Why isn't Toledo Talk more popular?

There is a UT sports website that is pretty active - my husband is a regular user there.

Can't think of the name of it off the top of my head, but I can find out and share it with you.

Launchpad:

http://csnbbs.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=479

http://www.ay-ziggy-zoomba.com/

BG news and chat.

"Maybe I'm overestimating how much activity there should be.....I think this is a very good site, yet I'm surprised by the lack of traffic"

Probably representative of Toledo in general. Far too few people seem to give a rat's rear end. Too comfortable wrapped in their apathy enjoying the status quo.

I miss Glass City Journal.

Love this site and I also strongly agree with jackie - I loved the GCJ too!

BulldogBuckeye - Been to any good Mexican Restaurants lately?

TT is number one in my heart! I'm embarrassed to admit how many times a day I check for new stuff. I bet we have a lot of lurkers.

Foodie, have a milkshake and get your blood sugar (and mood) elevated!

I wonder what a typical proportion of a region's residents end up on a forum like this?

Hard to say whether TT is under- represented, because I don't know what would be the average for other cities.

There's enough people on here posting. When we complain about something or someone, they show up to comment. I'd say that's pretty good!

I don't know what the real numbers are, but it's very likely that TT gets a ton of lurkers and few contributors, which means that the quality of the writing remains a few points above mediocre and at times will rise to the level of inspired brilliance.

And, should you start a flame war, JR will beat your ass.

I've had a lot of customers at the restaurant let me know they've seen my posts but don't have accounts themselves and lurk like madjack suggests.

upso, which restaurant is it? We are always looking for someplace new to try!

I like TT just the way it is. More people = more weirdos and lunatics who like to play keyboard commando.

Hike on over to Swamp Bubbles Bulldog Buckeye.

What bubbles up over there is some pretty smelly stuff but it gets a lot of action. Caution on that site - the premise is "If you believe it, it's not a lie."

http://swampbubbles.com/

TT is fun. I read, and learn, way more than I post.
One of these days I'm going to make it to Grumpys and say "HI" to get my free cookie!! :)

Rather enjoy the enlightening credibility of this site than the mucked septic system that the site holland referred to evolved into, anytime.

A/C are you using that as a noun, verb, or idiom?

I am here everyday at least twice a day to read but I only comment when I have something to say, and rarely post. Mostly because if you say something stupid you will get skewered! Which is as it should be and keeps the board reasonably intelligent. :)
Off to Henry Ford for the day!

DBW ac uses it as a way of live i think.

Been lurking for about a year and a half now. Only happened to stumble across the site when searching Twitter for Toledo and saw the twitter-bot for the site.

Molsonator.....let me in on it.....why the question about Mexican restaurants?

This site is notorious for bringing out everyone when you mention Mexican Restaurants.

Actually once you state your opinion on a "good" or "authentic" Mexican restaurant is when all hell breaks loose.

...and any post is in danger of flipping to the Mexican Restaurant theme at any time.

...and we are dangerously close to this happening now.

Went to Mi Hacienda last week. It was ok. Some of the seasonal items for the summer are interesting. New things with mango, avacado, more seafood options. Stay away from the Taco Loco. The Machaca is just gristle. Liked the Shrimp Cozumel, I think it was called.

Too late Molsonator

If you measure popularity by the number of comments, then 2006 was the site's heyday.

Below is the list of threads that contain at least 100 comments. Nearly 50 percent are from 2006.

The number of threads with at least 100 comments by year:

• 2003 - 0
• 2004 - 1
• 2005 - 8
• 2006 - 46
• 2007 - 3
• 2008 - 0
• 2009 - 2
• 2010 - 22
• 2011 - 11
• 2012 - 6

Top 99 threads based upon comment count:

Cornerstone church - created by roygbiv on Sep 14, 2010 - comments: 429

Election day open thread - created by jr on Nov 07, 2006 - comments: 324

Another downtown watering hole bites the dust...Easy Street Bar. - created by 6th_Floor on Jan 30, 2011 - comments: 302

Who's tired of paying for other peoples bad decisions? - created by billy on Nov 09, 2006 - comments: 278

Will Smokefree's proposal get removed from ballot? - created by jimavolt on Sep 23, 2006 - comments: 265

"If It's Good for Philip Morris, Can It Also Be Good for Public Health?" - created by stukerr on Jun 26, 2006 - comments: 262

Outsourcing political commentary - created by jr on Apr 16, 2006 - comments: 249

1978 Blizzard Redux ? - created by holland on Jan 29, 2011 - comments: 235

Soliciting for a smoking ban - created by MikeyA on Jul 01, 2006 - comments: 233

Smoke Free Workplace Act goes into effect statewide today - created by stukerr on Dec 07, 2006 - comments: 228

Open thread discussing Toledo's mayoral candidates - created by jr on Aug 03, 2005 - comments: 223

Sensible Ohio Smoking Ban moves forward - created by jimavolt on May 03, 2006 - comments: 223

Scammers exposed Part 1 - updated by hockeyfan on Sep 27, 2010 - comments: 219

Military dismisses more homosexuals - created by MikeyA on Aug 14, 2006 - comments: 209

The top 20 reasons to vote NO against issue 5 tps levy. - created by 6th_Floor on Oct 18, 2010 - comments: 202

Occupy Toledo - updated by jr on Oct 12, 2011 - comments: 200

TPS wants more-more-more - created by oldhometown on Jul 09, 2010 - comments: 199

Nasty piece of business - created by McCaskey on Jan 31, 2011 - comments: 194

Coffee, Anyone? - created by fequalsma73 on Jul 21, 2006 - comments: 191

Cornerstone Church thread part 2 - updated by jr on Oct 07, 2010 - comments: 180

JEEP WORKING MEMBERS /// THE LAST SRAW // - created by DEEPTHROAT on Aug 08, 2005 - comments: 179

Ottawa Hills PD - Racially motivated? - created by Plantman on Fri Oct 13, 2006 - comments: 176

Smoking in the New Casino - updated by admin on Jan 18, 2010 - comments: 173

2005 election results - created by jr on Tue Nov 08, 2005 - comments: 170

Issue #7 - No! - created by madjack on Oct 25, 2010 - comments: 169

The Case for Ben Konop - created by toltod on Apr 12, 2006 - comments: 157

Just Curious About Your Toledo Roots - created by rch101 on May 08, 2010 - comments: 156

Is there any way to stop the outflow of American jobs? - created by Bbcmjeep43 on Aug 26, 2005 - comments: 156

If you are voting for Romney give me one good reason why? - created by italiajojo05 on Apr 29, 2012 - comments: 155

Pharmacutical & Medical Industry Ready to Cash In on Smoking Ban - created by starling02 on Nov 16, 2006 - comments: 151

More on dogs... [Lucas County dog warden] - created by toledolen on Oct 21, 2009 - comments: 150

Hypocrisy Abounds in Senate Vote - created by fequalsma73 on Aug 04, 2006 - comments: 149

Casino in Rossford - created by weakskd on Mar 11, 2009 - comments: 147

Poll: ToledoTalk Meetup...dates, times, locations... - updated by OhioKimono on Jan 17, 2010 - comments: 147

6/5/10 - Moderate Risk of Severe Weather Today - updated by JustaSooner on Jun 06, 2010 - comments: 145

Admiral's American Grill - created by Ace_Face on Mar 22, 2011 - comments: 143

Strippers at local political fund-raiser - created by jr on Jul 03, 2007 - comments: 142

Will Work for Food - created by swantucky on Aug 18, 2010 - comments: 141

Legal Advice - created by shortysmom on Dec 11, 2011 - comments: 139

Why it is hard to know who to vote for! - created by fequalsma73 on Jul 14, 2006 - comments: 135

Ohio #1 in Job Losses - created by anonymouscoward on Aug 14, 2006 - comments: 135

On Bringing Back The Draft... - created by Darkseid on Nov 21, 2006 - comments: 134

Did John Kerry give up the farm to the GOP? - created by MikeyA on Nov 01, 2006 - comments: 133

Dictatorial Blade Unions DESTROY members' health benefits! - created by paulhem on Oct 19, 2006 - comments: 131

BOYCOTT SCOTT COMPANY PRODUCTS! - created by Plantman on Nov 30, 2006 - comments: 131

MARCY KAPTUR VOTES AGAINST PATRIOT ACT!!! - created by lloyd on Jul 22, 2005 - comments: 129

Plaza Azteca? - created by tlm0000 on Jan 03, 2010 - comments: 129

Public School Funding - created by steiner on Apr 03, 2006 - comments: 128

GOP update - created by jr on Oct 03, 2006 - comments: 128

Counter Protest - created by fequalsma73 on Jun 18, 2006 - comments: 127

TFP: Inaccurate Journalism at its finest - created by sofarright on Sun Oct 15, 2006 - comments: 127

The new Standarts Lofts in the warehouse district - created by upso on Jan 19, 2012 - comments: 127

Blade goes to Facebook comments - created by pete on Mar 14, 2012 - comments: 127

SmokeChoke: Ohio Smoking Ban Violator Registry - created by joshw on Apr 24, 2007 - comments: 126

Gay Marriage repeal language approved for ballot petition - created by anonymouscoward on Apr 07, 2012 - comments: 126

Toledo makes list of America's 20 most miserable cities - created by renegade on Feb 18, 2010 - comments: 125

New Sylvania Pet Store :( - created by Courtney on Nov 10, 2010 - comments: 123

Dissapointed in TPD - created by jennygirlmarie on Dec 24, 2010 - comments: 123

Wall Street Corporate Thugs Attack Peaceful Demonstrators - updated by wolfman on Oct 17, 2011 - comments: 123

Religious Double Standard? - created by frigus_veritas on Sep 17, 2006 - comments: 122

Rot to the ground TPS you bunch of corrupt thieves. - created by 6th_Floor on Feb 01, 2012 - comments: 122

Jeep Worker Leaves For Lunch, Kills Wife, Self and Third Person - created by historymike on Jun 17, 2005 - comments: 121

PHYSICAL SEARCHES OF AMERICAN HOMES WITHOUT A WARRANT - created by anonymouscoward on Mar 18, 2006 - comments: 121

WSPD Afternoon Talker Isn't In Toledo Anymore - created by max on May 26, 2010 - comments: 119

Kasich = 20% Education Cut - created by ilovetoledo on Nov 19, 2010 - comments: 119

Citizens' Report on Claudia Cooper/Larry Sykes Trial - created by katie82640 on Oct 03, 2006 - comments: 117

Toledo Will See Changes in Mail Service - created by oldsendbrdy on Jul 26, 2011 - comments: 116

Job hunting blues... - created by OhioKimono on Nov 01, 2011 - comments: 116

ACLU files lawsuit on behalf of right-wing nutjob Christian fundies' right to protest at funerals - created by anonymouscoward on Jul 24, 2006 - comments: 112

VFWs now being attacked by antismokers - created by Musician on Sep 08, 2006 - comments: 111

Andrew Z part 2 - created by Molsonator on Nov 03, 2010 - comments: 111

Another storm situation may be headed our way. - created by holland on Feb 19, 2011 - comments: 111

Dear America, Thanks you! Love, Iraq - created by fequalsma73 on Jul 26, 2006 - comments: 110

WHERE HAVE ALL THE POSTER'S GONE... - created by MARIELORA on Sep 03, 2006 - comments: 110

Lloyd JEEP members are still waiting for the Contract & Benefit books - created by UnionWanted on Sep 06, 2005 - comments: 109

Evolution, Intelligent Design, Or What? - created by RolandHansen on Sep 07, 2006 - comments: 109

WSPD host compares TPS students, monkeys; Wilson denies racism - updated by wolfman on Jan 13, 2011 - comments: 109

Anti-drug, anti-Christian school? - created by jr on Dec 15, 2004 - comments: 108

TPS Levy Propaganda Begins - created by GuestZero on Nov 27, 2006 - comments: 108

Michigan man shoots teens - created by Ace_Face on Jul 01, 2010 - comments: 108

Should Dr. Sanders Stay? - created by chrismyers on Mar 09, 2006 - comments: 107

Boycott Scott High School? - created by MrsPhoenix on Aug 04, 2006 - comments: 107

Non-Smoking fanatics - created by starling02 on Wed Feb 08, 2006 - comments: 106

Gas Cards - created by buttonpusher on May 10, 2006 - comments: 105

The Toledo Riots - created by paddington on Oct 18, 2005 - comments: 104

PUCO: "Toledo-area customers continue to pay the highest electric rates of any major metropolitan area in the state." - created by Erie_Island on Mar 03, 2006 - comments: 104

Top Cop Steps Down!! Blames Carty!! - created by billy on Jun 27, 2006 - comments: 104

Where is the Muslim Outrage? - created by fequalsma73 on Jul 21, 2006 - comments: 104

Gloria's Tamales - created by billy on Mar 24, 2010 - comments: 104

Blade To Go On The Auction Block? - created by historymike on Feb 17, 2006 - comments: 103

6/7 TPS School Board Report - created by chrismyers on Tue Jun 06, 2006 - comments: 103

Toledo Talker Input Requested. Car accident...ticket...fault...and recommendation for a replacement - created by katie82640 on Aug 04, 2006 - comments: 103

COSI Defeated: Toledo Loses Another Gem - created by apophistoledo on Nov 07, 2007 - comments: 103

Noe Goes To Jail - created by tiger on Tue Sep 12, 2006 - comments: 102

Heatherdowns and Reynolds - created by Molsonator on Jun 13, 2012 - comments: 102

Could this be next in the Toledo conflict of smokers vs. non-smokers? - created by daddyg on Mar 18, 2006 - comments: 101

Toledoans Protest War in Iraq - created by historymikeon Dec 05, 2006 - comments: 101

Rich Iott's Unusual Hobby - Nazi Reenactor - created by holland on Oct 08, 2010 - comments: 100

Welcome to the airport--now spread your butt cheeks - created by oldhometown on Nov 14, 2010 - comments: 100

^^From K-Tel Records, it's "Toledo Talk's Greatest Hits" !!!

99 threads of pulse-pounding, hard-rockin' fun...all for $0.00!!!

Neither. He's using it as an idiot.

What used to be a great Mexican restaurant and has changed hands and gone to crap is Good Morning Holland. Its now called El Sol. We ate there, or tried, once. One of us ordered one of the house specials, (some kind of fried steak) the other got the standard tacos, burrito, rice and beans. There wasn't a single edible item on either of our plates. I've never had Mexican food that was so awful.

We drive by there very frequently and never see any customers. Just waiting for the place to change hands again.

Sigh. Good grief.

Good morning Holland was owned/operated by the same guy who owned/operated OK Patron in P-Burg. Andy idea if that has changed hands as well?

See, we did it. Hijacked the thread and turned into yet another one about Mexican food.

I have full confidence that my fellow TTers could take virtually any thread and turn it into a discussion of Mexican food.

Or retail pharmacy chains. One or the other.

Don't visit or contribute nearly as often as I once did, but it has nothing to do with the site or jr. Don't seem to have the time I once had to play online. And I confess since joining Facebook couple years ago have spent way too much time there.

TT is still, after all this time, the definitive site for opinions and reactions to all things local.

I miss HistoryMike and that crazy bastard Darkseid. But glad to see AC still hangs now and again. And Madjack, goes without saying...

Wasn't it determined a while back that Darkseid died?

Darkseid posted at swamp bubbles a couple of months a go.

Don't know but miss the guy dell_diva, dug his posts.

Here's the thread where Darkseid was discussed at some length, along with a few other things.

http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/48532/Where_art__thou_Darkseid

I don't know if it really is Darkseid on Swampbubbles or not. The writing doesn't quite look the same. But anyway, he's posted more than once but he failed to call McCaskey names, which is not at all like the Darkseid I remember. Still, I don't know who could have cracked his account on SB, unless it's actually Chris (SysOp of SB) screwing around. Which is possible.

I would think that if this really was the real Darkseid he'd at least throw out a few curses at McCaskey both on TT and SB.

Wouldn't you think, Mac?

I saw the Darkseid Swampbubbles post when it happened but never believed it was actually him.
As Jack said, not his style. And he couldn't stand Chris Myers' goody-two-shoes regulation against vulgarity, although don't believe that's still in effect. That site's a complete joke.

Since we're tripping a bit down memory ditch, I'll relay a moment.

McCaskey, back in 2006, you posted what is probably my favorite comment that has ever been directed at me, even though you didn't intend for me to enjoy it.

Then I mentioned Sal "The Barber" Maglie. Baseball geeks would know about The Barber.

In the January 2007 thread about the launch of Swamp Bubbles, McCaskey wrote :

Chris Myers enforces the ban against vulgarity at his own discretion. For instance, I told one of his special little friends to fuck off and die and Chris immediately got on my case - but neglected the vulgar reply from his special little friend.

Anyway, check this link as you like. Whomever is using the account has posted about once per week:

http://swampbubbles.com/users/darkseid/track

If it's actually Darkseid then he may have had a stroke or something. The only one who could possibly shed any light would be the SysOp.

I kind of think someone hacked the account somehow.

Most people, even ones who have been in the city for some time have only experienced the parts of the city that they grew up in or heard about. Problem for me is that even people I hear about things from usually grew up in the same part of the sticks I did or already have similar commonality.

One of the things that intrigued me about TT is that I am hearing from people all over the city (I assume). I like hearing what events or venues are drawing people, what restaurants are enjoyed or disliked. 42 years in this city and through TT I found out about quite a few long established places I never knew existed.

Personalities do not phase or bother me. There were a few people whose posts and topics I no longer read but not many. I appreciate that it is here and the time and effort to keep it going.

:: looks at two of his comments being highlighted in green

Thank you! Thank you very much!

Ya know, maddie, seeing as how when I get into an argument here I bring in facts and studies and figures and so on, while you and your buddies pretty much cite an edited clip of Glenn Beck on YouTube, it's pretty clear who the idiots are. The only fucking "idiocy" on my part is using words like "fuck" that get under the skin of some people and otherwise undermine my message for simple fucks who can't look past how I write to get the fucking important points. But don't let that get in the way of you, dbw, and Liney taking a moment to pile on when I made a joking, self-deprecating comment.

Why don'tcha go back to /p/ (or as it should perhaps be named, /t/, given the ratio of people and their political leanings there) and discuss how Barack HUSSEIN 0bama is the root of all evil and how the USA would be utopia if we elected RON PAUL/Sarah Palin or whatever? Or better yet, since my account is older than all of yours, why don't you get the fuck off my lawn, respect my authoritai, or whatever it is kids say these days?

AC take a hint from Ryan.

TT has always been good gumbo, a nice blend of local seasoning, mild to 5-alarm. Sure, threads get hijacked and waylaid, but that's the blogosphere.

More often than not, you LEARN something on here. The smart move jr made at some point was to keep politics off on its own little island as much as possible and channel the focus on local/area/regional topics-events-interests-causes.

He needs to sharpen up a bit before sampling Toledo's finer dining establishments---hold the sandals and the cutoff shorts---but otherwise he's done a purty capable job driving this circus wagon.

July 2004, AC?

jr hasn't mandated your retirement yet?

jr - I've asked before and I'll ask again - why has AC not been banned yet? Is he a friend or a relative of yours or something?

I could care less about his political statements, but it's the hijacking of nice threads with "fuck" this and "fuck" that that's getting really tiring.

I take it back. This site sucks. :>)

I don't think madjack is one of the people who insist on emphasizing the Hussein when talking about President Obama. At least, not that I've ever noticed.

But I did get a chuckle out of AC's Cartman reference.

Waaaaaaaaa AC uses bad words!

Nobody appreciates my fucking irony.

Hope things are ok with Darkseid.

Speaking of those who never come around anymore, anyone know what's up with GuestZero? Looks like he hasn't logged in since 3/15/11.

...anyone know what's up with GuestZero?

Yeah, I do. GZ got religion and started taking the Bible seriously.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and tear you.
Proverbs 9:8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
Proverbs 23:9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
Proverbs 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
Matthew 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Matthew 15:26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Hasn't been back since.

Well, I suppose that would be a better alternative than what they were saying on another blog he must have frequented. (I googled out of curiosity.)

1. The phrase you're fumbling around for is "I couldn't care less...". Meaning that the subject in question is so completely insignificant to you that it's beneath your notice, and you could not care less about it.

2. Having been ignored in the past I would think that you would have learned something, but much like the United States government, prohibition and the war on drugs that does not seem to be the case. Now all you're doing is wasting band width and sucking up space on JR's server - and my screen.

3. Since appealing to authority clearly is not producing the desired results for you, I suggest you try something else. I suppose you could ferret out AC's real identity and start stalking him, then embarrass him by confronting him personally at the local Starbucks and announcing that you know who he is and you won't tolerate his profanity or hijacking of threads on Toledo Talk any longer.

I'd like to be there if you choose this option. Just sayin'.

Of course you might, might possibly draft a courteous request to AC asking that he limit or eliminate vulgarities from his otherwise intelligent, insightful and well-written contributions to this little electronic water cooler. I mean, you never know, right?

Right?

Ha!
Ha!Ha!
Ha!Ha!Ha!

I choked on my morning bourbon! Warn me before you do something like that, will you? I about did myself a mischief.

Hey AC - are you going to cash in your stock options or hold 'em? How's your 401K looking?

Don't count on any Social Security. The Moonbats spent it all on welfare moms and healthcare for the permanently indigent. I hear the new plan from the Ayatollah Hussein Obama involves confiscating everyone's 401K and redistributing the wealth all over the place where it will do the most good.

I read occassionally still for insight on local news. I like being part of the conversation. On occassion I've been blasted for living in Perrysburg on TT which to me is unnecessary. I do still care about Toledo since it's my home. I would love to see TPS rated excellent and I hate seeing the inner city areas fall apart more and more each year.

I agree that Facebook and Twitter have replaced TT as a place to get instant reaction on local and national news.

I still laugh every time I see a story that started in TT ending up in the Blade. It is nice to be part of an intellectual, online community that at its core simply wants the best for the city we love.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to add that the new food stamp program is only good at Mexican restaurants.

A few things... most notably obscene words and lack of civility in some postings
Trying to realize folks are just venting, but I do not get anything out of these postings and just skip them.
It gets tiring, so often days/weeks will go by before reading/participating.
However there are insightful postings and news items not found anywhere else.
So, thank you TT posters for these postings/items.

Yeah, I could switch to saying something else, like "vagina" (AC is now banned from the Michigan Statehouse).

AC is banned from my Michigan state house.

Why would I want to go to Michigan, home of Ted Nugent and the Michigan Republican Party that can regulate the V-word but can't stomach it being uttered? More to the point, why would I want to come to your run-down beat-up trailer, anyhow?

I personally do not care for swear words, spoken or written. But I have a choice to read them here or just skip over them. To each his own.

It just occured to me that I say the word "fuck" at least once a day, but I've never used it here. (Well, until now, of course.)

a/c - ROFL at your Michigan Statehouse comment - loved it!!!

I see no reason to deactivate his account. Occasionally, I've had to discuss site behavior with AC, but for the most part, he has obeyed the site rules. I'm guessing GZ left because he did not want to obey the rules, but you'll have to ask him.

From AC's profile page :

• Member since: Jul 09, 2004
• anonymouscoward has contributed to 49 articles and has submitted 991 comments at the new version of Toledo Talk.
• At the old version of Toledo Talk, anonymouscoward posted 127 topic(s) and 1737 comment(s).

From the posting guidelines :

The above is another reason why I won't deactivate AC's account, and I don't need anybody's approval for my reasoning. Besides, I think AC likes Linux, and he probably approves of the existence of the Tor project.

I chuckle at the comments in this thread about the uncivil conversations that occur on this site now. I guess it's all relative. If you did not read this site prior to 2007, then you missed out on the real brawling. The years 2004, 2005, and especially 2006 were a bit raucous. Look through the archives.

The site was gnarly at times because I set the tone in the beginning for the site to be somewhat rough. Thankfully, independent message boards are not bound by the same boring rules of etiquette and manners as so-called professional media.

I enjoyed the intensity of early Toledo Talk, but it's not a sustainable path, in my opinion. If I allowed the site to continue like it did through much of 2006, then I probably would have shut the site down by 2008 because of fatigue.

In recent years, Toledo Talk's tone has been altered. Compared to 2004-2006, the site today is a tea and scone sit-down, and that's fine with me. Occasionally, I lapse into pre-2007 mode. (Sorry about my recent outburst, SensorG.)

If you want a website with lot of users, comments, page views, redundant conversations, and headaches, then start a message board that is focused on politics. But you still have to moderate the site or else it falls into ruin.

Some people can discuss political issues every day of their lives. I learned that I could not do that, and I didn't want the site to be dominated by political discussions. I could have chosen to ignore those threads, but as site owner and mod, that was hard to do. Since I paid the hosting bill, I wanted the site to change.

The way Toledo Talk operates today is my preferred way. In my opinion, the site is better and more useful now than it was in the past. And it only took about nine years to figure it all out.

Three summers ago, I changed the home page to display threads by recent comment order, which was something users requested years earlier. I should have listened earlier. But I patterned early Toledo Talk after one of my favorite sites: MetaFilter.com. But I think a message board type of display is best.

If I started Toledo Talk today, I would probably use message board software from either:

• Xenforo
• Vanilla
• PunBB
• or even bbPress.

But I need wiki features, so if those apps did not offer the right plugin, I would probably still create my own code.

Two summers ago, I changed the way new users can start posting. A new user has to wait two days to post a comment, and three days to start a new thread. This change helped slow down the drive-by spammers and flamers.

Other users here have been a great help in identifying the sockpuppets. Thank you.

I think the thread subjects are more varied today compared to several years ago. I learn more from Toledo Talk today than I did during the site's early years when the site was more of a cathartic, venting platform. The latter, however, is still possible today but with slight design and function differences.

Non-locally focused political threads get moved off the front page, and they can be viewed at:

• http://toledotalk.com/p
• http://toledotalk.com/politics
• clicking on the /p/ link in the narrow column on the home page.
• clicking on forums at the top of the site, and then clicking on politics

Last month, I created a local-politics forum. I moved some recent threads into this new forum. The local politics threads remain on the front page, but the thread text is displayed in light gray, all lowercase, and with a slightly smaller font size.

Political discussions are permitted, but they're somewhat de-emphasized. If that causes fewer political discussions, then the design changes are working. But again, political discussions have not been outlawed. The political brawlers have to work around the minor design and site rule "inconveniences." I assume that's not a problem for the rough and tumble political talkers.

The default view of the home page lists the threads in a non-columnar format, which I like. It's sort of reddit-ish But I also like the columnar view, which is more like traditional message boards. Since I cannot decide which view I prefer, I keep both.

Over the past 12-plus months, I have made small design changes: shrunk the header, eliminated the nav-bar, shrunk the narrow column, reduced the font size, changed colors, etc.

The site works fine on my tablet. It functions decent enough on smart phones, at least for reading the website. So at the moment, I don't see a need to create a mobile version of Toledo Talk.

I use these themes often:

• ut
• jan18

If you clicked on one of the above links, then click here to get back to the original or default theme.

I have a long list of minor changes to make to the site that I may complete this year, but nothing major is planned. Sorry, no bbcode support. I prefer Textile markup. I don't get bbcode. May as well learn HTML. But I will enable the formatting buttons. Some changes will be made on the server that will hopefully speed up the site.

I'll close this lengthy comment with a related blast from the past from that grand year of 2006:

http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/fbombers.pl

Bravo, JR. Bravo.

Seriously? The answer is in your question: TOLEDOtalk. Nobody cares about Toledo outside of its borders, and hardly anybody inside its borders understands how to use a computer.

Oh come now, half the users don't like in the city limits believe.

live

Excerpts from a June 18, 2012 blog post titled Participation vs. Engagement written by someone on the team that maintains the Vanilla forum software app:

Agree with the sentiment of Jr's post. If facebook went away it wouldn't be bother me. But I would miss TT.

I agree.

Facebook reminds me too much of television and the commercials shown before a film. I'll sit through the commercial period if I have to, but only if I have to. Often I arrive late and so miss the "word from our sponsors".

I wish Facebook WOULD go away. Sick and tired of the many organizations to which I belong, deluging me with messages, new posts, pictures etc. Stuff which does not require immediate attention and often is not worthy of even being included in a monthly newsleter. When will they learn that more is not necessarily better?

TT is my go to place for what's new locally. I especially like TT for what I call the "human element", such as Hockeyfan's topic today about "My Own crime experience". This I would miss terribly. Sharing experiences and sometimes commiserating in a polite forum is a great way to vent.

I think it's difficult for people to put this in perspective, but I agree with you. It's Toledo, after all. That's neither good nor bad, but simply a fact.

What are the positives that come from Toledo Talk? Look at the first page of comments and pick out the most important or relevant to most people in the Toledo area. Is anything of great value? Obviously, I read and post, so I find some value. Why should anyone else?

TJRubicon - "hardly anybody inside its borders understands how to use a computer"

researcher - "...I agree with you....."

Huh. Seriously?

I would have edited that part of the quote if possible.

Thank you. Your usual posts didn't seem inclined to be rude or insulting.

I personally don't care what fucking words AC uses. We've had our disagreements but I can reasonably respect his opinion and as long as he doesn't break site rules or is corrected when he's done then he's fucking good by my fucking standards. Even if he is wrong as fuck sometimes.

LOL.

In all actuality I still love TT but comment way less than I used to and just watch most times. For about 2 years TT was blocked by the firewall at work but when the military decided that Facebook was ok to surf at work the firewall opened back up. By that time I was posting more at SB more anyway. Plus most of the discussions I take part in belong are more appropriate for SB so again hence now a lurker/watcher.

Darkseid is alive, even posted to SB this week. GZ had made a comment that he won't post here after a disagreement with JR.

But the real reason TT isn't more popular is.... because wolfman was banned by Fred!!!!

Speaking of old posters. Kate Boyd aka katie82640 KateB.

Has anyone heard from her. I don't believe I've seen a post from her in a few years and I know she was in contact with quite a few here in her personal life.

The Darkseid account on SB has been active for 5 years so I have every reason to believe that it is Darkseid.

Glad to see Darkseid is still kicking :) Miss the old dude.

... Yeah DarkCodger was fun...

I kind of miss his insightful comments as well, but the one who really misses him is old Mister 'Let's not push it' himself, McCaskey, who devoted an entire thread to finding his nemesis and provoking a reaction - Where Art Thou, Darkseid?

If the account on SB is active, I'm a little surprised that Darkseid never stopped by just to acknowledge the thread and call McCaskey names.