Help us improve the forum ...

[close2u]

Hi all.
This is a general request for anyone with ...

Justin, LievenDV and close2u are going to be discussing the future shape of the forum - amongst other things - soon.

If you have any suggestions of any kind that could help inform any of our discussions then please post here or send a private message to LievenDV and close2u both.

Whether you have user-based comment or technical knowledge of the 'behind-the-scenes' stuff or any other relevant issue then please share.

I think this forum reflects the wonderful people that come here.
But as with all things, it may benefot from a bit of tlc, spring cleaning, polishing & dusting etc etc.

Thanks.
Richard

[CT]

OK, I'll kick things off:
1. We need to have avatars!!! Who/what do I want you think of me when I post a message? What do you want to convey about yourself to me when I read your messages? Avatars are a basic message board form of expression.   

[close2u]

Thanks CT.
And thanks for the pm too.

[jono]

Less sections. Deciding where to post something is a bit awkward. A question about strumming in a song from the first songbook could currently fit into several topics.

Sent from my SM-N910F using JustinGuitar Community mobile app

[brianlarsen]

My two cents-

I don't do forums (fora?) so can't compare, but have found this one quite straightforward to navigate/use.
Whenever I hit a problem there's usually a thread dealing with it or the good folks on here are quick to offer advice.
I was drawn pretty quickly to the AVOYP area and dip in and out of the Chatting section, but can't speak for the rest of what seems like a sprawling affair.
I'm happy with the way it runs at present.

I would be interested to know what Clint would like me to think of him when he posts a message, so avatars would be good

The only thing I find annoying is that you can't upload audio/video/photos directly to the page.
Having to upload it somewhere else on the web and then creating a link, means creating and maintaining another platform. I usually put them on my Youtube channel, but there's a lot of dross I share here that I would not particularly wish to subject my few family/friend followers to.
It would also sort out the irritating 'content no longer available' on older threads.

Come to think of it, if you made it more user unfriendly, maybe I wouldn't waste so much time here and actually practice! 

[sairfingers]

I don’t do forums - this is the only one I’m on so perhaps my views aren’t all that valid due to my limited experience. I’m of an older generation and more into ‘hard copy’!

I have to say that any advice/comments I’ve asked for/made have been replied to pretty quickly and the search facility is fairly good at finding if you are repeating a question, athough I agree there are far too many topic headings many of which are almost the same. I suppose if users could be encouraged to use headings with key words relating to their question rather than vague ‘help needed’, that would be beneficial. 

Regarding avatars. Do we need little pictures to help express ourselves? I’m not sure about that one. In my profile I’ve included a bit about my rig and guitar experience to help others judge the level of advice I need. Perhaps all users could be encouraged to include this rather than being totally faceless. Having said that, I realise many long standing members are well acquainted with each other but it would help less frequent users.

On a practical level, I would like a larger box to type into. I’m doing this on an iPhone have to continually try to scroll about to see what I’ve typed.

I agree with Brian about practise time!!

[OpsRes]

The only thing I find annoying is that you can't upload audio/video/photos directly to the page.
Having to upload it somewhere else on the web and then creating a link, means creating and maintaining another platform. I usually put them on my Youtube channel, but there's a lot of dross I share here that I would not particularly wish to subject my few family/friend followers to.

I agree with Brian on this one. It would be very nice to be able to post directly. Also the ability to do some basic text formatting would be useful.

Glen

[tobyjenner]

First forum I joined and never had any issues once I got used to what was where but that was years back. The only other forum I'm involved with is a Soto Zen Buddhist one and its not too different to how this one works, so would find it hard to offer improvements.

Don't change what ain't broke. 

[CT]

I would be interested to know what Clint would like me to think of him when he posts a message, so avatars would be good

Probably a pic that conveys a sense of freedom or an innovative person that welcomes positive change. @tobyjenner has his avatar, he's good to go.

EDIT: Might be best after all to keep the message board unchanged. I'll stand down.

[stitch101]

I think a lot of you guys are just lazy and want to add more work for
Justin and the mods.

Less sections. Deciding where to post something is a bit awkward. A question about strumming in a song from the first songbook could currently fit into several topics.

Sent from my SM-N910F using JustinGuitar Community mobile app

This is easy. It goes in the Beginner Song Book One.

The only thing I find annoying is that you can't upload audio/video/photos directly to the page.
Having to upload it somewhere else on the web and then creating a link, means creating and maintaining another platform. I usually put them on my Youtube channel, but there's a lot of dross I share here that I would not particularly wish to subject my few family/friend followers to.

To upload directly to the forum Jusin has to pay for storage to hold your videos.
Is it really that difficult to up load to youtube or sound cloud then post the link here?

Could the forum be updated? Yes and we will lose over 10 years of helpfull information
and posts.
To me it really doesn't matter. I'm not a beginner so the lose of all this knowledge wouldn't
really hurt me.
I will stick around as long as people still find me helpful.
But to lose of all that knowledge would be a shame.

Just my 2c

[glpguitar]

Fully agree with stitch.

EDIT (to be properly constructive, honestly thanks for the reminder that this might become a negative vibes thread):

First a disclaimer. I am mainly an observer on this forum since most of the time I have nothing useful to add on the threads.

Personally I think that the forum works quite good and is well structured. I understand the point of people wanting to have a direct upload function (and to be honest, storage space got extremely cheap) but at the same time even if you don't want to use YouTube or Soundcloud, there's still Dropbox and other storage facilities that allow you to upload your tracks and share them with people.

Secondly regarding the amount of possible locations where to post/search for things. The wall does look huge and it is possible to find it intimidating to decide where to post with all the sections people. But if you put some thought into it, I'm pretty sure that anyone can post in the correct section 95% of the time. Mods will take care about the remaining 5% (thanks again for all your work guys!).

I personally find it clear and easy to use. People search by hashtags on social media to find what they are looking for. People search for keywords to find scientific papers or posts on forums.

But sometimes you're not looking for something specific, you just want to see if anyone here is having a blast at a DIY project. Or maybe you want to check if anyone has the some problem with beginners course book CD.

I think there's an option to have an avatar but it's limited in size. 25MB seems enough for me but there are probably other better options for this.

Regarding a nice point that David brought on the table. I personally find a well written comment (even with a bit of wit) way nicer without any smiley faces but that's just a personal preference.

I cannot comment on the technical side of the things but from my experience, all the forums I've been using are similarly structured.

And I do find it sad how people prefer Facebook groups where it's impossible to find anything in the flood of uncategorized posts. And maybe forums are better because replies are usually written with some thought into it (okay, I admit that I needed a reminder to write a constructive comment) rather than less organised platforms where verbal diarrhoea is a big thing.

Thanks again for all the effort and time all of you put in this community to make it good. I am always a supporter of updates, upgrades and development as long as they are not there just for the sake of it.

[DavidP]

My 2cs worth, maybe not worth 2cs

This is the only Community Forum that I am part of.  I find it works fine for me.

Would be nice if the permission issue on the server was resolved to allow me to upload my User avatar. 

And would love to have some more emojis to colour up posts ... though maybe I just need to figure out what some other folk do who's range of emojis goes beyond the set I can click on.

And maybe I am happy because I know no better ... ignorance is bliss 

[brianlarsen]

This thread has the potential to generate some 'not-so-positive' vibes.

Richard is asking for suggestions on how the forum might be improved.
That is laudable, especially as it is a well-working free resource for anyone who wishes to use it.
It is what we, the members, make of it.
(Suggestions for improvements are not the same as complaints about the current state.)

@ Clint:
I'm sorry if my comment came across as a jibe- that was not my intention. I have a tendency to tease people in a humorous way, but never to hurt. I misjudge sometimes.
I hope 'I'll stand down' refers to this discussion rather than the forum as I enjoy your contributions more than most.

@ Toby:
Easy for you to say- you have a really cool Easy Rider avatar  (Aaargh... I just did it again!)

@ Stitch (& glpguitar):
You're an 'old-timer' stalwart here on the forum and must have seen so many of us beginners come and go. I appreciate the time you take to help others (I found the alternate base line picking advise you gave me last week really useful. Thanks).

We're not lazy or looking to create work for Justin and the Mods (name for a band there?), just trying to be helpful. 
I see this analogous to living in a lovely house and someone says: "Honey, do you think we should redecorate the living room?"

• Great idea, what themes will we go with?
• Oh, I don't know, maybe repaint that flaking wall?
• No way, I really love it the way it is. What a waste of time, effort and money!

Take your pick- I'm closer to 3 than 2 

[sairfingers]

Bottom line. There are thousands of users therefore thousands of opinions. Best leave it to ‘Justin and the Mods’.

[CT]

@ Clint:
I'm sorry if my comment came across as a jibe- that was not my intention. I have a tendency to tease people in a humorous way, but never to hurt. I misjudge sometimes.
I hope 'I'll stand down' refers to this discussion rather than the forum as I enjoy your contributions more than most.

Likewise, my comments can come off as terse sometimes. I like a good back and forth discussion with a playful jab and such. As long as folks that give it can take it as well, then I'm good to go.

I was prepared to talk about some of the "workflow" problems as well as functional and aesthetic issues with the message board software, but I don't see a will to accept change from members. That's the genesis of my stand down comment. People should really demand more from software. Case in point would be that if you did a "@username" on any up to date message board (as you did above) that person would get a notification. Here you will miss all personal call outs to @brianlarsen unless you happen to stumble upon one. I suppose the "get off my lawn" and "electronics blinking at 12:00" folks are glad that they aren't getting notifications.