Which Section ?

[David Hartley]

I visit the forum here once every 3 or 4 days and I still find it confusing.

For instance.. Here's a copy of 4 thread titles in the steel players section.

What instrument or amp are you GLAD you kept ?
by Basil Henriques » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:39 am 1 Replies38 Views
Last post by JohnDavisStringsHere
Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:45 pm
Maintenance (Lubrication)
12by Shaun » Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:37 am 13 Replies131 Views
Last post by Shaun
Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:17 am
Who in Europe has a Sho-Bud stuck at John Coop's
by James Schmitt » Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:04 am 0 Replies52 Views
Last post by James Schmitt
Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:04 am
Practicing unplugged
12by Zebedee » Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:15 pm

What's this all got to do with steel players?

Also, the photos, videos, YouTube, reviews, ? Confusing to me.

Here's my suggestions for you Mr A.

Have a dedicated YouTube, section where any links to videos of our own or anyones can be posted.
Have a pedal steel/ non pedal section (combined) for all the instrument and tech issues and questions
Have a music chat cafe section where anything about music, gigs, bands, stories from the past etc can be posted.

Have a think Mr Admin, I mean Mr Adams. Keep it simple, with less sections, and I think it will get more postings. I have had ideas and things I wanted to post on a couple of occasions, and to be honest, I minimize this on the iPad, and jump to the USA forum because it's easier.

Please consider the above. I know you do a great job running this but I think this is a suggestion to consider.

Regards
David

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

I am in the fortunate position, in that,at My age I find everything confusing
I do , however, find it confusing that the topics mentioned are not steel related?
[b]Since We are all steel players or learners I think if You look at the heading of a thread it will not be confusing
Lubrication......I would guess the subscriber is not talking about motor vehicles.
Similarly ....Practising unplugged would not relate to making tea.
I honestly think that everything here is well set out.Perhaps it would be different if We had 10K members like the U.S. forum which would generate more daily posts.
This Forum has improved a lot BUT,have a look at the regular members who are posting daily,or even weekly,the same names appear with great frequency.
best regards
Billy

[Basil Henriques]

You are of course correct David, the misuse of the named sections is confusing. But maybe just maybe the named sections names are slightly ambiguous as well as being too specific.

In this section, the post of mine you quoted is the ONLY post of mine that's "Out of Place" (similar to this one of yours) but I WAS following suit to this post by Ken Byng.. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=303 in the same section, what WOULD have been more confusing would be if I'd posted my similar post elsewhere.
Does it matter ?

There are 8 topic posts in this section that are DIRECTLY about steel players, the other 32 posted topics are not.
But they are related..

My other posts in this section:-
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=214
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=195
Both of which are VERY relevant to "Steel Players" being about "Steel Players"

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=181
So I stand to be ostracised and castigated for my "out of section post"
"A Cautionary Tale," which I thought was useful information for steel players in general. So, I posted it in the most watched section.

[Ken Byng]

Does it matter ?

Not a jot. I think that I would be more concerned about the lack of interesting posts from those members who do not contribute anything. it is the same as on the old site - the same 10 - 12 people contribute 95% of the forum's concert. It doesn't matter if YouTube clips are put under Steel Players, The Steel Guitar Including Photos and Videos or Pedal Steel Recordings. People will look and listen if they are interested. Often I am not.

[Basil Henriques]

As I said Ken, does it matter, well yes and no, it does to the extent that if we post hither and thither willy nilly, a lot of relevant information may never see the light of day..
And, as I also said, THIS post is ambiguous in itself, why?.. well it's in the wrong section..It SHOULD be in .. let me see now . mmm.
Steel Guitar Cafe
This is where you can rest a while and discuss non steel guitar topics
no, it doesn't fit there exactly, but it is a "Non Steel Topic" sort of..

The Steel Guitar Including Photos and Videos
An Area where you put pictures and Videos of your pride and joy also anything about the steel guitar
Yep that's the place.. No, it's not, this isn't about the steel guitar, it's about forum protocols. Now where on earth could that section be..
Of course whilst looking for where to put a post, one may be inclined to just forget it.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Fascinating topic David!, , I think it just highlights the differences in us all, I can understand how this would be irksome to you cos you have a tidy mind , Your picking is extremly tidy, your videos are beyond tidy and you obviously go into great detail on all the things you do ( a bit like our "Baz" here), then you get some lazy sod like me comes in and Shi$$ all over the place!! Still, if we were all the same mate, I would be able to play as good as you!!
Anyway, FWIW I will try to contain my ramlings to the topic concerned as preferred, provided "The Bender" From Cheshire does as well

[Graeme Jaye]

As a major non-poster, perhaps I can put the other side of the argument.

Firstly, I am a newcomer to psg. I've only had mine for about three months and did my first gig on the instrument last Friday (and a frightening experience it was, too). As such, my prime interest is to look and listen to others, far more advanced than I am ever likely to be, and try and learn something from them. I can't contribute for the simple reason I have nothing to say, certainly where the psg is concerned. Hopefully, as I become more accomplished, I will be able to ask sensible questions but, to be honest, most of my questions at this time are very basic and can easily be researched by other, less-frustrating means (for the other members).

On a more broad basis;

I think that I would be more concerned about the lack of interesting posts from those members who do not contribute anything. it is the same as on the old site - the same 10 - 12 people contribute 95% of the forum's concert.

I think this is probably true for nearly every forum I have ever visited. I certainly moderate several forums where the same could be said. It's the nature of the beast. The biggest psg forum of all, with over 10,000 members, has around the same percentage of regular contributors, the rest lurk and rarely post anything.

It doesn't matter if YouTube clips are put under Steel Players, The Steel Guitar Including Photos and Videos or Pedal Steel Recordings. People will look and listen if they are interested. Often I am not.

I guess, like most members of any forum, my first trick is to view all the new posts. That way I see everything that ever gets posted and I can choose whether it is of direct interest to me or not. On that basis, it doesn't really matter which particular section the post was in, I'm going to see it anyway. If something does get posted in an inappropriate place, then it can easily be missed by anyone who is interested in the subject, but who only looks in sections they think will be relevant to them.

In some ways, it could be argued that splitting a forum (particularly a small one such as this) into sections might actually be self-defeating.

[David Hartley]

I suppose I should open my eyes a bit. Ha. I just noticed there is a cafe section. I am sure it was not there this morning. Anyway, if it is not critical where things go, that's more reason to have less choices of areas to post topics.
It's generated a bit of interest anyway. We will see what Mr Adnams has to say.... I always get his name wrong

[David Hartley]

I couldn't smell the bacon cooking from the cafe, that's why I missed it..

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

on the old site, a new post that you hadnt read was kite marked, not so on this forum, i thought that was a good idea,