Lack of Project Posts on the Forum

[peter halle]

Hey Guys and Gals!

Over the years we have had ebbs and flows of project threads and pictorials of projects created by talented members.

Lately we have been on the downslide.

I would love to hear comments here about why you might think that is happening so that perhaps we can work to correct that.

Please post honestly so that we can work towards increasing these types of posts. 

If you are uncomfortable posting your thought out here in public, please PM any of us ( [member=57769]TylerC[/member] , [member=1619]SRSemenza[/member] or myself  and we will talk about it in private.

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

I post things when I believe they will be of interest to others. I may be posting something soon.

My last post brought forth a lot of information about the product I used. This was very good because it allows others to make a decision with information from both sides.

Tom

 

[nclemmons]

For me it's been seasonal with a lot going on in the summer.  As we head into the fall/winter I'd hope the activity might pick up again.

 

[#Tee]

I think most ppl share them on ig

 

[tjbnwi]

I think most ppl share them on ig

What's ig?

Tom

 

[Svar]

I think most ppl share them on ig

Or lumberjocks.com

 

[Stephen B]

Thank you Peter and Tyler for raising this.

I think overall there is a lack of response to some great posted projects - so we say why bother! I am not talking here in the context of my own projects, rather Threads such as 'What's New In The East.

Projects  should be a highlight of the FOG experience. I have also tried to generate discussion of design and aesthetics with relatively little response.

Instead we continue to see umpteen posts re for example, uncontrollable  ROTEX sanders and other customer issues. This is why my FOG activity has fallen away of late.

I want to be inspired!

 

[ben_r_]

I think most ppl share them on ig

What's ig?

Tom

Instagram

 

[Pnw painter]

A lot of people might be intimidated to post about their projects because of the high skill level of many of the project posts.

I'm not in the practice of taking pics as I'm working and some of my client might not appreciate me posting about their house.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dane]

In my opinion it has a lot to do with how the site is structured and read.  I think most folks scroll down the the bottom to see the latest posts and more often that not these days you are inundated with another repetitive thread about a new product someone's selling or a gripe about the Kapex or a dealer.  So when someone does take the time to post a project, it gets shuffled off the screen before many people can see it or comment.  Then those posters don't get enough comments to feel like it was worth posting and don't do so as readily a next time.  I personally would love a way to collapse or hide threads that I'm not interested in following so I have an better chance of seeing new content that hopefully has projects in it.

 

[Rob-GB]

A lot has to do with how hard it is to post photo's to the thread, I used Picasa until they messed things up then photobucket tried to strongarm people into paying through the nose to keep their pics in play on fora.
Only one forum I am a member of allows photo's to be uploaded directly and it has nothing to do with woodworking so I can't use that as a back door workaround.
It is not that people don't want to post their projects, just that the people running the photo uploading services are getting greedy and are now in danger of going bankrupt once the advertisers wake up.
I took to youtube for a means of uploading for some posts but I can't write a narrative on the project as well as I used to. We had some really good discussions on some of my projects posted here and I believe that I learnt from them and others either learnt or were inspired somehow by them.

Rob.

 

[semenza]

Can't upload photos directly in what way? 

Seth

 

[VW mick]

In my opinion it has a lot to do with how the site is structured and read.  I think most folks scroll down the the bottom to see the latest posts and more often that not these days you are inundated with another repetitive thread about a new product someone's selling or a gripe about the Kapex or a dealer.  So when someone does take the time to post a project, it gets shuffled off the screen before many people can see it or comment.  Then those posters don't get enough comments to feel like it was worth posting and don't do so as readily a next time.  I personally would love a way to collapse or hide threads that I'm not interested in following so I have an better chance of seeing new content that hopefully has projects in it.

A lot of people might be intimidated to post about their projects because of the high skill level of many of the project posts.

I'm not in the practice of taking pics as I'm working and some of my client might not appreciate me posting about their house.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree agree the above

I do try and post stuff I do but as it usually takes me a while I (week ends and evenings ) it's hard to keep a weekly/daily post going
So I usually end up with a load of photos and a big post at the end
A few of the ongoing builds keep me logging on to see how they are getting on

But they are few at the moment

But I do think a little more feed back would make guys post more

If you have logged on to the thread it's not much to say .nice job or cool I like that or well done ECT

Mick

 

[semenza]

In my opinion it has a lot to do with how the site is structured and read.  I think most folks scroll down the the bottom to see the latest posts and more often that not these days you are inundated with another repetitive thread about a new product someone's selling or a gripe about the Kapex or a dealer.  So when someone does take the time to post a project, it gets shuffled off the screen before many people can see it or comment.  Then those posters don't get enough comments to feel like it was worth posting and don't do so as readily a next time.  I personally would love a way to collapse or hide threads that I'm not interested in following so I have an better chance of seeing new content that hopefully has projects in it.

  There are a number of ways to read the forum. The latest posts page will only posts from part of a day and if a topic is getting a lot of activity it will of course take up much of that space. But simply clicking "Unread" at the top right will show every  topic  that is new or has new posts since last visit.  And clicking "All Unread" will showing every topic that hasn't been viewed since last new post or hasn't been marked read. Those are the best ways to not miss anything. And since they are done by topic and not by post it is easy for people to just read the things that interest them.

    And of course browsing individual boards is another option.

    We have always found when this discussion comes up that people use all the types and so have maintained availability of all the types so that people can use the best for them.

    We could get rid of the latest posts page and force people to see the topics?  But I that won't know work,  so ..............

Seth

 

[Trevin]

I agree that when someone posts a new project it does get shuffled off the list pretty quickly.  I know I can go to the section for "Member Projects" and I do occasionally but most of the time I just check in on the bottom of the home screen due to lack of time just to check in on whats new? 

I enjoy seeing other members projects and like to contribute as well.  Can pick up some good ideas that way.  I am working on a "hand tool" wall cabinet now and will post some pics when finished.  I am bad at reminding myself to take pictures as I build.  Will have to remind myself or put up a sign in the shop to remind me....

Trevin

 

[semenza]

When just having a quick look to see what's new the home page latest posts can be handy.  The thing with that is  any   topic can get shuffled off the bottom quickly.  Bound to to miss things that way.  EX- there is a FOG member who was at the brew pub ( I guess on the restaurant side ?) where the FOG get together was going on. But did not know there was a FOG get together going on at the establishment  ...... missed the postings about it.

Seth

 

[ChuckM]

The thumbnails of images suggestion is good as pictures attract attention and one can quickly screen if it is something of interest to warrant a click to the post or thread.

I post my projects on Lumberjocks because most of them are completed without using a Festool tool, unless you count cross cutting stock to length on the Kapex during the stock prep. stage as a Festool project. Many of them are hand-tool projects, too, or a mix of hand and power tools, with an emphasis on hand tools.

So the key question is: how do we define a Member Project? Is the answer: Any project done by a member of the Forum, or certain % of tools used must be Festool?

A related question is, if I post a "Festool" project on Lumberjocks, can or should it be posted here again?

Personally, I don't mind my project posts receiving few or no comments, and so it is not a factor in my decision to share my projects (on Lumberjocks).

 

[Cheese]

So the key question is: how do we define a Member Project? Is the answer: Any project done by a member of the Forum, or certain % of tools used must be Festool?

I like the "Any project done by a member of the Forum" definition. [thumbs up] The use or non use of Festool equipment shouldn't enter in the equation. A project is a project...

I also vote yes for the thumbnail of images suggestion. [cool]

 

[peter halle]

I hate to bust some bubbles here, but the great suggestions about thumbnail images mentioned above would require a ton of custom programming and even then it might not be possible.

I fully respect that so many here have great ideas about the future of the forum and encourage any and all to bring them forum.  But there may be limitations and obstacles.

Peter

 

[Svar]

I post my projects on Lumberjocks

I do the same. To me this forum is more of a tool talk, while Lumberjocks is more project oriented and is better setup for that task.