ClusterChuck Mon 9/12/05 10:49 PM

Hi, I'd like to suggest an asthetic change that I believe would add some excitement to league play. If your league is like any I've been in, then the league message board is a whole lot of fun. We dubbed it the "Smack Board" and use this tool to brag, bloviate, and generally poke fun at other owners' teams. Generally, if you get "called out" on the Smack Board, it is your duty to respond, or else you lose face within the league. Now, before I get to my suggestion, I'd just like to say I like the format of the message board just the way it is. I just don't think a threaded-type message board would be any good for a fantasy football league smack-board. My suggestion is to take the latest two or three posts that were made to the message board, and paste them on the league "home" page for all to see. I am talking about the page you see just after you log in. There's news and a brief injury summary down the left column (which, in my opinion, is just the right amount of information), and down the right column you have the links to editing your information and the fleaflicker.com logo. In the middle, all you see is the name of your league(s), the name of your team(s), and a whole lot of empty space. If you take the first two or three messages that have been posted on the message board, and paste them in this (otherwise unused) space underneath your league -- woah! If someone's busting me out, I will now know it right away, and be moved to respond. Then my message will be right up front for that other owner to see when (s)he logs on. Maybe it's not practical to put the whole message on the front page, because you might have people that are long-winded (like me), so maybe you could only put the first two, or three, or four lines -- whatever looks right on the most common screen resolution. To me, a big part of Fantasy Football is about interaction with other owners, and the main tool by which we interact is via the message board. I think getting a sneak-peak of what's on the board immediately upon logging in will increase league interest. Thanks for your consideration... chuck

fleafounder Admin Wed 9/14/05 3:17 PM

I like the idea of a preview. Look for it within a week or 2. It's something we've thought about doing anyway--having a preview section with the 3 latest message board posts, 3 latest transactions, etc. As for threaded message boards, I think it's overkill. So for now I'll leave it as is. Thanks for the ideas.

DaveI Tue 9/13/05 11:38 PM

I agree that theaded discussions are probably not necessary for something this. Pretty much all posts are going to be about the league, probably trash talk. It would be great to show the three (or so) newest posts on the main page. Otherwise, lots of people will never notice the messages.

Pommer Tue 9/13/05 6:10 PM

I'd like the preview idea, but I'd like to see the message board be threaded. The way it is now, if we start talkin smack or doin anything like that after a few post its on a new page. The people that weren't online will probabaly never see that cause there to lazy to check the 2nd page. I think that a treaded version of a message board would allow more organization and more smack talk, but thats just me. Maybe Ori can make it so we can chose??