Thread: MEMBERS DECLINING

I have found it very interesting that so many people have made comments on what I thought was a simple post regarding the ability to have real time chats between members - which may have been one-on-one chat as Face Book has or chat rooms as Face Book also has.

Thank you for your responses to my thread irrespective of whether you supported or opposed my suggestion. Having read every post I now agree that a general chat room is not a good thing for this forum. A one-on-one chat is a different matter but I really don't want to stir up another hornet's nest. Ultimately, I can understand Neal's reasoning and it was good he has taken the time to respond to ideas rather than ignore them, particularly given he is the one paying the money to run this place.

At least I have discovered that my perception of the declining membership on the Forum was not correct in fact and that it may just be members are taking the easy way out of just reading a post and not commenting. Certainly, a lot have taken the opportunity to comment on this thread. Maybe it will stimulate members to make more comments in their sub-forums.

As an aside, I would hate to see the introduction of a simple tab you could click to disagree with or dislike someone's thread or post. That just lets the nutters run through the forum to upset people. If you can't offer constructive comment, then as BobL said; say nothing. We are here after all to help each other. I have learnt so much about pen turning from members on here it is not funny. So many have assisted me since I joined and members I have personally met have become good friends outside the Forum.

This really is much better than Face Book (although I would like Zuckerberg's money). Just occurred to me what happens if you substitute one letter at the beginning of his name.

Enough from me - I will get back to my sub-forum. See you there. Up to Neal when he closes this thread down.

Greg

I read, understood and responded to this thread. TIC


Willy

Almost forgot - comments regarding the English language

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else" - Charles Dickens - circa 1800s - true Victorian English

Originally Posted by Evanism

How about this: a button for on or off topic....off topic posts are coloured a light grey whereas on topic posts are normalised or highlighted?

What? Off topic discrimination. If digressions were discriminated against it would neuter 95% of my posts .

I'll have to think about that.

Regards
Paul

Off topic and many many other smilies, with or without signs can be found by clicking on [More] beneath the smiles when posting a reply.

etc, etc, etc.

But there is no simple thumbs down, that is what what I was looking for when I used I my earlier Post.
Regards

These type of threads make me laugh....

If someone posts a genuine fantastic project, idea or new tool, the thread might get a dozen replies from the regular members. But as soon as a thread like this comes along, all the some times posters come out of the woodwork, haha, with an opinion.

I like the forum as it looks and as it works, i often browse it on my phone without problems. I use the full site and have never tried tapatalk.
I have noticed the lack of projects on the section of forum i frequent. There is still good discussion but seeing what other people are doing is always interesting.

Cheers,
Ew

Simple thumbs up: Use the one at the bottom of text box when replying to thread will show as above in title

or

Make it as simple as hitting the like button below: likes.png that's it other than going into the smilies page and adding more thumbs up etc.

There is only so much that can be done in the programming of these pages without stuffing up all sorts of other things and having to find and reload them all again, and again after each and every upgrade or security fix, etc.

Cheers - Neil

PS there is also the icon13.png that can be added to title.

Using only an icon for negative type feedback, e.g. "thumbs down," is generally not that helpful.

Just in case a member takes offence I think any sort of negative feedback (and perhaps I provide more than my fair share) should be accompanied by some sort of explanation.

When I remember I also try to start off every post that may be construed as containing negative feedback with something positive, e.g. "go on you for having a go" or "pretty good for a first effort" etc and then get into the problems and issues.

Positive feedback even via a "like" or a "thumbs up" type icon is universally understood, so although an accompanying explanation is more useful no offence will be taken if none is provided.

Originally Posted by Ueee

These type of threads make me laugh....

If someone posts a genuine fantastic project, idea or new tool, the thread might get a dozen replies from the regular members. But as soon as a thread like this comes along, all the some times posters come out of the woodwork, haha, with an opinion.

I like the forum as it looks and as it works, i often browse it on my phone without problems. I use the full site and have never tried tapatalk.
I have noticed the lack of projects on the section of forum i frequent. There is still good discussion but seeing what other people are doing is always interesting.

Cheers,
Ew

Hi Ewan, bit puzzled by your "all the some times posters come out of the woodwork, haha, with an opinion". Just went to the trouble to see who replied to this, very enlightening, thread and most of the respondents are fairly frequent posters, some could be classed as very frequent posters. In fact quite a number of respondents have more posts to their name than you have. I could only find 2 posters with a low post count and they are new members, which does not make their opinions any less valid.

There have been some good suggestions come out of this discussion and I would hate to see people being discouraged from contributing because they are "some times posters". We don't need to be frequent posters to experience the forum and form an opinion on how it could be improved.

Maybe you see some names here that you are not familiar with because you tend to frequent the Metalwork Forum?

I do however agree with you on how the forum works on mobile devices. I often look at, and post on, the forum on my Android tablet and have never seen the need for Tapatalk. I use standard version of Firefox and the forum works fine like that and when I post I don't need to announce to the world that I own an iXYZ and I advertise Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Hi Ewan, bit puzzled by your "all the some times posters come out of the woodwork, haha, with an opinion". Just went to the trouble to see who replied to this, very enlightening, thread and most of the respondents are fairly frequent posters, some could be classed as very frequent posters. In fact quite a number of respondents have more posts to their name than you have. I could only find 2 posters with a low post count and they are new members, which does not make their opinions any less valid.

Hi Fred,
I almost edited the post, i was going to add "this is just an observation, something i have noticed over the time i have been an active member." or something to that effect. Anyway, i thought i made it clear that it was just not this thread, like i said it always makes me chuckle how the running of the forum and the politics of the forum seems to interest far more members than the content itself sometimes......
There is a thread in the Metalworking section that is a perfect example of this, but really i don't think its of any benefit for me to add a link.

Ew

Originally Posted by Ueee

. . . . . how the running of the forum and the politics of the forum seems to interest far more members than the content itself sometimes......

I think this is quite normal and would be surprised if it were not this way. Those of us that have been here for a while or have significant expertise forget that some of the content is very specialised and either of no interest to many members, or newbies find it too challenging to be come involved. But anyone can have a comment on the way a website looks or works.

Originally Posted by delbs

When i first started using this forum i accessed it via my laptop or website via ipad and it was fine. No problems at all full functionality and no issues browsing to the auction/market place.

Since i started using tapatalk (im no way implying this is Woodworkforums.com fault) it has taken my browsing experience to a below average rating. I cant view the Auction/market place and little quirks about browsing around just simply annoy me. The mobile version of the website doesn't work for me either. I just don't like it to put it bluntly.

I know that change is good and it needs to happen to add more functionality and better accessibility but i just like the original interface and since i dont use it on my phone i simply need to get off my backside and get on my laptop to continue posting properly

Cheers,
Delbs

I agree. I understand that change is good, and without it we stagnate. I do like the new auction site...somewhat. However I hate that I can't access it via tapatalk. I don't get to a desktop much and I don't find the mobile option very usable for me.

But bottom line is that this is a free forum. If we don't like it and the way that Neil has designed it, use another site.

Just thinking, I've never thought about how much this site costs to run. Maybe an idea would be to go head on into developing the mobile area and integrating small ads to the bottom of each screen? More of us are using mobile devices over desktops. (But can u please make the auction site more mobile friendly?!!

Meant to add my bit about Facebook. I like Facebook, but comparing it to a forum is like chalk and cheese. This site is for sharing ideas and information, Facebook is for keeping in touch with people. I wouldn't use a chat feature even if it were introduced.

On the subject of the OP, i seem to notice less activity on the weekends, is it just me or not?

Ew