Live Stoner Chat Some thoughts about AFN.

[Troon]

First let me start by saying I love this website, the people, and the knowledge that is contained here. I have never felt more welcomed by the members and staff of any other cannabis related forum than I have felt here. I feel as if this website/forum is a smaller community than some, and while it may be small I think it is the best in my personal opinion. I feel as if the community members and staff are a family, and as soon as I started posting g on the forum the members and staff welcomed me into that family. I hope what I am about to say is seen as constructive criticism. I'm sure some may see it as a straight up insult, but I also believe some will agree with me.

The forum is great, and so is the knowledge contained within the forum, and so are the members who contributed this information to the forum. I do however feel as if it is not well organized, and as a new member to the community it can be hard to find the correct thread to post in, and just somewhat difficult to navigate in general. For example, grow journals are posted everywhere on the forum. I feel as if the members/visitors of the website could benefit from having them all in one location.

There are also stickies on every thread, while these can be very useful I think there are too many of these. I think it would be better to make a actual website to go along with the forum. We could use these stickies to create a webpage and give credit to the post at the bottom of the page by linking to their profile, and a link to give them reputation. I also believe they should be proof read and edited before posted to a page. Not only would we have a forum of useful information and debates but we would also have a website full of information. I don't know about you but sometimes when I am reading forum post I tend to get annoyed with all the post between the information I am looking for. It would also allow us to reduce the amount of stickies, we could have one sticky with links to AFN website pages, and of course credit the member who brought the information to the website.

For example there is a sticky under Live & Interactive Stoner Chat about how to save partial joints. While the information provided inside the post is useful does it need to be a sticky? In my opinion no. What real purpose does it serve? It's common sense, do we really need a sticky about how to save partial joints? There are also post there that are stickys just to generate activity such as, what music are you listening to, where did your username come from, and how old are you. In my opinion these are useless stickys, but my opinion isn't the only one that matters.

The use of the word live - it's over used and just not needed. When I first got here I thought possibly people might have a stream of a security camera/webcam of their grow... what's the difference between a live grow journal, and a grow journal? Nothing as far as I can see.

Basically what I am trying to say is I think the website and the members could benefit from organization. There is a chance this is being done behind the scenes right now and I just don't know it, if so great!! I think that having a website to go along with the forum would be awesome. For example, if AFN had its own web page and a new comer had a question instead of answering by linking to another website we could link to the AFN website. Also I think organizing the forum would bring more members. I signed up a while ago and simply didn't post here because the lack of organization. I am 100% sure the lack of forum organization and easy navigation have turned some people away from this forum. The only reason I am here right now is because I had a question and no one answered on another website. I came here and got an answer pretty quickly, and the person who answered was also very friendly and helpful. More members mean more activity, and more activity means a greater flow of new members.

All of this would require a lot of time and energy from people, but I am sure there are more than a few people who would be more than happy to help. There is a lot more that can be added to what I have said in this post just wanted to get a general idea of everyone else's opinion and see if others feel the same way I do.

 

[G.Leave]

Good post. I do agree with the fact that some stickies should not be stickies, and some stuck threads could use some editing. I think the biggest issue is that most mods are very busy. Finding time to do journals, moderator duties, welcoming new members, setting up contests, and then that crap that we all call "real life" can often leave the mods short with time.
I am just a regular mod, not a global mod so I am not sure if I have the modding power to unstick threads. I'll copy/paste this thread, and post it into the moderator thread and see what happens.

 

[Troon]

Sweet thanks man. I'd assume some of the stickies were made when the site first started to generate some activity.

Also when I first joined the website I had no idea the main communication that's happens on the forum happens in the new live stoners thread. I'll also admit that I didn't like that idea at first, but I came around and now I enjoy frequenting the new live stoners gossip thread. Kinda weird but whatever, it works. People talk about anything and everything there... it's like a chat but better. I ask all kinds of questions there and get answers in no time and I have also made some forum buddies there as well.

Seriously the only thing that brought me back to this forum was the members, including staff. I had trouble getting an answer to my question on another forum and no one answered... so I posted here and I got an answer in a timely fashion so I hung around. I also strictly grow autoflowers.

I just wish we had better overall organization. New members could benefit from it greatly and so would the website.

 

[Mossy]

You are 97% Right Troon.....what we need is site spring clean and as you say that requires man power.

We have a couple of discussions going on in admin about new and old vendor changes.
Once we have done that..we'll look at a front page rearrangement.

The suggestion is that we try to List the sections like an interactive grow book because every one recognises that format.

Also having the new word press page gives us a chance to List the forums and link through so you get to where you want quickly..sounds like a project for the new year.

Adding Live to a section means that the section is Manned with 24 hour cover..so if you post or question you Should get an answer resposce within a day...

other sections may be longer...as we don't have full time zone cover.


fz

 

[DarkGreen]

Deffo too much here and very confusing.

Like Troon says it's not a big user population here and there's way too many sections subsections and stickies.

Sometimes I log on and there's 100 users online but everyone's lost in the corridors...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Troon]

You are 97% Right Troon.....what we need is site spring clean and as you say that requires man power.

We have a couple of discussions going on in admin about new and old vendor changes.
Once we have done that..we'll look at a front page rearrangement.

The suggestion is that we try to List the sections like an interactive grow book because every one recognises that format.

Also having the new word press page gives us a chance to List the forums and link through so you get to where you want quickly..sounds like a project for the new year.

Adding Live to a section means that the section is Manned with 24 hour cover..so if you post or question you Should get an answer resposce within a day...

other sections may be longer...as we don't have full time zone cover.


fz

Also I'd like to add one more thing and I've read where someone else also said it a while ago. Not really into the fact that AFN/Pot Pros are on the home page. I don't ever use the home page, I just link straight to the forums.

Why?
Well I didn't care for the idea to begin with BUT with new things coming along I don't like it at all. I ONLY grow autoflowers(one more reason I love this website) and so when I look for information I am strictly looking for information on autoflowers. That being said there are a lot that applies to both photoperiod/autoflower cannabis plants, but some info is good for only one or the other. When I was on my first grow I didn't really know if the information I was reading applied to autos or not. If AFN was a website by itself then the information contained on the websites would obviously only pertain to autoflowers.

i believe pages containing information are very useful. When I am looking for information it often leads me to forums. That's fine but sometimes I have to read 80 posts in one thread to find the little bit of information I was looking for. I don't want to read through 80 different posts to find the two lines of reading I was looking for.

What I normally do is find a information page then when I find the information I was looking for I bring it to the forums to have someone confirm what I just read.

Again, not trying to be insulting and I hope you guys don't take it that way. I hope you see it as useful constructive criticism. I just try to take my experiences as a new grower and use it to help you guys make a better website. I only have a few grows and I have probably read god knows how many hours about growing cannabis, and I'm still learning/reading.

Also another idea that would be 100% awesome is a 'grow buddy'. I think it would be cool as shit to have an experienced member guide a new grower through his/her grow. I'm sure some people wouldn't mind. You could group a new grower with an experienced grower who has a similar growing style. The idea sounds good but, it would be hard to achieve. Would have to be someone who is experienced, has more than a few grows GOOD grow journals under their belt, someone who is on here on a daily basis, someone who WANTS to help new people, and someone who has a lot of patience.

 

[G.Leave]

You are 97% Right Troon.....what we need is site spring clean and as you say that requires man power.

We have a couple of discussions going on in admin about new and old vendor changes.
Once we have done that..we'll look at a front page rearrangement.

The suggestion is that we try to List the sections like an interactive grow book because every one recognises that format.

Also having the new word press page gives us a chance to List the forums and link through so you get to where you want quickly..sounds like a project for the new year.

Adding Live to a section means that the section is Manned with 24 hour cover..so if you post or question you Should get an answer resposce within a day...

other sections may be longer...as we don't have full time zone cover.


fz

Hey mossy...if you need any help with this let me know. I am finally done my fall harvest, and other than making a few batches of hash, I am free for time for the winter.

 

[G.Leave]

Also I'd like to add one more thing and I've read where someone else also said it a while ago. Not really into the fact that AFN/Pot Pros are on the home page. I don't ever use the home page, I just link straight to the forums.

Why?
Well I didn't care for the idea to begin with BUT with new things coming along I don't like it at all. I ONLY grow autoflowers(one more reason I love this website) and so when I look for information I am strictly looking for information on autoflowers. That being said there are a lot that applies to both photoperiod/autoflower cannabis plants, but some info is good for only one or the other. When I was on my first grow I didn't really know if the information I was reading applied to autos or not. If AFN was a website by itself then the information contained on the websites would obviously only pertain to autoflowers.

i believe pages containing information are very useful. When I am looking for information it often leads me to forums. That's fine but sometimes I have to read 80 posts in one thread to find the little bit of information I was looking for. I don't want to read through 80 different posts to find the two lines of reading I was looking for.

What I normally do is find a information page then when I find the information I was looking for I bring it to the forums to have someone confirm what I just read.

Again, not trying to be insulting and I hope you guys don't take it that way. I hope you see it as useful constructive criticism. I just try to take my experiences as a new grower and use it to help you guys make a better website. I only have a few grows and I have probably read god knows how many hours about growing cannabis, and I'm still learning/reading.

Also another idea that would be 100% awesome is a 'grow buddy'. I think it would be cool as shit to have an experienced member guide a new grower through his/her grow. I'm sure some people wouldn't mind. You could group a new grower with an experienced grower who has a similar growing style. The idea sounds good but, it would be hard to achieve. Would have to be someone who is experienced, has more than a few grows GOOD grow journals under their belt, someone who is on here on a daily basis, someone who WANTS to help new people, and someone who has a lot of patience.

Unless I am mistaken potpros is now its own site, and most relevant info on photo growing is over there and not here. I agree it should be its own site due to growing differences, but remember Potpros is just starting out as its own website, and it is a sister site to AFN. Currently there is very little traffic over there, and we need all the publicity we can get for those that want to see a Photopeiod website that is founded, run and catered to kind folks. From the other Photo sites I have visited, this is sorely needed on the net!! Same awesome vibe as AFN but with photoperiod plants.

As for the grow buddy thing, it happens all the time here. There is even a mentor badge! I am only speaking for myself here...with my terrible internet I cannot have the time and patience to be a mentor. I try to mentor everyone when I write a journal. I try to make every journal I write to be very detailed and to contain every relevant detail with regards to technique, fertilizer strength/amount ect.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Hey guys just read through all of the replies!

For starters I want to thank you guys for taking the time to write up your suggestions! In the past we've done some suggestion threads and things like that to get a feel for where members are at and what they'd like to see so we definitely appreciate constructive criticisms when they are presented as such.

Now I have to say I agree with a majority of the points here. A few things I don't necessarily agree with (and that's fine.) A few things I think there's something information missing that I hope I can help fill in and it make more sense!

For starters, let's clarify Autoflower.net is it's own site. Pot Pro's.net is it's OWN site. Originally we had installed a mod for XenForo (our forum software) that allowed two forums to share some integration, like same log-ins, etc. The idea was that one login for HERE would work on the other site and vice versa. Shares some similar things like galleries and other features. Sounded great. On paper. In reality, it sucked ass. It conflicted with other add-ons we are using and was causing some site performance issues. We've since done away with it and now have Pot Pro's working on it's own setup/database.

Pot Pro's is a photoperiod option that we saw some members pushing for so we decided to create it and give a style similar to how AFN works and operate. It's still very much in it's infancy state, but the goal is to keep the respective information for autos and photo strains now on their respective sites.

As to "too many forums posts to sift though," that's unfortunately the nature of an online cannabis forum my friend lol. That's why we have the search function! However, to help address this further we've decided to start pushing for a more concrete tutorial/guide that we'll be posting up on our main intro page (the wordpress start page.) We hope to cover a majority of the growing aspects and techniques with a static guide that will have all of the information displayed in an easy-to-read format, and then use the forum to cover the actual discussion between members. That should eliminate the clutter for the actual substance of the information but still allow everyone to chat about it as they normally (and already do.)

We have several staff tutorials that are already started (some of these were started over a year ago,) they just need some polishing and pictures and we should be set. So I mean even a majority of that work load is nearly done!

As to the sticky threads, we've been planning an intense 'all-seasons cleaning' for each section and we'll start eliminating older stickies and things that are not relevant. I agree, some of that stuff even "I" go "why is this a sticky?" Sometimes we just leave them up for nostalgia sake too, this was a very small forum community before it turned into what it is now. It's kind of like getting married and getting all new furniture but your wife lets you keep your nasty, raggedy torn up green recliner from your bachelor days because it reminds you of where you were before this.

There's also a consolidation plan in progress to see if we can condense any sections or rogue subforums (and I know there's a few.)

Anyway hopefully that clarifies a few issues and stances, again I want to say thank you guys for the suggestions and it's nice to get some perspective from people NEW to the site instead of the same X-year members telling us how much they hate change haha (that's a little poke in the rib for a few people here, you know who you are you big sillies.)

Appreciate your time guys!

 

[epenguin]

You see guys..............we do listen. We may not always agree, but often we do !!!

It all comes down to the way we communicate. Criticism is welcome. As long as it is constructive and polite. That way we are more likely to take on board the ideas and suggestions put forward.

When people start shouting, no one listens. When people attack personalities, defenses go up. AFN is not a democracy, but it is a caring and sharing society that will always listen to reasoned arguments and ideas.

If your ideas are carried out, well done. (although I probably thought of it first and was gonna do it anyway !) and if your proposals are not, then accept with good grace.

I sincerely hope we can all work together to construct the kind of forum and community that we all want to be a part of and one that goes from strength to strength. Or should that be GROWS from strength to strength.

cheers m' dears.....eP.