Feedback wanted on the forum structure!

[mlp]

I thought we were leaving it up to the individuals as to whether they wanted to announce their VB identity? I think Ansciess's is pretty clear, but I thought Pickle Juice's was too, and not everyone has figured that out yet either.

 

[Ansciess]

Can't we be our own thing?

"We" can be whatever the majority or people in charge want the board to be. I'm not in charge of it.

I'm just trying to figure out what the board is about and figuring out the best structure for that.

I made my bias about my preference for it being an advocacy and support board very clear, so that's what my suggestions are based on.

 

[FortyTwo]

Why can't we all just get along?

And by that, I mean why can't we just start actually discussing the structure of the board without personal attacks?

 

[mlp]

I've been alerted back here by people liking my posts. Plus I think I have a clearer way of trying to express my point. So I'm posting this and then I am out of here.

While the community might not be the reason a newbie joins, it's highly likely it will be a reason they will stay instead of just posting a thread or two asking for information and then going. The community is an important part of VV and that needs to be reflected in the forum structure. Not shoved down the bottom like some unimportant pile of crap.


As for why we shouldn't be a VB clone (and I can't quite believe I've got to explain this). If a newbie comes along and we look like a VB clone from the first glance (which is what the structure will give them), then what exactly have we got to offer to them that's different from VB? Because at the moment, if a newbie is look for a vegetarian support, advice, information (and dare I say it?!) community forum, they will have found VB before us. We need to look different because, otherwise, why should we expect a newbie to know that we are different from VB? If we look the same as VB, why should they bothered to join us when they could just go to VB instead?


Anyway, I can't understand what is so difficult to comprehend about the fact the community is important and that we should not be a VB clone. But whatever. Now I'm gone.

Call me silly, but I think community is about acting like a community.

 

[mlp]

Why can't we all just get along?

And by that, I mean why can't we just start actually discussing the structure of the board without personal attacks?

I hope to some day grow up to be like you.

 

[Muggle]

I am really not understanding all of the huffiness. If people can't voice opinions about something like the structure of the board without it becoming an emotional free for all, then god help us.

I think it's more the fact that VB is being shoved up on a pedestal as the ultimate and most worshipped forum on the planet and I think some of us don't want this place to turn into a VB clone despite other people clearly being desperate to do that.

 

[kibbleforlola]

I thought we were leaving it up to the individuals as to whether they wanted to announce their VB identity? I think Ansciess's is pretty clear, but I thought Pickle Juice's was too, and not everyone has figured that out yet either.

It is up to the individual, but that doesn't stop me from being nosey curious. S/he has alluded to being on vb several times now, but not said who/what they were. It's all a big ******* tease.

 

[Ansciess]

While the community might not be the reason a newbie joins, it's highly likely it will be a reason they will stay instead of just posting a thread or two asking for information and then going. The community is an important part of VV and that needs to be reflected in the forum structure. Not shoved down the bottom like some unimportant pile of crap.

Did the sense of community feel unimportant at VB (until Michael's latest actions) because of the placement of the Veggie Patch?

Anyway, I can't understand what is so difficult to comprehend about the fact the community is important

I don't think that anyone is saying that community is unimportant.

 

[mlp]

It is up to the individual, but that doesn't stop me from being nosey curious. S/he has alluded to being on vb several times now, but not said who/what they were. It's all a big ****ing tease.

Well, it's clear that a number of other people, including at least one moderator, were also formerly on VB, and yet no one has asked them to announce their VB identities.

I really don't see why a discussion of board structure has to be filled with personal animosity and flouncings.

If we can't even discuss board structure without that kind of BS, then this is not a community in any meaningful sense of the word.

 

[Muggle]

Did the sense of community feel unimportant at VB (until Michael's latest actions) because of the placement of the Veggie Patch?

The community is important. That needs to be reflected in the forum structure. Not shoved down the bottom like a pile of unimportant crap.

I don't think that anyone is saying that community is unimportant.

See above.

 

[mlp]

The community is important. That needs to be reflected in the forum structure. Not shoved down the bottom like a pile of unimportant crap.



See above.

O.K. I am now going to take a 24 hour break.

 

[Muggle]

I am still at a lost as to why we've got to be a VB clone. I don't understand it. This isn't VB, why are people wanting to just copy it?

 

[Ansciess]

I really don't see why a discussion of board structure has to be filled with personal animosity and flouncings.

I agree. I'm making my case. Other people can make their case. Whoever decides how to structure the board - whoever is physically moving things around - will ultimately make the decision. It's not that big of a deal.

 

[Scorpius]

 

[kibbleforlola]

Well, it's clear that a number of other people, including at least one moderator, were also formerly on VB, and yet no one has asked them to announce their VB identities.

But I've figured out who everybody else is.

I really don't see why a discussion of board structure has to be filled with personal animosity and flouncings.

Indeed.

 

[Pickle Juice]

I'd like to ask everyone to just take a deep breath. As IS has said, none of this is set in stone. We are still working it out, and I have no doubt the structure will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the members, as well as to appeal to visitors.

I would also like to remind people that the lounge is not visible to visitors so its placement is irrelevant to what newbies see before they join.

 

[FortyTwo]

I hope to some day grow up to be like you.

Likewise, my avian accomplice.

I think it's more the fact that VB is being shoved up on a pedestal as the ultimate and most worshipped forum on the planet and I think some of us don't want this place to turn into a VB clone despite other people clearly being desperate to do that.

Yeesh. I don't want to come across as rude because I do like you Annia, but please, calm down. Your concerns are not unjustified, but you seem to have a tendency to blow things up far beyond what they have to be.

Ansciess is not suggesting that VB is the most worshiped forum on the planet. I don't think anyone is desperate to make this place exactly like VB, because then what would we be doing here? Even if this place had the exact same forum structure with the exact same forum names in the exact same spots, it'd still be better than VB to many people (myself included) due to the fact that it has not been given up to an omnivorous company (that still sounds odd to me) that wishes to use it for monetization.

That being said, Ansciess' insistence on arguing the counter-point is also a bit strange, simply because it isn't that big of a deal that the Lounge was placed at the top of the forum. IMO it's favorable, simply because it makes the community aspects more accessible without intruding on the vegetarian issues sections. Also I'm not sure if VB's structure is that great. I mean, look at what they've done with the location section. It's like trying to read a run-on sentence, and it makes me desperately want to cram a bunch of <div>s into that thing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, naturally VV is going to look to VB for some of its pointers, simply because VB has worked very well at doing what it is trying to do: create a community for vegetarians and vegans to come and learn about the lifestyle, chat about the issues, and meet like-minded people. As much as we want to diss VB for what it ended up doing, most of us owe our existence here to it. VB didn't do everything wrong, and what it did wrong mainly started when Michael sold the board.

All of this stuff is fine when it comes to opinion, but some of the things in this thread are definitely personal attacks, which are really not okay. I'm not going to name-call because that would be stooping to the same level, but let me just say that everyone who has been arguing and making the personal attacks are people I know and respect, which shocks me a bit. So rather than trying to punish people, can we all just drop the personal attacks, acknowledge that others besides ourselves have opinions, and have a discussion of the actual forum structure rather than simply yell at each other about it, since such behavior will get us nowhere in determining what we think IS should do with VV?

 

[Ansciess]

That being said, Ansciess' insistence on arguing the counter-point is also a bit strange, simply because it isn't that big of a deal that the Lounge was placed at the top of the forum.

I agree it's not that big of a deal. I was (really don't care anymore) advocating for the whole package (not just placement of the lounge) of structuring the forum based on the overarching goal (depending on what that is, which seems like it's probably different for different people), and how to best attract new people - regardless of if it might or might not look like VB. I mean, none of it's that big of a deal, we can just offer our opinions on how we'd like to see it evolve.

 

[AspireToExpire]

here is where I point out I didn't even notice stuff had been moved.

 

[Freesia]

I am already not liking have to scroll all the way down to the bottom to get to the lounge. My smartphone is a very basic one and not easy to scroll. Also if the page is still loading it bounces back to the top again and then I have to scroll again, with my finger, little by little....