nordic

The problem with pre-reserved posts is that it is not easy to know when they have been updated. On the other hand some trip reports are so well written and interesting that you really don't mind the trouble of checking (e.g. BBB's great report to Bali).

PropWasher

Maybe Trip Reports should have sub-forum for serially or by installment reports à la Dickens.

http://charlesdickenspage.com/works.html

Tall Travel Dude

I'm guilty of reserving space for future installments (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...bali-ek-f.html).

For all my past substantial trips, I've just posted to a blog I've created for the trip. I decided to post both to my blog and FT for my upcoming trip. I like to update my TRs in 'real time' in order to better convey the experience of the trip; there's nothing like spending the wee hours of the morning - wide awake from jetlag - furiously pounding away on the keyboard to best tell the story of the trip.

It's a shame when folks don't complete a trip report, but requiring this stifles the writing style of others like myself.

Eric

P.S. Here's my last trip report blog if you want to see an example of my writing (trip to South Africa):http://erictravelman.blogspot.com/

MojaveFlyer

I'm with most of the other sentiment here, but not being a Millennial I'm quite happy with well written text (photos optional). I don't think we should require a full report but start with something of some substance. You read something like EightBlack's intro to his trip and you're left on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment - having them come in near real time almost brings you along on the journey.

TallTravelDude writes something that I would certainly consider a good start and give him the break, but sticking in a bunch of "reserved" spots so you can put all your text in the same part of the thread? Pretentious, say I. You can (and do!) make your own beautiful blogs where you have complete control, but part of the fun of FT is the conversation that ensues.

Just my two cents' worth.

PDX973

I agree with the op.

ORDnHKG

I do agree there are a few people have great trip report without any pics, but those are the few, not the others. And the rest are like usually one giant paragraph, no separation, you can't even jump to where you want to start to read.

A photo speaks a thousand words, without a photo, you wouldn't even know what is that really when it come to food especially airplane food. You make judgement base on the look on the food to determine if it is appetizing or not. You can say whatever how great looking it is, but your audience have no way to determine from your description. Also, without photos, I would never know, and don't even want to venture out when connecting in FRA as how to get thru immigration to get the FCT, how nice is the LH FCT, or the ground handling in BKK for TG F, and the nice TG F lounge, etc.

No, I am not demanding people to adapt my style, that is a suggestion, if so I could say OP is demanding people to adapt his style too, or you are demanding people to adapt your style to have a completed trip report, right ?

tom911

I haven't done that. The few I have posted have been while I was on the road for a 10-14 day trip and I'd add a segment each day or two. I did that for my reports from the Olympics in Athens, Beijing and London, among others. I see more value in posting a report, or even a segment, closer to when it happens in case there are followup questions or comments. Posting after completion of a trip would take away a lot of value from my trip reports. So, from that perspective, I'd be against any rule that you can't post a report until your trip is entirely complete.

amolkold

Completing a trip report has nothing to do with style. A trip reporter should be able to write whatever in the world they'd like to write, however they write. A lot of people don't want to bother with taking photos of their trip, should that preclude them from writing a TR?

All we are discussing is that a thread shouldn't be made unless the TR is going to be completed. Way too many TRs go undone or don't even start.

A fully done TR with no pics is better than a TR with just a GC Map of the itinerary.

mad_atta

I understand the OP's frustration with unfinished trip reports - I've been guilty of that in the past myself on at least one occasion - but agree with comments from others that sometimes some of the fun of trip reports is in watching events unfold piece by piece. I also would rather read half of a great but unfinished trip report (like some of hauteboy's efforts to exotic places, for example) than not get to read it at all. And therein lies the rub: overly prescriptive rules may well have the effect of stifling the forum or making some prospective TR writers put it in the 'too hard' basket.

Having said that, I'm a big fan of the TR forum and I'm all for suggestions that would make it better. It does seem that there is reasonable consensus building on a couple of points:
1. No starting of trip reports without at least a substantial first instalment (preferably part of the actual travel, not just preamble or pre-departure events)
2. Reserving posts for future use is frustrating

I would add to that the need for some user-friendly formatting and use of headings etc to easily organise the report to peruse quickly.

As for the photo vs. non-photo issue, I don't think there's a one size fits all solution (nor should there be). I love beautifully written, all-prose reports, and I also enjoy reports that are 95% images, if the quality is good and they are well edited. Long live the diversity, I say.

westcoastbmx

Agree.

wrp96

If we're going to require completed trip reports, doesn't that mean that we're rarely going to get an eightblack report anymore since it seems he doesn't always finish his reports?

Also totally disagree with requiring photos.

dat4life

I believe the OP's ire is direct more toward the hit and run folks, i.e. look at my great itinerary and then just disappear.

Tall Travel Dude

I apologize for the reserved spots. I figured it would be easier reading for someone who comes across the TR a year from now. When I read a TR that is broken up, it's hard to tell (without going through lots of comments, sometimes) if it is finished or if there are additional parts.

Can I delete my reserved spots? Is that possible?

Circumknowitall

As an avid reader of the Trip Reports section I'm just grateful to read the many wonderful and varied reports people post.

I prefer to read a report in full and often wait to a trip report has been finished before starting.

wwnz

Hi all,

As a long-time reader of trip reports on this forum and having written my own trip report recently, I'll chip in a few things.

The reservation of posts for future sections of the trip report is slightly annoying but understandable. When I constructed my trip report, I decided not to reserve posts beforehand, and instead create a table of contents in the very first post that allowed for easy navigation, and which showed which sections had been posted and which hadn't. The problem was, constructing the table of contents with links that let you open a section of the trip report such that you're taken to the correct post whilst still displaying the rest of the thread was quite tricky and required fiddling around. For example:

This link brings you to a certain section of the trip report but shows you the rest of the thread as well - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post20381981

On the other hand, if you made a link directly to the post by using the link that you get when you click on the post number, you get the post isolated on its own which is not as ideal - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20381981-post71.html

Making it easier for report writers to create a good table of contents at the start of their trip report might mitigate the need to reserve lots of posts at the start, which is understandable when you want organisation. It also solves the problem of figuring out how many posts you need to reserve of course. I had to fiddle around a lot to get it to work, so I assume other report writers have similarly had to fiddle around with it to get it to work? I don't see any obvious way of constructing the links.

The way I did it manually was to copy the URL of the specific page of the forum thread e.g.
"http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1443845-emirates-first-class-773er-772lr-akl-mel-dxb-gva-cdg-dxb-mel-akl-lots-photos-5.html" is the URL link for page 5 of the thread

Then copy the link you obtain when you click on the post number on the right of a post which was:
"http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20381981-post71.html"

Then to make the final link, add on #post20381981 to the end of the first link to get:
"http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1443845-emirates-first-class-773er-772lr-akl-mel-dxb-gva-cdg-dxb-mel-akl-lots-photos-5.html#post20381981"

I agree with the others in terms of the frustration with opening what looks to be an excellent trip report from the title but finding that only the introduction has been written. Ensuring that the first leg must have been completed seems like a great rule to implement. I'm sure others have the same experience...I have a list of trip reports that I'm looking forward to reading bookmarked which I check every second day or so to see if there are any updates and this can get tiring after a while.

As previously mentioned an option to receive notifications when the original poster of a thread has posted a reply would be nice.

On the subject of photos, they certainly should not be a requirement. I generally only look at reports where photos are included but that is just my preference and at the same I have thoroughly enjoyed some of the text-only reports.