Hi,? As Brian just mentioned we¡¯ll try changing the options so photos are allowed. Just made the change. Had two choices HTML with attachments to email. (I picked that one). And HTML with links to attachments. Let¡¯s see how this goes. We have a mature group but with all attachments beware that something could come from a member who¡¯s email account was hacked. ? Also be judicious with what photos you post. Not all of us want to see 1000 pictures of David Best¡¯s vacation when he was a ¡°Professor¡± (I use the term loosely), with Semester at Sea a few years ago. I¡¯ve seen them. J? ? Take care, John ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: felder-woodworking@... [mailto:felder-woodworking@...]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2018 5:24 PM
To: FOG
Subject: Re: [felder-woodworking] groups.io for Felder Woodworking??
John and I have talked and I think we¡¯ll try changing the options on the group to allow photos first. If that seems to work well and goes smoothly, then I¡¯m not sure I see a huge need to move off of Yahoo.
If we decide in the long run to change platforms, then as John says, we¡¯ll run concurrent using Yahoo and a new one until we are sure that the change doesn¡¯t kill the group. I do belong to one software group that has a Yahoo group and a forum powered by phpBB and anything posted on Yahoo is mirrored on the forum, that might be an option at first until everything is migrated. Just an FYI, Yahoo used to be tons better in the photo section, back when we first started I set up folders, with sub folders and all that sort of organization and it was worlds easier to find photos. At one point in a Yahoo re-org, they shit canned all of our folders and it destroyed the whole photo album portion. It seems this is the biggest bone of contention for most users, they can¡¯t find photos. Hopefully allowing photos with posts and the associated linking that I think we¡¯ll get (have to wait and see) will alleviate most of the issues. ?
David Best wrote, ¡°So Dr. Renzetti, since you are the sole owner of the group, I¡¯ll put it to you: ? would you embrace moving to a new platform, and if so, under what conditions?¡± ? Well Dr Best, Actually I thought that Brian was an owner also effective when Scott Slate started to represent Martin. Since I¡¯m not as young as I used to be we should have a succession plan. I¡¯ll be in consultations with Brian and maybe we could arrange a leveraged buyout. We could probably get Goldman to do a valuation. This has to be worth a couple a million at least.?J? ? Moving should be done with a lot of care. You don¡¯t want to make a move, then have the FOG deleted and then find that the group didn¡¯t work and the FOG disappears. Or the new group gets setup and without moderation, the members get bombarded with spam or trolls join and start trouble. Suppose Paul Cresti comes back or Louie Melo.? ? But point me in the direction of one of these other groups with the better platform and I¡¯ll take a look at it so I can see what the benefits are. We¡¯ve seen other FOG type groups come and go over the years. We have to be 100% sure that this would be the right move. ? Take care, John ? ? ? ? ?
Forums like this reflect the values of the leadership/control structure of the group, not necessarily the values of the majority of the users involved.? ? The topic of ¡°platform¡± comes up here almost annually - Yahoo Groups has serious limitations & frustrations, but it has two things many like:? it¡¯s free and places no demands on the casual user. ? Excuses abound when the ¡°platform¡± suggestions come up - about moving files, hassle, time, money, etc. ? In contrast to FOG, I also participate in and support (financially and otherwise) a handful of other forums/user groups, which operate with a completely different philosophy about user interaction & involvement, distribute the leadership more widely, and are funded with annual voluntary contributions to support a superior platform.. ? I find those groups more effective and satisfying overall - they support email, are fully and effectively searchable, embrace many forms of media imbedded and archived (pdf, video, photos, etc..), allow cross-thread linking and referencing, facilitate polls and voting, and are mobile-device friendly, etc. ?And because so many of the users chip in a small annual contribution and help with administration, they have more skin in the game, and participation rates (quality and quantity) are high. I too appreciate all that John and Brian do to keep this group functioning and fending off the spam and junk. ? I also observe that participation by FOG members appears to be in decline, as evidenced by the number of postings on an annual or monthly basis. ? When I joined this group in 2001, it was thriving with tons of posts and lots of user contributions. ?Of course, back then the equipment being produced was far more temperamental and challenging to get and keep aligned and functioning in top form. ? Others have expressed the view to me privately that they would participate more on FOG if the platform supported media (photos, video, etc.) inclusion and the archive had search facilities that actually work. ? A few of my closest friends here on FOG have formed our own sub-group using the mobile device messaging platform and exchange dozens of messages daily with photos and videos of real-world problems, ideas and assistance. I know many here are hankering for a better platform, and some are willing to contribute cash to that end, and others still are prepared to give leadership. ? But such a shift would require the enthusiastic support of John and Brian, or the formation of an altogether new group (which has been tried and failed). ?? Although the ¡°platform" topic remains a hearty perennial here, and always pulls previously unheard from users out of the woodwork, the political will to migrate to a better platform remains the primary deterrent. ? ? So Dr. Renzetti, since you are the sole owner of the group, I¡¯ll put it to you: ? would you embrace moving to a new platform, and if so, under what conditions? ? Okay, so, i was hoping someone else might volunteer, but i guess i'll do it :) Yahoo groups has a JSON API that can be used to retrieve all the data (messages, files, photos, etc). It works fine on felder-woodworking. If folks want to move to a place that has a sane import API, i'm happy to do the export and import. If folks want to move to a place that has no import API, i'm also happy to provide a database that has all the data from the group, and someone else (not me!) can use it to build some web or mobile app or something out of the old data so it can be searched/used. This is obviously more annoying (or more awesome, depending on how you use the group :P), but there you go. In case anyone is worried about whether i can get it done, i've moved 3 *very* large? open source projects between different messaging software, bug software, and version control software before, so i've done this kind of thing before. ? On Tue, Jan 9, 2018 at 9:56 AM, Brian Lamb?blamb11@...?[felder-woodworking]?<felder-woodworking@...>?wrote: ? There have been several other attempts at creating another Felder group, none of which survived. This all stated back with eGroups in about 1999, and it was purchased/absorbed by Yahoo in maybe 2000 or 2001 if I remember correctly. ? ?
I think you have us mixed up with a dead forum started by a missing in action Festool Forum member named Sitting Elf/Frank. This group started before the original Festool forum was even in existence. He tried to started a completely new forum that didn't attract anybody with any Felder knowledge.? -------- Original message -------- Date: 2018-01-09 12:24 PM (GMT-05:00) Subject: [felder-woodworking] Re:??for Felder Woodworking? ? Hello,? I am new to the Felder Woodworking Group and I came across this conversation.? It is interesting that to find this group originally I was using the Festool Owners Group.? They use a product that is open source called Simple Machine Forum (SMF) to manage their group, just a thought.?? Anyway, I have just purchase a Hammer A3-26 Jointer/Planar unit and waiting the delivery in the near future.? My goal is to use the Felder-Woodworking Owners Group to gather tips and tricks on how the product works and nuances that users have come across the improve on the experience.? I am not new to woodworking as I have been a hobbyist/DIY person for 27 years and appreciate good tools and machinery.? The Felder product line intrigued me because it advertised precision and quality above price.? I value the idea that with better tools, what you create in the woodshop comes out better.? Price is always something tha t each user must balance with quality and precision.? So I will continue to check out the group for help along the way.
?
?
?
|
John Renzetti