Discussion is alive again<G>

[pipemakermike]

I have had a first pass at simplifying the forums. Nothing has been lost (except for sale entries more than 3 months old) Everything that isn't pipemaking, for sale or events has been moved into the general forum.
I am happy to hear grumbles, suggestions or plaudits and will impliment any good ideas

[John Gibbons]

Mike,

Good luck with this - if people start using the forum regularly again, it will again be worth visiting.
Let discussion live and flourish!

John

[Richard Evans]

It would be great to revive the forum. I keep an eye on the Facebook page but I don't contribute much, FB leaves me cold.

I just need to think of something controversial to get the flame wars going!

Cheers
Richard

[pipemakermike]

Hi Richard
Ahh the good old days when the end of the egg that was opened or the type of oil for the pads could generate real passion

[Wallie Ogilvie]

Reviving the forum would be terrific, but I suspect unlikely unless it becomes as easy to reply or comment as Facebook. Like Richard, I'm not a fan of FB but felt I had to join purely because I enjoyed the challenge of contributing to TOTM which seems to have migrated from here to the Facebook page. Whilst that page occasionally has interesting topics and discussions, it mostly seems to revolve around gossip/news, ( it is called a Newsgroup ) and the linear form makes finding older posts difficult.
I wonder why the regular contributors to the FB page don't contribute to the Forum? Is it ease of use, harder to access the forum from a smartphone than it is for FB or the boring appearance of the forum, as the NSP website itself is not particularly exciting, attractive or stimulating to newcomers.

Cheers,

Wallie

[Barry Say]

The attempt to divide the board into areas of interest was an attempt to foster more focussed discussion and avoid the problems which were encountered on the Dartmouth mailing list

Barry

[pipemakermike]

Hopefully the simplification of the forum plus a slicker looking home page and more up to date information will help. I am not a Facebook user (although my wife is) but I can see that the easy access does make the conversation style interaction easier and more beguiling. I hope that the forum will become a repository of useful knowledge for all NSP players and makers.

[Dally]

The best thing about FB is that it is open to anyone. Browsers can find information about NSP and the NSP community. Of course, it isn't free. FB is an aggressive advertising behemoth and big data sucking vampire with little concern for the security/privacy of the individuals who use it. Like Amazon FB is perceived by the majority of its users as a wonderfully benign and generous entity. Wrong.
As for vibrant threads on this forum, it's all about participation, isn't it? The more people participate, the more interesting it will be, especially if more people with informed opinions generously share them. Richard Evans has been particularly generous, I think. Perhaps if the administrators could reach out to folks like Andy May, Chris Ormston, Ray Sloan, Pete Stewart, to name just a very few who have generated a lot of good discussion elsewhere. There are many others, of course. I don't mean to leave anyone out or keep anyone out.
I am very happy that the flame wars are over. Petty, nasty, personally damaging comments are no where to be seen on this forum, thank goodness.
One thing I don't like about the Dunsire forum is that the moderators are demigods. They spend most of their time talking to each on the private moderators' forum, discussing the punters. There are too many vested interests there and too many nimrods. I often feel that when I share hard won information and insights there I'm working for free for a very unappreciative owner. I don't think this forum is in any danger of going that way.

[Richard Evans]

The FB thing seems much more about casual chat, which is probably not my strong point! Plus I don't like being asked if I want to be 'friends' with someone I have known for 40 years, or someone I have never heard of, so I tend to ignore that stuff.
I had great hopes for this forum when it started, so I hope this small revival continues to grow!
Cheers
Richard

PS- John- I don't think I have been especially helpful, but get me going about pipemaking and I tend to be difficult to stop!

[Dally]

PS- John- I don't think I have been especially helpful, but get me going about pipemaking and I tend to be difficult to stop!

You're too modest, Richard.