New members

[viridens]

It seems to me that since the site was revamped there have been an unusually high number of postings in this forum from new bee members. I'm sure there must be a good reason?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Under new ownership, the forum has become a lot more visible, you will notice also, a lot of new posters have been members for years but just lurking. I guess the ability to block adverts is also an incentive to join for those who have just watched as guests for years

 

[viridens]

Thanks for the reply. I am using Chrome browser with the adblockplus extension and I rarely see adverts anywhere online, and never here. So have not noticed any difference. Anyhow, I trust that bigger will also be better.

 

[happyculteur]

also, a lot of new posters have been members for years

I joined when the old BBKA forum became just a load of slanging unpleasantness. However I quickly found this forum very time consuming where you had to wade through a dozen posts of

etc. etc. from people who had nothing to contribute. Also a lot of BIG egos.

Having dropped ALL forums, I recently received an email saying this one was back on line. A hot lazy day, so I had a glance. What a pleasant surprise. Lots of posting from people with experience, and , what I consider as respect amongst posters. Whoever is responsible, well done.

 

[happyculteur]

 

[Erichalfbee]

I joined when the old BBKA forum became just a load of slanging unpleasantness. However I quickly found this forum very time consuming where you had to wade through a dozen posts of

etc. etc. from people who had nothing to contribute. Also a lot of BIG egos.

Having dropped ALL forums, I recently received an email saying this one was back on line. A hot lazy day, so I had a glance. What a pleasant surprise. Lots of posting from people with experience, and , what I consider as respect amongst posters. Whoever is responsible, well done.

Just before the forum changed hands there was a clear out of trolls
The new owners are much less tolerant of disruption so although it keeps the mods on their toes it is a much nicer place to be.
Having escaped the BBKA forum strait-jacket approach to moderation posters did indeed get overzealous.

 

[madasafish]

I find the new forum much more user friendly

( I write as a semi demented OAP)

 

[amandaj57]

I stopped using the forum because of the snarky comments you'd get about looking at old threads if you asked a question. The search facility is not brilliant and usually gives about 10 pages of responses, most of which are completely irrelevant to what you want to know. I thought I would give it another go when I started getting emails and have so far only seen a couple of this type of comment. I don't get why they are necessary as if you can't be bothered to answer someone's question, just ignore it.

I am hoping it continues in it's improved form as it is a great resource with a lot of very knowledgeable people, most of whom don't want to belittle others. I just hope the old ways don't creep back in.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I stopped using the forum because of the snarky comments you'd get about looking at old threads if you asked a question. The search facility is not brilliant and usually gives about 10 pages of responses, most of which are completely irrelevant to what you want to know. I thought I would give it another go when I started getting emails and have so far only seen a couple of this type of comment. I don't get why they are necessary as if you can't be bothered to answer someone's question, just ignore it.

I am hoping it continues in it's improved form as it is a great resource with a lot of very knowledgeable people, most of whom don't want to belittle others. I just hope the old ways don't creep back in.

They won’t or I’ll get the sack

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It always did grip my caca when people were told to do a search instead of asking a question. Yes, sometimes, if someone knew there was a really good thread and an informative conversation somewhere then it is a good thing to direct someone towards it, but the whole purpose of a forum is to ask questions and chat about an issue, things change from year to year or even month to month. and it's good to bounce a subject back and fore sometimes. If you wanted to be told a bit of advice written a hundred and fifty years ago with the risk of it having being superseded - you go to the 'other place'

 

[pargyle]

I stopped using the forum because of the snarky comments you'd get about looking at old threads if you asked a question. The search facility is not brilliant and usually gives about 10 pages of responses, most of which are completely irrelevant to what you want to know. I thought I would give it another go when I started getting emails and have so far only seen a couple of this type of comment. I don't get why they are necessary as if you can't be bothered to answer someone's question, just ignore it.

I am hoping it continues in it's improved form as it is a great resource with a lot of very knowledgeable people, most of whom don't want to belittle others. I just hope the old ways don't creep back in.

There is nothing wrong with directing people to earliers threads .. this forum has been going so long now there are a huge number of valuable threads with both good information, interesting and enthusiastic discussion and yes .. some humour and some spats .... but a lot of us have stayed the course, been on here daily and have sufficient memory left to remember these excellent historic threads that, often, provide a wealth of relevant information and food for thought. If you weren't on the forum and reading threads on a regular basis you might not know they are here. I would agree that the search function is not the best .. it's sometimes better to use an advanced Google search with more defined parameters as that will eliminate some of the less relevant items. Very often the title of the thread does not belie the content - but can be found when you can remember who posted it or some of the content that was memorable.

I don't think that any of the regular posters on here now do what I've seen on other forums and cut frequently asked questions dead with a harsh comment and a pointer to an earlier thread - to be honest I don't ever recall this happening on here. Even when something has been asked frequently there is often fresh comment and even more diverse opinion to be gleaned from a new thread and new or lapsed members should not be discouraged from posting even the most basic of questions. But please don't feel that being directed to an earlier thread is in any way disparaging - reading or re-reading that earlier thread can be very helpful in provoking more questions and comment from the reader.

 

[amandaj57]

There is nothing wrong with directing people to earliers threads .. this forum has been going so long now there are a huge number of valuable threads with both good information, interesting and enthusiastic discussion and yes .. some humour and some spats .... but a lot of us have stayed the course, been on here daily and have sufficient memory left to remember these excellent historic threads that, often, provide a wealth of relevant information and food for thought. If you weren't on the forum and reading threads on a regular basis you might not know they are here. I would agree that the search function is not the best .. it's sometimes better to use an advanced Google search with more defined parameters as that will eliminate some of the less relevant items. Very often the title of the thread does not belie the content - but can be found when you can remember who posted it or some of the content that was memorable.

I don't think that any of the regular posters on here now do what I've seen on other forums and cut frequently asked questions dead with a harsh comment and a pointer to an earlier thread - to be honest I don't ever recall this happening on here. Even when something has been asked frequently there is often fresh comment and even more diverse opinion to be gleaned from a new thread and new or lapsed members should not be discouraged from posting even the most basic of questions. But please don't feel that being directed to an earlier thread is in any way disparaging - reading or re-reading that earlier thread can be very helpful in provoking more questions and comment from the reader.

It depends very much on the manner in which it is done. It is about nine years since I was on here before as a relatively new beekeeper and believe me, I didn't want to ask questions on here because of the way I had seen other people responded to when they had. A polite reference to an earlier thread isn't an issue but many responses were less than polite. I taught 11-18 year olds a compulsory subject in a less than affluent area for 15 years so am not quick to take offense and do not have "excessive" standards when it comes to politeness. For me to leave the forum, it really wasn't all sweetness and light.

 

[viridens]

Yes, I am glad that it is generally friendly and tolerant here, and more so recently. I too have seen the "Why didn't you Google it before posting, you pillock" type of responses on other fora. Not friendly or helpful. A good teacher does not point to the library every time a question is asked. I also believe that effective Google searching is a skill, especially when you are not well versed in the subject.

I think that when folks ask forum question they are hoping for distilled wisdom and brief discussions. Some threads referred to may ramble on with many off-topic comments, and it can take both time and judgement to pan out any useful nuggets. It could be that the questioner has little or neither of these.

 

[Arfermo]

I write as a semi demented OAP
[/QUOTE]

Me too but totally geriatric. Just enjoy the out-of-the-world experience. Not looked at the forum for ages but am pleasantly surprised at the new format.

 

[Murox]

I find the new forum much more user friendly

( I write as a semi demented OAP)

Methuselah might think you are still a junior septua/octo genarian though.

 

[hemo]

The biggest improvement is the simpler header bar and layout esp the 'What's new' feature so one can see the latest topics by time scale/date.