Poll

What boards would you like to see on this forum

General Knotty Talk, Practical Knots, Decorative Knots
6 (26.1%)
General Knotty Talk, Practical Knots, Decorative Knots, Beginners' Questions
7 (30.4%)
General Knotty Talk, Practical Knots, Decorative Knots, Beginners' Questions, Forensics (may include topics that some people might find disturbing)
9 (39.1%)
None of the above
1 (4.3%)

Total Members Voted: 22

Voting closed: February 03, 2007, 11:32:39 AM

Author Topic: Forum sub-boards  (Read 9076 times)

admin

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Forum sub-boards
« on: January 19, 2007, 11:53:33 AM »
The results of the previous poll (Subject: New Forum boards?) are now in and there was a clear majority in favour of opening up some new boards. Now it is just a question of deciding what boards to open. The above options are based on some of the recent discussions on this subject. As such, they may not represent any one person's individual preferences or suggestions but are a compromise of between the different suggestions offered and with one eye on keeping the overall forum fairly simple to understand for new users.

As previously, the poll will remain open for 14 days after which it will close automatically. Please take a few minutes to cast your vote.

Thank you.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2007, 09:11:53 PM by Webmistress »

KnotMe

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2007, 05:41:21 PM »
I voted for the option that includes forensic knots.  That said, I don't think there should be a separate beginner's board.  I feel that beginners questions should go to general chat, especially with everything else split up.

Znex

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2007, 11:25:23 PM »
I would also suggest keeping the "Chit Chat" for off-topic or just making a new sub-board called "Off-Topic". It's always nice to have somewhere for those discussions.

Dan_Lehman

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2007, 02:41:57 AM »
I concur in KnotMe's urging that beginners be seen welcome anywhere, and not
slotted to some side track; as was suggested elsewhere, in taking up the "foyer"
idea, there can be fixed information available (Read This ... / Sticky) for beginners.
(I suppose this could be reconsidered if there come to  be what is felt a lot of
questions of a fundamental sort, which could be seen to clog up (dilute) more
worthwhile (from edification/archiving) threads.  But in any case I think many
"beginners" will choose based on topic and post to Practical/Decorative.)

I also agree with Znex about keeping a genearl *ChitChat* section, and wonder
if that was intended by General Knotty Talk ?  "Loose Ends"?

However, I really don't see indications of a need for something separate for
"forensics":  again, review the long history of discussion here, and ask where
any need arose?  To my mind, this is an aspect of practical knotting.

--dl*
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bazz

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2007, 11:38:43 AM »
How Do All ;)
Maybe instead of the forensics board, you could take a leaf out of Ashley and have an occupational knots board, which would cover as in ashley knots used by such people as Hangmen, Arborists, Fisherman, etc..

In ashley there seems to be 4 main areas; Occupational knots, General knots ( the brunt of the book containing all of the singular knots that go in to the other three sections) , Pracktical Knotting and Decorative Knotting, that seems to have worked for most for the past 60 years or so.

But as with any knotting topic you could probably take a thread from any one board and stick it in any of the others and it will still be in the right board, so there will always be conflict as to where something should be posted, one Persons decorative knot on a key ring or ditty bag may be another Persons  bread and butter.

Take care,
Barry ;)

Dan_Lehman

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2007, 07:19:49 AM »
you could take a leaf out of Ashley and have an occupational knots board,
These are precisely--explicitly--practical knots, as witnessed by such various practices.
Beyond these, I include anything intended to be so used, as contrasted with being decorative.

Quote
In ashley ... seems to have worked for most for the past 60 years or so.
"Worked"?  --not sure how it has (or hasn't); he did this, but I don't think it serves well
as a structure for the Forum as opposed to the book.

Quote
you could probably take a thread from any one board and stick it in any of the others and it will still be in the right board, so there will always be conflict as to where something should be posted, one Persons decorative knot on a key ring or ditty bag may be another Persons  bread and butter.
True that some decorative work adorns tools and might even serve their function,
but I still think that they are more akin to a lamp covering, e.g., than a climber's tie-in,
and don't get treated on aspects such as security, ease of tying/untying, & strength.
The decorative & practical/functional contexts are a quite distinct.
And forensics, to my mind, is working in the practical context.

--dl*
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SlipJig

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2007, 08:04:36 AM »
Another hand up here for the general natter option - it's natural to make friends on a board such as this and having somewhere to talk to those friends about off-topic things (even though it's not the main purpose of the board) is nice and lessens the temptation to wander off-topic in other threads.

(Now, just as a fer-instance, I suspect that frayedknotarts and I have common interests in cats and Irish music.  ;) )

Frayed Knot Arts

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2007, 02:15:36 AM »
Ah, yes... Cats.  The other white meat.   

Seriously, yer quite correct... how'd you figger out I was an Irish Musician?  Ah,  email sig, of course.

I voted for the major divisions, but on further consideration, I agree that newbies should be welcome anywhere.... but there's still something to be said for a section where you know the question will be about something basic and where most newbies could go 'right away' and know they'd not be 'in the way'.

An off-topic section can be great fun but it can also engender some awfully nasty back-and-forths.... witness "The Woden Boat Forum" and "The Bilge" section..... any and ev'ry thing is fair game in there and it can get a bit rough at times.  Cutlasses have more than once been suggested.

(Just kidding about the cats... 9/8 of the time I realy prefer 'long pig'.)

SlipJig

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2007, 02:56:00 AM »
Ah, yes... Cats.  The other white meat.   

Seriously, yer quite correct... how'd you figger out I was an Irish Musician?  Ah,  email sig, of course.


Could be the turk's-headed whistle photo with Tabby inspecting the quality of the work? ;D I have been known to put turk's heads on recorders and crumhorns before heading off to gigs and workshops, stop 'em getting mistaken for someone else's ... and all whistles tend to look the same at a pub session, for sure. (Fiddle's my thing as far as Irish trad is concerned but am stuck in the perpetual beginner rut until I can curb my dependents' expensive habits and/or do something about the current employment situation.)

Ahem, back to normal programming now.  If a board is well moderated, general chat stays civilised, but it can increase the mod's workload, yes.

Willeke

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2007, 10:39:06 AM »
I agree that we need a part of the forum where of-topic and newbie introductions are welcome.
But it does not need to be a separate section.
If the heading of the general part mentions that this is the right spot for them, we mods will keep an eye out.
And even when there isn't an 'all is fair' part of the forum posts like that are posted at time and will whatever the headings of the forums say.

Willeke
"Never underestimate what a simple person can do with clever tools,
nor what a clever person can do with simple tools." - Ian Fieggen

Writer of A booklet on lanyards, available from IGKT supplies.

Lasse_C

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Re: Forum sub-boards
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2007, 11:10:09 AM »
Like some others I voted for the "General Knotty Talk, Practical Knots, Decorative Knots, Beginners' Questions, Forensics " alternative. Still, I have some reservations: I don´t think we should have a separate "beginners" section. Beginners should be welcome everywhere, and a separate "beginner" section might intimidate them - which I suppose we don´t want? Also, I think a "OT" or "chit chat" section is not only nice, but actually necessary for the atmosphere! A place where you go for chatting away a while!

I think the section "Forensic" (Or perhaps "forensic etc" is better"?) will be rather small, but due to the fact that some of this content has proven sensitive it may be prudent to keep it in a separate section.

From the answers so far, we seem to agree fairly well on the fundamentals! Nice!  ;D

Lasse C