The state of BT 2/20/15

[Lazarus]

Alex's point is exactly the point I have been making for years now. Searching the Internet for MS forums/help does not lead anyone to our site. If that can be fixed, the Braintalk site will regain members. We are hiding with a blanket over our site. Even when friends search for our site they have trouble finding it.

Mike - While i admire your tenacity in school, do we HAVE to have every single upgrade that coes along, sometimes the board goes dow and people defect to others - soe have stolen our name. The old software seemed pretty decent, as in if it works, dont fix it. Thank you for your time and effort with BT but let's take back what is ours - name and members - we USED t be #1 on the query lists, good luck finding us now. Again - gd luck with school, my degree was no piicnic either, but please think aout what I have said and lets get BT back where it brlongs.
Ale44
Blessings
skypilot

[tic chick]

hey everyone !

well...in my opinion, the old software wasn't that decent. if you remember about 3 or so years back, we had spammers crawling out of the woodwork and becoming distinguished members in 20 minutes with graphic posts and nuisance ones for cheap purses, etc. then about a year ago, we had another major spam or some kind of other security problem i don't remember the details of.

we've also been through several different url's over the years, from braintalk.com to hasty-pastry.net to this one, braintalkcommunities.org. when john didn't renew the easily remembered braintalk.com and we had the 6 month shutdown about 6 years ago, that's when most of our members left to go to neurotalk. i dislike rehashing this because we know what the problems were that led to the downward spiral of the site.

i'm pretty sure that mike said this newest version is going to help our security more and let him fix probs that people have with accessing bt with smartphones and other phones (explained in the first post in this thread). it's not going to affect what we see on the screen or the url of this site. it's like when you download a virus program, like mcafee. they ask you to update the program because they have found more viruses or something that improves the program...so you download it and that's it. it doesn't change the way mcafee looks or it's basic features or how you scan or whatever, it just tweaks what the mcafee people want it to tweak.

there also was a thread or many posts about how to make bt more visible in search engines and the fact that we are competing with other internet sites like facebook.

i have personally loved not having to report spam on a daily basis since we got this program and it's spam catcher. i hated having threads interrupted with spam. now i can just come here and post.

thanks to mike, david, dr. hoch and the moderators for keeping this site going and being so responsive to requests for help. i know i would rather have someone help me with a problem i am having posting or editing than just having them busy taking care of spam and spammers.

thank you for sharing and caring,
jeannie

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

Rose's Soapbox

((((((HUGS TO ALL)))))) ~

FINDING BRAINTALK

When I enter "braintalk" in a Google search, our website is the first hit at the top of the page, followed by BT's Facebook page. Not the case in a Yahoo search, nor in the DuckDuckGo search. I primarily use Google, and I suspect many people do. My point is that there are several search engines available, and at least one, Google, lists us first under a "braintalk" search. So, if a former member wants to locate us, that member may need to try a few search engines to get here, or just use Google.

All of the former members, who left BT, and who are on Facebook (thinking that is a majority of former members), can find the link to our forums on the BT Facebook page. It's a public page, so anyone, even I, who am not and never will be on Facebook, can access BT's Facebook page.

So, I have a bit of difficulty understanding why former members can't find us, if they really want to find us.

I miss our former members greatly, and I wish that they would flock back to BT in droves. But it's been years since we've been established at this website address, and they haven't. We have to accept that former members chose other venues, like Facebook, or other discussion forums, and are happy or satisfied with their choices, and they aren't coming back to BT.

LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

We also need to remember that our current administrators, Dr. Hoch, David, and Mike, are not the ones responsible for the downfall of BT. They, out of the goodness and kindness of their hearts, volunteer their services to keep BT on line and functioning. If former members still hold grudges against the former owner/administrator of BT, then they are unfairly faulting our current administrators, and punishing themselves and us by refusing to return. We are under new management, and it has been outstanding and compassionate management.

Our moderators are incredibly patient, fair, and caring. We had a spate of spam, as Jeannie mentioned, which was nightmarish at times. I had very little time to read and respond to posts, because like Jeannie, and others, I was reporting spam on every thread I saw. But Mike and our Moderators got control of that issue, and now we don't see spammers here.

This is the internet, and we have to keep up technologically with the latest and greatest. One of the improvements suggested for BT by members was adding more bells and whistles to attract members, new and old. The internet always has a new shiny thing to dangle in front of us to attract our attention (eg., the blue/black or white/gold dress), and we have to keep pace with that to a certain extent, or become a dinosaur.

If you want to bring back former members, then track them down on Facebook or other forums, and encourage them to return. Provide them with the link. Lure them with memories of the old days. Tell them how nice and safe it is here now.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

If you want to increase BT's membership, a better approach might be to respond to posts by new members. Welcome new members, even if you have no experience in their particular concern/issue. Just say, "hello, glad you're here, wish I could help..." ~ anything to let that person know that s/he has been heard and shown care and compassion.

Right now, we have a new member, Traveler, who is 71, and needs information about nerve conduction tests, and has had a spinal fusion, and has Parkinson's. Traveler needs support, just like every other person, who visits BT and posts here asking for help. But, time after time, the posts of new members are ignored, and go without responses.

People post ONE TIME, get no response, and then a year later, a new member replies, gets no response. Another year, a new member replies, and no response. Each member posted once in the same thread over 4 years and never returned.

Here's Traveler's post:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

While we are bemoaning the loss of former members, who have chosen other venues, we are ignoring the new members, who are pleading for help, guidance, information, support, companionship, understanding, and every other reason that every single BT member came here in the first place.

Instead of holding dinner for the guests, who didn't show up, I prefer to feed the guests at the table.

I encourage every BT member to check "New Posts," the "Home Page," and look for new members' posts, reply to them, lead them to the appropriate forum for their needs, and welcome them to our community. Someone here did that for you, when you joined. Please pay it forward to our new members. Thank you.

LET'S LOOK AHEAD

As far as upgrading our forums, I leave that to the expert, Mike Weins, and I trust his judgment because he's always made the right and best decisions for us. And he is an A student.

BrainTalk isn't a website, or a format, or any technical thing attached to its existence. It's you. It's me. It's us. And it is up to us to make BrainTalk the community that we want it to be. Our history is our foundation. What we've learned from that history, and how we go forth with that knowledge, is our future.

Love & Light,

Rose

[SalpalSally]

The only reason I go to Facebook is to keep track of my Family
and what they're up to. I come here to be with Friends and....
....to get away from Family..LOL!

[Mike Weins]

The "new" software is actually 2 years old now, but it's newer than what we have now. The main reason for needing to do this upgrade eventually is that the host will be upgrading the servers software which will not work as well with our current forum software. Keep in mind the current forum software is 5 years old or so and has some unpatched holes that are fixed in the newer software.

The absolute newest forum software is vB 5 and it really really sucks so we won't even consider it for a long time if at all

With regards to getting our ranking in search engines back, the best way to do that is to post relevant information in the forums you visit. All search engines now rank sites according to how much relevant content is found. Gone are the days of keywords and ummmm I forgot what the other big old train was called ... anyways the more research/articles that are posted the better our ranking will be.

I understand a few folks are still upset over the huge loss of invaluable data at the hands of the previous admin. Sadly there is absolutely nothing we can do about that. He never handed over the copies he supposedly had, and he hasn't spoken to anyone related to BT in over 5 years. So we basically get to start all over. At least the archives from mid 2006 until the server switch are still around :)

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Mike)))))) ~

Thank You!

I give you an A+ for patience!



Love & Light,

Rose

[bmcbeen]

Prior to my disability I was a senior software engineer. Last projects I was using visual studio, .net, C# and sql server. I sure do miss those days. With my muscle disease just typing this is a chore.

[alex44]

Mike - thank you for your efforts - I probably would have left a long time ago if not for the once in a while encouragement. It's not easy dealing with our conditions should i say and you make it a little easier with this board. God Bless You
Blessings
Alex44
Skypilot

[hummer]

Dear Mike Weins.....
You are outstanding...beyond grades...or school....I know those are important...for finding a way to support living...in this day and age is so important...got to make those 'fun ticket$'....There is no grade...that can be given for the measure of your heart....it is vast as space....Thank you...for your efforts in this endeavor of BrainTalk...that benefits so many....I have to post notices...in my home...the reminder...THINGS CHANGE...the brain injury just logs that everything remains the same...It doesn't...so that is often a struggle for me...Computers...are the biggest reminder...things change...for if you don't shift with the waves of technology...you get left behind or become obsolete....Thank you for keeping up with those shifts...for they are very much beyond my ken....I bow down...with heart felt appreciation and gratitude...for your kind and loving heart...at the same time...I wipe my brow...at the thought of what is contained in YOUR marvelous brain...
Blessings...Blessings...Blessings...

[Mike Weins]

Well if you listen very closely when I shake my head or sneeze you can hear my two marbles rattling around in here

As for the upgrade, it's going to wait until summer and depending on if I take classes and how many I take. If I do go to summer school I'll have to take at least 6 units to make it worth my while. The site has been running pretty smoothly with only a couple of crashes and two restarts for backend updates.

[dagaz]

Mike, I know how you feel... I need a vacation. I am a second year nursing student... I guess I couldn't get enough of hospitals...

[Mike Weins]

Wow! I admire nurses. They put up with so much and get so little recognition.

[Mike Weins]

I would like for as many people as possible to start searching older threads from different posters. I think that we (Lynee over at vb.org and myself) have finally found and fixed the issue that has been limiting the search for so long.

Hopefully you'll be able to pull up all posts from a single member regardless of how many posts they have. Until now it would return a random bunch of posts for some odd reason.

If things look good after a couple of days then we'll call this bug "fixed"

[SalpalSally]

I love it when you fix our bugs, Mike.

[agate]

I'm finding my posts going back to Nov. 2014 but no earlier.

It would be very helpful if all our previous posts were available. When an unfamiliar person posts, it's very useful to look back over that person's previous posts just to find out a little more background before replying.

Even when there's a post by someone familiar, it's often useful to be able to go back and look for an earlier thread you think you remember.