts all the time :slight_smile: That way it would be our best posts for people and guests to parouse.

I’m open to any ideas.

Aug

#3

Wow! you mean posts so awsome that they trigger the second coming? :open_mouth:

#4

:laughing: I needed a good smile today Jeff; thanks for that one. :slight_smile:

#5

My pleasure my friend :smiley:

#6

Of course I have selfish reasons for this request. Those are obvious.

But in the course of my life, I DO share and discuss the wonders and beauties of Universal Restoration/Reconciliation. And in this course am asked if I know where such things are discussed in earnest. So I share with them this site; but warn them that to find what they might want, that is, a smooth and systematic and stylized presentation of UR, they will have to dig it out for themselves.

Perhaps this is all for the better though; for anyone who is serious about UR should have the stamina and gumption to stick around long enough to cobble together a coherent defense of the doctrine for himself. I get that, and honor that. At the same time, I should like for a sincere seeker of truth to be able to enter our site and, fairly quickly, have immediate access to the essence of what UR is about. Nuance and depth to be added later. When the honest and seeking stranger enters this site, CAN they quickly ascertain what we are about?? I’d bet not.

Anyway…

As you say Aug, such a thing risks becoming the vehicle for self promotion and various ego contests.
Anonymity is a good solution.

I just wish there was a mechanism and vehicle whereby a visitor could quickly grasp what it is we are about, then could dig deeper as the spirit moves.

Again, apologies if this request makes work for our mods… Surely though, part of the mission of this place should be to explain, to new comers, what we are about and why they might want to stay and learn with us…

Thinking,

TotalVictory
Bobx3

#7

Maybe we need a ‘Newbie to UR’ forum or a FAQ one with locked topics covering a spectrum of UR beliefs.

#8

Another possibility would be for members to create pages which an admin then locks so that only they can post to it (and admin/mods for moderation purposes of course).

So every member could have his or her own thread, the purpose of which is to add links (with a brief description about the content) where the member found a comment (or a discussion or whatever) that he or she liked.

There would have to be some rules to keep things helpful for any visitors to that thread:

1.) No spotlighting the member’s own comments. (This helps cut down on potential ego trips.)

2.) No in-depth commentary by the member in that thread, especially oppositional.

Admin/mods would have to watch to ensure those guidelines were adhered to. But we could also help members figure out how to link to particular comments rather than whole threads and technical things of that sort.

Those pages could be put in a special category near the top of the board index, with the “Materials We Recommend As A Community” category. (Which is really more like “Materials We Admins and Mods Recommend” anyway. :mrgreen: )

#9

I had to bring this up again, because I watched this recently on YouTube. “The sheer awesomeness of The Dark Knight has brought about My Second Coming…”

youtube.com/user/ItsJustSome … DxgNjMTPIs

(There are at least two epic plotlines to this series of YouTube videos, the third of which is just now beginning. But that wasn’t one of them–it was a throwaway joke. :mrgreen: The best way to watch the whole series is to go to the “Uploads” tab, and then scroll down the list in a right-side window to the bottom. Work up from there. A fine way to blow several hours of your life, especially if you’re familiar with several of the in-jokes from the comic-book and movie industries. The series started off as a riff on the now-defunct “‘Hi, I’m a Mac’ ‘And I’m a PC’” commercials. More info can be found at the TVTropes entry for the series here.)