Bitcointalk improvement proposal (BTIP)-suggestion

[Cookdata]

Consider how the internet has grown from a private network to internet service providers (ISP) who facilitate access to the internet between servers and clients computers. This shows how the world has advanced with the internet, from military dictatorship to restricted liberties. Yes, the forum update is my proposal! I know the answer will be Nay Nay Nay, but spare me some of your time and go through the idea I want to share, you may not be in support, but please do consider it from this angle. Many threads requesting updates and modifications have been denied, however, the ideas to develop here should not be forgotten, they can be proposed and placed on the BITCOINTALK IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL (BTIP) waiting list.

I'm not sure how long the forum has been around or when it was first publicly launched, but it's undeniably one of the most popular bitcoin interactive forum. I've seen a lot of Bitcointalk reference links on HOW TO BITCOIN[1], a beginner's guide to bitcoin written by Coingecko, that illustrate how useful this forum has been for many.
I recall reading a discussion about a panic event of Bitcointalk hack[2], it was down for sometime, but Theymos finally got it back when it was moved to Bitcointalk.org[3]. If that day could be captured in a photograph, I would have purchased the NFT and kept it for myself.

I understand that a wrong single line of code might harm a whole network, switching a functional network with an infected code can ruin an entire system, but what if there was pre-transparency in the sense that a member could propose an upgrade to bitcointalk? The user submits his open source proposal as draft, get reviewed and tested by different developers and audited before accepted or denied, the time it takes doesn't matters as long as it serve the purpose. The improvement does not have to be huge, the lighter they are, the faster they will be forum and the less data they will require for hosting.

Consider Bitcoin: it's a complex system that's always being modified to increase security and efficiency as the network expands. Similarly to the current Tap root that was observed in block height 709,632 [4], the proposal was first submitted in January 2018[5] and had a lot of support from developers before been approved and deployed in November 2021[6]. If Bitcoin can do it as an open source, Bitcointalk can do it and more better with Theymos approval, since he's the Global Admin.

I will be providing an example and a format, so that suggestions don't go to junk or get ignored when someone wants to contribute onto the forum. From the GitHub bitcoin community, here's a summary of what BIP is all about, a snip image of Mastering Bitcoin[7].

The bitcoin GitHub repository keeps track of all bitcoin BIPs[8]. Making Bitcointalk proposal similarly to Bitcoin wouldn't be a terrible move, a single table with five BTIP columns with a BTIP serial NO, Title, owner, type, status are enough.

• BTIP NO - The serial number of BTIP in the table
• Title - Name or description of the proposal
• Owner - The name of the Author making proposal
• Type - Bitcoin protocol is different from forum design by PHP. This depends on how the community or Theymos want forum update.
• status - The proposal can either get passed, active in the sense that it get deployed, replaced or rejected

Here's an example of what it would look like if it get adopted, with a draft for everyone to make their requests for changes or updated.

BTIP	TITLE	OWNER	TYPE	STATUS
_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________
BTIP-1	BTIP Propose and guideline	Cookdata	Informational	Draft
_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________
BTIP-2	Integration of Mentions  may make user experience  looks simpler and easier	Cookdata	Informational	draft
_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________
BTIP-3	------	------	------	------
_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________
BTIP-4	------	------	------	------
_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________	_________________
BTIP-5	------	------	------	------

I intended to include several old threads that used API to interact with other platforms, such as giammangiato TelegramBot notification alert[9] and ninjastic.space[10] by Tryninja, which would have been BTIP if they had been designed or included as part of the forum, specifically the telegram alert and ninjastic. The two are the most used that I have seen, and there have been a few updates and efforts made but they would have been more better in the forum as alert and archive upgrade version. I've also seen some proposed or recommendations on the forum mobile app, as well as some CSS, but that's irrelevant since this is merely a suggestion for others to consider.
Thank you.



[1] https://landing.coingecko.com/how-to-bitcoin/
[2] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4405796.msg39201021#msg39201021
[3] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3284381.msg34255007#msg34255007
[4] https://argoblockchain.com/what-does-the-taproot-upgrade-mean-for-bitcoin/
[5] https://www.kraken.com/en-gb/learn/what-is-taproot
[6] https://www.kraken.com/en-gb/learn/what-is-taproot
[7] https://oiipdf.com/mastering-bitcoin-programming-the-open-blockchain-oreilly-2nd-edition-2017
[8] https://github.com/bitcoin/bips
[9] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5209107.0
[10] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5273824.0

[ABCbits]

You made an effort, but i doubt it's useful since
1. theymos rarely add new feature since there's new forum software on developer (although who knows when it's ready to use).
2. All BTIP status likely remain as "Draft" forever.

[Cookdata]

You made an effort, but i doubt it's useful since
1. theymos rarely add new feature since there's new forum software on developer (although who knows when it's ready to use).
2. All BTIP status likely remain as "Draft" forever.

Is there official workshop for this software?

[Rizzrack]

Is there official workshop for this software?

This is the github repo for the "in the works" forum software: https://github.com/epochtalk/epochtalk-vue

[Quickseller]

While SMF is freely available, I understand that theymos has made extensive modifications to the version of SMF that he is using to run the forum. IIRC, one of the reasons he is using the old SMF version is that the license does not force him to make public the modifications that he has made.

It is difficult to propose feature improvements without seeing the code of the product you are improving.

[OgNasty]

I'm not sure how long the forum has been around or when it was first publicly launched, but it's undeniably one of the most popular bitcoin interactive forum.

I can answer this for you.  This forum was launched right after satoshi disappeared and was no longer active in the community.  It is a misconception that satoshi ever posted here.  He did not.  I also think this forum is a small part of Bitcoin interactions.  When this forum was full of developers and people creating use cases, ya, definitely.  Ignoring enforcement of the rules and allowing trolls to harass these people until they no longer wanted to be a part of this community kissed that goodbye.  Now I think Twitter is undeniably the spot where most crypto interaction takes place as they actually have community standards that are enforced. 

[Cookdata]

While SMF is freely available, I understand that theymos has made extensive modifications to the version of SMF that he is using to run the forum. IIRC, one of the reasons he is using the old SMF version is that the license does not force him to make public the modifications that he has made.

It is difficult to propose feature improvements without seeing the code of the product you are improving.

So, I checked the forum footer and it appears to be a powered SMF software package, but you mentioned something about license that I'm not convinced of.
It is plainly stated on the web that it is a free, simple, and open source and that users can tweak it to their satisfaction. According to the wb, those who want to make adjustments can get a guide from the page.



The software even get new patch on every update, the last one was December 2021 v2.0.19 but we're still chilling on 2009 version 1.1.19 machine, looking at the difference, there should be so much improved versions rolled out for public use.

This is the github repo for the "in the works" forum software: https://github.com/epochtalk/epochtalk-vue

This should be enough if there is a forum software self built by Bitcointalk developers, theymus is seeing every suggestion, they may include the simple ones I think.

[Smartvirus]

It's a nice suggestion your putting out and from what you've stated thus far, it appears you know your stuff as per softwares and running codes as they apply. One thing is for sure, the quest for qn improvement often comes with an encountered error or some issues or problems faced by the old version for which need be improved upon. Moving a notion for an improvement ought to be followed by the specific issue to be tackled  to entail a logical reason as to why and what is hoped to archive.

Again, some old versions or models to some software offers more safety or are less prone to bugs than others so, let's not be so hasty in accepting or working with whatever we have there just because it's of a latest model. We ought to tred carefully but then, there should be room for improvement on the forum.

[Welsh]

So, I checked the forum footer and it appears to be a powered SMF software package, but you mentioned something about license that I'm not convinced of.
It is plainly stated on the web that it is a free, simple, and open source and that users can tweak it to their satisfaction. According to the wb, those who want to make adjustments can get a guide from the page.

The software even get new patch on every update, the last one was December 2021 v2.0.19 but we're still chilling on 2009 version 1.1.19 machine, looking at the difference, there should be so much improved versions rolled out for public use.

I'm not sure about the license claim, though updating this forum along with the official updates would likely break any custom modifications theymos has included. Not every single one, but because they're fairly extensive, and the modifications made by SMF developers is unpredictable, I can see it causing problems, resulting in theymos spending more time fixing things than he would like.

Plus, aside from a few bells, and whistles here, and there I don't think its a necessity to follow the official update path. We haven't had any major issues with security, so things are likely getting taken care of behind the scenes on that front. Worth noting, that Bitcointalk also offers bounties for those that can find any issues deemed severe enough.

[Pmalek]

There doesn't have to be an official BTIP thread created by theymos or the staff, feel free to create your own where you can include the improvements you have and those from other users that are willing to contribute to it. You can even PM theymos a link to it and see how he feels about it.

Theymos is quick to respond and fix things that involve the forum's security and the usability of it. Proof 1 and 2.
I doubt we will see major changes made to the current forum software though. As others have pointed out, the new forum is in the making. Just in time when the first colonies will colonize Mars, the new forum software is planned to be released . Two significant milestones for humankind. 

[ABCbits]

While SMF is freely available, I understand that theymos has made extensive modifications to the version of SMF that he is using to run the forum. IIRC, one of the reasons he is using the old SMF version is that the license does not force him to make public the modifications that he has made.

It is difficult to propose feature improvements without seeing the code of the product you are improving.

So, I checked the forum footer and it appears to be a powered SMF software package, but you mentioned something about license that I'm not convinced of.
It is plainly stated on the web that it is a free, simple, and open source and that users can tweak it to their satisfaction. According to the wb, those who want to make adjustments can get a guide from the page.

You didn't read the license in detail, did you? If you check the license at https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/license.php, what you saw refer to SMF 2.0+ which use BSD.

[dkbit98]

...

I like the concept, idea and BTIP naming invented that is similar to BPIP protocol, but I doubt anything will be accepted in forum, based on years of previous experience.

Now I think Twitter is undeniably the spot where most crypto interaction takes place as they actually have community standards that are enforced.  

As if Twitter is not full of trolls and spammers even more than Bitcointalk forum.  
People are constantly getting fake porn girl follower accounts, everyone is acting smart there, and censorship is much worse than here, so we can't really have free speech there.
It should be mentioned that twitter is full of shitcoiners promoting their pump and dump scams, so maybe some of them did move from bitcointalk forum...