I look at the number online and the guests are very high, the members are high, but the number or posts seem very down. Is this my imagination? I’ve been gone a couple weeks, but I did a post with 0 replys and found it easily, not pages and pages back.
It’s probably the fact that it’s the middle of the summer and most people have better things to do than sit in front of a monitor all evening and type silly messages.
Personally I only respond when I see a thread that interests me and I feel I have something to contibute.
No, it’s not your imagination. I think many are displeased with the new forum. I like it, myself.
I think it’s because some of the old members (ie from the other forums - not that they are old) are either having troubles getting logged on, or they are being swamped with either these “honey do” lists or summer itself just taking time away from MRRing/the forums - through parties, other interests, etc.
Soon as fall and winter come back, i’m willing to bet everyone will make their way back here.
I agree, Spacemouse, the post do seem to be down, maybe it is because it is summer, was wondering the same thing myself. Sometimes when I post I do not get very many replies, mainly from those are here off and on through out the day. Good to have you back on the forum. Mike
Perhaps folks are still getting used to the new forum format. Welcome back, Chip…
Tom
I know I’ve been very busy with "honey do " lately. Stripping old wallpaper, painting, hanging new wall paper, plus all the outdoor work. Haven’t touched my layout in 4 weeks. I check in here during the day at work, but thats about it. [:(]
I haven’t been on as much as I was because I waited till the last 2 weeks of summer to summerize my books that I was supposed to do over the summer, and now I’ve only got 1 week…and 8 chapters to go!
I bet once fall comes, alot of the old gizards will get back on because it’s too cold for em outside. BTW, I look at someone’s age by how they act…not how old they are, so cool older modelers, don’t take this the wrong way.
Thanks,
Spit
First off alot of people are not teckno savey, they encounter any problems, say logging on and they say why bother. Also sometimes you go to post and your measage get lost, if short no problem, if long for those of use who fogot how to type, big problem. Not last but another problem is people posting without knowlege, example there was a post about spectrum engines and a lot of people were saying they didn’t like but turns out they never owned one, they just thought everything by bachmann was spectrum, and thou some of us tryed to explain, some still did not get it. You try to help and get turned off. Two more things now that i think about it, there are a lot of other forums out there and i see ads for selling stuff which i thought wasn’t allowed, comments???
Pick raspberries, move hoses, build a cordwood shelter, cut the cordwood and stack it, pull weeds, bushwack the path down the beach, pick blackberries, rack wine and beer, grocery shopping, marking last of the second assignment essays (last assignment due on 14 Aug [:(] ),…there is just so little time for any MRR stuff that it is nearly depressing. When I can snatch some time here, it is a pleasure.
There’s a lot of Summer time things to do of course but…When the old Summer heat is turned up and the humidity is up making it even hotter where’s a better and safer place to be other then inside under the old AC doing some modeling work?
After who wants to risk a heat stroke in the heat of the day?
I think fewer threads with more quality stuff might be it.
Spacemouse, I’ve observed the same thing. I’ve only been a member of the forum since this last spring so I can’t compare this summer to previous summers but when I came back to the General Discussion sector having wandered around in the Layout and Layout Design sector for about ten days things sure seemed a little spare.
Several comments have been made about the notorious “Honey Do” lists and I’m sure that a certain amount of credibility affixes itself to that excuse. But, as you were for the last few weeks, several regular participants are probably on vacation. “Honey Do” or no “Honey Do” this is the time to sit out in that patio chair and enjoy the sunshine; where I live we do that in October thru March and stay in the air conditioning for the next six months - of course it has been hot all over the country this summer so some of you are experiencing what we go through annually here in the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west. I’ll think about you people back there in Indiana, Penn next February when I’m lounging around in short-sleeved shirts and you are shoveling H-2-O at zero degrees fahrenheit off the front walk.
Some, perhaps, did experience a little bit of trouble reregistering after the “shutdown” earlier in the month; I had a bit of trouble and almost wound up deregistering until my computer programming experience kicked in and I realized I was in a been-there-done-that-and-bought-a-t-shirt situation and backed out and started all over again; some, undoubtedly, did experience enough difficulties that they literally gave up. There are things about this new system I still don’t understand like “HOW DO YOU USE THE TOOLBAR???” I understand the Icons; I just don’t understand how you turn them on and off. I stumbled into “bold” print with a post one day and I still don’t understand how I got there. I keep trying and maybe one of these days - the day before the “doomsday” asteroid strikes, most likel
No more stars?
Seriously, I think the numbers I’ve been seeing have been very much lower than I was used to. Maybe it’s the forum changeover, maybe it’s just the summertime blues. For me, it’s been swim meets (my daughter is a backstroker,) bike rides (I ride and cheer for Floyd) and burger grilling.
And Motley Fuels is a big project for my layout.
I guess you all could be like me. Normally this time of year I am up to my neck in work, but due to the lack of rain (about 20’’ below normal) and the high temps (tripple digets) has just about got me shut down. I now have pleanty of time for my HO scale train in an air conditioned room but no money. I’m to busy losing to win. Mike
mikesmowers;
I guess your dealing with that old bromide about “If it were raining soup I’d get stuck with a fork.”
Note: in the early sixties I tried to sell cars and real estate when the interest rate was approaching 20% - Jimmy C’s legacy to RR. Needless to say I didn’t sell many cars nor much real estate when the interest rate was approaching 20%. Like you, I wound up with an immense amount of time on my hands and a wallet that looked like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard!!! Luckily my wife was employed and I did have my Air Force retirement coming in but that wasn’t really feeding the bulldog; I finally got forced back to work for wages because the bank was threatening to force me into (involuntary) bankruptcy. I hate “wages”!!!; I will tell you this, though; that first paycheck looked like a million smackers. And the bank was pretty happy too!!!
We’ve been pretty dry out here in the southwest for the better part of this past decade; everybody needs rain and some heat relief this summer. Hope things pick up for you soon!
Chip, I think you are correct. The old forum was easier for the non tech folks to log onto. One stop and you are in. ALSO I think, there is tthat word, THINK. that some people feel they MUST subscribe to MRM to get on the forum.
On thw other hand a lot of the Yahoo Goups are slow also.
You have been away… that cut the posts by half [;)]
Personally I’ve hooked into the new forum without trouble - so far - but it’s much more work to actually use it… threads I’ve already looked at don’t get high lighted and there’s no “watch this topic” system that I can find… end product… I can’t do a quick check back… I’ve worked on it but I’m finding that I come to the forum much less often because I have to have more time each time I do. I find it a big disappointment.
Worst thing is… so far I’ve seen no response to comments on he new format from Bergie.
Did you have a good holiday?
[:P]
Traffic will come back once the colder spell hits- BUT- we must also figure that most of the US is in a “heat wave” right now (todays heat index- 108F) so youd think since its nearly too hot to be outside, traffic on the forums would go up.
And then there’s the things that everybody has to do during the summer. My list reads-
-Mow lawn
-Mow lawn
-Mow lawn
-Mow lawn
-Mow lawn
- replace a lawn mover belt
-Mow lawn
-Mow lawn
Very preceptive and, I suspect, a lot closer to the truth than most of the other posts in this thread.
I had relatively little difficulty signing back on but the new format certainly has its quirks and is, at least in my opinion, a step backwards in ease of operation. I’ve seen no worthwhile improvements and several things which could be done simply on the old forum are now difficult or unavailable. The powers that be need to realize that the bulk of model railroaders are not also computer geeks, so adding just a small additional degree of complexity to the system/forum can drive away a large segment of the really experience, older hobbyists, who in general are not into computers in the first place.
Increasingly, this forum seems to be newbies advising newbies, with replies not always based on much knowledge of the subject at hand. A few years back this forum had many experienced modelers chiming in with replies to questions but their numbers have steadily diminished until there is now but a handful. Most seem to have moved on, as I find many of them still active on other forums.
CNJ831