Dale and Alan - is there any chance that a cross-board OT section (with some appropriate title!) could be set up OFF the PWB? The OT topics are clouding up the fun business of whistling - and maybe of piping and fluting too, but I don’t visit those boards right now
It doesn’t look at all good for new posters/non-posters/visitors to have to pick through such discussions looking for info on music and whistling.
Perhaps a cross-board for sale/wanted section might be a consideration too…and the permitted commercial postings could go there too
I have space. Hell, I have 700+ megs of space on the server I use. I will never fill that but the price was right. Its yours to use should you want at no fee. I dont know all the techi stuff though. Let me nkow.
Melanie..it was only to give them their own separate place on Chiffboard if that were possible so that the PWB is about whistling and the “social (but not always sociable ) postings” could have their own corner…like Chat, so it’s easy to avoid rather than wading through things if people prefer.
The sax forum I’m on has the same set up but far too many headings - FAR too many so you miss posts of interest and people are spread too thinly. They don’t use sigs, avatars and PMs..maybe that’s how they get around the bandwidth issue. But, these are all really good features of the Chiffboard.
We’ve been through this suggestion backwards, forwards and sideways many, MANY times. Please don’t clutter up the board with threads suggesting that the OT threads be given their own board. As always, please use the Search function before posting. (I’m being a little sarcastic here. Please take this as an attempt at humor.)
You can do better than that surely Jerry - cue weak hollow haa haa . If the searches had thrown this up, I wouldn’t have posted. Thanks for the constructive reply Cran.
The search function doesn’t always bring up even the most seemingly obvious stuff sometimes.
We go through waves of OT threads, flaming threads, etc., and then they seem to settle down for awhile again.
One of the predictable things that seems only to add to the turmoil on the board is that when there’ve been a lot of OT threads for awhile, then someone starts a big debate about setting aside a separate board for OT threads. It’s been debated many times and, I think, voted on too.
I agree with Trisha!
I’ve wanted to post something like this for a while now but being new here I held off. There’s way too many OT posts! I thought this site was supposed to be about whistles and IrTrad music? All these he said/she said bickering flame wars about politics, religion, who hates who, ad nauseum are hurting this site. An OT board is a great solution… A lot of folks here (the over 1000-2000 posts people) are bored with talking about whistles anyway, how about giving the rest of us a chance?
Well, the problem is, those folks with a lot of posts are usually the ones with the most experience in whistledom and can provide the best help- Note that I said “usually.” I’m well aware that there are many folks who don’t post often that can provide excellent advise, and I’m equally aware that a large post total does not necessarily make one an expert, but; to say that there are bored and to give others a chance would take a lot of expertise and experience away from us.
As Jerry has said, this has been discussed many times, and it has always turned out in the past that the majority of the folks prefer it the way it is- not that the majority really matter, because so far the owners of the board have also decided to leave the board alone.
I think you should go ahead and post your questions. I believe that you will find that those folks with lots of posts will be able to give you some helpful advice.
I have always understood this board to be a community of whistle players. But, that just means that we are a community with one common bond, it doesn’t mean we have to be exclusive about it. I’ll give the exact same response I gave last time this topic came up.
If you think there should be more whistle posts, post them yourself. How do we know what you want to talk about unless you bring it up? I think it would be foolish to make an OT board. Soon you’ll have more and more divisions that make the entire thing impracticle. Remember, the easiest way to stop OT threads is to not respond to them.
I think it’s good to bring the issue up again. I’m a convert to the pro-off topic board side.
The real danger is that the regulars who really don’t talk whistles much anymore would pretty much stay in the OT forum, while the newbies who need help would still be in the whistle forum. Although now I think of it, these people don’t post in whistle threads much anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. Bottom line: people who post in whistle threads will still be posting in whistle threads. People who post in OT threads will still be posting in OT threads. So why make the change? Read on.
I have repeatedly heard from various people that they have whistling friends who don’t use the boards purely because of the OT posts. Based upon those observations, I think it’s safe to conclude that for whatever reason, OT posts severely inconvenience people who go to the board only to talk whistles. So there’s a reason for the change.
Secondly, it’s my hunch that creating an OT board won’t really inconvenience those who like OT stuff. Sure, they’ll have to go to two seperate boards to see everything, but that’s not really so hard. Off topic discussions will still thrive.
I think the it’s an inconvenience we should accept in order to make the board more hospitable to those who are here only for whistles.
what about on-topics that veer wildly off? (as happens on pretty much every thread)
what about on-topic flame wars that become personal?
what about vaguely related musical instruments, or music in general for that matter?
Why? This won’t necesarrilly(sp?) be the effect. Create an off topic board, and leave it at that.
Most people who want an off topic board don’t respond to the off topic discussions. The off topic discussions are mostly perpetrated and kept alive by a very small group of posters. Obviously the OT board people can’t stop the OT crowd from posting.
I can’t blame people who find this place find this place for the first time and are so glad they find a whistle board and then discover it’s really not. When people go to a special interest board, they expect to find special interest conversation. Imagine if you were a newbie looking to talk whistles, and you open up the Postructural forum for the first time. It just doesn’t look like a place that’s actually about whistles, so why would a person who wants a whistle place go there?
The search function really can be useful, but I don’t think people are unwilling to discuss whistle matters. I, for one, try to answer whistle related questions, if it’s something I can provide information on.
The problem with dividing the board further, to include an “OT” category, is it gives licence to tell people “this is the wrong board,” all the time. We get plenty of that already.
I don’t think that there’s a problem with new users getting the wrong impression. Every week or so we questions like “I’m new, what should I buy?” or “What’s the deal with that Star Trek thing?” I’m obviously not a high volume poster, but I’ve been here longer then most, I think, and when I first started we were in the middle of the JessieK fiasco. There was a whole lot more OT then then there is now. I still learned a lot about the whistle, and had all of my questions answered intelligently.
I guess my big point is, what would another board accomplish except for more steps in the C&F process. No one is obliged to read any post they don’t want, and we’re pretty good about labeling posts OT. So if you don’t want to read OT posts, no one is forcing you, but having them on the one board makes it easier for those of us who do.
I totally agree with the idea of a separate arena for OT discussion. There is a board I occasionally frequent that has an OT board, called the PUB for OT discussion. If a topic starts to veer off-topic, it is agreed to take it to the PUB.
It works remarkably well.
How about this variation?..Instead of kicking the OT posts to a new forum, how about the other way around. Create a Whistle Forum (like the Flute and Pipe Forums) where it’s just whistles and IrTrad.
And change the name of the main board to “The C&F Poststructural Pub” or something…keeps the regular punters happy and creates a pure whistle talk environment for people who come here for a IrTrad whistle community (not politics and controversy) Just a thought…thanks for listening, Scott
) postings” could have their own corner…like Chat, so it’s easy to avoid rather than wading through things if people prefer.
. If the searches had thrown this up, I wouldn’t have posted. Thanks for the constructive reply Cran.