The Other Site
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
We used to have a thread on the status of Trombone Forum. Looks like it got lost.
I've been periodically checking on TTF to see what's happening. Been getting the "We're Moving" message.
Today I got a "not found" error.
Wonder what's up.
I've been periodically checking on TTF to see what's happening. Been getting the "We're Moving" message.
Today I got a "not found" error.
Wonder what's up.
- JohnL
- Posts: 2529
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
I still get the "We're Moving" message, but only if I go to the main page. Any other URL that happens to be in history comes up "not found".
- hyperbolica
- Posts: 3990
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
I get the "not found" error if I go anywhere but the tromboneforum.org root. At tromboneforum.org, I still get the "we're moving in 2 weeks" lie.
- bigtiny
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Mar 25, 2018
I'm guessing that, for whatever reason, the site's not coming back. They mention moving to upgrade...it just doesn't take THIS long. I suspect that there are other circumstances at play here...
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
[quote="bigtiny"]I'm guessing that, for whatever reason, the site's not coming back. They mention moving to upgrade...it just doesn't take THIS long. I suspect that there are other circumstances at play here...[/quote]
A very reasonable assertion.
A very reasonable assertion.
- Grah
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
One has to remember that rlb is a one-man band when it comes to the technical side of TTF. It is not so long since he mentioned he had to undergo more hospital time. Plus that latest message, did not give any time for the improvements.
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:
- Grah
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
One has to remember that rlb is a one-man band when it comes to the technical side of TTF. It is not so long since he mentioned he had to undergo more hospital time. Plus that latest message, did not give any time for the improvements.
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:
- Matt_K
- Posts: 4809
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
Except it doesn't have to be a one-man-band. Many people have offered to help out with backend stuff over the years and a LOT of the experience is not provided by the software at all. On the contrary, it's a detriment to the overall experience and it is bandaided by having Bruce largely being the person solely responsible for keeping spam out of the site by parsing through tons of request submissions by hand every week and manually running IP scans on new users accounts.
- bigtiny
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Mar 25, 2018
[quote="Grah"]One has to remember that rlb is a one-man band when it comes to the technical side of TTF. It is not so long since he mentioned he had to undergo more hospital time. Plus that latest message, did not give any time for the improvements.
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:[/quote]
Not to be argumentative, but it says right there in the message that the server is being upgraded <I><U>over the next two weeks</U></I>. Usually these upgrades are done offline then implemented all at once. A matter of hours. Note that it says they are moving to new servers and data center which would certainly account for a longer period (like two weeks or so =:-) ), but probably not this long.
My observations on this topic should not in any way be taken as a criticism of the person who runs 'the other site', just guesses about the site's status.
"We're moving!
Over the next two weeks, the Forum's server is being substantially upgraded and moved to a new datacenter which will have much more available bandwidth and other bells and whistles. During this time, the site will, unfortunately, need to be offline.
Watch this space for details! "
I believe that rlb as a bass trombonist, teacher, conductor and computer programming expert has provided a wonderful website experience for us all over the years and you only have to look at the statistics about the site to realise how popular it has been.
Personally, I wish him all the best of health and hope he will be able to resume his involvement with the trombone and music world in the not to distant future.
None of that is to say that there is not room for TromboneChat in our browsing. The recent improvements have been very good and even the subject matter is getting better as it attracts more members. Keep up the good work. :good:[/quote]
Not to be argumentative, but it says right there in the message that the server is being upgraded <I><U>over the next two weeks</U></I>. Usually these upgrades are done offline then implemented all at once. A matter of hours. Note that it says they are moving to new servers and data center which would certainly account for a longer period (like two weeks or so =:-) ), but probably not this long.
My observations on this topic should not in any way be taken as a criticism of the person who runs 'the other site', just guesses about the site's status.
- greenbean
- Posts: 1958
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
Hey, what people say they are going to do and what they end up doing can be very different. For a variety of reasons. Not necessarily nefarious.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
[quote="greenbean"]Hey, what people say they are going to do and what they end up doing can be very different. For a variety of reasons. Not necessarily nefarious.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
Several times and many people. This site exists because Brian got no response from RLB. Brian only wants to preserve the info on the Trombone Forum (formerly Online Trombone Journal Forum).
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
Several times and many people. This site exists because Brian got no response from RLB. Brian only wants to preserve the info on the Trombone Forum (formerly Online Trombone Journal Forum).
- Matt_K
- Posts: 4809
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
[quote="greenbean"]Hey, what people say they are going to do and what they end up doing can be very different. For a variety of reasons. Not necessarily nefarious.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
Offhand I can think of at least a dozen attempts by various people including myself.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
Offhand I can think of at least a dozen attempts by various people including myself.
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
[quote="greenbean"]Hey, what people say they are going to do and what they end up doing can be very different. For a variety of reasons. Not necessarily nefarious.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
All true. The biggest resource TTF had was that it was the defacto COMMUNITY. We now have a structure here that I feel will work great for the community - we just need to get more folks using it.
That said, RLB did provide a great resource to the trombone community for many years. It seems he could have used help for a long time but did not accept it. That is the way it is, for whatever reason.
Have you guys (admins and mods here) approached RLB to see if he is willing to step aside and let others save all that great information? Perhaps buy the data?...[/quote]
All true. The biggest resource TTF had was that it was the defacto COMMUNITY. We now have a structure here that I feel will work great for the community - we just need to get more folks using it.
- Matt_K
- Posts: 4809
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
[quote="greenbean"]"If you build it, they will come..."[/quote]
Working on it! My parents are in town this weekend so I'm not goign to get much done starting in about 10 minutes but stay tuned!
Working on it! My parents are in town this weekend so I'm not goign to get much done starting in about 10 minutes but stay tuned!
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
We've been designing a few very interesting and unique resources. They just haven't gone live yet. Like Matt K said, stay tuned.
- ddickerson
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
How long did it take the TTF to really take off after it first launched?
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
Well, what I can say is that, as long as we have an active community, we will always have multiple people working on it that have the keys. This thing will be stable.
- bhcordova
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mar 26, 2018
[quote="ddickerson"]How long did it take the TTF to really take off after it first launched?
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.[/quote]
I think that it was live over a year before it hit 100 members. And then it took several months to get to 200. I remember celebratory posts being made at every 100 members until we hit 1000. Then things seemed to really take off.
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.[/quote]
I think that it was live over a year before it hit 100 members. And then it took several months to get to 200. I remember celebratory posts being made at every 100 members until we hit 1000. Then things seemed to really take off.
- ddickerson
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
That’s what I would have guessed. So, this site growing very good.
- Grah
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
[quote="bhcordova"]<QUOTE author="ddickerson" post_id="845" time="1522627215" user_id="159">
How long did it take the TTF to really take off after it first launched?
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.[/quote]
I think that it was live over a year before it hit 100 members. And then it took several months to get to 200. I remember celebratory posts being made at every 100 members until we hit 1000. Then things seemed to really take off.
</QUOTE>
I think you are selling yourself short Billy. A lot of the success was due to your recruiting of mods and the encouragement of a very special trombone orientated internet social atmosphere. Plus, in those days, the scope of subject matter was much wider in a music sense. It was not concentrated on trombone hardware as unfortunately this site tends to be. That tendency also happened to TTF due to the average age of members and I remember Bruce commenting on the trend a few years back.
Don't get me wrong, one of my main interests in the TTF, when I was a moderator over there, was to encourage younger members to engage in conversations with all kinds of trombone players about playing techniques and all the genres of music.
TTF was also very strict about keeping advertising out of its pages, even when disguised as normal posts.
I think the recent redesign of the Trombone Chat site also recognises the need for a broader scope of conversation and I am encouraged that some of the more experienced trombone players from TTF are now coming over here.
The quality and interest of topics will always determine people's desire to participate in forum conversations.
How long did it take the TTF to really take off after it first launched?
It seems that this site is doing well for a new site. It's going to do well in the long run.[/quote]
I think that it was live over a year before it hit 100 members. And then it took several months to get to 200. I remember celebratory posts being made at every 100 members until we hit 1000. Then things seemed to really take off.
</QUOTE>
I think you are selling yourself short Billy. A lot of the success was due to your recruiting of mods and the encouragement of a very special trombone orientated internet social atmosphere. Plus, in those days, the scope of subject matter was much wider in a music sense. It was not concentrated on trombone hardware as unfortunately this site tends to be. That tendency also happened to TTF due to the average age of members and I remember Bruce commenting on the trend a few years back.
Don't get me wrong, one of my main interests in the TTF, when I was a moderator over there, was to encourage younger members to engage in conversations with all kinds of trombone players about playing techniques and all the genres of music.
TTF was also very strict about keeping advertising out of its pages, even when disguised as normal posts.
I think the recent redesign of the Trombone Chat site also recognises the need for a broader scope of conversation and I am encouraged that some of the more experienced trombone players from TTF are now coming over here.
The quality and interest of topics will always determine people's desire to participate in forum conversations.
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
Salient points. That being said, the topics pretty much spring from what people want to chat about. We certainly won't try to guide the direction of the topics - people pretty much talk about what they want to. I'm sure the topic pool will diversify as more folks get on.
I myself tend to be very hardware and pedagogy-oriented.
I myself tend to be very hardware and pedagogy-oriented.
- Matt_K
- Posts: 4809
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
Also the internet is much different than when the ttf first started. YouTube hadn't came about yet! Hard to believe right? There's only so much one can do to put words about music into a forum post but you can do a lot in a video recording. It seems like most of that discussion (such as musical interpretation) has moved to other types of social media. Stuff like Paul the trombonist,burgerbobs channel, and so forth. Equipment is a lot easier to generalize and thus easier to talk about, at least in my opinion!
- Grah
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
I believe you could well do some recruiting of the people who were popular on the other site over the years. And who definitely diversified the topic matter.
<ATTACHMENT filename="ChristineWoodcock2.jpg" index="0">[attachment=0]ChristineWoodcock2.jpg</ATTACHMENT>
:good:
<ATTACHMENT filename="ChristineWoodcock2.jpg" index="0">
:good:
- imsevimse
- Posts: 1765
- Joined: Apr 29, 2018
I think Matt K did a good job to have included the TTF archive now. This was what this page needed and makes it the one to go to even if the old one comes up eventually. It is due to Matt K the sum of knowledge of thousands of hours of experience from both pros and amateurs have been saved :good: . Personally the thing that I missed the most was the possibility to google old trombone models. That's a subject where both amateurs and pros have been invaluable to me. I never liked the problem with "one man" owning and managing the forum. In all professional high tech work we do all to avoid single point of failures. Hopes this new forum grows now. It's looking good ;-)
/Tom
/Tom
- mwpfoot
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
In 2 days it will be 3 months since the last tromboneforum.org post. :horror:
I remember RLB as a fun participant in the early "other forum" days. Yes, this and that would have been nice for the community - but it was always his site, closely held, and so it goes.
I wouldn't be surprised if it came back looking a lot like this! I also wouldn't be surprised if the domain is never registered again. Either way, I wish him well.
:cool:
I remember RLB as a fun participant in the early "other forum" days. Yes, this and that would have been nice for the community - but it was always his site, closely held, and so it goes.
I wouldn't be surprised if it came back looking a lot like this! I also wouldn't be surprised if the domain is never registered again. Either way, I wish him well.
:cool:
- boneagain
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Mar 24, 2018
[quote="mwpfoot"]...
I wouldn't be surprised if it came back looking a lot like this! I also wouldn't be surprised if the domain is never registered again. Either way, I wish him well.[/quote]
+1
I wouldn't be surprised if it came back looking a lot like this! I also wouldn't be surprised if the domain is never registered again. Either way, I wish him well.[/quote]
+1
- pompatus
- Posts: 434
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
I’m seeing the following update on the old forum...
We've moved!
All hardware has been installed in the new colocation facility and final upgrades and tuning are being completed.
May 12: Almost there...watch this space.
- SwissTbone
- Posts: 1138
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
At this state I wonder if thats good news. I mean... TC is working great and is getting more and more following. TC will be cannibalized by TTF and the contrary will be true also.
The best of both worlds would be to merge TTF and TC with the support team of TC, the archives and the following of TTF.
The best of both worlds would be to merge TTF and TC with the support team of TC, the archives and the following of TTF.
- pompatus
- Posts: 434
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
I agree, cozzagiorgi. The support team here has been fantastic! TTF has also been down long enough that search results are now starting to pop up for the archive on TC rather than the original TTF post, sometimes, which was the largest frustration for me (Google results for unreachable TTF posts while that server has been down).
- boneagain
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Mar 24, 2018
I, for one, won't be logging back into TTF. I find it easy enough to find the TTF results I want here by doing something like:
"benge 190" site:trombonechat.com/
which brings up enough from the archives to keep me busy.
I suppose it WOULD be possible to pull over a "differential" archive of newer posts, if TTF came back full steam. But since THIS site now has TTF archives AND the support, I see no point in going back to TTF all on its own. This LONG outage has been a lesson. With all due credit and full thanks to Dr. Byrd for keeping TTF hardware ans system up all these years, I'm sticking with this more open support structure.
"benge 190" site:trombonechat.com/
which brings up enough from the archives to keep me busy.
I suppose it WOULD be possible to pull over a "differential" archive of newer posts, if TTF came back full steam. But since THIS site now has TTF archives AND the support, I see no point in going back to TTF all on its own. This LONG outage has been a lesson. With all due credit and full thanks to Dr. Byrd for keeping TTF hardware ans system up all these years, I'm sticking with this more open support structure.
- JohnL
- Posts: 2529
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
[quote="boneagain"]I suppose it WOULD be possible to pull over a "differential" archive of newer posts, if TTF came back full steam. But since THIS site now has TTF archives AND the support, I see no point in going back to TTF all on its own.[/quote]
The TTF archive isn't complete. As I understand it, the scraper didn't quite work as planned and, by the time MattK realized it, there wasn't a TTF available to scrape.
<LINK_TEXT text="https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php? ... per#p59120">https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5567&p=59120&hilit=scraper#p59120</LINK_TEXT>
The archive as it stands is entirely adequate for a lot of common questions, but if you're doing a "deep dive", you'll hit bottom pretty quickly.
The TTF archive isn't complete. As I understand it, the scraper didn't quite work as planned and, by the time MattK realized it, there wasn't a TTF available to scrape.
<LINK_TEXT text="https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php? ... per#p59120">https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5567&p=59120&hilit=scraper#p59120</LINK_TEXT>
The archive as it stands is entirely adequate for a lot of common questions, but if you're doing a "deep dive", you'll hit bottom pretty quickly.
- Pre59
- Posts: 372
- Joined: May 12, 2018
I just went to the TTF URL and found this..
"May 12: Almost there...watch this space."
"May 12: Almost there...watch this space."
- Matt_K
- Posts: 4809
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
Yeah, I'm curious to see what the site will look like! If it's similar, I might just re-run it and see if I wind up with everything. Previously it was under a CCL, so it was fair game to do so. Not going to step on anyones toes but man, it would be cool to have a backup. There's a lot of cool information there.
- SwissTbone
- Posts: 1138
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
Not even sure TTF will have its entire archive...
- JohnL
- Posts: 2529
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
[quote="cozzagiorgi"]Not even sure TTF will have its entire archive...[/quote]
That would be most unfortunate.
That would be most unfortunate.
- imsevimse
- Posts: 1765
- Joined: Apr 29, 2018
We'll see what the page looks like if it comes alive. The best thing with that page was you could search for any trombone model or any trombone related things and Google pointed you to some of those old threads at old TTF. I wonder if this will be the same in the future. For other reasons I think this page is better, and will probably be better in time. This is a young but growing page.
/Tom
/Tom
- mwpfoot
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
All hardware has been installed in the new colocation facility and final upgrades and tuning are being completed.

:good:
- bhcordova
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mar 26, 2018
Richard has discovered this site. I think he has decided not to restart the site.
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
Richard is welcome to sign on and join the fun.
If he'd let us post all the other stuff on TTF that isn't in our archive we'd be grateful.
If he'd let us post all the other stuff on TTF that isn't in our archive we'd be grateful.
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
[quote="BGuttman"]Richard is welcome to sign on and join the fun.
If he'd let us post all the other stuff on TTF that isn't in our archive we'd be grateful.[/quote]
Indeed we would.
If he'd let us post all the other stuff on TTF that isn't in our archive we'd be grateful.[/quote]
Indeed we would.
- Jimkinkella
- Posts: 286
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
Curious of the response those of us that contributed to the "upgrades" would get if we asked for our donations back...
- MoominDave
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Mar 24, 2018
[quote="bhcordova"]Richard has discovered this site. I think he has decided not to restart the site.[/quote]
I'm glad to hear that he's still alive. I'd been a little concerned on that front.
I second the idea that it would be great to make the TTF archive here complete by getting the archive contents. How do we know that Richard's been here? Is he contactable by that route?
While I'm here, I'll just float something that may or may not be of interest to site policy-makers... Since the changeover from there to here, I've come to realise that TTF's off-topic areas were the hook that kept me coming back there. While I wanted to read the trombone content, and in my first years there it was enough to have me open up the site every day and get involved with trombone topics, beyond that period I found more immediate engagement in the controversially off-topic areas - and from there would then check in on any trombone talk.
Net result: I stayed involved in trombone talk there, but haven't found myself drawn in to this site yet.
I know this site is run with a different philosophy, and that many of you are fans of that philosophy. Just mounting a gentle defence of TTF's much-maligned philosophy.
I'm glad to hear that he's still alive. I'd been a little concerned on that front.
I second the idea that it would be great to make the TTF archive here complete by getting the archive contents. How do we know that Richard's been here? Is he contactable by that route?
While I'm here, I'll just float something that may or may not be of interest to site policy-makers... Since the changeover from there to here, I've come to realise that TTF's off-topic areas were the hook that kept me coming back there. While I wanted to read the trombone content, and in my first years there it was enough to have me open up the site every day and get involved with trombone topics, beyond that period I found more immediate engagement in the controversially off-topic areas - and from there would then check in on any trombone talk.
Net result: I stayed involved in trombone talk there, but haven't found myself drawn in to this site yet.
I know this site is run with a different philosophy, and that many of you are fans of that philosophy. Just mounting a gentle defence of TTF's much-maligned philosophy.
- Bach5G
- Posts: 2874
- Joined: Apr 07, 2018
I miss the political discussions. “Nothingburgers” - that seems so long ago.
- LeTromboniste
- Posts: 1634
- Joined: Apr 11, 2018
I agree the "off topic"/not trombone or music related discussions should have their place.
I also think this site really should have a "History" board. That was one of the most interesting section of the old site.
I also think this site really should have a "History" board. That was one of the most interesting section of the old site.
- Neo_Bri
- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Mar 21, 2018
I am taking all of these suggestions and ideas under consideration. Thanks!
- timothy42b
- Posts: 1812
- Joined: Mar 27, 2018
I am one who was a heavy participator in the political and religious discussions.
And, I like that they're not here. In hindsight - it's been a while! - the benefit was not worth the cost. For me. YMMV.
If I had a vote it would be to leave them out. I do observe that the amount of regular participation here is considerably less than the old site, and we've been online here for some time. I don't know if that is partly due to not having those threads - might be.
And, I like that they're not here. In hindsight - it's been a while! - the benefit was not worth the cost. For me. YMMV.
If I had a vote it would be to leave them out. I do observe that the amount of regular participation here is considerably less than the old site, and we've been online here for some time. I don't know if that is partly due to not having those threads - might be.
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
Most of the traffic on TTF was in the Purely Politics and Religion boards. There are Politics boards and Religion boards out there if you want to participate. Unfortunately the populations of those Boards was not as civil as on TTF.
I don't miss either of them, even though I participated in Purely Politics (I'm not religious and not Christian so I kept out of that discussion). If it were up to me I'd leave those out. I'd support adding a History section that could talk about informed performance and instruments appropriate to various periods.
I don't miss either of them, even though I participated in Purely Politics (I'm not religious and not Christian so I kept out of that discussion). If it were up to me I'd leave those out. I'd support adding a History section that could talk about informed performance and instruments appropriate to various periods.
- harrisonreed
- Posts: 6479
- Joined: Aug 17, 2018
Yeah I think I'd bail on this site other than to sell stuff if I had to sift through political and religious threads in the "new" pile like on TTF. Please don't start those.
- sungfw
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Jul 17, 2018
[quote="harrisonreed"]Yeah I think I'd bail on this site other than to sell stuff if I had to sift through political and religious threads in the "new" pile like on TTF. Please don't start those.[/quote]
I don't recall needing to sift through political and religious threads on TOS. As I recall, politics and religion, (with the exception of the "Read da book" thread) were almost entirely confined to specific sub-forums, not scattered willy-nilly among the other threads, so you could avoid them by simply not entering those sub-forums. (I also seem to recall that there was an option in your forum preferences not to display those sub-forum headings or any posts in those forums, but I may be remembering another board.)
No reason that model couldn't work here.
I don't recall needing to sift through political and religious threads on TOS. As I recall, politics and religion, (with the exception of the "Read da book" thread) were almost entirely confined to specific sub-forums, not scattered willy-nilly among the other threads, so you could avoid them by simply not entering those sub-forums. (I also seem to recall that there was an option in your forum preferences not to display those sub-forum headings or any posts in those forums, but I may be remembering another board.)
No reason that model couldn't work here.
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
Most Forum software allows a user to "Ignore Board". I know we encouraged anybody who didn't want to see the Religion or Politics boards to tick the "ignore" box.
I like the idea that if we were to introduce these they would be an "opt in" (i.e. you needed to know they were there in order to see them).
I like the idea that if we were to introduce these they would be an "opt in" (i.e. you needed to know they were there in order to see them).
- Bach5G
- Posts: 2874
- Joined: Apr 07, 2018
As much as I liked those discussions, if I had a vote, I would vote against bringing them back. Guns, Christ and Trump. Maybe not.
- PaKETaZ
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
If it’s not an obligation to see it in my “unread posts”, you can do what you want...
- sacfxdx
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Apr 11, 2018
This is a trombone site. Should all be music related at least. No politics, religion, guns, cars, houses.... plenty of other sites for that stuff.
- timothy42b
- Posts: 1812
- Joined: Mar 27, 2018
[quote="sacfxdx"]This is a trombone site. Should all be music related at least. No politics, religion, guns, cars, houses.... plenty of other sites for that stuff.[/quote]
I don't agree. My experience with a number of sites is that if you make the signal to noise ratio too high, you get minimum contributions and it's all from a serious few; it's the diversity allowed that gets a site to critical mass and produces enough interaction to be useful.
I do think it's useful to limit the controversial topics, along the lines of the Civilization and Humanitarian principles cited by Steven Pinker in his recent book, Better Angels of our Nature. (highly recommended, by the way, it will probably change your way of looking at the world)
I don't agree. My experience with a number of sites is that if you make the signal to noise ratio too high, you get minimum contributions and it's all from a serious few; it's the diversity allowed that gets a site to critical mass and produces enough interaction to be useful.
I do think it's useful to limit the controversial topics, along the lines of the Civilization and Humanitarian principles cited by Steven Pinker in his recent book, Better Angels of our Nature. (highly recommended, by the way, it will probably change your way of looking at the world)
- ghmerrill
- Posts: 2193
- Joined: Apr 02, 2018
The dichotomy here echoes what I've found in community bands: some are run primarily (almost solely) as musical organizations; others are run primarily as social organizations. There's certainly room for both. I prefer the first and avoid the second, but that's just my own inclination and choice.
However, if in this context there are distinct forums and fairly clear rules/expectations, then people can make their own choices. I sure don't feel the NEED for primarily social/political/whatever forums in the trombone context, but I also wouldn't walk off in a huff if they were created. If you don't want to be involved in them, then just ... don't be. The burden is really imposed not on the participants of TromboneChat, but on its administrators.
However, if in this context there are distinct forums and fairly clear rules/expectations, then people can make their own choices. I sure don't feel the NEED for primarily social/political/whatever forums in the trombone context, but I also wouldn't walk off in a huff if they were created. If you don't want to be involved in them, then just ... don't be. The burden is really imposed not on the participants of TromboneChat, but on its administrators.
- harrisonreed
- Posts: 6479
- Joined: Aug 17, 2018
I just remember when "show unread posts" put up about a million threads about Jesus, Trump, and healthcare. I don't care to sift through the detritus, and I'm on a phone, so going through options to disable different forums is something I don't know how to do.
- sungfw
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Jul 17, 2018
[quote="sacfxdx"]This is a trombone site. Should all be music related at least. No politics, religion, guns, cars, houses.... plenty of other sites for that stuff.[/quote]
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:
- ghmerrill
- Posts: 2193
- Joined: Apr 02, 2018
[quote="harrisonreed"]I don't care to sift through the detritus,... going through options to disable different forums is something I don't know how to do.[/quote]
This sort of control is really pretty clearly described in the FAQ and amounts to just making a couple of clicks. It also appears that currently a user is "unsubscribed" from all forums by default, and a positive action must be taken to subscribe (and hence receive notifications of postings). Similarly for threads.
So -- if this is correct -- no one would be seeing any posting alerts to a new forum unless he subscribed to it explicitly. And in any event, unsubscribing from it requires only clicking on the "subscribe forum" selection in the Forum header strip (though I'll grant you that the way the box and checkmark is used in this is completely counter-intuitive).
But the main point is that it appears that the site admins have set things up so that if a new forum were created, you wouldn't be bothered by it unless you explicitly chose to be.
Correct me if I'm wrong (in which case I bet the admins will fix that issue immediately).
This sort of control is really pretty clearly described in the FAQ and amounts to just making a couple of clicks. It also appears that currently a user is "unsubscribed" from all forums by default, and a positive action must be taken to subscribe (and hence receive notifications of postings). Similarly for threads.
So -- if this is correct -- no one would be seeing any posting alerts to a new forum unless he subscribed to it explicitly. And in any event, unsubscribing from it requires only clicking on the "subscribe forum" selection in the Forum header strip (though I'll grant you that the way the box and checkmark is used in this is completely counter-intuitive).
But the main point is that it appears that the site admins have set things up so that if a new forum were created, you wouldn't be bothered by it unless you explicitly chose to be.
Correct me if I'm wrong (in which case I bet the admins will fix that issue immediately).
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
When you have two approved posts you are subscribed to ALL boards in this Forum (with the exception of a few that are for Administration only).
If we add new Boards to this Forum they will be available to everybody unless we create a new class of user who is able to read all the "unlocked" boards and the "off-topic" boards.
I get to see a couple of Boards you as a general user can't see, and the Administrators see a few Boards even I can't see.
If we add new Boards to this Forum they will be available to everybody unless we create a new class of user who is able to read all the "unlocked" boards and the "off-topic" boards.
I get to see a couple of Boards you as a general user can't see, and the Administrators see a few Boards even I can't see.
- harrisonreed
- Posts: 6479
- Joined: Aug 17, 2018
Yeah, but it ends up being something you end up seeing and you learn stuff you wish you didn't know as bout other forum members whether you wanted to or not.
- ghmerrill
- Posts: 2193
- Joined: Apr 02, 2018
[quote="harrisonreed"]Yeah, but it ends up being something you end up seeing and you learn stuff you wish you didn't know as bout other forum members whether you wanted to or not.[/quote]
Just from seeing the title of a thread? Golly, I must really be insensitive. Or maybe I just don't care.
But I get your point, and there would be nothing wrong in implementing some mechanism to suppress the sort of display (on a thread or forum/topic basis) that you find objectionable. There does seem to be a bit of sloppiness in the design within phpBB of all that: the idea of "subscribing" to a forum or thread isn't really what most people would mean by subscription (it conflates making the thread/topic/forum visible with being notified of postings to it), and it would be nice to create (for example) a "My forums" list that you could modify and maintain easily and in an obvious way, I suppose. But that would require custom modification to the board software.
I'm prepared to just ignore stuff -- like postings about the Kerbal Space Program. :roll:
Just from seeing the title of a thread? Golly, I must really be insensitive. Or maybe I just don't care.
But I get your point, and there would be nothing wrong in implementing some mechanism to suppress the sort of display (on a thread or forum/topic basis) that you find objectionable. There does seem to be a bit of sloppiness in the design within phpBB of all that: the idea of "subscribing" to a forum or thread isn't really what most people would mean by subscription (it conflates making the thread/topic/forum visible with being notified of postings to it), and it would be nice to create (for example) a "My forums" list that you could modify and maintain easily and in an obvious way, I suppose. But that would require custom modification to the board software.
I'm prepared to just ignore stuff -- like postings about the Kerbal Space Program. :roll:
- harrisonreed
- Posts: 6479
- Joined: Aug 17, 2018
I firmly believe that if you can land a probe on Gilly, you can apply that dedication to lip slurs! For science!
- sacfxdx
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Apr 11, 2018
[quote="sungfw"]<QUOTE author="sacfxdx" post_id="75935" time="1548028158" user_id="3048">
This is a trombone site. Should all be music related at least. No politics, religion, guns, cars, houses.... plenty of other sites for that stuff.[/quote]
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:
</QUOTE>
Yes. Just my opinion.
This is a trombone site. Should all be music related at least. No politics, religion, guns, cars, houses.... plenty of other sites for that stuff.[/quote]
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:
</QUOTE>
Yes. Just my opinion.
- sungfw
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Jul 17, 2018
[quote="sacfxdx"]<QUOTE author="sungfw" post_id="76033" time="1548108761" user_id="3533">
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:[/quote]
Yes. Just my opinion.
</QUOTE>
You're certainly entitled to your wrong opinion. :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:
:twisted:
So ... the News & Announcements, Comments & Suggestions, Tangents sub-forums, and most of the threads in the Technology and Everything Else subforms should be eliminated, since they're not music related? :twisted:[/quote]
Yes. Just my opinion.
</QUOTE>
You're certainly entitled to your wrong opinion. :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:
:twisted:
- timothy42b
- Posts: 1812
- Joined: Mar 27, 2018
[quote="sungfw"]<QUOTE author="sacfxdx" post_id="76096" time="1548152442" user_id="3048">
Yes. Just my opinion.[/quote]
You're certainly entitled to your wrong opinion. :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:
:twisted:
</QUOTE>
I could agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong. Attributed to Winston Churchill.
Yes. Just my opinion.[/quote]
You're certainly entitled to your wrong opinion. :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:
:twisted:
</QUOTE>
I could agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong. Attributed to Winston Churchill.
- BGuttman
- Posts: 7368
- Joined: Mar 22, 2018
[quote="TimothyReild"]Do you think the posters of the "other site" have pretty much seen by now what type of person Danny Shelton really is?[/quote]
Have you tried logging onto the "other site"?
Have you tried logging onto the "other site"?