Future of the Forum

Come on in for general chat and POLITE banter between LAA members

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BobD
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Future of the Forum

Post by BobD » Mon Aug 05, 2019 12:27 pm

Can I start a constuctive debate about the future of the LAA Forum ?

I am dismayed that it appears not to be used as much as some others out there (Flyer, PPRune etc.), and I think this is mainly down to its design, and lack of User Friendly features. Certainly the content, or what there is of it, is useful and relevant, just not enough of it. The Dynon Forum has recently had an overhaul, and is worth a look for some useful features. To name a few features or improvements I would like to see:

1. The PM feature is clunky to use. Messages stay in the outbox until "collected" by the recipient, and if as a recipient you don't log in for a few days, this can lead to delays. Other forums e-mail the recipient when a PM is sent.

2. An e-mail to a recipient is useful when there is a response or update to a thread they have contributed to. This reduces the number of times you have to check back to see if anyone has replied.

3. A "latest posts" summary is useful to see each day, covering all the newest posts since the last visit, across all the sub-forums. This saves having to trawl through each sub-forum to identify any new posts.

I am sure there are other features some would like to see, and hope they contribute their ideas.

On a positive note, I think the aesthetics of the Forum is pleasing, and the colour scheme is restful on the eye, and one I would like to see retained.

One of my first tasks each day is to visit the various Forums with my morning cup of tea.It's a pity there is not a "super" forum that brings the best of them all together, but I recognise that each of them targets a slightly different audience, and my requirements are not necessarily the same as the next person's. What i want to see for this Forum is to combine the best features of the others

I pointed out a problem with my Profile to John Dean back in November 2018, and he told me that Steve Slater had stated at the AGM that a budget had been allocated for an update of the complete website.

Steve or John, can we have an update on that please ?
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mikehallam
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by mikehallam » Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:23 pm

Bob,

I partly agree, except the 'traffic' on other forums is largely chit chat, frequently fairly low grade and often created by a hard core of complusive contributers who bang on far too much.

So for me, that's a turn off !

The LAA forum might well be benefit if quicker to check new posts, as you suggest, but please keep it 'up-market' and apposite.

mike hallam

Brian Hope
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by Brian Hope » Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:12 pm

Hi Bob, I'm neither Steve nor John but I can tell you that there is an agreed budget to redesign the website, although I know of no comment that the Forum will or will not be included in that piece of work. The project is on hold because of the current high workload, my guess is that it is unlikely to see any progress until the first quarter of 2020 at the earliest.
I agree that the PM system is utterly awful, an email based system would be so much easier to use.
It would be nice to see more traffic, but not as Mike says, at the expense of encouraging trivial discussion. I no longer bother with any of the other forums except occasionally FLYER if there is an LAA issue being aired.
I also think the forum should remain limited to members only use and no pseudonyms. I don't doubt a change to either would likely increase its use, but almost certainly not for the better.
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John Dean
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by John Dean » Mon Aug 05, 2019 7:25 pm

Bob,

Just a reply to a couple of your comments having just got back from the RSA Rally at Brienne-le-Chateau. You can elect to receive an email notification of a private message by going to your User Control Panel>Edit Board Preferences>Notify me on New Private Messages. Also if you just want to see new messages then on the Board Index go to View Unread Posts and mark all as read. The next time you go to View Unread Posts you will see all the new messages since your last visit.

As a matter of interest, I happen to like the fact that unread posts stay in my Inbox until they are read.

John

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Chris Martyr
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by Chris Martyr » Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:07 pm

Hey Bob . Whilst I fully realise that this a pretty quiet and civilised forum , it only takes something a little bit 'topical' to get it up firing on all cylinders . [ didn't we first meet here ? .. :D ]

The nice thing about this forum is that it is only things pertinent to the LAA that get discussed . It doesn't seem to require any sort of bullsh!t filter , because there isn't too much of that on here anyway .
I fully support the 'proper names - proper conduct' policy which is in use today . When I first ventured onto here about 8 yrs ago , there was all sorts of sniping & back-biting going on and it actually made me wonder if any of these firebrands had any sort of hobby activity whatsoever in common .

As I've said many times before : If the LAA forum is quiet , then it's probably coz all is well in LAA-Land . Most LAA'ers have probably got far better things to do [ like building , maintaining & flying their aeroplanes ] than being a keyboard hero on here .

The red/yellow forum certainly is a lot more geared to the higher volume of posts that they get . And I definitely put a lot more on there than I do here . But it has to be said that most of what I put there is just light-hearted stuff . Whereas what I put on here is done with the assumption that I am amongst well informed , practical hands-on grassroots aviation folk .

The PM system doesn't really give me any problems , for the amount of them that I send/receive . But it would be nice to have a 'Like' button though .

There are some great posters on FF , many with real high-quality backgrounds . But there is also a fair bit of repetition , with the same old subjects being aired time & time again . And one or two argumentative gits trying to assert their [perceived] superiority .

Probably could do with a few minor tweaks on here , but nothing radical . Don't forget ...when everything is working as it should , people don't feel as if they have to buck the system . It's only when it all turns to s*** that people feel the need to stand up and be counted .

That makes the LAA and its forum pretty good in my books ... :D
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by djwood » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:34 am

One positive development would be to allow the generation of type-specific sub-forums (fora?). I operate a Tiger Moth powered by a Gipsy Major. It would be great to have a go-to place in which to ask type-specific question or offer type-specific advice to other owners. Once upon a time there were legions of engineers and pilots who were intimately familiar with every quirk and tweak of such ancient types. Now that that legion is sadly thinning, and unless we take steps to pool our collective knowledge then we will all be the poorer. I'm frequently struck by the number of times I meet other owners and I either learn something I didn't know, or can pass on something they didn't know. Isn't that what this is all about?

Malcolm Rogan and I did ask that we be permitted to set up such a sub-forum on this website but the management response wasn't overly enthusiastic. The spectre of the LAA's liability in the event of poor advice being aired was raised as an obstacle. Personally I just don't see that as a valid objection: it is perfectly possible though disclaimers to make it clear that any member's views expressed are for guidance only and do not necessarily represent the considered view of the LAA.

A more valid 'concern' might be that other types would want their own sub-forum also. Would that be such a bad thing...? In any event, it would make this forum a much more useful repository of information and advice than it perhaps is at the moment.
David Wood
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BobD
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by BobD » Tue Aug 06, 2019 10:18 am

Thanks for all the responses
Brian Hope wrote: I also think the forum should remain limited to members only use and no pseudonyms.
Brian, totally agree
mikehallam wrote: but please keep it 'up-market' and apposite.
Mike, again, totally agree.

John, thanks for the tips. I checked my profile, and I already had the Notify on Private Messages chosen, but not the allow pop-ups, so this may be why I missed some earlier messages. However, the original point stands, that you need to be logged in to see it, an e-mail notification would be better. I'll try your suggestion regarding new posts.
Chris, we did indeed meet via this Forum, and you make some very relevant comments. I have sent you an e-mail with some off-topic points (note - not a PM :D )
David, have you considered setting up such sub-forum on the Matronics site ? I use the Europa specific forum there, and if you had one for your aircraft type, I would hope you would find it as useful as I find the Europa List.

As I said in my original post, all the Forums I subscribe to (about six) provide different type of content. I find the content on here is, as Chris states "from amongst well informed , practical hands-on grassroots aviation folk." I just wish there were more of it, and would welcome ideas on how we can encourage that, and hopefully the re-development of the website when it happens will contribute by incorporating some of the ideas generated in this thread.
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djwood
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by djwood » Tue Aug 06, 2019 1:05 pm

BobD wrote: David, have you considered setting up such sub-forum on the Matronics site ? I use the Europa specific forum there, and if you had one for your aircraft type, I would hope you would find it as useful as I find the Europa List.
I hadn't heard of the Matronics site. Had a quick look at it (horrible format!). It looks primarily like an email list, isn't it?
I'm thinking more or a Moth section (or indeed a Europa one) as a sub-forum of the LAA forum (since most Moths are now on Permits) in which one could have discussion topics relevant to that type covering handling, repairing, maintenance, top-tips etc. It would be really easy to set up, potentially on a trial basis. I can't really see the downside to it, but maybe I'm missing something.
David Wood
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John Dean
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by John Dean » Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:12 pm

BobD wrote: I checked my profile, and I already had the Notify on Private Messages chosen
It might be a good idea to check that your profile has your email address. To check go to User Control Panel>Edit Account Settings>Email Address
BobD wrote: 2. An e-mail to a recipient is useful when there is a response or update to a thread they have contributed to. This reduces the number of times you have to check back to see if anyone has replied.
Just to let you know that this facility is already available. At the bottom of each thread there is a link "Subscribe Topic" which will send you an email each time a new reply is posted.

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BobD
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by BobD » Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:15 am

John Dean wrote:
BobD wrote: I checked my profile, and I already had the Notify on Private Messages chosen
It might be a good idea to check that your profile has your email address. To check go to User Control Panel>Edit Account Settings>Email Address
BobD wrote: 2. An e-mail to a recipient is useful when there is a response or update to a thread they have contributed to. This reduces the number of times you have to check back to see if anyone has replied.
Just to let you know that this facility is already available. At the bottom of each thread there is a link "Subscribe Topic" which will send you an email each time a new reply is posted.
Hi John, yes, my email address is in my profile, and the subscribe box for this topic is ticked.
Had two PMs this morning, but no email notification, or pop up, I only knew by seeing the number in the top line when I logged in.
I did not get any notification about the new posts to this thread.
I still can't update my avatar, which was the original problem we discussed back in November 2018, when you told me about the upcoming revamp to the website & forum.

Methinks it needs to happen sooner rather than later :roll:
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tnowak
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by tnowak » Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:46 am

E-mail notification of PMs works okay for me. Have you checked your e-mail client spam folder?

I don't know either why the LAA forum is so quiet compared with other "type specific" forums I visit.
May be quite a high percentage of LAA members aren't into forums or PC use in general?

Regarding type specific sub-forums - a good idea but, in my view, unlikely to attract more visitors/poster.
I note we already have two type specifc sub-forums (Rans S4/S5 and Thatcher CX4) but nothing has been posted in there for a few years now.

Why not trial a Tiger Moth / Gypsy Major sub-forum and see how it goes?
Or a Contineltal A65 - O-200 sub-forum?

Tony Nowak
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djwood
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by djwood » Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:08 pm

tnowak wrote:
Why not trial a Tiger Moth / Gypsy Major sub-forum and see how it goes?
Or a Contineltal A65 - O-200 sub-forum?

Tony Nowak
I'd love to. But I'm not entirely sure how to set it up. Probably under Engineering..?
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BobD
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by BobD » Fri Aug 09, 2019 5:40 am

tnowak wrote:E-mail notification of PMs works okay for me. Have you checked your e-mail client spam folde
Tony Nowak
Thanks for the suggestion Tony, but I had already done this. I suspect the problem is linked to my broken profile, as apart from not being able to edit my avatar, several other functions from there appear broken i. e. Despite ticking the "stay logged in" box, I am daily logged out, and the automatic login when visiting doesn't work either.
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tnowak
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by tnowak » Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:41 am

Bob,

What browser are you using? If you are using Internet Explorer try using a different one like Chrome or Edge.
I see lots of different results in how things are displayed when switching between browsers.

Tony
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tnowak
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Re: Future of the Forum

Post by tnowak » Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:42 am

Dave,

I think Brian Hope can probably advise on how to set up a sub-forum. He does check this forum quite often.
Tony
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