First topic message reminder :

tried to have a look but had to register and kept getting an annoying prize draw thing in Bulgarian (as I am in Bulgaria at the moment) so gave up.


Edited by Admin..

I have split this topic from here viewtopic.php?f=46&
t=6807 because it has now developed into a discussion about the blog site and the issues members are facing along with some ideas as to how to resolve the problem.

Edited by Chris..

Poll now added. Please help us by voting one way or another! Thanks

Chris wrote:

Thanks for the input Sara (we welcome views from all sides)

Equinus wrote:

if I'm honest I really don't think the site wants a blog section.

Could you vote 'No' in the poll please, then I will get a more balanced result at the end

Ah, but the problem is, I do. I have written things, and the only reason I haven't done my blog on here is because no-one reads them. Vicious circle.

If this won't post I'm not ignoring, I'm having connection problems. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't....usually long ones! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

(Stupid me, if it doesn't post you'll never know!)

Why can't bloggers just put links to their Bloggershere, I appreciate this disscussion was started by a blog which required a charge to the website for reading, but there must be another way. I'm not against a small annual fee for the the forum as a whole (if it was required to keep it going) but not having any interest in blogs, I cast my vote accordingly. Tho with only 7 votes cast (to date) it is very close.

In reality the Forum is a victim of it's own success. Every post is archived, those of us that write a post are emailed when someone else puts a post on after us and in a way we are spoilt rotten. I seem to recall that the Forum has been going four or five years and all posts received in that time are archived, if we look forward another five years, how many posts will the Forum have archived by then?

It seems to me that a bit of thinning out is required so that the Forum isn't overloaded with posts that no one is going to read, of course there are posts that give important information and these must be left in the archive section only if they are still relevant to today's laws and regulations and not just useless history sitting there and being of no use to anyone. Maybe a time limit regardless of how important the post was should be made, ie. two years!

I realise that some work would be required in thinning out and deleting posts which are no use, but in the end surely that would give the Forum some extra space and better than be burdened down and having to update and pay more for the privilege of running a much larger Forum.

I don't see why blog writers have been set upon as it were, of course I write one and so I can't say I am not biased, but with so much antique stuff in the archive there would be plenty of space for me and others to place our blogs if it was cleared out a bit. If need be the Forum could delete the blogs after six months or longer, thereby giving the space back to the Forum.

What time limit does the Forum have for members not visiting the Forum or not placing a post? It wouldn't seem fair to penalise someone who hasn't written on the Forum, we are not all suited for public writing. But the fact remains if a member is not visiting the forum for a period of say one or two years, is it not time to reflect on whether that member should be excommunicated.

I apologise if my reasoning seems hard, but the Forum needs to move forward in a way that safeguards it's future.

I would donate to the Forum quite freely it to enable it to progress.

itchyfeet wrote:

In reality the Forum is a victim of it's own success. Every post is archived, those of us that write a post are emailed when someone else puts a post on after us and in a way we are spoilt rotten. I seem to recall that the Forum has been going four or five years and all posts received in that time are archived, if we look forward another five years, how many posts will the Forum have archived by then?

It seems to me that a bit of thinning out is required so that the Forum isn't overloaded with posts that no one is going to read, of course there are posts that give important information and these must be left in the archive section only if they are still relevant to today's laws and regulations and not just useless history sitting there and being of no use to anyone. Maybe a time limit regardless of how important the post was should be made, ie. two years!

I realise that some work would be required in thinning out and deleting posts which are no use, but in the end surely that would give the Forum some extra space and better than be burdened down and having to update and pay more for the privilege of running a much larger Forum.

I don't see why blog writers have been set upon as it were, of course I write one and so I can't say I am not biased, but with so much antique stuff in the archive there would be plenty of space for me and others to place our blogs if it was cleared out a bit. If need be the Forum could delete the blogs after six months or longer, thereby giving the space back to the Forum.

What time limit does the Forum have for members not visiting the Forum or not placing a post? It wouldn't seem fair to penalise someone who hasn't written on the Forum, we are not all suited for public writing. But the fact remains if a member is not visiting the forum for a period of say one or two years, is it not time to reflect on whether that member should be excommunicated.

I apologise if my reasoning seems hard, but the Forum needs to move forward in a way that safeguards it's future.

I would donate to the Forum quite freely it to enable it to progress.

Thank Itchy Thanks to you all for you comments it is great to get feedback and Chris will be deighted. as he says 'keep em coming

itchyfeet wrote:

It seems to me that a bit of thinning out is required so that the Forum isn't overloaded with posts that no one is going to read, of course there are posts that give important information and these must be left in the archive section only if they are still relevant to today's laws and regulations and not just useless history sitting there and being of no use to anyone. Maybe a time limit regardless of how important the post was should be made, ie. two years!

I realise that some work would be required in thinning out and deleting posts which are no use, but in the end surely that would give the Forum some extra space and better than be burdened down and having to update and pay more for the privilege of running a much larger Forum.

The problem with thinning out threads is how do you decide what is to stay and what needs to go?

Maybe if it could be done on a 'last/least hit' basis, at least that way threads that are still being viewed would not be removed.
Obviously that would also mean the search engine needs to be positive with what results it comes up with when people use it, fortunately as yet I have not needed to use the search facility so can't comment on how well I think it does the job.

As for the blog site.
I used to like reading it, but although the information is not only excellent but also at times very entertaining I started to find that once in the blog section the emphasis was taken away from the general forum with going from one blog to another.

I don't think registering or having to sign in has anything to do with people not visiting there.

From my point of view I really enjoy reading the few blogs we have and happy to contribuet should we need to.. They are good entertainment and many posts inspires people to go for their dreams and take that chance. The are real life stories and quite informative, yes we have some good points as well as bad poins but this is life and the blog tells it how it is a that time.

Viewing:
So do many people read the blogs, I would say no - I have a blog on here and the last time it was view was 2010. As some of you may know I also post regular updates on the Silistra orphanage including the newsletter and poster but they are not viewed much either - So my tought of trail is if the post is too long people will not be bother to read it. I have done that myself many a time.

So the big question is Do we actually need a blog on here? or do we continue as it is with those few members posting their stories but perhaps limit them - This could be a possability or indeed another hiccup too, for instance when we have the Silistra Gaden Party I do like to give the whole story of all that went on, so one post can be very long but if limited would that mean I could continue on another post that might spread over several post.

I honestly don't know why the bloggers are getting the blame for the current state of affairs with the Forum. I write blogs as you know and cannot be unbiased with my comments, but I have just looked up on page 176 of past postings of which there is 4918 postings in total.

There are mostly newbies on page 176 saying hello and the date, well 2009.

Enough said!!

If the amount of memory taken up by the Forum isn't the problem will someone please speak up, the silence is deafening!!

Hi itchy

itchyfeet wrote:

I honestly don't know why the bloggers are getting the blame for the current state of affairs with the Forum. I write blogs as you know and cannot be unbiased with my comments, but I have just looked on page 176 of past postings of which there is 4918 postings.

First of all, the forum is not in 'a state of affairs' and secondly, nobody is blaming anybody for anything! We're just trying to find out if a 'paid for' blog section would be popular enough for us to think about putting it in place.

Looking at the results so far, opinion seems split in half, however, we're currently nowhere near getting the 40 or so members required to put such a section in place.

Let's leave the poll running over the weekend in the hope we get some more votes and suggestions.

By the way, we often do thin out the threads and posts, especially getting rid of old posts that are no longer relevant (in fact, there's a bit of housekeeping taking place all this week). However, this doesn't free up much in the way of fileserver space required to host the entire forum (think of all the photographs, profiles, banners, footers, private messages, etc., that all have to be stored somewhere).

Can we keep this discussion on the main topic:
Those people who love writing and reading blogs, would you be prepared to contribute a few euros to have the blogs here on the main forum, in a section that only contributors can access?

Thanks
Chris

If the blogs are not drivers of traffic that is significant enough to attract ad revenue, then I think bloggers wishing to host their blog here can contribute in the same way most independent bloggers pay for private hosting and domains (as I do myself - including paying for blog templates, updates, widgets and stock images).

If the site overall doesn't generate enough traffic to attract ad revenue sufficient to cover hosting costs - whether operated for or not for profit - then things need seriously looking at.

As a media and marketing consultant with over a decade of experience owning &
running my own agency, I would be happy to discuss possible strategies further via PM.

Hi expatinchina

Many thanks for the input

expatinchina wrote:

If the site overall doesn't generate enough traffic to attract ad revenue sufficient to cover hosting costs - whether operated for or not for profit - then things need seriously looking at.

I too have also been in media and marketing for over 30 years and, if allowed, would turn a healthy profit from this site (I appreciate your enthusiasm to do this!). We do have the traffic to warrant it, but it has never been the philosophy of the forum.

We've never been interested in making money from advertising. The 'banners' on the top of the forum are only available to folks that donate to Berni's orphanage charity, the forum receives nothing from them and we have never sought any revenue from advertising to cover our hosting and admin costs.

Currently, the domain / hosting costs, etc., are covered by Ash (admin) and myself to make the forum a free, and hopefully decent, place to visit for quality information, without ads popping up every few seconds.

The reason for this discussion is trying to find out if our avid 'bloggers' would like a private area of the forum (with increased post ability, more photos, tutorials on how to get the most out of their blogs, etc.), in return for a few euros contribution, rather than the (current) independent blog site we set up (which didn't seem to meet the approval of most of our bloggers).

Thanks again
Chris

Sorry Chris - I obviously don't understand. If the consideration is a 'private' blogging area on the site then would anyone not blogging/paying be able to see it? What's the point in that - therapy for the blogger? Or is this more about doing away with the pesky reregistration aspect of accessing the current blogs thereby enabling them to be followed by more people? Surely if it is felt by the owners that the site warrants having blogs and given that all costs are covered with no desire to raise revenue - why not just do it?

expatinchina wrote:

why not just do it?

Thanks expat, will reply in full when I get home. Hate typing long posts on the iPhone. Great input though, thanks again

I forgot to mention something else I was not happy with on the blog site which was all the interaction of other members (maybe even myself, I can be just as guilty) although I think I did try my hardest not to interrupt their line of thoughts.

I feel the forums are for interaction and blog sites are for the blogers to get on and tell us their EXCELLENT stories.

Chris wrote:

Hi itchy

itchyfeet wrote:

I honestly don't know why the bloggers are getting the blame for the current state of affairs with the Forum.

First of all, the forum is not in 'a state of affairs' and secondly, nobody is blaming anybody for anything!

Apologies for how I put that statement. I didn't mean the Forum was in a state, I merely meant the present state of discussion. I agree with donating the site some revenue as a blog writer, but feel that making members pay to read them would perhaps be counter productive. Us bloggers enjoy writing them and perhaps some of us should have been on the stage, but in the meantime the Forum is our stage and instead of thunderous applause from the audience, we get nice replies from the members of the Forum for our postings, for me that is generous satisfaction.

Just read this and the way I understand it, is the boggers will possibly make a donation to write away their blogs but those who only wish to read will be able to do so just as at present without making any donation.