Posted on 22/11/2017 13:41
I have very frequently viewed these forums and even made a few comments in the past. Recently, I have thought about what is the point of these forums. Are they here for us members, to express our views with other members and discuss the threads? or perhaps, the posts are aimed at the CAMC giving them access to what your thoughts are? It does appear to me that these forums are dying a slow death.
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Posted on 23/11/2017 21:15 by DavidKlyneI know what you mean about Caravan Talk as the new format whilst looking a bit more modern doesn't seem as user friendly as the previous version. They are, of course, in the hands of the software developers with little influence I imagine and for all we know that might have been a deciding faction on why the Club decided the route they did. I suspect the new version of Caravan Talk is still work in progress and I wouldn't be surprised that we see more improvements as time goes by. Just in case people feel we are going a bit off topic talking about another forum perhaps worth saying that was the model that many of us wanted the Club to follow. It would be interesting to hear from Bugs viz a viz control of new versions of software and how much room there is to shape it into what you want?
David
Posted on 24/11/2017 08:52
If it hadn't been for this site, I wouldn't have ventured into Europe. I read, with much interest, the stories and blogs on here and gleaned a mine of information - and to all those members who relayed their stories, replied to my posts, made suggestions, gave advice or whatever - I am eternally grateful, because it gave me the inspiration I needed.
Thank you CT - with all your foibles!
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Posted on 24/11/2017 08:52 by ExtuggerIf it hadn't been for this site, I wouldn't have ventured into Europe. I read, with much interest, the stories and blogs on here and gleaned a mine of information - and to all those members who relayed their stories, replied to my posts, made suggestions, gave advice or whatever - I am eternally grateful, because it gave me the inspiration I needed.
Thank you CT - with all your foibles!
Posted on 24/11/2017 10:13
Jonray
That is very good to hear and thanks for sharing your positive experience. I suppose there is a risk that those of us that have been around on the forum for some time tend to concern ourselves with the issues and perhaps overlook the fact that it probably helps many more people than we appreciate.
David
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Posted on 24/11/2017 11:31
This forum has been a source of useful information for me in the past. I have posed the very occasional question when seeking a site in a very particular area and always received useful replies. Often there have been threads that I have not participated in but have contained answers to questions that I may have had.
I also hope I have given useful answers to someone else's question.
So in answer to the OP question. A forum is what the user makes of it. Use it if you like it, don't use it if you don't like it.
Posted on 24/11/2017 10:09 by DavidKlyneWhat I meant was that he has quite a bit of knowledge of forum software and I just thought that he could give us some input on the pros and cons of using such software. Sorry if I confused!!
David
Posted on 24/11/2017 11:35
I understood the points you made DKðð». The forum that Bugsy Boy owns & runs evolves on a weekly/monthly basis is driven by input & suggestions from its users. If the suggestions are useful they are incorporated into the forum within a short time. Plus there are active mods tidying up & helping. The fact these mods wear both hats of mods & posters allow them to help the evolution & running of a friendly forum. There is no aloofness or disjointed actions or lack of actions.
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Posted on 24/11/2017 11:35 by Rocky 2 bucketsI understood the points you made DKðð». The forum that Bugsy Boy owns & runs evolves on a weekly/monthly basis is driven by input & suggestions from its users. If the suggestions are useful they are incorporated into the forum within a short time. Plus there are active mods tidying up & helping. The fact these mods wear both hats of mods & posters allow them to help the evolution & running of a friendly forum. There is no aloofness or disjointed actions or lack of actions.
Posted on 24/11/2017 12:56
Rocky
I don't think it could work the same here. Mick has complete control and from what I see has a fairly small friendly and compliant group of regular contributors which makes life a lot easier. The set up for the Club is somewhat different in that the few active moderators (very few most of the time!!) only have a limited amount of options although with the new forum those options did increase somewhat. Beyond that there are several layers of responsibility that control the Club's Media presence. What contributors here see as important might not be seen as a big a priority elsewhere as they have to look at the bigger picture and distribute resources accordingly. Club Together works for many despite the odd frustration here and there!
David
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Posted on 24/11/2017 12:56 by DavidKlyneRocky
I don't think it could work the same here. Mick has complete control and from what I see has a fairly small friendly and compliant group of regular contributors which makes life a lot easier. The set up for the Club is somewhat different in that the few active moderators (very few most of the time!!) only have a limited amount of options although with the new forum those options did increase somewhat. Beyond that there are several layers of responsibility that control the Club's Media presence. What contributors here see as important might not be seen as a big a priority elsewhere as they have to look at the bigger picture and distribute resources accordingly. Club Together works for many despite the odd frustration here and there!
David
Posted on 24/11/2017 10:09 by DavidKlyneWhat I meant was that he has quite a bit of knowledge of forum software and I just thought that he could give us some input on the pros and cons of using such software. Sorry if I confused!!
David
Posted on 24/11/2017 14:35
Hi David
I think the simple answer is that there is a difference between a Content Management System (CMS) and dedicated forum software.
A CMS (as used by the CAMC) is an integrated software package which provides the whole website, of which the "community" or "forum" is just one part. The community bit can often be quite basic, without some of the extras available in dedicated forum software - and because the CMS is totally integrated some of the code can also be interdependent - so it isn't always easy to make changes to the community bit without causing issues elsewhere.
In contrast, dedicated forum software just does forums and often offers extras such as image uploading, playing videos in a post etc as standard.
Hope this helps!
Bugs
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