RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted June 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 4, 2011 Am I the only one that uses "View New Content" (Very occasional user of "Active Content") ? nope, me too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 And me. That way I can see what's happening everywhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted June 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 4, 2011 Edited - I just don't believe that most RMWeb users access via Active Content. If they do, then we can do away with all the different forums and just have one big massive one and bung it all in Not quite as extreme a change as suggested by the above quote but yes - Can we please have some consolidation of areas on the forum as for me there has been too much past splintering into sub-groups. Result is I tend to only use Active & New content to view (plus obviously My Content) as getting too difficult to find things. Also often a new topic could go into several places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I just don't believe that most RMWeb users access via Active Content. Maybe a Poll should be held, to get a definitive answer to that. I use it, but "third in line" so to speak, as I posted earlier. On another point, "Similar Topics" is just getting silly, now... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 On another point, "Similar Topics" is just getting silly, now... There's a (-) minus symbol on the RHS which makes it disappear I've switched it off as it was taking up a lot of screen space. My contribution was specifically in response to a genuine question about the difference between threads and blogs. Blogs exist outside RMWeb and have the same purpose and set of values - you write what you think. As for the idea that streams of consciousness do not lurk in RMWeb blogs, try this from the last couple of days : [extract deleted] As a blogger, the author is entitled to talk about everything and anything - and here he has chosen to do so. He might not have done so in a thread. Ian I think I'm wasting my time here tbh. I can understand where Kenton's coming from, both in use with javascript and with some imperfect writing style of blog authors making following some projects disjointed and even simply difficult, but using one example and holding it up as typical... nah. I've noted my objections in the earlier post, and my disappointment that the thread is more about writing off blog format content than taking the site forward. I'm certainly not wishing to add to that, so I will leave it there. J. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Am I the only one that uses "View New Content" (Very occasional user of "Active Content") ? I only use Active Content as well, Life is too short to look through all the other bits that are here and there. Got to get time to do some modelling you know Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 There's a (-) minus symbol on the RHS which makes it disappear I've switched it off as it was taking up a lot of screen space. Ta mate - that's better!! There we are - RMweb improved with one click!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neil Posted June 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 4, 2011 There seems to be some momentum gathering behind the notion that moving towards a simpler or more coherent forum might be worthwhile. I thought it might be a good idea to compare index pages. Here's one of the better ones in my opinion. It's visually calm, and all the bits of the forum are accessed the same way. There's nothing loud trying to grab my attention, I choose where I might like to take a look at first. Now here's RMweb. It's visually disjointed, and even if we discount the banner adverts, it still looks like it's trying to sell me something. The Lead Adventure forum puts me in mind of a library, RMweb of a remaindered bookshop. It's a shame that the content is sold short by the wrapping. I can tell that there's been a lot of work adding new features to the forum, but I think it would be most worthwhile prioritising the design and layout for a while. I'm afraid I've found it difficult to totally separate what I would like for the future from what I think is ripe from improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Yes, but you may need to sign out without having read everything that you would like to read. Using the "Last visit" option you will lose those items from the list. The "Unread" option keeps them in the list until you read them or mark them as read, regardless of any signing in and out. Each to their own is my view. As another "view new content" user I've found that it doesn't really matter if you don't get a chance to read everything before signing out. If it's an interesting topic then it will crop up again quickly as people will add new replies so you will catch it again at a later point, so I don't feel that I'm losing anything. Also using the view new content method means that I don't have to consciously mark all threads read, it's done for me automatically. Unfortunately there are far too many threads on here to keep track of and the automatic filtering by using view new content suits me fine, then again I'm one of the few people at work who doesn't leave outlook running all day. I read my emails first thing in the morning and then turn it off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted June 5, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 5, 2011 there are a lot of posts asking for a period of consolidation and a fair few folk commenting that there's arts of RMweb they don't understand or know how to use. So how about a period where we have a 'tutorial of the week' - a banner advertised thread that covers specific topics each week. Could reach more people and those that don't bother with or know of the existing help pages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted June 5, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 5, 2011 There is some irony in this discussion as a lot of the new features are an attempt to make the (good) content more visible, and yet for many it seems to have resulted in an impression that things are more fragmented. I personally like the myriad of ways you can currently explore RMweb, but I can also see how the navigation can be confusing, which is a bit of a killer for any website. A key priority might therefore be to make the overall structure of the website more clear and apparent to people. I think the suggestions above of enhancing the index page could be an important way of creating a "mental map" of the site. Some good steps have already been taken in this direction with the new drop-down menus, but people will not see those immediately. Earlier in the topic I made reference to http://cs.trains.com/trccs/ which I believe is the world's largest and I'm sure you can see similar problems approached in a different way but to me it isn't clear where I'd need to go to follow a specific interest. Is their index better than here? Personally, I think that an index page such as trains.com does a lot for a newcomer, or for anyone who is not quite comfortable finding their own way around on web pages: It presents in a simple format the three main sections of the site (forums, blogs and galleries), and gives equal balance to each of those three main sections. You can then click your way into subsections via simple sub-headers. For the "old-hand" visitor, such an index page may not appear to mean much, and if they like they can skip it. Nevertheless it is through the index page that they are consciously or subconsciouly made aware and reminded of the basic structure and set-up of that particular website, and the weight that is given to each section. So you could introduce a simple stylish index page with an "in your face" photo of the month (or whatever) at the top, and then simple headline links (perhaps with a few words of explanation) to (i) Featured Content, (ii) Forums/Groups, (iii) Blogs, (iv) Galleries and (v) Other (the Apps). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Within the topic there seemed to be disagreement over the way people use the site so I've knocked a poll which may give some further info - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/38653-how-do-you-use-rmweb/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkmouse Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thanks Andy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Andy, are you putting a deadline on this or will it be left to run as new members join and have their say? Perhaps we will find out what attracts people to this site in the first place? Also with over 12,000 members how many are active, bearing in mind that they have to actually read this topic to find the poll, I guess it will be a poll of active members anyway. Geoff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
(The) Youth Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Is it possible to have a way of seeing who has quoted me recently ? I have seen this elsewhere and I find it very useful Cheers, Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 I guess it will be a poll of active members anyway. Very much so; which will naturally distort responses to the last question. There's no harm in leaving it up there unless there are substantial changes to functions/features which may negate the poll options. There is a big silent number out there whose voices we don't hear in any form on here but I do occasionally get some input when out at shows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 There is a big silent number out there whose voices we don't hear in any form on here but I do occasionally get some input when out at shows. As someone who definitely doesn't fit that description - It has always been my wish that as many of those that do can be encouraged out of the woodwork to contribute and take their rightful place in this community. Some focus on encouraging their contribution and move from anonymous reader (lurker) to participating member would in my mind be an improvement. I'm always in the view that I doubt the member statistics (based on numbers joined) when I only see the same old "virtual" friends discussing the same points, asking questions and contributing to the benefit of the forum. There is always the silent readership, but taking the trouble to actually join and then never to post anything seems very odd. RMWeb must surely cover every interest in railway modeling, if it doesn't, come on tell us about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 ...Some focus on encouraging their contribution and move from anonymous reader (lurker) to participating member would in my mind be an improvement. I'm always in the view that I doubt the member statistics (based on numbers joined) when I only see the same old "virtual" friends discussing the same points, asking questions and contributing to the benefit of the forum... Whilst agreeing with you on encouraging the lurkers, I think we can take the raw membership number with a pinch of salt. The total is really that of all who have ever joined and have not been lost (or have rejoined) at each change of software. For example, there are many 'members' who joined around 2007 but have never visited this incarnation of RMweb. A few minutes playing with the 'advanced filters' on the membership list reveals some interesting things (apart from the filters not always working quite as expected). For example, only about half of the total have ever posted anything. Of these, around 3400 have visited the site this year and about 4000 since the current incarnation went public in October 2009. Including those with no posts, the figures are about 5500 visitors this year and 8600 since October 2009. Nick ps. one of the more amusing results of studying the member list is the discovery that our good friend RSS Fetcher ranks sixth in the number of posts league table and has acquired a reputation of 64, but no gold stars Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 ps. one of the more amusing results of studying the member list is the discovery that our good friend RSS Fetcher ranks sixth in the number of posts league table and has acquired a reputation of 64, but no gold stars Of course now you've mentioned it RSS now has five gold stars! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Of course now you've mentioned it RSS now has five gold stars! No doubt justly deserved Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 but taking the trouble to actually join and then never to post anything seems very odd. It's probably so they can search the site. Guests are not able to use the software search system, this was done some time back to reduce server load and simultaneous queries against the database. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 There seems to be some momentum gathering behind the notion that moving towards a simpler or more coherent forum might be worthwhile. I thought it might be a good idea to compare index pages. Here's one of the better ones in my opinion. It's visually calm, and all the bits of the forum are accessed the same way. There's nothing loud trying to grab my attention, I choose where I might like to take a look at first. Everyone has their opinion, but I can't agree with you Neil that on first glance this is in any way more helpful or more accessible. Probably it's because I'm not familiar with it, or what it's for, so I don't know what I'm meant to look for. Now here's RMweb. It's visually disjointed, and even if we discount the banner adverts, it still looks like it's trying to sell me something. The Lead Adventure forum puts me in mind of a library, RMweb of a remaindered bookshop. It's a shame that the content is sold short by the wrapping. I can tell that there's been a lot of work adding new features to the forum, but I think it would be most worthwhile prioritising the design and layout for a while. I'm afraid I've found it difficult to totally separate what I would like for the future from what I think is ripe from improvement. But we're back to the familiarity thing again aren't we? As for the banner adverts, the sponsors are surely entitled to some return for their investment, and the upcoming Members' day and associated raffle are significant events. We are all supposed to be intelligent people, so should we be spoonfed everything? Is it asking too much to spend a few minutes exploring what the new site configuration does? Switch out the menu and status updates on the right if you don't need or want them; use the new drop down menus to get where you want to go (I find 'manage blogs' especially useful when before it was several clicks to get there). How you use the site to best advantage to me depends on a) how often you visit, and b ) how much time you have when you do. If you visit several times a day then 'view new posts' is my preferred initial course, and doesn't overwhelm you. Alternatively I might go to groups first to see if there is anything new of interest in my favoured areas. Or to 'manage blogs' if I have updated recently and want to check for comments (I chose not to be notified by email). If I'm in a hurry I might just go to 'my content' to check any updates to topics I have posted to before. If you don't visit very often, then browsing around the individual forum areas or blog lists might be the best way. But in any event, an hour or so exploring the new functionality should be enough for you to work out what is the best means for you of quickly accessing what you want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dilbert Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 There is always the silent readership, but taking the trouble to actually join and then never to post anything seems very odd. RMWeb must surely cover every interest in railway modeling, if it doesn't, come on tell us about it. How about introducing an invisible ink revealer in all browsers ? - see post #95 of this thread. That people join and decide not to post, for whatever reason, is their choice - do mag editors get upset because the whole of their subscription membership doesn't send them "letters to the editor" on a monthly basis ? dilbert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 How about introducing an invisible ink revealer in all browsers ? - see post #95 of this thread. Such an aid is definitely needed, I've just read post #95 and cannot see anything visible that relates to your quote from Kenton's post Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 It's probably so they can search the site. Guests are not able to use the software search system, this was done some time back to reduce server load and simultaneous queries against the database. Maybe you are right on that but it doesn't make sense - I never use the onsite search facility - it hardly ever produces the results required - more often than not I am in the process of searching on Google and up pops a topic on RMWeb (often one I haven't seen before) and of course I pick that as I know it will be a good place to start. example only a couple of days ago - I was "researching" TH vanguard and close to the top of the Google finds was a blog on RMWeb that I had not seen (probably because RSS Fetcher had been and since dropped off the end of Active Contents) a very interesting find but since lost (though no doubt a simple Google away) In some ways I can't quite see the point of a "site special" search facility when you can embed or use Google - after all that is their specialty. I guess they could be just joining to get their own "Active/New Contents" list so they can use the site that way Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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