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JoeS

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Messages
4,348
Location
Hills above Silicon Valley, California
Hey Guys and Gals,

I know I've strayed in the past, but now I see the error of my ways... :oops:

As the quantity of posts and threads increases on this Forum, I am finding it more and more difficult to remember where particular comments were posted despite a pretty good embedded search engine. Thus the following requests:

1) Let's all stick only to the subject topic of a particular thread
2) Research the forum topics before starting a new one. Chances are pretty good that there is one already opened that can be appended to.

Thanks for that.
 
My experiences on half a dozen forums over the past 10 or 15 years (including moderating for 7 or 8 years and 25,000+ posts on Miata.Net) taught me that if you want your forum to flourish and make lots of new people feel welcome, you need to stay pretty loose with things like this Joe

You can't expect new folks to search and read hundreds of posts before they ask a question, even one that has been asked and answered twice a month for the previous 5 years - They're new and they may not be so 'forum wise' as to be able to seach and see if it's been asked before . . . . this may be their first forum experience and just need answers so we shouldn't be asking them to do hours of reading before they ask something - The regulars here can just point them to an earlier discussion where their question(s) were asked and answered . . . . and they'll feel more welcome

As for staying on topic - I've found that some of the very best discussions evolve around subjects far removed from the original thread topic and I personally feel we should welcome those also. True, it makes it harder for many of us to *find* those discussions later on when we search for them when they happen in a thread with a completely different original topic, but so be it, IMO

I don't make any rules around here - Just trying to explain that keeping things 'loose and casual' keeps more folks interested and makes them feel more welcome to post . . . . and we should welcome all posts made in a friendly, civil manner and not chastise anyone just because they're asking the same question for the umpteeth time, or participaing in 'thread drift' - Better to have their input than miss it because we're trying to keep things too formal

Again, just my own personal opinion based on past experiences - I think we want EVERYONE to feel welcome and encourage them all to participate

Don
 
You're not a pain in anything Joe ;) - Your many years of experience with all types of EV's and your accumulated knowledge about most everything having to do with any form of electric transportation is invaluable and your comments are always welcomed by most all of us here I'd bet - You're one of this forums biggest assets!

I know I've learned more from you than any other single person here so I hope you continue to comment on just about every issue that comes up on the forum

One negative aspect about driving electric cars is that the more we all stick to them for our basic transportation needs, the less likely we are to ever meet in person the many friends we make here who are scattered across the country - Unlike lots of folks I've met on various motorcycle forums, I'm afraid my i is probably never going to make it to California! :D

Don
 
Don - thank you for the compliment. Guess I'll have to get used to rambling meanderings... (something I really discouraged when I ran meetings in my past life unless they were brainstorming sessions :twisted: )

If you're ever coming to the SF Bay Area (even if by ICE), do give a shout and we might put together an impromptu informal rambling meandering SF BayMievers meet-up. :p .
 
Would it help to have a beginners section, or basic questions section where people can feel free to post simple questions that have probably been asked (and answered) elsewhere in the past?
 
I doubt that many of the 'regulars' would read the beginners forum often enough to be able to answer that many questions there

I would suggest we leave it as it is for the time being - It's quick and easy for a forum regular to post a link to a thread where a frequently asked question has already been discussed . . . . and if the newbie puts any clue to his basic question in the title of his new thread, it's also easy for those who aren't interested to just ignore it

It's a new forum with a good platform which will grow quickly I suspect and we can make changes as needed if we see something that really needs to be changed. Maybe rather than a beginners forum, we might add a 'Forum Suggestions' page so the regular readers can tell us what they think we're doing wrong . . . . or what we're doing that they like??

Don
 
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