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More Forum Problems

last year

last modified: last year

I noticed that ”Cooking” has disappeared from the list of Topics, even from my saved Topics, on desktop as well as mobile.

Sigh.

Maybe it’s time to make a concerted effort to get the attention of the webmaster to fix this and related problems?

I sent a message to Houzz at the “Contact Houzz” link (at bottom of desktop page) explaining the problem and asking the Cooking topic be restored to the topic lists.

If a bunch of us did that, and didn’t stop, then maybe the issue would get fixed.

I don’t know if it is just the Cooking forum. I couldn’t find The Kitchen Table either.

Incidentally, I looked very briefly into alternatives, should this forum disappear entirely. One is Reddit, a successor forum could be created. Another is one of the forum hosting services where you create a custom forum run on vBulletin or similar software, named something easily findable by GW refugees. A third is an email group like via Google Groups - less good, since it can't be easily found by others. Anyone know which would be the best Plan B? My email is johnliu@earthlink.net in case it’s ever needed.

Featured Answer

plllog

last year

My only typing issues are blasted aging. The hands want to be in a different spot than the eyes. That, and sometimes being sleepy. I try to reread and correct my posts as much as possible, but it's hard to see one's own errors even with good vision, so it can take awhile.

JL, I love GartenWeb!! (I had a professor as an undergrad who opined that puns were actually the highest form of humor, not the lowest, because it's all intellect. So I go with that.) Re ads, I'm generally fine with being said rented eyeballs, but Reddit makes me nuts with all the ads that look like posts right in the middle of threads. Last I checked, the Wayback machine had stopped having everything, and only takes a snapshot sample every few days. Very useful for mostly static web pages, but not really for discussion groups. Whereas, I was delighted to find, when we moved here, that they had ported the whole GW archive and things we'd thought were lost forever were now searchable. I only joined KT in 2010 (started in Appliances a few years before, then Kitchens, until mine was done and I'd paid it forward). Being able to find much loved recipes, advice and know-how from prior years is a delight, and finding stuff I'd done and forgotten, or forgotten how to do is amazingly useful.

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Comments (13)

Sherry8aNorthAL
last year
last modified: last year
Cooking is still on my forums. I use google chrome and do not use the app. Iphone, Ipad, and Microsoft 10 desktop.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Same here. Both Cooking and The Kitchen Table are fully accessible to me and always have been. But I only access the site via GardenWeb and only on my laptop.

So my assumption is that it is not just a site related problem and that these forums are not at risk of being discontinued but some combo of a site/device/application issue.
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angelaid_gw
last year
"Maybe it’s time to make a concerted effort to get the attention of the webmaster to fix this and related problems?

I sent a message to Houzz at the “Contact Houzz” link (at bottom of desktop page) explaining the problem and asking the Cooking topic be restored to the topic lists.

If a bunch of us did that, and didn’t stop, then maybe the issue would get fixed."

Good luck with that.

These forums have had issues for the last few years, or more. I'm sure they have had dozens, or hundreds, of emails about them. If the forums were generating income for Houzz, the issues would have been resolved by now!

They may just get tired of the moaning and whining and close them once and for all 😔
Sherry8aNorthAL
last year
They bought us. I wish they eould just sell us to a REAL gardening web site.
John Liu
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Sherry showed me how to get Cooking added back to my list of saved Topics. Thanks!
lizbeth-gardener
last year
I only access the sites thru Garden Web and only on my laptop, but I see what you are saying. I have no trouble as they are in my saved topics, but neither are listed in the list of topics to choose from if I didn't have them saved. In that case I look for posts that have included them and go into the site that way. Not great for someone new to the site. It would be nice to have a backup plan if they choose to eliminate us.
plllog
last year
At one time, GW was a top hit on Google. Now it's hard to find on Google. They probably do want to get rid of us. During one of the very frustrating tech changes, a whole lot left. Some went to Facebook. Some to (now defunct) Chowhound. A bulletin board is best, I'd think, because it's what we're used to, but losing the Archives would be pretty tragic.
John Liu
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
I wonder how much of the old stuff is on the Internet Archive etc?

On very brief “research” (read a Reddit thread) it seems like the bulletin board hosting services would be an easy way to go.

Well, if we get the axe look for a new bulletin board called OnceGW or GartenWeb or something like that. Or email me.

We're eyeballs on ads, if nothing else. It feels like Houzz could do a better job monetizing that. So I prefer to think it is merely inattention, but good to have a plan.
Sheeshie
last year
How hard is it for you folks to typtype here? im not having access problems but it taketakes forever to type a readable message and make corrections. i use iphone and ipad at home but typing issues are the same at my public library. I made no corrections to this post
John Liu
Original Author
last year
I would have said “WebGarden” but that is the name of a US web development company and presumably trademarked.
lowspark
last year
My biggest complaint, and the reason I don't read this forum all that often, is that it doesn't point you to your unread posts. You have to plow through to try to find where you left off since the last time new posts were added to a given thread.

I wish it were set up like this forum:

Bad Manners and Brimstone
lizbeth-gardener
last year
You may already know this, lowspark, but if you go to the bottom of the original post and hit comment it wil take you to the last post. I find this easier to scroll up to see the newest/unread posts, rather than scrolling down thru all of them.

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