Forum Changes

[Shooter45]

We have just entered our 9th year here at TFF. It has been an adventure and a struggle all at the same time. Our Staff and Moderators have done an excellent job in keeping things in line but I have some problems with the direction TFF is heading. Problems such as posts staying on topic, forum drift as it is called. Having to move posts into the proper forums. This usually takes about 5 hours a week. These posts just don't move by themselves. Leaving hints don't work.

We have tried to maintain a home away from home for our members but it doesn't seem to be working. We have tried to maintain a family atmosphere at TFF but I don't know where that went.

So, General Discussion, as you know it , will be going away soon. It seems to have become a catch-all-forum that creates too much work to be enjoyable anymore.

We will be making more changes in the coming months to make TFF a better place to gain valuable info and to get back to our original vision we had nine years ago.

[Suicide*Ride]

Happy birthday TFF! A big thanks to the Mods for putting up w/ us, & for taking the time to make this place a 'home away from home'.!





It's a bit of a bummer that the General forum is going away...... I guess it's for the best.

SR

[LurpyGeek]

Thanks for the update, Shooter. I can only speak for myself, but I very much appreciate all of the work you and the other admins do to maintain this place. It has been a place where I've learned and grown much, and made many friends.

I've noticed the change in atmosphere as well, and seem to be spending less and less time here. Hopefully we can get back on track.

[red14]

Originally Posted by LurpyGeek

Thanks for the update, Shooter. I can only speak for myself, but I very much appreciate all of the work you and the other admins do to maintain this place. It has been a place where I've learned and grown much, and made many friends.

I agree with the above paragraph.

But, I disagree that General Discussion should 'go'. It is where many of those 'friends' go to catch up with each other. I would bet that there are 20 other 'Places' on this forum that, put together, have less conversation than General Discussion.

This is ya'll's forum, you can obviously do what you want. BUT, I fear many of the present forum members will not like this change and leave. I think the reason this forum is so good, is because of the freedom of posting a wide spectrum of choices.

In a another light, this change is a form of censureship.

[Double D]

OK, my 2 cents. Its your forum and your time so I cant argue any of it. I hate to see it go, but again, I dont have the burden of keeping things straight. I wish there was a better way. But if there isnt, I wont be one of them that talks bad or gossips or leaves. I wont join in any conversation that goes in that direction. Once you guys make the decision, I will be behind it. Like it or not.

[ARB]

I agree in some respects. I'm not sure it will be considered "The TFF family" anymore. As, others have stated, this is your baby, and you all can do what you want. It was a nice place to visit while taking a break from the Politically Incorrect forum. And, as my fundage for ammo has drastically decreased, it was nice to stay in touch and chat. It was good while it lasted, and it will probably be better for my eyes in the long run. I'm sure it will make my wife happier at least.

[Shooter45]

Originally Posted by Shooter45

We have just entered our 9th year here at TFF. It has been an adventure and a struggle all at the same time. Our Staff and Moderators have done an excellent job in keeping things in line but I have some problems with the direction TFF is heading. Problems such as posts staying on topic, forum drift as it is called. Having to move posts into the proper forums. This usually takes about 5 hours a week. These posts just don't move by themselves. Leaving hints don't work.

We have tried to maintain a home away from home for our members but it doesn't seem to be working. We have tried to maintain a family atmosphere at TFF but I don't know where that went.

So, General Discussion, as you know it , will be going away soon. It seems to have become a catch-all-forum that creates too much work to be enjoyable anymore.

We will be making more changes in the coming months to make TFF a better place to gain valuable info and to get back to our original vision we had nine years ago.

Read closely the " AS YOU KNOW IT " part. Yes, things will change but will not be the way they are today. Look back about 400 pages in General Discussion. I'll bet you will see a difference.

[red14]

Originally Posted by Shooter45

Read closely the " AS YOU KNOW IT " part. Yes, things will change but will not be the way they are today. Look back about 400 pages in General Discussion. I'll bet you will see a difference.

I read that, but not sure what you mean. I do appreciate your responce. Can you be a shade more specific?

[Helix_FR]

I think part of the problem is some new people not reading all the forum tags and posting appropriately. I think this weekend alone there were 3 technical questions in it. I don't know how you can control that but hey, its your baby and your time. I enjoy every aspect of it. General discussions seems to be more of a vent now than just light hearted postings.

[red14]

Originally Posted by Helix_FR

I think part of the problem is some new people not reading all the forum tags and posting appropriately. I think this weekend alone there were 3 technical questions in it. I don't know how you can control that but hey, its your baby and your time. I enjoy every aspect of it. General discussions seems to be more of a vent now than just light hearted postings.

That makes sense. But, it is hard to combat ignorance. I have been affected myself, on occasions too numerous to mention.

[VegasTech702]

As already stated, It is your baby. I do however believe that the General Discussion forum served as a great place to interact with people of similar mindsets on a variety of issues that we fill are important.

I think taking it away is a bad choice personally, but then its not my website. Just my .02

[blackcat_attilio]

First of all: TFF is your and you can do all what you desire and/or want. If you want you can change, if you want you can close it for ever. it's your.
Said that, inside the TFF I found much about what before, during and after shooting; about how to take care of our fireguns; a lot of advices about which gun is "better" than another one; about hunting. Down this long walk inside TFF I met also many nice people who are able to have fun, who like to talk about everything completely free. FREE. The TFF is a very nice place where meet people with common hobbies "having a bier" together. To cut short, The half century lived on this world teached me the changes, often, are not like the expectations. Be careful, my friends. Don't destroy such a nice place.
Many thanks for the attention given.

PS
I'm very sorry for my "slang".

[JLA]

Im confused..... Does this explain why my chess thread got deleted???

[JLA]

no need to apologise blackcat, I can hear the voice of a real italian pizza chef while reading your post. You type the way you talk and its cool

OOOOPS!!! sorry bosses, I drifted the thread

[ponycar17]

I am at a loss to understand the definition of 'thread drift' in the General Discussion forum which is typically meant for just BSing... pretty much anywhere. My prediction is that without a General Discussion forum you'll start seeing General topics show up in any of the other forums. That practice will lead to additional policing and believe me, it will be more difficult to control. Instead of one spot, you'll have many to police.

Shooter, I appreciate what you've done with the forum but I'll respectfully say that I think you're going to cause more work for yourself and diminish the breadth of members to the site. The General Discussion forum is typically what gives a site 'character'. That's been the case for every forum I've ever visited (at least, to me). Another idea to alleviate the problem of strays wandering in to cause trouble may be to make the strictly non-firearms related forums unsearchable through Google. Make them so that you must login to view them.

That quality of this General Discussion forum is far and away better than most other sites. Sure there are problems but you're still having more quality posts by higher quality members than most sites. Now, I won't go into what that says about the rest of the world...

I believe you're experiencing the cost of success. As more people get on the internet, not all of them have the skills to understand how things work. They post in the wrong forums. They don't know how to search for their posts. Sheer statistics prove that as more of these folks get on the net, you'll have trouble managing posts. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. More people brings more discussion and a greater opportunity for knowledge sharing. Eventually, they learn where to post. So, you've grown, the internet has grown and now it's harder. I get that... You will be hard pressed to keep the forum perfectly in line as the internet population grows and your site grows due to popularity. There's a percentage of things that will get through that probably shouldn't. No site is perfectly manicured and probably cannot be. It's the internet... Love it or hate it...

With that said, I hope you won't take offense to my comments. I mean them only in the most constructive way.

[22WRF]

Will Mother Margaret be back

[JLA]

1 million percent agreed pony. You said what Im thinkin waaay better than i coulda ever said it and did it in a very respectful way. You are a master of conversation my friend

[coreyacp]

Originally Posted by red14

I agree with the above paragraph.

But, I disagree that General Discussion should 'go'. It is where many of those 'friends' go to catch up with each other. I would bet that there are 20 other 'Places' on this forum that, put together, have less conversation than General Discussion.

This is ya'll's forum, you can obviously do what you want. BUT, I fear many of the present forum members will not like this change and leave. I think the reason this forum is so good, is because of the freedom of posting a wide spectrum of choices.

In a another light, this change is a form of censureship.

Yeah i completely agree with red. I love the freedom, Im not a very senior member but my stuff is kinda random but generally it has to do with firearms and the general discussion forum is the place for that and i enjoy the opinion on problems and things that happen in my life that the guys in this forum can give advice and insight to because we are all gun owners and i like the to know what people who share the same hobby and beliefs as me would deal with a situation and i dont know where i'd go other than the discussion forum

[Bobitis]

I think it of as sitting around the kitchen table or campfire.
Life would soon get pretty dull if all we could talk about is firearms.
But maybe that was your intent all along. It really is your choice.

I went back 300, 400, 500 pages as you suggested, and the only difference I see is the members names. The topics were typically anything but firearms.
The rest of the forums pretty much cover most of those areas.

To me, General Discussion is a place to get away from firearms.
Perhaps you envisioned it as a place for firearm discussion that didn't fall into any other forum? That would be pretty tough to do.

Thread drift will never be overcome. One comment, a couple responses, and it's over for the original OP. This does bother me as the thread never gets back to topic.

I do wonder what would happen if the forum was disloved. Would posters simply post in another forum? Your job would be none the easier.
Would strikes be issued to those that continued?

A while back someone drug up an old thread about Washington vs Texas.
It was an old thread. One thing I noticed was a lot of the responders had fewer than 500 posts. Many of them less than 10. The thread goes back to 2003. Doesn't seem like family when folks just disappear after a handful of posts.

Follow your heart. It's your duty.
If it culls the herd, so be it.

Thanks for reading.

[armedandsafe]

A change in name does not change the sub-forum. In fact it will make it more clear to all what belongs where.

A change in position does not eliminate a sub-forum. It can make things more intuitive for both new and experienced users.

The intent is NOT to shut down, censor, eliminate or discourage the interplay of the members of this forum. The intent is to make the FIREARMS Forum more truly reflect the FIREARMS Forum.

You are not being picked on, but we mods and admin sometimes feel that way

Pops

[dteed4094]

Seems you have to deligate some responsibility to keep up with growth. Stopping General discussion is kinda like going to the range without a target.

[pinecone70]

Are more members with admin capabilities needed? I spend hours upon hours on this forum daily, sometimes I wish I could move threads around according to topic.

[ponycar17]

Originally Posted by JLA

1 million percent agreed pony. You said what Im thinkin waaay better than i coulda ever said it and did it in a very respectful way. You are a master of conversation my friend

Thanks JLA but I don't deserve that comment...

Originally Posted by Bobitis

I think it of as sitting around the kitchen table or campfire.
Life would soon get pretty dull if all we could talk about is firearms.
But maybe that was your intent all along. It really is your choice.

................

To me, General Discussion is a place to get away from firearms.....

I agree 100%. A General Discussion forum keeps the attention of the audience while they're not 100% interested in firearms conversation. The character and subject matter is still representative of that demonstrated by firearms enthusiasts. We get along just as like-minded individuals often do at the range. It's somewhat of a fellowship that maintains the bond to the entity that is TFF.

Originally Posted by armedandsafe

....The intent is NOT to shut down, censor, eliminate or discourage the interplay of the members of this forum. The intent is to make the FIREARMS Forum more truly reflect the FIREARMS Forum.....

Pops, as Bobitis has said we don't always want to talk directly about firearms but it is refreshing to see that we can shoot the breeze with others about unrelated subjects. Like it or not, there's a certain quirk about firearms enthusiasts that makes it pleasurable to discuss things both related and unrelated to firearms.

In the end, it is not my choice what happens or anyone's choice but Shooter45. I can respect any decision made...

[BETH]

Thank u TTF for everything

[Bobitis]

Originally Posted by BETH

Thank u TTF for everything

The perfect example.

Beth.

I recall when she came here with some questions. She was totally a newbie to firearms. No one dissed her that I can recall, and everyone was very supportive.

Did she post in the incorrect forum?
If so, does that make her bad?

Is it because she's a shooter chick? I'd like to think not.

She came looking for advice and found it. I can't speak for her, but I'd like to think she felt welcome.

I think her humble 'thank you' sums it up well.