How to improve this forum?
 

Hello,

This forum is really great and i come here everyday to see what is new. But with so many people and threads here, the forum become a little bit unnoticed.

In categories is so many off-topic threads. Where should be only model builds threads is many threads with questions, info's and other non-building things. In category "How to use this forum" i found a thread about C130 Hercules model - :confused: and many more examples can be found.

Another thing is about thread names - in many instances is impossible to discover, what is in this thread. I mean threads names like this: "My new model", "some tanks" , etc.

Why i refer to this? Because i am going everyday on CPM forum ( czech papermodelers forum - www.papirovemodelarstvi.cz ) where is all the things mentioned upwards banned!
It really helps the forum to look very profesionall. On polish forum's is same order.
I have nothing against this forum or his administrators, but little bit more "discipline" can really help this forum to look better.

On CPM:

1.
Every thread should have a correct name - in this standart:
Name of the model/author of the model(not builder )/scale

For example:
Mil mi 24 Hind/ Halinski models/1:33
USS Enterprise NCC 1701/ Own design/ 1:?¨
etc.

2.
categories with questions and info's is automatically cleaned. Other categories is cleaned from old threads only, if the thread is not important for other modelers.

3.
Model photos must be in good quality. Bad photos is not accepted.
Good photo is sharp, good lighted and ideally photographed on some one-color background ( blue/white paper)

Everybody, who not respect this rules is banned ( on CPM ). I know, it sounds despotic, but - believe me - it really helps the forum.

That's all i want to say. I have nothing against this forum and his administrators, it is only tips.
Freedom is really nice, but freedom without any rules is a way to chaos.

PS:
sorry for mistakes. I know english language only from PC games. In school i learn russian and german language.

PPS:
I hope this thread is in good category:o

i dont like these ideas rawen that may be how it is on cpm but i think every paper model forums should have different rules if every modeling forum had the same rules
they would lose thier uiqueness and i have problems with taking pics

Ok, you have right - not everybody have good camera or talent for profesional photos. On CPM is bod photos sometimes tolerated. But it is recommended to take best photos as you can ( maybe ask somebody who have a really good camera )
For all , man with bad camera, or no-talent can make a good photos too. Ideally take the photos outside under the natural lights.
Howewer, many people take photos in dark room with his mobile phone camera:(

do not forger that everyone has different living condition, and such for the modelling (working place, lamps etc.)
Also about the devices for taking pictures. Not everyone can afford the latest NIKON or CANON multifunctional super-mega camera

absolutely
helps forum? yeah, right! think good - if you post not such a good photo, and then you will be banned - will you come back? Well, I won't

well, I just don't read them

I am looking on a word " banned" and it is my mistake - i mean "banned" like a "improper" or "not recommende" or "against rules" a real "ban" - elimination from forum is possible only if member frequently break the rules.

About photos....see above.

But primary i really like, if the all threads have a good names and everything was in a correct categories.

You say - don't read them. I must disagree. If everybody ignore problems, or minor things that can be better or more well aranged, the forum slowly become something like chat.

Maybe i am only a little bit pedant:) But look on polish forum's or Czech forum's - where is model builds is only model builds with really good photo documentation and 95% of threads have a correct name as i wrote on beginning.

To each forum it's own style. I personally very much like the low-threshold, friendly and informal atmosphere at this forum, and would not like to see that change. Severe moderation wouldn't help that.

Don't worry ,friendly atmosphere is on czech and polish forum's too:-) I really don't want to make here tyranny where only elite modelers have all privilege;)

Momentally i think to ask administrators to delete some of my threads - because some of them is dead and some of them have bad links to photos. I want to lead by example and repair links, take good photos and give every thread a good name - to every newbie here exactly know, what he found in thread.

i can chime in that with my expericence in building taking photos etc, i would me intimidated almost scared if if wasn't so open and friendly as this forum is and not so strict (remember Z?)
i really like the friendly almost chatty atmosphere here, the sense of humor and most of all that it feels like a family - who needs facebook :D

I think the proof of how well the current forum works is in its longevity. This forum has outlasted a number of other cardmodel forums including at least one German forum which seemed to have rules similar to that proposed in this thread.

One of the main reasons this forum has survived is its low-threshold, newbie friendly approach. I can't see how any other scheme would work in the English speaking world. There is, of course, no long-standing tradition of cardmodelling in Western countries, unlike the eastern European countries. Most of us have arrived in cardmodelling out of curiosity or frustration with other media rather than following the crowd.

Regards,

Charlie

I like the fact that someone who doesn't speak English as a first language is still brave enough to speak up and voice their opinion.
And yes, we have to tolerate a small amount of mispeak (or foot in mouth comments) as a result of the language barrier.
This is one reason this forum has done so well...tolerance for all nationalities!

Rawen, I think you are commenting and criticizing the USE of the Forum by its members, not the Forum itself.

No matter what you do, you cannot control how every person will use the forums.
There just isn't a way to make everyone read all the instructions and rules...most will not.
Its easier to use the forum, and if you run into a problem, just post a question asking for help (rather than reading the help and rules information to start with).
Its impossible to direct every person into the correct forum or thread, most are following bread crumb trails with blinders on! lol
...and as forums grow with more and more posts ( and topics) it becomes tiring to go through every room looking for the perfect place to sit down.


I run my own forum (for airbrushers) and I know what its like having to deal the issues.
Just ask any Mod and they will all tell you exactly the same stories ...on every forum!

One of my biggest issues is not putting proper titles on a new Thread.
I hate when one of members posts an article about his new painting of a Tiger, but titles the thread "a new project of mine".
How can others search for threads on Tiger artworks when they are titled this way?
And I hate it when they post a Motorcycle painting article in the general discussion section (and not in the Motorcycle paintwork section).

These are all petty things and not worth losing members over.

The only suggestion is to seriously reprimand for making mistakes.
But since many of us are already lax on rules and etiquette, why would we care about the reprimands?... its easier to leave if it becomes too much of a hassle.

And what about netspeak? are you a bunch of dummies?
I'm glad we have many nationalities here...it keeps out the annoying webtalkers!
OMG!!!1 UR so kewl! LOLOL!!!!!! i g2g to da stor 2day c ya l8er LOLZ

Chatspeak for actions that aren't easily expressed in text is okay.
eg (laughing)LOL, (peeing pants)LMAO

But acronyms for everything, happy faces made out of punctuation, and annoying little "smiley faces" are the death of intelligent conversation in my book.

okay, okay, I got off topic!
But my point is, no matter how much we don't like it, every one is not going act exactly the same on the boards
...and all we can do is agree to moderate each other respectfully and suggest fixes when necessary.
And leave it up to Moderators to do the dirty work, thats why they have been put there.

"Taking good photos" is something I also get annoyed with. I hate seeing crappy photos of good or interesting builds.
But not everyone can afford high end camera equipment.
(although it amazes me, because most mobile phones have cameras and take pretty darn good photos so I don't get why some of the posted photos are so bad?)
Not everyone understands how to take a better photo and no matter how many times we offer advice, it goes unheard.
(Kinda harps back to the reading the rules and help on a forum thing, doesn't it?)
Once again, we have to tolerate and respect all members and their capabilities and try to offer understanding and advice whenever possible.