Changes to the Forums

We did a little fall housekeeping today. I should have posted something sooner today, but we were going back-and-forth on the actual release time. As you may be starting to notice, the main forums page has changed to have fewer sections/areas. And some of your favorite forums may now be merged in with other forums.

Melody and I have been working on the forum migration for a few weeks now, trying to combine the forums that made the most sense. The merging allowed us to be sure these discussion threads didn't get lost or archived, as we've done in the past with forums that had slowed down in activity.

If you have "watched" threads on a now-merged forum, they are still on your watched threads list. But if they are in a forum that wasn't on your "favorites" list before, you may want to add it as a favorite to see what else is being discussed in that forum.

Most of the forums were merged into similar privacy level forums - if it was a subscribers-only forum, it still is. If it was open to non-subscribing members to post, it still is. If you encounter any problems with this, please do let us know.

Where would I find General discussion threads

I've had Best/Worse/What did I learn today for almost a decade and now can't locate it

I was watching 20 forums, including General discussion and chat and can't seem to find that one anywhere. Where might I find that.?

Getting emails from the gals, we are list without it!!

Sweet interruptions has disappeared also.

I have looked in back porch and parking lot with no luck.

They're all still in the general discussion and chat forum (which didn't change names :-): http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/general/all/

I have checked out a dozen possible forums we could have been moved to...NADA Not sure what heading they could have moved us to...

Terry, that does not show up anywhere in the list of forums, or on my Watch list nor on the new posts on my home page.

nope, not listed

This message was edited Aug 31, 2015 6:21 PM

Not on my computer either.

It takes me to my home page. I went to the forum page, and it is not listed.

When I access your link, it takes me to my welcome page...but no listing for General discussion forum. I am missing 9 of the 20 forums I generally read.

Okay...now do you see it, and your threads? Let me know, please.

We sure do, now we are happy campers

Thank you kindly!

Thanks Terry.

So sorry for the mixup - glad you spoke up, so we could get it fixed!

As with any change, it is impossible to catch everything. Simply asking is so much better and easier than all the drama and hollering. GRIN Thanks much for the quick fix.

I actually can not say which forums are not showing up on my welcome page, but I am sure over the next few days they will resolve themselves...or I won't miss them... smile.

I realize all things change but this latest one really is sad. So many things are lumped together it makes each forum VERY large. Before, it was easier to navigate to what I specifically wanted to read. Not now! Everything is all lumped together and many forums names have been changed.

Please change it back!?!?

What a mess, absolutely no warning there was any changes coming up.
There is a saying " IF it aint broke, don't try to fix it," Never a better warning spoken !!!!

I've spent the whole morning trying to fix a virus on my computer that I thought I had picked up due to the vastly different opening pages, then trying to do a search on the forum search page to find the MOST POPULAR 4-5 forums I constantly use, not to be found in any sensible order and then to find questions / replies that are about 5-6 years out of date is beyond any form of helpful, or enjoyable or interesting way to flag up yesterdays questions / answers.
To give an excuse for change "because some forums were NOT being used by very many folks" is not the case, these forums that were NOT being used could quite easily be removed instead of the whole layout being thrown up in the air and placed wherever they landed it NOT very fare, lacks thought for the site users (never consulted nor asked for their input re this type of change) BUT hey, maybe my age tells me it's time to call Daves a thing of the past and stop participating, sad as I feel about that step, this site was plants, for WORLDWIDE USERS, IF the requirement is you needed a degree to find your way about then, perhaps the name should be changed from BEGINNERS anything but that !!!!!
Beginners gardening
" Landscape
" Flowers
" Veg
" House plants

Call me stupid, thick even, or just plane brainless, BUT I cant see this new mystery tour of a layout being of any help for beginners to find there place to ask any simple questions, I honestly cant see what the problems were with the old system, But hey as we, the paying members were never asked for our views or thoughts on the matter, you will never know perhaps until it's too late. Unfortunately I've only just made my latest membership payment in August, had I known all this silly
unnecessary changes from what looks like a long drawn out consuming exercise that is completely unworkable to long standing members, so cant see a line up of new memberships taking place any-time soon, the simplicity of the site was in my opinion the best reason for it's success over the years. So sorry but cant think of any valid reason for the change. I'm sure others will disagree and hope to hear any really valid reason for such a secretive uncalled for miss mash of forum changes please!!, constructive replies only, Not just a reason to upset either side of the argument.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

I don't even know all the forums I was watching so I have no idea where to look for them...there have been so many changes lately. The files and now the forums.....just don't get it.

Where did Heirlooms end up? Thanks

It would really be good if a list could be made of the forums that have been merged with others, telling where they went. A link to the new forum would be nice too. Then we could look them up and go there. I am looking for Strawbale Gardening. I know it wasn't visited frequently but the info on there for beginners would be hard to replace.

If some have been deleted please post the list.

Some kind of general announcement should be included in all the forums that have changes.

Thank you, I see stuff that is now under Vegetable Gardening but I don't know where it came from ie Heirlooms.

Well, I guess I may as well put in my two-cents. So far I hate it.

I wish I could intelligently describe specific reasons or ask where to find a particular forum or subject. But the real problem for me is that by eliminating separate categories it almost feels like one long list.

Then, if you want to look up things that aren't on the list (like Heirlooms, Compost, Winter Sowing), you have to find the forum they've been "squished" into and read through the entire list of threads to see which ones pertain to what you're looking for.

To make matters worse, it adds to the number of threads so something that may have been on page one before might now be on page two or three or later.

I've been having enough trouble trying to locate plants in the new PlantFiles. Now this.

I Love you guys. I really do. And I appreciate all the work you put in to make DG a better site while keeping it current. I've mentioned it many times so I hope you know it. I know Terry and Melody put a lot of work and thought into this new change so I really hate to complain.

For me personally, though, it feels like walking into one of those "Super-Centers" where instead of separate departments they've combined groceries and clothing and lawn mowers and wall paint and sporting goods, etc. all in one big department.

Sorry for the complaint. I'll try to get used to it.

Well said and I have to agree. I actively lurked in the compost forum, tapla and so many others, have put so much work into this forum, now it's just one big lump.

That was one thing that I really liked was the separate sections. Like Nuts posted stuff that was on pg one a few days ago is now pushed way back and I can't figure out the logic behind some of the grouping choices.

I too agree with all the negative feedback. It is so confusing-if my subscription had not just been renewed I would be gone.

I don't mean to be negative. It just too many changes at once and as far as I know they were unsolicited. When I first joined I loved all the choices now I'm lucky if I can find them. Maybe it's just too many changes at once.

I have never offered my two cents before, but I think it's time. After searching and searching and then searching some more, I finally found winter sowing has been lumped under propagation. When it was its own separate forum, information was easy to find. It not only had stickies, it had three or four posts where members had gone through and selected the most relevant information from all the posts. In addition, that form contain thread after thread after thread which was well worth reading. Given there are 80 pages listed on the propagation forum, how in the world am I supposed to find what I'm looking for? I didn't say anything when you messed with the plant files. I am a newbie and just thought "oh well. I'm just now learning this anyway. ". This however, Is making me crazy. I recently paid the membership fee for Daves Garden because it was easy to use. Sadly, not anymore. I am so frustrated, I could spit nickels.

Really Sorry BUT, still dont understand the need for any change,especially to the extent we are told is a good layout, good layout, more simplified etc, etc, excuse me, your not understanding what members are saying, there was nothing more simpler that the system we all know, liked and trusted was easy to navigate. Almost idiot proof, you know, like easy for NOVICE gardeners to find, use and participate in because they could understand
If you don't mind me saying, your being rather patronising to the members who have had one change after another (without any warnings this was happening) then to inform that "change is always hard at first BUT, you'll get used to it" Sorry I'm an adult female, raised 3 kids now adults, am a grandmother run a home, worked and care for ten acrea of ground so please dont try tell me how to suck eggs,

My difficulty today is, I was never informed there was a new formula / layout, been a member for years and have never in all those years read any complaint regarding the system or were these messages sent by morse code, you know, flashing lights etc.

You could quite easily have sent out a notice to all members asking IF they wanted a new formula that no one but yourselves (Admin) could understand, Or leave the forum Formula as it is,
members TICK BOX 1 YES. Box 2 NO. Now surely that's a far more simpler way to find out the members feelings regarding changing a system that worked perfectly.

I.m absolutely NOT suggesting for one Moment you guy's have NOT spent a lot of time and energy trying to alter a system that obviously DID NOT NEED CHANGE as there was no complaints to be read from any members, but maybe I blinked and missed those.

Ofcource change takes time to get used to jeeees there are many changes all through life BUT my objection is, we've been presented with change where there was nothing wrong with what we already had, therefore the new change was not necessary and from what the others say, they believe the system we had worked well, clear to understand and friendly, one click to find the forum your following and ofcource Gardening is changing BUT it's NOT changing overnight,
it took me a full 10 minutes to find this thread so I could catch up with it, how on earth is that easy.
Let's go back to the system we already had, trusted and enjoyed.

As regards new member finding the layout they will get used to, as they will know no other system, so does that indicate you DONT care about the members who have been loyal, renewed memberships year after year, how absolutely disgraceful, or am I just NOT even understanding your thought on this NOW serious matter. maybe my brain cells are just failing me right now.
I have loved being a member of this site, felt safe, try to help new gardeners and in general find most people very friendly, admired all the hard work from the Admin BUT what I think the site has lost at this present time is, without listening to the members views, there could be no Daves gardening site, People are genuinely upset and are tying in the politest, kindest way possible to tell they DONT want .like or understand ANY of the reasons for such changes. but Hey like I said at the start, maybe I'm just brainless. the changes are NOT really on anyones wavelength to be honest.

Better close as I'm not sure Admin actually understand the views from members re changes to the system, so complete lack of communication from all sides,
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

We appreciate the feedback - we do. And if we could have invited input before making the changes, we would have.

I will push back on one thing mentioned above. This is not like we put groceries and lawn mowers in the same department. It's more like we combined riding lawnmowers and push mowers and weed eaters in the same department. Which makes sense, especially if none of those areas had a lot of "traffic" prior to the reorganization. Once the dust settles, I think two things will happen - one is that you will soon become accustomed to seeing more traffic in your favorite forums, and that increased level of activity will become second nature. The other is you may find you have more people participating in the threads you enjoy, and you may find more threads you want to participate in. Those are improvements that we hope to see.

What I would agree with is an analogy that this is like when my grocery store rearranges things again. Which they do about every 2-3 years. It drives me nuts when the produce gets moved to the opposite side of the store, and the bakery, meat and dairy departments are switched around. And then I get used to it, and the new becomes familiar - until they change it again. But I still really prefer "my" store to others, and I want/need the items they sell, so I figure out the new layout and eventually, it either makes sense or I become accustomed to it.

Part of the problem we've had is we tried really hard (and succeeded) in not changing anything on the site for several years. We didn't do that because everything was supremely logical or worked perfectly, but we really wanted to just keep things status quo as long as possible to avoid disrupting the community more than necessary. And unfortunately, I think that has allowed all of us to become (perhaps) a little too set in our ways.

And because we left things alone as long as possible, the changes you see are more dramatic than they might have been if we had done them incrementally over time, and if we were all accustomed to seeing things rearranged every so often.

Before anyone objects, I understand that you may say:
1. the changes weren't necessary
2. they weren't logical; and
3. they haven't been executed flawlessly.

And I would address those arguments in reverse order:

3. I agree that things don't always work perfectly first time out of the shoot. Bear with us, please.
2. Logic is in the eye of the beholder, and we all often mistake what is simply familiar for logical.
1. The necessity of the changes may not be noticeable to us as users, but the site - like just about any technology in our lives - needs to be regularly updated, upgraded and changed to keep up with what all of us want, need and expect from a website in 2015 vs. 15 years ago when we started, or even 5 or 10 years ago, which is about when we made our last really noticeable changes and upgrades to the site.

Really Sorry BUT, still dont understand the need for any change,especially to the extent we are told is a good layout, good layout, more simplified etc, etc, excuse me, your not understanding what members are saying, there was nothing more simpler that the system we all know, liked and trusted was easy to navigate. Almost idiot proof, you know, like easy for NOVICE gardeners to find, use and participate in because they could understand
If you don't mind me saying, your being rather patronising to the members who have had one change after another (without any warnings this was happening) then to inform that "change is always hard at first BUT, you'll get used to it" Sorry I'm an adult female, raised 3 kids now adults, am a grandmother run a home, worked and care for ten acrea of ground so please dont try tell me how to suck eggs,

My difficulty today is, I was never informed there was a new formula / layout, been a member for years and have never in all those years read any complaint regarding the system or were these messages sent by morse code, you know, flashing lights etc.

You could quite easily have sent out a notice to all members asking IF they wanted a new formula that no one but yourselves (Admin) could understand, Or leave the forum Formula as it is,
members TICK BOX 1 YES. Box 2 NO. Now surely that's a far more simpler way to find out the members feelings regarding changing a system that worked perfectly.

I.m absolutely NOT suggesting for one Moment you guy's have NOT spent a lot of time and energy trying to alter a system that obviously DID NOT NEED CHANGE as there was no complaints to be read from any members, but maybe I blinked and missed those.

Ofcource change takes time to get used to jeeees there are many changes all through life BUT my objection is, we've been presented with change where there was nothing wrong with what we already had, therefore the new change was not necessary and from what the others say, they believe the system we had worked well, clear to understand and friendly, one click to find the forum your following and ofcource Gardening is changing BUT it's NOT changing overnight,
it took me a full 10 minutes to find this thread so I could catch up with it, how on earth is that easy.
Let's go back to the system we already had, trusted and enjoyed.

As regards new member finding the layout they will get used to, as they will know no other system, so does that indicate you DONT care about the members who have been loyal, renewed memberships year after year, how absolutely disgraceful, or am I just NOT even understanding your thought on this NOW serious matter. maybe my brain cells are just failing me right now.
I have loved being a member of this site, felt safe, try to help new gardeners and in general find most people very friendly, admired all the hard work from the Admin BUT what I think the site has lost at this present time is, without listening to the members views, there could be no Daves gardening site, People are genuinely upset and are tying in the politest, kindest way possible to tell they DONT want .like or understand ANY of the reasons for such changes. but Hey like I said at the start, maybe I'm just brainless. the changes are NOT really on anyones wavelength to be honest.

Better close as I'm not sure Admin actually understand the views from members re changes to the system, so complete lack of communication from all sides,
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

If "strawbale" is now alternative Gardening, why isn't "winter sowing" Alternative Gardening?

What is "alternative" gardening? It sounds like a politically correct term.