FTR, my original suggested Press post, cleaned up a bit:

As you may or may not be aware, we have been informed by our webhosts that this lovely but talkative board is putting serious strain on their servers. We are working on a code-based solution, but until then, here are a few simple things you can do to help:

1 - Post only when you have something to say! This means, keep numbersluts and "timelies!" to a minimum, or include them in longer, more content-based posts. Wish people happy birthday or offer them bracket-hugs via email.

2 - Set your posts-per-page to something high. The more page views it takes you to catch up in a thread, the more taxing it is to the server.

Corollary to 2 - Use "read new" to catch up instead of clicking back to the front page or Message Center when you've come to the end of a thread. Again, fewer page views means less work for the server.

3 - Got your Message Center on auto-refresh even when you're away from your computer? Tsk tsk -- every one of those refreshes is a hit to the database. Set your auto-refresh to "0" (no refresh) when you're not actively reading or posting.

"If We All Pitch In, We Can Make A Difference."

Still have my own issues with #1, Jess. Sometimes Happy Birthdays by others are the only way people know birthdays are happening.

Plus? Part of the flavor of the board is the odd posting and the silly postings and the glitter fights, which tend to happen when it's quiet.

Perhaps a compromise of "post one liners and have the glitter fights when the board is quiet" or something of the like?

I also wonder if we should create a dispensation for numberslutting at the beginning and end of threads. Maybe the first/last 25 posts could be a slutting permitted zone, like Nevada is for prostitution.

Sometimes Happy Birthdays by others are the only way people know birthdays are happening.

If people have included themselves on the Buffista Calendar, then Nilly will announce their birthday when it's time.

As far as your other objections, well, it's a list of "how to conserve server resources," not "how to preserve the flavour of the board by having glitter fights."

If you have "issues" with #1, then don't follow it. They're suggestions, not orders.

Yeah, and I don't think we need to give special slutting dispensations, either -- it's not about "NEVER NUMBERSLUT AGAIN EVER!!!" it's about trying to be conscious of how we use our resources, and not using five posts to get to your number just because no one else is around. The electricity metaphor is the best, I think: you don't have to sit in the dark, and we're not all putting motion-detectors on our lightswitches, but try to turn off the lights you don't need.

I think Jess's language is fine - she says "keep them to a minimum" not stop it or else. We'll be fine with that, I think.

One thing that just occurred to me though is the flurry of contentless new thread posts. I wouldn't mind seeing a mention of those. I ususally skip the first fifty to a hundred posts in a thread already. Try to get in on the first ten, twenty, one hundred, absolutely, but say something while you do it.

about trying to be conscious of how we use our resources, and not using five posts to get to your number just because no one else is around.

The good thing about posting in Press is that everyone will get the message, so people won't be looked down on for numberslutting when they didn't know things changed.

When we get the issues worked out and have plenty of resources again, can we have another Press post saying "Open season on hippo birdies"?

The good thing about posting in Press is that everyone will get the message, so people won't be looked down on for numberslutting when they didn't know things changed.

Press is a manditory subscription, then?

Okay, reading Jesse and Jess's posts, I felt a little jumped on. I did take a moment to Doblerize, but I still feel that way. My apologies in advance if I'm taking the posts too much to heart.

Just for the record, I wasn't seriously suggesting we write in a dispensation for beginning/end of thread slutting. I probably should have made that clearer in my post, instead of just joking about Nevada.

I am however trying to preserve one of the silly little things that to me help make up the character of the board. It's not the same as cutting Bitches or Natter, obviously, but for me, the silly little things like end of thread countdowns do matter.

Brenda M obviously feels differently, at least on this, and I think it's safe to guess that others would agree with both of us. I'd like to be able to express my view, and hear others, but lately I feel like some posts, not just Jesse and JessP's, take the tone "Don't be stupid, that's not what we said", and I'd like to steer away from that if we can.

edited for clarity, and to say that I do realize this might fall into the same type of post I protest about. That's not what I meant to do, but I don;t know another way to phrase my point.

Press is a manditory subscription, then?

No, but I think it's reasonable to assume that if it's posted there, people know it and proceed on that assumption. It would be unfair to expect everyone to know about this based on the current discussion. If a new rule or policy or something been in Press for a couple of days, though, and I violate it, "I didn't know" wouldn't be an acceptable answer. Sort of like the public notices section in the newspaper - things like legal settlements or actions often are required to be announced there for a certain length of time. No one is required to get the paper or read that section, but it still counts. The difference being that most people actually read Press.