Do We Need Changes To This Forum

[JPG]

Well, I must be late to the party.

As a relative newbie here, I have to say I have thought this forum to have great attitudes and people offering great assistance. I have found it "homy" and "comfortable". I also have received answers to all of my questions, that in itself is a great plug for this forum. (Oh, and I have spent a few dollars with Shopsmith also. LOL)

I have no clue what set Dusty off, nor any others who left. Nor am I going to go searching. I guess I hope that I am not part of the problem.

But from the outside looking in, I thought it was a pretty tight nit comfortable happy group that was just a wee bit crazy about some mechanical device that allowed them to make stuff! Lets face it, most of us craftsman type guys are a wee bit crazy about something.

I actually am a moderator on a fairly large forum. A lot of settings can be changed by the admin. If the current admin isn't a member that partakes in the everyday banter, then maybe a rank in file moderator or two would be in line to take care of minor disruptions which will always happen. We have people involved, disruptions will happen. Most issues with members are really pretty harmless and probably not even realized by the perpetrator, but there are some members that just want to disrupt. That is where the "membership ban" comes into play. We all have a "privilege" to post in a board, not a "right".

I am not going to "vote" due to my newness here. But I haven't seen anything that turned me sour about this board.

Hope I have not stepped out of line due to my newness here.

Your opinion is just as valid as anyone else's.

Being a recent member counts no less than any longtime members.

You are just not as 'set' in your mind as some others.

Narrow mindedness is a terrible burden to bear.



IMHO

[moggymatt]

I like the idea of a 10e/10er section but don't think its really necessary. They are still shopsmiths and go through the same types of problems. I don't support outright suppression of anothers voice but do see the need to Gibbs style head slap unfocused contributors. Self included. Ultimately, Admin has to enforce the rules we all agreed to or they will continue to erode.

[skou]

I like the idea of a 10e/10er section but don't think its really necessary. They are still shopsmiths and go through the same types of problems. I don't support outright suppression of anothers voice but do see the need to Gibbs style head slap unfocused contributors. Self included. Ultimately, Admin has to enforce the rules we all agreed to or they will continue to erode.

You know, Jethro has a Model 10, don't you? And, does not deal with the newer versions of Shopsmth?

Seriously, we need a section for, "senior models," or original models, or maybe "superannuated" machines. These machines still work just fine, as long as OSHA doesn't see them. (I've been playing with Cast Iron Shopsmiths for 35 years, and STILL have ALL my digits.)

Yes, this Forum needs change, and I voted as such.

I HOPE that Dusty stays!

steve

[skou]

Your opinion is just as valid as anyone else's.

Being a recent member counts no less than any longtime members.

You are just not as 'set' in your mind as some others.

Narrow mindedness is a terrible burden to bear.



IMHO

JPG, (or Galloping Ghost,) is correct. Once you join up, you're one of us, and have the same rights as any of us. Speak your mind. Straighten us out. We'll listen.

steve

[rlkeeney]

EDIT: It would also be nice if ignored users posts didn't show up in a thread at all when viewed. As it is now, some useful threads are so littered with the 'ignored' entry that they are difficult to find the on-topic posts.

I would really like to see this and I only have one person in my ignore list. When I added them I expected to not see them.

[rjent]

A lot of good posts and ideas here. One thing about modern America is that we feel that we need to "police" everything. All aspects of life need oversight.

The one thing I am not seeing here is for the "perpetrator" or "perpetrators" (not to single anyone out) just police themselves. Just clean up your act, or simply remove yourself from activity. If that were to happen, this whole discussion simply goes away, and we can get back to Shopsmith subjects.

As always, it is just my humble opinion...

Dick

[ddub]

A lot of good posts and ideas here. One thing about modern America is that we feel that we need to "police" everything. All aspects of life need oversight.

The one thing I am not seeing here is for the "perpetrator" or "perpetrators" (not to single anyone out) just police themselves. Just clean up your act, or simply remove yourself from activity. If that were to happen, this whole discussion simply goes away, and we can get back to Shopsmith subjects.

As always, it is just my humble opinion...

Dick

Do the "perpetrators" recognize that they are the "perpetrators"? If not, they are not going to change.

[dusty]

There is no one single person to blame for all of this situation. In a way, we have all contributed to some degree.

Obviously, each and every one of us is responsible for policing our own contributions.

Beyond that, each and every one of us has some level of responsibility to report to the Administrator whenever a post is exceedingly annoying to us.

Just as important, each and everyone of us has a responsibility to the forum as a whole to keep the discussions some what on topic. This is a wood working forum.

The Community section is there for off topic discussion. If it was being used for that, I would probably never visit the Community section. However, it is not. There is a great deal of shop talk in the Community section just like there is an excessive amount of non-woodworking discussions in the other sections.

The Administrator is not going to clean this up; he can't. It is up to us to do so. I have received a significant amount of email and PMs about this and from the volume and content, I conclude that I am not alone with this frustration. If we join forces to better control our own contributions to the forum, the forum will soon be back to the friendly neighborhood that it has been for so many years. If we do not, that friendly neighborhood will gone for ever.

I have been told that I am not the "forum cop". Initially, I agreed. But no more. In fact, I am only one of the forum cops of which there are many. We are all on that police force. Please, let us ban back together to once again become one of the most active and most friendly wood working forums on the internet. We do not need a police force. We can control the forum by each controlling ourselves.

I am going to step down off of my soap box now and concentrate on making saw dust and fine tuning alignments for a couple weeks at least. When I step back in, I have high hopes that this entire affair has slipped off screen into the back ground.

I also hope that I find one or two other sections added to the forum to absorb discussions about other equipment like the 10 and non-Shopsmith equipment about which only a few of us have an interest (lawn mowers, garage doors and fast cars).

[rjent]

Let me be the first to say "Welcome Back"

You are needed here Dusty, as all of us are. Some to ask questions, some to answer ....

[beeg]

Seriously, we need a section for, "senior models," or original models, or maybe "superannuated" machines.
steve

Seriously we DON'T need a section for those. This Shopsmith forum is about the MarkV.