WANTED - Feedback about the forums [Oct 2003]

Feedback, Help and Testing Suggestions and Feedback
1

Well it has been 313 days since we first launched the forums. [:)]

During that time, the FSM Community has grown considerably, surpassing many expectations. In 10 months, we have grown to 23,250 members and 67,954 posts. Since August, we have been averaging 358 posts/day. Numbers aside, what has made this a great community (and fun to work for) is the people. The friendliness, respect, encouragement, willingness to help each other and the sharing of ideas has become the trademark of this community. On behalf of all of us here – Thank you!

I would like to announce that in the very near future, we are planning to apply some forum modifications, which have been in the works for some time. Most of it is behind the scenes stuff (performance related), changes to the registration process, layout tweaks, profile changes, etc. – a lot of minor changes.

However, I have a couple of days before that happens, so… [;)]

I would like to ask everyone for feedback regarding the forums. Think about what you like about the forums and what you do not like. Are there features you would like to see added, removed or improved upon? Are there features that require further explanation or are just downright confusing? How about ease of use - do you feel it is easy to use and navigate around the forums or do you find it difficult? Are there enough categories/forums or would you like to see more or even less?

Whatever feedback or suggestions you have, good or bad, please share them with us. There is still some time before the update occurs.

You can post your comments here, contact me directly (click on the email icon), or email them to webmaster@finescale.com with the words “Forum Feedback: ATTN Online” in the subject line.

We will review all of your comments but please understand we may not be able to respond to all of them.

Thanks in advance!

2

I think the forum is great. I havent had any problems with posting, sign up, or reading or browsing. Actually, you guys have me addicted now. I check the forums everyday along with my email. I just cant get enough :slight_smile: I know there are a few categories that Ive read on here that people want, cant remember them though, except for the “Future” , which seems to be a repetitive question.
Keep up the good work fellas, tim

3

I’m with Tim on this one. The site is great…The Forums are great. I signed up roughly 2 weeks ago and I too check it everyday. At least a few times a day! I probably wont be able to spend as much time here when I go back from my vacation. I have had no trouble posting,registering or signing in. The layout is easy to use…Posts are easy to read and reply to. I really like the quick reply feature. I think over all everythings good. Keep up the good work!
Thanks,
Chris

4

Only things I’d like to see are:

  • some sort of indicator to show whether or not you’ve posted in a topic or not (seen it on other forums and it’s a very nice little feature)
  • a way to search and only bring back the ‘post’ rather than then entire thread. (I believe the current search only brings back the thread.)
  • free donuts

Murray

5

Let me start by saying I can’t get enough of FSM’s forums! I feel a real sense of community here and have gained more than a few friends. There are only three changes I would make. A chat room, traders forum(I know , I know), and a vacuform/resin forum would be perfection! I’ve been here almost from day one and I can’t believe what a wonderful place this has become. The future, I can’t wait… [;)]

6

I’ll second Murray’s suggestion of adding a symbol (even if it’s just a “p”) to remind you which threads you have posted in.

7

David,
Murray has a good idea - the indicator (which would obviously be user specific) to show if you’ve posted on a topic.
I’d also like to see a resin/moldmaking forum would be nice -
I also must say I’m almost sorry FSM has started up this forum…I seem to spend more time here than I do making models…
Cheers
LeeTree

8

This is a good suggestion. I know there are times I would like to know whether or not I’ve participated in the thread or not. If I had and it was back on top (or new) then I would want to read it again. I have to admit I have never seen anything like this (or possibly never noticed). If you have an example of a forum where this is done, I would appreciate it.

Another good suggestion. I’ve seen examples of this before and have this noted as something I would like to try sometime.

. . .

Chat Room - A couple of options were reviewed and we had it narrowed down to one which was really nice. For awhile it looked like we were going to get this going and then things cooled down. As it stands, there are a couple of critical projects we are working on through the end of the year which means chat is on hold for now.

. . .

Vacuform/Resin/Moldmaking Forum - The question that will come up is do you feel there is enough interest/discussion to support this type of forum? We can always try it and if the activity isn’t there, we can always move the posts out and remove it.

. . .

Trading/Wanted Forum - This is probably one of the most requested items for this site. Currently we don’t have any plans for creating a trading/wanted type of forums. At some point this will most likely come back up for discussion, so you never know. In the meantime, if you’re looking to trade, there have been a couple of members with websites dedicated and/or facilitating such services.

. . .

Free Donuts - Speaking of donuts…I think the Krispy Kremes down the road is open 24 hours. [8D]

9

You’ve got mail…

www.aircraftresourcecenter.com and www.automotiveforums.com both have these features.

Murray

10

As always I have nothing but praise for the way the forums are Dave. Super job to you and the other staff of FSM that made this possible and keep it running. Credit also must go to the membership here. What a great bunch of modellers !!! The sense of community is very strong on this site and that’s a credit to the guys and gals that do the posting. Keep it up !!!

On the technical side of things … I would like to see the folder tree that appears at the top of each thread to be replicated at the bottom of the thread. I think it would be a great additional navigation tool.

11

Murray, thanks for the links. I’m somewhat familiar with the Invision boards and I’ll take another look at it to see what I can do. You’ll notice in the update it’ll look more like an Invision board format, but there’s still some work to do. The good thing about being a programmer, I get to do a bit of digital “kit-bashing” too. [:)]

Robert, thank you. I definitely agree, this is a great group of modellers. It’s a pleasure working with the members of this site.

About that folder tree, this had been suggested quite some time ago and it’s in the upgrade. The only thing is that it’s not quite the same as the folder tree at the top. It’s more flat. Here’s an example of what it looks like. Let me know if that will work.

A couple of other suggestions from the past which have been included were longer topic titles and folders not changing color if the last post in the thread was made by yourself.

12

Absolutely a great site! The only thing I have noticed is that sometimes I will try to post and it doesn’t get included in the thread(?). but that could be the ancient computers that I have to use in the barracks lobby! (Yes, I need my own computer!!!) - Calvin

13

Like Murray said, I’d like to see some sort of … something telling me I’ve contributed to a particular Forum. It’s not always easy to keep up with the traffic and the rate of posting!

My next remark would be about the number of Forums. I think we have a decent amount of forums already; personnaly I would re-combine the painting, airbrushing and tool forums with the techniques one, and the helicos’ with the aircrafts’, but that’s my personnal view. My point is that the more Forum we have, the greater the chance to miss something important, and the less ‘cohesion’ we have between the members.

Finaly, I’d like the chat option installed one day if possible.

I think that’s really all from me. In any case, thank you for providing us with this great opportunity.

Domi

14

I think the forum is about as near to perfection as can be. I agree with all the above
posts, too. Personally, I can’t think of anything that would make it better but, that’s
just me. I’m happy so, I’ll leave it to you guys. There is definitely a great sense of community here. Even the occasional spat is quickly brought under control and everyone behaves as ladies and gentlemen. This forum is my favorite place on the web.
Ray

15

I love this site. It’s easy to navigate, fairly easy to find what you need and has a great group of people who peruse the messages.

My only suggestion, maybe a user gallery to post pics - subdivided pretty much the way
the modelling forums are and comments allowable. In some ways it’s better than posting pics in the forums - I also understand that it would almost triple your bandwidth.

16

I, too, have made this forum part of my daily internet ritual. I check back at least twice a day. The forum is already great, but the suggested enhancements are also right on target!

Many thanks to you at FSM for creating this new home for modelers and also thanks to the modelers themselves for joining this global family.

-Mark

17

Thanks for the opportunity to offer feedback.

I’ve already suggested this and received an affirmative answer: it would be great if links would change color after clicking on them.

The other thing that would be nice is to have a way of seeing just the threads I’ve posted to. I’d like to be able to do this without going to my profile.

Regards,

-Drew

18

David - just looked at the link to the “Bead & Button” Site … please don’t tell anyone I was there though … the set-up at the bottom of the thread looks great, more than sufficient for what I had suggested.

Thanks

19

David, I think the forums are great! Very easy to use, very easy on the eyes, and very reliable.
Not to mention very informative and very fun!
My only suggestion would to be to take it offline at least three days a week so I can get some modeling done!![;)]

The only glitches I ever experience with the site have their origins in my computer, I believe. I remember when I first got this thing, the FSM site was the ONLY site I couldn’t access! Some tweaking of server settings solved that.

About the chat, what do you mean, “cooled down?” The test group not using it? I personally popped in every time I logged on the the site, but there was never anybody there, which can be solely attributed to the fact that I’m on the other side of the planet from everybody else in the test group! I’m sure that’d be a very busy place were it to be opened to all.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what changes are in store for us!

20

Well I haven’t been here very long but will chime in anyway. The forums are great. Easy to use. And a lot of knowledgeable people to help out us less informed modelers.

One suggestion for another forum, or maybe you can put it in with “tools”, is “Photography”. Where people can get info/opinions on the best cameras, lighting, backdrops, whatever, for photographing their models.

Just a thought.

James [:)]