General section for non-fish related chat?

[Poodroo]

Hi there fellow Ausfishers. Just getting a feel as to what everyone out there thinks of having a section that covers absolutlety anything whether it be fish related or not. Those topics that people feel is cool to share with everyone like saving Koalas as an example that don't fit in with fish chat always end up going to the "Test Board" and I think that they really don't belong there either. What does everyone think? I think it would be a good idea but I may be a minority. Let's put it to the vote. ;) Be interesting to see where this ends up too. ;D

Poodroo

[stevedemon]

Hi All
i'm with Poodroo on this one we see all the facts of fishing the destruction of the evironment and some poor soles out there trying to close our fishing grounds but there is other news out there like the koala find that will give us all hope that people are still human and not a thoughtless mouron's


Cheers ;D ;D
Steve 8-) 8-)

[JasonT]

Would it simply be better to rename the test board "Miscellaneous" ?

Personally I would not like to see this become a forum for anything else.
Ausfish to me is FISH!

If I want to chat about making pumpkin scones uspide down in zero gravity I'd google that and join that chatboard!


:-)

JT

[BrandonH]

Both good points ;) I think that it dosn't really matter either way it goes. Like I always check the testing thread to see what people are up to and what unfishing related stuff is being posted!! maybe a sticky post on the front page stating that "testing" is where all non fishing realted chat shoudl happen!! once everyone knows no problem ;)

Cheers
Brandon...

PS: for the sake of this forum and the people running it it is in our best interests to keep the number of threads/options to a minium otherwise it will get too big to manage and it will end up going down the tube like a lot of other forums.

[finga64]

I'll join JT's train of thought.
Name of the site is Ausfish not Aus-koala or Aus-enviro or Aus-anything-else-that-takes-your-fancy.
Maybe this section called Misc. banter (ta JT :))and the test section becomes test and help.

But it's just fine as is :)

[Poodroo]

Well more the point of this is you can't even congratulate someone for reaching gold or platinum without it ending up in the "test board" section which I really don't think is a suitable spot. The other reason I raised this is that yes we all love fishing but there is obviously the odd occassion where something not fish topic related is still important to someone otherwise they wouldn't bother raising the topics in the first place.

Poodroo

[mod5]

See following previous threads.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1159676076

http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1160304174

http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1158661042

[Poodroo]

Well Mod 5 I can see your point but I still can't understand one thing. There was a thread about how to preserve beachworms in the "reports estuary" section that was never moved. Why? It was clearly nothing to do with that section. I know it is a fishing site but I still cannot see why you can't have a section where you can congratulate someone for reaching platinum without having it relocated. I am not trying to be a trouble maker, I am just trying to raise a point that perhaps we do need an appropriate section. Regards,

Poodroo

[Royce]

I agree this is the most overmoderated forum I have ever seen, if it didnt have so many sections there wouldnt be so much work to keep it all on track

I have seen plenty of bigger forums with an "general chat" section that runs smoothly, afterall its not a sandpit is it, most members are grown ups

whats wrong with like minded people having an area to have a chat?

[mod5]

If you believe threads and posts are in the wrong section or you have an issue with a particular thread, use the http://www.ausfish.com.au/yabbfiles/ModImages/AlertMod/alertmod_button.png button and let us know. As much as we try to monitor all threads we sometimes do miss things.

Thats where your assistance helps us to maintain the boards.

[mod5]

I agree this is the most overmoderated forum I have ever seen, if it didnt have so many sections there wouldnt be so much work to keep it all on track

I have seen plenty of bigger forums with an "general chat" section that runs smoothly, afterall its not a sandpit is it, most members are grown ups

whats wrong with like minded people having an area to have a chat?

Interesting comment for your first post. If you dont like the way Ausfish is moderated I suggest you go find another website.

[Poodroo]

Well I for one think this is still the best website which is why I spend so much time on it. Apologies Mod5 if raising this issue has created waves as it was never meant to and I will use the appropriate "alert" button if it helps you guys not miss things. ;)

Poodroo

[choppa]

I agree this is the most overmoderated forum I have ever seen, if it didnt have so many sections there wouldnt be so much work to keep it all on track

I have seen plenty of bigger forums with an "general chat" section that runs smoothly, afterall its not a sandpit is it, most members are grown ups

whats wrong with like minded people having an area to have a chat?

Interesting comment for your first post. If you dont like the way Ausfish is moderated I suggest you go find another website.


a wee bit harsh,,,,,,,,,might be he's first post,,,,,but he may have been a """guest""" for awhile,,,maybe

i do agree a bit on this,,,,,,,,some threads remain in general chat that have absolutely nothing to do with fishing,,,,but are a general info piece to members,,,,,others remain for a short period and vanish,,,,,

most of the members go where first after they have logged on??????????????

i think """test board""" would be low on the list,,,,

then theres the other threads that are related to fish'n,,,,sort off,,,,,that you wish would go away,,,,,,,,,but don't,,,,,,as your avatar suggests mod 5,,,,,,,,so little bullets

choppa

[Royce]

Interesting comment for your first post. If you dont like the way Ausfish is moderated I suggest you go find another website.


lovely community spirit there champ, anything like that on any of my boards I'd remove your status, did I say I didnt like it? I couldnt care less, I just commented it was pretty heavy.


yep lurker for a long time, dont bother posting as I have more to learn from here than I do to add, but I know forums and the difference between a forum being a place where people come to get info and leave and it being an online community where they stick around is the feel of the place and comments like that and the lack of anywhere for members to have a chat puts this in the former

[Great_White]

It sounds like a good idea Andrew :)

Peter :)

[westie]

I have to say one thing to the Mods and it is not on this subject

It is on your INTERNET POLICE Avatar i think that is the worse thing to have on a site where children come. It is saying Idiots need shooting and if that is the message that you put across then this site is loosing touch with what is happening out there in the real world where we need to be putting the right messages out there and not things like that.

So as a Gold Member of Ausfish I would like to see that removed ASAP and if others agree then let ausfish know.

No this is not a cheap shot at the mods it is a chance to stop thinking that a bullet is the answer to sort out miss conduct.

[mod5]

I have to say one thing to the Mods and it is not on this subject

It is on your INTERNET POLICE Avatar i think that is the worse thing to have on a site where children come. It is saying Idiots need shooting and if that is the message that you put across then this site is loosing touch with what is happening out there in the real world where we need to be putting the right messages out there and not things like that.

So as a Gold Member of Ausfish I would like to see that removed ASAP and if others agree then let ausfish know.

No this is not a cheap shot at the mods it is a chance to stop thinking that a bullet is the answer to sort out miss conduct.

While I disagree with you I will change it. ;)

[finga64]

Well more the point of this is you can't even congratulate someone for reaching gold or platinum without it ending up in the "test board" section which I really don't think is a suitable spot.
Poodroo

Personally I could not care less how many posts a person has done. One of the best things Steve has done was to get rid of the post count under your colour status. I could not care less if Steve took the colour status away too. When it all boils down we all look at the posts and decide if the information is good or bad. There's some new members or long time members (with low post counts) who give outstanding advice, information or have views that make us think when-ever they post and there's some members with huge tally counts who give iffy info.

So when it all boils down it doesn't matter how high or low your tally count is that makes you a good and valuable member.

So does it really matter if you're blue, bronze or platinium if you contribute to make the site.

If you want to say "good on ya" to someone why not just send a PM instead of tying up the main pages??

[JasonT]

Realistically this is OUR forum..
(No disrespect intended to owners/management of Ausfish.)
It can only be as good as we make it. Threads like these are excellent as they get us thinking about improvements..

Personally, I love well thought out, well set out sites. This site is well set out, providing ample subject headings for us to post under, and I have never had a problem determining which board I should use.
(ok.. maybe one or two posts have been moved ;-) )

The problem with lumping everything under one board, or in posting something onto an incorrect board is the difficulty it creates further down the track when you try to search for something.

I use Ausfish kind of like a search engine for anything fish related, and for me to continue finding it useful it has to grow in size yet remain organised and accessible.

I admit to having a personality that must have things set out in an organised manner to function, I also admit to being very much a creature of habit and routine, therefore any changes to this site will throw me in a spin :-) have a terrible effect on my existence! (I've only just recovered from having the reports sections re-done! :-) )


Please don't chnage anything else on me!
:-)

JT

[Poodroo]

Finga you are just one opinion and I value that. It is good to have your say. This thread was simply designed to get some input collectively from the "majority." Personally I can live with Ausfish the way it is but there is no such thing as a bad idea in my books. If I come up with several ideas and one of them comes into fruition then that's great but if not I will continue to contribute as I always will. Thanks for your replies. :)

Poodroo

[westie]

I have to say one thing to the Mods and it is not on this subject

It is on your INTERNET POLICE Avatar i think that is the worse thing to have on a site where children come. It is saying Idiots need shooting and if that is the message that you put across then this site is loosing touch with what is happening out there in the real world where we need to be putting the right messages out there and not things like that.

So as a Gold Member of Ausfish I would like to see that removed ASAP and if others agree then let ausfish know.

No this is not a cheap shot at the mods it is a chance to stop thinking that a bullet is the answer to sort out miss conduct.

While I disagree with you I will change it. ;)


Thank you Mod 5. After the circulation of a DVD of teenages doing malicious things for attention. Ithink it is better not to give those sort of pictures to young or old these days.

[Fat_Chilli]

I like the Site layout, but voted for a General / Misc forum.

Whilst we are on the subject of ideas, it would be good to be able to click on "New Posts" since last visit (unless this is available and I haven't located it?) instead of having to open and close every specific forum/chat to see what's new. Just my 5 cents.

[finga64]

Finga you are just one opinion and I value that. It is good to have your say. This thread was simply designed to get some input collectively from the "majority." Personally I can live with Ausfish the way it is but there is no such thing as a bad idea in my books. If I come up with several ideas and one of them comes into fruition then that's great but if not I will continue to contribute as I always will. Thanks for your replies. :)

Poodroo
Yep, your more then right matey on so many things in your statement.
It's great to have your say and it's more then great to have ideas and it's better still to be able to express your ideas.
If things stayed exactly the same as they always have been there is no way progress can be achieved. Ideas about so many various topics have been struck up in this site and so many things have changed for the better in a wider scope of things other then just this website.
I'm sorry if my little blurb sounded like it was gospel but that's why at the beginning I said "personally" because they are my personal thoughts.
A majority is made of lots of minorities, if they have the same thoughts. And how do we know if each individual minority do not make up a majority if nobody speaks out??
Personally I don't look for praise or recognition in things I do. I'm definitely a minority in that respect but I also respect other peoples views as well. I also don't mind in expressing my personal thoughts even if they're 'politically incorrect'

Maybe the test board could be called 'general ramblings' or 'gossup' or 'talk over the back fence' or 'smoko chat' or something like that because that's what it is. It's just stuff you'd talk to your mates about while having a beer or smoko.
And the help board changed to 'help and test' because there isn't much happening in the test section and it's cleared occassionally.
I don't know. It's a fine line between having too many little sub categories and not enough.

Ooh Poodroo, there is such a beasty as a bad idea.....me wanting to be a centre-fold model or a ballerina are really bad ideas...;D
Cheers Scott :)

[fish2eat]

Comments without raving

1. Love that Ausfish is about FISHING and related topics

2. There are other places to discuss other rubbish, just look at the crap on some other boards

3. I think the mods already tolerate some borderline topics....

keep it as is!!

[Captain_Starli]

this place is like an internet fishing club. how many of you are members of clubs that are not allowed to discuss anything except fishing ( i know, there is always one pain in the a**e in every club) i doubt any. why should this be any different, it's a meeting place where lots of members have cultivated friendships without actually meeting in person. they mainly talk fishing, but should be allowed to have a chat about off topic stuff without small minded pissants sending mods complaints that "Miss, Miss, get the headmaster,little johnnie is not talking about fishing" get a life..
Truth is we already have the facility to do all this, it just has a misleading name 'Test' the easiest way would be to remame it "off topic & testing" at least you can go for a look without thinking you are going to see more than blank posts while people are working out how to post their pics, which is what the name implies to me now. 8-)

[PinHead]

I think that any changes are purely for the proprietor to decide on..he is the one paying the money to have the site...all his choice as far as I am concerned. If we don't like it, we do have the choice to leave, but other than that...everything is the proprietor's choice.

[imported_admin]

this place is like an internet fishing club. how many of you are members of clubs that are not allowed to discuss anything except fishing ( i know, there is always one pain in the a**e in every club) i doubt any. why should this be any different, it's a meeting place where lots of members have cultivated friendships without actually meeting in person. they mainly talk fishing, but should be allowed to have a chat about off topic stuff without small minded pissants sending mods complaints that "Miss, Miss, get the headmaster,little johnnie is not talking about fishing" get a life..
Truth is we already have the facility to do all this, it just has a misleading name 'Test' the easiest way would be to remame it "off topic & testing" at least you can go for a look without thinking you are going to see more than blank posts while people are working out how to post their pics, which is what the name implies to me now. 8-)


You maybe able to discuss other matters at a fishing club meeting but that would be before or after the actual meeting, not while the meeting is taking place. No fishing club I know of has over 15000 registered members and is open 24 hours a day. So it is not a simple matter of comparing a fishing chat board to a fishing club meeting, they are 2 very different things.

If you read the earlier topics on this subject, pointed out in earlier post, you will see that it has all been put forward before. We did a trial of having the test board being test and off topic but sadly a few members ruined it for everyone so it will not be done again. We let a few subject slide from time to time, like football around grand final time. People have agreed to the rules of the site when they registered so they know full well what the rules are and that this is a fishing website.

If you wish to dicsuss matters that don't fit in with the theme of these chat boards there would be plenty of chat boards out there that would fit those topics.

[finga64]

And so be it. Enough said :)
Thanks Steve

[Kendall249]

A quick pat on the back to Mod 5 for receiving constructive critisim/feedback (in regard to the avatar) and subsequently taking action based on this. Also a quick thanks to mr ausfish (steve) and all the Mods for running and maintaining such a great site, keep up the good work, thanks kendall

[tunaman]

All of you are right and all of you are wrong. When there are so many walks of life on this earth, and you have a site that is growning at a phnomamal rate, you must keep a open mind or discrimanation will grow.
Steve and the boys are doing their best to keep a balance with all that goes on at this site. Leave it as it is. If its not broken, dont change it!
I have a great deal of fun on here, and so do many others.
Since I have joined here, I have seen a huge jump in memberships and what Tunaman is doing here just might be going right over your heads.
To be human or to be your self is not wrong. If people on here think their better than anyone else, then your the one that has the problem.

Look. Lets be honest! We are all experienced fisherman, I find it hard to tell you something that you dont allready know. So whats left?

Think about it. It may ansewer some of your Questions.

Poodroo OBI- wan and many others have had a good laugh in the test section and it does no harm.

But when it comes to a allrounder site, you cant beat this one.
It has it all.


signed tunaman

[Kendall249]

Can't agree more tunaman.

[hooked.up]

As a new member and not very computer savvy. I have not even found my way around the existing site with all it's wonderfull features.
I see the point of the suggestion, but if there are other people like me who are slow to cover what is already here, adding another area would bring more confusion.
I joined so as to learn and share about fishing and related matters, lets
keep that as the main theme of the site.


Paul