What I am finding somewhat intriguing, aside from the improvements that the SI staff have instituted, is how the membership is reacting to new fees being assessed for features that were once available free.
That "reading messages sequentially by author" thing again.
I can state with nearly 100% certainty that that feature did not exist on the version of SI that we acquired. I'm planning to fire up the old one again soon to double-check.
I'm just as certain that if such a feature ever existed in SI's past (keeping in mind my certainty that it didn't), it wouldn't have required payment for access to it.
The only features of the version we acquired that required payment before they'd work were posting, Next10, and during some unknown timeframe, the ability to shut off ads on most pages. Actually, the version we acquired didn't shut off ads when you purchased a subscription.
Everything else was available to everyone for free, grandfathered or not.
2. The ability to step through an individual's posts no matter what board the posts are on.
The second one, as it turns out, was working for everyone, including free members. That's no longer the case.
That quote from a post of mine is causing a lot of confusion.
A more accurate and complete version would be "The second one, as it turns out, was working for everyone, including free members, on the new version of the site; not the old one."
To go a little further with Dave's analogy, not only was there a Heritage buffet, which is still in place, we also had offered and continue to offer free meals at a separate buffet outside.
Things like portfolios, the old charts, and email were served up both on the free buffet and the Heritage buffet. They're no longer on either buffet.
However, we haven't removed any items from the Heritage buffet. In fact, we've added quite a few items to it. Some new items only make it to the Sushi bar, while most make it to the Heritage buffet.
The ability to step through an author's posts sequentially regardless of thread was supposed to have been added to the Heritage buffet only until the Sushi bar was being set up, then it was going to be moved to the sushi bar.
As it turned out, that item was mistakenly put on the free buffet outside for a couple of months.
So, it was accidentally made available for free on THIS version of the site for a short time, but was not available on the version we acquired. |
