Trying a new rule: One "New Topic" per week per member

[Alex_Smith]

To stop people being overwhelmed by the volume of topics & to encourage members to engage with other members’ topics (& to reduce the load on the Moderators), we have decided to try out a new rule:

[size=150]One¹ New Topic ² per week³ per member⁴[/size]

¹ the exceptions are Introductions, Report a problem or suggest a way to improve the forum or if you have an urgent Member Announcements or Prayer Requests
² i.e. commenting on existing topics is fine
³ Sunday-Saturday
⁴ Moderators, Administrators & Guest Authors can post more than one if they want (e.g. to make an announcement like this)

As with all forum rules, failure to comply will result in:
]an unofficial warning the 1st time/]
]an official warning for the 2nd time/]
]an official warning for the 3rd time/]
]a week’s ban for the 4th time/]
]a longer ban for the 5th time/]

If you have any questions/feedback about this, please comment below or send us a PM.

[anon12438761]

Definitely worth a try.
Does the ‘week’ start on Sunday, or from the date of your last post?

[JasonPratt]

Let’s assume it started this past Sunday. (Um… NZ time. ) That way people can get a new one in quicker.

[Bob_Wilson]

I think this will encourage better and thoughtful interaction with the contributions that are posted.

[anon12438761]

I would hope that the featured editors and admins/mods would be able to post more frequently if they want to.

[Alex_Smith]

Added Introductions & Guest Authors exceptions

[lotharson]

I am considering leaving the forum.

I generally like asking to people their opinion on things already existing on the Internet (both from me and many other authors) and this rule completely killed my interested in the forum,

[anon12438761]

Just as a counterpoint, there are hundreds of open threads dealing with almost everything, that you could post your questions to without opening yet another open thread. I’m guilty of not looking in the archives, and just willy-nilly posting something, and I’m trying to break that habit.

Don’t go! Post an essay or a longer OP once a week, where you can stretch out and really make your points and get a discussion going. Then find open threads that deal with other things that come up during the week, and post to those as much as you like.

Also, the private message function is very useful and allows for conversations that don’t necessarily have to be done for the entire forum.

$.02.

[steve7150]

I am considering leaving the forum.

I just started here but i like your ideas/thoughts so i hope you stay.

[Cindy_Skillman]

Lotharson, there are a few creative ways around this.

First, for your own blog, you can post a topic and call it by the name of your blog:

Son of Lothar thoughts from middle earth . . . (just making something up here)

And then every time you make a new blog post, you can add it into that topic. When you do, this will pop your topic up to the top of the "active topics list" so that everyone will be sure to see it.

Second, for asking for opinions on other articles on the internet, you can start a second topic:

**Thoughts and Queries from all around the Multiverse**
Journeys of a Lotharian Hobbit (okay, so I'd better not quit my day job and go looking for comedy gigs!) :laughing:

Every time you add a new link, this will likewise pop your topic up to the top so people will have a chance to see and perhaps click on your links, and comment.

The advantage to all this is that we have a more manageable topic load for the moderators to page through so that everyone is better protected from cranky people (like me sometimes!) AND that with fewer, more active topics, it also makes it easier for visitors to find their way around. Your topic, if people like it, stays active as opposed to being eclipsed by a new topic about nearly the same thing, posted by someone who perhaps didn't notice your existing topic. If the somebody has already started his topic for the week, perhaps he'll go fishing and find your topic. He'll read all the great stuff already written there, and then he'll add his own ideas and/or questions. That makes for a lot less re-explaining of things that you actually just said last week -- twice -- or was it thrice?

I think the one new topic per week rule is a great idea (and I didn't even think it up). We were becoming somewhat cluttered. Now we can make "boxes" for all our new topics so that they stay more or less neatly arranged and much more easily discovered by the intrepid explorer.

I hope that helps, Lotharson. Everyone wants you to be comfortable here, and I think you'll find this new format isn't as restrictive as it seems at first. You just need to alter the way you do things slightly. You can still talk as much as you want to.

Love, Cindy

[Username1]

Hey Lothar

No need to leave, mate. Some really excellent discussions have arisen on topics you have started - the current ‘lost wallet’ thread, for example. As the forum grows, and there are more and more members, it makes sense to limit the number of new topics, otherwise the whole thing will eventually become unmanageable. As it is, already some really good threads don’t get the attention they deserve because there is too much ‘competition’. I’ve lurked on other Christian forums with thousands of members, and literally hundreds of threads, many of which had no replies at all!

Stick around - I like your ‘off the wall’ approach - I guess because I’m that way myself . We may not always agree, but it’s stimulating interacting.

All the best

Johnny

[lotharson]

Thank you for your kind answers.

I understand your concerns and agrees with the principle but** one week** is by far too limiting.

Would it not be possible to replace that by “every three days”?

I mean seriously, this would have all positive effects without hindering new conversations.

[Alex_Smith]

Would it not be possible to replace that by “every three days”?

We want to trial the 1 NT/W/M for at least a few weeks to see how it goes. After that we will review the situation…

Sometimes I find my ideas become more polished if I reflect on them for an extra day or so. e.g. I jot down the ideas for tweets, etc. in a Word doc, which allows me to think about them & space them out (I’ve also found if I say 3 things in a row, people usually only respond to 1 anyway).

[akimel]

If it’s allowable to resurrect old threads ad infinitum, then the “one topic” rule doesn’t make sense at all. It doesn’t solve the “problem.”

If the problem is a specific individual … or more than one individuals … then speak to the problem-individual(s) directly and privately. If that doesn’t work, exclude the person from the forum.

But rules like “only one new topic per week” are silly and do not work.

My two cents.

[Alex_Smith]

If it’s allowable to resurrect old threads ad infinitum, then the “one topic” rule doesn’t make sense at all. It doesn’t solve the “problem.”

Resurrecting some old threads is fine but if someone does it ad infinitum they will be asked to desist.

If the problem is a specific individual … or more than one individuals … then speak to the problem-individual(s) directly and privately. If that doesn’t work, exclude the person from the forum.

It’s not just a specific individual, having too many threads to read has been an issue for over a year.

But rules like “only one new topic per week” are silly and do not work.

My two cents.

I do appreciate the feedback but I think it’s too early to tell if it will or won’t work…

[JasonPratt]

Alex is right about thread proliferation being a problem for over a year; I myself have been trying to hold back to an average of one new thread a week for at least that long.

Also, asking someone to leave over necroing old threads seems weird. (I realize who we’re talking about and that he’s just looking for attention, and that this is not a particularly good thing for the forum, but we’re actually trying to be moderate and not draconian about things. Despite occasional appearances otherwise. )

I am 100% in favor of you creating a blog thread, Lotharson, if you want to redirect back to his own blog every day or so. There aren’t that many things on the internet worth talking about that we don’t have threads on already (including several things you’ve created new threads on LS), so a week between new threads for that purpose seems reasonable. But like Cindy said, you could consolidate them into a new thread easily enough instead.

[Alex_Smith]

Added Report a problem or suggest a way to improve the forum exception.

[EricMccarty]

I’m not seeing an option to start a new topic. It’s been a month since I was on the forum. Where is the “New Topic” button normally located? Maybe I’m missing it.

[JasonPratt]

Um, hold on… {checking}

I just checked several categories, and the “new topic” button is still there right under the main category title once a main category is chosen (or a subcategory within a main category).

Here’s a quick partial screenshot as an example of what you should be seeing, using the “General Discussion on Evangelical Universalism” category (where this thread is) as the example:

Eh, I forgot it wouldn’t show my mouse there. I should have added some paint to circle where I mean. But can you see from that where it’s supposed to be, or do I need to update the screenshot with a circle? And are you seeing it there on your screen? If not, something is weird.

[EricMccarty]

Thanks Jason. I just couldn’t post in Talbott’s forum. I guess he’s the only one who can start topics there. No problem. I’m just learning my way around.