Strange, the format is what first interested me in this forum. I have found it to be the easiest to navigate of any that interest me.

I sincerely hope that they NEVER change it.

well, it is a personal preference, of course.

for me, i just like the typical looking forum, which almost all forums use online. this one looks a little too amatuer for me.

What's the "format for a typical forum"? All I do is scroll down and read! :>)

I think of it as a party in a limitless garden with conversations about anything and everything, people moving about greeting old friends, making new ones, joining in the chat or just listening to the stories.

I belong to a few other forums, I pay to visit, and I really dislike their formats. This is the first forum I ever visited.....it has been around longer than most of those other forums with "typical" formats, and we not only are used to it, but we like it. I don't understand the 'amateurish' comment. If you are speaking of the format the idea of a group of forums is to be user friendly, so amateurish is a good thing. Everyone should be able to navigate a website without effort, even amateurs.

As for the content? It's what makes this forum special and if that doesn't float your boat, then don't hold your breath waiting for it to change. It's an oasis in the cyber sea of offensive material. It's supposed to be chit-chat. You want technical..then you're in the wrong place. There is no vulgarity, bickering, flaming and we like it like that. I always suspect trolls or worse when a new person comes on for the first time with an issue and appears out of nowhere with complaints without even saying hello or introducing themselves.

I am another old-timer, it was the first forum I ever visited and it still is the first forum I check every day. I have made connections here that I will never forget.
Things I really appreciate: we all speak in complete sentences, try (not always successfully) to pay attention to grammar and spelling, we can disagree without being rude and flaming the other party and, I believe, we have something to contribute to the whole.
It pleases me no end that this is so all over the Gardenweb and This Home site, it is very unusual to find a contentious argument, and the worst of them are milder than some I have seen on other forum-sites/message boards.
Good manners go a long way here.

i am not criticizing this web site, i am only talking about the design of the entire forums on this site.

here are two things that i found out.

1. i can't edit my posts even if i just post it 1 minute ago. if i forgot to click on that "send me an email when someone replies" option, i can't go back and click for that option.

2. when i tried to add something extra to my own post one minute ago, this site won't let me to write another message right after.

i don't know who is in charge of this site or if any site owners will actually read this message.

here is how a typical forum looks like.

http://www.cbs.com/forum/forums/byCategory/13.page

Yes, you can add something to a post if you change the thread title a little. I suspect it's done to prevent people from inadvertantly double posting.

No, you cannot edit a thread after you've posted it. The only person who can edit it is the forum administrator. It teaches you something, and that is to think over your comments before you hit the submit button. In times gone by, when this forum was run by one very dedicated person, you had to beg him if you wanted/needed something deleted from a post. Nine times out of ten, it was something you shouldn't have posted in the first place, and usually he did not. Called "learning experience".

What I do like about the format in this site is that whenever anyone replies to a post, it shoots back up to the top of the page and stays there until it is replied to. This happens in some of the other web sites I use, but not all of them. The difference is, when you open the thread, all the replies are open page so that you can just scroll up and down and read it like you would in a book. You don't have to keep clicking to open each closed response to a thread, and that is a royal pain in the yazoo........ and the way it works on some sites.

The thing is, the contents of a site are what brings most people to it. I will go to an interesting site, regardless of the way it is formatted, if it's something I want to read. I will not go to an easily navigable site, with content I don't want to read. You get used to any format if you use it enough, and the consensus of most of the people on this site (in all the forums evidently) is that they are comfortable with the format. I hope it doesn't change, I would visit it less often if it did.

Simple, easy on the eyes, no multicolor hard to read back round and text, no avatars and signatures blinking and slowing your machine, a preview to check and make corrections or additions what more do you want?

This is also the first forum I visited and even though I don't post often, I check it first every day. I feel like I know all the regular posters, it is like family.

It's the content for me ~ that and all of the things Don said.

But content and people - how do you feel about that Preppy>

I notice from your page you registed in 2005 - you must that been thinking about this for a long time :)

What forum are you talking about? Thank goodness this forum isn't like the one you posted. This is about the easiest on the net.

Do you preview your posts before posting?

Bye Bye Preppy Jack....some of us have been hanging around here for well more than 10 years.....Some peopole just don't know any better...

I really like this format. I belong to another forum that is set up the way you like, and I find that one a pain to use.

As was said before, if you want to post more than once on the same thread you sometimes need to change the "subject of posting" title -- then it works.

The "Preview Message" button gives you a chance to see and edit what you wrote before you post.

some people are just refuse to change.

this forum format is not working.

one big problem is that you can't edit your own post! you can't add any more information or delete anything that you wrote.

just because you have used it for a long time, that doesn't mean it has the best design.

this forum format is not working.

I believe you mean that this forum is not working for you. It's clearly working for a lot of us who have been here since as far back as 1996.

one big problem is that you can't edit your own post! you can't add any more information or delete anything that you wrote.

Sure you can. You just have to read your post before you hit submit.

just because you have used it for a long time, that doesn't mean it has the best design.

I don't believe that anyone has said that this forum has "the best" design. What the people here have been saying is that it's easy for them to use.

You seem to be bent on starting something here, but you know what? I don't think anyone is interested in your argument & just repeating your complaints over & over again isn't impressing anyone.

Oh, the different forum formats are the same difference as between linear math and geometry. Those who think everything should be one-two-three are going to feel a little lost in a world of expanding spheres. Neither design is "best" or better than the other, because they are so different.

Preppyjock ~ if you have a serious complaint then take it to the webmaster. Same, if you have an applicable design improvement. Just remember that one should be familiar with the basics before an attempt is made to change those basics. Impulsiveness doesn't work well in real life, and less well when wanting things to be different.

Preppy, I'm sorry our format doesn't work for you.
Perhaps somewhere else along the way you'll find the perfect
one for you.
Bless your heart.

She's back in her best form, Bless Her Heart!!

If people have an issue with a forum, they usually take it up with the webmaster. Issuing a grumble on a randomly selected forum within the overall website will achieve nothing. But presumably, being such a website expert, you know that already? (Surprised you don't seem to understand the difference between "forum" and "website" either)

Happy trolling preppyjock. Try the webmaster instead.

Reading back over this made me snicker...hadn't had a food fight in a looonggg time...lot of cabin fever...

Saw Peeps the other day...wonder where John is?
I've really missed him.

The old goat is alive and hopefully reasonably well.

Fair Haven.

"one big problem is that you can't edit your own post! you can't add any more information or delete anything that you wrote."

Sounds like a lesson in accountability and learning to read what you write before you post it.

I see people on other forums edit or delete their posts just to get themselves out of the hot water their words got them into in the first place. This place is for thinking, intelligent people and I like that.

Then there are a couple of forums on this site where people type before they think but this is not usually one of them.

You can also post again on the same thread to add more information here and get your point across if it is valid to begin with. The format here has been very useful for some to learn to to communicate well on a forum. Thinking before you hit submit is a good thing as demonstrated by your posts on this thread.

By the way, I used the preview to correct typos and add a few thoughts to this post.

Jan's response made me laugh and laugh and laugh. Not necessarily a great response at work :)

Mr. Jock, I particularly like this format. I find it easy to read and follow. If you don't, you are more than welcome to hang out in another forum or on another website. There are certainly a number of different places to go.

Lisa

Seems I didn't proof read enough, LOL to to.

LOL Don. But you were easily able to come back and add that you didn't. Smiles.

Everyone has said the things I would have, so there is little reason for me to repeat, but, since this lovely forum showed me that there were new responses on this thread, why not? Smiles.

I used to wish we could edit, but over time I came to see that I actually value that 'limitation'. As has been mentioned, too many people try to edit out something they don't wish to be accountable for. [like lousy grammar, lol] This way it's easy to come back and post more to explain further but you can't take anything back. Yup, useful.

I also really do like that the threads with new and most recent posts come back to the top. Very user friendly when you want to keep a conversation or information flowing.

It works....for US. Oh yes, and since you're getting the responses emailed to you, apparently that function works for you too.

And a couple other things... chuckling.

Wanda, as history goes around here I don't think this really comes close to qualifying as a food fight, eh? LOL. I don't think Spike would even been able to send anyone to Disney ... yet.

Preppyjock, by the amount of emails this thread has generated to your inbox I have to differ with your assesment that this forum "isn't working". Also, in your first statement you said it "doesn't attract people to respond to them". Um, have you seen the number of forums this site has? It wouldn't have grown this way if it didn't work for the vast majority of users. If you think none of these forums have traffic, I hope you never stumble over to the Kitchen Table. It's under Home Forums down at the bottom of the page or also handily up top of the page under forums, then Home Forums. But since you've been registered since 2005 you probably already know how to maneuver around here.

Going to check out John..

I owe you an apology. I assumed you were a new person who was just trying to make waves. I did a little more digging and discovered that you have been around for quite a few years (at least four). Please accept my apology.

Please let us know more about you....it must have been interesting living in the Caribbean.

WANTED: Do you know what kind of plant this is?

Posted by preppyjock 90032 (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 27, 05 at 12:09

i used to live on a caribbean island. one day at a person's front yard, i foudn this cute, light purple leaves bush.
when i first got it, it was so easy to grow. first I just put it in a cup of water, it growed a little, but it needs soil to grow better.
so i just sticked it in the ground, they grow. now i moved to another island, i got 4 braches, two died. the other two i put in one cup. they didn't grow fast enough. so one day , i figured, i will divide them in two cups. now they both died.
it doesn't have any flowers, just plain light purple mixed with a little gray on the leaves. it is randomly mixed with gray and light purple.
the leaves are not oily looking. they are really light, a little transparent when they are young.
i think that the leaves have the shape of a maple tree leave.
they look similar to the following picture, so does anyone know what that is? if i can get it in the states?
http://www.kestrel-press.com/cofc/emilysgarden/620/620_34732a60.jpg

I can see where, in some cases, editing might save a reputation

My oh my, coconut-nj! I had totally forgotten about DISNEY! OMG! Wow... that was a long time ago, now, wasn't it?!

I miss Spike. lol

I too hope that the format never changes. If I don't like a site, I just don't go there. Since I assume that nobody forces you to visit here, just ignore us.

I've been watching this thread and I was actually happy anything got more than the usual 5 or 10 comments. Not much has stirred us to more lately. I don't see any problem with voicing your comment, unless you were trying to create problems, and that doesn't seem to be the objective; seems to be a reasonable discussion. Although, it does look most of us (GW Partiers) disagree. I disagree with the other forum formats. I like this one is why I am here. If I have to click on every single reply to dig through all of the answers, it confuses and bugs me. And those listed with all of the signatures, icons, avatars, and pictures are just plain annoying because I have to sift through the written stuff, and then delete the signature from the answer... too much for me. This one is cut and dried, simple for dummies like me. :)

variety is the spice of life..you can't edit a sent email either..so we need to be careful of what we write...that is just a matter of responsibility..i know..i have hurt people in the past by not editing an email and realizing i said something in a way that was misunderstood..too late.