Melodeon.net Forums

Forum and website admin => Wish lists => Topic started by: stevejay on October 05, 2009, 01:15:17 PM

Title: Miscellaneous section
Post by: stevejay on October 05, 2009, 01:15:17 PM
A section of the boards where people can discuss things which fit no other category comfortably?
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Sebastian on October 05, 2009, 01:18:43 PM
A section of the boards where people can discuss things which fit no other category comfortably?
"General discussion"?
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: stevejay on October 05, 2009, 01:23:25 PM
No, the general discussion is still to close too the heart of the matter. A section below which could be considered "Off-topic" Technology , films etc could be discussed. It might be added work for moderators though, and maybe not be a  good idea for this reason (Just one more thread to moderate)
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Chris Ryall on October 05, 2009, 03:43:05 PM
I use another forum which has a 'general' section.  Although it does keep some off topic stuff out of the main sections - it's basically cyberbabble - eg the Manchester City/Utd derby - which is even now being followed up.

So I'd say keep this forum pure - surely a big part of its charm. Having said that some of us post some amazingly off topic crap contributions to the more specific queries. Felt dangerously close to the knuckle this morning with my anecdote about motor bike brake pins
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: stevejay on October 05, 2009, 06:01:22 PM
You raise a good point, and I think there is a lot to be said for not straying off topic. Melodeon is a unique and somewhat esoteric topic. I'm inclined to agree with your arguments for not creating a "Useless" section, although we do make friends here and being clever, our minds wander off the topic of melodeon.

Anyway.. ;D
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: TomB-R on October 05, 2009, 06:13:22 PM
I enjoy visiting fiddlehangout.com, the generalised section there is dominated by games, "Answer a question with a question" etc.  For better or worse this renders the (inherently fairly compromised) "number of posts" statistic utterly meaningless!
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: HallelujahAl on October 05, 2009, 06:45:25 PM
melodeon.net is a community of (primarily) melodeon/accordion playing people. Communities need space to be able to do/say a wide variety of things/subjects whilst still remaining a community. I don't really mind if someone within this forum doesn't want to talk about melodeons but something else. Sometimes it makes a refreshing change. It'd be a very dull place indeed if people only stayed 'on-topic' and were'nt able to express themselves.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: stevejay on October 05, 2009, 07:28:47 PM
This thread has become interesting in itself to me.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: xgx on October 05, 2009, 08:51:14 PM
Anyone have the latest info on the price of wet fish?

(yes, there is a melodeon connection......??????) ;D
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Stiamh on October 05, 2009, 09:24:14 PM
I'd request that there not be an off-topic section and that off-topic threads be discouraged. Look at the example of http://forums.chiffandfipple.com. It started off being about whistles, then forums for flutes, pipes and just about everything else were added. In the meantime off-topic discussions on the whistle forum became so predominant that a "pub" forum had to be created to accommodate them. Then contentious political and religious issues started taking over the pub forum, so a "political, religious and controversial topics forum" (the PROCTOLOGY forum) had to be created to give the ranters a home. This was suspended and reinstated many times and has, it seems, finally been locked up for ever.

Please let's not go even a few yards down that road. We all get on well enough just now, let's not jeopardize that. I really don't want to know what you all think about political and religious topics, and banal chitchat about non-box related issues would be an irritant to me.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Selam on October 05, 2009, 10:56:37 PM
I can see why people want to keep this as a  :||: :|||: and related subjects only forum. We all have that in common and is our raison d'etre (ici at least!)  ;) and I have seen message board descend into chaos when off topic sections have been added. However, I've also seen boards thrive with an area where people can chat about other subjects, let off steam about things and generally natter about stuff. People who don't want to read all of that can just avoid that section.

I also think that we're maybe underestimating the members of this forum. In recent slightly-but-not-very-off-topic threads (i.e. the Folk against Facism thread), we proved we can discuss issues without it becoming contentious.

Maybe having an off topic section might reign in the thread drifts. I don't ~mind~ them but sometimes it can be difficult to follow a thread when it there's a large section on something else in the middle... Just a thought. Or a couple of thoughts.

Part of me is saying "keep it like it is!!!!" because I'm rapidly becoming melodeon obsessed (not a patch on a lot of you guys yet but I'm working on it!!) but as the recent poster of a subsequently removed off-topic thread :|bl it would be nice if there was a (small) space for such things to be tidied away into.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: rees on October 06, 2009, 12:07:50 AM
Keep it as it is. It is a thing of beauty.

T'ain't broke, so don't fix it.  :|glug
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: graememackay on October 06, 2009, 01:06:31 AM
Surely if you want to discuss an issue that is non-melnet related, there will be a related site out there waiting for you to post your thoughts...

It's a big WWW out there, lets stick to our cul-de-sac and talk about buttons & bellows
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: stevejay on October 06, 2009, 04:08:05 AM
Based on what was said above, there is a current against a "useless" section and I respect that.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: HallelujahAl on October 06, 2009, 09:40:04 AM
Quote
T'ain't broke, so don't fix it.


The alternative is, of course, to keep fixing it until it is broke?
 ;D
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: ladydetemps on October 06, 2009, 09:45:01 AM
I'm a forum veteran...15 forums -in various formats - and counting (with 3 that I either Mod or Admin), so I think I can speak with some authority.

When a forum is 'specialised' like melodoen.net off topic sections don't work very well, but when a forum has a wider remit say 'Doctor Who' because it incapsulates so much its good to have a off topic session or allow off topic posts.

But that's not to say that off topic sections can't work, they usually need dedicated mods, and its advisable to have it as a members only area where spammers and genral public can't see.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: juker on October 06, 2009, 10:36:45 AM
Keep it as it is. It is a thing of beauty.

T'ain't broke, so don't fix it.  :|glug

I completely agree with you Rees.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Martin J on October 06, 2009, 02:12:00 PM
Melnet is a one job tool.  It is very good at that job.  If anyone wants to do a different job use a different tool.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Owen Woods on October 06, 2009, 02:39:32 PM
I too am a old hand at this forum lark, 6 or 7 I think, one as a major mod, another as a minor one.

I don't think that we should take a little bit of banter as a capital crime, it's part of what makes this forum interesting. A forum where there was no thread drift and just a few terse replies to each question would soon stagnate. Then again, widening the remit of the forum would have massive repercussions. TSR, which I am a member of started out as a purely academic forum and then gradually broadened so that now you can find virtually anything on it. Whilst this is fine, it is a major commercial enterprise and requires massive amounts of time to keep it running.

At the moment I think that this forum is about the best balanced of any that I've been on.
Title: Re: Miscellaneous section
Post by: Martin J on October 06, 2009, 03:38:52 PM
At the moment I think that this forum is about the best balanced of any that I've been on.
Here, here  (:)
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