I’ve been away for awhile, playing with my Summertime hobby, but thought I would pop in and see who’s up to what…
…I tripped on the way in…[B)][V]
… and just kept stumbling over all these threads…[banghead]
…Do we not have specific Forum groups for specific Topics anymore???[soapbox][:-^]
I can’t imagine that the Moderators are that busy chasing down Hooligans…[(-D][:-^][angel]… that they don’t have time to rearrange and/or shoot off an email to those that are misunderstanding of the concept of putting questions about Electric/Electronics or Benchwork Construction, or whatever other topic in it’s respective “proper place”???[%-)]
I guess I’ve just been spoiled by the other, better organized Forum groups (completely different subject matter) that I participate in.[swg]
It’s a little sloppy, but that’s because there is so much participation. Other forums may be more organized, but the ones I have visited don’t have anything close to the participation here. They also don’t have the enthusiasm you find here.
I think the moderators have found a good balance and these forums are working just fine thank you.
My train room is actually pretty tidy - it’s the “family room” and I share it with the big TV, so I don’t get to take over and clutter it up. There’s a mess behind the layout, of course.
My workshop is another matter. It’s full of construction clutter from every project I’ve ever done, plus other old stuff. Junk from the current bathroom renovation, and crap leftover from the building of the Appian Way and the Great Wall of China. I still haven’t swept up the dust from Pompeii, either. There’s debris from the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs, and I’m sure I’ve got a boxful of remnants from the Big Bang down there somewhere, too. I just can’t throw stuff away…
Something good is happening on the Forums, though. (Not the Roman one, the MR one. The stuff from the Roman one is underneath the plumbing crap.) This year, even though it’s the middle of summer, we still have a lot of “churn” in the topics. After a couple of days, things drift down several pages if they’re not really active. There’s just a lot of people, and a lot of participation by everyone. Mostly, the trolls have given up, because our noble moderators have slapped them silly every time they pop in.
So, enjoy it! Best summer ever for the boards, IMHO.
I like it just the way it is. Most of us go right away to the “General discussion” page and post. Rarely do i go to the “how to” pages and check them out because i’m at work most of the time when i view this website and only have time for the general discussion page before having something pop up at work that needs more attention than the forums. Your chances of an answer to a question greatly improves on the general forum page. And you think this is cluttered? you ought to see my workbench!..chuck
As the sign over my office desk reads, “A Clean Desk is the Sign of a Frightened Mind!” Obviously, there’s nobody who is afraid in this forum. I enjoy all the points of view and frankness about the hobby.
As others have stated, I like it exactly the way it is, those other forums, have way too many categories IMHO, and some a little or no participation. I think MRR has struck a perfect balance in the way its set up thank you.
As they say in many places, welcome to “fill in the blank” Please enjoy your stay, but leave it as you found it. [:-^]
From Chuck,“I’m at work most of the time when i view this website and only have time for the general discussion page before having something pop up at work that needs more attention than the forums”.
I’m with him, a lot of time I’m in a hurry or in the middle of a project and just have enough time to check the main page on the forums.
All in all this is a great site with some of the best people I know in the hobby, if it is a little cluttered that is because it is well used.
As for my train room it is kept very neat as to not attract undue attention from the Mrs., if it is clean she just walks right by and doesn’t notice the money spent on my habit, er, ah, I mean hobby!
I’ll take a cluttered forum over an uptight one anyday of the week.
To answer your question–my hobby room (garage) is so cluttered (under the layout) that it makes this Forum look like Mr. Clean, LOL!
I agree with the other posters–I tend to hit “General Discussion” first, because that’s where the majority of us seem to hang out. I’ve noticed this summer that some topics get moved to their proper threads by the moderators after appearing here, so it’s not too hard to begin to follow them on the more specific locations. But usually, the posters seem to hit here first, as they know they’re bound to get more immediate responses to their topics.
But back to the topic: Oh LORDY, if you could see underneath my layout—[:O]
In the summer, both my train room and my shop get a little disorganized. When fall rolls around, I will take the time to clean both so that I can have a (relatively) organized start to indoor activities.
As for the forums, I enjoy the current format. As has been mentioned, some forums are much more categorized but participation is low. They require checking in multiple sections to see what’s going on. Here, the general discussion section covers just about everything. I also hit the layout construction forum once a day unless there is a topic of interest.
Keep up the good work everyone. And a special thank you to the moderators for keeping this a clean, family friendly place to hang out.
In fact as I type this I have at my left elbow a can of dust remover, craft glue, a bottle of india ink, a set of water colors, a cup of water for said water colors, a chisel and a file. At my right hand is a plastic tub containing three structures that have been removed from the layout for cleaning and repair. Granted this is a temporary situation and things will return to normal when I get my fix-up project completed. “Normal” being that the desk is cluttered with papers and my son’s game CDs. [(-D]
If you find a thread in a totally inappropriate location, just click Report Abuse and identify it. The moderators will be happy to make whatever adjustments are needed.
Even with the Electronics and DCC forum, we still get the occasional poster who doesn’t bring the brain up to speed before engaging the fingers over the keyboard. I know. I helped to get one moved a couple of days ago.
