Orchid Old Format

Site Feedback and Questions
1

go back to the old format. This new format leaves me cold and I truly
dislike it!

2

@Agnes_Weessies Thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately, the mailing list format won’t be returning. Over the years, it became bulky and difficult, and required constant formatting to maintain. Participation had decreased dramatically as a result. It is time for a new approach. We hope you will continue to participate.

3

Seth I am having problems signing back up with you.

All the best
Tina

4

Hi Tina - it looks like you now have forum access, so you should be signed up. Drop me a note at seth@gemsociety.org and we can get you squared away!

5

Over the years I slowly quit using this site because it was hard to navigate and I couldn’t find anything. I’m digging it! An updated and revamped version of an old favorite tool. Thank you!

1 Like
6

@boydmichael Thank you! We are going to continue improving it now!

1 Like
7

For me at least, I was initially put off too. As I have wandered through the new site I now prefer this format over the old Orchid one. I have used the search to pull up an old topic, and it is much cleaner, easier to read the posts. So, please be patient and give it a chance. I think as more folks use it and participate it will get even better.
Cheers,
Allen

8

@jyoteekat Many thanks, Allen! It took us 3 months of work to get all of those old threads from 20 years of emails into a searchable format. Great to see people using it!

9

I’m liking the new format. My junk mail filter was grabbing about 75% of the old posts. Good to see a lot of old friends and familiar names.

Rick Copeland

1 Like
10

So far so good. Always know there are a few glitches but seems to be OK.

Seen some problems with people signing up again, I didn’t have any difficulty.

11

just as some quick feedback: I have always enjoyed the site. Especially the emailed discussions. In the past though, when I went searching for videos, I always had to re-sign in and finding them was similar to looking for Easter eggs. I just went to that section and although I didn’t look for any, I noticed that it would be much easier to traverse than the old format. Also, I got bumped from the email discussions for awhile for some reason and had to re-sign up, so when the fee part came around I was reluctant. Glad to see that we got “grandfathered” in to see how the new site will work overall. Some of the other sites can get quite expensive and make me reluctant to sign up without knowing what you are getting for your money.

12

As the post appears in my email there are so many words prior to the post
that I can only read one to three words of the post without clicking on
it. I don’t want to open it unless it is of interest to me. “Orchid
Jewelry Community by Ganoksin” is entirely unnecessary–how about just
"Orchid." If we signed up, we know what that is. Also, since this is a
jewelry site, “Jewelry Discussion” is also hardly necessary. Much more
useful is the name of the thread.

Please give us the name of the thread. It is really very useful…even
critical. I’m not sure I will open many, if any, threads without knowing
what they are.

Vera Meyer

13

Thanks for the feedback @musashi1! We have grandfathered all of the old list members in to the most basic membership for free. We are also offering legacy members the chance to upgrade to the upper two plans for 50% off the price. Our goal is not for this to be a “get rich” endeavor - but the costs to host such a large site and actually invest in improving the features and functionality are extensive. Community support is our bread and butter. Every dollar helps, and all of the fees are re-deployed into improving the web platform and Orchid. I take no salary, and have no intention to.

14

Hi Vera - great feedback. We have on our list to re-work those emails already :slight_smile: Right now though, we are diagnosing the issue related to user sign up that is preventing folks from signing up. Thank you for the constructive feedback!

15

@Vera_Meyer1 that is a really good point about the lengthy words before the subject. We will see if we can shorten that.

16

Agnes,

Please stay with Orchid. So many of your posts have been helpful and you
also have added wonderful humor to the forum.

Best, MA

17

I very much agree with Mary.

18

Please give us the name of the thread.
I second this suggestion.

Al Balmer

19

Agree! My inbox is bombarded with all these new feeds/comments/likes and dislikes…i would like to see what they’re about before opening each one.
Thx
Emma

20

Thanks Emma! We are definitely going to revisit the Orchid communication approach, but first we are ironing out a few other bugs elsewhere :slight_smile: