I just joined gardenweb a month or two ago and all the intricates of navigating and performing tasks are still new to me, but here's my two cents worth.

i signed up on my Ipad and the means may be different from desktops but the first thing I was prompted to enter was first and last name with a parenthetical statement that said it would be used for public display. So in the space to enter first name I put the name I wanted to use as my gardenweb name (kez) and my zone and state in the space for my last name. (Actually, I think i just had kez originally but after noticing other user names included zones (which I found extremely helpful), I changed my name as described above after noticing that you are allowed to edit your name once each year I think). There might be a simpler way to include zones, but that's what worked for me using an Ipad.

The option is there, it was only missing briefly. Returning it for gardening discussions was one of the things requested of Houzz, and they complied. As far as getting newcomers to use the feature, I suppose just ask....they may not know the importance in considering how to respond to them. And all of us were new to this once....

Houzz added back the option for climate zone for Garden Web not long after the change.

Hover cursor over My Houzz at top right. Click on Edit Profile. Go to Advanced Settings (located on the left).

Scroll down to Climate zone and type your own in the box. Adding the state as well as the zone can be helpful, i.e. Louisiana Z8 will not be comparable to my PNW Z8. Click Update to set the preferences. Your zone will then show in parenthesis after your screen name.

Perhaps my impressions are incorrect but It seems to me many fewer people include the crucial info when they first register and post than pre houzz.

I understand the options and I wasn't asking for instructions.. But when a forum has a half dozen new users a week whose usernames do not include zone and location I think something is unclear n the registrAtion process. I think it is inefficient to have to keep asking "where are you?" and repeating the same instructions again and again as new people try GW. If I'm the only one who feels there must be a better way, then it seems it is not a problem.

Consider too the possibility that many amateur gardeners who stop by hoping for help have no idea what their zone is,or how to find that information. If a zone is "required" to register might that not dicourage some potential future gardeners? Just sayin'

jan

I'm not a big fan of requirements, but asking optionally as part of the initial registration would probably get a lot more zones included in profiles. A lot of new gardeners have no idea what a zone is or what zone they are in, just part of the learning process.

Good points, Jan and Tiffany. I would think, though, the fact that Houzz already includes a hyperlink "find your zone" for help if needed would eliminate concerns of needlessly discouraging new gardeners.

Because this is an educational website,among other things, I think it is fine to help newcomers understand zones from the get-go. Just like people here are generally pleasant about requesting climate info and also give the reasons, a similar tone can be used on registrAtion page. Such as" LEARN ABOUT CLIMATE ZONES AND HOW TO FIND YOURS" + link

I am not worried about adults being scared off by by a common sense and courteously worded requirement.

Yes Marie I believe if the zone info is easily available for folks to enter it would be very beneficial. Like Tiffany I am not a fan of requirements, however in this case .... I was actually thinking the other day if it were part of the registration process how much easier it would be to communicate effectively.

That is rather far down on my "What's annoying list". It only takes a simple question if a person bumbles in and posts without that info. Inexperienced gardeners are usually obvious anyway and one-timers are just that. One timers.

Annoying is when someone has no ideas or even worse, has already decided what they want as it turns out, and requests ideas for landscaping etc. getting the whole deal for free no less and counting on others doing the mental work. Everyone starts pitching in but nearly every idea is trashed by the OP for some reason or another. I mean, its as if no one can provide the right answer with the 'perfect' suggestion to suit Picky Poster but people keep jumping through hoops to try to please these people as if we are the hired contractors trying to please the difficult paying customer.

If you don't like a suggestion then just be polite and thank the person or say nothing at all. No need to say why you don't like suggestions again and again with each new suggestion. Anyway, it really gets on my nerves, Now I just delete my post when Picky Poster does that, often after listing several plants I had to google to get correct spelling and botanical name etc, which I wasted time on. Thanks a lot for the 'F' grade.

By the way. I am zone 7. It used to be by my name on the old GW deal but I figure people know me by now and I do post I'm in Oklahoma when necessary. Texas is what most people conclude by my name and usually thats close enough for plants.

I try to remember to look. If it's somebody's first post, I rarely reply with anything but a question & to say welcome.

Disinterested non-gardening types, one question only types and just plain ignorant types usually shows up quick & they don't hang around long anyway. Its up to us whether we are willing to waste our time or not. No one is obligated to answer. Like purpleinopp, I don't care for a lot of requirements.

I was on gardenweb "forever" and had my zone displayed. I never even realized the zone info didn't transfer over here until someone very nicely pointed it out.

The zones not transferring over when it switched to houzz is a nuisance when reading older threads, which now lack many of the no-longer-active posters' zone info.

Having to put in zone and location would not bother or deter me. What would bother me is concern knowing that there might be members of the forum who might feel that what info I don't include might be bothersome. LOL

Judy...another take on your comment is that any way possible we can get that info from a new poster will save them possible embarrassment of someone getting annoyed with them. And I have seen an increasing number of people getting irritated. (Again I get that....that's why I started this thread)

Perhaps it is as much a courtesy to a new gwebebber as it is to ourselves to to be up front about our needs....expectations....what words can we use....to get the point across?

But then we'd miss out on ken_adrian's clipped posts with all the quick fire (hey stupid) questions. I always enjoy those and sort of anticipate them when I know one is coming.

yes Ken, I'd love to see one of your funny video links that could get the "point" across

Its futile trying to dictate how other people should post information. That's what's so nice about a garden. You can do what you want your own way and set your own rules. If you get irritated with someone on GW, just move on to another post or better yet, go outside and pull some weeds, dig a new planting hole for a new plant or something. Different things irritate different people. This issue is not irritating to me at all but other things are very irritating. Thats life.

Wondering if there are any other opinions or suggestions. For those who are not annoyed or against "requirements" or futile projects, do you have suggestions for how to to get new posters to include their zone/geographic identifier in their first post? If you look over this forum, see how many original posts do not include a zone. Count how many times someone has asked for it.

Maybe find a new plant or shrub to be obsessed about? That should take your mind off of this subject that you have no control over....

That is my only suggestion :)

If I realize I'm not in the mood to ask politely where someone is, I try to also realize I should turn off the computer & come back later when my mood is more amenable. Why open up forums if you don't feel like chatting? Some of the snarky remarks I've seen (in general, not necessarily in this discussion) are the obvious reason why some people don't come back. It's ridiculous to expect someone new to a hobby would know anything about it. That's why they would come here and ask for help. It's my belief that there should be no newbie-snark in gardening. Maybe we could brainstorm how to put a stop to that?

Marie Tulin (6)

This really doesn't tell anyone much. Says you are a woman in zone 6 somewhere.

Lots of snow in winter or not? What type of soil? Plant preferences? Amount of annual rainfall? Humidity? Dry? High mountain elevation? Desert? Urban? Suburbs? Gated community with rules? Rural? etc etc.

My point is that conversations start up on GW and people get to know each other to ask questions, share ideas/excitement over plants and show off their gardens. I don't see GW as an Educational Institution comprised of a group of knowledgeable advisors for people to access out there as a public service where they can contact us "the experts".

"I won't spend my time any more if there's no climate or geological information".

Your words. Problem solved.

Why are you still so irritated needing this thread perpetually bumped up to the top as if it is critical? I noticed you have this posted on the Shrubs Forum also. Are you trying to gather a group of like minded people to contact houzz until they fix this problem? You posted that you yourself sent in a request they do something. I can only surmise you are venting your irritation, trying to get more people to agree with you and do the same.

TR: your point about my zone info is valid and I'll see if I can fix it . However because I have been on gardenweb over 10 years and gardening for 35 I know to add details pertinent to the questions I ask.

The only other point of yours I'll address is how to make change happen. Nothing covert going on; of course I'm trying to find like minded people to ask Houzz to address an issue. I don't believe I am the only one who finds the 'zonal' aspect of the format contributes to inefficiency for all the reasons I and others have stated. If houzz is a community, then I am certainly making a stab at the first step of community organizing: raising the visibility of an issue and inviting people to talk about their experience and opinions and communicate directly with one another and Houzz.

I do believe this discussion has run its course. But of course others are able to comment here or privately to the company.

I tried to give as much information up front but omitted Vancouver Island, it was getting long :)

If I have something I think will be a valuable bit of info for the poster I haven't got a problem asking where the poster is from, zones don't always do it as my zone 7 is totally different from zone 7 in Georgia. More precise locations are more of a help and it only takes a second to ask. I'm of an age before computers and social networking and was taught it doesn't cost a thing to be polite. If it's a post that doesn't sit well with me I just don't add my two cents and yeah, time to put this to rest.

Annette

Marie, I noticed you deleted your comment about the frustration of not being able to keep this thread bumped up to the top and I am glad you decided its time to put this to rest. Of course, you could always keep bumping it. If not, your proposal for answering with a prepared statement that you posted on the Shrubs Forum should be more than enough said to less exacting folks who don't post according to protocol.

Below you will see precisely the sort of thing that happens and why I objected to what you are attempting to encourage others to do. Its been really nice and friendly around here of late and I don't want a few people who seem to think they are entitled to boss others around due to the idea of having tenure because of the number of years they have posted entitling them to dictate proper conduct, turn people in to the mods or publicly call on other members to correct or turn in those they do not like. We went through that sort of thing some time back.

Its been refreshing not to have hall monitor types telling people how to post. It appears obvious that you believe this sort of thing improves the overall website, but it doesn't. It just embarrasses people and makes them feel bad. I ought to know, I was once on the receiving end. Its better to practice patience. Allow others to be themselves and give new people time to adjust and learn in their own way.

A member posting for the first time got this warm welcome.........

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-choosing-an-evergreen-dsvw-vd~3294735[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-choosing-an-evergreen-dsvw-vd~3294735)

TR2, I find that 'warm welcome' extremely disappointing.

I think there's valid points on both sides here. Gardenweb is by far the most civil and informational forum I have personally encountered on the internet, and if it had gone away had Houzz not picked it up earlier this year then I think that would have been a tremendous loss. That said, there were some changes that occurred which possibly devalued GW as a source of information exchange a bit. If this was a forum about computers and newbies were constantly asking questions that omitted some very basic piece of information like, say, the type of operating system they have or something, I can see how that would be irritating for the computer experts, especially if until very recently it hadn't been an issue. Houzz could include a sticky "Please read before posting" thread at the top of the page that had some helpful tips newbies could consider. Not everyone would read it, but many would and it might be a win/win for those who do and those who respond to them.

As far as warm welcomes go, I did have negative experience when I first started posting last year when I asked a question about the mature size of a plant I just acquired and the first response I got from an established poster was literally, "You know...there is this thing called a search engine where you can
probably find lots of information...this was the first result I found,
and as it's St Louis Botanical Garden, should be a good reference." Which I thought was a wee bit sarcastic and uncalled for. The link that poster provided was also unhelpful as my question clearly had to do with conflicting information on the plant tag and what I had already found researching online. I chalked it up to the responder writing me off just because I was a newbie and I did thankfully get some very helpful responses from others who did have direct experience with the plant in question. I'm glad that the polite and helpful responses on here seem to outnumber the others by a large margin.

I go to the home forums a lot, and it helps to know a state or zone there too. People ask questions about building codes, real estate related things, etc. They say "In MY state," blah blah. Well, what state are you in? These are not new people to the forums. Long time posters. I had to change to Houzz, but I did put my state and zone into my screen name line. It just helps others help you.