Website Editorial

[Dr John BoothParticipant @drjohnbooth43899]

Paul 

 

I see that you are already putting our new webmaster on the spot with a very pertinent question and one that I am sure the majority of other members would like to know the answer to.

David is right when he says don’t rush things so leave teasing the new boy to the rest of us.

 

John

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes, I do have some ideas but as, on all Forums, it is the membership which makes it what it is and generates the atmosphere. The Editor’s job is largely to facilitate this rather than take over the site themself. I don’t have a blank cheque here. The recent changes, including the departure of Vinnie and my own appointment on very much a part time basis reflect the desire of the site owners to trim overheads in a difficult economic situation. From the commercial viewpoint a forum doesn’t add much if anything to the bottom line and is therefore something of a luxury item. That doesn’t mean improvements cannot or will not be made, just that we have to work within the constraints that exist. Sometimes it is very easy to make an improvement by simply tweaking the software, other times a lot of work is required which makes things more difficult. All the other magazines in the Group are using the same IT platform so an improvement which benefits all is more likely to go ahead than one which is only useful to us boaters. Until I get up to speed with the admin and other functions on the site i cannot judge where the “quick wins” might be so it would be wrong at this stage to make promises I cannot keep.

 

As far as the website as a whole is concerned, the objective will be to align it more closely with and in support of the magazine as up until now it has been run as a largely separate entity.

 

By all means PM me with your suggestions as they will help me judge what the membership would like to see, for example I already have a couple concerning easier management of the album and picture facilities.

 

I hope that explains things a bit. But if you were expecting Lord Nelson to arrive in a blaze of glory I’m afraid you will be disappointed. My approach will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary as the latter usually throws up more problems than it solves.

 

But I am convinced that, with the help and participation of the membership, we can indeed take the site to the new heights Paul aspires to.

 

Colin

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Good Morning Colin 

I have read with great interest your comments regarding the site and whilst I agree that the membership are the basis of any on line community I think that in the case of model boats where moral has taken a bit of a knock recently a positive direction coupled with a strong sense of leadership is required to reinvigorate the members.

So I believe that it is vital to hear your ideas regarding the future of the site for, if nothing else, they will spark debate and help infuse the sense of belonging to this particular community.

I also understand the problems that the management may be having in making ends meet and fully believe that the current process of rationalisation is not yet complete but I dont agree with the rationale that a website is an expensive luxury that has been gifted to us by a benevolent company.

On the contrary in todays fast paced and media rich world a website is an absolute necessity for any company that wants to stay ahead of the competition and in this particular case the Model Boat site is a natural and very necessary extension to the magazine. 

I look forward to reading your reply

 

Paul

[Dr John BoothParticipant @drjohnbooth43899]

Hello Paul 

It is so good to see that you are feeling so much better and able to write so eloquently, and controversial, whilst managing to keep poor Colin firmly on the spot; under normal circumstances I would comment that you might be being a little severe on our new webmaster but I am forced to agree with your comments regarding direction and leadership and also look forward to reading his proposals.

You are right in saying that the pursuant debate will stimulate activity on this site and perhaps will help build bridges between the management and membership.

 

I wait to be impressed, or not, with further discussion.

 

John

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

OO er, whilst perusing my details, under “my posts” I seem to have a “my ignored members” section with a member in it!!!! (no names will be mentioned)  ??? dont recall putting anyone in there..its not the sort of thing I would do.. what exactly IS the ignored member section for anyway

 

Speaking as I wasn’t of things webby, I like the “light moderation bit”, after all, isnt “heavy”  “moderation” a contradiction     ????  Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Ashley, it just means that if somebody irritates you beyond belief then you can click the “ignore member” button underneath one of their posts and you will not then see any of their posts – which may then make the dialogue on a thread a trifle difficult to follow!

 

I have an extra level of sanction with a special button which means that I can make any member’s postings invisible to all the others. This can make things even more confusing!

 

You may have clicked on the ignore member button by mistake but you can always unignore them again, the sun will shine and everyone will be happy!

 

Colin

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Paul,

 

Re you comment – “I dont agree with the rationale that a website is an expensive luxury that has been gifted to us by a benevolent company.”

 

It’s not the Website which is seen as a luxury, it is the Forum. A web presence is without doubt a necessity and as such can take a number of different forms. The forum is much less essential from a business viewpoint and indeed the magazine’s main competitor doesn’t have one.

 

If you look at similar forums to this one, the successful ones all have what might be termed a critical mass of active and knowledgeable members which keep it buzzing. That is what we have to achieve here. It can be a slow process at first until it takes on a momentum of its own and I will certainly attempt to stimulate progress myself. However, for the last few days my priority has been to update the material on the main website and make a few changes in its appearance. As a result of this I am putting together some ideas to run past Paul Freshney concerning both the main website and the forum which will hopefully give us a sense of direction.

 

But I’m a great believer in the old saying – act in haste, repent at leisure. Any initiatives have to be sustainable within budget and resource constraints otherwise they will fail.

 

Colin

[Dr John BoothParticipant @drjohnbooth43899]

Good Morning Colin

 

I disagree that the forum is a luxury, i believe that it should be seen as a critical item in the buisness portfolio and that if used correctly in conjunction with the publication and model boat shows should be a money spinner for the company.

But I have no doubt that you already have this in mind.

I do agree with act in haste, repent at leisure being that you as the new webmaster might only have one shot at hitting your goal.

 

These debates are great fun and I hope that you will continue to be so pro-active after the shine of the new job has worn off.

 

John 

 

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Colin

 

You are correct about having a critical mass of members and whilst a few of us have been trying to engage others in our debates we have been suffering from an accute lack of interest.

I would love to hear your ideas on bumping up the active members.

 

Paul

[David WooleyParticipant @davidwooley82563]

If I may add to this debate. Whilst sites such as this fulfill a need and provide an opportunity for  the expression of  opinions and points of view in real time , the  problem is encouraging  and maintaining a  rational discussion within the boundaries of the subject  on the board, hence the need for moderators . All too often discussion  waver from the subject and on occasions descend into heated exchanges.  Here lies the rub and this is possibly one of the less attractive parts of any forum. This negative effect can and does deter many from entering into what can be an enjoyable and often rewarding experience, were the more productive side of sites such as this comes into its own.

Dave Wooley

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Hi Colin and all,

 

What really annoys me are members that do not fill in their Profile,they ask Questions like where can I buy something, and they may be living in Timbucktoo for all we know. I am not wanting to know their inside leg measurement just location etc.

 

Len ( I hope my Profile is still intact )

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Len

 

As this bothers you and some others so much perhaps Colin might ask the tech guys if the completion of the profile could be made a compulsory aspect of being able to post items on the forum.

But then you do have to consider the fact that faceless people can, and do, tell lies and so perhaps the information provided might not be true.

 

Catch 22

 

Paul.

 

 

ps Which one of the muppets duo do I bring to mind?

 

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I don’t think it is desirable to try and make filling your profile in compulsory as this could deter members from signing up. Putting too much information about yourself on the Internet can have undesirable consequences so I can understand why people prefer to be a bit reticent. However I certainly agree that some indication of your location can be useful even it it is just your country and County/Province.

 

Colin

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I have updated the latest articles column on the Home Page. For those of you who do not subscribe to or buy the magazine they give a flavour of what you are missing!

 

Those of you who do will have seen the articles already but a number of them have additional photos that didn’t make it into the magazine due to lack of space.

 

Yes, I know the column is titled “Latest Build Features” – it’s on the Tech Support list to fix.

 

Colin

[Dr John BoothParticipant @drjohnbooth43899]

Colin

 

The site is in a far better shape than I expected it to be after such a major change.

Perhaps members could be encouraged to start submitting some atricles of their own for inclusion.

 

John

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

John, I just knew somebody would make that suggestion!

 

I want to hold off for the moment for a few reasons:

 

1: The categorisation of the articles is not working properly. To get anything on the front page I have to classify it as a “Build feature” even if it isn’t. Tech Support are aware of the problem but it is built into the underlying software code and fixing it means taking down the entire MyHobbyStore site for a period. There are some other aspects of the categorisation I need to look at too.

 

2. Putting member article thumbnails up on the front page is unlikely to be possible as Paul Freshney wants the third column kept free for MB magazine articles which give visitors an idea of what MB is all about and encourage them to subscribe. Commercial priority rules here!

 

However, I am hoping to use some of the other space on the front page to provide links into other features of the site, some are there already.  Member articles could be one of these but the software works differently here and I have still to fully familiarise myself with it.

 

3. If you have an article which merits publication on the site, why not submit it to the magazine instead? You get paid for it too – not much but every little helps!

 

Hope this answers your query for the moment.

 

Colin 

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Colin

 

That is a shame as I wanted to write a little piece about the barrel back but I don’t think that I could manage to make a decent enough article out of it to fill a page in the magazine without being boring.

 

Paul

 

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Paul,

 

Having looked through all the stuff you have posted so far and the clear pictures and plans I think it would make an excellent article for the magazine, certainly at least two pages. Of course you have to finish it first….

 

Colin

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ah Colin

How right you are as at the moment it is sat in front of me on the lounge floor, I am allowed to look but not touch so I am updating the drawings.

Given how long I shall be laid up before being able to complete it and how long articles take to publish I might just make the christmas edition.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

yeah ! and then the fee would pay for ….er, well some of it !!!  I get around the QUALITY bit by doing the DIFFERENT. I have not the time now to do quality (of the sort regularly showcased in the mag) Magazines are always on the lookout for articles, or they have to fill them up with pictures of tugs and fishing boats. Regularly you see pictures of outstanding boats at exhibitions, and think…why didnt they write an article and submit it ??. its very easy if you give it some thought, Just start a word doc, write something, judge the length of it, and then tweak it, and tweak it again. The secret is to read your printed document (reading it on the computer is no good) and pretend you are a subscriber…..pick holes in it, and then re-write it again a few times…and there we are!!!   I favour some light humour, myself, and a bribe always goes down well.    Ashley  (not expecting to see any more articles in print again) 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Good advice Ashley. Sometimes it takes a while to get into print but a good article is always welcome. I usually get my wife to proof read my articles, otherwise, as you say, you just see what you expect to and miss the silly mistakes and bad spellings that we all make. Genuine scratch build items such as Pauls are relatively rare these days when people are happy to buy something off Ebay, so all the more valued.

 

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Cheers Colin. Proof reading is an art, and can make all the difference to an article, speech or whatever. Pictures of course are needed as well, but as you say, Paul has already been taking “model” photos of his build from start to…..finish??   Ashley

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Pierre Leblonde`s “funny” harbour boat would make interesting reading………….If it works, ……..that is!

 

The website is certainly improving lately………………..I can`t get any work done!

 

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

At the end of last week I was in contact with the MD of MyHobbyStore, Owen Davies concerning the company’s plans for developing the website. Owen assured me that further development and improvement is indeed anticipated. However, the launch of the new platform has absorbed most of the company’s IT development resources over a period of several months and now that the main features of the magazine sites are working satisfactorily, priority must be given to other outstanding projects for the time being. Work on the magazine sites will therefore continue but at a reduced level of resourcing. Any major bugs will of course be attended to as quickly as possible.

I think we must all accept that the company has to deploy its system development resources as it sees fit to support its commercial position. Along with the other magazine website editors, I am able to contribute to an outstanding “wish list” which will incorporate the suggestions being made on the Model Boats site and things like a spell checker are well up the priority order. So, in the meantime we must make the most of what we have got and use workarounds where possible for those features which are still on the “to do” list.

Colin

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Colin

Despite having a reputation to maintain as one of the sites main protagonists I am more than happy to carry on with what we have got and hopefully we can all get on with building a better site and get more member involved.

However I do have one last question….your profile shows you as having posted 326 photos, is this true and if so where are they? 

Paul

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