Too many new posts

[woodg62]

I use the "New Posts" feature to view all the new posts since my last visit. Usually only 20 or so threads are listed. Now, with the Renovators forums added, the list is much larger. Is there any way to limit the New Posts to only those in the Woodworking forums?

Glenn

[China]

Just don't click on the posts you don't wish to view, there are not that many extra.

[Bohdan]

There is only a limited number of new posts displayed and if the ones that you might be interested in have disappeared off the bottom of the page there is no easy way to get to see them.

There needs to be a way to scroll down past the bottom of the page.

PS I must apologize as I was referring to the Activity Stream and not to the New Posts list.

[Handyjack]

At times it could be a week between visits and I know there will be posts I have missed. The new posts can be over three or four pages, but I find it is a way to stay up to date.
I only read what I think will be of interest so many threads are skipped over.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Good to see new activity with the renovation forums coming back. Also avoids having to monitor two forums.

[woodg62]

Just don't click on the posts you don't wish to view, there are not that many extra.

I don't know how many extra there are, but it feels like double the usual numbers.

[r3nov8or]

I just scanned the first page of new posts, and only one was from the Renovation section. Maybe more new members from RF are active in the woodwork and metal forums. Good problem to have I reckon

[ubeaut]

Hello Woodg62

I just went through the first 200 and found 6 from Reno, and 9 RSS feed from MWF. The rest were all WWF.

So 185 new posts on WWF 15 total from Reno & MWF.
So a change of 6 posts to what would have been there if Reno wasn't.

It's not mandatory to read everything unless you're an Admin and even then it's not really mandatory.

Maybe subscribe to the forums you would mostly read and get daily or weekly updates emailed to you.

[ubeaut]

Post stats from May 1-31 2023 Average posts per day 70 top 2 days 101 and 112.

Post stats from May 1-31 2015 Average posts per day 250 top 2 days 374 and 375

Thank goodness it's so much easier now.

Feb and March were both down considerably on April and May

[Bushmiller]

To my mind many posts are a sign of a healthy Forum. I suspect these are difficult times and there is much competition with other Forums and particularly other internet outlets (Facebook etc..) I am quite happy to sieve through a large number of posts. Any that interest me, but I can't quickly decipher their nature, I hover over and the lines of the initiator's first post are highlighted. I can make a decision from there. I can receive updates on threads I have not contributed to by "subscribing."

What would be of more concern to me is if the number of new posts dwindled. Neil has in the previous post pointed to some shortfall compared to other years. The Covid pandemic probably has much to answer for in this regard. Hopefully those who have chosen Facebook in preference to a Forum of some standing in the woodworking community will twig (is that similar to wood?) to the error of their ways: Eventually.

Regards
Paul

[ubeaut]

What would be of more concern to me is if the number of new posts dwindled. Neil has in the previous post pointed to some shortfall compared to other years. The Covid pandemic probably has much to answer for in this regard. Hopefully those who have chosen Facebook in preference to a Forum of some standing in the woodworking community will twig (is that similar to wood?) to the error of their ways: Eventually.

Comparing forums posts from 7, 12 or 15yrs ago to today is in some ways like comparing apples to oranges.

Big thing with many of the older posts compared to what we have now and for the last few years is that the old post often contained lots and lots of drivel and other garbage which flowed through almost every thread, inflating post numbers and causing headaches for admin, moderators and the genuine posters.

We lost a lot of good members due to personal attacks, hijacking of threads/posts, abuse, humiliation and more. We also didn't get a lot of potential new members who were so intimidated by what they read and saw going on that they didn't join. I know because I used to get emails from different ones on a regular basis. There are still many hundreds who joined up but have never posted anything to this day because they were afraid of being humiliated or attacked, etc.

The forums have been considerably cleaned up over the last 10 or so years and even more in the last 6 years as we tightened things up somewhat more, making the forums become what they should have been from the beginning. A really great repository of knowledge and help plus a safe, friendly place to come to for help and enjoyment of woodworking and similar crafts/trades plus many of our other loves.

Yes the number of posts and threads have fallen somewhat over those years but the quality and safeness of the forums has risen dramatically in that same time.

In early 2011, I turned down a 7 figure offer for the forums because the people who made me the offer (out of the blue) wanted to commercialise it ahead of the launching of a major US hardware chain into Australia. Somewhat similar to the Oneflare offer for Renovate Forum only on a much, much, much. larger scale.

These forums were not started as a moneymaking venture and never have been. They were started to give back to the woodworking community a little of what it gave to me over the years. As my mother used to say... "I'm not as green as I am cabbage looking!" in other words I could see the writing on the wall for these forums if I were to sell... so I didn't. I've seen many US businesses come and go here in Australia because they didn't do their due diligence on downunder and was sure the entire venture would fail within a very few years, which it did. Even faster than I thought it would.

I was recently approached again to sell and this time the offer was for a mid 5 figure value which I also turned down... However this just goes to show the value of forums today as compared with 12 years ago.

To my way of thinking these forums are more valuable now than they have ever been in he past, maybe not in monetary value but certainly in their content value as a repository of knowledge, their sense of community, their integrity, their friendly and open style, and their safety.

All forums around the world have taken a big hit over the last few years thanks to social media platforms the likes of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, etc, etc, etc. the list just goes on.

There have always been fluctuations in post numbers across the board but in the long run that doesn't count towards much in the grand scheme of things.

Sorry for the great big tome.

There's probably a lot more I can say after 24+ years of these forums day in and day out. But I'll shut up now.

Cheers - Neil

[Sir Stinkalot]

I would also think that the drop in post numbers over the years could be a reflection of the quality of past knowledge that is easily searched via the forums.
I have a new coffee roaster and it has community groups spread across the manufactures forum boards (similar to this one) with minimal traffic, a Facebook group and a Discord group. The Facebook group just keeps getting the same questions asked again as its so difficult to find answers to similar questions, so they just ask again.

You are doing fine job Neil!

[Mountain Ash]

Thank you Neil for all your work. This forum is a source of much knowledge and enjoyment for me. My only complaint is not enough posting in the Hand Tools - Unpowered section .

[ubeaut]

My only complaint is not enough posting in the Hand Tools - Unpowered section .

My only complaint is not enough posting in - Ummm... All section.

[Marc]

Facebook groups, are almost useless when you need to follow up on information request. By the time the post is approved, read, and answered, it is hidden under a ton of repetitive questions that have been formulated every second day with no reply.

Then you have forums like Whirlpool that are so large that it is impossible to know if the person answering has a clue about what he is talking about.

I am sorry for the old timers on woodwork forum. We had nowhere to go so we are back from where we branched out many years ago. Those coming back are but a shadow of the numbers we had in Renovate forum, and we took a massive hit in the last 5 years too.

Renovate forum members are a handful and it rest to be seen if some of the activity will come back. No one is planning an invasion.