Signatures
For those of you who have been supportive of this decision, thank you for your public support. It is sincerely appreciated.
Now, for those of you struggling with this decision, let me clarify. This change was made at my direction.
Perspective:
When I work at home, I have the luxury of a DSL connection. My home is close enough to a BellSouth station that I can purchase this service, and it is wonderful.
When I work at the TDR offices, I have the luxury of a dial-up connection (chuckle). Our office is pretty rural. Neither DSL nor cable are available in this office park yet. It is very frustrating to be working on a relatively slow connection, then have that process further slowed by script/fonts/pictures that may/may not have anything to do with trucks or diesel-related stuff.
I spend at least 4 hours a day accessing the Internet; I understand both sides of this issue.
That is why I asked Steve to implement a change that would make using our website a bit easier for the dial-up customers WITHOUT taking anything away from our DSL/Cable customers.
The plan:
1. Create a new field where folks could include any/all necessary detail regarding their truck. This field could include fancy fonts, links, etc. as desired by the TDR user.
2. Reduce the current signature line to allow for the "vital statistics" only. This would allow faster page loads for those of us still using dial-up connections. Not to mention, it is easier to read a thread without having to sort through the extended signatures.
Steve implemented
my decision.
I have read and sincerely considered your feedback. You said you didn't have enough room at 200 characters. I authorized increasing that limit by 50%. This seemed like a reasonable request and still achieved my objectives.
I am open to changing a policy decision, but ONLY after we've given a decision time to settle in and really determine what the fallout is. One day is not long enough.
If you experience problems due to this policy change, please e-mail me directly at
rpatton@ix.netcom.com. I will respond to each e-mail. Send facts and include a logical analysis of problems/potential solutions. I have no tolerance for emotional dissertations or whining on this issue.
If you're on a high-speed connection and are having trouble with this decision, pull out your old modem, and dial in. Perspective is always helpful.
We are working to add features that we trust you will enjoy. And we try to avoid changes, whenever possible, that could adversely affect your ability to enjoy the website. When we do have to make a change that is considered negative, please realize that we do not do so lightly. Every consideration is given to alternatives.