[ECHOES]

With all due respect to the PC community and the PC community rules, I really dislike when threads get moved from where they were purposefully posted. There are communities within the community and people post where they are most comfortable, or in the place they feel is 'their neighborhood'.
It seems intrusive or judgemental.

Delete this if it is inappropriate. I just felt a need to say what I thought.

[Sabrina]

I tend to agree. I can truly understand when a thread simply doesn't belong in a particular forum but I often tend not to post a thread at all because it means I have to post in a forum I don't frequent.

[sabby]

i'm sorry that you are upset when threads get moved. keeping the forums up to date with the correct postings that belong in a forum helps the community to better read and respond with support.

we understand that there are sub-communities within some forums, but that does not change the reasoning behind moving threads to their proper forums. why would we have specific forums for a wide range of topics if every topic were to be discussed in one forum? if that were to happen, too many threads would go unnoticed and fall off the first page of the forum and possibly not receive the support they deserve. that is an extreme example, but i think you get my drift.

whenever a thread is moved, we leave a marker so that members can click on the marker and be taken to the thread in the new forum. it's not as if we move it and don't tell anyone we also pm the OP to let them know of the move.

take good care!
sabby

[DocJohn]

While I understand and appreciate that some forums have more of a community feeling than others with a set of regular members who hang out in one or two specific forums, that doesn't override the need for those forums to remain "on topic." Why? Imagine if we just let everyone post anything they wanted on any forum we have? Why bother having topical forums in the first place then...

The guidelines apply equally to all.

What I am happy to consider, however, is the idea of creating a specific sub-forum in forums where there is a close-knit community of members as a place of their own where they are welcomed to go off-topic. This would be like a social group.

And there's always social groups -- nothing stopping people from creating a social group for their set of friends on a particular forum and have everyone participate there too.

DocJohn

[FooZe]

I hadn't even thought of focusing on one or two forums where my friends mostly hung out. Instead, there's a handful of people, a subset of my PC friends list, whose posts I've been finding especially interesting. What I do, when I have time, is go see what they've posted recently. That often takes me to forums where I wouldn't otherwise have thought of going -- and sometimes puts me in touch with other people whose posts I find especially interesting.

[Martina]

I just hate it when my thread gets moved to a category with absolutely NO traffic whatsoever so nobody reads it. When I had purposefully posted it in a high-traffic category to get some responses.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by DocJohn

What I am happy to consider, however, is the idea of creating a specific sub-forum in forums where there is a close-knit community of members as a place of their own where they are welcomed to go off-topic. This would be like a social group.

I had been thinking the same thing. Shall we give it a go? Another solution that I have seen used on some boards is to give the forum in question a "linear 'any topic goes' thread". This is just one thread among the many in the forum, so it doesn't clog the forum by having multiple posts on "off topic" subjects, and it can be stickied at the top. In this sort of thread, there is not one OP of the thread, but anyone can post in the thread on whatever topic they want. It's like a continuous conversation and no topic or post is turned away. And it only takes up one thread. You can jump in and catch the conversation for that day, or read back several days to catch the pulse of the forum. It is really nice for when you have something you would like to post about but don't think it merits its own thread, or you feel too shy to make a separate thread for it. If it gets too long and starts slowing forum function down, it can be unstickied anarchived or locked and a new linear thread started. It has really worked well on these other boards I've been on.

[Perna]

I don't understand why each forum would have such a thread when there's the General Social Chat forum? To my mind there are too many forums and that means fewer people and threads per forum; it's like TV channels, who needs hundreds! Before long we'll find ourselves in a thread talking only to ourselves?

[Indie'sOK]

Originally Posted by Martina

I just hate it when my thread gets moved to a category with absolutely NO traffic whatsoever so nobody reads it. When I had purposefully posted it in a high-traffic category to get some responses.

I agree. I did the same thing with my meditation thread in general discussion even though it could be interpreted as a "spiritual" thing. I am not a frequent visitor in the Spirituality forum so I don't know how many people would reply to it. That's the nice thing about the general forum - everyone sees it, regardless of what sub forum they usually frequent.

[sabby]

the problem with posting something in the general forum is that there are so many things posted there that posts very quickly fall off the main page. then, you are not receiving the reads and support that you deserve to receive.

i know that lately the team has not been able to keep up with pruning the forums as we would like to. please know that we are going to get back to that very soon.

members may be afraid to post in a different forum thinking they may not get their usual members to support them, but try thinking of it this way, the support you will receive from the regulars in another forum may be exactly what you need and are looking for!

[pegasus]

I understand why threads get moved but I really think this needs to be applied fairly. A few times I have had threads moved and yet others (that clearly needed to be moved also) were allowed to stay where they were.

[eskielover]

General comment here:
I understand it's tough wanting to post in the forum where you know the people, but it might even be possible to post in the appropriate forum & then post a post in your normal forum that catches their attention & points to the other forum. That way you can get replys in both forums.

Our community team does a wonderful job of keeping the forums going & keeping them safe for all of us here. It's a huge job they do & they do it very conscientiously & very respectfully. If there are things that we can do to make their jobs easier, it would be nice if we could take that into consideration while we are posting here also.

Originally Posted by pegasus

I understand why threads get moved but I really think this needs to be applied fairly. A few times I have had threads moved and yet others (that clearly needed to be moved also) were allowed to stay where they were.

Pegs,

The community team tries hard to catch everything possible, but that isn't always possible....they don't have eyes everywhere & only so much time IRL making it impossible to spend time checking every thread to make sure it's where it should be or that he has appropriate wording.....thus, there is always going to be some inconsistency (they are only human & can never be perfect). Just a fact of life.

There is the reporting feature also, so that people here can flag things like that if they feel it's necessary. That helps catch things that haven't been able to be caught by the community team. (I know you are aware of that feature)

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by eskielover

Pegs,

The community team tries hard to catch everything possible, but that isn't always possible....they don't have eyes everywhere & only so much time IRL making it impossible to spend time checking every thread to make sure it's where it should be or that he has appropriate wording.....thus, there is always going to be some inconsistency (they are only human & can never be perfect). Just a fact of life.

There is the reporting feature also, so that people here can flag things like that if they feel it's necessary. That helps catch things that haven't been able to be caught by the community team. (I know you are aware of that feature)

Sorry but I don't need to feel like I'm being told off by you for saying something that has happened a few times to me. I understand the mods have a difficult job but it is also rewarding for them yes?

I have had threads moved from the general forum and there were several other posts under mine that did not belong there. They clearly didn't. Can you see why this creats bad feeling? Although it may not have meant to cause bad feeling it does when it is not done fairly for everyone. It can feel like you are being singled out.

[sabby]

(((((((( pegs )))))))))

i don't think eskie was trying to tell you off hon, having been a mod herself, she was just trying to convey some of our difficulties not only to you but for the benefit of other members who read this thread as well.

i'm sorry that you felt singled out by having your threads moved and someone elses didn't. moving threads is never ever meant to single anyone out or to make you or anyone feel picked on, it's not a personal slight hon. it's strictly meant as a pruning tool to keep the forums on topic and to help members get the best bang for their buck so to speak.

there are also times when other mod/admin functions take precedence over moving threads, especially if we are short handed at times. there are a thousand new posts made almost every single day, we can't possibly see each and every post/thread. (how i wish we could though as we do care )

(((((((((( pegs )))))))))))


sabby

[pegasus]

I do understand that you guys are really busy and have a lot to do, I do appreciate that.

The point I am trying to make (not very well!) needs an example. Some time ago I was going into crisis/melt down about a sudden physical health issue that cropped up. I purposely posted my concerns in the General forum knowing that I would get a quick/swift response. I needed a response real quick, I needed the support there and then. If I had posted my health issue in the correct forum 'Health Support' I knew I would not get a reply, not for a day or two anyway.

Now my thread was removed from the General forum within an hour and yet there were several others on a variety of topics that were left. One of the threads left was directly under mine and it was written by a Mod! It was left there for a further 24 hours before it was removed to the correct forum.

One rule for one and another for whoever fits! Yes that really did feel like a kick in the teeth.

[NuckingFutz]

Just feedback. I try and post in the appropriate forum. I am all over the place and you know what? My longtime friends seem to find me anywhere I happen to be. Plus, it allows interactions with new people leading to new friends and those that know a ton of stuff on that topic that I never would have gotten otherwise. Just sharing my experience.

[Miss Laura]

Hey guys, it's sometimes hard when your in a mindframe to post in the specific area as sometimes your post can affect several areas. Sabby contacted me saying 1 of mines was moved. I thought great people know where it goes as I was confused as I was not in the right mind frame.

Technically mods are meant to do this so in all honesty the mods are there to do this move posts.

Anyways thanks guys and thank you mods for doing your job(s) well 1 of your many job(s)