Date   : Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:01:56 +0000
From   : robert@... (Rob)
Subject: Retro Software site launch

On 27/03/2008, Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99@...> wrote:
>
> Also with web forums you're pretty much at the mercy of the site designer as
>  to the UI presented - and a lot of them are pretty dire (heck, many don't even
>  handle basic message threading).
>
>  Not to mention that, despite it being the dissemination of information that's
>  most important on any 'discussion' site, most of them seem to be littered with
>  all sorts of graphical frills (emoticons, avatars, general site 'branding')
>  that just distract the user from the raw data.
>
>  Plus having all the data 'remote', and buried within a pile of HTML, can make
>  it very hard to carry out any useful local archival of the information. Sure,
>  web search engines can go some way to providing a useful search service - but
>  only so long as the website in question is still 'alive'.
>

I've not checked the forum in quesiton yet myself, but perhaps a RSS
feed would do the job?  I use RSS to monitor a couple of forums, and,
at least in Opera, they are presented in exactly the same way as their
mail interface, providing me with a local and locally searchable copy
of all new messages posted.

It's of more use when the RSS message contains the entire posting,
rather than just the first few lines as some do, but even that allows
me to monitor posts and only brave the gui when needed.  (And I use
opera to browse with gif animation off, sound off, plugins off, and
every ad I see gets blocked om sight.....)

Rob