Unfortunately Richard, we can’t really argue with what you say. Sadly the damage was done and folks moved to or increased participation in other forums due to the issues which still continue to occur and will have put off original members from returning and attracting new ones. As I’ve said before my main method of accessing forums is via my Android tablet sitting on my comfortable sofa and I only ever visit this forum if using my PC which I don’t use as often as my tablet. Difficulties for Android users, both tablets and phones, takes out a lot of potential users.

I have got my tablet to access it now and again but I haven’t bothered for a long time and have stopped reporting problems.

As we’ve mentioned before, traffic has reduced a lot on forums whilst that on Facebook Groups increases even though they have disadvantages over forums which is why I use both.

Even Mayhem is a shadow of its former self as is the RC Groups Boat section.

I don’t need to tell you that lack of traffic is self-perpetuating. I haven’t posted anything on my build blogs for sometime, mainly because I don’t do much on them in the summer but also because sometimes I think why bother if hardly anyone is going to look at them? Yes, I know that means I’m now part of the problem! Apart from builds I don’t really have much to say and if others don’t post I don’t have anything to comment on either.

Chris

Just to add to what I said. Given what has been said in the past about Kelsey’s attitude towards forums it was great that it was saved but unfortunately without committing resources to solve the technical issues then ultimately this forum is only destined to go one way.

I know that there may not be the budget, due to profitability of the magazine or the will of the owners to sort the problems properly but without it the forum is hamstrung. I also know that forum users and magazine readers can be different groups but you would think that they could be mutually beneficial and more of an overlap formed and the forum should be promoted more in the magazine as this is a potential advantage that most forums don’t have.

Mortons made the wrong choice for hosting the forum. Prior to them buying the titles, MyTimeMedia had already begun converting their forums starting with Model Flying It took a while to get it right but they did succeed so the template was effectively ready for converting the MB and ME forums which should have been fairly straightforward. Unfortunately everything got put on hold during the Covid epidemic. When Mortons bought the magazines they decided they wanted to integrate the forums into their WordPress platform. Several people advised them not to but they went ahead anyway with very unfortunate consequences.

The Model Flying forum uses Invision and is not integrated into WordPress, it is just linked. Had Mortons continued with the MTM conversions it would have saved a lot of grief and given us several years of use. However, Invision itself shut down last year and things seem to be continuing under the auspices of the Invision Community for the moment. There are apparently migration options from Invision to other forum software applications but it all looks very complicated and maybe expensive.

If one was starting from scratch  then phBB would be a good option. I am a moderator on Ferry Forums which uses this and it is very smooth and easy to use, light years ahead of this one and Mayhem. It does help that our senior moderator and de facto owner is an IT expert and fine tuned everything to a high degree.

Underlying all this is the fact that it is not just that this forum is awkward to use, although that is a major factor. The fact is that the number of model boaters continues to decline at an alarming rate. As Chris says above, Mayhem activity has fallen away drastically over the last year or so and many of the members are clearly no longer building anything themselves.

Colin

Hi Richard,

The recent Midlands ME Show was pretty lively and well supported when I went on the first day, I also bought the burner for the TID tug 🙂

Regards Ray

On the wider point about the decline in the number of model boat builders, this saddens me greatly – I suspect that we are presently living through an era when the human attention span has declined measurably, and declined beyond a point where making something that takes months is outside the realms of most people’s imagination.

Hi Chris (and other Android users)

You could try installing another web browser on your device and use it exclusively for this web site. Then if you have to clear it’s cache and cookies it won’t affect your other forums.

I know it’s a pain and not a true fix but it could make the situation a little more tolerable.

Dave

Hi Ray – As someone who stayed in full-time education till I was 28, I am maybe not in a very strong position to answer that one! though I did work on a ship in the summer! But I completely take your point about the decline in practical skills out there and indeed many kids never see anyone use a toolbox. I was lucky to have a Dad who could fix stuff, so making model boats seemed a natural enough thing to do. Fewer people have any of those experiences, as you say. Anyway, I am sounding a bit older than I actually am with those comments!

I did attend a Grammar school and there was some technical drawing which I was not much good at! I wasn’t much good at the language stuff either and ended up with A levels in English and Economics.

Many years later I discovered that I had an aptitude for computer programming with databases and it buttressed much of my later career with no formal training. I discovered I was good at digital problem solving but it was all self taught.

My model making developed separately starting with the usual Airfix models and extending into making scratch built model boats which I have continued with ever since. It was always nice to have  a hands on practical hobby in contrast to my ‘white collar’ based employment responsibilities.

I have always been aware of the balance between practical and paperwork skills and valued both, my career was based on a mixture of then two and worked out pretty well overall. Maybe I was lucky, many people are good at one or the other but don’t have the opportunity to exploit both. Luckily it worked for me. I have a foot in both camps.

Colin