Too Cumbersome

[Annette R.]

I said it before I will say it again this board is too cumbesome to deal with.

I can tell by the lack of posting, others must feel the same. Dial up is still the method most quilters have to deal with, because rural areas do not have DSL / cable access. Also why waste money on fast service that takes a way from quilting. I do not have the time money or energy to try and find post of interest on this forum.

too many subject... they can all be generalized into broad categories. You do not need so many subcategories. Keep the categories as general and limited as possible and you will find people posting and reading, spending more time at this forum.......example:

Books, Patterns, newest DVDs

Multi Media Quilting / Art Quilts

Traditional Quilting

Favorite Products

Or even more limited Categories....
Quilting ...

non Quilting topics...

Guilds and Quilt Shops




Personally I like the ABOUT.COM forum set up and can view the topics and messages quickly to see what sparks my interest. I hate clicking through multiple links to get to what I want.



Another suggestion is change the default size of font..... I can barely read what I am typing.

I do not see this a popular forum unless you make it more user friendly. you are trying to do something new and different. I know you are great people and great quilters but if your forum is hard for the average person to use they will not come here to post.

[Annette R.]

LadyRags, I couldn't agree with you more! There are too many subjects and subcategories complicating this site. It's a proven fact that people don't want to spend a lot of time hunting for what they're looking for. Recent posts and threads should be at the top of the page. And no matter how organized this board is, many threads go so off-topic that you can't find that discussion again if you tried. Not to mention that the chats are almost never occupied.

Help us, Quilt Show Staffers! I was so excited when this site started out because of the potential and the professional efforts being put into it, but now I barely stay five minutes. Frankly, I leave disappointed and go visit other, more lively boards. I just checked, and I'm the only one here out of nearly 20,000 members - it's too quiet in here!

I wonder how long others are staying?

[Annette R.]

I check in several times during the day since I am retired. Very seldom do I see anyone in the chat rooms but myself. I also check to see who is on line and there is very few or none. I have contributed it to the fact that spring fever may have a lot of members out--traveling, gardening, etc. I have posted some but it appears no one ever responds to my posts. Maybe I am of simple mind and not very interesting, Oh well, life goes on and I will too. Ruby

[Annette R.]

Gamby, I don't think you are simple minded or not intresting. Give me a time and a place and I will chate with you. I took a week off Chatting because I had company visiting. When I got back into the swing of things, I didn't find anyone in the chat rooms. Maybe people do a have a little Spring fever and are out an about.

Lorelei

[Annette R.]

While I don't find the MB cumbersome, I can see both sides of the issue.
Fons and Porter also have a MB which started in Oct of 06 I believe. They have about 21,000 in membership. It was slow going at first. They also have had to tweak the MB periodically. Not everyone participates. If you look only about 500 or so are active.
As with any MB there are people who are 'lurkers' and people who are talkers. Another thought is there are many private boards and other options where people hang out.
As for the issue of too many topics...it has advantages and disadvantages. First, if you are interested in one specific topic it is nice option just to go to that topic and not have to read thousands of messages or ask a question that may have already been answered a hundred times before.
The disadvantage: it makes the forum impersonal for many. It seems to discourage chit chat among people. As in any conversation, one statement can lead to a whole other discussion. Then the conversation becomes an 'off topic' one and then needs to moved to another section. This has happened on the Fons and Porter board several times.
Unfortunately, all things are not equal with computers and delivery options. I don't think there is an easy answer for that issue.

FW

[Teri L.]

The first year of any new adventure is difficult. It takes time to develop chat rooms, message boards and the rhythm and life of the whole site. You're right about one thing, we do need to let the web folks know what our needs are in terms of the forums & chat rooms. Perhaps there are too many categories for the forums and they need to be pared down. Okay that's fine, so here's my suggestion for anyone who chooses to do so, go through all of the categories and think about each one and how it can be pared down. Put your ideas down on a proposal and send them into the web masters and cc Alex & Ricky so they know what you're thinking as well.

On a related note I would like to post more but I've had a very busy and difficult year from illness and death in the family to needing to get some work done (I quilt and am working on my own business). I've been a very active member of another board for years and if I've posted twice in a week lately that's been a lot. I've had someone take over a particular posting for me because of the fullness of this year. I would also like to chat more, but again, right now, time is an issue for me due to my commitments.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this community develops over time and getting to know all of the wonderful quilters across the world.

Happy quilting,

Teri

[Teri L.]

This was my first quilting forum and I have joined a couple more since this one. I find the different forums seem to have different "personalities".
This one seems more structured and formal. I like it. I also like the ones that are more informal and chatty. There seems to be good info and helpful folks on all of them. I've also found, in my limited experience, that a few people on each forum do most of the posting. For me, the chat rooms are an interesting entertainment add-on. Fun when I'm in the mood. I'm sure the personality of this forum will evolve as time goes on. All this stuff is pretty new to me so I'm looking forward to seeing how everything pans out. I know I like it alot!
Sherry

[Teri L.]

I know that it is difficult to get used to a new format but this forum is actually quite user friendly.

When you first open the forum if you look on the upper right hand corner there is a choice of New Posts Since Last Visit. If you click on that it will bring up each new post listed, most recent first. If more than one person posted to a specific topic I think it will list each post. If you then click on the note paper next to the person's name on the far right, instead of the topic itself it will take you to that last post and you can scroll backwards if you want to older posts on the same topic.

So you have the option of looking at only the newest posts this way, or searching for a specific topic if you want to look something up you remembered reading about 3 weeks ago.

Hope this helps your navigating problems. :-) )

[Lynn K.]

I have said all of what you said several months ago and thanks for stating it once again. I also find this format quite user friendly once you learn the little tricks as you said.

So those of you who find it cumbersome, try these tricks. You can check for new posts in just a minute or two. Hope this helps!!

Lynn-Houston

[Lynn K.]

You all do realize that you can simply click on "view new posts since last visit" and not have to hunt for them?

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[Lynn K.]

I think we all go through different patterns in using the site. I love everything it has to offer, and sign on several times every day. But the two weeks of the month that I work 50 to 60 hours, I don't participate in chatting or posting as much. I think that Spring time is another reason for sure that everything seems slower. We are not avid garderners, but we do spend a lot of time outside during May each year getting the yard and flower beds ready for the summer.

Life happens in so many ways to each one of us, but it is a wonderful thing to have this place to come and share and experience this new adventure. As for myself, I don't find the message boards difficult to navigate at all.

[Lynn K.]

Yes, the "View New Posts Since Last Visit" is the Major MAJOR time saver of the whole site! I use it every visit!

[Lynn K.]

Yes, the "View New Posts Since Last Visit" is the Major MAJOR time saver of the whole site! I use it every visit!

That's exactly what I do. It saves time and gives me current postings. If I have a new post to put out there, then I go back to perusing the topics to see where it would best fit. Other than that, I always use "View New Posts Since Last Visit" when I check out the forum.

[Diane O.]

The other way to see new posts is to look on the main forum page, any topic with a new post, has their little icon as orange instead of white. That shows you which categories, and which topics in a category have new posts in them, so you don't have to open each one.

Also, each one lists what day, time and the posters name of the last post, so you can check that date to see which ones have something after the last time you visited, if you can remember the date anyway.

I like the way this forum is set up, and I prefer it over some of the other message boards I have dealt with.

Diane

[Diane O.]

Personally, I'm aware of all the tips and shortcuts, and I DO use them. I know I can hit "last viewed" and then scroll down to that topic. I know many of you are fine with the way things are - and that's okay! I also that know clicking on two, three, or four links to get to where you want to go is not strenuous, nor is it all that time consuming, but I myself would prefer to see the current topics at the top of the first page. It's just my preference, and since the subject was opened for discussion, I threw in my two-cents worth.

As with many things in this age of technology, there are a host of hints and tricks to help make things easier than they are. I just think it would be nice to keep it simple in the first place and not have to create an array of 'fixes' and shortcuts (which aren't really shortcuts at all). Again, this is just my humble opinion.