cries for help lost in the social hubbub (1 Viewer)

Sep 10, 2012
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Hi @Jim,
Could you give some consideration to splitting the 'recent' tab into 2 distinct separate tabs.
one for the social threads on the site 'chat' 'u lounge' 'introductions' etc.
one for all the other threads in the forum.

there are so many members now posting to the forum (which i think is great) that questions that might not be of general interest quickly disappear off the first 5 pages of 'recent' never to be seen again.

the site is such a great source of information that is given by knowledgeable people that its a pity those who might have the answer never get to see the question if they are not active on the site every day.
 

magicsurfbus

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Surely if someone is keen to answer technical questions they can put a bookmark link in their browser to that specific thread? Likewise somebody seeking solutions.

Personally speaking I've bookmarked the 'Recent' page as my landing page for this site. I'm not sure I'd want to have to choose between 'social' and technical topics. Life's rich tapestry and all that.
 
Feb 16, 2013
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Considering the amount of old threads that keep reappearing, some from years ago, it must be easy enough to find them, something that's not occurred to me before, if you want to know something, just ask , I am sure you will soon be pointed in the right direction (y)

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Feb 27, 2011
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Surely if someone is keen to answer technical questions they can put a bookmark link in their browser to that specific thread? Likewise somebody seeking solutions.

Personally speaking I've bookmarked the 'Recent' page as my landing page for this site. I'm not sure I'd want to have to choose between 'social' and technical topics. Life's rich tapestry and all that.

I agree. My shortcut is to the find new posts. It would be a bit of a pain to have to do one then the other...
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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Let me deal with these 1st 2 comments in reverse.

I use the search function all the time and its a great facility but sometimes the answers you want are just not there. So you start a new thread thats obviously a bit obscure or not quite covered by the search answers. Not many people may know the answer and those people may not be on the forum today so by the time they next log on the thread/question has dropped off the recent pages where i am sure most people look.
(its a pity a few more people dont know there is a search function and then we would not have a grey water thread every few days).

I like to see whats going on across the forum and some of the social stuff is quite interesting but its in danger of overwhelming what this site is really good for (imho) and thats helping people out with their motorhome (and sometimes personal) problems. This is not just about technical threads but helping out in all sorts of other ways with sites, routes, recommendations etc. As said above the person with the knowledge may not be online today or tomorrow by which time the question has gone.

just my thoughts which i dont expect anybody/everybody to share
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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I knew i had seen something like this before from the man himself @Jim
(Search can work but u might have to try a few variations of the search terms - i found this eventually)

"The number of posts made on the forum always increases in March, April and May. Problem is we are really busy already. Right now, such is the number of new threads and posts made, that at busy times you can start a new thread and it can be off the front page in just 30 minutes

The way that many people use the forum, once it's off the front page, the chances of it being seen diminish considerably. To go someway to rectify this I will be merging more off topic threads that have similar content, such as jokes, the immigration debate, the EU in and out debate etc. I don't want to diminish the off topic debates, on the contrary, I enjoy them. Its just better if the debates that are popular and generate a lot of posts remain in a few threads rather than a lot of separate ones. Thanks (y)"

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hilldweller

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I knew i had seen something like this before from the man himself @Jim

Probably followed quite quickly by "bollox I give up, it's like herding cats". This place will not be controlled. Indeed look at the posts already, it actively attacks any attempt at control as you may well have noticed in the past.
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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And prove a point just 4 hr have passed and this had already fallen off the first page.
(until i posted this - bumping posts to keep them at the top of the list is not good web site etiquette)
 

CWH

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@berni109 I agree with the sentiment, not sure how it can be achieved though.
Fortunately, somehow all of my "urgent help required" threads have been answered in a matter of a few minutes, but I can see how they could so easily have been lost - in which case, so would I have been lost, too!
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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25 threads of the 45 on the front page now are what i would consider to be social so thats over 50% longer than currently.
how representative that is i've no idea.
 

Debs

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25 threads of the 45 on the front page now are what i would consider to be social so thats over 50% longer than currently.
how representative that is i've no idea.
You could choose to set the U shaped lounge section to 'ignore' if you wanted to.

Not sure if you could then go & look it up as and when you felt like it though.

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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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yes @Debs i could but as i said before i like looking through the social stuff sometimes there is something thats worth joining in with. i am not suggesting excluding anything just moving the recent social comment to another heading or leaving it under 'recent' and having another head for the rest.
its not just u lounge but several of the forum headings which are full of social items that then means having to go in all of them separately which i could not be bothered to do.
 

jumartoo

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I have the U Shaped Lounge excluded from Recent posts. I just go on there to read the morning thread and anything else I want. It's easy to do.
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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@jumartoo yes i know its easy to do but its not just 'U lounge' there are several more that could easily be grouped under social. So theres an easy way to see all of the social and all of the other stuff without having to go in and make specific exclusions and then remember that it might be worth a look when u remember.

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CWH

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Would it not be easier to have a new forum called "Help needed", & put it at the top of the forum list? Reserved for genuine requests for actual help? Daft answers ('banter') banned?
 
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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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How its implemented (even if its implemented) is down to @Jim and how the structure of the site would support it. I dont know how the database is structured and fortunately left all that behind a long time ago.
I really dont see a problem with keeping all of the forum threads and to post in what is most appropriate so that if someone is posting about american rvs thats where it goes and most people will choose to ignore it unless they have an interest and it keeps all the stuff about american rvs in one place. Similarly if there is a rally thread that runs to 10 or 15 pages is anybody going to read it unless that are going or thinking about it but u know where it is if u need it.

i find some of the banter on here quite funny but then the rest of it i find puerile. its all in the eye of the beholder but i am not suggesting any restraint be put on anybody posting what they like - theres alway coventry for those that overstep the mark.
 
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Jim

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If someone can point me to cries of help that have gone unheeded then I will certainly look at doing something about it. Waiting for that....

Meanwhile; If you don't like something we make it very easy to ignore a thread, or even a whole forum or a whole person :D

And, for those of you want the peurile seperated from the recent "on-Topic" posts then bookmark Link Removed SORTED (y)

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Debs

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I have the U Shaped Lounge excluded from Recent posts. I just go on there to read the morning thread and anything else I want. It's easy to do.
I wonder if that's why you don't get alerts sometimes Judith? (Sorry, a bit off topic:whistle:)
 

irnbru

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Not many people may know the answer and those people may not be on the forum today so by the time they next log on the thread/question has dropped off the recent pages
This is not so. When the person logs in they see the post as "New" to them unless they have already read it.
 
Sep 23, 2013
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And, for those of you want the peurile seperated from the recent "on-Topic" posts then bookmark Link Removed SORTED (y)
Now that's a useful link.

Does it appear on the menu somewhere? I couldn't find it.

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movan

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Let me deal with these 1st 2 comments in reverse.

I use the search function all the time and its a great facility but sometimes the answers you want are just not there. So you start a new thread thats obviously a bit obscure or not quite covered by the search answers. Not many people may know the answer and those people may not be on the forum today so by the time they next log on the thread/question has dropped off the recent pages where i am sure most people look.
(its a pity a few more people dont know there is a search function and then we would not have a grey water thread every few days).

I like to see whats going on across the forum and some of the social stuff is quite interesting but its in danger of overwhelming what this site is really good for (imho) and thats helping people out with their motorhome (and sometimes personal) problems. This is not just about technical threads but helping out in all sorts of other ways with sites, routes, recommendations etc. As said above the person with the knowledge may not be online today or tomorrow by which time the question has gone.

just my thoughts which i dont expect anybody/everybody to share

You may find it easier going into FORUMS then rather than new or recent. Then just click on Tecnical stuff or whatever as once you click on that forum .. the different thread titles will come up. Crumbs .. hope you understood that .. I'm a bit tired and confused at hhe moment.
 

movan

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I wonder if that's why you don't get alerts sometimes Judith? (Sorry, a bit off topic:whistle:)
I got an alert this morning dating back to tell me someone posted on a watched thread ..it was weeks ago. Not bothered ..just saying like ... x ...

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berni109
Sep 10, 2012
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Been away off the net over the W/e so to answer @Jim comments from last week.

'If someone can point me to cries of help that have gone unheeded then I will certainly look at doing something about it. Waiting for that....'
How would we know since once its off the end of recent there is no way to know it existed without an answer is there?
I posted originally with the idea for consideration because a touring question i asked after extensive searches about a specific area got very few responses and i thought that there would be a few more that knew the answer and would be prepared to share that information with the general forum had they spotted the question before it 'fell off' recent.

'Meanwhile; If you don't like something we make it very easy to ignore a thread, or even a whole forum or a whole person :D
And, for those of you want the peurile seperated from the recent "on-Topic" posts then bookmark Link RemovedSORTED (y)'
Its not that i don't want to see specific things or posts from particular individuals. There are all sorts of gems scattered across the forum in all sorts of unexpected places. Just a suggestion imho of sorting the wheat from the chaff so the touchy feely stuff does not overwhelm questions that could really help members with an answer.
 

makems

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I never use Recent. I always use New Posts. This way I dont miss anything that has been posted to threads since I last looked. It means O usually only have a couple of pages of threads to look through unless I havent been on for a couple of hours :rolleyes:
 

Langtoftlad

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@berni109
The trouble is that your ideal method of sorting threads might not be so ideal for someone else. Everyone has a different way of using a forum, and every forum has a different structure.
@Jim is open to ideas but as yet I think you're suggesting a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

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