Are you serious? If so, I suggest including this in the aforementioned warning system.

Calm down people, those are just my thoughts/suggestions. Whether you like it or not, that's your opinion. All I am saying is, we need to have something going if we were to support OP's petition, and what I said, is what I would do, and yes, it is on the stern side, but isn't that how most negotiation starts? You start high, and gradually worked your way down. I'd imagine if there's a system in place, things will be "friendly" and "reasonable".

=)

Exactly! ^

That said, I totally agree with those who say just getting a teaser, then nothing more also sucks. But, how do we achieve that balance?

It's not a negotiation, there is nothing to negotiate. People give their spare time to produce trip reports. Other people read them or don't read them. People post or don't post. No-one is under any obligation to do anything apart from follow the rules of FT. It's not that the readers of the trip reports are on one side of the table and the writers on the other. This is all on a good will basis. The readers get what the writers are able to produce, in the manner in which they choose to produce it. Making demands such as what you suggest is simply ridiculous and totally disrespectful to those who spend many hours and days putting reports together for others to enjoy.

If your suggestion were to be followed through, with verbal whippings for non-postings, it'll be the death of the trip report forum which I'm sure we will all agree is not in anyone's interest.

I've not posted anything in here for a while, but I enjoy reading very much. I would suggest that a sub-forum is created wehre trip reports that have been written as installments and never fully completed gets dumped after a few days of inactivity.

And I agree, there's no fun in just getting a fancy iteniary and 20 reserved posts never to be completed.

-A

Not only should people post complete trip reports, but they must also verify that they are indeed the person who has actually taken the trip by attaching a scan of their passport photo page and boarding card.

Are you guys kidding?? Am I the only one who is getting fed up with all these suggestions for new rules & regulations on FT? We are not running a country here. It's a discussion forum.

If you open a thread and find that there is no trip report posted beyond the itinerary, click on that pointy thing called an arrow on the upper-left side of your browser and move on.

This is an excellent suggestion!

Perhaps there could be a sub-forum where readers understand that the reports are written in installments over time.

Wholeheartedly agree with this.
I really enjoy the trip reports section and I very much appreciate the efforts of those who post them. I keep a travel blog but I don't link it here and do trip reports due to time constraints and the criticism from the readers.

Frankly, I would hate to see rules imposed if they cut down on the reports being posted.

Is it disappointing when a report is not as robust as we'd like? Sure. That said, it's simply a click of the "BACK" button and life moves on.

If you don't want to get engrossed in an incomplete report, do a quick scan before reading and determine if this is one you want to invest in.

However, to impose draconian rules on something that takes so much time and effort and people are doing on their own time is pretty over the top.

Heck, a lot of the threads all over FT are fairly minimal in content with lots of funny/silly comments back and forth. I don't get all up in arms about that either!

Spot on. ^

I know some esteemed trip reporters post a report in dribs and drabs over several weeks or even months however I much prefer the continuity that a completed report offers.

Ok I am going to dip my oar in now as a poster not a mod of this forum.

Personally if a rule were introduced that said I couldn't post a report until it was complete I don't think I would bother any more.

It takes a long time to compose these reports and upload pictures. For example the last 2 days of my current report took over 5 hours of my time to prepare and post.
If I won't have the opportunity to get some feedback on the report until I am done I would probably loose interest. Once I have started there is a level of commitment and an obligation to get the rest posted.

Also if some were to post the whole report in one swag then photos will be all on the first page and will slow down the initial page load. At least if there have been some comments on the go they may force a new page and some of the photo load can be deferred. This is quite beneficial for those who have less than stellar internet speed. For this reason I also don't like those that post reports with reserved posts as it causes the same problem.

Also many of my reports are on flights on RTW tickets that could take up to a year to complete. Would people really not want to see a report on the flights until the whole year was up?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now as a mod of this forum, I just wanted to let you know I have been following this thread with interest.

However any decision made will need to ensure it doesn't put too heavy a burden on the poor sod that had to enforce those rules. The mod role is a volunteer position and our time is given willingly and freely. Suggestions such as some above about timings and sanctions aren't practicable from a moderation standpoint.

I will continue to monitor this thread and ponder what can done. I don't want to impose too many rules on posters in this forum but if that is what the majority want them perhaps it is time.

^ me too. The comments keep me going.

+1^

Only posting "total" reports? Having seen the itineraries people undertake (SFO777 as an example), are some of you demented? The greatest TRs here may have a dozen or more segments (and in premium cabins, so there is a widespread reader "appeal"), exotic locations, unusual activities, luxury hotels, unique boutiques, dreadful dives, michelin * dining, etc etc. Describing these things in their fullness and waxing poetic could run into several thousand words. That requires several hours spread over a number of days to write properly. If you disagree, look at the schlock turned out overnight by university students around the world.

As for pictures, why do we need them in profundity? If anything, I find the quantity excessive. Most airline cabins are extremely well photographed at present. I know what a glass of champagne looks like. I'd be mortified to ask the FA to pose with the Dom/Moet/Veuve/etc, and the excessive photography comes off to me as declasse when I see others do it in higher end restaurants, F/J cabins, and 5* hotel lobbies. But that is just I, and I am in a clear minority, it seems.

Hotel rooms are another matter. I find hotel websites "vague" and limited in scope. The sins of a hotel room can't be hidden in an amateur picture snapped by a a smartphone. Likewise, the strengths will shine through regardless of quality (within reason). If only tripadvisor would put a stop to superfluous pictures of tourist attractions reviewers upload with their reviews...

Trip Reports are expressions of creativity. Like most forms of art, there is rarely agreement as to what constitutes something good or bad.

There is however pretty common consensus that art does not thrive in an environment where it is stifled by petty rules, regulations or censorship. Art is best left to be created at the time and place and method of its creator's choosing, for that is what best allows the art to take the form it was intended to have.

Of course, just as a canvas that is left unfinished simply takes up space in the corner of a dusty room until it fades away from memory, an unfinished trip report will usually suffer the same fate. And artists that take up a brush, only to put it down with their magnum opus lacking a conclusion, rarely receive repeat commissions.

If you don't like the format that someone is using to create their reports, either provide them with feedback to improve, or just go read something else. I take the latter tact myself when I see a post title that over-promises but under-delivers.

This forum exists to provide an enabling environment for the amateur travel writers among us to tell their stories. There is nothing to be gained, and plenty to be lost, by attempting to further regulate its structure.

I don't think that there should be rules and regulations about TRs. The only thing I really think should be eliminated is the use of "reserved" posts, since they make it so hard to use the view unread button to work out where I'm up to.

Personally I like photos but if I had to choose between a text report with no photos and a photo report with no text I'd take the former. And I really wish that all photos were captioned in TRs. But these are personal things and I don't think my personal preferences should be imposed on TR writers - particularly since each of us will have our own two or three preferences, which would lead to countless thousands of "rules" being imposed!

One thing that would be nice is if the title could have "completed" or something added when the writer has finished the report. Partly because I would possibly wait until a report was complete before reading but also because once it is complete if I have been reading I know I don't have to click on it again only to see the "great report" posts.