Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Dear newcomers
#artbydmcbride
I felt the need to add an av as a welcome for the RW migrants.
JimR!!!
Runners run
Mmmm Bop
?? There are 15 threads that show in Recent Topics. Not sure where you get 50. Anyway I think we have all settled down here.
50 threads on the first page of the Race forum which we’re posting in.
Great to see all the self appointed moderators on here.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
The issue was never the Race forum. It's threads on the Recent Topics list being pushed off. That's the common interface for everybody.
Right. https://www.runningahead.com/forums
Nobody is trying to be a self appointed moderator.
RIP Milkman
All right I think we all agreed a few weeks back we were okay with a few threads, and things have been going well. Let's settle down everyone. We can all be friends!
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Agreed!
Who?
So there are 3 goal threads that are always in the top15 Recent Topics. Big deal...12 other spaces.
I assume that you and the other self appointed moderators are part of User Groups that nobody new can find.
there you go, always the trouble maker
"Famous last words" ~Bhearn
User Groups that nobody new can find.
On the page called "User Groups", there is a search box called "Find a User Group." Just sayin'.
Dave
I am just a guy who has been using this log and these forums for more than a decade, I am pretty sure. Here is what I have observed:
A sudden influx of a large number of new users (who are welcome, which has been expressed many times) have completely and dramatically changed the landscape of the forums. Change is not necessarily a bad thing - but please recognize it has been changed.
The "Recent Topics" list is where most users seem to look to see if anything strikes their interest. For weeks, the top of this list has been dominated by topics that interest only members of certain groups. Hence the creation of user groups. If people can't find them in Groups, maybe they aren't looking hard enough. But it comes down to - shouldn't the "general" list of recent topics not be dominated by groups, which already have their own section of the website?
Many, many longtime and valued members of the community have absolutely disappeared and no longer contribute to the forums. I can't tell you this abrupt change in landscape is why, but I can tell you that when I open the Recent Topics, I am, if I am being honest, irritated that I see that same three threads every second of every day in the top three places. Three threads that interest no one except members of the GROUP.
I don't have any say here more than anyone else. But neither do the new people. No one else has so smugly and defiantly said "We will do what we want" until this latest surge in users.
Yeah, well...sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Okay, this is getting way too heated when we all agreed a few weeks ago we were okay.
To Mikkey's point, the users group section is not well designed, especially for new people. I would think as users of this site, you would want as much traffic as possible. I can tell you that if you've never seen RA before, it can be intimidating to find what you're looking for.
McSpartan - to your point, I wouldn't attribute it to the "newcomers." When many of us moving over looked at the forums, some of the "recent topics" were weeks old. I'm sure there was much more traffic in user groups, but once again, this is not inviting for people just passing through and looking for a vibrant community to post their questions to.
Isn't the main conclusion here that the "recent topics" section needs to be longer? That seems to be the crux of the issue with the old-timers here. I think that would satisfy everybody: it allows newcomers to see groups they can join very quickly, while allowing those who are interested in other topics to see what else people are talking about.
Is this something we can petition the owner of the site to handle? Seems like it's something that can be coded in very quickly.
I was one of the users who came over here when the spam attacks made RWOL unusable back in late 2012. Back then there were time goal threads on the racing forum. Here's one that was already here when I got here: https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/b1ad26d5499349b1b0e77f1fb21afd94.
I subsequently started and maintained a 3:45 thread for 2013 (though it never got very active). Some of the other time goal threads were more active, like this one: https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/599caed606424b0ca8778722717c2853/0?pgctx=05E2mdViKXn6erci3A7099hI12
Was a decision made sometime after that not to have time goal threads in the racing forum? I think part of the issue with user groups seems to be that a lot of them are listed that no longer get much activity, so you have to dig around to find which ones might still have members who post actively. I'm still a member of user groups like "Marathon Trainers" and Marathon Training and Discussions" which have had very few posts in recent years.
PRs: 5K: 21:25, 10K: 44:05, HM: 1:38:23* (downhill), M: 3:32:09
Isn't the main conclusion here that the "recent topics" section needs to be longer? That seems to be the crux of the issue with the old-timers here.
Possibly. Again, as the old-timer who started this thread way back when, I have NO PROBLEM with a few super active threads showing up in Recent Topics. It's not at all the issue it was 5 years ago.
And realistically three active threads are not pushing much out of Recent Topics for ANYONE. What IS true is that in the past, these daily-type threads have been confined to the group forums, and it appears some old-time users are bothered that now they are not. Fair enough. Nobody likes change. But, if you can't put an ongoing sub-3 marathon thread in the Racing forum, where should you put it?? This seems entirely appropriate to me.
As I see it the issue, if there is one, is that Recent Topics is not customizable. Perhaps some users would prefer to block some threads from this list. But really that's asking too much of the interface if you ask me. Especially now that we have My Topics, I really do not see a problem here.
Bacon Party!
I was one of the users who came over here when the spam attacks made RWOL unusable back in late 2012. Back then there were time goal threads on the racing forum. Here's one that was already here when I got here: https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/b1ad26d5499349b1b0e77f1fb21afd94. I subsequently started and maintained a 3:45 thread for 2013 (though it never got very active). Some of the other time goal threads were more active, like this one: https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/599caed606424b0ca8778722717c2853/0?pgctx=05E2mdViKXn6erci3A7099hI12 Was a decision made sometime after that not to have time goal threads in the racing forum? I think part of the issue with user groups seems to be that a lot of them are listed that no longer get much activity, so you have to dig around to find which ones might still have members who post actively. I'm still a member of user groups like "Marathon Trainers" and Marathon Training and Discussions" which have had very few posts in recent years.
Interesting point here about the ability (or inability) to find relevant User Groups that are active. This can lead to:
A possible site enhancement might be to add a "Hot Groups" list (similar to or replacing the "Recent Groups" list).
Liz
pace sera, sera