# forum trends



## angelofdeathzz (Oct 1, 2012)

I have so many friends that want me to help with the proper scientific endeavor, to keep things proper and straight forward here as far as new species and such, but i also have friends that like to clown around(alot really), and to tell you the truth I like both, so what do you people think is more important, real hard core only talk about mantis or having some fun? Could it be possible to do both???

People have put their trust in me more than I could count lately so I just what to do what is good for everybody, whether i know you or not, I'm a team player or a least try to be...


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## brancsikia339 (Oct 1, 2012)

Ok, so here is how i think it should be organized.

Mantis discussion should be serious, and other discussion should be fun!!!

I am serious in mantis discussion, but clowning around is fun in the other discussion. I do both because i don't want to sound repetitive


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Oct 1, 2012)

I would prefer a more serious atmosphere, with some fun. I dislike when people post only to make a joke or comment on something irrelevant.

But i enjoy the fun posts that also have fact, or a serious comment or question.

Did i comment right? This confused me a bit


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## fleurdejoo (Oct 1, 2012)

Ooh I like this topic!

I think that the serious stuff needs to remain so.

Like the Idolo. Consolo. Thread, I know we've beaten that to death. But it was very difficult to get through all of that and find pertinent info.

As far as the dislike button I personally feel it's a negative tone to set.

As far as getting rid of other discussion period, which I think Bugtrader had mentioned in another thread. I think that would actually be detrimental to the whole forum.

You know you could be in the Other Forum shootin the breeze about your new Halloween costume and you might meet someone in there who teaches you new serious mantis stuff or leads to more sales for a breeder. Should we be encouraging newcomers to the mantid loving "community" or just using this site to do the business we already have and just trade notes privately.

You can already do that with the PM system here.

I vote for ya'll loosening your ties and havin' a beer!

But I still don't want a bunch of off topic ###### in serious threads. If I have been guilty of this in the past I will do better.


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## sueb4653 (Oct 1, 2012)

I like the mixture of both

if you dont want to read it ya dont have too


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## sinensispsyched (Oct 1, 2012)

> If I have been guilty of this in the past I will do better.


Ditto from me!


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## brancsikia339 (Oct 1, 2012)

sinensispsyched said:


> Ditto from me!


Same


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Oct 1, 2012)

sueb4653 said:


> I like the mixture of both
> 
> if you dont want to read it ya dont have too


That is my mentality, i rarely use the off topic forum, i just feel like people are using it more than the mantis discussions sometimes haha

I believe that nothing ha to be removed, but maybe we can try to change the atmosphere of the Mantid Discussions to a more "formal" one


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## angelofdeathzz (Oct 1, 2012)

Jude Your awesome let that be said! But I want some real perspective from more people that know what I'm putting down? Not just agreeing with another good point of view??? Is joking OK in a important(veiwed 500+) thread if you speak on topic or should some be locked, only to be posted by a mod(after viewing?)...


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## sueb4653 (Oct 1, 2012)

I think if the other discussion is taken away the "fun" stuff off topic stuff would probably trickle into the other threads

its a way to blow off steam and de-stress sometimes


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## Precarious (Oct 2, 2012)

I think we need both, but a little more control over the informational posts.


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## patrickfraser (Oct 2, 2012)

I'll just say that if you want to say _something _to _someone_, why not use a pm? There is too much conversation (and I use that term *very *loosely) among posts that have absolutely nothing to do with them. Don't get me started on all the "quoting" of pictures in a post.


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## petoly (Oct 15, 2012)

I agree with patrickfraser. Posts are being used a lot as conversational pms consistently everywhere in the forums. I think this is why we should reinstate the chat nobody used back then. maybe now people will use it. I know I will be on it. I'm an avid chatter. I just don't post much. I'm a lurker in forums usually.


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## sinensispsyched (Oct 15, 2012)

I agree with petoly. If the chat was added again, I think the chat that occurs on the forum will be done where it belongs. I know a few members on the UKMF, where I do my chatting, but there just aren't enough.


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## Mime454 (Oct 15, 2012)

I like the tone of the forum now. The number of people who post is very small, in fact the top 20 posters often constitute 85-99% of the total posts. This gives people a good place to make friends and get to know the other posters. It gives the overall forum a good tone because it is possible to know a little something about every member. If the forum were bigger, I would agree with you, but given the small number of active members, the occasional off-topic post is actually beneficial because it helps us make friends and apply some personality behind each avatar.

If off-topic posts were entirely deleted from most of the sub-forums, I think that it would be a much less friendly place to post.


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## Precarious (Oct 15, 2012)

petoly said:


> I agree with patrickfraser. Posts are being used a lot as conversational pms consistently everywhere in the forums. I think this is why we should reinstate the chat nobody used back then. maybe now people will use it. I know I will be on it. I'm an avid chatter. I just don't post much. I'm a lurker in forums usually.





sinensispsyched said:


> I agree with petoly. If the chat was added again, I think the chat that occurs on the forum will be done where it belongs. I know a few members on the UKMF, where I do my chatting, but there just aren't enough.


I think the chat feature was an additional cost for the site and nobody was using it. There are plenty of free chat apps online and members are free to text each other. Maybe start a thread suggesting everyone who wants to chat install the same app or start a chat group or something along those lines. You could even include those details in your signature area or listed in your interests.

But, yeah, absolutely is the conversations in threads that muck everything up. That's what the PM system is for and some users choose to ignore that and ask favors or work out deal in the thread. All we can do is let those members know it's not helpful or respectful to do it. Let them know you don't like it and contact an admin. I've posted some threads where I clearly state people should PM me if interested in getting on a list, etc., and certain members (I will not name because I'll be accused of picking on them) still comment instead.



Mime454 said:


> I like the tone of the forum now. The number of people who post is very small, in fact the top 20 posters often constitute 85-99% of the total posts. This gives people a good place to make friends and get to know the other posters. It gives the overall forum a good tone because it is possible to know a little something about every member. If the forum were bigger, I would agree with you, but given the small number of active members, the occasional off-topic post is actually beneficial because it helps us make friends and apply some personality behind each avatar.
> 
> If off-topic posts were entirely deleted from most of the sub-forums, I think that it would be a much less friendly place to post.


I've been a member here for over 2 years now. I've bred many species, given a lot of advice, but I get pretty bored answering the same questions and seeing photos of the same species again and again. The off topic forums are a way for me to keep an active presence even if there is nothing else interesting going on. I've met a lot of great people here and enjoy socializing with them regardless of the topic. The off topic forums are good for that and, like Mime454 said, filling out our view of the personalities we're dealing with. I've got to admit that some of the strongest connections I've made with members have nothing to do with mantids. I've gotten great technical advice on a range of subjects and some of those contacts came from off topic threads.


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## gripen (Oct 15, 2012)

Precarious said:


> I think the chat feature was an additional cost for the site and nobody was using it. There are plenty of free chat apps online and members are free to text each other. Maybe start a thread suggesting everyone who wants to chat install the same app or start a chat group or something along those lines. You could even include those details in your signature area or listed in your interests.
> 
> But, yeah, absolutely is the conversations in threads that muck everything up. That's what the PM system is for and some users choose to ignore that and ask favors or work out deal in the thread. All we can do is let those members know it's not helpful or respectful to do it. Let them know you don't like it and contact an admin. I've posted some threads where I clearly state people should PM me if interested in getting on a list, etc., and certain members (I will not name because I'll be accused of picking on them) still comment instead.
> 
> I've been a member here for over 2 years now. I've bred many species, given a lot of advice, but I get pretty bored answering the same questions and seeing photos of the same species again and again. The off topic forums are a way for me to keep an active presence even if there is nothing else interesting going on. I've met a lot of great people here and enjoy socializing with them regardless of the topic. The off topic forums are good for that and, like Mime454 said, filling out our view of the personalities we're dealing with. I've got to admit that some of the strongest connections I've made with members have nothing to do with mantids. I've gotten great technical advice on a range of subjects and some of those contacts came from off topic threads.


I Agree with most of what is stated above. I think though that while adding personalities to are posts (Which I suck at doing, and no I am not autistic) we must remember that the main point of this forum is mantids not socializing.


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## petoly (Oct 15, 2012)

you don't necessarily have to pay for a chat app.

http://www.webchatapp.com/

http://www.phpfreechat.net/

http://www.braveapps.com/chat/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecs/

http://www.phpopenchat.org/

https://www.phpbb.com/

http://www.everywherechat.com/

those are all free chat servers and I am finding more.

another alternative would be to have an IRC server, and use a java chat applet on here to connect to the irc server. that way you don't need an irc client to join it. the java app acts as the chat software.


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## Precarious (Oct 15, 2012)

petoly said:


> you don't necessarily have to pay for a chat app.


I was taking a guess that cost was part of reason chat was dropped, but you may want to pass that info to the admins. I would guess most free add-ons also introduce advertizing which may be a consideration in choosing not to use them. Again, that's an assumption. I don't need evidence one way or another as I don't make any decisions here. Pass that to admins.

There are also tons of free chat apps that don't require integration with the forum. That's an immediate solution that doesn't require changing the forum.


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## petoly (Oct 15, 2012)

oh no I wasn't referring to your post precarious. I just remembered reading a post of Peter's that it was dropped because of cost and the fact no one was using it. I think the best option would be to have an irc server. I think you can have an irc room for free and just use a free java applet that doesn't have adds, I know they are out there because I have used them before. Hardly any integration to the site would be required other than a simple link in the main forum section or a button that once clicked will pop up the java applet which logs you into the irc chat room. that way you can browse the forums and chat at the same time. quite easy actually you don't even need to pay money to own a whole irc channel. all you have to do is join any irc server, then /join #myChannel where myChannel is the name of the channel (I assume it would be #MantidForum, then /msg chanserv to claim that room, so nobody else can create it if it's not up and voila'. Free chat. heck if you don't want to integrate it to the forum you can always just put the irc address to the chatroom on the main page, and a link to an irc applet like Mirc in case people don't know what irc is. there are even irc clients that work directly on your browser. so there are lots of free options.

*Peter or any admin, if you are reading this, I would be more than glad to put the work into having a chat room up and running if you don't feel like doing all the homework. *


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## Precarious (Oct 15, 2012)

petoly said:


> oh no I wasn't referring to your post precarious. I just remembered reading a post of Peter's that it was dropped because of cost and the fact no one was using it. I think the best option would be to have an irc server. I think you can have an irc room for free and just use a free java applet that doesn't have adds, I know they are out there because I have used them before.


Oh, that makes sense. I never chat so I'm not up on all of that. Maybe contact Peter directly.


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## angelofdeathzz (Oct 15, 2012)

I think chat is free with a phone #, go ahead talk with your mouth(wow new idea?) if thats what you want? Duhhh!!!??? People still do use their phone right?


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## patrickfraser (Oct 15, 2012)

angelofdeathzz said:


> I think chat is free with a phone #, go ahead talk with your mouth(wow new idea?) if thats what you want? Duhhh!!!??? People still do use their phone right?


Didn't you know typing out texts is faster than dialing all those 7-11 numbers? :huh: :lol:


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## patrickfraser (Oct 15, 2012)

whoopsi


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## Mime454 (Oct 16, 2012)

If we're going to have a rule about off-topic posts in the future, I think that the photo-sharing forums should be exempt from it. I know that I go there to show off my mantises, there's no reason why some off topic banter would hurt any peruser of the thread because they'd be looking at photos anyway.

I can see how health issues and general discussion should be kept serious, but there isn't much of a problem with the other subforums IMO.


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## petoly (Oct 16, 2012)

yeah but if you are posting a pic of a mantid it's technically not off topic =)


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## Mime454 (Oct 16, 2012)

petoly said:


> yeah but if you are posting a pic of a mantid it's technically not off topic =)


I'm talking about the comments in the photos thread. There's absolutely no detriment to the readability of that subforum is there were 10 off topics-1 on topic. Because people in those threads are either asking individual questions about a species, which may or may not be answered, or are looking for more photos. You don't even need to look at text replies long to skip over them and find photos.


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## gripen (Oct 16, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> I'm talking about the comments in the photos thread. There's absolutely no detriment to the readability of that subforum is there were 10 off topics-1 on topic. Because people in those threads are either asking individual questions about a species, which may or may not be answered, or are looking for more photos. You don't even need to look at text replies long to skip over them and find photos.


Even in the photo section topics should remain species related and on topic so that others in the future can find accurate pics and info.


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## angelofdeathzz (Oct 16, 2012)

If all talk was 100% on topic in every thread things would most likely get boring pretty fast, but discretion should be used in informative topics like caresheets, how too posts like breeding, incubating, helpful facts, etc. The topic heading should be a good reference on what can be said or not.

The mods can't keep every person in line, so we have to use good judgment and monitor ourselves for the most part.


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## Peter Clausen (Oct 18, 2012)

Two things.

The chatroom is/was a free service in its last incarnation. I closed it (again) because, _once again_, a few bad apples failed to follow simple rules like not talking trash about other members in the public portion of the chatroom, as well as being discriminatory in various ways I'd rather not go into. It's hard enough to police the forum, let alone a chatroom.

Opening...closing...it's a cycle we see recurring as the years go on. Last time I closed the chatroom, somebody was simultaneously banned from the forum. It's a real temptation for some people to "really" be themselves in there. So, enjoy the chatroom for another several months! (...unless things are different this time. Forgive my lack of faith in 14 year old boys and freedom to chat.)

On a related note, we will have a new moderator on here very soon and there will be a few changes. One of them, per specific request made by the new mod, is reinstatement of the chatroom. _She_ hasn't exactly "accepted" the position yet, but either way we'll be adding a new mod.


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## fleurdejoo (Oct 18, 2012)

Nick, talk with our mouths??!! Shut the front door!

There is a chat room on here now?

This is very exciting news!

Yay!


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## brancsikia339 (Oct 18, 2012)

No way, there's a chatroom now?!?! Yay!!! But where?


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## Peter Clausen (Oct 18, 2012)

There is a chatroom, actually, but it is invisible  

We're just waiting for the new mod to start.


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## brancsikia339 (Oct 18, 2012)

Peter Clausen said:


> There is a chatroom, actually, but it is invisible
> 
> We're just waiting for the new mod to start.


Cool!  Can't wait!


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## sinensispsyched (Oct 18, 2012)

Really?! Sweet!!!!


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## angelofdeathzz (Oct 18, 2012)

Peter Clausen said:


> There is a chatroom, actually, but it is invisible
> 
> We're just waiting for the new mod to start.


Well let me ask, is it Gill or Likebugs? Wait maybe Tammy W ???

I'm on the invisible chat room right now but I can't see what I'm typing, Lol


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## lancaster1313 (Oct 19, 2012)

angelofdeathzz said:


> Well let me ask, is it Gill or Likebugs? Wait maybe Tammy W ???
> 
> I'm on the invisible chat room right now but I can't see what I'm typing, Lol


Not me. That would be a job keeping you guys in line. lol


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## angelofdeathzz (Oct 19, 2012)

Well I guessed it within my 3 guesses(above), Congrats Tammy!!!


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## MantidLord (Oct 19, 2012)

I like what I'm reading. I think the past couple of months have had way too much weird humor (I know it's subjective)/off topic discussion in threads that are either meant to be serious or have nothing to do with the topic

Like a thread with picture of T. sinensis with "Mass Effect" playing in the background turning into a talk abut video games or something because it's in the background. I can see a post containing relevant info and including the video games, but posts that only talk about video games is annoying and off topic, even if the OP is participating. I haven't seen as many crazy long out arguments, or maybe I haven't been looking, so that's good. Maybe because Patrick hasn't posted on any of my threads   

The chat feature would be a nice re-addition, I just hope people can contain themselves, which should allow the forum to maintain it's roughly 60-70% serious information feel to it.


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## petoly (Oct 21, 2012)

any updates on when the chat is coming up? I can't wait to idle in a semi empty chat room lol. I'm a pro idler.


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## sinensispsyched (Oct 21, 2012)

Haha! It was supposed to be up today. Oh well, I guess one more day can't hurt!


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