If people would use their brains (aside: making the assumption most have one) as to where they are posting no one would ever see a locked or moved thread!

Every place (virtually) on the planet has rules. Don't like 'em don't visit.

Dorian



------------------
The Global Lounge Project - open source airline lounge listings - managed by Dorian
flyers'places - restaurant, bar & hotel tips - acquired by nFT
The Star Alliance RTW Price Chart - by Dorian
The Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart - by Blondebomber

That's right. Everyone's just become gun-shy now about posting.

Moderators are here to help us faciliate lively dialogue.

And "enhancements" at CO are always for the better.

twimc [ to whom it may concern] i have [with randy's people] have taken a great step for mankind or whomever in navigating this site. the reorg of the site into 4 boards is a great step. i had the prob of getting transported to another board [ ft calls them other forums] & not getting back. i've had help from ft tech that got me straightened out even though we wern't communicating. i believe that what [i think randy] said that they were trying to look a year ahead is a good choice. i'm posting & reading for info, to give & receive. i finally found out how to switch between "boards"not other forums while causing problems for theb staff @ ff. thanks to all.

The new format isn't that difficult to use. I do check Travel and Airports every so often (probably more often than the average FT'er).

However, if people aren't interested in posting to a bulletin board with a certain setup, you can't force them to do so. You can force it after the fact (locking the thread and moving it to the correct location), but that discourages posting altogether, as we've seen today.

I know FT isn't a for-profit venture, but you should pretend like you're trying to make a profit by attracting as many customers as you can, given your "product" (a bulletin board).

In other words, what is the point of having a particular setup if no one likes it? This isn't an elementary school, where you have to be here and you have to follow the rules.

I really like FT, and I personally don't mind visiting the different boards. However, if "Buzz" traffic (Miles+Travel Buzz) drops by 90% just so some rules can be followed, what good does that really do?


Proposal

Create an additional forum above MilesBuzz (i.e., the first one, and make MilesBuzz the second). Call it "The Buzz" or something to that effect. Let people put anything in there that doesn't *obviously* belong in another forum.

If someone posts a topic "I love F100 middle seats" in Miles Buzz, move it to "The Buzz". But most people will put topics like that in "The Buzz" to begin with, because it's the first forum and has the most traffic.

Then, on the FlyerTalk Travel board, delete TravelBuzz, Hotels and Online Booking (all three are already buzz-y). Leave the other forums as they are very specific. Posting a question about B&B's in the B&B forum is at least as effective as posting a question about B&B's in The Buzz.

Under the old setup, General TravelTalk got more traffic than "The Buzz!", if I remember correctly. And General TravelTalk was the second forum! "The Buzz!" got some non-miles question because it was the first forum. So, putting the non-miles Buzz back here as the very first forum would, in my opinion, be even better than the old setup.

[This message has been edited by JS (edited 08-16-2001).]

JS-

Good points. BTW, I have an idea for the name of this "new" board: what about "General Travel Talk"?

I miss the random posts that made FT soooo much fun in addition to being so informative. Threads like:

Celebrites You Have Seen
and any thread started by or contributed to by Village Idiot, etc....

Good grief! That's an odd sentiment for a board that is dedicated to the exchange of information concerning ways to manipulate the rules of the airlines' mileage programs.


[This message has been edited by David Reed (edited 08-16-2001).]

I posted a topic in the "Omni" forum about this same issue (locking threads) and suggested that seeing all those locks might chase potential members away. The replies I have so far seem to agree with the "new system", but they still didn't mention that they were in favor of locking threads. My suggestion would be to copy the threads to their respective forums with a note indicating so, but not lock them up. As far as I'm aware, a locked thread can be opened back up again. At any rate, I haven't been to another community that has 10 locked threads in a 3 day period.

Erik.

That's right, David. Dorian (like I) use this board to exchange info on MILEAGE programs, not to post the BUZZ on anything and everything that crosses his mind.

Is is so hard to think "MILES" before posting on this board? I am not the most prolific poster for my time here; but I always consider where it is most appropriate to start a thread.

When I have a question about which I would like to see if there has been previous discussion, I used to be able to do a global search. This seems to be no longer possible; and I must now specify the forum to be searched. Thus there MUST be more discipline to the FlyterTalk board.

Moderators, you have my full support!

Kappa-

I was pointing out the irony of insisting on strict adherence to rules in a forum dedicated in large part to learning how to avoid having the rules apply to you.

Might I also suggest that the "don't like 'em [the rules] don't visit" attitude is unhelpful in a forum like FT. FT would not exist without the contributions of the readers. The amount of "moderation" that has befallen the BUZZ section lately seems to have wiped out all of the discussion here. Discussion about changes to the format is valid. Telling someone to go away because they hold an opinion which differs from yours is childish at best.



[This message has been edited by David Reed (edited 08-16-2001).]

I love the moderation. Keep it up!

Why? Precisely because so many FTers got fed up with Wild, Wild West approach that TheBuzz was just before moderation. They begged and pleaded for well on nigh a year for order -- and now they've got it.

Hopefully some of them will post here again.

Honestly, I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal over this.

Randy and the FT staff obviously have a vision of FT becoming much bigger and better in the future, and having the separate forums seems the best way to handle that. Moderator 1 has been given a task to complete, which is to get us lazy people to make a couple extra mouse clicks before posting. Is it really that difficult?

Those of you who refuse to post for "fear of being locked down" either should be posting in another forum anyway, or your just being obstinate which doesn't serve you or your fellow FT'ers.

Yes its more fragmented, and will take a bit of getting used to, but once everyone is on the same page, I think it will be much easier to find the info you need, and still have a place for the fun, silly, conversations that we love to read...except now maybe we'll find them in OMNI where they should have been all along. I for one, would like to know what Bean had for lunch today

Maybe it would help to have "read before posting" forum like over on the Priceline boards so the newer people understand the forums and know where the search button is before asking about hotels in ___(fill in the blank) for the umpteenth time in Miles Buzz, just because its the first place they found.


------------------
Have a great day!!
~~Missy~~

Many of you may not be aware that this discussion is quite active in "Suggestions".

I am sure this thread will be moved there shortly...

I have noticed, that many people stopped posting replies to simple strings or to strings, that don't lend much to meaningful discussions. It is not helpful to me to see a FREE FOR ALL on the MilesBuzz. The guidelines are trying to keep the posting on target about MILES!

The sooner we get back to MILES ONLY on the Buzz, the better the more interesting it will be.