The pages on this forum are relatively small. As a result, threads can quickly get bumped off the first page to page 2. When the thread gets bumped to page 2, the number of viewers reading the thread drops dramatically which greatly diminishes the chances for replies.
This forum has 25 threads on page one. The OGR forum has 75 threads on page one. I would suggest increasing the number of threads per page.
Earl
Don
Oh, gee !! I hope they leave it alone !! I like it like it is & if they do that, it will be smaller to see, I think !! Plus when they change stuff, I always have problems !! Hope you guys aren't mad at me !!
Thanks, John
dbaker48 wrote:Holy spectacles, Batman !!! We can always use bigger words!!!
Oh, good thinking Don !! Why didn't I think of that ? !! Boy, that's simple enough !!
csxt30 wrote: Oh, gee !! I hope they leave it alone !! I like it like it is & if they do that, it will be smaller to see, I think !! Plus when they change stuff, I always have problems !! Hope you guys aren't mad at me !! Thanks, John
It will have no affect on the font size. It will only make the page longer so you will have to scroll further to get to the bottom.
EIS2 wrote: csxt30 wrote: Oh, gee !! I hope they leave it alone !! I like it like it is & if they do that, it will be smaller to see, I think !! Plus when they change stuff, I always have problems !! Hope you guys aren't mad at me !! Thanks, JohnIt will have no affect on the font size. It will only make the page longer so you will have to scroll further to get to the bottom.
Thanks EIS2 !! I didn't know that !! Sounds good now !! That will work good with the bigger words Don mentioned !!(-D]
EIS2 wrote:...This forum has 25 threads on page one. The OGR forum has 75 threads on page one. I would suggest increasing the number of threads per page.Earl
...This forum has 25 threads on page one. The OGR forum has 75 threads on page one. I would suggest increasing the number of threads per page.
DITTO!
Jim H
EIS2 wrote: The pages on this forum are relatively small. As a result, threads can quickly get bumped off the first page to page 2. When the thread gets bumped to page 2, the number of viewers reading the thread drops dramatically which greatly diminishes the chances for replies.Earl
I'm not sure I like the idea. We would have to buy larger monitors.
OK, nice idea. But how hard is it to simply go to the next page?? Are we really that lazy and obsessed with "convenience?" Maybe we are. We ran trains without digital control for 90 years, and then as was stated on the other mentioned forum, that you are not running your trains properly and can never have any fun running trains without digital control. Wrong!!
It's also been noted by the powers-that-be on the other forum, not to post repitive threads as topics quickly move to the second page within an afternoon.... and they have more space on the first page. True, they do have more active posters, but there are also a lot of needless and repetitive threads... Especially the all too common "I wish they would make this..." written by people who seem to have no clue how expensive it is to actually tool these odd-ball items up that have ZERO chance of ever making a profit.
Just as with the also common "how great the later K-Line product was" threads, where the poster frequently mentions buying the stuff at a blowout, and then wonders why the company went under? I'd love to ask all these folks if, whatever they do for a living, they would be willing to provide those goods and services at 50% off their normal charges? They'd probably answer they couldn't do it and still stay in business, yet they expect the train companies to do this.
I say leave this forum as is. It's no big deal to move one finger, click a link and go to another page. The last thing I want to see is the same half-witted and condescending* threads that are so common place over there become the norm over here.
*It was recently mentioned by some they are afraid the toy train 027 guys might take over their forum, heaven forbid. Gee I thought they were all trains?!
And on that thought, I also love these scale guys are so critical of anything that isn't exact true-to-every-detail prototype. And yet look at the photos in OGR. I can't count the times I've seen layout photos with steam engines pulling modern road names and modern cars. Or shots of a layout with current road SD90MAC's sharing a yard with Mikados painted in long gone dead roads. I mean, I frankly don't care how folks run their trains and run their layouts... the hobby is SUPPOSE to be about fun. And that fun can just as easily be defined as toy non-scale as prototypical true-to-scale.
To me, that makes aquarium cars and short 027 MARX auto loaders on 027 curves just as prototypical.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
brianel027 wrote: I also love these scale guys are so critical of anything that isn't exact true-to-every-detail prototype. And yet look at the photos in OGR. I can't count the times I've seen layout photos with steam engines pulling modern road names and modern cars. Or shots of a layout with current road SD90MAC's sharing a yard with Mikados painted in long gone dead roads. I mean, I frankly don't care how folks run their trains and run their layouts... the hobby is SUPPOSE to be about fun. And that fun can just as easily be defined as toy non-scale as prototypical true-to-scale.
I also love these scale guys are so critical of anything that isn't exact true-to-every-detail prototype. And yet look at the photos in OGR. I can't count the times I've seen layout photos with steam engines pulling modern road names and modern cars. Or shots of a layout with current road SD90MAC's sharing a yard with Mikados painted in long gone dead roads. I mean, I frankly don't care how folks run their trains and run their layouts... the hobby is SUPPOSE to be about fun. And that fun can just as easily be defined as toy non-scale as prototypical true-to-scale.
Head of nail - meet Mr Hammer.
great post.
brianel027 wrote: OK, nice idea. But how hard is it to simply go to the next page?? Are we really that lazy and obsessed with "convenience?" Maybe we are.
OK, nice idea. But how hard is it to simply go to the next page?? Are we really that lazy and obsessed with "convenience?" Maybe we are.
I agree it is very easy to click a button and go to the next page, but how many of us actually do that. My goal was to increase the chances of feedback on posts, thus increasing the usefulness of this forum.
I really like this forum because it seems to be more oriented to toy trains. I would like to see this forum flourish.
Go for it.
laz57
John, they're not my frustrations, but simply observations.
Truth be told, most folks who work full time for a living, have families and maybe have trains too are not spending hours on the train forums posting on every conceivable topic that comes up. Many of the train guys I know are not even registered on the train forums, though I know they do glance over the forums for info. For them, trains are a hobby and not an all-consuming occupation where they feel the need to tell every train maker of what they should and shouldn't be making.
ANY business is only intentionally going to make a product or service they believe or hope they can make a profit with. I think personally it is fruitless to suggest products to any company that have little chance of making a profit, since it is the intention of any company of make a profit. The past decade has seen an unprecidented amount of totally new train products available in a variety unimaginable several decades ago. The train companies have poured a lot of money into this, and I strongly suspect we are going to see a slowing down in the amounts of totally new products introduced. The K-Line failure is a sign of this. As also seen over the past decade, companies some times take chances on products - in order to be the number one company - that don't always end up being profitable.
As this relates to the hobby, we are spoiled - simple as that. And even though most of the new products have been aimed at the scale and high-end, the introduction of these products have helped contribute to prices coming down on the more common, less collectible kinds of trains - which has benefited non-scale operators like me.
The hobby is more diverse than ever. John, traction tires are fine with me, but I won't suggest them to you.... I know better. And that's how the hobby should be.... to each their own! And postwar trains are great, no question. I run what I run only as a matter of financial and space compromise. And as much as my choices in trains would not make some happy, for me, it's better than not having any trains at all. I give thanks that there is some stuff out there that I can afford and that I have the ability and so-called talent to make improvements.
What does annoy me (and more so on the "other" forum) is when some folks make pronouncements that the only trains that should be made are the ones they want. I personally will never run command control, but am glad it's available for those who enjoy it. And I don't have the space or room for full-scale models on my layout, but I get as much enjoyment seeing what some guy has done with an enitre basement layout as seeing what someone else has done on a 4'x8' layout.
For me, the saddest part of this hobby is when some folks worry that an increase in toy trains or a little more emphasis on train sets upsets them in that not as many scale trains will be made. Have we gotten so selfish that we forget how most of us got started in this hobby??? As I've said before, most kids with an interest in playing the guitar, do not start off with a Les Paul custom as their first guitar.
Going back to the topic though of this thread. Well, all my paragraphs show up on my screen. I like the forum the way it is, but if they change it, I'll live with it. I don't think having more topics on the first page is going to increase participation. The emphasis here on this forum has mostly been on more the more traditional, operating, toy side of the hobby. And as I said at the start, most folks are who not older or retired and wealthy with time on their hands, do not "live" on or for these train forums. Most folks I know would rather spend more time with the actual train layout rather than writing about it on a train forum.
I mean, what's better: to watch someone else eat a good meal through the window at a restaurant, or to be inside yourself having a similar meal? Nope, the train companies do not make all the products I'd like to see made, but I have also learned I can make them myself. If I spent all my time writing about what I wish was made, I'd hardly have any time to have some fun and make some things myself.
brianel027 wrote: John, they're not my frustrations, but simply observations.
What does it all have to do with making the page bigger?
brianel027 wrote: OK, nice idea. But how hard is it to simply go to the next page?? Are we really that lazy and obsessed with "convenience?" Maybe we are. We ran trains without digital control for 90 years, and then as was stated on the other mentioned forum, that you are not running your trains properly and can never have any fun running trains without digital control. Wrong!!
I run all of my prewar stuff digital.....I use all ten of my digits!!!!!
underworld
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