Private Messaging on Dave's Garden?

I prefer to think that Dave has done an excellent job of providing a very straightforward and easily navigated site which is not only superior to any comparable site but constantly being tweaked closer to perfection.

When I came to DG I think to some extent I was of the same opinion as Osteole. Now after almost one year, I lean heavily towards John's side. While DG does not have all the flashy graphics and fonts; scrolling messages, avatars, and the stuff that Yahoo and MSN are made of; the "bare bones-ness" of DG serves a real purpose. It allows us to have a more diverse group of people present. I think a lot of the more experienced gardeners (how's that for politically correct?) would be turned off by that sort of presentation here. I also think that it conveys the first-name basis on which so many members interact each day or more aptly put...it is WHY people interact in such a personal way here. It doesn't FEEL like the mass-marketed portal sites because it's not. We are different here at DG in the way we interact, in the way we trade and do business, and in the way we become a real part of each other's lives.

DG is a one-man programming effort with some help from a small group of very dedicated DG gardeners that have a sincere interest in gardening and making DG the best it can be (thanks Terry, Baa, Poppysue, the Uber Gardeners, and those precious few that work the PDB day in and day out). DG is "down home", straighforward, and purposeful in its material presentation. The things we need are here in a no frills, non-distracting way. And for those things that we don't have yet (like the subject of this thread), well those are things that will come in time provided the membership as a whole is in agreement for the need. In my time here, Dave inevitably responds to all requests for improved or new tools once a certain level of interest is expressed.

Now, if everyone wants to chip in some more dinero each year and/or pay to see a bunch of banner ads; I'm sure Dave could hire up a few more programming types, graphics artists, marketing consultants and the like and we could all be sitting here at the Yahoo Gardening portal.

Don't change a thing in terms of the presentation. New features? You bet! Maybe make the navigation or cohesiveness of the DG network a little more obvious? Sure, why not! I don't need black or blue backgrounds, or fancy navigation bars and buttons to get what I need from DG.

Give it some time....I'll bet you'll come to appreciate the "feel" of DG too!

(getting down off the soapbox now....sorry for the speech)
Brenda

I find DG very easy to navigate. I remember from when I first joined, that it does take a little getting used to, but then every site you go to is a bit different and takes a bit of getting used to. Once you get used to how it works, it's a snap. Once you learn how it is set up, it's easy.

I'm really glad DG is clean and neat without all the clutter I see at other online forums. I am sooo glad there are no avatars and animated junk.