Have you ever had to take away a beloved feature?

Have you ever had to take a beloved feature away from your users, either because it was hurting posting rates/traffic or because you simply couldn't run it on your server any more? How did the members handle it?

 

I had to take away the shout box because of heavy mysql usage. That is one thing that I wished I could have kept.

 

Not yet. I've had to turn them off for a few days, or they've had to wait after an upgrade for me to re-code and add back a feature, but I've never had to take one away permanently.

 

I finally removed Flashchat about 3 months ago, however, this was because it wasnt loved - in fact it was hardly used and therefore not worth the effort of keeping it upgraded.

 

I have had to do this twice - I removed the chatbox to add the new chat which can be seen on this website and due to mysql server load, after explaining to my members why and how to use this new chat they have enjoyed it - although all agree there could be some changes made.

And being a sports website we have been using vbookie (yes the very old script made for 3.5 - however with hacks posted on vbulletin it worked up until 3.7) however in saying this I worked on some of the coding on the actual pages and product of vbookie and got it working again on 3.8.x straight out of the box with no custom modifications needed - and my members loved to see it back!

 

We had to remove your unread posts mod as members were no longer browsing up and down the forums, they were only using your mod

 

:lol: I usually use the New Posts function anyways, even without Paul's mod.

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No, I don't think I have had to take away a beloved feature yet. Anything I have removed thus far has been because it wasn't used much or didn't benefit the site.

 

yeah the shoutbox.

 

Me too. They all kind of loved it while me and the forum activity didn't. So we compromised and had "shoutbox night" on special occasions.

 

That's a good idea; do you tell them in advance when the next scheduled shoutbox night is, or do you keep them logging on hoping tonight will be the night?

 

Yeah, it would usually be a surprise at night when I'm in a really good mood, the community has been really active, or there is some kind of special occasion. It may not seem like a big deal, but they actually loved it.

 

Oh the infamous resource sucking chatbox. I only have it running on one forum and I haven't had to take it down yet (since the server is owned by a friend ). I can't recall any beloved feature that I've had to remove. As Paul mentioned, I might have removed a handful of mods due to their non-use, but nothing loved. Users raise hell if you take away anything they've come to enjoy and appreciate...

 

Nothing more than a day or two to re-code after an upgrade.