The Top 10 Dead Horses

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Gord ... participates (or not) at his own pleasure.

Wisely put. I do like the 'pleasure' bit.



Mark

[Bash]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Actually, I think the best question on a sailing forum ever on what boat to buy came from the a fellow (I assme) that had never sailed but wanted to do a "Circumcision".

TRUE STORY: A fellow on a different forum once asked, "How do I get the funny taste out of my holding tanks?"

[spostamento nobile]

This thread is so full of win!

[sneuman]

Everytime I see someone ask about buying a 35" vs. 40" boat, I am reminded of this scence from This is Spinal Tap:

Spinal Tap - Stonehenge - Video

[jkleins]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

Uh huh. We could simply make a FAQ page. And then we wouldn't need a forum, either! One of the benefits of having a forum is that we get to talk to each other, and find current opinions as well as the most recent facts.

We do have a search engine, plus a google custom search yields ten pages of hits, ranging from 2005 till now. If people don't receive the answers they want to hear on new threads, then they can trawl (not troll) through older threads. Sometimes older threads are dated, sometimes they are worth reinstating.

My husband asked me to ask about Coppercoat. Instead of asking, I did a search, and we found what we need to know here: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...g-56701-5.html. So I didn't ask the question. But, I did ask if anyone had more recent experience to add to the thread.

Obviously, if anyone can think of new topics that haven't yet been discussed, I am sure they would be warmly welcomed.

Yes "One" of the benefits of a forum is we get to talk to each other but it is only "one" of the benefits. Another is that we can actually get information easily by reading the forum. There is nothing in these suggestions that will inhibit members posting and commenting on things as they change or new questions develop. It is simply a way of consolidating information so it is easier to find.

I am just suggesting that common threads be easier to find so they don't get repeated so often. When they get repeated the user comments become less helpful and are often more shorthand for comments they have already made on the last thread. This decreases the quality of the responses and because it dilutes out the more thoughtful responses that occurred earlier in the forums history it makes that information less likely to be found. Making the quality of the information found on the forum should be a priority to the mods and the users. Getting people to participate in the discussion doesn't really seem to be a problem.

Your suggestion of Google search is fine if you can find it. One of the problems is that unless you are familiar with the forum it is hard to find and the information it gives is very difficult to navigate as it is not in chronological order and the same pages are repeated many times in the search so you end up going back and forth to the same thread as you go down the search list.

I have an extensive background in IT and programming and didn't find the Google search in that little title bar amongst the ads at the top of the page for months after becoming a forum member. Others may have better results but the fact that I didn't find it makes it likely that others may have had the same problem.

One of the main problems with any type of computer programming is that when you look at it as a long time user you can never see the problems that new users have because of the familiarity with the function and layout of the program. It is likely that once you use the search once you are fine with it (although I would think we could do better) but until you do use it once the likelihood of using it is probably small. The techs might be able to deduce this from looking at user logs of people who post to see if they found the search function.


Jim

[markpierce]

Sounds like everything has been beaten to death, leaving only next week's weather forecast for discussion.

[SaltyMonkey]

How about a tag on the thread itself called "DeadHorse"? Then you could search for all the deadhorses. You might code em like "DeadHorse-Anchor" so you can search for all the anchors deadhorsies etc...

The tag bubble would then show all the most popular dead horses by size

[Jeff_Culler]

The dead horses are only dead for you old warhorses. Young colts like myself who are new to the forum actually find some value in them.

Maybe to keep the forum fresh some old threads could be selectively deleted and the arguments could begin anew.

By the way, after taking ASA101 I decided to cruise from Maine to Siberia via the Arctic this summer. I assume the sea ice will be gone due to man-made global warming. Can I do it in a Cal 20 for under $5000? What type of gun would be best for polar bears?

[psneeld]

Keep 'em going...most of the threads I've read with opinions from the old timers on here are wrong anyway...new info is always welcome in a forum and things change as time goes on...

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by psneeld

...most of the threads I've read with opinions from the old timers on here are wrong anyway...

ummm...I might also add those with "experience" too!

[markpierce]

A message I'd not want to get:

"Sir, your subject has been discussed ad nauseam. If you had been following this forum for the last few years, you would have known better. Neither you nor anyone else can constructively add to this subject. Therefore, we have locked this thread. Next time, bring up a subject never presented before. Thank you for participating in Cruisers Forum."

[boasun]

Originally Posted by Jeff_Culler

The dead horses are only dead for you old warhorses. Young colts like myself who are new to the forum actually find some value in them.

Maybe to keep the forum fresh some old threads could be selectively deleted and the arguments could begin anew.

By the way, after taking ASA101 I decided to cruise from Maine to Siberia via the Arctic this summer. I assume the sea ice will be gone due to man-made global warming. Can I do it in a Cal 20 for under $5000? What type of gun would be best for polar bears?

No Gun. Just take some steak sauce and sprinkle it on yourself as the polar bear charges you... And send videos of the incident

[SaltyMonkey]

How about a Cease and Desist letter to the poster?

[Talbot]

Wow, this thread has stirred up some interest. A big surprise to me is a subject which really winds people up even more than a rocna thread on the big UK forum www.ybw.com is not even mentioned on this forum.

I am talking about threads concerning the International Rules for Prevention of Collisions at Sea (IRPCS).

Are you all 100% expert, or frightened to reveal ignorance

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by Talbot

Wow, this thread has stirred up some interest. A big surprise to me is a subject which really winds people up even more than a rocna thread on the big UK forum www.ybw.com is not even mentioned on this forum.

I am talking about threads concerning the International Rules for Prevention of Collisions at Sea (IRPCS).

Are you all 100% expert, or frightened to reveal ignorance

Huh? Whats a collision? I heard that them fender things some folks carry prevent them.