I think it has to do with the front page. People post there & not in the forums. So there's no running dialog between people. 

I use to post a lot of topics here. But now you have to go out of your way to find them. Forums were the centrail part of things here for me. 

I don't want to go I paid for a lifetime membership to help Katie out. 

I love what this place does for the people that need help, how everyone reaches out to each other. When I first came here I needed that & I found it. I want TGS to be here for years to come. 

Agreed!  The front page has taken on a "Facebook" or Twitter like mentality of a quick comment or tons of silly pix....the pic access used to be restricted to paid members only and the energy of the site was focused in the Forum threads and even chat...I, like you, found that to be invaluable to me and has helped shape my life from that moment on when I joined.  

I wonder, is it possible to push the current front page behind a layout that emphasizes the forum threads and news items?  I'm not sure we have gained as many new contributing members ,contributing as in dialog vs. "lookee me" type pix that just get old real quick?  I've noticed many of the "old timers" have stopped logging in and their contributions are greatly missed.  Or do the majority just prefer the "Facebook" type of interface and are happy to have it this way?  I'm not bashing the site but am concerned with it's future as a one stop place for all Transgendered and related topics....

Perhaps the answer would be to replace the current front page with an expanded version of the "Recent Forum Topics" (as seen on the right of this post) and have a special section in the forum which would be more FB like and be automatically linked to members profile updates,

I also think there are just simply too many sub forums (eg are we really like The 'Women's Institute' with a need for a Cookery sub forum, I was surprised I didn't see a section devoted to knitting lol).

Obviously it's Katie's site so she is naturally free to do with it as she chooses - but it seems that Cris and maybe Katie would like to see more people using the forums and this would be one way to achieve that.

That wasn't a dig on you Katie. Times change but I'm slow to do so.

(smile)  Guess I'm getting old!  I do not like Facebook either!  LOL  

Yes Katie, I like the idea of having say a column which lists Forum topics, and perhaps an "asterisk" assigned to that topic if a post was made since your visit to the site.  Place this column in a prominent position along side the running "Facebook" garble...this I believe would take the traffic off that portion of the page and perhaps open up more discussions as it would now be simpler to access and view!  Right now, one has to dig deep into the "Facebook" column past far too many redundant pictures to get comment with dialog or worthy of discussion.

Please do not feel I'm negative on your efforts and all...your work and site are terrific, but I, like you, wish to see it grow and become a bigger piece of our community so I offered up what I hoped was taken as "constructive criticism".  Instead of complaining, I offered a "solution"...(which ought to be modis operadni for everyone when maikg comments)...

Anyhow, it is a good topic worthy of input from yourself and the others who manage the site!

Best wishes always....

Traci  xoxox

If you read something interesting on the front page, and then think you'd like to engage in a discussion at a later point after it's fallen off the front page then it becomes difficult... was it a forum post? a blog? an article? was there a poll?

what really is the difference between a blog and an article?  if you can open up a dialog/discussion how does that differ from a forum?

actually, now I think on it... what is this one here that I'm posting on?

ah, it's a forum - well then if I want to find it again (and it hadn't got my posting on it, I would then have to hunt around all the different forum to find it again)

I'd suggest that it needs some rationalisation

At the top of this page it says Forums. Then it says General Forums.

Under that gives the tital of the thread. That's how you find it.

Hi Traci,

Even more simple - you go to your own profile page, look in the tabbed headers section (just beneath the membership card), click on 'Forum Posts' and you will see a list of the forum posts you have made - click on the link in the one which you want to go to and you can see the whole thread.

OK...I understand that Carol, but what I would rather see was a layout of topics to choose from whether I contributed or not.  It is doable today, but the Facebook layout we have only skims whatever was posted most recently.  I just think it, like Anne mentioned, somewhat confusing.  A good example is I have no idea where this comment is going to be posted.  I'm going to guess on the Home page "Facebook" column, when I really wish it would remain with this topic.

I'll work with what we have, but my point really is that in order to make this the site that Katie and all have envisioned, perhaps it ought to be reformatted some. And Katie's response makes perfect sense and truly it is me that needs to "adjust" as things do change and all...but when I open the site, I do not want to see somebody's legs or silicone stuffed chests at all but wish to see what is currently being talked about pertaining to transitioning, gender issues, who is online, messages for myself, and the like.  The shopping trips and all belong in a blog behind the issues.  Just my feelings and I respect everybody elses, so no big deal.

Cool...this time I somehow managed to have my post remain with the discussion rather than the front page where it really doesn't belong!

Ooooppppsss...I guess I spoke too soon...perhaps I need to learn how to navigate the site use the tools the way it's set up.  I just am lost in doing so and haven't seemed to be able to crack the code...oh well!

Hi Traci,

I fully understand where you are coming from, which is why I made a suggestion earlier.  Whether that is 'doable' I don't know, but if it were possible, those who wante to enter via a Facebook style home page and they could then bookmark that page.  I am in total agreement with you about not really wanting to see what you mentioned, I would rather see a list of the most recent forum activity - but hey, guess I'm a bit old fashioned too - but there's nothing wrong with that either lol

thanks for your reply Karen.  Really Helpful... although nothing to do with the point I was making, which was about navigating from the frontpage to a myriad of 'types' of posts, all of which are so similar as to no longer be entirely useful, and in someways are leaving posts lost in their own little ghetto. but thanks again for your helpful suggestion.

If you go to the forums page and bookmark it, then use that link to get you here, then you will bypass the "Home" page, so it looks like a forum based site. When you've had enough in the forums you can click the "Home" button to see whats new "facebook style"

As someone relitively new I found the forms to be a little intimidating at first. I found that the front page was a place i could put a short little msg and test the waters to start. It is only now that i am starting to dive into the vast ocean of knowlage and experiance that is the forms. However i do hope that the front page does not become a distraction from the forms as info dissapears far to fast from the front page and the forms last as a refferance and guide to those of us just starting out.

Excellent points Jennifer!

Yes it is. When I first joined it took a while before I posted anything.

Katie, when you post in the forums the post only appears on the home page to yourself. No-one else's forum posts ever appear on the home page, other than at the bottom where the first line or two is displayed in the recent forum posts section. Which leads me to my other point, it may seem small and pedantic but I think it would make a big difference:

At the top right of this and the home page is not the recent forum posts, but the recent forum topics. I don't find this a great deal of use. What really should feature on the home page, and not near the bottom if possible, is a longer list of recent forum posts. This allows regular forum readers like myself to keep up with what is being said every day. As it stands, there are only about 5 recent posts shown near the bottom of the home page, 20 or so would be more useful so we don't miss any. We used to have this on the forums home page of the old site, it was a great way to keep up with all the discussions. Now, if more than 5 posts are made between my visits, there's a good chance I will miss them entirely.

xx

 I was not here when Katie was on here a couple years ago, I can only remark on what I see now and that is the fact that it appears she is trying, You can't move a mountain overnight so give her a chance, From what I see as a newbie, I do not see anything wrong with the site, Except maybe a few personal issues that do not need to be commented on as far as other things that are our of her control

Katie Glover said

Those of you who were here two or three years back may remember that we were in real trouble with the previous software.  It ws installed in 2002 and it was really old and falling down.  We had no support because the company that built it had gone out of business.  We just had to move on and we had to move with the times.

I spent months trying to find some good replacement software that did most of what we wanted and which we could afford and what you see now beat every other contender on every level.  After it was installed it then took almost a year of work to get it into a position where we were happy enough to launch it and finally close down the old site.

It's true that the activity feed on the front page is very popular and possibly at the expense of other parts of the site, like the forums, but this is how the new site works.  It's also now what people expect from a social networking community (Facebook has seen to that).

Time have moved on and we can't just go back to being a forums site again.  What we can do, it perhaps try to promote the forums more and try to make them more prominent.

There are still lots of people here who love the forums (ask Cristine).  Let's get them all involved more and maybe together we can push them forward.  If you want to become more involved and help us to make the forums a success, please just let me know.

As for the number of forums, well that's down to our members.  Several members asked for a cookery forum and so that's where that came from.  I just try to please.

Hugs, Katie   x

 

 

 

 

 

Brilliant, thanks Katie. There seems to be quite a lot of space at the bottom of the right-hand column on the home page, so if you could make the recent posts list any longer, 10 or 20 instead of just 5, that would save regular forumistas like me from missing posts. One likes to keep abreast of things...

Not quite so important, but the "My Network" box seems to be of no use to anyone, that could be moved down the page, and the "Recommendations" box seems to be entirely random, that could go if you needed to free up space on that side, as could the "Some popular members" box, can't see the point of that at all to be honest.

I do appreciate how hard you work at all this Katie, and I think you once again for your virtually superhuman efforts.

xx

Thnx Katie!!  I agree with Lucy on all topics!  Appreciate you listening to us...

Traci xoxox

I would like to pipe in!!  I love this website and I think you gals are doing a fantastic job making a cozy place for those who need it can take refuge here and use the main page as a stage, the forums as an encyclopedia transexua, and our profiles to express ourselves! need it. love it. thank you all xoxoxoxo