Feedback thread.

Stephanie Brim · Aug 26, 2006

Now that the forums are split up, Sean and I are going to need your help deciding what forums we have, what forums we do away with, what forums we change, etc. If you have a suggestion for something, put it here. If you have a general complaint about something, put it here.

I've also just found that I can move threads and I'm trying to decide whether or not to move things to their appropriate forums or to just leave the old threads where they are. Comments on THAT would be appreciated as well.

Help me do well by you guys by giving me as much feedback as possible. It's greatly appreciated.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

I think it would be a good idea to sort out some of the existing threads and move them into the new forums just to get things going and to avoid redundant threads in the future. Go for it.

Should there be a forum for LF rangefinders (Graflex and other press cameras, Linhof, Littman and other Polaroid conversions)? We can discuss such things in the LF forum, of course, and maybe it's better there, but it's something to think about.

Stephanie Brim · Aug 26, 2006

I was just thinking about that.

I left it out because I figured that it could stay in the LF forum, but then it hit me that perhaps since everything else gets attention in the actual forum it would be a nice addition.

Dan Fromm · Aug 26, 2006

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! All that the new arrangement has done has been to increase the time it takes to find new posts. IMO the old way was better.

Ole · Aug 26, 2006

Dan Fromm said:
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! All that the new arrangement has done has been to increase the time it takes to find new posts. IMO the old way was better.

Or do it the simple way, and click the "new posts since your last visit" in the top right corner... But that's probably too easy?

Ole · Aug 26, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
Should there be a forum for LF rangefinders (Graflex and other press cameras, Linhof, Littman and other Polaroid conversions)? We can discuss such things in the LF forum, of course, and maybe it's better there, but it's something to think about.

That would be a wide and varied group, but still only a limited subset.

There's a lot of difference between a 5x7" Technika and a Littmann, even if both are supposed to be made for hand held shooting with a rangefinder. And Speed Graphics have their own quite unique set of questions, as I'm just learning...

IMO a subgroup for "small LF" - 6x9, rollfilm etc with full movements - might be more useful. And then we wouldn't have to discuss whether they're LF or MF!

Dan Fromm · Aug 26, 2006

Ole said:
Or do it the simple way, and click the "new posts since your last visit" in the top right corner... But that's probably too easy?

My bad, I found it after I posted and before I came back here. Arrgh!

Cheers,

Dan

Stephanie Brim · Aug 26, 2006

Well...

If you're looking for Leica M, go to the Leica M forum. If you're looking for Russian/FSU rangefinders, go to the Russian forum. If you're looking for Canon rangefinders, go to the Canon forum. Etc. Everything that doesn't have a forum of its own still goes in the normal catch-all forum.

I'll be working on moving as much stuff as I can whenever I have time to the appropriate forums. I wish that this forum script had a way to do that with more than one at a time.

Paul Sorensen · Aug 26, 2006

Anyone else think that some sort of "cheapie rangefinder" for Yashicas, fixed lens Canons, Minoltas, etc. would be a good idea? Certainly that is more what I am interested in.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

Stephanie Brim said:
I wish that this forum script had a way to do that with more than one at a time.

There might be some tricky way of doing it involving the moderation control panel, if Sean has given you access to that, but it doesn't seem to be built in. For instance, you can move threads in batches based on the date of last reply, origin date, number of responses, user name, title, and other parameters.

So maybe if wildcards are allowed in the title field (and I'm not sure that they are), you could add some marker to the title of each thread you want to move, then move them all that once, but I'm not sure that changing the title of a thread is necessarily easier than just moving the thread.

Stephanie Brim · Aug 26, 2006

Forums, just like the credit card machines at the checkout lanes, are all different. I've moderated a few in my days, but it always takes me a bit to get used to a new one.

I'm just going to do things the hard way and it'll just take some time. I hope that everyone can bear with me while things are a little hard to find...as soon as I go through everything, they won't be anymore.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

Okay, I just did a little experiment. In the moderators' control panel I used the batch "move" function to move all threads in the Rangefinder Forum with the word "Nikon" in them to the Nikon Rangefinder Forum--seven threads. I got a menu that allowed me to move selectively, so that you could uncheck any threads that shouldn't be moved. This might make it easier to deal with the Leica threads that will overlap forums.

Can you access the modcp? If not, and if it's not convenient for Sean to give you access, let me know, and I'll take a look and try to set up some more batch moves for you.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

I just did the same and moved any "Zeiss" threads as well as some of the "Contax" threads into the Zeiss Rangefinder Forum, but in the "Move Selectively" menu, I deselected Contax G threads, since I wasn't sure if you would want them in the Zeiss category or if you had something else in mind for them.

One thing I discovered in this process is that a search on the Rangefinder Forum will include all subforums, so threads that are already in the appropriate subforum will show up as threads to be moved, but they'll be moved into the same subforum, where they should be.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

Also, "X vs Leica" threads I moved into the "X" category, since the Leica categories will probably be pretty large, and there seem to be many such threads.

I'm inclined just to delete any thread that has "vs." in it in any category anywhere on APUG, but I won't do that.

Lachlan Young · Aug 26, 2006

David, could we have a Large Format RF forum please for us mad Weegee wannabees!

Thanks,

Lachlan

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 26, 2006

I can't create new forums. If enough people think it's a good idea, Sean can set it up. I threw it out there, and Ole had some further suggestions, but I don't know if we need a separate forum from the LF forum.

If others have an opinion one way or the other, speak up, and maybe we can find a concensus. I'm ambivalent about it.

Had another go in the control panel, and I moved a bunch of Russian threads into the Russian Rangefider forum, Voigtlander threads into the Voigtlander forum, Canon threads into the Canon forum, and some of the MF threads into MF. I also made a little headway into Leica M territory.

What about Bessa I and II and Perkeo threads--Voigtlander or Medium Format?

Ole · Aug 27, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
What about Bessa I and II and Perkeo threads--Voigtlander or Medium Format?

I'd say MF. Just as my VAG, Avus and Bergheil cameras are "Plate Cameras", even if they're Voigtländers.

But then there are MF folders with rangefinders as well...

Dan Fromm · Aug 27, 2006

Ole said:
Or do it the simple way, and click the "new posts since your last visit" in the top right corner... But that's probably too easy?

Ole, I've already thanked you for the suggestion and told you that I found the "View New Posts" button before I read your reply.

Now, please click on the "View New Posts" button while at the top level of the RF forums. When I do it, it returns all new posts in all forums. More posts I don't want to see to wade through. Please advise what I've done wrong and how to get the thing to show me just and only new posts in the RF forums.

Cheers,

Dan

p.s., every day in every way I like this split less and less

Sean · Aug 27, 2006

Hi Dan, that link is just the same as the one at the top of the forum header. Things will be much better when we upgrade soon, stay tuned.

Sean

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 31, 2006

Over at photo.net I noticed that Philip Greenspun is looking to consolidate forums, because the creation of many small forums has produced more fragmented discussion across the board. Of course photo.net is very different from APUG, but I think that's an experience we might want to think about and learn from before creating too many new forums.

I still think we need genre/aesthetics/technique forums (like portrait, still life, landscape, figure, etc.), because it's an issue that keeps coming up in different ways, and we don't have a good place for those kinds of discussions, but before we create a list of brand forums for each format, it would probably be a good idea to see how they work in the Rangefinder forums for at least six months or a year.

Sean · Aug 31, 2006

Sounds good to me. The only main reason I thought we should break up RF forums was because these cameras have such strong ties to usage & collecting. I have a few rangefinders myself and there is something unique about them that is different from other equipment. Maybe that's just me? We still need to refine the categories and will definitely moderate out any brand vs. brand silly arguments that flare up -for example if someone does not like Leica they should not be hassling people in the Leica subforum etc.. Also don't reserve judgement on subforums until you see the new version, it organizes subforums MUCH better than this current system..

Stephanie Brim · Aug 31, 2006

I think I'll wait to give you the final list I've come up with until we go to the new system. In the mean time, I'm going to spend some time shooting.

df cardwell · Aug 31, 2006

Dan Fromm said:
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! All that the new arrangement has done has been to increase the time it takes to find new posts. IMO the old way was better.

On the other hand, anything we can do to improve research would be good. If one wanted to check the archives for " Crown Graphic", for instance, it would be essential to have tighter resolution than "LF" to tease it away from a million other posts.

df cardwell · Aug 31, 2006

Paul Sorensen said:
Anyone else think that some sort of "cheapie rangefinder" for Yashicas, fixed lens Canons, Minoltas, etc. would be a good idea? Certainly that is more what I am interested in.

"Fixed Lens 35mm " ????

That would incorporate most of the breed,
without weeding out those with RFDRs
from those without.

df cardwell · Aug 31, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
Also, "X vs Leica" threads I moved into the "X" category, since the Leica categories will probably be pretty large, and there seem to be many such threads.

I'm inclined just to delete any thread that has "vs." in it in any category anywhere on APUG, but I won't do that.

LObloodyL

Do: You have my blessing.

ALSO " Please publish examples which illustrate the difference between Nikon and Canon lenses".

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