Using Music on your ProBoard

[Greg]

Forcing music on viewers with an auto-play is a definite no no. Even more so if it's embedded into the main or global header/footer. You just can't navigate away from it when it wants to stop then restart on every new page load.

Pop up link players are a much better option. Option is a double operative word in this case. Your option to not force music on your viewers and the visitors option as to whether or not they want to listen to any form of music while on your site.

Our website also host a 24/7 radio station and we have included a button where members can open a new yet small pop up page with an embedded media player in it. If they don't want to listen, that's their "option".

[``Megara Spice]

I have a few things to say on this topic...

1. Music is rather annoying, especially if you are not into the genre that is in the playlist. I have visited sites that play things like Metallica, Guns and Roses, Marylin Manson and other artists that some people may like but they just irritate me because I tend to listen to music like Busted, Bon Jovi, Nickelback and Pink. For me having music on a forum, especially like this, just makes me want to leave and I wont even bother looking at the site properly, I just close the browser and be done with it. There is also the issue that I listen to music while I RP, inspiration factor and I just dont like silence. When music is on autoplay it often goes over top my music and I will generally close the page.

2. Music slows down the forum. Music takes FOREVER to load and it slows loading time, which is really irritating if you are on dial up or slow internet connections, if a site doesn't load I close the page and don't look back, I dont want to be sitting at my computer for an hour waiting for a page to load just because someone has put music on it.

3. The music is rarely relevent to the site. If you are going to put music on the site, use something relevent (for example; on sites that have a movie use songs from the movie soundtrack, they are easily accessable).

4. The argument that music creates inspiration for character and rp creation is a valid one I will admit, but its much easier to play your own music that you actually like on your computer rather than waiting for it to load on a site.

Nov 12, 2009 7:27:24 GMT -8 @valderra99 said:

When I asked the admin if the music can be disabled for me, she said to just disable my sound on my laptop - mute it.
But hey... I don't want to fiddle about with the audio settings on my laptop. And I DO want to hear other sounds, like for example, a warning sound if something is amiss.

I have had this said to me before as well and while I will mute my computer on occasion I am in the same boat in the sense I would like to be able to hear if the virus scanner on my computer is going off or something is wrong with the computer.

Nov 12, 2009 7:27:24 GMT -8 @valderra99 said:

I find it a little selfish of those admin(s) to install music that members simply have to put up with. If I want to listen to music while roaming a forum, I will put a CD on.

Exactly what I was trying to say; I always listen to music while browsing, if I get sick of it I turn it off simple as that, with forum music its like trying to run away from your own shadow... aint gunna happen!

[Descent Into Darkness]

I think having a music player on a site is definitely a bad idea. Some of the points here for that have been very good. Sure you can mute your speakers, but then you miss the important sounds from your computer that you might NEED to hear! Sure you can pause the player, but like it's been said, when you refresh the page, the player resumes.

And as it's been said, they may not be playing the kind of music that you like. Me, I'm basically the if it sounds good, I'll listen to it type, but still, there are songs that I just can't stand. So, music players on forums is just ridiculous in my opinion.

This is what we spend hundreds of dollars on Zunes, iPods, CDs and downloaded music for the PC on, so that we have our own preference of music to listen to while we're role playing, or just perusing the internet.

[FOX LOVER ?! <3]

I have to say, I must agree with the posts stating that music on forum is very annoying. I have been on two forums with music. The first one, I asked the admin to disable. She banned me for simply asking. At the time, I was into more hard rock than anything, and all she played on her site were songs from the new hit movie, Twilight. Well, when she banned me for that, her site went completely inactive. She then begged me to come back, so I did, only to be banned again because of the same thing.

Then, I went onto another forum and when I got onto it, I didn't realize there was music, because nothing played at first. So, I left. Of course I was considering joining the site, and even advertisting my own on it. She had many members, 54 I believe, but none of them were active, and all of them that were active complained that the same songs over and over were beginning to annoy them.

The music on forum can become very annoying, and soon, you'll have no members at all. If you want to listen to music while posting, pull up your music player, or pop in a CD. It's not hard to do. That's what I do. And I really hate it when I'm listening to a song, and then I go to a site that has music. Not only does it annoy me, but interferes with the song I am listening to, and in most cases downs it out.

[TELSA !?]

There are pros and cons to this for me, and I straddle the fence.

Music on sites can be good, for some it does help their muse (Me!), but if it's on auto play that can be annoying. Everytime the page opens or you move to a new topic the music starts over and that can be annoying and most people don't like it. Also I would try to pick music that fits the genre of the role-play. If I had a song that didn't fit my genre, it wouldn't make sense for me to have it.

There seem to be more bad than good with music players, but there can be a middle ground.

[valderra99]

Dec 22, 2009 23:35:47 GMT -8 TELSA !? said:

There are pros and cons to this for me, and I straddle the fence.

Music on sites can be good, for some it does help their muse (Me!), but if it's on auto play that can be annoying. Everytime the page opens or you move to a new topic the music starts over and that can be annoying and most people don't like it. Also I would try to pick music that fits the genre of the role-play. If I had a song that didn't fit my genre, it wouldn't make sense for me to have it.

There seem to be more bad than good with music players, but there can be a middle ground.

But why add a music player in the first place? Why not leave it up to the members whether they want to hear music or not. And if it helps your muse listening to music, then all you have to do is plug in that Ipod or CD or turn on the radio to a station you like or watch MTV. I mean, there are many ways for you to be able to listen to music while you are on the forum. But there is no need to make everyone else suffer.

[greymalkin]

Count me squarely in the loathing-autoplay camp. (In fact, I've got a lovely little campfire going there and am toasting up some marshmallows). It's even worse than those damned animated avvies and sigs, which are annoying enough.

The only way I'd have one on my rp forum is if I could be sure it was coded so it didn't screw up even the most obscure browser, didn't make dial up load times ridiculously long, absolutely did not autoplay ever-ever-ever, and the members could opt which tracks to listen to. I'd load it with player-chosen character theme songs and let people listen or not as they wanted.

(Yes, Grey is a cantankerous kitty).

[Whammy]

For those of you who do use them, do you have any suggestions on one? The one that I had been using just kind of broke down ...or should I just make a list of links to all the songs instead? It's not like there are a whole lot of them, just 9 songs in total (5 character themes and 4 Opening and Ending Songs).

[FOX LOVER ?! <3]

I think a good idea would be to have a music player that only played when a member clicked a song. However, it would be silent until someone clicked a song, and of course they could request songs to be added. I went onto a site with this system, and it worked out quite well for them. Plenty of very content members.

[SearaQuoos]

I have no problem with music on a site so long as the music has something to do with the theme of the site, and it doesn't automatically begin playing as soon as I go to the site or any board/thread. If I come across a medieval fantasy thread, and they're playing Lady Gaga? I won't take a second glance. If I go to a modern site, and the moment I get there I start hearing some music playing? I'm done with it. I think that the second point of auto-playing music is just an Admin's complete disregard for any members who may have joined or may be considering joining.

Dec 31, 2009 19:41:49 GMT -8 Whammy said:

For those of you who do use them, do you have any suggestions on one? The one that I had been using just kind of broke down ...or should I just make a list of links to all the songs instead? It's not like there are a whole lot of them, just 9 songs in total (5 character themes and 4 Opening and Ending Songs).

I use myflashfetish.com. It's very easy to set up and add music to. Not as customizable as I would like, but it is completely free and very clear and easy to use.

[Whammy]

Jan 3, 2010 20:35:43 GMT -8 SearaQuoos said:

I have no problem with music on a site so long as the music has something to do with the theme of the site, and it doesn't automatically begin playing as soon as I go to the site or any board/thread. If I come across a medieval fantasy thread, and they're playing Lady Gaga? I won't take a second glance. If I go to a modern site, and the moment I get there I start hearing some music playing? I'm done with it. I think that the second point of auto-playing music is just an Admin's complete disregard for any members who may have joined or may be considering joining.

Dec 31, 2009 19:41:49 GMT -8 Whammy said:

For those of you who do use them, do you have any suggestions on one? The one that I had been using just kind of broke down ...or should I just make a list of links to all the songs instead? It's not like there are a whole lot of them, just 9 songs in total (5 character themes and 4 Opening and Ending Songs).

I use myflashfetish.com. It's very easy to set up and add music to. Not as customizable as I would like, but it is completely free and very clear and easy to use.

Sadly, that was the one I was using. I just found that they require you to use the ones with video now due to some agreement with Youtube -_-. And I didn't want to have video so I settled for just listing the links to the Youtube videos instead of a music player.

[SearaQuoos]

Jan 5, 2010 4:36:00 GMT -8 Whammy said:

Jan 3, 2010 20:35:43 GMT -8 SearaQuoos said:

I have no problem with music on a site so long as the music has something to do with the theme of the site, and it doesn't automatically begin playing as soon as I go to the site or any board/thread. If I come across a medieval fantasy thread, and they're playing Lady Gaga? I won't take a second glance. If I go to a modern site, and the moment I get there I start hearing some music playing? I'm done with it. I think that the second point of auto-playing music is just an Admin's complete disregard for any members who may have joined or may be considering joining.



I use myflashfetish.com. It's very easy to set up and add music to. Not as customizable as I would like, but it is completely free and very clear and easy to use.

Sadly, that was the one I was using. I just found that they require you to use the ones with video now due to some agreement with Youtube -_-. And I didn't want to have video so I settled for just listing the links to the Youtube videos instead of a music player.

Really? Mine's still playing without video?

EDIT: Went on to the site, you can choose mp3 playlist or video playlist.

[cuddlyinfection]

I personally like music on a forum, as long as it isn't auto-play (for previously stated reasons). I have a playlist on my Elder Scrolls rpg forum that has some music from the games themselves. The music was meant to fade into the background as you play, so I really like listening to them as I work on my forum. It isn't on autoplay and members can choose to turn it on if they want to hear it, so I really don't see any problem with it.

[blindvital]

I'de like to know is there any music players for proboards that arent insanely hard to figure out how to paste the code. If so can someone help me out? And give me some detail as where to actually paste it? I found one made by somebody but no matter where I put it,it wouldnt work. Thanks for anyones input:)

[Mercy]

Personally, I have mixed feelings about music on forums. As long as the playlist is not on autoplay though, I am perfectly fine with it. I only have a music player on one of my RP forums and that is mostly because it is a music related forum. Music helps me to write and gives my imagination a good jump start, but I know not everyone feels the same way.

I tend to put a good mixture of music on the playlist for my forum so that it will appeal to more people. And for those that it doesn't appeal to... well, that's why autoplay is off. A few years ago I went onto a forum late at night when I wasn't supposed to be on and the forum's music player started playing thanks to autoplay. After that, I started to have a bit of a dislike for music on forums. But I'm a little more open to them now, especially since I found a music player with pretty decent skins to choose from.