Chopnation: Time for a Change

[BigWorm]

First off, let me just say that this is the best Braves Forum on the internet. I have really enjoyed reading and interacting with all of you. Recently, most of us have noticed there are not as many posters here as we are used to. One of my main problems with this site is the numerous threads and boards here. It becomes tiresome to try and keep up with all the threads sometimes. I really want to read every single one of BraveFanHawaii's, Dreamscape, Andy, Wordslayer, KB, Lauren, etc. posts. But the problem is that all these great posts and ideas are so spread out through the website that many of them probably go unread. Members are notified of an unread post by a bold face font on any thread or topic. May I suggest that the top contributors create a blog that other members can add to or read without having to go to numerous threads. There are other sites that use this format and are getting linked to by major websites. I just don't think we are getting our due, and some "lurkers" out there may feel overwhelmed by all the bold threads and give up without reading some very intelligent ideas. Talkingchop for one is a blog style forum that gets a lot of notoriety. I think our members here have just as much insight as they do but I can't find links to our site anywhere. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy this website, because I do. I like our format just fine, but perhaps it's not appealing to the vast majority of potential members out there. Maybe Dreamscape and BFH could take turns "hosting" a Braves blog where you could include gamethreads, discussions about the J-Hey nickname, and how gay Jeff Francoeur is; all in the same place. It's just an idea, and I'm sure it'd be a lot of work for someone. I'd just like to see us expand and improve our already great place to discuss the Braves!

Anyone else agree? Disagree?

[Agent-X-]

First off, let me just say that this is the best Braves Forum on the internet. I have really enjoyed reading and interacting with all of you. Recently, most of us have noticed there are not as many posters here as we are used to. One of my main problems with this site is the numerous threads and boards here. It becomes tiresome to try and keep up with all the threads sometimes. I really want to read every single one of BraveFanHawaii's, Dreamscape, Andy, Wordslayer, KB, Lauren, etc. posts. But the problem is that all these great posts and ideas are so spread out through the website that many of them probably go unread. Members are notified of an unread post by a bold face font on any thread or topic. May I suggest that the top contributors create a blog that other members can add to or read without having to go to numerous threads. There are other sites that use this format and are getting linked to by major websites. I just don't think we are getting our due, and some "lurkers" out there may feel overwhelmed by all the bold threads and give up without reading some very intelligent ideas. Talkingchop for one is a blog style forum that gets a lot of notoriety. I think our members here have just as much insight as they do but I can't find links to our site anywhere. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy this website, because I do. I like our format just fine, but perhaps it's not appealing to the vast majority of potential members out there. Maybe Dreamscape and BFH could take turns "hosting" a Braves blog where you could include gamethreads, discussions about the J-Hey nickname, and how gay Jeff Francoeur is; all in the same place. It's just an idea, and I'm sure it'd be a lot of work for someone. I'd just like to see us expand and improve our already great place to discuss the Braves!

Anyone else agree? Disagree?

I agree.

Though I believe there is one real problem that is responsible for many of the symptoms I see here. I won't even pretend to know the fix, but I have plenty of thoughts about it...

For starters, I think I'd like to point out that TalkingChop is a syndicate site. It's much bigger than the Braves. It has a flow of traffic. It's just bigger.

As for the format, I totally agree with reducing the number of boards. I pitched some ideas that would reduce our index of boards. I'd like to see the minor leagues discussion merge with the major league team board, either as a sub-forum or just merge entirely. There's not enough minor league discussion to merit a separate board, really.

The off-topic boards seem okay. None of them really generates a lot of posting except for the Off-topic board.

There are some things that could really help the site. #1 on my list is a legitimate index home page. I know what I'd like to have on it, but I don't have the time to code it. I don't even have time to research it. About the most I can do is draw it up for someone and let them have at it. The main page would contain a list of all new topics being discussed. A place for blog entries to be listed. Perhaps an NL East standings widget on one side of the page or the other. A game-time weather forecast along with who the Braves are playing... and maybe have it auto update with the score and inning. A list of recommended Braves links.

This would help tremendously. This is all I would do. People would hit www.chopnation.com and see all of the most recent posts on the entire board... in a chronological list. There are scripts for vBulletin to do this. vBulletin, itself, can generate that main index page. I just don't have the time to build it...

[jlcct]

Alright, well I like that this is being discussed openly for everyone to throw out their own opinion. It's just reinforcement that makes me feel like we are all contributing to improve an already great hobby home.
I'll ad that I actually like the way the threads are organized. I guess if you are trying to generate more traffic and this isn't the optimum format and it needs to change to improve things then so be it. I do like the idea to implement an NL East standings and auto update score board widget! Maybe we could set that up for the minor league games as well. Maybe we could have a real time score board for the other NL East teams as well? I think that would be a good way to build some more interest.
One thing I am a little jealous of other places is the News Feeds that other sites offer. I would like to see us have that if it's possible because I think a lot of people would take full advantage of it. It's nice to have one place to go for all your Atlanta Braves information. I'll probably have some other ideas and I'll post them when I think of them. Unfortunately I'm not much help with ideas to organize things. I trust the brains here will sort things out. Cool cool. We can always improve.

[Chris_Moderato]

Maybe, considering the fact that we don't have that many active members right now, this is the perfect time to pull back the curtain and just solicite ideas from everyone who is a member...

I agree that the site looks convoluted and cumbersome with all the bold threads (which, I have noticed, often do not become "un-bolded", even though I have read the thread). If I didn't have to monitor the conversations and moderate, I'd probably skip half of them.

Kudos BigWorm for starting the conversation. What we need to do, really, is find Donny a guy or gal to do the code work for him. Is there anyone with the time and the know-how to take on that kind of work, gratis?

[Devil Wears Prado]

We may not have many active members, but we have enough quality members. I don't always post much because I don't think I can contribute much to the discussions but I'm always reading. Something I'd like to see if possible is a new skin. I like the simplicity of our forum but it wouldn't hurt to jazz it up. With that said, I understand that it's not very easy to do that. I understand the coding, graphic designing, etc. that goes behind a good skin. Not to say, I hate how ours looks right now. I'm just saying it could use some more sparkles.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

I agree it's probably time to tighten up things and give it a fresh start. There are a couple of the topic headers I never check because I don't have time. I don't go to other Braves sites either, I get enough abuse here!:D I like the idea of a scoreboard and news ticker. They would be great. Trimming away or combining general topics into baseball - off topic - fantasy GM talk, trade ideas, etc., sounds strong. I'm not gifted with any skills to help with the actual work of changing the site, however so my help would be limited to the types of support I've offered in the past.
My own lack of contributing is based on limited time and some changes I've made in my own life. I still love baseball but I choose not to include all the petty BS and quarrelling in my life anymore. I'm enjoying my job and I'm generally happy. I think moving forward with the layout and presentation is a great idea. It should help raise interest, too. The Braves going on to a great winning season will probably do more to boost participation than anything. I still think a thread helping a lot of us to understand some of the numbers you guys toss around would be great, too!

[KB 34]

If you have big ideas the best thing you can do is help make stuff happen or recruit someone who has the skills needed for such changes. One of the challenges the site faces is members getting older and having to scale back contributions. Take me as an example. I wrote summaries of news stories, wrote biweekly (usually) blogs, did some graphics designs, and cleaned up spam around the clock. However, then life got a lot busier and demanding. We need people to step up and help because the current front office team has other things in life to do. There are no shortages of good ideas between us, we have a shortage of time to get them implemented. It's a great opportunity for people to get involved and have fun making things happen. I enjoyed the work I did in the past and highly recommend others also learn more about baseball and site building.

[Dreamscape]

Well, I did move some forums around to try to streamline what we have here, but really, what KB touched upon is a big issue. I no longer can comment a hundred times a day. Sometimes, I might, but the majority of the time is spent with the girlfriend, house work, work work, or when I'm taking classes, school work. We need to find whatever way we can to increase the members around here. Whether that's little gadgets and a better home page or just simply trying to get the word out. Maybe a referrel system that rewards users?

We still feel we cater to a particular nitch that may not attract the biggest groups of Braves fans. Nevertheless, we need to get more people posting.

[Lauren T.]

Maybe a referrel system that rewards users?
With a reward like an autographed Brian McCann jersey? :thumbsup:

[BigWorm]

Check out this simple Bullpen Health Doc. it's pretty cool. It'd be pretty easy to put together.
http://viewfromthebleachers.com/

[The Rap]

I wasn't impressed with that at all. We need something that would attract new members.

[BigWorm]

Any suggestions RAP? I swear you frustrate the hell out of me. I was talking about the bullpen document that would take two seconds to create and it shows how many pitches everyone threw in the last week or so. I wasn't trying to impress you. You are not the center of the universe. Capiche?

[Agent-X-]

With a reward like an autographed Brian McCann jersey? :thumbsup:

I still have it. In the plastic. In a box.

Occasionally I think about going forward and seeing who won.

Although I also think about just mailing it to you, Lauren. :p

[The Rap]

Any suggestions RAP? I swear you frustrate the hell out of me. I was talking about the bullpen document that would take two seconds to create and it shows how many pitches everyone threw in the last week or so. I wasn't trying to impress you. You are not the center of the universe. Capiche?

What is wrong with you? I didn't attack you personally but you attacked me with "you are not the center of the universe." I just didn't care for the link and what it had.

Donnie and you go thank him for what he wrote? Now I am close to having seen everything.

[Lauren T.]

I still have it. In the plastic. In a box.

Occasionally I think about going forward and seeing who won.

Although I also think about just mailing it to you, Lauren. :p
:) I put a good amount of effort into that contest and was very disappointed when no winner was ever announced.

Every time a read the title of this thread I hear this song in my head (http://www.youtube.com/watch#%21v=DyooALwfxO8). Hooray for TBS in the 80s!

[Devil Wears Prado]

Maybe an OOTP league would raise interest and activity in our forum! :D

[Chris_Moderato]

Donnie and you go thank him for what he wrote? Now I am close to having seen everything.

Rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble!

Huff huffy huff huff!

[Freddy_Ballgame]

I thought the bullpen graph was a good idea. I also liked seeing some writing right out front with humor directed at the Cubs. Who can't enjoy that?
Seriously, a chart showing the obvious abuse of Braves relievers by Cox would be great! We could also have one showing guys like Hinske or Infante sitting on the bench with hot bats while a clod like Cabrera or Clevlen plays. There are a lot of quick glance type items that could draw interest. It's apparent that few actually want to have to work hard enough to read anything heavier than superficial. That said, perhaps bringing back some columns on the opening page would help. They used to pull in some readers, if I can believe some of the responses I got. Having our usual discussion/pissing contests won't get it done.

[The Rap]

Rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble!

Huff huffy huff huff!

Atta boy Chris! Keep staying on top of me. Continue to make this place fun for me.

[KB 34]

And the thread goes downhill quickly.

One problem I think the forum faces is the lack of interest in different viewpoints and perspectives. Rap gave an honest opinion earlier that wasn't explained. Instead of asking for an explanation there was a move to attack the opinion. Regardless of what you think about a poster, keep in mind a broken clock is correct twice a day and if you claim the clock is never correct you won't have a chance at being correct all the time. I've had plenty of unpopular opinons over the past year and I've often felt unwelcome at a forum that historically had fun regardless of the team's fate. Gamethreads were fun regardless of the score at the end of the day. I miss this atmosphere a lot and wish it would return.

There are several directions I see that would improve the site. First off I'd like to see a front page developed that's low maintenance. Having such a page is important, the content is secondary in my mind as long as it contains a little good information. It's hard to recruit new members when there's not easy evidence that the community has good information to offer. I would like to see some new voices in the advisery committee, especially from people with the desire to contribute to the site. I think Don's ready to turn over a lot of responsibility to someone with a lot of motivation, something I wish he would have done with me a couple years ago when I wasn't very busy and really wanted to take on aspects of the site as a challenge. This is a good thing but new leaders need to step up. Adding new leaders would mean old leaders could step aside and fill smaller roles more appropriate given their means to contribute. I for one would happily volunteer to step back when I saw new capable leadership emerging. That's been another area the forum has struggled; ensuring the site leaders with the power are available to solve problems. For example, a few years ago a spambot posted porn that wasn't deleted for two days because there was no admin around to solve the problem with forum permissions (which led to me becoming an admin). The situation today is better because so many posters have admin/moderator powers. That's not the ideal situation and not an easy one to solve going forward.

[Chris_Moderato]

Atta boy Chris! Keep staying on top of me. Continue to make this place fun for me.

Anything for you, buddy.

[bravos4evr]

And the thread goes downhill quickly.

One problem I think the forum faces is the lack of interest in different viewpoints and perspectives. Rap gave an honest opinion earlier that wasn't explained. Instead of asking for an explanation there was a move to attack the opinion. Regardless of what you think about a poster, keep in mind a broken clock is correct twice a day and if you claim the clock is never correct you won't have a chance at being correct all the time. I've had plenty of unpopular opinons over the past year and I've often felt unwelcome at a forum that historically had fun regardless of the team's fate. Gamethreads were fun regardless of the score at the end of the day. I miss this atmosphere a lot and wish it would return.

There are several directions I see that would improve the site. First off I'd like to see a front page developed that's low maintenance. Having such a page is important, the content is secondary in my mind as long as it contains a little good information. It's hard to recruit new members when there's not easy evidence that the community has good information to offer. I would like to see some new voices in the advisery committee, especially from people with the desire to contribute to the site. I think Don's ready to turn over a lot of responsibility to someone with a lot of motivation, something I wish he would have done with me a couple years ago when I wasn't very busy and really wanted to take on aspects of the site as a challenge. This is a good thing but new leaders need to step up. Adding new leaders would mean old leaders could step aside and fill smaller roles more appropriate given their means to contribute. I for one would happily volunteer to step back when I saw new capable leadership emerging. That's been another area the forum has struggled; ensuring the site leaders with the power are available to solve problems. For example, a few years ago a spambot posted porn that wasn't deleted for two days because there was no admin around to solve the problem with forum permissions (which led to me becoming an admin). The situation today is better because so many posters have admin/moderator powers. That's not the ideal situation and not an easy one to solve going forward.

Well..... the prob is, who exactly is this "new leadership" gonna be? I mean we have like 15 people who regualry post here and half of them are mods and/or admins already! lol, the other half of us don't know diddley crap about running a website.... so I dunno what to tell ya man. I'd love to help, but I don't have that kinda time really, I'm sometimes easily irritated( it's cyclical) and I don't know what the backdoor access stuff actually entails...

I think that we need to focus on trying to get more people in here, I dig our little Braves dysfunctional family here, but we need some more contributing people.

[Agent-X-]

It wouldn't be that expensive to pay for a front page to be built. We already have the underlying script to do it, so to speak. It just needs designed.

That said, I'd rather not be the one paying the bill for this. We could get some estimates on this. I know there are sites to pick up a scriptor for this. Then we could talk about how to pay for it.

It could go a long, long way. Or it could go no where.

[KB 34]

I say get some estimates and go from there. People have been willing to chip in a few bucks in the past, for example, purchasing the forum software.

[BigWorm]

And the thread goes downhill quickly.

One problem I think the forum faces is the lack of interest in different viewpoints and perspectives. Rap gave an honest opinion earlier that wasn't explained. Instead of asking for an explanation there was a move to attack the opinion. Regardless of what you think about a poster, keep in mind a broken clock is correct twice a day and if you claim the clock is never correct you won't have a chance at being correct all the time.

I've chosen to respond to you KB because I've enjoyed your contribution to this site in the past and I appreciate your viewpoints. Basically I just wanted to start the conversation here about how we can get more members and improve the website at the same time. What started as a very promising thread has turned into another nananana booboo stick your head in doodoo and I guess I'm the one to blame for that. I am not a moderator or an administrator so I can say things that others simply cannot. I can be childish or inappropriate when the situation calls for it. I didn't appreciate the "RAAAAP's" negative response (with no other suggestions besides being negative) and called him out for it. I didn't see it as an "attack". I said he "frustrates the hell out of me" I didn't call him an annoying, yankee, pompous ass, four-eyed geek. (Even though I wanted to). Ah jeez, there I go again. You know, maybe you're right KB, I should have given him an opportunity to explain why he didn't like the bullpen health document, but I was so shocked that he was being negative in such a promising thread that I went a little out of bounds there (and here). Maybe I should be suspended. Maybe even banned. Or maybe, just maybe..... I should be thanked.

[Andy G.]

And the thread goes downhill quickly.

One problem I think the forum faces is the lack of interest in different viewpoints and perspectives. Rap gave an honest opinion earlier that wasn't explained. Instead of asking for an explanation there was a move to attack the opinion. Regardless of what you think about a poster, keep in mind a broken clock is correct twice a day and if you claim the clock is never correct you won't have a chance at being correct all the time. I've had plenty of unpopular opinons over the past year and I've often felt unwelcome at a forum that historically had fun regardless of the team's fate. Gamethreads were fun regardless of the score at the end of the day. I miss this atmosphere a lot and wish it would return.
KB, give this a rest. You've felt unwelcome? Poor baby. There's literally fewer than two dozen regulars at this site, dude. Stop acting like just because these conversations take place on a message board, rather than face to face in a real life situation, people should pretend that everybody's opinion is a good one every single time. Sometimes, people say stupid things.

I actually liked the layout of the site BigWorm linked to, btw.

[Agent-X-]

The reason Rap's opinion was attacked and the reason I thanked the response to him was because it was unhelpful and critical. It really doesn't seem appropriate to bust an idea without offering up something thoughtful. In other words, if you're just unimpressed, maybe you should wait to see others' thoughts before deciding to bust the idea.

I learned a good lesson in the first writing workshop I participated in. It had to be brought to my attention that I had a habit of criticising others' works without ever telling them what I liked. It suddenly occurred to me that the way to encourage someone to do more good work is to point out what's right along with pointing out what's wrong.

That bullpen table idea has some good qualities we can take from it. It might not, as a whole, be the final product we hope to offer, but it certainly can lead to some good ideas.

In other words, thanks for sharing it.

[bravos4evr]

The reason Rap's opinion was attacked and the reason I thanked the response to him was because it was unhelpful and critical. It really doesn't seem appropriate to bust an idea without offering up something thoughtful. In other words, if you're just unimpressed, maybe you should wait to see others' thoughts before deciding to bust the idea.

I learned a good lesson in the first writing workshop I participated in. It had to be brought to my attention that I had a habit of criticising others' works without ever telling them what I liked. It suddenly occurred to me that the way to encourage someone to do more good work is to point out what's right along with pointing out what's wrong.

That bullpen table idea has some good qualities we can take from it. It might not, as a whole, be the final product we hope to offer, but it certainly can lead to some good ideas.

In other words, thanks for sharing it.



Perhaps, but some people need to be encouraged to STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chris_Moderato]

I learned a good lesson in the first writing workshop I participated in. It had to be brought to my attention that I had a habit of criticising others' works without ever telling them what I liked. It suddenly occurred to me that the way to encourage someone to do more good work is to point out what's right along with pointing out what's wrong.

I attached "thanks" to this because I heard the same thing in my early workshops, and it is great advice- you can't go wrong with constructive criticism.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

As a constructive criticism, Hey Chris! Check out several of your recent responses to Rap! The Agent-X post is one we can all accept and move forward with. Too often we ignore our better side to get in a blast. We can all practice consideration. I also like the idea of explaining why you're shooting stuff down.
Here's a question for the mods - why is it my log-in seems to fade away the longer I'm online at work? I punch in a response only to see it cleared and permission denied.

[KB 34]

I've chosen to respond to you KB because I've enjoyed your contribution to this site in the past and I appreciate your viewpoints. Basically I just wanted to start the conversation here about how we can get more members and improve the website at the same time. What started as a very promising thread has turned into another nananana booboo stick your head in doodoo and I guess I'm the one to blame for that. I am not a moderator or an administrator so I can say things that others simply cannot. I can be childish or inappropriate when the situation calls for it. I didn't appreciate the "RAAAAP's" negative response (with no other suggestions besides being negative) and called him out for it. I didn't see it as an "attack". I said he "frustrates the hell out of me" I didn't call him an annoying, yankee, pompous ass, four-eyed geek. (Even though I wanted to). Ah jeez, there I go again. You know, maybe you're right KB, I should have given him an opportunity to explain why he didn't like the bullpen health document, but I was so shocked that he was being negative in such a promising thread that I went a little out of bounds there (and here). Maybe I should be suspended. Maybe even banned. Or maybe, just maybe..... I should be thanked.
You've gotten me thinking with this post. One trait good forums have is a variety of personalities. There are posters who are all about knowledge, clowns, lurkers, and others. As you've stated you like to play the childish role at times. I've noticed you also like to add amusing games such as having a make believe Braves season based on posters craziest ideas, which was entertaining. This kind of personality strengthens the forum. The challenge comes in creating an intermediate state where there is not monotony in posts, but really critical threads like this one don't become disfunctional when a call out type post is made. The personality of posters and moderation methods used make this work good or bad. Off-topic can be amazing or a complete disaster. I think it's harder to pull off with a really small community and becomes easier with a bigger group where people pull it back on topic more, and by back on topic I mean a Braves thread turns to swimsuit pics instead of politics (since swimsuits are at least sports related).

Maybe we need more fun threads so there are more places to put crazy posts? You're the master of these BigWorm, how about making a few? We haven't had any since the traditional infamous TJ Surgery Prediction Thread.

[The Rap]

I will tell you what really has to change. We have a lot of disagreements here politically. I am clearly on the left while some are on the right. The middle isn't as big as some think as both the left and right are larger than we want to admit. But, and I say this with no premeditated thoughts about Dreamscape, right now the Political board is closed hopefully temporarily. For how long will it be closed. Well it is all up to the subjective judgment of Dream. I am sorry but I don't understand that at all. How are decisions made? On what basis? etc etc etc

[Chris_Moderato]

The decision to close the political board was not Dreamscape's decision alone.

[Dreamscape]

Yes, it was not just my decision. But since the rule of the board has never been followed...the one where you act civil to one another...it may as well not be opened again.

[Agent-X-]

Yes, it was not just my decision. But since the rule of the board has never been followed...the one where you act civil to one another...it may as well not be opened again.

I would actually like to delete the board completely. There's no good reason to keep it around if it's closed. It's just evidence of things gone awry... and it no longer serves a purpose.

[Hobbes]

I would actually like to delete the board completely. There's no good reason to keep it around if it's closed. It's just evidence of things gone awry... and it no longer serves a purpose.
It has been removed.

[BigWorm]

It has been removed.

Kinda like Ben's childhood friend, Annie in LOST.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

Whattaya think? We run a private forum known as Deadwood, where we all describe the Braves and anything else as if you were in The Gem in Downtown Deadwood tossing back a few with Al Swearingen!
It'll never fly, but at least it's original!

[Chris_Moderato]

Whattaya think? We run a private forum known as Deadwood, where we all describe the Braves and anything else as if you were in The Gem in Downtown Deadwood tossing back a few with Al Swearingen!
It'll never fly, but at least it's original!

You are an odd piece of strange, Fred.

[Dreamscape]

We tried the blog/thread bit with the old software...it wasn't too useful...but I wonder if there is a program to use within this forum to allow for that. I think that could be pretty useful to post a thread at the same time. I dunno...maybe Don or I should look up the feasibility of doing that.

I admit my blog has really lacked any sort of consistent schedule. The idea we once had was a weekly blog for how many users. Say I posted on Monday, BFH on Tuesday, Fred on Wednesday, etc. The biggest problem we have had with that is keeping up with the schedule. I figured the Short and Sweet bit in my blog would help that, but it hasn't. But I admit not having any sort of regular feedback keeps me from blogging as much, too. Well, in addition to my off days at work lacking any sort of consistency.

I do think you have a lot of great points. My real concern is that the forum needs more users before the blogs can really take off, I believe.

[wordslayer©]

All the ideas that everyone has proposed are probably very good ideas and should be considered.

However, let's look at it another way, too.

Is this an attrition rate problem OR a retention of new members issue? If I were guessing, since I still see a lot of the old members still here, I would say it's more of a retention of new members problem. However, there are fewer old members posting as much as they used to.

Why?

IF I WERE GUESSING, and this is just a guess, so no one get defensive about this, but I can't help but wonder if there might be a problem with possibly not reinforcing the newer members posts by not responding to them more often than we do.

Now, before I go any further, I post, on average, one post a day. So it's pretty obvious that I don't do anything to help facilitate a more nurturing environment for new members to post in. Half the time, before I decide to post anything, I come to terms with the fact that someone else here can better say it than I can, so I end up not saying anything.

I see new members signing up, so either they don't post because of it being a bad layout, or they post, but they get too little feedback, and then just quit posting.

I saw the other day where Freddy posted something on the front page and no one responded and he then, in a humorous vein, posted a response to his own post. Maybe there is a message there.

This site has a lot of sharp people on it, and most of us are pretty rock solid with our, gawd I hate this term (self-esteem), so we might not need a lot of feedback, but even with that, most everyone who posts something, usually wants to hear something from that post, and if that keeps happening, where you don't get that feedback, then before long, maybe you stop.

Look....I am not calling anyone out about this, because I know several people here that work like hell to always welcome new members and post some really good topics to build on.

My point is...it might not only be a layout issue. Maybe there could be other things that could be done to help facilitate things. Personally, I believe that if the dialogue is good, it wouldn't matter what the layout is.

As for me, I'm not one to b1tch and complain if it isn't done the way I want it. If I don't like anything or am tired of anything, then I just leave and don't complain. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a bunch of adults whining because someone says something they don't like or is constantly getting offended. BUT...if there is a problem to solve, then I would try to look at everything in a bright light and in a non-defensive manner.

Again, you all do a helluva job here, and the conversation that we do have is top shelf. Whatever is the problem, I hope that it gets solved, because I do like the site and I feel it drifting away some.

[Chris_Moderato]

The idea we once had was a weekly blog for how many users. Say I posted on Monday, BFH on Tuesday, Fred on Wednesday, etc. The biggest problem we have had with that is keeping up with the schedule.

Yeah, and we had a willing editor to manage all of that too.

Damn fickle talent...

[Andy G.]

Yeah, and we had a willing editor to manage all of that too.

Damn fickle talent...
You did put a lot of effort into building a schedule for those who were interested in blogging. You worked harder to make that happen than anybody. I've always felt bad about the way it just sort of fell apart, and partly because I was all, "I really wanna blog guys!" and then when it came time to write something I was all, "I don't have any original ideas, guys".

So, if I never said so before, I really am sorry that your effort went to waste in that whole scenario.

[jlcct]

After making a FIFA thread in the Sports section of our site it got me to thinking that just like FIFA news, I'd rather read everything here. I don't like going through site after site so that I can collect the information I am looking for on a daily basis. That's sort of why I suggested the addition of a News Feed to our site and I strongly support the idea of having some tickers and a standings section. If we had all those things the only other sites I'd ever visit would be Capitol Avenue and Sabernomics and I'd only hit them up once or twice a week. Now where is the porn section going to be? We could have a ticker for that to.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

You are an odd piece of strange, Fred.


That has been remarked upon...I take it as a compliment. To borrow a line from Biloxi Blues - "Never underestimate the stimulation of eccentricity."
:thumbsup:

[Devil Wears Prado]

If anyone wants, I can ask a friend of mine who is also a Braves fan to see what he can do to help us out. Even if it's just the banner that he could help us out with. Perhaps if he can make us a banner and we can switch around or tink with the colors of the board to perhaps make our forum look more 'appealing' to passer-by's?

[Agent-X-]

If anyone wants, I can ask a friend of mine who is also a Braves fan to see what he can do to help us out. Even if it's just the banner that he could help us out with. Perhaps if he can make us a banner and we can switch around or tink with the colors of the board to perhaps make our forum look more 'appealing' to passer-by's?

That would be appreciated, I'm sure.

[007]

I found this board on google when I was looking for trade rumors.

You folks have a nice board here. People appear friendly and knowledgable and welcoming for the most part. You have numerous posters who have established an identity by posting relevant timely content regarding the team we all love. And mostly the dialogue here looks to be very civil. Which is a plus in my opinion. That fosters better form of debate than back handed insults and personal attacks.
More is not always better.

Anyway... Thanks for offering a solid product and place for diehard Braves fans to be with their own. Especially for us folks squatting in enemy territory. :D

[Freddy_Ballgame]

I think that qualifies as a bit of proof that the site changes have worked! It does seem that most of the back-and-forth stuff has quieted since a few off topic threads were shut down. We've always tried to keep our group more family oriented and more positive than not. Returning our focus to the Braves has helped! (Of course, the Braves returning to their winning ways has been a boost, too.)
Good work gang!