I wonder if the people having a problem are receiving posts in the digest
format. I receive individual emails for each post (or thread), and see the
full post that is made, not just the first bit. I don’t mind receiving
multiple emails each day - I just delete the topics I’m not interested in,
and read the rest. I’m also am thrilled that the new format sends pics in
the emails, so we don’t have to go to the site to see them. It’s easier for
me to respond via email, but if that goes away, I don’t mind clicking
through to the site to reply.
I don’t understand the comments about difficulty of the change. For me the change has been very minor from the posting of the past. Does it have anything to do with the computer and the network? I am on an apple and verizon.
Would it help to inquire from others the computer brand and the network? Would it help to ask if there is a third party facilitating such as using a system through the college from which one graduated?
Thanks @Karen_Hemmerle! I am going to ask @leah-ganoksin-admin to investigate - perhaps you are right. I think we set up the folks who used to be on “digest” to get the new “digest” and the ones who used to get all the emails to get that. But I am not sure exactly what we did and don’t want to say something incorrectly. We will look into this
And indeed, the way images, videos, links and other dynamic content is handled is completely different in the forum. Posts like this from Dar are what make a forum format so much richer than email - you can just watch those videos right in the post and respond to him right there - you can also search and see the replies and the associated content and images in case you need to reference a previous Q&A. The search really is amazing.
Hi @Atwater_Mary - It may be the digest vs. single email issue, we will look into that. It doesn’t have much to do with the computer, although if someone is on a truly old machine that could be part of it.
We will investigate and help anyone who requires help!
I agree. I dislike the new format intensely, as an e-mail list, which is what I liked about Orchid, it doesn’t work. At all. As a website, the settings function doesn’t seem to work either. Leah responded to me, and told me how to find and work the settings. I set it to get the summary e-mail only. Yet I logged on to my computer this morning to drown in 56 Orchid e-mails. Not fun. Nor helpful. I’ll tell you why Orchid was declining - and it is to David Geller’s point - The Metalsmiths Coffeehouse and other groups on Facebook have largely replaced it, and done so in an easy to use fashion with nearly instantaneous responses. With Orchid I could post a question, but would have to wait 24-48 hours to get a response. So there I sat, stuck. With the Facebook groups I generally have at least one, and often several, suggestions on what I did wrong or how to correct an issue or tackle an issue within 15-30 minutes - far less down time. I’m on Facebook anyway, so popping over to a page I belong to is easy. Logging in to an entirely separate web site, and then trying to see if anyone is discussing anything I find interesting consumes more time than I have to spend at this point in my life.
I agree with those saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. The way the e-mails arrived wasn’t broken. It worked. It was manageable, easy to navigate, one could quickly see if there was a topic of interest being discussed. What wasn’t working was the time related disconnect. That is perhaps less of an issue now if one stays logged into the Ganoksin site. But that means yet another site to log into.
Do what you feel is best, but know that for some of us your best isn’t working. Especially when your settings don’t work
It takes a day for the system to refresh your settings - you were already in queue by the mailer program.
They do work. I am not trying to be difficult here, but there is a difference between something not working the way you expect it to, and something “not working” at all.
And that is one reason why the mailing list didn’t work and saw declining engagement. You had to wait 24-48 hours not because people weren’t responding quickly, but rather because @Hanuman had to manually clean up and release each email to the entire list. So there was the time between when you posted and when someone(s) responded, and the time between then and when @hanuman released the emails. That was the cause of the delay. As you can see (if you login or stay logged in), people are replying very quickly. Some quicker than others of course.
This thread, for example, is 24 hours old and has 17 replies. All coming in real time and being posted in real time.
Facebook has you log in for the same reason we do - they can’t give you the best experience if you don’t log in. Considering you can click two buttons and remain logged in almost in perpetuity, that seems like a small price to pay to get a richer media experience. But that is not my decision to make. I’m just trying to build something great, you have to decide if you want to use it or not.
I have been a follower and poster with Orchid for nearly 20 years and have seen this forum flourish and decline. It was time for a make-over. I am well-pleased with this new program.
Anyone can still access all the information for free.
All of us former members can choose to be grandfathered in for free, allowing us the same posting privileges as before.
The new administrator has shown patience in answering the objections. Give it a chance. If it’s not for you, then move on.
Thanks @dalepavatte! And keep the suggestions and feedback coming everyone. It’s very helpful.
@bmarhon, when you are logged in, you should see a “B” in a circle in the upper right. Try clicking on that to see the “gear” icon. Let us know how it works out.
Initially I was wary of using the new site, as I see “new and improved” as sometimes masking nefarious and sinister motivations, sorta like “privatizing” does. When I had a look at the new site the first couple of times I was put off as I couldn’t instantly navigate to find what I was looking for. When finally I took a Few Minutes to get more than a superficial glance, I was rewarded with the rich content Ganoksin has offered all along. The new search function in the Orchid forum is excellent - Bravo! ! I appreciate all the hard work of those involved - thank you.
Thanks @Patricia_Lawler! It does take some getting used to. We researched about a dozen forum software packages and this was by far the best one. It’s quite impressive what it can do.
I haven’t found it to be difficult. Change takes getting used to, but I understand that trying and learning new things will help stave off Alzheimer’s, so we have a shiny new forum and we will stave off Alzheimer’s.
Indeed, my motivation in responding to any and all of the objections was to acknowledge just what you’ve said.
This is a large change, as the days of the mailing list are over
I believe it needed a large change
A large change will take some getting used to (some will take to it faster than others, some will not take to it at all, and that is unfortunate but OK)
Those who take to it I think will be rewarded with a better experience, and perhaps even avoid Alzheimer’s
Those who don’t - well, they might come back someday.
What I’m hoping we can do is shift the thread(s) to focusing on the path forward. What Leah and I can do to improve it, fix problems or issues, and generally make this better for all of you.
It is truly a pleasure working on behalf of all of you amazing artists and craftspeople.
Keeping the parentheticals to a minimum in the subject line of emails is important.
Email subject lines don’t need to say “[Ganoksin Orchid][Name of Forum Area] Name of Thread.” We all know where Orchid is from, and the forum area is superfluous since the thread’s name tells us that.
Email subject lines should just be "[Orchid] thread subject"
I know it’s antithetical to marketing principles not to have the full name a the front, but emails are going out to subscribers, who already know Orchid is part of Ganoksin.
I love this new website. Being a web designer myself, this one is awesome and very easy to navigate around. I think you guys did such a great job. And I’m sure it will evolve and keep on being enhanced especially as technologies do too. I am so pleased to remain being a member and having this as a great resource.
