Our New Group Space!

I suggest the "open topics" should be reworded to "off topic" and should be moved to the bottom of the list of forums. 

The reason for the wording change is the "off topic" is what I am used to in three other forums.  Also, to me at least, it make it more clear that this is to be used for stuff other than Festool.
 
Frank Pellow said:
I suggest the "open topics" should be reworded to "off topic" and should be moved to the bottom of the list of forums. 

The reason for the wording change is the "off topic" is what I am used to in three other forums.  Also, to me at least, it make it more clear that this is to be used for stuff other than Festool.
Click to expand...
Agree!
 
Matthew,

First, I want to thank you again for setting up this forum!!!  The old forum had great information but was hampered by a mediocre format.  Moving from the old forum to this new forum is like stepping out of an old rusty Chevy into a brand new Mercedes.  You brain and body are still the same, but now you can start drivin' up to your potential!!!

Second, I can't think of any other suggestions other than sort order.  Following my general rule - "most important first, then logically" - my ordering suggestions are:

- In "FESTOOL TOOLS IN ACTION!", other than "How to...", it's not apparent to me that one folder is more important than any other.  I'd suggest ordering them alphabetically for clarity.

- Suggested order for the last four categories and why:
-- OFF-TOPIC (semi-important; medium volume)
-- FESTOOL OFFERINGS (important; very low volume)
-- TECH TALK (very important; low volume)
-- ARCHIVES (low intial, then NO importance; no volume)

Regarding ARCHIVES, I'm not sure if it's even worthy of a category.  Then again, I'm not sure where it should be placed.  (Maybe "TECH TALK"?)  ???

Again, many thanks for the hard work and excellent results.  Now, think Disney World when you announce the forum...  Open the gates and watch as the kiddies flock in with expressions of wonder on their happy faces.  ;D

Dan.
 
Dan,
Thank you for your suggestions.

I keep looking over the order of the categories, and sometimes one way looks better and sometimes another way looks better!  Like a good furniture project, the areas of the forum need to be a balance of natural feel, with good structure.

As you suggest, the "Archives" is a tricky question.  I don't want to lose all those great discussions we had in the Yahoo group, and yet I'm not sure where to put them.  I think you're right, though, that they don't need a special category.  I think I'll put them in the "Festool Tools and Accessories" area, in a locked discussion that links to the old files.

I'm working with the new Web host to find a way to transfer all the old discussions from Yahoo into the group.  If we can accomplish that, I would place all the old discussions in the "General Discussions" area, at least for now.  The challenge is getting Yahoo to agree to release the files.

I can't wait to announce the new group and see people come streaming in.

Thanks again,
Matthew Schenker
 
Matthew,

Regarding the content of the old Yahoo archives...

There is a lot of good content there.  However, besides the massive work involved, another downside of copying the old messages to the new forum is that they would still be formatted to meet the Yahoo constraints.  For example...

In this forum, when we need to describe a "How To" process, it's very easy and natural to include a pic or three.    In the old forum, we needed to describe it and then include links and navigation instructions to point to some disassociated pics - major hassle.

The bottom line is whether it's worth it to move the old content enmasse.  Many of the valuable posts either don't contain pics or refer to pics in the Photos section.  So, they'd need to be edited anyway.  Maybe it's easier and better for the original poster to copy and edit the original text, add pics as necessary, and upload to the new forum.   

Tough choice, though.

Dan.
 
Dan,
I definitely don't want to lose the content of the old forum, but as you might guess I also don't relish the idea of reading through 15,000+ messages, giving them topic names, and placing them in the right folders!

For now, I'll keep the link to the old group so that the messages are there if anyone needs them.

But your idea sounds like a possibility.  Have the members who want to cart over their existing discussions  do that part.  That would get a lot done pretty quickly.

Thanks again,
Matthew Schenker
 
Everyone,
Hold onto your hats...

I just got word from Festool that they will donate five Dominoes to raffle off for members of the new Festool Owners Group!!!

THAT WAS NOT A MISTAKE -- FESTOOL IS DONATING FIVE DOMINOES TO RAFFLE OFF IN THE NEW GROUP!!

Now that should get people's attention, and boost membership!

This raffle will be open to all members, with the exception of myself and ISAs.  I'll have to set a deadline, say midnight on February 1 (Eastern time).

The only question is finding a fair way to pick the winners.  I have to generate some kind of random method.

How about that!!!

Stay in touch,
Matthew Schenker
 
More Great News...
Christian at Festool has agreed to monitor the "Contact Festool" area of the group.  It would either be him or a customer-service person, or someone else.  But the point is, we will have a helpful presence from the company in the forum.

This is a great element of the group.  Questions and issues one customer brings up are helpful to everyone.  It's also helpful to the company, as they might be able to cut down on service calls if people can get answers to some of their questions here.

Moving forward,
Matthew Schenker
 
By the way, I was planning to delete this discussion after we got the group up and running.  But now I'm thinking this should be saved in the archives area.
 
That is amazing!

If the word gets out, it will certainly result in a large number of new members.  Let's hope that folks that join because of this incentive stick around here after the draw.
 
Dan Clark said:
Matthew,

First, I want to thank you again for setting up this forum!!!   The old forum had great information but was hampered by a mediocre format.  Moving from the old forum to this new forum is like stepping out of an old rusty Chevy into a brand new Mercedes.  You brain and body are still the same, but now you can start drivin' up to your potential!!!

Second, I can't think of any other suggestions other than sort order.  Following my general rule - "most important first, then logically" - my ordering suggestions are:

- In "FESTOOL TOOLS IN ACTION!", other than "How to...", it's not apparent to me that one folder is more important than any other.  I'd suggest ordering them alphabetically for clarity.

- Suggested order for the last four categories and why:
-- OFF-TOPIC (semi-important; medium volume)
-- FESTOOL OFFERINGS (important; very low volume)
-- TECH TALK (very important; low volume)
-- ARCHIVES (low intial, then NO importance; no volume)

Regarding ARCHIVES, I'm not sure if it's even worthy of a category.  Then again, I'm not sure where it should be placed.  (Maybe "TECH TALK"?)   ???

Again, many thanks for the hard work and excellent results.  Now, think Disney World when you announce the forum...   Open the gates and watch as the kiddies flock in with expressions of wonder on their happy faces.   ;D

Dan.
Click to expand...
Mathew, I prefer the order that you have now rather than the order suggested by Dan.  Dan, I would also quibble with your categorization of "Off-Topic" as semi-important.  To me, it is unemportant (but necessary).
 
I am not sure how Saw Mill Creek does it, but I do know how this is done at the Family Woodworking Forums (familywoodworking.org). 

1)  A poll is held asking folks to sign up for the draw.  Each person entering the draw is assigned a number (1 for the first member, 2 for the second etc.).     The poll lasts for about a week.

2) An administrator conducts a draw by generating a random number in the range 1 to n (where n is the number of folks entering the draw). 

3) The winner is posted at the site and is sent an email.  They have a fixed amouint of time (I think it is two business days) to respond.

4) If they respond, they win, otherwise a new random number is generated.
 
Frank Pellow said:
Mathew, I prefer the order that you have now rather than the order suggested by Dan.  Dan, I would also quibble with your categorization of "Off-Topic" as semi-important.  To me, it is unemportant (but necessary).
Click to expand...

Frank,

I thought my order was a bit better, but I'm OK with the current order too.  Regarding Off-Topic being unimportant, "(but necessary)", if it's necessary, doesn't that mean it's kind of important?    ;)

I think we're down to small nits now.  Using my previous metaphor, it's like leaping into your new Mercedes and saying, "Hmm...  Looks like there's a smudge on the windshield!"  Maybe so, but it's STILL a Mercedes! :) 

Dan.
 
All right everyone, it looks like the group is ready for a public announcement.  I was planning to do it next Monday, but everything seems to be in order now.  I've received a lot of great ideas from all of you, which has helped me arrange and organize the structure of the group discussion areas.

I've also been working behind the scenes on tweaking loads of group settings, the kind of stuff you think is automatic until you become the administrator of a forum!  Actually, it's a lot of fun being able to bring something like this to life.

I'm going to put together the announcement and post it either later today or early tomorrow on to the Yahoo board.  I'll include the part about the Domino Raffle (http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=6.0).

There are still things I need to consider, but I can work on those after I open the doors.

Thanks again everyone for all your help!

Feel free to continue posting your ideas.

Stay in touch,
Matthew Schenker
 
I suggest that to get better coverage and response to this, that it be run as 5 seperate draws, one say every 2 weeks; thus covering a ten week period.
 
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