Blog quality

[buffalo]

I think the vital difference with threads in VNC is that the name of the OP appears alongside...

Agreed, that's one of the reasons why I prefer to click on the Blogs tab rather than rely on RSS Fetcher. That way, you not only see the author's id, but also get to see a few lines from the start of the text.

...QUALITY of content is entirely on the Writer side of the equation...

It's also nothing to do with Blogs vs Threads: there is some rubbish written and some absolute gems in both formats...

I don't think many would argue with your general principles, but they are really only a start. On the specific issue of 'Blog Quality' there is also a question of what is suitable material for a blog entry and what is suitable for starting a new thread/topic on the forum side. Remember, this thread started from the issue of "pointless" blog entries.

 

If we take a "workbench" style of topic or blog as an example, I would suggest that a topic/thread lends itself well to frequent updates, such as a step-by-step approach to building something. On the other hand, a blog entry is perhaps more suited to showing significant milestones in the build with a written summary of what has happened since the last entry. Much the same could be said of the choice whether to present a layout development in one or other format. Both are equally valid approaches and it's good to have the choice of presentation approach. There are, of course, other types of material but again, I think the choice between a steady feed of information and infrequent but substantial chunks is a useful guiding factor in choosing whether to use a blog or topics.

 

Strangely, despite some people believing that blogs are all about "what I had for breakfast", it looks like topics/threads are more likely to throw up the modelling equivalent: "today I laid one piece of track"..."today I laid another piece of track"...

 

Nick

[Kenton]

However, in response to that last question, I think that anonymising contributions would dumb it down so far as to make it meaningless.  It would certainly threaten the 'community' feel and behaviours.</p>

I have to agree with you - I was being rather glib with that throw away comment!

 

 

What makes RMWeb are the characters that make up its membership. The place would be either dull or too antagonistic in the free-for-all that could ensue. At least the way it is we have the ability to recognise folk for what they are and how they may be expected to contribute. Even if we, all at times, get it a little wrong.

[jonhall]

Very good point. Someone mentioned Chris Nevard's blog, which is wholly unambiguous because that's what he calls it, we all know his capabilities and the blog meets - and often exceeds - expectations.

 

Funnily I was going to uses Chris' blog as a bad example - not of the content* but of the style making it difficult to determine if its worth reading...

 

His most recent post tells me what in the subject 'Old Sox'?? - not very much, and because he starts his posts with a photo, all I see is a suburban street view - again telling me what about the content? I have to actually open the blog to see what on earth the general gist is - whereas if the title had been more obviously about lampposts, or there had been a sentance above the photo that introduced it, I could have determined if my story about Surrey lampposts would find a home in the comments.

 

As it is, the only reason I would have to look at this blog, is because I know the standard of Chris' work, and consequently know its often (but not always) of interest.

 

Sorry to Chris...

 

Jon

 

*although pill boxes and penguins, and a salute to the glass half empty brigade might well fall into the original issue of quality of content IMHO.

[Gingerbread]

As it is, the only reason I would have to look at this blog, is because I know the standard of Chris' work, and consequently know its often (but not always) of interest.

 

To me, this probably encapsulates the problem - to some extent it applies to the whole site, but from the posts in this thread it hits blogs harder than other areas.

 

Putting it simplistically, the members of this site fall into two groups - the "famous" and the "rest". Whether due to lack of time, lack of suitable filtering facilities, or just "because", many members stick to reading entries attributed to names that they know when looking through the site - thus they read the "famous" and ignore the "rest". Perhaps it is a function of the size (and success) of the site - the "famous" group is now large enough that there is little point in exploring the "rest".

 

Which leaves those of us who belong to the "rest" with little chance of ever being widely read - without being "famous" we won't be read, and without being read, we won't become "famous".

 

Andy Y started the thread by indicating that he will be deleting "worthless blogs". This makes me uncomfortable, as his decision criteria are, so far as I can tell, not readily available, so it's quite possible I could arrive here one day and discover all my hard work deleted. I would prefer a system of warning first, but I realise that this is probably too time-consuming. As this is his site, I can't really disagree with his proposal, and it does at least have represent an attempt to attack the problem.

 

I offered a couple of suggestions for how casual readers could find interesting items in the blogs, but there seems to be no interest in pursuing them.

 

Unfortunately I don't see any constructive suggestions in this thread that are likely to change the situation significantly.

 

David

[Andy Y]

So it's quite possible I could arrive here one day and discover all my hard work deleted. I would prefer a system of warning first,

 

Please rest assured that your blog would not be under threat in any shape or form given the content and quality therein!

 

No one who has had any entries deleted should be under any doubt that they weren't up to scratch; especially if they read comments I leave (hell; even they didn't read what comments were being made on their blogs!).

[Red Devil]

Perhaps Mark because your Blog is viewed by a considerable number of non-members who can't comment here but do comment elsewhere? I do believe it has been the stimulus for a at least a couple of new members to join...

 

To a degree that's true Paul, my initial comment was made because of the 3 comments per entry idea, which I don't see as an indication of anything other than there was 3 (or more) comments per entry.

 

I know to a degree that my blog 'works' as I probably receive as much direct email conversation and phone calls about it as comments on the site. Also the nature of the subject is probably one of the causes of lack of comments. If you actually have a look in the blogs section probably the most comments are generated by the 2mm stuff (very much a generalisation, here) and I would suggest that's because there is a whole group of 2mm blogs and bloggers on here, so it's self perpetuating, you want to see excellent 2mm stuff, have a look in the blogs, you get enthused and start in 2mm, start a blog etc etc.

 

The major miss for me now is the 'your favourite blogs' bit, if I remember correctly you also got an email notification when something new was posted, this seems to be lacking since the last update and that is the major problem with the blogs, accessing what you want to read, if you can't find in in a few clicks then you tend to give up, or at least I do!

 

Back to the original subject, well I would have thought it's going to pretty obvious that your blog isn't cutting it if you come to it and it's been deleted, harsh, but like anything else read the rules and play by them, if you want overall control and a 'what I had for breakfast blog' do it elsewhere and/or at your own expense.

[Gingerbread]

To a degree that's true Paul, my initial comment was made because of the 3 comments per entry idea, which I don't see as an indication of anything other than there was 3 (or more) comments per entry.

 

I know to a degree that my blog 'works' as I probably receive as much direct email conversation and phone calls about it as comments on the site. Also the nature of the subject is probably one of the causes of lack of comments. If you actually have a look in the blogs section probably the most comments are generated by the 2mm stuff (very much a generalisation, here) and I would suggest that's because there is a whole group of 2mm blogs and bloggers on here, so it's self perpetuating, you want to see excellent 2mm stuff, have a look in the blogs, you get enthused and start in 2mm, start a blog etc etc.

 

The major miss for me now is the 'your favourite blogs' bit, if I remember correctly you also got an email notification when something new was posted, this seems to be lacking since the last update and that is the major problem with the blogs, accessing what you want to read, if you can't find in in a few clicks then you tend to give up, or at least I do!

 

I am sorry if you took my suggestion as implied criticism of your blog. I know that there are several blogs with less than three comments per entry that I regard as very worthwhile, I am not familiar with yours (yet).

 

What I was trying to do was to provide a possible solution for those who say "There are too many blogs - I don't have time to spend going through them seeing if there's anything worthwhile there". It's not a perfect solution, but it is a plausible way to eliminate a lot, and reduce the number at the next stage of filtering (even if it drops a number of good ones), and thus encourage members to at least look at a few of the blogs, rather than ignore them all. I don't really endorse the approach, as it is part of the "famous v rest" problem I referred to earlier.

 

Yes, the 2mm FS blogs do tend to generate more comments than average. I agree that to some extent they comment on each other's blogs, and form a self-sustaining ecosystem (see my "famous v rest" thesis above - the 2mm FS bloggers become "famous" to each other) and I and my blog fall largely into that category. However the most popular of the 2mm FS blogs are popular because of the quality of the content, irrespective of the scale - and I will resist the temptation to embarrass those bloggers by identifying the layouts concerned. I think this "problem" will gradually die out in the future, as I suspect most 2mm FS enthusiasts will post in their own subgroup rather than opening blogs.

 

Yes, the absence of "My favourite blogs" makes it more difficult for blogs to thrive. But the question remains - how did you select those "favourites"? My fear is that they were selected from the "famous", so we in the "rest" are never going to be read (and just to make it clear, this isn't an attack on you personally, but is a general problem with selecting what to read, to which I don't have a good solution).

 

David

[Jamie]

Are people aware that on the LHS of the screen one can request View New Content listings which give new stuff in Blogs and Galleries, in addition to the usual Topics returns? Only a click away.

[Red Devil]

 

I am sorry if you took my suggestion as implied criticism of your blog. I know that there are several blogs with less than three comments per entry that I regard as very worthwhile, I am not familiar with yours (yet).

 

I didn't take it or see it as criticism, I just thought that the concept was a bit flawed and as such said so!

 

Are people aware that on the LHS of the screen one can request View New Content listings which give new stuff in Blogs and Galleries, in addition to the usual Topics returns? Only a click away.

 

Personally, no I wasn't so thanks for making me aware of that, to a degree I'm just in the habit of hitting VNC and going from there, time for a change!

[craigwelsh]

The major miss for me now is the 'your favourite blogs' bit, if I remember correctly you also got an email notification when something new was posted, this seems to be lacking since the last update and that is the major problem with the blogs, accessing what you want to read, if you can't find in in a few clicks then you tend to give up, or at least I do!.

You can 'follow' blogs now to get the email notifications. In fact it seems when you post a new entry in your own blogs you automatically follow your own entries generating the emails about comments on them.

 

I tended to look through my favourites list visually though instead of via email and that functionality isn't as good now as the Follow listing under the user control panel doesn't seem to put the followed blogs in any decent order.

 

I chose my blogs to follow based on known P4 modellers or other entries that tend to have quality content such as Buckjumper's. I don't think im following your's red devil but I do read through sometimes based on your contributions in the 3d printing forum area. Every so often i'll check the main blog list if I have time to see if anything new needs adding to my favourites.

 

I don't use VNC because of the RSS fetcher stuff which I thought wasn't needed considering VNC has its own tab for blog content.

[Oldddudders]

Are people aware that on the LHS of the screen one can request View New Content listings which give new stuff in Blogs and Galleries, in addition to the usual Topics returns? Only a click away.

I wasn't, although I don't know why, as one often ends up in other collections, e.g. after viewing someone's profile, you end up with VNC in the members forum. Having done a trawl of RSS Fetcher's profile, which listed all the blogs it had picked up since time began, the number per day is seldom in double figs, so viewing those is really no sweat at all. Good idea, thanks.

[richbrummitt]

Are people aware that on the LHS of the screen one can request View New Content listings which give new stuff in Blogs and Galleries, in addition to the usual Topics returns? Only a click away.

 

Others have said they used the favourites feature on the old site. This made it very easy to keep tabs on blogs that you wanted to see again. I imagined that following a blog would work in a similar manner but the VNC control panel doesn't seem to work in the same way as in the forum unless you follow the individual entries, rather than the blog itself. Maybe it sees the posts likes topics and wants you to follow the individual blog posts for it to work well, however the group subscriptions work fine. That might be likened to following a blog (not individual entries), except that you are a member of a group? I don't know whether this can be improved.

[NGT6 1315]

Are people aware that on the LHS of the screen one can request View New Content listings which give new stuff in Blogs and Galleries, in addition to the usual Topics returns? Only a click away.

 

May I ask how you enable this? Either I'm being ham-fisted or I have not been looking in the right spot...

[Mikkel]

May I ask how you enable this? Either I'm being ham-fisted or I have not been looking in the right spot...

 

1. Choose View New Content in top right hand corner as usual:

 

 

 

2. Then choose "Blogs" in top left hand corner:

 

 

 

 

That's basically it.

 

If you want to refine this, you can choose a particular time frame, and/or focus on the blog entries you follow:

 

 

 

You can also choose to view the comments to blog entries, rather than the entries themselves:

 

 

....so if you first choose "Items I follow" and then "Comments", you get all the comments from the entries you follow.

[NGT6 1315]

Oh, I see...though I guess I misunderstood Jamie's posting in the first place as I assumed you could enable a permanent VNC column to the left of the forums column on the RMweb home page, similar to the various customisable columns to the right. But thank you in any case!

[Ian Smith]

Being new to RMweb, and being a returnee to Railway Modelling after some 15 years away, I have to say that I find blog entries (mostly) very enjoyable. There are quite a few people whose names I look for, and whose content I seek.

 

Initially, it was my intention was to resurrect my P4 layout (Trefallion) and started a blog to regenerate my own interest and as a way to catch up on what has been happening in the hobby in the period of my sabatacle. Perhaps because of the blogs I read, the respondees to my blog and the bloggers who write them I have also now resurrected some of the 2mm Finescale kits that I had purchased in the late 80's early 90's with a view to ultimately building a small 2mm scale layout. I have started a blog on that subject too. Having read this thread I am now unsure whether I should have done either - although having now started I will continue to update both as regularly as I see fit (although if Andy decides that they don't add anything or need to be deleted then I won't be offended).

 

On a more general note, I would like to say that I think that RMweb (blogs and threads) is a really good vehicle for anyone interested in Model Railways and would like to say thank you and well done to all who contribute - many of you have kick-started my interest in this hobby once again.

 

Ian

[Ruston]

I do get frustrated with 'antiblogism'. Blogs suit some people and some content better; the point is that the facility is there for people to be able to use. Some use it better than others but I don't see why they should be devalued by daft and pointless, meaningless and of no interest entries.

 

Blogs have become somewhat divisive, I guess. It's the people who are better able to do computery things that get on with them and before anyone says it isn't, why then has it been neccessary for someone to produce a guide as to construct one? Forum posts are simple and need no such guide - even I can post in forums and I'm a complete duffer with computers.

 

Because of that I'm not a fan of blogs. Before all the bloggers jump on me it's not particularly that I don't like them, it's that how am I supposed to know what's of interest? When I click the blogs link at the top of the main page it takes me to entries to the most up-to-date ones. They aren't neccesarily of interest to me and having to sort the ones that are from the ones that aren't, and then sorting which ones that aren't simply "I bought another box, ate my dinner and went down the pub" is another stage that puts me off.

 

Having said that I've just opened another tab with RMweb and clicked on the blogs tab on the main page. It only shows the most recently updated blogs and I can't find any other things to click to find blogs that aren't already shown on there So I can't find the others, even if I did want to search through them. I'm sure there is a way but it's not obvious to me. I does become rather annoying to someone like me that you're expected, by the computer types, to know all this stuff. I'm not Bill Gates!

 

At least with forum topics they are arranged in sections so, immediately, I have some sorting already done. Looking at the number of views and replies also helps.

 

 

Having had the hump about this for a few days I thought I'd drop by three blogs where I'd left comments referring the author to this topic. Guess what, there's no reply to my acidity in any of the three blogs and nor have the authors come back to me directly or in this topic. Which leads me to believe not even they read the effluent they produce or anyone who visits their blogs.

 

I've just taken another look at the the first link in your OP. Still no reply and two further pointless entries afterwards. Can't you simply erase the entire blog as a wake-up call to members who continue to behave like this?

[SNCF stephen]

I've just taken another look at the the first link in your OP. Still no reply and two further pointless entries afterwards. Can't you simply erase the entire blog as a wake-up call to members who continue to behave like this?

 

I have noticed some of the serial offenders have taken no notice of these notices either and was a bit frustrated to see more pointless entries following.

[Mod6]

 

I have noticed some of the serial offenders have taken no notice of these notices either and was a bit frustrated to see more pointless entries following.

 

It's entirely predictable that those who most need to read and comply with such notices are the least likely to do so.

 

Andy is the only one who can delete blogs but I'm sure he has more pressing things to do at the moment.

[Andy Y]

Yes but I don't get many reports of rubbish blog entries; if we get reports we will consider accordingly but as Mod6 says I've got a few more pressing matters than actively looking for garbage at the moment.

[-missy-]

Having said that I've just opened another tab with RMweb and clicked on the blogs tab on the main page. It only shows the most recently updated blogs and I can't find any other things to click to find blogs that aren't already shown on there So I can't find the others, even if I did want to search through them. I'm sure there is a way but it's not obvious to me. I does become rather annoying to someone like me that you're expected, by the computer types, to know all this stuff. I'm not Bill Gates!

At least with forum topics they are arranged in sections so, immediately, I have some sorting already done. Looking at the number of views and replies also helps.

 

Hello Dave.

 

If its any help searching Blogs can be done in the same way as a search through the threads.

 

 

You click on the grey box to the right of the search word box and select 'Blogs' from the drop-down menu. You then enter the search word (i.e. stuff) and then click on the Green magnifying glass button. This will search all the blogs for the word you entered and show you the results.

 

I hope that helps?

 

Missy

[Kenton]

 

I have noticed some of the serial offenders have taken no notice of these notices either and was a bit frustrated to see more pointless entries following.

Perhaps they find the traditional forum topics as difficult to read / work with / use as some find blogs incomprehensible?

 

I still doubt overall that there actually is more rubbish in the blogs than in the topics, just as much as there is undoubtedly some really good content in the blogs but if you can't get to it or simply don't choose to then I guess you will never know.

 

Ruston, I'm not sure it is a computer geek thing - I consider myself in the top 1% of computer savvy yet I cannot get on with blogs on RMWeb or most (not all) on the internet. But the same could probably be said of mobile phones, I don't like them and rarely use one, I could probably learn how to and could probably afford to buy one but have higher priorities in my life and better use for my brain cells. Possibly the same is true in the blog debate, if you have to jump through hoops to find/read/create/add to them then life for some is too short.

 

Not using blogs is not the end of the world, If Andy decided tomorrow that everything had to be in blogs then that just might be .... and some of us would simply get more modelling done or join another community. As it stands it is no great loss just a separation of the community here.

 

The reason I find it so annoying is down to the fact I know all the problems are down to the software, but when you buy a black box you get all the tangle of snakes that come hidden inside without any chance of unraveling them even if you had the toold to do so in the first place.

[buffalo]

Blogs have become somewhat divisive, I guess. It's the people who are better able to do computery things that get on with them...

Unfortunately they have become divisive, but in two different ways. Firstly, there are folk like you who haven't yet found some of the tricks that can help to find your way around. Some of these have, understandably, just given up in frustration. I would just encourage you to try clicking on a few buttons and see what happens. One of the main differences between those who appear to 'know' something about computers and those who don't is just a willingness to experiment (and to remember where the back button is when they get lost). The other form of divisiveness comes from a small number of people who, quite unnecessarily, make derogatory comments about the content of all RMweb blogs based solely on prejudice rather than actually reading any of them. You are clearly not in this latter camp.

 

...before anyone says it isn't, why then has it been neccessary for someone to produce a guide as to construct one? Forum posts are simple and need no such guide...

If you're referring to the guides that Simon and I wrote, then that is a little unfair. These are not guides to creating a blog. That much is easy (once you've found the right button...). Those guides are intended to help make blogs more navigable because, unless you know some of the tricks, it is difficult for readers to find their way around once you have more than about five entries in your blog.

 

Because of that I'm not a fan of blogs. Before all the bloggers jump on me...

I only do that to those in my second group above

 

...it's not particularly that I don't like them, it's that how am I supposed to know what's of interest? When I click the blogs link at the top of the main page it takes me to entries to the most up-to-date ones. They aren't neccesarily of interest to me and having to sort the ones that are from the ones that aren't, and then sorting which ones that aren't simply "I bought another box, ate my dinner and went down the pub" is another stage that puts me off.

It's not easy to find things of interest at first, but it gets easier with practice. Don't worry, there really aren't too many of the content-free entries, but if you find one, click the report button and let Andy know about it. If he agrees with you, he'll delete it.

 

Having said that I've just opened another tab with RMweb and clicked on the blogs tab on the main page. It only shows the most recently updated blogs and I can't find any other things to click to find blogs that aren't already shown on there So I can't find the others, even if I did want to search through them. I'm sure there is a way but it's not obvious to me...

...At least with forum topics they are arranged in sections so, immediately, I have some sorting already done. Looking at the number of views and replies also helps.

This is, unfortunately, a well known problem with the blogs. As Missy said, searching works and it also possible to use the View New Content button within the blogs and to tune the results using the options down the left hand side of the page. Another possibility on the main blog index page is in the blue bar beneath the large bold "Blogs". You'll find the normal view called "Dashboard" is highlighted. Clicking on "All Blogs" will indeed get you a list of all blogs, though it's a bit daunting to page through. Another option is "Custom" which gives you some control over the way in which the list is organised. As I said before, try clicking on things and see what happens.

 

I've just taken another look at the the first link in your OP. Still no reply and two further pointless entries afterwards. Can't you simply erase the entire blog as a wake-up call to members who continue to behave like this?

I've always assumed that Andy left these in place as examples of poor blog quality. If he were to delete them then his OP would make much less sense if folk were not able to see the examples. Rest assured, he does delete other junk when reported, I've seen it happen on more than one occasion.

 

Nick

[Ruston]

 

Hello Dave.

 

If its any help searching Blogs can be done in the same way as a search through the threads.

 

 

You click on the grey box to the right of the search word box and select 'Blogs' from the drop-down menu. You then enter the search word (i.e. stuff) and then click on the Green magnifying glass button. This will search all the blogs for the word you entered and show you the results.

 

I hope that helps?

 

Missy

 

 

Thanks, Missy. It's helpful in a way but when I said searching I didn't mean anything specific, maybe browsing would have been a better word. I don't know about how anyone else uses it but the way I use the forum is, after logging in, I look to see if that little thing next to may username is showing personal messages. If it is then I read those first.

 

After that I go to the UK Industrial section and see if there's anything new in there. Then I kind of mooch about the forum, looking into sections that I know may have something of interest or if a topic title looks interesting for whatever reason. I don't do a search unless there's something specific that I'm looking for.

 

It doesn't look as if blogs can be used in the way that I use the forum. If you have to be specically searching for something to see anything other than the latest upates it's not very good. I'd have to make a conscious decision to look for some specific subject or item and that wouldn't really work well for me.

 

Thanks for the help anyway.

[Mikkel]

I think it's a good point that the blogs are difficult to browse. However I assume it's not possible for Andy to change this, as it is probably a feature of the software.

 

One thing that could perhaps be improved is the visibility of the blogs - as has been brought up by all camps in this discussion, new posts aren't very visible on the front page, as opposed to eg the galleries. Perhaps the "Recent blog entries" box on the front page could be moved up above the status updates (which are so popular that people will scroll down to find them no matter what ). And is it possible to extend the list of recent entries to 10?

 

The life of most blog entries does seem to be brief. I don't have any direct stats on this, but as an indicator: The graph below shows Youtube viewer stats for a video that was posted in a blog entry on here. It lived sweetly but briefly - as I think most blog entries do (or maybe the entry was just cr*p ).

 

In any case, all of this is up to Andy and right now there are obviously more important things for him to deal with!