43 replies to this topic

[Imp]

Sean2, on 19 November 2012 - 10:32 PM, said:

I also think it would be nice if more members would welcome new members. Sometimes there might only be two or three members welcoming a new member when the new member makes an introduction. Not very welcoming, eh?

where would someone make the intro? There's the newbie intro forum that's buried in general, how would they even know it exists without the FAQ?

Its nicer to me to be greeted from locals that I may meet someday than just someone ignoring my post in a hidden directory. There are 19 threads/intros with zero replies, of 50 threads... and many more with just one. Sad. Have them post where locals can engage them in discussion about where they live.

IMHO, I think it should be easier. I'd do that by combining the Courses, Membership, Travel forums with the Groups Tourney Partners forums... both have the same regions/named sub forums, and other than the main forum indexs of each, all the sub forums are underutilized anyways (from everyone just posting in the main forum). Combining them would consolidate any/all info for the specific areas in one cohesive spot.

Then, I would get rid of the intro form and suggest people go into this newly combined regional local forum to introduce themselves to those that live in the local area. There are lots of us that can point them to how this place works, mentor, meet up with, pairings, etc....

I know its just a preference, but having one regional forum to combine info about courses, ask about them, meet new and existing members and pairings makes more sense than the current three-five disjointed ones.

And a wiki for lingo/undisputed topics would be a great addition

--kC

Edited by Imp, 25 November 2012 - 08:57 PM.

[MadGolfer76]

I would think that after registering, a new member might be redirected automatically to the "member intros" and be politely asked to post something, even if just to say "hi." I totally agree with Sean that the new members section needs to be much more visible on the site, and existing members need to respond. How about establishing a "greeting committee" of rotating established members/mods who take turns responding as a group to the new member posts? I will do it!

It might also be beneficial to adopt a protocol regarding a first viewing of both the BST and Hogan forums that takes them first to the pinned rules posts, and maybe asks for a 1-time "agreement" to the established rules before entering and posting. Honestly, if you randomly click "View New Content" and jump into a random post (in the aforementioned forums without noticing), you run the risk of getting the WRX version of the Missouri boat ride if you aren't careful.

There is a lot of community lingo and terminology to be learned if one is to routinely frequent the site, and I have seen my fair share of "newer" folks get run over, flamed and/or trolled by those here who didn't take the time to figure out who they were doing it to. One form with lingo definitions is not going to cut it. New members have to be allowed the latitude to experiment with this new language in a "safe" way without older members hammering down on them if they make a mistake.

So...

How about establishing something like an internal (optional) learning community. Members could elect to become part of a subgroup of members - maybe a sponsoring mod, a couple technical experts (a Tom Wishon or Joe Kwok type figure), some longer term members (a MtlJeff-type entity), a swing guru or three (iTeach, russc, Monte -type folks) and maybe a bunch of other new members interested in getting to know each other. Could create this option for them to participate in for a year, 6 months, whatever... at their leisure - like a support or mentoring group - where they could contact and interact with folks at times without the pressures the full membership can sometimes bring.

Not saying to do this instead of provide access to the regular forums (of course), but rather as an additional, elective option. It could take the form of a limited community sub-forum...maybe something like a group Facebook page. Totally optional for the new member(s), totally voluntary for the established members (MtlJeff volunteered, and I would as well). Just a form of online community building that brings new members together with existing ones in positive ways, rather than everyone getting thrown to the sharks/fanboys their first time out.

My 2 cents.

Edited by MadGolfer76, 25 November 2012 - 09:33 PM.

[J.W.]

MtlJeff, on 25 November 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

mdgboxx, on 25 November 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

MtlJeff, on 19 November 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

I think it could be cool to pin something on the main forum page called like "the golfwrx bible" or something like that. I'm not sure how many people would read it as higherground states. But i also think it could be a fun way to show new members we are a good bunch here, and some things have been beaten to death and are best to stay away from or do a search for. It would also be cool to have like a golfwrx legend of all the terms we use and etc.

It also might be cool (and i'm just going out on a limb here) to have "champions" for certain various topics. Like have certain members volunteer to have their names down as experts in certain fields, so new members (or even old members) can mail them if they have questions about anything. Like a who's who in the zoo type thing.

Also, if you need help writing it i'd volunteer my services

I agree with you 98%.

The 2% is actually a question:
If someone PM's you a question, it doesn't appear on the board and neither does the answer. Isn't that a contradiction to an open board?

In my head i was thinking you would post the question on the forum and also send the guy a PM. Because there is no guarantee that person will check the forum, but if you PM him he would get an email notification.

For example a guy like J.W is a great source of info on new Titleist products. You could start a thread called "looking for info on the new 913" but he might not check it for a few days. Of course there are many people here who can provide perspective in the end. But I just think it would be cool if some of the more senior members who are experts in certain fields volunteered for that type of list. It would give new members a chance to get to know some of the good guys too when they are relative newbies.

Even someone like me, a 4-5 year vet of the site, i often have weird questions about clubbuilding. Sometimes you post it and no one answers, and then when you bump it finally someone does. It would be nice if there was a list of a few clubbuilding gurus i could PM.

Of course the caveat would be that they would have to be regular users. Not guys who frequent the place once a month

I get enough PM's before an mtljeff hype up... Although I like PING just as much.

[MtlJeff]

J.W., on 26 November 2012 - 11:29 AM, said:

MtlJeff, on 25 November 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

mdgboxx, on 25 November 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

MtlJeff, on 19 November 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

I think it could be cool to pin something on the main forum page called like "the golfwrx bible" or something like that. I'm not sure how many people would read it as higherground states. But i also think it could be a fun way to show new members we are a good bunch here, and some things have been beaten to death and are best to stay away from or do a search for. It would also be cool to have like a golfwrx legend of all the terms we use and etc.

It also might be cool (and i'm just going out on a limb here) to have "champions" for certain various topics. Like have certain members volunteer to have their names down as experts in certain fields, so new members (or even old members) can mail them if they have questions about anything. Like a who's who in the zoo type thing.

Also, if you need help writing it i'd volunteer my services

I agree with you 98%.

The 2% is actually a question:
If someone PM's you a question, it doesn't appear on the board and neither does the answer. Isn't that a contradiction to an open board?

In my head i was thinking you would post the question on the forum and also send the guy a PM. Because there is no guarantee that person will check the forum, but if you PM him he would get an email notification.

For example a guy like J.W is a great source of info on new Titleist products. You could start a thread called "looking for info on the new 913" but he might not check it for a few days. Of course there are many people here who can provide perspective in the end. But I just think it would be cool if some of the more senior members who are experts in certain fields volunteered for that type of list. It would give new members a chance to get to know some of the good guys too when they are relative newbies.

Even someone like me, a 4-5 year vet of the site, i often have weird questions about clubbuilding. Sometimes you post it and no one answers, and then when you bump it finally someone does. It would be nice if there was a list of a few clubbuilding gurus i could PM.

Of course the caveat would be that they would have to be regular users. Not guys who frequent the place once a month

I get enough PM's before an mtljeff hype up... Although I like PING just as much.

hahahaha.....i hope 500 people emailed you and asked you about the 913's! And you better answer all of them!

[mshills]

raynorfan1, on 25 November 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

I think it depends what, exactly, these "new user guide" and FAQs are. If the FAQ is a glossary of undisputed technical information (i.e. "hardstepping means XXX" etc.), I think it could be a huge asset to the broad golf community.

However, in most forums where I've seen these sorts of things implemented, I find them to be antithetical to what I'm looking for in a forum. A healthy forum is sort of organic - members come and go, perspectives change, and new perspectives come in. When you tell someone to "do a search for X", it shuts off discussion of the topic, even if a member who didn't contribute the first time around has something interesting to say.

I'll give you a good example: Tom Wishon joined the forum in 2008. From my perspective, his views on clubmaking / fitting are incredibly valuable. What if a newbie in June 2008 had asked a question that was right in Tom's wheelhouse, and the response was: "dude, we beat this to death last year, do a search." So we don't get Tom's perspective on the question (because the question was "answered" before Tom was a member). I think that's a net loss.

One forum that does this to the extreme is flyertalk (a forum for frequent flyers). I fly between 100 and 200K miles per year, so you would think that place would be great for me. But it sucks. You throw out a question like: "I've got to do a layover somewhere in the midwest, which airport has the best admirals club", you get shut down with a "five years ago we established an exhaustive rank order of all clubs, please refer to that list." Like nothing has changed since then. As a result of their attitude, I don't contribute there despite having quite a lot of knowledge on the topics they cover. I'd hate to see GolfWRX trend in that direction.

So my advice is that I think it can be done. Can be a huge asset if done well. But please don't screw it up.

Thanks for posting.  The "do a search" response is just being a DB, plain and simple.  So what if a topic has been covered before?  Membership turns over, and discussions get refreshed, start over, and so forth.

You are so right about FlyerTalk.  Those "definitive threads" about SkyClubs and the like can be hundreds of pages long.  Who the (blank) has time to read through that?  All I do on FT now is read the travel tech forum where you can learn some interesting stuff to make life on the road easier, but the overall tone of that site is terrible, and a lot of it is due to the search police.

[Imp]

Quote

Thanks for posting.  The "do a search" response is just being a DB, plain and simple.  So what if a topic has been covered before?  Membership turns over, and discussions get refreshed, start over, and so forth.

Let me ask you this... Do you create a new website to ask questions, or do you just go to Google and search for an answer?

Replace "website" with new thread, and google with "website search feature".

Ever seen 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler? He goes looking for his GF and one of the people in the care of specialists has short term memory loss. He doesn't remember anything beyond 10 seconds.

"Hi! My name's Fred. What's yours?"

"Hi! My name's Fred. What's yours?"

"Hi! My name's Fred. What's yours?"

Now, put that into 20 different threads, and search for "Fred".

You'll have to look through 20 different threads to find the information you're looking for that's relevant to Fred, when it could have been narrowed down to 2-3.

The site, all the posts, are in a database. Taking a few seconds to peruse the current/existing topics and adding discussion to existing topics makes the topic itself much more cohesive and relevant to your search without having to sort through 20 threads to find the info you're looking for.

It's because those 20 threads exist on the same topic that people go "**** this, I'll just ask again so I can get the answer I'm looking for instead of spending all that time going through those existing threads." Meanwhile making the 21st thread, and adding onto the same issue that person 22 will create the same thread asking the same thing again...

When this happens, it renders the search capability completely and utterly useless (when it's one of the better search apps for forums), so people just create even more threads.

New discussion is great. It's more than welcomed. However, preference should be to use/bump an existing thread. The only way to do that... is by searching.   It helps everyone when someone does! Admins, readers, database size, search speeds, page loading times, etc...

It's one of the best features of almost any website. Used properly, it helps EVERYONE find the answers they're looking for. And that's why I suggested trimming down forums and merging them. Lots of disjointed info in seemingly repetitive locations.

--kC

Edited by Imp, 27 November 2012 - 01:47 PM.

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

I think somebody should create a thread on how to search for a thread for new members.

[raynorfan1]

Imp, on 27 November 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

It's because those 20 threads exist on the same topic that people go "**** this, I'll just ask again so I can get the answer I'm looking for instead of spending all that time going through those existing threads." Meanwhile making the 21st thread, and adding onto the same issue that person 22 will create the same thread asking the same thing again...

I disagree. You get exactly the same situation when people search and consolidate into a few threads. People find the thread, and say "F this, I'm not reading a 30 page thread, I'll just ask it again."

Ultimately, I think these are two points of view on what the "point" of an online forum is. For people who believe that they are repositories of crowd-sourced information, your position is exactly right. For people who believe they are sort of a modern-day bar-room for discussion and exchange of ideas, the approach that encourages multiple threads on the same topic is preferred.

Personally, I don't like the "library" model of online forums, but some people clearly do. GolfWRX just needs to decide which it wants to be.

[jokerusn]

I can't remember what I needed or wanted to know.  The only thing I do remember not knowing is how these forums work.  I think back then, forums weren't as popular and GolfWRX was brand new.  If I was just joining now, what I'd like to know is more about forum standards than content.

- A list of common acronyms/slang

- A single location for the board standard operating procedures (what's appropriate and when, what are bannable offenses, etc.)

- Just like MtlJeff said, a SME list would be awesome.  

- Maybe an ultimate repository of the classic (not necessarily old but quintessential) threads to read through as a newbie to get a feel for the board.

[enduro]

I doubt a FAQ would accomplish much, a clubmaking FAQ would be useful though for beginners though . Otherwise most of the topics here are rehashed anyways

i think a lot of extra equipment and clubmaking  questions could just be eliminated if the moderators would enforce rules and put obvious reviews where they belong . There is a review section , so why are all the reviews in the equipment or clubmaking forum?

Instead we get a situation where a few self important members insist on posting their reviews in the equipment or clubmaking forums, Then, the rest of the Golfwrx sheep do the same and  any useful useful info gets spread out over too many redundant threads.. Searching for info becomes an exercise in frustration so people post the same questions repeatedly

Edited by enduro, 29 December 2012 - 01:22 AM.

[altogi]

As a new user today, (well yesterday actually but got approved last night) i think that both of these would be great. As you can see this is actually my first post as well as i was actually looking for any guides and the like before i started to post when i stumbled on this one.

I do have a few question sand queries and i shall be updating my profile today when i get a second also (at work) but i will try the search function before i post anything, looking to be an active member on the forum as just back playing golf this week after not playing a round since being at school 20 years ago now (35 years old now )

[mdgboxx]

To prevent A LOT of confusion, Proper Location, (not: "on the moon" or "on the course") should be a required field in the inscription form and posted along with: Member # and "Joined" specs.

[justaman5]

a lot of the asked over and over questions ie,....  high launch low spin,  low launch low spin,   low spin head  topics should be made "sticky"   these threads, questions should be at the top of the forum  and STAY THERE. i  joined this forum right at 6 years ago.  back then you had pure hard core golf junkies.   now from the post that i read or dont read,  we probaly have 35% hard core golf junkies,  and a lot of people that are curious and want to learn and because of this ask these redundant questioins time after time.  

it probaly should be made so that as soon as these redundant questions are posted they automatically get stuck to said "sticky"   and not just have a useless post  that people say    DO A Search of which I am guilty of posting.

I worked in the building of houses and commercial projects for 25 years.  We used to get a lot of people that came in and wanted to ask questions, just because they didnt know.  They wanted to spend money on building products, but didn't have a clue how to go about it.   We actually would assign a junior salesman to stand around the contractor counter and wait on these people.

everyone should be educated.   but  the public school system, since the demise of the 1 room country school does not put 1st graders in with 8th grade students.

this is as good and as kind of an analogy that i possibly could think off

[justaman5]

just as an example of the ?? i used to get    Why cant I install a patio door sideways and have a huge slider window.  

standing in the door with your back to the hinges.  sir  if the door opens towards your right hand, its a right hand door.   if it opens to the left hand its a left hand door.

or why cant i just take the door off the hinges and turn it upside down so it will swing the other way.

or during the brief time I worked in a certain mtn state.   people would buy 3/4 tongue and groove plywood and put it on their roof because they were afraid a hurricane would blow the roof off  

the stupid things that people ask in golf,  and Tom Wishon posted  a couple of days ago.  were much the same as my buldling experiences of the year.   just lack of education of consumers