On 19/04/2012, at 2:17 AM, Rick wrote:
> David Cake <dave_at_...> wrote:
>> >> Can I ask why? >> >> Can you explain the positives of the new forums for those of us already on this list?
Which is exactly what I was afraid of - that you want to replace, not supplement, the WoG and other mailing lists. IMO, forums don't replace mailing iists, any more than wikis replace blogs. Different purposes, different use cases, different rules. Forums are an excellent format for situations where there is a large amount of information on offer, but you want to read only a small amount of it. That is why they make excellent tools for product support, for example.
> We are trying to create a stronger sense of community.
It is not your intentions, but your choice of strategy, that I doubt.
> Also, by doing so on our website we are not subject to the rules and policies of Yahoo, or any other company.
I've actually got to no problem with that, as long as Yahoo continues to exist. It means we have an archive that is likely to continue to be there, and isn't at the mercy of a third party. Also, I can easily (and do) have a local copy of that information. Certainly not meaning to pick on Moon Design as being any better or worse than other third parties, but this is a problem with forums. I am dependent on a third party for access to that data on an ongoing basis.
> In a larger sense we are also trying to consolidate information. The Moon Design website will continue to expand its archives of background information.
>
No issue with that. I appreciate the efforts MD have made to stop old
> No forum has a perfect range of features that fit everyone's tastes and preferences. If nothing else, we just feel we can do better than yahoo groups. We will certainly strive to improve and enhance the discussion features we offer, based largely on your feedback.
Your forums currently aren't very good ones, and that can be improved. But it is impossible to improve them to remove the issues that are intrinsic to forums.
(and one of the reasons I prefer mail is that many of the issues people have complained about with mail are actually issues with mail client programs, and so are fixable)
Cheers
David
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