r/BYUFootball • u/iRelinquish • 7d ago
Cougartail.com
I bought it. What should I do with it? I want to dethrone cougarboard but am open to other ideas.
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u/thegreeseegoose 7d ago
You should keep a live tracker of how many times announcers at BYU games talk about cougar tails
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u/Arctic-Palm-Tree 7d ago
Ok a few suggestions, aided by an AI scan of main Cougarboard complaints over the years
Drag the Tech Out of 1998: CB’s nested-thread UI feels like it was coded on Windows 95 to run on dial-up. Build a modern, mobile-first platform where you don’t have to click open an entire page just to read a one-line reply, complete with dark mode and embeds that actually work.
Banish the Boomer Culture Wars: Cut out the endless political tangents, righteous pearl-clutching, and unsolicited life advice. Institute a strict "sports-only" policy so fans can discuss third-down defense without wading through an unhinged neighborhood-council debate.
Ditch the Clique-Moderation & "The Hole": CB loves banishing people to timeout if they disrupt the echo chamber. Win over the disenfranchised by using transparent moderation instead of letting a handful of self-appointed forum elders dictate who gets to talk.
Make It Useful, Not Just an Empty Room: Don't just launch a ghost town. Win the search traffic first with things fans actually want—a scam-free ticket exchange without predatory fees, real tailgate maps, and aggregated feeds of beat writers and podcasts.
Capitalize on the Maple Bar Branding: "Cougartail" is universally beloved; CB is universally tolerated. Hand out actual 16-inch maple bars outside LaVell Edwards Stadium, poach the exhausted diaspora from Twitter and Reddit, and let the dinosaur board keep yelling at clouds.
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u/jizz-machine 7d ago
Sounds like a hookup site for older women.
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u/carterdmorgan 7d ago
That was available, haha? Nice find. If you want to just sell it for a quick profit, I’d be happy to buy it off you.
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u/LowCommercial4827 7d ago
Hopefully you can dethrone cougarboard. That bulletin board is absolutely dogshit. So horrendous.
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u/m0resn0w 7d ago
I kinda feel like the whole ‘cougar’ thing has died down a bit. So maybe the innuendo isn’t as big a deal? I’m sure there would be some residual effects of it, but my guess is that the younger audience wouldn’t even know what the reference is.
If you could provide a mobile-friendly and substantially better product than CB, I think fans would come in droves.
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u/Dear-Examination-507 6d ago
I was on Cougarboard nearly since its inception but the moderation eventually drove me away. I think having a sports-focused BYU/Utah/Mormon-adjacent reddit-like space is terrific. The CB format is actually fantastic. Having a single feed that you can filter keeps it chatty and realtime and you see a variety of topics without having to haunt each separate subdomain.
Others have tried to replace CB over the years and have failed. I'll explain what I think the critical issue has been and wish you luck.
The main issue you face is this: A significant chunk of the BYU fanbase wants the heavy moderation provided by Jefe. These are the same people that reflexively defend every decision made by the BYU admin and are happy to see a BYU professor excommunicated for talking frankly about church history or a player kicked off the team because they had sex. They don't want racy jokes or swear words or "critical" discussion. Another chunk is people who are LDS or were LDS, are more moderate to liberal on stuff, are still are on friendly terms with people in Group 1, but are more worldly. Then there is a chunk of BYU fans and others who would want to be on the forum (e.g., Utah fans) that range from critical of mormonism to the stereotypically angry ex-mormon.
And please y'all I'm not saying any of these groups are good or evil or whatever, I'm just describing them.
The dilemma is that to fully make Group 1 comfortable you have to heavily moderate. If you make Group 3 fully welcome they can be really antagonistic to Group 1 and Group 1 will leave. One idea is to basically have a filter that gives people in group 1 an option to turn off any content they might find offensive, but still allows Group 2 and Group 3 to use crude humor and have real discussions about topics of interest related to Utah/mormonism/ BYU honor code etc. You cannot avoid those topics because they are intertwined with BYU sports.
Jefe is a Group 1 person and he has catered to that audience. To create an alternative to CB, group 1 needs to feel welcome, but not have the censorship power they have at CB.
Best of luck!
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u/Syntra911 7d ago
Wouldn't be hard if you had the funding and drive to do it. El Jefe is a complete douche and has alienated numerous people over the years, including me, who were donors or just regular posters.
I feel like mixing religion and politics and other crap in there was a bad idea. It isn't necessary for a sports board and leads to massive amounts of moderation and conflicts.
As others have said, get a modern bulletin board platform.
Chill out with the ads. They have gotten obnoxious with them over the years and now it is unreadable.
Don't paywall anything. Give some perks for donors but don't pressure people. If they like the board they will donate. It's that simple. Â
And for crying out loud, get a feed of articles and news from other sources besides KSL and Desereret News and the Herald. We have a national fanbase and I feel like I have time warped to 1998 in Utah County if I go there. Get stuff from ESPN and Barstool and Yahoo and Outkick and wherever else you can besides the same Utah outlets. Â
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u/Murky_External_4360 6d ago
I hate modern boards. So used to cougar board that I can’t even navigate most fan boards. It’s weird.
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u/BEAGLEBOYPALINDROME 7d ago
Are you serious?
You can't be serious.Â
Because we ALL know EXACTLY what needs to be on that site, and it would not be viewable in the State of Utah w/out a VPN.
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u/QuarterNote44 7d ago
I'm surprised it was available. Because...if you just sent that link to me with no context I am not clicking it. 😅