Where do I go!!!

[Stormy]

I came across this new forum whilst visiting Bob's web directory. I had a look and thought "this looks good" and duly registered.
Unfortunately I now find the whole forum confusing to say the least. Where the hell do you go to find out who's been saying what about whatever? There are too many different sections which each have God knows how many articles and half an hour later you are able to find something of interest. Any replies could be relevant to many other main topics and I can see an obvious duplication of the same subject in several different areas! I do not wish to type out the same reply 3, 4 or even 5 times!
I'm sorry Bob, but the site is 1st class unfortunately not the forum. Far too complicated. Keep it simple.
I suppose there are those who will not click on beertent and will therefore never see this message. I'm not typing it out another 10 times!!!! :confused:

[Bob]

Oh No ......

I am sorry the 'organization' is so confusing.. (and I can understand how that happens) I wanted to avoid a single massive forum, where topics merged together, and threads wondered, where we had to wade through personally uninteresting stuff searhing for the topic of interest.

I spent a fair time studying other piping related forums, looking at discussions, and thinking about how they could be seperated.. and from that I came up with the confusing thing you see.. It seemed to me that all other piping related discussions could be split into these topics.. There may be overlap, (always a problem with separation), but there should be nothing left out.. (I hope)

The organization has a few goals..

1) easy separation by general topic - shown by the forum title.. if you're interested in .. Piobaireachd as an example.. all related posts should be there.. In time I hope we can check in, and just check out the new stuff in forums of interest... If you don't care about beginners, teenagers, competition.. etc.. you won't have to wade through those posts..

2) easy / lighter load for the moderators - they each have a piece of the total of messages - their 'task' should be manageable .. and they can be involved in topics / subject of interest.. and ignore others if time or interest does not allow. I am so pleased to have the support we have from the moderators; efficient use of their time is a really big issue and concern.

3) user friendly.. perhap I am failing there.. but I really think that over time, and with some experience, this style will be easy to use, and much clearer..

This is just a first attempt at separation by topic - I don't want too many topics, and you might be amazed, but I have had many additional forums suggested..

If, over time (not too much time) we see a need to merge topics, or a clear need to add, that will be done.

Now - if you just want to see the recent posts, regardless of forum / thread.... there is a "today's active topic" link near the top right of the main page.. from this you get a complete list, regardless of forum, of all the day's most recent posts.. Perhaps that is a good place to start, because it will show all the days posts.

Please bear with us Stormy.. we're trying to do this well...

Bob

[ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: Bob ]

[Stormy]

Thanks for the reply Bob. I'll stick with it and hope I eventually get to grips with modern day technology. Long live pen and paper!! :confused:

[Susan Yamamoto]

Hi Stormy,

Definitely stick with it! I belong to another forum similar to this one. It takes some getting used to. As you become more familiar with things, you'll know instinctively where to look for info.

Since Bob's forum is new, there will probably be some things he has to adjust here and there. But so far, I really like what I see and am looking forward to learning a whole lot!

:D

Susan

[Rodney Chisholm]

Bob and Stormy,

I guess we can all be assured that there is no way to please everyone as our tastes are so varied. I understand Stormy's comments and the ease of reading the RMMB is excellent, but in my case I get bored with wading through the junk to get to something I like.

I like this format as I get to pick and choose from categories that interest me at the moment.

Bob, I commend you and all your friends for putting this together.

Incidentally, how did your girls get involved with piping? Did you have to "encourage" them or did they beg to play? I ask this because I have three daughters and would love for at least one of them to play. I try never to push them into things just because dear old dad has a particualr passion, but encourage their interests that I value.

Rodney

[Daniel MacDougall]

Bob,

I am a Web Programmer by day and an aspiring (read beginner) piper by night. I have developed and implemented many discussion forums and have to say that you set this one up right on target!

The way you separated topics is the only way the forum could be successful. This may be the first foray some of the members have had in an online discussion forum. Rest assured if they stick with it a bit they will soon appreciate the fruits of your labor and organization.

Great job! It's about time the piping community had such a wonderful forum.

- Daniel

[Bob]

Originally posted by Rodney Chisholm:
Incidentally, how did your girls get involved with piping? Did you have to "encourage" them or did they beg to play? I ask this because I have three daughters and would love for at least one of them to play. I try never to push them into things just because dear old dad has a particualr passion, but encourage their interests that I value.

Rodney

Hi Rodney,

I'm going to create a new thread in the Beginners + forum to answer this.. This has the potential to be a classic case of thread drift.. and I think the answer - although mine will be very short.. is worthy of a new thread, new discussion, in a different forum..

BTW - I am not suggesting I have any problem with your posing the quesion in this manner / this forum.. it is just that we have a number of forums, and I'm hoping we can (?) use them to corral subjects / topic..

Cheers,
Bob

[Jim Sloan]

Bob,
Thanks for a great effort and forum!
I to miss the ease of using RMMB and it is my favorite format for a forum.
I will not miss other aspects.
This format does get easier to navigate every day.

Many Thanks,

Jim

[Mitch Man]

Agreed Jim, I was a little confused too about
the layout, but now I have my favoutite rooms
I check out first, then I move onto the others.

Can you guess the first room I check out? :D

cheers

John

[Stormy]

To all concerned (especially Bob),
I still think some topics are duplicated and find this frustrating. I have however got the hang of the layout and am enjoying the forum quite a lot.
Credit where it's due - well done Bob!

[Neil Dickie]

Stormy et al:

When you come across a duped topic or a cross post which appears in 2 or more forums (actually the plural us fora isn't it?), please bring it to the attention of the moderator/s.

You can do this via email, forum posting or private message within the forum (see bottom of opening page for this). Once it comes to our attention, we'll cross-pollinate the post(!) or delete one and refer all references to that topic to the active forum.

Neil D

[Stormy]

"Countersunk practice chanters - who"

If I wished to make any comment on the above subject could someone advise me whether to make it under - Expert, Adult or Beginners and Intermediate!!!!!

Could the moderators do the best they can to stop the duplication. :(

[Bob]

Originally posted by Stormy:
"Countersunk practice chanters - who"

If I wished to make any comment on the above subject could someone advise me whether to make it under - Expert, Adult or Beginners and Intermediate!!!!!

Could the moderators do the best they can to stop the duplication. :(

Another "Oh No!"

Thanks for pointing this problem out Stormy - I have closed and moved the duplicate threads - My thought is the topic fits best in the Beginner & Intermediate forum. This, like many subject areas, could reasonably be discussed in a number of forums, but I think it will be best for all of us if subejcts / posts on a topic are limited to a 'best fit' forum.

I will send Matt a note to that effect too..

And I'll post an announcement too..

Bob

[Hugh Elder]

Stormey., and Co.
I think Bob has done an exceptional job on this fourm, you should see some of them Ive ran across you would be pleased with this one.

Keep it up Bob.