What do you think?

How does this discussion board work?

Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy

What do you think?

I like this format better
34
89%
I prefer the current email-based format
2
5%
I like both equally
2
5%
I don't care for either
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 38

Message
Author
User avatar
Lawrence
Posts: 1213
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2002 2:08 pm
Location: Austin, Texas
Contact:

#31 Post by Lawrence » Mon Dec 09, 2002 2:30 pm

I agree with Kirsten about "losing your page" when returning. But a solution would probably require cookies or some burdensome tech thingy that would just be too much work for a volunteer list.

The other downside is the cumbersomeness of all the threads, which can get so darn intertwined that we end up spending more time on this list rather than make our time spent on this list be more efficient.

I also agree that only those who prefer this format will vote.

But, as I said on e-mail, my vote is for this version over the e-mail Yahoo site.
Lawrence Page
Austin Lindy Hop
http://www.AustinLindy.com

User avatar
Ron
Posts: 313
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 4:29 pm
Location: San Diego, CA
Contact:

#32 Post by Ron » Wed Dec 11, 2002 4:05 pm

Well, there's still 230 or so members on the Yahoo list, and only 55 or so on this forum. I suppose there is a large group on the Yehoo list that are registered but don't subscribe by email or by digest, so they may have not heard about this new forum.

User avatar
Mr Awesomer
Posts: 1089
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 10:21 pm
Location: Altadena, CA
Contact:

#33 Post by Mr Awesomer » Thu Dec 12, 2002 10:50 am

Of the 239 yahoo group members, roughly 50% are set to "No Email" (either they go to the website if they want to see anything, or they just plain aren't interested.) 30% are set to "Daily Digest" and 20% are set to recieve "Individual Emails." So it could be said that roughly 115 people are active on yahoo groups format, and roughly 50% of those people have already registered on this site to test it out. 50% of users showing up to test something is a VERY good percentage. It becoming offical may be something the other 50% or so might be waiting for.
Reuben Brown
Southern California

User avatar
laf
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 3:20 pm
Location: Vancouver, Canada

#34 Post by laf » Mon Dec 16, 2002 2:11 pm

I just sifted through all of the most recent webforum/email list discussion on the yahoo list, and am even more in favour of the web-based forum than ever before.

I'm one of the members (of yahoo) who chooses not to receive emails. I don't want everything posted on the list to clutter up my inbox. Instead I visit the site every week or so and sift through the last page or so of messages. This means I miss a great deal that I'd like to read and I wade through a great deal that I'd sooner do without.

I'm more accustomed to the web-based format, and I prefer it for all the reasons already covered here and on the yahoo list.

In addition, I'm more inclined to use this forum and post here, as I came in on the ground floor and feel comparatively less green.

When I joined the yahoo list, the bulk of the traffic was around that wankfest "who's a real swing dj?" of last year. I still feel disinclined to post in that environment.

Here, however, I feel more comfortable. The more familiar format, the newness of the enterprise, my increased confidence, and the discussion thus far are contributing factors.

L

User avatar
JesseMiner
Posts: 1034
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 5:36 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

#35 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:05 pm

Folks, don't forget to chime in with these thoughts on the Yahoogroups SwingDJs list. These are all important things for ALL of the list members to read, so if you don't do it yourself, I might post 'em for ya! ;)

Jesse

Downeastdancer
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 8:23 pm
Location: Maine
Contact:

#36 Post by Downeastdancer » Tue Dec 17, 2002 6:40 pm

I guess I personally don't have the time or inclination to post the same message twice, Jesse. If it's on a thread that appears here, I'll post here. When it's there, I'll post there. I do think, however, that the email discussions have been just a bit more substantive and useful to me, personally, recently. Don't know why that should be, but it just seems to be the case. Also, it seems to take a frustratingly long time to download long threads like this one. Don't know why that should be, either. Maybe the page length should be shorter, and we should be on maybe page 4 or 5 by now on this thread? Maybe put the Avatars in an optional folder like Rif suggested? Do they take time to download? Just curious. I still appreciate very much ALL the volunteer work you guys are doing. It's really fine!
"Take A Train!"

User avatar
GemZombie
Posts: 772
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:46 pm
Location: Alpharetta, GA (Formerly SLO, CA)
Contact:

#37 Post by GemZombie » Wed Dec 18, 2002 12:44 pm

Ya, I agree. I'm more apt to post here. I only check email from my laptop (because I'm lazy) ... but I can check the forum anywhere.

User avatar
JesseMiner
Posts: 1034
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 5:36 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

#38 Post by JesseMiner » Sun Dec 22, 2002 1:30 pm

I just posted this on the SwingDJs email list on Yahoogroups:

I'm very excited about the potentials of moving to a SwingDJs web-based discussion board. Of course it's not going to be all that exciting or useful unless a large majority of the people that we currently have here embrace it and bring their knowledge along with them.

So what needs to happen to make this new board work?

We need a majority of people to agree that they want to make this happen. Without strong support, things will just stay as they are with the email list. I don't have any desire to shut down the SwingDJs email list. I am offering an alternative and will work hard to move it forward and make it successful if the majority is with me.

I am now creating two official polls to gauge the interest here.

If you haven't checked out the new proposed web discussion board, please do so before voting in the polls: www.jesseminer.com/swingdjs

I am asking everyone to please answer the polls in a timely manner. Since the holidays are upon us, I will let these polls run until it looks like most people have voted. Once I return from vacation on Jan. 2nd, I will start bugging everyone who hasn't voted to vote so we can move this process along.

When you vote, your name will be noted along with your vote. This is not an anonymous community, so I want to be aware of who has issues that need to be resolved.

If you don't have a yahoo account and are unable to cast your vote, please post it here and your votes will be considered with equal weight.

-----------------------------------------

POLL #1 (click here to vote)

The poll question:

Which format do you prefer?

The poll answer options:

* Web-based discussion board (proposed)
* Email discussion group (current)
* I like both equally

-----------------------------------------

POLL #2 (click here to vote)

The second is asking whether you will embrace a move to the web-based
format. If the majority in Poll #1 are voting in favor of the proposed board, we will go forward with these efforts. This list will of course remain intact but obviously might lose steam if the majority of the traffic moves to the web board. Ideally I would love to have everyone onboard with the idea so if the majority wants to move forward, I want to see what can be
done to bring those who have issues along as well.

The poll question:

If the SwingDJs web discussion board becomes official will adopt the new
format and continue to be involved with it?

The poll options:

* Yes
* Maybe - Only if I could get emails of every post
* Maybe - Other reason (please explain)
* No (please explain)

If you answer "Maybe - other reason" or "No" then I, and others, would appreciate it if you would post a detailed answer so we can see if there are serious issues that need to be addressed.

-----------------------------------------

Thank you all for your time and effort as we go through the decision
process.

Happy Holidays! :)

Jesse

Downeastdancer
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 8:23 pm
Location: Maine
Contact:

#39 Post by Downeastdancer » Sun Dec 22, 2002 4:51 pm

Reason I checked third box: I don't need email notification of EVERY post, just on the threads I'm following, the way it is currently set up. Thanks. I can deal with either email or web, doesn't really matter all that much to me, but I DO WANT A PLACE for people to post playlists. Thank you!
"Take A Train!"

User avatar
LazyP
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2002 2:07 am
Location: Lund, Sweden
Contact:

#40 Post by LazyP » Fri Mar 14, 2003 2:46 am

Hi everybody

I'd just thought I'd let you know that the mod i mentioned below actually is worked on quite a lot right now. A beta version within a month is not impossible as I see it (though you never no for sure when its a freeware project with no paid workers). This means we would be able to integrate the e-mail list with this forum without too much of a hazzle (hopefully)

/Patrik
LazyP wrote:
rif wrote: Jesse (or other people who run the site), how tough would it be to pipe every message posted (sans avatars and emoticons) to an email list, and set it up so that replies with the same
subject get *posted* back into the thread? It seems that could perhaps make everyone happy.
Hi Rif

Actually it is possible. Development of a mod to phpbb to make this is progress. Hopefully it will be working and available soon. The links below are the main page (with almost nothing on it yet) and a discussion list on the development (12 pages long, not much of interest in the beginning)

http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/m2f
http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.ph ... od&start=0
The ultimate european swing site!
www.heptown.com

User avatar
JesseMiner
Posts: 1034
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 5:36 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

#41 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:54 am

Here are the final poll results from those who voted on Yahoo and on here on the list:

--------------------------------

POLL QUESTION: Poll #1: Which format do you prefer?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Web-based discussion board (proposed), 28 votes, 63.6%
- Email discussion group (current), 10 votes, 22.7%
- I like both equally, 6 votes, 13.6%
Total votes: 44

--------------------------------

POLL QUESTION: Poll #2: If the SwingDJs web-based discussion board becomes official, will you adopt the new format and continue to be involved with it?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, 37 votes, 80.4%
- Maybe - Only if I could get emails of every post, 4 votes, 8.7%
- Maybe - Other reason (please explain), 3 votes, 6.5%
- No (please explain), 2 votes , 4.3%
Total votes: 46

--------------------------------

Explanations included on list for some votes:

Alan White:
"For the record, the explanation for me is that I simply don't have time to
go through the WEB based format. I went through this before with Joey
Caveseno's Squatty Roo Forum and it took forever. Each post had to load - it was a nightmare to find and follow all the different threads and it was very time consuming overall. In order to see all the posts as I do now it would have taken forever."

Rif:
"I would probably still be at least somewhat involved if we switch to a
web-forum. I'm willing and able to respect the will of the majority on
this, even though I personally will have to spend more time to get the same information. "

Rob Szarka:
"Maybe, or rather Yes but less often and not in a timely fashion."

Andy Reid:
"I haven't read this email for weeks, but I read the web board."

--------------------------------

Further emails will follow this week when I have some time with an interpretation of these results and information about the future of the SwingDJs email list and the web discussion board.

Jesse

User avatar
Greg Avakian
Posts: 382
Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

#42 Post by Greg Avakian » Tue Jul 01, 2003 5:10 am

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying the new forum. I've been too busy to post much lately, but there are many good topics here.

Thank you

Locked