Was really waiting and hoping to see more comments, suggestions and ideas come in and they haven't as of yet, so I thought I'd share my own.
Disclaimer - From the outset I want to preface that this is my opinion only. :wave: It is not an attack on anyone, it is just how I see it and have seen it for years. I have great respect for this forum and the hobby. So please, don't shoot :uzi: the messenger. It is meant to help, not hurt this forum. If my comments are something you've seen or read before, then please, stop reading here. I want this topic to stay on the topic of improving this forum. The OP is simply trying to help make this forum better and I for one applaud him for his efforts. :wave:
The suggestion question has been put to this forum in the past. What was ask for back then, was given by many who supported this forum. Then, activity/involvement peaked, then tapered off again. It happened over and over again as it does today. Years ago we didn't have this problem. We didn't have to beg and ask for involvement. I've heard so many say, "they stopped coming here because there was no new information coming out of this forum. Then there were those who were tired of seeing the same topics being discussed and that there were no new topics being brought to the table. Then there were those who said the topics being discussed had no value at all as it relates to reefing. It wasn't until 2006 or 2007 that this forum began to decline as it relates to those topics which lit this board up every single day. I'm talking a full page of 25 new, active and responding threads every single day in this forum. This was one of the hottest forums on RC or the net. Reefers rushed home from work and logged on even before playing with the dog, hugging the wife/husband and/or kissing the kids. Just search on some of the discussion back then and look at the views and replies that last for days and weeks on one topic.
To go forward, we have to look at what got us here. Everyone has there own specific reasons for being here. When some see what they want or what interest them, they stay, others leave. This and every other forum will survive and thrive with mass participation on a daily basis. So what are my suggestion? I will list them in detail.
1. The same questions are being ask repeatidly every week and some times everyday. This happens in every forum and will continue to happen. Many reefers for obivious reasons might get tired of repeating themselves over and over again with the same answers just sitting there on page 2 or 3. I understand that many are new and might not realize the answer they seek may very well be just one page away, and mind you, there is no blame here. In a recent poll I did, 12 % of the respondents felt it was rude to ask someone to do a quick search first for the answer they seek if that question is one that is posed very often. I see nothing wrong with a quick and polite redirect. I'm totally against smart mouth redirects as it is simply uncalled for
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1864288&highlight=mucho+rude
This forum is a database, loaded with tons of information and often the answer is just 5 seconds away via the search button or a quick Google search just to gather your thoughts. To this very day, I use it. I think most questions being pondered should begin with the search button. Even if but for nothing more than to help formulate the question of have a basic understanding of said question. If the search option is not available to you, often look just a page or two over will yield some direction. Now please, don't attack me and say that I don't want to help anyone, cause that's not true. What I am saying is bring something to the table. What do you mean Mucho? There's a sticky at the top of this page which ask for some basic info when one posts a question for help or assistance, whether urgent or not.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852463
This sticky is not to be rude. It is there to help expedite all the Q & A needed to assist you and as swiftly as possible. It's there because we care and want to help you. What I'm saying is this. Again, when you come to the table, ( this forum ), please bring something with you. By that I mean, do a quick search first on your topic/issue and then provide as much info in the sticky above to receive a ton of helping information form the great people in this forum. That is my suggestion and my opinion only. It's NOT meant to be rude by any means. :beer:
The zoanthid information draft was created up top with tons of daily questions. All compiled for quick reference to anyone, but nobody used it. Many wouldn't even look there first for the anwers to the questions they were asking daily, which leads me to # 2.
2. Write Ups - When reefers have done so in the past and shared some valuable information, some were attacked. Imagine what it feels like to take the time to read, research and compose helpful information and post it, only to be attacked in the process. Some of those writers are still here and some have left. I didn't say disagreed with, no, they attacked. I will only use myself as an exampe. A long time ago, someone ask for help with an urgent issue. I wrote a half page reply and even provide links from past post and discussions in this forum and even posted links of supporting proof from the internet. Yet this person still fought me on it tooth and nail and said I was wrong and didn't know what I was talking about. I wasn't about to force my opinion upon anyone, but his public and vehemently disagreeing with me I felt would also lead other newbies to follow his direction and go down the same path of distruction. (
Please don't reply and say Mucho you don't know everything and everyone doesn't have to listen to you, cause I'm not saying that )When I didn't see him post for 4 days, I PM'd him to check on his situation. His reply, "you were right Mucho. What you said I later came home and found it to be true". But my concern was for all the others who were possibly going to follow what he was doing and I knew all along what the eventual outcome would be. Now I didn't want to be right for the sake of saying, "hey, I was right". I didn't want his situation to become dire.
So when you ask for right ups, I would hope that the OP would be given a small measure of courtesy and respect :love2: and not attacked and flogged. It's fine to disagree, we've done it here for years, but give the OP some respect especially if he/she has been reefing for many years and the person disagreeing is setting up their first tank ever.
3. No need to be Shy/Afraid - I have spoken to an aweful lot of people who are simply afraid to post. They feel that they are new, young in the hobby and don't have anything to say right now so they lurk year after year after year. But you do have something to say, each and every one of you. To the GUEST who lurk but never log in, sign up or get involve, we invite you to do so. You also have a lot to bring to this forum.
Sure some topics might become heated :furious:, but it's because people are passionate about this hobby. There are an aweful lot of great people here and I can call them by name. There are some whom I disagree with often and those who disagree with me, but we are still civil and friendly. When I don't see them posting, I will contact them and check on them. What I'm saying is, "it takes a village", and not a small nucleus of people to make this forum what it is and should be. "But I don't know what to say Mucho or how to say it". It doesn't matter, post it anyway and say that, someone will come to your aid. The Mods and Team leaders are on the look out for those who violate the rules and if they didn't catch something offensive, then report it my clicking on the red triangle in the lower left corner of every post.
This forum can and will remain a success if everyone who comes here gets and remains involved :bounce1:. If you have a reef tank, I don't care who you are, how long you have been reefing or what you do or don't have, what your experience of knowledge level is, you my friend have something to share here. So please don't hesitate to do so at least once a week.
4. I think too often the cart is placed before the horse. I've seen numerous post asking for basic information which should have been known before the tank was even purchased and filled with water. NO, I'm not being rude, it's true. The most valauble piece of advice that I was given and always share first to any newbie is to go slow, have patience and read, read, read. More focus is being placed on knowing the name of my coral, the best camera to buy to photograph my coral so I can share, the value of my coral and the lineage of my coral.
Knowing this won't do a single thing to keep your corals alive, thriving, healthy, vibrant,etc or increases your longevity in this hobby. Yet the coral is in an envirnoment which is completely opposite of the basic requirements needed to even keep it alive. I am not being rude so please save the attacks. It's true and it needs to be said. I purchased many books before even filling my tank and I credit those early days of reading and research with the fact that I have never crashed a tank. I have never experienced the die off I'm hearing about on a daily basis. I have never had explosive algae blooms, I haven't killed new arrivals due to my own negligence and reefing has become second nature. I attribute all of this to just gaining basic knowledge and understanding of reefing as it relates to my reef.
I have a list of refernce books that I keep on my desk. I read and reread :reading: them all the time and I have been reefing for nearly 20 years, and yes, I still read :reading:. I am not a Know-it-all, I will never be a know-it-all, I don't know any know-it-alls in reefing. But I do know many who are extremely knowledgeable that I have a great respect for. "Faith comes by hearing", and knowledge comes by reading.......and listening.
All I'm saying is this. This forum will be what you make it. I would hope everyone who reads this would just get involved in some small way. If you are here, if you have a tank, if you own a single polyp, you my friend have something to bring to this forum. I'm respectfully inviting you to do so.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1983452
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1988823
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1861410
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1987470
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1345903
These are my suggestions. Welcome to the zoanthids. The best zoa forum on the planet......with your help. :thumbsup:
Thanks, Mucho
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