A roll call, who is still here and staying after the "upgrade"?

9 years ago

Harry are you still here? I hope so! You have always been "The Man" when it comes to beans!

Are any of the other long time posters still lingering and trying to adapt?

After reading other posts, elsewhere on the "new and improved" site, a lot of people are having problems. And in general, most are not liking what we have been regulated to.

We have been attached to an uppity, home improvement site, IMHO.

You know, they are the kind of people that hire folks to do their dirty work and think that veggies only come from the supermarket!

Us gardeners, get down and dirty! We are happy when we have dirt under our fingernails!

Sometimes during the winter when I can't grow something, I just go dig in the dirt to relax!

A lot of us are thinking about giving up on GW, BTW, I'm on that list!

If Y'all leave, I'll be right behind you! If Y'all plan to stay, I will give it some more time.

In case I give up....

Thanks to all, that have helped me and/or listened to my, sometimes right and sometimes wrong advise!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your seeds with me, I went from Blue Lake bush beans and bush butter beans as my standard to a whole new world of different variety's!

I hope that everyone that I shared seeds with are happy with them.

I will miss Y'all if I go, I feel like Y'all are kinda like family!

Darn, this seems like a suicide letter! :) No, I'm not depressed, just not happy with what has happened to our website!

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

9 years ago

Having read more about the circumstances of this change since my first post, I am a little less aggravated. It seems that we are only free to discuss our anger over these changes because we were saved from a worse fate - going dark without notice. Losing contact with everyone here would have been unbearable; I only have off-line contact info for a handful of those I have met here, and chances are the rest of us might never be together again in one place.

So the reality is, we have dodged a bullet, and should count our blessings. We were not kidnapped, we were rescued... so I guess I owe Houzz more thanks, and less criticism (although there is room for improvement).

There are threads regarding this transition on nearly all of the various GW forums, and I have read quite a few of them. Houzz staff has been commenting on some of those threads, and it seems that they are sincere about preserving this community. From what I have seen, most of the older threads are still in the archives, and all of my clippings are still here. I'll hold my breath awhile longer, observe the changes, and wait to see what the site looks like when everything settles down.

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Comments (23)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
9 years ago
I haven't decided yet. There are so many things that I don't like about this new site... the horrible display with no user-adjustable settings, this reply box, no basic formatting (which GW also lacked) but I can no longer use HTML codes. Traded pop-ups (which I could block) with data mining (which quite honestly disturbs me). While there is now "messaging", there doesn't seem to be a direct email function. No ability to post climate zone or location, unless you call it your "last name" as I did.

It will be harder to recognize long-time posters for awhile, since many of them lost their user names in the change-over, and were forced to create new identities.

And probably the biggest problem for me personally: no exchange list. The ability to post those lists for all on the Web to see, and the enormous amount of sharing & trading those lists encouraged, is part of what made GW such a special community. While I belong to SSE (whose long-time members are also going through culture shock caused by recent changes), GW was the heart of my online preservation & sharing efforts, and I directed a lot of people here from other forums. If the present ownership does not restore the exchange list in some capacity (a thread on the Pepper Forum seems to indicate that may happen), then I doubt I will spend as much time here as I have in the past.

GW has always felt like family to me too - a family that, after years of tranquility, has suddenly been kidnapped & is now being held hostage in a foreign country.

After 10 years, I've met a lot of great people here, and formed some wonderful friendships... so I doubt that I will ever leave the site entirely. The deal breaker for me could be the data mining, if I find its intrusion into my privacy to be excessive. I hope the new site overlords make a sincere effort to restore the functionality (in fairness, there have been a few improvements in links & photo posting), and to address the concerns of this community.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
9 years ago
I'm still here, but so disappointed to see what they have done to our family. I find it now has a very cold and unappealing appearance. Not being very computer savy I'm trying to muddle my way through it. Lord after all these years I had just finally found out how to post a picture albeit only one at a time without DH's help.

I have had the pleasure of 'meeting' so many people here, maybe not in person but I think of you all as my friends and I do hope we can stay in touch. I did join a couple of other forums in the last year or two but Garden Web has always been like family for me. I feel like I have just lost my best friend but will stick around hoping things will get better.

I don't do Facebook,Twitter or whatever it's called but if any of you find another comfortable place to drop your hats give me a shout.

Annette
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drloyd
9 years ago
"If it ain't broke, don't break it" to modify an old saying.

There are a couple of good heirloom bean groups at Facebook that I belong to. I am Richard Loyd over there. Both Bill Best and his colleague Frank Barnett and also Rodger post there.

For now I will try to adapt to this. - Dick
beesneeds
9 years ago
I'm sticking around. Better to have a GW that is a bit confusing at first than to lose GW entirely. Which is what would have happened if NBC hadn't bothered to find a new home for GW.

And I figure, if we all can adapt the the changes and challenges that gardening offers, learn how to grow from basics to other more exotic and challenging plants.. adapting to a new web system isn't all that bad.
wertach zone 7-B SC
Original Author
9 years ago
I got an e-mail from Harry, He can't log in because his e-mail has changed.

From Harry:

Hi Ted. I tried to confirm my account but I have a new email address and I can't find any way to change it. I tried to email them and that wont work either. I probably will continue to read the posts but unless they change something I'll be on the outside looking in. If enough people complain about the situation maybe they will make changes.

Harry

Moderator, can you help? We need Harry!
fusion_power
9 years ago
can talk a bit on george's place if you like. seedsaversnetwork.proboards.com
fusion_power
9 years ago
That doesn't work. typed it right. seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
9 years ago
I'll be reading and posting here and maybe elsewhere. Looks like I'll be learning a few new computer skills, too. It sounds like some of what is missing may return, some may already be here, but I don't realize it. For me, most of the "stuff" I didn't like is gone, too....random pop-up ads that I could sometimes get rid of, other times not, lots of sidebar info that tried (and sometimes succeeded) in pulling me away from what I really wanted to spend time reading. But even though much of the most obvious clutter is gone, I feel kinda lost with a very boring, uncolorful screen.....maybe I'm just set in my ways and need awhile to adjust. Or maybe I need to change some settings to get a screen look I like.

I also learned to not rely on one single way to keep records of info I want to always be able to access readily, especially if I don't really have control of the system. I've refound most everything I wanted one way or another now, and I guess it was good for me to learn how to do that. But it does make me think differently....and that could be a good thing.

For now, it's time to go look at some new bean seeds I got in trades the last few weeks because of this site. Including a seed color I've never seen before in a mature bean. Yippee!
happydog
9 years ago
I've been on gw for 12 years. Not real happy to see it merged with houzz. Luckily I already had a houzz account, but good grief, houzz has nothing to do with gardening. Or cooking, which was another favorite forum.

Dr Lloyd, can you give the names of the bean groups on facebook? I like using fb groups, they usually have an active membership. I never thought of looking there for a bean group. Thanks.
cowabunga1
9 years ago
I'm so glad you guys are still around. I don't post very often but I've done a couple trades with a few of you and to lose access to everyone would be a huge disaster.

You can still make a have / want list! Just go to the top and click "Your Houzz" then you can make your lists by clicking on "New Ideabook."
Make the title "Have list" then type your list in the box that says "Enter Ideabook notes here." Do this again for your Want list.

Hope this helps some of you!
drloyd
9 years ago
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBAA1/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/584769128316875/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bohnenatlas/
happydog
9 years ago
Thanks. I didn't post much on this forum, but I've spent hours and hours reading the past threads and learning. I'd hate to think all that wisdom disappeared.
wertach zone 7-B SC
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Harry e-mail me and said he is back now! :) Anyone having trouble e-mail them at gardenweb@houzz.com
Macmex
9 years ago
I'm still here! I'm getting used to some of the differences and am finding that I actually like most of them. I especially like that I can edit a post after I post it. It is also easier to include pictures in posts. Anyway, I'm still around.

George
Tahlequah, OK
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
9 years ago
Trying to get use to this new system, I was having trouble trying to post a picture in another forum, it seemed to be working for everyone else except me. It was my browser so DH moved all my stuff over onto another one, now I have to get use to that too, but things are turning out to be as bad as I first thought. Keeping a positive thought.

Annette
rdback
9 years ago
Just re-activated my account so I could post on this thread lol. I'm still around as much as I usually am. *smile* Glad to see some of my friends are still here. Things are different, but don't seem too bad........yet.

Rick
LoboGothic
9 years ago
Hello everyone, I'm here and prepared to do whatever it takes to stay with this fabulous group. I especially hope the archives are still available.

Hang in there, Frances
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
9 years ago
Most of the archives seem to still be here, although they might not show up initially in a search. Fortunately for me, my clippings were saved, and the links there to some of the older threads still work. I never saved a link to the first Shelly Bean thread, though... so I hope someone still has a link to that one. I did notice that some of the longer posts (such as were often posted here on the Bean Forum) have been truncated, with some info cut off.

I wonder if the limits to thread length previously imposed by GW will still apply? If we can have longer, multi-year discussions on some topics, that would be a good thing.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Zeedman is this it? http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2013072/shelly-beans I'm still trying to muddle my way around this new format.
Annette
sea_kangaroo
9 years ago
I emailed Houzz about the truncated posts and they said that the info was "still there," just not visible currently, and that they are working on putting it back. So that's a relief!
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
9 years ago
Yes, Aftermidnight, that is the thread - thank you!!! I've bookmarked it, and bumped it up again to keep it visible.
gardenrescue2012
9 years ago
I don't post a lot, but I do read a lot. Took me awhile to figure out what the heck happened, but I managed to get my account reverified with my same old user name and climate zones. I'm sticking around for the moment. This is still definitely one of the more informative forums out there. Kind of want to keep it that way.

A roll call, who is still here and staying after the "upgrade"?

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

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