Closed Topics?
Discussion
It was me. Should have explained.
I've had a lot of complaints about the multitude of off-topic threads recently. Some banter is good but it was getting out of hand. This is a motoring site and the Gassing Station is a forum, not a chat room.
What's the best way to control it? I have a word with some of those contributing and I close threads so other people can sense what's acceptable and what's not.
It may seem harsh but I have to do it periodically.
I've had a lot of complaints about the multitude of off-topic threads recently. Some banter is good but it was getting out of hand. This is a motoring site and the Gassing Station is a forum, not a chat room.
What's the best way to control it? I have a word with some of those contributing and I close threads so other people can sense what's acceptable and what's not.
It may seem harsh but I have to do it periodically.
I understand you have to tread a fine line. But if people are posting on the O/T threads there must be those who like them? Car nuts don't just have to talk about cars do they? Understand you can't allow anything abusive or libellous (sp?) and on that basis thought your set of posting rules you asked people to accept were pretty reasonable.
I'm not knowledgeable in how these things work, but maybe there a way you could move threads that stray too far off topic into a separate area where those that want to can read them and post and those who don't want to can just ignore?
Is there a "cost" to you of lots of O/T post in terms of them slowing down the site or increasing your storage needs or whatever? (now I'm really showing my lack of knowledge about these things!)
Hope my comments are viewed as constructive - it's an excellent site and you do a great job of running it (blimey - that was a bit grovelly!)
Chris
I'm not knowledgeable in how these things work, but maybe there a way you could move threads that stray too far off topic into a separate area where those that want to can read them and post and those who don't want to can just ignore?
Is there a "cost" to you of lots of O/T post in terms of them slowing down the site or increasing your storage needs or whatever? (now I'm really showing my lack of knowledge about these things!)
Hope my comments are viewed as constructive - it's an excellent site and you do a great job of running it (blimey - that was a bit grovelly!)
Chris
Back in June I suggested a dedicated O/T forum, but got denounced very quickly... www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&f=24&t=12512&h=0
Surely if there is an O/T forum, people could "chat" and Ted can deleted the contents on a monthly basis. That way the banter is topical and gets trashed whne out of date and the useful stuff remains in the forum, under the correct heading.
Just my 2p...
Surely if there is an O/T forum, people could "chat" and Ted can deleted the contents on a monthly basis. That way the banter is topical and gets trashed whne out of date and the useful stuff remains in the forum, under the correct heading.
Just my 2p...
I didn't mean to cause trouble, I was quite happy with the explanation Ted but also agree slightly with mungo. In that I thought General Gassing was for O/T threads. If people don't like that they could use your wizzy 'hide' option and not even have GS on their list. I am in full agreement however with your rules of posting
I agree with Mungo here, I contribute to almost all of the topics and for me, the reason BTAP worked so well is that we do have a good crack on the "general gassing" forums about things other than cars. If we just stuck to car topics then we wouldn't know anything about the people who are part of this community. There are times when I think "Oh no, not another Mungo shagging thread" but most of them are funny and when you get to know the guy you realise that he's a good bloke who's single and has fun, loads of us have had a laugh at his threads and he brightens up our day several times a week.
Closing the SGirl thread was worrying, as it was just the guys wishing her a happy birthday- no harm in that, surely? I would have thought after the "Scruff says hello" thread that a lot of us realised what a great, supportive bunch of mates we have turned out to be.
I don't think we should let a couple of pratts who have been spoiling things recently change the site to a boring one, where we only talk about cars.
Closing the SGirl thread was worrying, as it was just the guys wishing her a happy birthday- no harm in that, surely? I would have thought after the "Scruff says hello" thread that a lot of us realised what a great, supportive bunch of mates we have turned out to be.
I don't think we should let a couple of pratts who have been spoiling things recently change the site to a boring one, where we only talk about cars.
I agree with Flasher.I suppose a completely O/T forum would be okay if it's contents didn't appear in the last 24hrs list.
I personally like to keep up with what car related things people are chatting about but have no interest in the personal lives of people I've never met.
Since I have interests other than cars; I go to the relevant forums (ie. not PH) when I wish to talk about them.
To converse with Actually friends of mine - from those on the other side of the world to those I go for a pint with - we all use a YahooGroups mailing list.
You all seem like great people but surely you can see that chatting openly on the web about what you did at the weekend can annoy people in the same way that shouting down the phone on a train can.
I didn't complain BTW
but my dislike of cliques is the reason I've always limited my involvement with clubs and why I found PH so much better.
I personally like to keep up with what car related things people are chatting about but have no interest in the personal lives of people I've never met.
Since I have interests other than cars; I go to the relevant forums (ie. not PH) when I wish to talk about them.
To converse with Actually friends of mine - from those on the other side of the world to those I go for a pint with - we all use a YahooGroups mailing list.
You all seem like great people but surely you can see that chatting openly on the web about what you did at the weekend can annoy people in the same way that shouting down the phone on a train can.
I didn't complain BTW
but my dislike of cliques is the reason I've always limited my involvement with clubs and why I found PH so much better. I get used to swimming upstream -- done it all my life, so I'm weighing in with Ted. It is getting hard to extract the wheat from the chaff on here.
I come here for car chat not social this and that. A bit is fine -- it oils the wheels of social intercourse -- but a line has to be drawn somewhere and when O/T social stuff (I'm not talking about arranging meetings and suchlike) outweighs the car chat, there's a case for doing something about it.
I applaud Ted for taking that decision in the face of opposition that will, quite naturally, be from the most vocal forum members.
No offence intended.
I come here for car chat not social this and that. A bit is fine -- it oils the wheels of social intercourse -- but a line has to be drawn somewhere and when O/T social stuff (I'm not talking about arranging meetings and suchlike) outweighs the car chat, there's a case for doing something about it.
I applaud Ted for taking that decision in the face of opposition that will, quite naturally, be from the most vocal forum members.
No offence intended.
Bob
No-one hates cliques more than I do. I am unfortunate to have to work in a place where cliques rule the roost. I enjoy my job but I despise the way these people operate. PH has never been like that and it isn't now either. Black tie was great because (like I said in the Scruff thread) you felt you were already friends with everyone even though you hadn';t met them face to face. If it wasn't for "general gassing" and some of the personal stuff in it, we would have been talking about 350i door frames all bloody night and I would have ended up drunk, on my own at the bar, because despite loving fast cars (and TVR's in particular) there is much more in my life than talking cars all night.
If you don't want to read the general gassing stuff, then ignore the threads for God's sake! Some of you are beginning to sound like Mary Whitehouse.
No-one hates cliques more than I do. I am unfortunate to have to work in a place where cliques rule the roost. I enjoy my job but I despise the way these people operate. PH has never been like that and it isn't now either. Black tie was great because (like I said in the Scruff thread) you felt you were already friends with everyone even though you hadn';t met them face to face. If it wasn't for "general gassing" and some of the personal stuff in it, we would have been talking about 350i door frames all bloody night and I would have ended up drunk, on my own at the bar, because despite loving fast cars (and TVR's in particular) there is much more in my life than talking cars all night.
If you don't want to read the general gassing stuff, then ignore the threads for God's sake! Some of you are beginning to sound like Mary Whitehouse.
I can't please all the people all the time. I'm just tying to maintain a balance.
As I've said before and I'll say again I'm not talking about blocking all chit-chat.
Banter is essential in maintaining the community spirit we have here and as Flasher says it would be a boring place if we all talked trunnions all day.
However, I also have the reputation of the site to think of. It has established a reputation for sensible debate when all around are facile. I will do what I think is right to try and shepherd things around to maintain that reputation.
Off topic debate is good, I'm not for blocking that in General Gassing if we can have just that - intelligent and humourous debate. Pure banter between the same dozen people is not good for the reputation of the site.
I also have the advertisers to think of. Their banners are funding the site. I have a duty to them to ensure they are advertising on a site with high standards that will continue to attract new readers and customers.
As I've said before and I'll say again I'm not talking about blocking all chit-chat.
Banter is essential in maintaining the community spirit we have here and as Flasher says it would be a boring place if we all talked trunnions all day.
However, I also have the reputation of the site to think of. It has established a reputation for sensible debate when all around are facile. I will do what I think is right to try and shepherd things around to maintain that reputation.
Off topic debate is good, I'm not for blocking that in General Gassing if we can have just that - intelligent and humourous debate. Pure banter between the same dozen people is not good for the reputation of the site.
I also have the advertisers to think of. Their banners are funding the site. I have a duty to them to ensure they are advertising on a site with high standards that will continue to attract new readers and customers.
PetrolTed said: I can't please all the people all the time. I'm just tying to maintain a balance.
As I've said before and I'll say again I'm not talking about blocking all chit-chat.
Banter is essential in maintaining the community spirit we have here and as Flasher says it would be a boring place if we all talked trunnions all day.
However, I also have the reputation of the site to think of. It has established a reputation for sensible debate when all around are facile. I will do what I think is right to try and shepherd things around to maintain that reputation.
Off topic debate is good, I'm not for blocking that in General Gassing if we can have just that - intelligent and humourous debate. Pure banter between the same dozen people is not good for the reputation of the site.
Sounds like a good and healthy balance, after all this site isn't MS Messenger. (someone did start a post off about that before, did anything come of it?)
Bob,
Are we not good enough to be your mates then ?
I'm with Flasher on this, who's a mate I'd never have known without PH, more specifically PH general gassing station. This goes for all the people at BT&P and more recently Sunday lunch (where I got a very good contact for carpets (about half price of a dealer) and had a good look round the workmanship)
So it boils down to, is it a site for people who like cars or a site for talking about cars
What d'you reckon
Are we not good enough to be your mates then ?
I'm with Flasher on this, who's a mate I'd never have known without PH, more specifically PH general gassing station. This goes for all the people at BT&P and more recently Sunday lunch (where I got a very good contact for carpets (about half price of a dealer) and had a good look round the workmanship)
So it boils down to, is it a site for people who like cars or a site for talking about cars
What d'you reckon
Ted, we definitely need the "General Gassing" forum, it's the only forum that allows stuff to be shared with all regardless of marque. However I agree with BobFrance that it should be for motoring banter or Q&A. So can you create a "O/T Gassing" forum for all the social stuff and, as requested, not have it appear in the 24hrs list?
I realise this makes an amount of work for you, but by removing it from general gassing it may appease those who find the social stuff "annoying" and not offend those who wish to take part in it unhindered.
Andy
I realise this makes an amount of work for you, but by removing it from general gassing it may appease those who find the social stuff "annoying" and not offend those who wish to take part in it unhindered.
Andy
For goodness sakes!! Why can't it be in the "last 24 hr" list? Q and A and general chit chit on cars is quite well catered for in the "General TVR stuff and gossip" and the "In the news" threads.
It's beginning to look like a couple of twats who got abusive are going to be allowed to ruin everything....
There is nothing wrong with the current format. Leave it as it is Ted. I agree that sometimes it gets a bit silly, but it brightens up our days at work and it the cameraderie, support and friendships I have made on here over the last few months have really kept me going through the difficult times.
Why should a couple of idiots and a few boring people spoil that?
It's beginning to look like a couple of twats who got abusive are going to be allowed to ruin everything....
There is nothing wrong with the current format. Leave it as it is Ted. I agree that sometimes it gets a bit silly, but it brightens up our days at work and it the cameraderie, support and friendships I have made on here over the last few months have really kept me going through the difficult times.
Why should a couple of idiots and a few boring people spoil that?
I've seen this on other lists and it's a natural evolution of a community as people make friends.
PH can't be all things to all men. If there's demand for interactive chat, banter on a minute by minute basis then set up a mailing list on Yahoo Groups.
That's how I banter with some of my friends, I don't expect do it on PH because it's not relavant to the tens of thousands of people who read it.
It's the same with off-topic stuff. If it's off topic in discussing something in the news, current events, humour, etc. then it can be of interest to the silent majority who read the site.
I'll say it again. I can't please all of you all of the time. Some of you are more vocal about your demands than most. That doesn't mean you have a view shared by the majority.
PH can't be all things to all men. If there's demand for interactive chat, banter on a minute by minute basis then set up a mailing list on Yahoo Groups.
That's how I banter with some of my friends, I don't expect do it on PH because it's not relavant to the tens of thousands of people who read it.
It's the same with off-topic stuff. If it's off topic in discussing something in the news, current events, humour, etc. then it can be of interest to the silent majority who read the site.
I'll say it again. I can't please all of you all of the time. Some of you are more vocal about your demands than most. That doesn't mean you have a view shared by the majority.
I can honestly say that everyone I met at BTaP was a great person and I look forward to seeing them again.
Prior to that I'd met Mungo, but that was it... and he was decent enough to give me a lift to and from BTaP - even though it was out of his way!
I met Scruff at the last VW; again a thoroughly decent bloke... just a shame a bloody Citroen got in the way of his doughnut..!
M@H - he took time out (and drove a fair way) to come and look at an S with me...
Even names who aren't big posters, like TDF were great people, and I'm thoroughly looking forwar dot making the Mid-Essex meets and catching up with him, Big M and co...
There are many more people I could mention... but the point is that, without the general O/T banter I rpobably wouldn't have met these people. They would just have been another face at BTaP and "someone" on PH. The chit-chat helps build bridges and friendships and IMHO is an important part of making this site the community that it is.
I will now crawl under my rock...
Prior to that I'd met Mungo, but that was it... and he was decent enough to give me a lift to and from BTaP - even though it was out of his way!
I met Scruff at the last VW; again a thoroughly decent bloke... just a shame a bloody Citroen got in the way of his doughnut..!
M@H - he took time out (and drove a fair way) to come and look at an S with me...
Even names who aren't big posters, like TDF were great people, and I'm thoroughly looking forwar dot making the Mid-Essex meets and catching up with him, Big M and co...
There are many more people I could mention... but the point is that, without the general O/T banter I rpobably wouldn't have met these people. They would just have been another face at BTaP and "someone" on PH. The chit-chat helps build bridges and friendships and IMHO is an important part of making this site the community that it is.
I will now crawl under my rock...
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