lessons learned for next year #6

Lorraine --- i did something similar to this in a seed swap -- what i did was, open the thread to be copied, copy the whole page [i usually started at the bottom, starting at the end of the last message, providing it wasn't general chatter. Then stopped at the top, at the first message.]

then I pasted it in WORD. Then i just went through it formatting, putting a long horizontal line [the key between the 0 and = key, in cap lock, so it's an underline] between each post. in what i was doing, i left the name ... I dont think we'd need to in this case, unless we left it so we knew who's idea it was... that is something we'd need to decide.

here is a lil clipping of what i did. [it's an awful image, since i dont have a photo editor on this laptop] but you;ll get the idea of what i did.

This was a huge thread, of over 300 posts ... i edited down to 47 pages in word ... I did 4 total threads, some were edited down smaller, some larger... all depending on the chatter.

HTH

Terese

OK.... I'm starting tonight with Thread #1 .... i will keep everything except chatter ... and we can decide if were are going to separate into specific topics or not.

**edited to add

do were want to keep any of the info of the person posting the mssg;
here is all that data:
[very first post]

tabasco
Cincinnati (Anderson, OH
(Zone 6a)
May 5, 2006
12:33 PM
Post #2251729


Or just delete it all, or just keep the posters name ??

This message was edited Feb 8, 2008 9:18 PM

I know that since I'm not stepping up to do the work, my input might be less welcome, but...

I'm afraid that it's going to be hard to find specific bits of information if the posts are combined together as in the example above.

But suppose a thread has the following:

Post A: Tips on containers

Post B: comments on container tips

Post C: Additional Tips on containers

Posts D-G: Chatty posts

Post H: Comments about how densely to sow seed

Post I: Chatty post

Post J: Further comment and examples of dense seed sowing

Post K: More tips on creative containers



The above sequence could be edited into 2 posts on the new thread...

First, there would be a post containing copies of the posts about containers -- Posts A, B, C, and K. (Or K could go into a new post if it seemed to be the start of another discussion about containers or just a stand-alone comment.)

The chatty posts would simply be ignored and not copied over.

The next post on the new thread would contain Post H and Post J, about how dense to plant the seeds.


That way, we could go back and tag the first post "Winter sowing containers" and tag the second post "winter sowing planting seeds." The information would then be easier to search out.

?

Just to clarify... I'm not suggesting that every post on the thread be organized so that there's only one post on the new thread with all "container" topics, one post with all "perennial" topics, etc... mostly, I think there should be a new post when there's a change in topic, to make it easier to find information.

Zenpotter,

Where in Minneapolis is the "seed trade" on the 12th? Is in at the COnvention Center?

Thanks
LD

critter, your input is always welcome.
terese, I think we should definitely keep the name of the poster (for w/s, zone is a good bit of info, too), but I don't think the date/'time of the original post is so important.

How about we keep the name, city, zone, lose the date/time. like this?? and then follow with their post

tabasco, Cincinnati (Anderson, OH)(Zone 6a) said:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

get rid of all the chat, try to clump together the related posts, and we'll see what we have.

how does that sound?

therese, if you are starting with thread 1, I will take thread 2.

lorraine, if you want to wait until tomorrow or the next day so we can compare notes and show you what we are doing then you can pick up a thread and start on it, ok?

A big THANK YOU to the folks who are taking this on... you are mining the gems from these threads, and we'll all benefit from your efforts!

well, I've already found out that a BIG benefit of taking this is the re-reading of the gems in the thread! definitely worth it. I don't know if this will be readable, but here is a screen shot of what I started with thread #2. I don't want to go too far until I see if what you folks think. It seems best, after looking at for a while, to separate into categories. I started with labelling because that's where the thread started. I'm working in Word and will paste back into a thread when I'm done.

I will also volunteer to take on the maintenance of the stickies including the 'links' sticky (unless someone else really wants to). I really want to see this organized into something useful.

I can tell right now... that's going to be extremely useful!

:-)

With the "links" sticky, something that worked pretty well in the AV forum (where Begoniacrazii set up and maintained a sticky with loads of great links) was to start a thread asking for suggestions... that's the thread that got bumped up when people found new goodies to include, too. You are a gem to be willing to take that on, too. Thank you!

critter ... will all you are already doing for Daves, I wouldnt think you'd have the additional time... but your insight is always helpful.

Jan -- LOOKS GREAT. I will model mine after yours.
I didnt get far last night because i turn into a pumpkin sometime after 10pm and went to bed.... and BOY did i sleep in this morning.... one thing nice about weekends.

as for chatter -- completely cut out and deleted.

Now -- i have a quick question... one of the first messages in my thread, the gal states to use a Sharpie, where we all know they fade... should i include that or just snip it out? [we all know to use paint pens]

up to you... you could always add an editorial note, in parentheses... I've found the "industrial" Sharpies do OK, and regular ones last if you write on the bottom of the container out of the sun.

another quick note on doing these edits.... if there are links, we will lose the "hyper" part of it.
so do we want to have a thread/post/message with great info links? I'm not worrying about the links to seed sites .

another topic.... "Record Keeping"

it seemed to all start with KatyMac's Excel design ... so far, i'm leaving most of the information, general chatter - like "WOW great idea" is getting cut out.

Folks have added images to the spreadsheets ... those also will not transfer over. I have yet to figure out what i'm going to do with those.

ALSO the original "stickies" will they just be 'unstuck' and still accessible ... ???
and this new GIANT message / FAQ / WS info or whatever it will be called be the new 'sticky' at the top
I guess i'm asking if the old stuff will be deleted or not.

I think we should unstick the old "lessons learned" threads. They'll still be accessable... and as Terry pointed out, the most recent chat thread will be easy to find because new posts will bump it to the top. If we put a link on the top of each new thread to the previous thread, that will make them all easy to find.

We can sticky this new giant info thread... and we can also have the separate "sticky" thread with resource links that Grampapa has offered to moderate for us.

Goodie -- Glad to hear jan will be handling that.

on the sheet i am currently doing... since it is from Thread #1
i did add that it's a compilation of threads and put a link to the very first post that it came from... so if anyone reading the "new/compiled" thread wants to link to the originals... it will be easy enough..

uggg... i need a break... BBL.

I hope it won't be a problem that I can't start the editing process until at least Wednesday, February 20th. If it is, I hope that another winter sower will step forward in my place. Otherwise, I'll start editing which ever post you want me to take on the 20th. You do not need to be experienced in winter sowing, only a desire to learn more about the process & don't mind editing threads.

Jill: I think your idea of putting threads together according to subjects is a great, but I don't understand how we should go about doing this. The subject matters would need to be selected ahead of time, sent to the admins so that they can be created as part of the stickies. Then we could copy & paste into each subject. Is that how you envisioned it?

OK -- I'm thinking out loud here....
this started out as Lessons Learned [what worked, what didnt, what i learned, what not to do again, what changes to make next year]

then tossed in there we have What is winter sowing?
Containers Used
Record Keeping
labeling


I think we really need to keep the theme of Lessons Learned, because that is how this [thread organizing] began
but I also think having a WS FAQ would be great too, which could include all the links.

What if we did
General Winter Sowing Tips & FAQ's
and within that -- we could do "sub categories" for the other topics ??

then we could try to keep it all within 2 threads

Or even use Lessons Learned as a sub cat within the General .... Tips & FAQ's

any comments or ideas.... ?

There are different ways of editing, copying & pasting threads. This is how I will do mine, since I like to do it with as little effort as possible. It works great!

Open up Dave's Garden twice, with means that you're opening up two windows when you begin. Log into DG in both windows. Go to the Winter Sowing Forum in both windows.

Window #1: Go to the thread that you will edit, scroll down until you find the information that you feel is valuable and should be incorporated into the permanent "sticky". Then copy it. Now, switch to window or screen #2.

Window #2: Now, go to the permanent "sticky", for example containers. Take the copied information from window #1 and paste it directly into window #2.

Keep going back and forth copy & pasting between window 1 & 2 until you are finished editing. Voila! It's done!

Terese: I think you've got some good general subjects in which we can post specific threads to. It sounds like we need to define them, before the copying & pasting can begin.

I would add to these general topics:

Planting Out

What do you think about making "Winter Sowing Tips" & "FAQ's" two separate headings?

yes -- that is what i was thinking too...

get Definition before we start new threads.

as for your ideas... those are great too.

I just wanted to throw out there what i was thinking... for organizational purposes and see what others think... since this isn't MY thing/idea ... I dont want to take full charge....

and Don't sweat not being able to do this by a certain date.... I guess if we are clipping along and you are still on Vacation, we'll just finish up... I just wanted to get a jump, since I will be gone at the end of the month.

back to defining.... I just wanted to know "sub cats" so i can organize as I go along.

Shirley, your method above is what I was originally suggesting, with the idea that every time a new topic was introduced, the person doing the editing would start a new post in the edited-down thread. This would give us six new cleaned-up "lessons learned" threads, which could either be stickied to the top of the forum or (better, I think) linked to the new moderated resource sticky.

But it sounds like a larger effort may now be underway, with an attempt to categorize the useful posts from all six threads according to their topic. I've been trying to think about a streamlined way to approach this with 6 people working on the 6 different threads...

What about...

creating a new "Tips" thread for each of the topics proposed above (lessons learned, containers, etc). As each person goes through the old sticky thread they've volunteered to do, they'd copy the posts with valuable information, and repost the information on the appropriate new thread. The new threads could then be added as links to our proposed resource "sticky" thread.

Would that work? I'm not sure there's even any need for tips to be posted in chronological order, from the first "lessons learned" stick to the most recent one... is there?

Jill: Are you suggesting that in addition to copying & pasting the info into a "sticky" thread that we could copy & paste in the http: address as well to create links?

Yes, we could incorporate "tips" into specific categories.

I am saying that if we are going to have a new resource "sticky" thread with links to other threads etc. within DG as well as to outside web pages (this is the sticky that grampapa was offering to organize & moderate), we do not need to "sticky" 6 new "tips" threads also... we can just include links in the new resource sticky to the new tips theads that we're creating from the material in the 6 "lessons" threads that are now stickied.

Otherwise, we will end up with a whole bunch of "sticky" threads at the top of the forum... On my little laptop, I already have to scroll down to see more than the first non-sticky thread subject.

Gotcha, thanks!

this is what i was thinking....

un-sticky the current 6
and have 1 possibly 2 new threads [stickies] with the info taken out of the 6 current threads
and do whatever [or possibly whatever] i mentioned in my earlier post.

I too do not want to create 6 new stickies... since that is what we are trying to get away from.
but just consolidating all the good info.

Ok, I don't know if anybody looked at the links Terry posted above. In the one 'sticky' that I will maintain, one of the posts will be links to whatever we boil these 6 threads down to. and, as Terese said, these new threads will link to the originals (which all link to each other in order). nothing will ever be lost.

as far as just boiling down what's there and removing the chat vs creating single-topic threads (such as containers, labelling, etc.)...

I will go with whatever most everybody wants. I know it's more work to do the single-topic threads, but then we end up with a 'Tips & Tricks' that will be much more useful. I'm willing to chip away at this until we get it right with whatever help I can get.

Jill, you're right. there is no need to keep chronological order.

If we create the new threads, how do we keep other people from posting on them while we're working on them? I know Terry can lock them when we're finished and then just unlock if we want to add something. Should we just put something at the top that states in bold that it is a READ ONLY thread and that readers are not to post anything.

Good point. Beckygardner's butterfly sticky is written in that manner.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/744103/

That's a good idea... and if people do start posting to them after they're completed, maybe we can get admin to lock those threads... because if they get long and chatty, they'll become slow & inaccessible to anybody with dial-up connections.

I love the idea of a resource "sticky," because then we can create all sorts of wonderful informative theads like these "best of" tips thread and just link them into the "sticky" to make them easy to find!

Good Job ladies. Thanks for taking the time to do all the leg work. This new resource thread will be a very helpful thread to all. We could also add a link to an external source. Ex; to id a seed or sprout - create a link to the Seed site. Or links to our favorite seed/supply companies. Just a thought.

Exactly Anita. that's part of the plan. there will be a post in the sticky where I can add members favorites links. probably one post for commercial-type links such as seed/supply companies and one post for places with germination/id type info

Would anyone like to do a rough outline of what info we are to gather/save

I have been busy today doing a spreadsheet for all my seeds ... so I have not been back to 'thread#1'

and, is there going to be only 1 thread [sticky] or 2 ?

thanks -- i just cant think straight today...

Terese

Terese, I think we only need 1 sticky. it will have links to everything else.

I'm working on my seed spreadsheet, too. I think I'll have to work on the thread #2 a little bit at a time.

I'd like to have 3/31 as a goal to get all of this together. How's that?

I like Terese's list of subcategorys. If anybody has any suggestions for additions let me know. But if we open a thread to paste them into as we go along other people will get into it for sure and start commenting and adding. I would much rather see the stuff get pasted into a word processor doc and then when we're ready we'll open a thread and paste it all in at once. then we can have Terry lock it right away.

>>I would much rather see the stuff get pasted into a word processor doc and then when we're ready we'll open a thread and paste it all in at once. then we can have Terry lock it right away.

Jan -- great idea!!

I finally finished my spreadsheet yesterday, so now i'll have time to concentrate on the Sticky.

name for it??

General Winter Sowing Tips & FAQ's

and here was the little list of sub cats i came up with above:
What is winter sowing?
Containers Used
Record Keeping
labeling

but i also still think we should have a subcat for Lessons Learned.

comments anyone??

Are you thinking of putting each of those subcategories as a separate post on the sticky, or as separate threads that will be linked to the sticky? (A separate thread might be easier to post additional tips to down the line.)

Yanno critter.... that is probably a good idea.

we could do ONE sticky with some general info... or even a lil description of the various categories... then in that sticky, have links to other threads for each subcat.

then other tips can be added to each thread, but the original can/will be locked down so it can't be added to unless we request it, by admin/moderator??

BUT we'd have to have the subcats going before the main sticky thread, so we'd already have the links to each thread.

questions/comments??

Grampapa has offered to moderate the main sticky thread, so that one will be locked. Admin can unlock it any time at her request so she can add things to it, so the exact order of doing things isn't vital... but it's probably a good idea to have a suggestions thread to gather links for adding to the sticky so a bunch of them can be added at once (no need to ask admin to unlock and relock the thread a dozen times in 3 weeks, LOL).

It can have links to the various tips threads, or however you decide to organize that. Any other especially good resource threads can be linked to it also. It'll also have links to the winter sowing database, other germination databases (like Tom Clothier's site), seed sources (like ValueSeeds, maybe?), etc.

Re: the sticky topics--

Where does the info on what seeds are best wintersowed? There seems to be a lot of confusion on what is appropriate to plant at what time of the winter.

So, will there be a Database reference link somewhere (or maybe that is covered previously and I missed it--so sorry, if so.)?

And hopefully Critter's article will be the 'lead off' in the 'What is Wintersowing' topic...? Very nicely written.

Sounds like the organizing is really getting off the ground! This will make a big difference!

I was going to ask if someone wanted to write up a general FAQ for WS.

I guess just some basic questions with an answer.

Gram and I sort of have a plan to get this new sticky going, with a rough list of SubCats

It's going to take a lot of time, but i think it's gonna be great and informative when it's done.

and OH YES.... when Critter's article is available... we will need to make sure that link is within the sticky somewhere... or even on the Reference page. [i started that last night]
We should have links to any of the good/helpful articles that are within these pages ....

>>what seeds are best wintersowed?

tabasco -- do we have a thread on this anywhere yet? if not, we can start one, then link to it from the sticky.

Critter's article is available!

:-)

It was published on Feb. 2.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/585/