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Post by fuguestate on Oct 31, 2017 17:45:14 GMT
It seems that the Ning forum just refuses to die. After several hiccups and apparent oblivion due to lack of payments, it's back online yet again. There's a welcome message from Gav, which makes me wonder if he's the one behind its latest feat of returning from the dead.
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Post by king2b on Oct 31, 2017 18:35:21 GMT
But just who is in charge?
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Post by fuguestate on Oct 31, 2017 18:38:30 GMT
Honestly, I've no idea. If Gav was the one who paid for it, I assume that he's the one in charge now. (He has indicated before that he wanted to buy the site, if the original owners were willing to sell it.)
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Post by king2b on Oct 31, 2017 19:45:43 GMT
If he has you would have thought he would want to change the look.
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Post by fuguestate on Oct 31, 2017 23:02:31 GMT
Just got a message from the forum saying it has reopened under new management. But no hint as to who the new management is.
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Post by Tim Marko on Oct 31, 2017 23:11:20 GMT
Check the admins tab under members, and you'll see Gav listed as the admin and chris alpier as the founder. I guess Gav took over the site.
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Post by Bob Porter on Nov 6, 2017 15:32:56 GMT
I'm slightly tempted to re-sign up there. But I doubt that I will.
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Post by Maybe not but on Nov 6, 2017 22:32:07 GMT
Gav is just the dancer. The question is: to who’s tune? No doubt we’ll find out eventually. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.
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Post by Mike Hewer on Nov 7, 2017 15:01:32 GMT
cryptic Mr Maybe not But. How do you know Gav is the dancer?
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Post by Maybe not but on Nov 8, 2017 7:21:29 GMT
Maybe not but.........Morabito NEEDS the composers’ forum.
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Post by fuguestate on Nov 14, 2017 19:18:42 GMT
Bob Porter: You don't need to re-sign up, I think all the old accounts just got grandfathered into the new/renewed site. My old account there is still active this morning. OTOH, I'm not sure I'm a fan of that old forum. I've always found its interface rather dated and awkward to use, and its organization somewhat cumbersome. The lack of distinct sub-forums on the front page for various discussion categories is unfortunate, since it tends to lead to high-traffic topics drowning out everything else, even when said topic is really only a side-discussion or concerns only a very narrow part of the larger scope of discussion. The present organization makes the sub-categories that do exist more perfunctory than functional. Personally, I much prefer the layout of this forum here. There's also the other Other Forum, but I find that one overly elaborate in sub-forums, making the front page ridiculously long and thus reducing usability. Such an organization might be workable if it had the volume of traffic to demand it, but as far as I can tell, most of the subforums there are sleepy or moribund.
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Post by Bob Porter on Nov 15, 2017 0:23:41 GMT
I deleted my Ning account a few weeks before it folded.
And "Maybe not but" is right. Bob M needs a place where he can be superior to everyone else.
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Post by fuguestate on Nov 15, 2017 0:37:32 GMT
Well, as far as I know, Bob M isn't involved in the forum leadership... that I can tell, anyway. Time will tell.
In any case, I doubt my activity on Ning will ever be as it was before. Perhaps I might still cross-post new finished music there just to get a wider range of critique, but some of the events prior to its temporary closure left a bad taste in my mouth and I just can't bring myself to contribute very much to it anymore. At least not until I see some definite signs that the fundamental issues that led to its previous problems have been addressed.
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Post by Dave Dexter on Nov 15, 2017 13:28:28 GMT
I agree FS, it's annoying that a post can be buried within hours if someone decides to post or reply to a bunch of topics at once. 90% of the time, people will read what's in that feed, not sift through the forums. I wouldn't be surprised if that functionality is used by people to move posts they don't like out of view. A discussion on someone's piece or a new member wanting feedback can get lost in a slew of, let's be honest here, posts by Bob M about soundcloud alternatives, caption contests and other stuff he googled but didn't write himself (plus the same fundamentally identical reply to everyone's music). It's one step from spam most of the time.
I'd suggest it to Gav, but fixing it would require a complete change in how the forum's presented and it might not be possible on Ning.
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Post by fuguestate on Nov 15, 2017 16:07:09 GMT
I have no problem with Bob M posting soundcloud alternatives and caption contests, if they were consigned to an appropriate subforum where people who might be interested can find them. The problem is more with the way things are presented, I feel, that the feed is basically the be-all and end-all for most users. I mean, I myself didn't even know subforums existed on Ning until I started clicking through stuff, and even then I found the navigation quite cumbersome to use. PhpBB may be cookie-cutter, and has its own share of flaws, but at least it provides basic, usable navigation and a clear, simple organization that's easy to understand and use.
As for people "spamming" threads to push down unwanted topics off the front page: I don't recall having seen anyone actually do this, but it's certainly open to abuse. And in any case, back when OO was still around, the top 4-5 topics are always those he regurgitates his unattributed Wikipedia quotations in, which are generally philosophical debates only tenuously related to music, or originally on-topic threads that got derailed into something else (usually by him). This, of course, gives newcomers and occasional members the wrong impression of what the forum is about. It would have been much saner had Ning provided a better way to organize the various subforums, so that the philosophical debates and other off-topic discussions can happen in their own little corner of the forum where those who wish to participate can freely engage in lengthy discourse, while the rest of the forum can stay on-topic without undue interruption.
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