Another discussion area?

[MChalkley]

I've noticed that frequently messages that have no bearing whatsoever to a particular brand of tractor end up in a brand-specific area of the board. In the interests of de-segregation, and perhaps increasing the number of members exposed to messages that don't have anything to do with a specific brand, would it be useful to have a discussion topic called, for example, "Tractors In General"?

Just wondering...

MarkC

 

[Muhammad]

Which do you mean? Kubota winding up in John Deere type of threads? The easiest way to fix this would be for us to do more moderation and move the threads to where they belong - as long as everyone knew where they went... we could post a notice to the forum if a thread was moved. Sound ok?

A general forum would kind of be taking a step back I think, losing the category organization.

 

[MChalkley]

No, I must've explained my concern poorly. I mean general questions about operating techniques, safety, etc. winding up in the Kubota forum or the John Deere forum, when it's equally applicable to all brands of tractors. There's no "unbranded" place to put such topics, so they have to go in a place they don't belong, i.e. the forum for a particular brand. Another example is the thread on Fuel Consumption. My suspicion is that a lot of JD and NH owners haven't even looked at it, though it has nothing to do with Kubota specifically. In fact, folks like JimBinMI have posted NH numbers there, but he may be the exception to the rule, and there would be a lot of JD and NH numbers there if it were in a "general interest" area of the forum. At least, that's what I would hope.

I know not everyone would use it properly. For instance, there are "Posthole digger" posts in the JD area, when posthole diggers are applicable to all brands and the message would more correctly have been posted to the "Attachments" area but, still, if there's no place to put a message where it really belongs, it has to be put where a lot of the members may not look regularly. I say this because some of the posters only seem to post to the JD area and the General Topics, for example, and that makes me suspect they don't look at the Kubota and NH areas, feeling they're not applicable to them because they own JD.

Of course, my whole opinion could be a "tempest in a teapot" here. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkC

 

[Muhammad]

Now I understand... I'll think about this one. Although if everyone would read every message /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif then this would be easy wouldn't it?

 

[MChalkley]

Followup: I think maybe I once again didn't say what I'm thinking plainly enough, a common occurrence for me.

My question is: Would a "Tractors In General" or "All Brands" or "Non-Brand-Specific" discussion area in the "Other Tractors and Related Discussions" section create more "in-common" discussions between owners of different brands?

MarkC

P.S. Ooops, this one got in after your last post but before I saw it...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MChalkley on 10/9/00 10:39 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Bird]

Mark, I think the "idea" is good, but just can't imagine making it work right; not the way some of us wind up getting off topic enough (too much?) as it is. Of course, I know you and I would never do that, but some of these guys . . ../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Bird - I understand your position entirely. Shucks, I even agree with you! It is a little annoying the way threads start out discussing something useful then rapidly deteriorate to drivel.

By the way, I've been meaning to ask: What do you usually eat for breakfast?

MarkC

 

[ERNIEB]

MarkC
I know what you mean. Right now there is a "seat belt survey" under JD that rightfully applies to all tractor operators. There does't seem to be a topic that this subject fits nicely into.
It's interesting to me that you brought up the Post Hole Digger post. Actually it's under Ford/NH owning, and yes it was me. I was aware that it should have been put under Attachments, but had reasons for putting it where I did.
A general topic as you suggest might be a good idea. A place for topics all tractor owners have in common.
ErnieB

 

[glennmac]

I agree with Mark, but even more so.

Most of what is discussed in Kubota Owning, for example, is just generic stuff about tractor owning in general. Of course, there are times when we discuss something Kubota-specific--like where is the toolbox on the 2910. (The sales guy at my dealer didnt know.) Same thing for Kubota Buying. Things like should I get hydro are generic.

I think a Tractors in General forum--with sub-forums for buying, owning, etc.-- should be the primary place we discuss most things. Then there should be instructions to post in a brand-specific forum only if the topic is really brand specific. Then I don't have to read where the toolbox is on a TC33.

Glenn

 

[MChalkley]

ErnieB - I didn't mean to specifically pick on you, of course. It was just the thread that came readily to mind. Now that you mention it, the seat belt thread is the perfect example of what I had in mind. It's this type of discussion that needs to be seen by everyone. I sometimes gloss over the JD and NH messages, not because I have anything against them, but because, if the messages are really where they belong, I won't have anything to contribute. Now if the title suggests it's about anything concerning a new model or something like that, I read it carefully, no matter where it is, because I want to stay informed. But if someone is asking a question about JD pricing, or has decided that he isn't going to buy anything but JD and wants advice on which model to get, I'm wasting my time to read and theirs if I were to respond.

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Glenn - You're definitely getting a little more ambitious there than I had in mind, though I certainly understand your point. It's the safety-related issues, the "what is HST and why do so many of you idiots think it obsoletes every other type of transmission?" threads that I'd like to see in an area that is clearly not brand-specific, so everyone, especially the new members, realizes this is important no matter what color you prefer.

MarkC

 

[Bird]

Let's see . . ., Mark, for breakfast, I usually have . . .no, no; you're trying to pull me off sides, er, I mean off topic, again./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[DVerbarg]

Mark's idea sounds good. As a NH owner I spend most of my time (on this board) reading the Kubota sections because most of these discussions do not focus on a particular brand but on issues that relate to any brand. I don't use the categories view because of this factor, instead I use the Past 24 hours or 48 hour views that allow me to see all the discussions going on.

Of course you have to read all the discussions because they often get off topic and you might miss a good discussion if you were to screen by the original topic.

DaveV

 

[Bird]

I like to read all the discussions (I learn more that way) and I've tried both ways and haven't been able to really decide whether it's faster going to the "new" messages on each forum (which I most frequently do) or using the 24 hour list (which means when I go to the current message, I usually then have to click on the "flat" button to see all the discussion).

Bird

 

[glennmac]

How do you use the "new" function? I see that word on different places and really dont know what it means or how to use it. We also dont seem to have our instructions link (or our archives link) any more. I know Muhammad is re-jiggering things.

 

[Bird]

Glenn, you could probably read the instructions that Muhammad wrote and get more out of it, but basically when you go to the discussion main index, if there have been messages posted in a forum, since you last clicked on that forum, in the "Posts" column is a blue number and the word new in parentheses <font color=blue>(x new)</font color=blue> which tells you how many messages have been posted since you last checked that forum. When you click on that forum title, the index will have the yellow open folders for the names of the threads that have new messages, and the new messages will have yellow folders. Did I say all that right, Muhammad?

Bird

 

[Roy]

We have the "Ag Tractors & Machinery" which I assumes covers general non-branded threads, but I interpret the problem is that posters can post wherever they desire. And I don't believe that any new category would resolve that issue. So what I read is that people would possibly like an addition to the Main Index page: "Show New" along with the 24 hour, 48 hour, and 7 day options? It would show you the messages since your last login, much like the other db queries do ("Messages Posted Since Your Last Login').

 

[Bird]

I think you have the right idea, Roy. I try to read all the "new" messages, but I occasionally miss some, and occasionally run across messages that were posted prior to the last time I checked, but were apparently not included in the "new" listing. My main index just now showed one new message in the off topic and just for fun forum, but when I went to it, I found two new messages that I'd never seen before. And of course I don't know whether the problem is my computer, my ISP, or what. At any rate, something that would just show all the "new" messages would be nice. However, I'm certainly not unhappy with the forum the way it is.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The forum format that shows the first line of the post in the listing is the best in my opinion, although it is no longer available. That format makes it easy to determine if the post is something you are interested in. You can skip over the ditto type posts quickly. For those of us with slow modems, bad phone lines and no better internet access options, skipping posts without missing something of interest would be a real help. If I were to estimate the time it takes to view X quanity of posts with the current format vs the previous format, I woud say twice as long now.

Andy

 

[glennmac]

Roy, that's not what I was originally saying, although a new-posts-only format would be nice. I think I and Mark were saying that topics that are not brand specific should have a more logical set of homes in generic topics. I think most of our important topics are of this non-brand specific nature, but are often put in a branded catgory. To me the Ag Machinery topic is for giant ag tractors, but maybe that is just my interpretation.

As to the "new" feature we do have, mine is all screwed up. My system tells me I have new messages when I have read them many times. Of course, I usually read things in 24 hour mode before I log in, so maybe the system doesnt know what I have read and what I havent. Must you always be logged in to use this? Is there any way to purge all these "new" messages out of my system, given that I have read them all?