New Forum Format

Speaking only from my own perspective, I enjoy the current format much more than new proposed style. I can not speak to the administrative aspects so this is a users point of view. The basic difference in the two formats are: the old style that leaves all posts independently accessable and the new style which requires loading all posts to read anything associated with the topic. I read the forum fairly regularly and enjoy just being able to click on the posts related to a topic that I have not read yet rather than downloading the full thing everytime there is a post added. Having used the format you are proposing on other topics, I know I prefer the current style for our forum. I do thank you for the opportunity to participate in the decision and will abide by your final choice. Thanks again for hosting this forum

I don't mind change, I do mind a good thing being changed to something that is less desireable.

Remember, "NEW" Coke? (Oops!!) QUICK! Welcome back the original as "Classic Coke".

Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

This is a Really GREAT Website. gc

Robert

Sure, maybe there would be a whole load of NEW posters, but that would take time to rebuild the user base. That's what Kim is trying to figure out. How many "regulars" will she lose with the new format and how long will it take to replace them?

The old format is set up the way my brain works, and is just _so_ intuitive - I really like it. I participate on several forum discussions, and have searched them out since the early 90s. This site & Combine Talk Show have been, head & shoulders, above anything else out there. My opinion.

New Ag Talk is pretty good, but it appears to need a lot of help from the site administrators. Tho a lot of that was caused by a carpy web host that kept losing their stuff....

And then, there are the dozen or so vbulletin board systems I've come across. I do not seem to stick around them very long. They are a lot of flash & gee-whiz, but are a royal pain to use on dialup, & all seem to be extremely finiky as to which computer/ OS/ browser they will operate on.

HomeSteadingToday hates my XP-PC, it forgets who I am and I have to log on 3 times just to post a message. What a pain. Works ok with my wife's older iMac tho. Then Tractor by net .com will not work with my wife's iMac, no matter what we upgrade to, which browser version we use, nothing. Will not work. It was very temermental with my older PC, but does work with my newer XP. This changes tho, each time those web sites upgrade their vB software, we all have to as well, or get locked out - the software is just extremely demanding of us the users.

In any event, vBulletin stuff will lose a certain number of users, and they won't even have a chance to complain about it, because poof they will be locked out. And every time the host software is upgraded, again people will be locked out. It's the nature of vBulletin. Be glitzy & slow down the process, but don't bother to be compatable.....

But, it is the future, as it is much easier to place cookies & trackers on our computers with the vB, and collect more revenue by using our systems. So, it will happen. Just how it is.

I thank Kim for holding out with the best format ever on a forum for as long as she has. Been a fun ride.

--->Paul