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on the verge of another purge, i would like to bring this up again ... can we please have a special forum for how-tos and product reviews in which the threads deemed to be worth saving can have a home. seems like many posters spend a lot of time and effort on these two angles bringing this type of info to other forum members, only to have their hard work garbage canned after 6 months.
seemed like the recent forum maintenance would have been as good a time as any to address this issue. perhaps the elimination of a few forums that dont see much usage could make room for a permanent post hosting. |
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Once again, I wholeheartedly agree and I know it can be done.
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Not throwing stuff away is how DejaNews got big, and made billions. For Ebay and Google Groups, that is, after DejaNews sold off and shut down in financial distress... but still, you get the idea: stuff saved forever is worth way more than stuff chucked in the bin every Spring Cleaning!
 Seriously, I know the site must be expensive to maintain. But there must be a better way to make this work. We all come here instead of using Yahoo Groups or Google Groups, because OGR has done such an excellent job of building and maintaining a friendly, easy-to-use community completely free from unrelated advertising. A lot of us save our copies of the paper mag forever. It'd just be nice if there was a way to save our electronic "contributions" longer than 6 months. |
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......Count me in for this. We love the forum however there HAS to be a way to do this. "And the sons of pullman porters,and the sons of engineers,ride their fathers magic carpet made of steel" |
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I agree we do need a forum for how to's. You could even combine it with a repair forum.
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Same here. Those how to posts' are treasures that need to be kept!
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MCRR, et al. Some of the "how-to's" are being saved on the http://token3rail.blogspot.com site located under the "signature" of several of the Forumites who post here. It is an attempt to save some of the important projects that some of us want to permanently share with others. So far, so good. As I see it, since OGR doesn't have the capacity, a few of us will try this approach. You need to SAVE interesting articles in a "word" program or lose it after 6 months. OGR cannot retrieve data after this time period. Good luck,
Dave G. |
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This is after reading the post in 3rail on soldering. It was absoltley priceless.
WOW thank you from a novice solderer. Rich, Maybe we need to start a how to list on the server some where. Something like soldering, cutting track, Jocko D's ElectricRR Upgrade, the scratch built Turntable etc. These things will get buried and eventually disappear after 6-8 months and they are invaluable to those of us who read model RR construction for Klutzes. I will also post this in the suggestion section. Thansk to all of you this simple lesson will save me enormous headaches in the future. That Train she's a special streamline ya know, and she's fast. That trains so fast, the hobo's don't mess with that train. They just stand by the track with their hat in their hand. -- Tom Rush, The Panama Limited |
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thanks mike! that post was invaluable to me as well. i cant for the life of me figure out why some changes cant be made both in the structure and format of the forum. we have all visited many similar sites, and ALL OF THEM offer features such as the ability to save valuable posts or set the number of posts that can be viewed at one time (menu option on the bottom). a few of us have contacted infopop directly about what the options are with the kind of software they are using, and they have told me that indeed such options are available they just need to be 'turned on' by the webmaster.
we all appreciate the forum and ogrr, but to go from 12, to 9 to 6 month lifespans for posts in two years seems strange as does the unwillingness to tweak the forum's setup to be more user friendly. this already fun and informative forum could be so much more! and no shame meant to my s gauge friends, but 307 posts in 6 months? come on ... thats one area that might be combined with a few other lightly trafficed parts freeing up some space for a permanent "how-to" or "product review" section. |
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It can be done!
I'm Vulcan and I approve this message.  
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fyi, from the suggestion box ... just what we need:
 you fellas should worry about getting good posts (product reviews, how-tos, and the like) saved before you add ANOTHER category to the growing list of untrafficed threads. the s gauge section has seen about as much action as an unhappy marriage ... perhaps one should think about combining s gauge with the other various narrow versions into one "OTHER GAUGE" heading. pehaps combining announcements and suggestions is a good move as well.but to use the "no bandwith" argument time and again to knee-cap the idea of savind important threads and then to consider adding ANOTHER category to the mix is madness allan ... MADNESS! no offense narrow gauge dudes ... just trying to understand the mixed up logic here. |
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Some of the old posts are fantastic.I remember the Acela repair tips really helping to fix them.Yes put me down for this new forum.I'll go ya one further. How about a forum for our old manuals?? I would like one for the old qsi reverse units.
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After looking at the S-Gauge Forum, I wonder if it could be renamed to something like "S, ON3, On30 Gauges and Making Repairs. And if possible some of the threads fitting the above could be transferred. I realize nobody would get a full loaf, but a little bread is better than none.
Al |
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Get a grip, bfishma! I don't see any mention of bandwidth in my post--do you? I'm just a member of this forum like anyone else here. I'm not a moderator and I'm not the webmaster (nor do I harbor any desire whatsoever to be included in either category). But as a matter of personal interest, I would like to know how much each of you "I want..." folks would be willing to chip in (financially) on an annual basis to support the things that you're asking for. We're all enjoying a free ride now, and you're only lucky that I don't have any decision-making capability relating to the website because that situation would most surely change. My advice on the matter at hand is to do as many of us do: Save threads that most interest you on your own computer. And, yes, I will continue to lobby--nicely and with infinite patience--for a narrow gauge sub-forum because, aside from my personal interest, that just happens to be the fastest-growing area in the O gauge market today. |
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Ok, I'll bite. Hypothetically, of course, and just out of idle and somehwat perverse curiousity... Just kind of numbers are you talking about and just what more than we get now for free would that provide and who would get it as well - something along the lines of a contractual subscription would have to be generated that gets the buyer what?You asked & opened the door..........Whatta you got?, Questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself |
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Allan, I enjoy this OGR Forum very much. However, I am pretty much ignorant about how this forum is set up, cost to somebody, what is chosen to be a forum, and other basics I am unaware of. Could you enlighten me (and maybe others) how this OGR Forum really works. Like is it DC or Ac powered?
Al |
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I posed the hypothetical question. It's up to you and others to answer. I have no idea since I'm not involved with the website operation and am just a member like everyone else here. All I know is it's a drain on the bottom line as far as operating costs are concerned. The best example I can offer is that I pay $25 a year to help support a popular Large Scale forum that I belong to. There's no requirement to pay for membership to that forum, but the annual payment does provide some extra benefits not available to non-paying members. No big deal at all and I'm happy to do my part to keep that site up and operating even though I don't take advantage of the additional benefits that are offered. Another Large Scale forum that I do not belong to charges $40 per year for all members--you can neither read nor post without paying. That doesn't appeal to me. |
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allan: do you really want to get me started on this ... REALLY?   this forum is maybe an eighth of what it could be. i dont know what the reason or excuse is, but anyone who understands the internet and the potential available to you and your magazine knows what i mean. anyone who has been to other forums such as "railroad lines" realizes that what this forum offers is merely the tip of the iceberg as far as what lies below the surface or over the horizon. the problem as i see it is not the money or the technical expertise: its the attitude. what this forum needs is a little "out of the box" thinking and a little less "grumpy old man". instead of turning towards others for advice and support and entertaining the notion that a change in direction is needed to support an ever changing and technologically advancing clientele, you and the crew instead rely on the "well if you dont like it scram" mentality. name one company that has survived without adapting and changing to match their customer's needs. numbers are down, activity is stagnate, and new ideas and imagination is starting to wane. am i the only one who is noticing this on the forum? what this forum and the hobby needs now is a shot of the hard and heavy stuff ... something to open the eyes and get the blood flowing again! answering a post four months after the fact isnt exactly "redlining" it either ... what is sorely missing and needed here is some humility, forward thinking, and a willingness to change. like others here, i have tried to help by offering advice and support. i have pulled my weight here being positive in my responses, posting detailed how-tos, and offering you my ideas to make not only the website itself but our participation both in it and the magazine more enjoyable and easier. not responding to emails, rude replies on the forum, and deletion of posts IS NOT THE WAY to endear members to your plight nor to attract new people to the forum. allan: the proverbial writing is on the wall! with a faltering economy and the "happy days" of the 90s over, this industry is going to be changing ... the evidence is already within sight as you noted in your recent article on YORK's future. PLEASE consider some of our ideas and KNOW that i for one will be more than happy to work WITH you to make some of these changes a REALITY for our fellow forumites. consider allowing trusted forum members to moderate sections of the forum, consider saving good posts, consider new sections or combining old sections to free up room ... CONSIDER THIS: WE WANT TO HELP! help us help you
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bfishma.....
What you are saying seems very reasonable and I am sure that the powers to be over the forum surely will consider what you and the others here are saying....it makes sense and seems to be in a positive spirit. Allan, your position with the magazine surely means more than you being just a member like everyone else. What about creating an archived section in which anyone, members or not, could go to for information and if necessary pay a very nominal fee. Those that have not saved information on their own computers, as you suggest, or were not members of the forum, or knew nothing of the forum until now, could go to the archived section and retrieve old topics. This could be another source of online income for the magazine. If a fee to access it is not in the liking, perhaps it could be set up so that current or other business sponsors could support it through advertising at the top of each of the pages such is the case currently. OK...I'm just making suggestions and could be speaking out of the back of my...well, you get the idea. The important thing here is it is another way to improve the offerings of the online forum and make it better than the competition!! Thanks for listening... Alan |
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And, I gave you a hypothetical answer, Actually, it's really not up to us since we don't operate the Forum and have no operational decison making authority. So, in part I have to reject your response as being somewhat facetious in nature and reality.
I suspect that you could ask and find out; if it's a drain which is an accepted fact actually since it must be so, then some one somewhere must also have the numbers. It's simply not credible for it to be otherwise.
And, those extra benefits are what? Inquiring minds want to know! Such details, information, facts are what make it possible to have a meaningful discussion leading to possible decisions.
Ok, at least for you personally - $25 is an acceptable investment to both support operations & participate, and then also receive as yet undefined & intangible benefits.......but $40 is too much. Or do you get more bang for more bucks?? Seems within reason but not entirely possible to gauge value since there are unknowns involved. So, hypothetically speaking then - what are the additonal benefits that make it worth $25 to participate, etc, but not worth $40? On the grand scale of what many spend on every trip to the LHS $25 is less than the exit fee from the shop, If this were to get folks what they wanted, could it even be done? Or, OTOH is OGRr just writing this entire thing off as a grand advertising operation scheme and then having income from it would completely complicate this place beyond the means of understanding by all except a few certifiable accountants, Emphasis on the certifiable, please!Questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself |
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To be honest, I'm not even sure what all the additional benefits are. I believe that paying members get an e-mail address if they want it (I don't), some web space of their own if they want it (I don't), and access to a "First Class" area of the forum that is open only to those members who support the forum financially (I rarely even sign in to check it out). I personally don't care--one bit--about the added benefits, and don't need them. I support that particular forum because it's a friendly, helpful, well moderated, and fun place to visit, and always has been. That's the ONLY reason, but that alone is well worth $25 per year in my view. I don't belong to the $40 a year forum because I simply don't need what it has to offer and I'm more than happy with the alternative. Has nothing to do with not being able to afford $40 or not being willing to pay $40; it's simply a matter of personally enjoying one place more than various others that deal with the same topic. This OGR forum is the most popular and respected gathering place for O gauge enthusiasts on the Internet. There's not even a close second. It got to be that way because there are thousands of hobbyists who know they can come here to engage in civil discussions about their hobby, ask questions, share their experiences and talents, and just have a good time as their own time permits. There will always be a few chronic complainers, grumblers, and/or demanding folks around (ditto with any other forum or discussion group), but most participants quickly learn who those folks are and elect to just ignore them, as I sometimes choose to do. I come here on my own time to learn and to have fun seeing what others are doing with their hobby--nothing more and nothing less--and I don't get involved with the mechanics, structure, or operation of the website. The magazine keeps me more than busy enough, and it's a lot more fun than bantering with folks who mask themselves behind fictitious screen names. Now back a a product review I'm working on this afternoon! |
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