Archive: theAVS community Yahoo groups


15th May 2003 12:22 UTC

theAVS community Yahoo groups
a new group founded my me, to be a member of it,
just send a blank mail to:
theAVScommunity-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

lots of features here including chat and stuff, can upload files, photos and all...I have already sent invitation to the people whose e-mail addresses i knew. but i sent a notice here so that all can join.

this is the homepage:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theAVScommunity/


15th May 2003 12:24 UTC

Great! More fragmentation!

And obnoxious advertisements too...
</sarc>


15th May 2003 14:03 UTC

sorry shreyas, but i have to agree with ucd..
thanks for the offer tho.
no offence..


15th May 2003 16:19 UTC

well, ok if no one is agreeing then i can always delete the group


16th May 2003 14:58 UTC

Why that bad reaction? At leasdt a good idea and it wasnt meant to replace the forums. It could be used to get information quick to all persons including large attachments that couldnt be done in the forums.

Don't be so überpessimistic! I'll sign up :)


16th May 2003 16:20 UTC

So we have:

- Wa.com forums
- visbot.net
- deviantart.com (the forums are hardly used, but the comments on eachothers submissions are always filled)
- Yahoo group


17th May 2003 05:25 UTC

not to mention the web site that is (maybe) on its way.

btw, the main reason why i didnt sign up was because i had to fill in all sort of forms at yahoo. and im lazy.


17th May 2003 10:43 UTC

You forgot about deskmod :p


17th May 2003 11:29 UTC

i agree with magic , i'll sign up too.


17th May 2003 13:35 UTC

I'll sign up. I already have username on Yahoo, all I have to do is to click a button :)


17th May 2003 20:22 UTC

okay, i haven't said anything yet, but i will now...this sounds absolutely terrible, and i'm pretty sure will fail completely to do anything for the avs community in general. like unconed said, we've already gotten enough fragmentation as it is, and i see no good in more of it :/


18th May 2003 01:20 UTC

I signed up.


18th May 2003 03:49 UTC

well, now i have atleast 8 to 10 members, lets see for a month or soo...

i also discovered this : it has plenty of space to upload avs packs unlike the forums where you can post only about 100 kb attachment. so if you want to send a pack here for reviewing or comments upload it to the yahoo groups and send the url here :)


20th May 2003 11:35 UTC

We should link the community and the forums to the website to create ONE communtiy / knowledge base site.

As far as fragmentation goes:

-I am not at DA, this is (IMO) for a personal presentation of individual artist and has NOTHING to do with AVS in general.

-I ve never been to visbot, just visited it and it gets the same statement as DA!

So we're gonna have a website that links the AVS-Forums within a frame, contains a knowledgebase and offers additiona membership within a community.

Sounds good to me, i don't know what you pessimists gotta complain about.

Shreyas: would be already in but the firewall here blocked the signup site for some reason. Will join soon ;)


20th May 2003 12:38 UTC

Devart has the best community i have seen in the "AVS Scene" yet. It might be slow, but it's worth it :)


20th May 2003 15:59 UTC

what about the firewall?


21st May 2003 02:06 UTC

An avs website should be a knowledge base. A far more effective tool than a forum is for begginners and learners. It will actually make this forum run alot better as it will eliminate most of your complaints (simple questions not being searched).


21st May 2003 04:13 UTC

umm

how?

what makes you think that n00bs won't pay attention to the goddamned search button, with a Big red reminder whenever they post to Search the goddamned forums, as well as the big fat FAQ at the top of the forum, but WILL pay attention to a website that cannot be linked from the forum in a better fasion, and is not affiliated with nullsoft and, therefore, winamp, which is how AVS gets about in the first place?


21st May 2003 12:08 UTC

We need a >AVS KNOWLEDGE BASE WEBSITE, INFOMRMATION IS ALL HERE< Thread insted of the FAQ


21st May 2003 12:20 UTC

For complete noobs who've genuinely never been here before is it really too much trouble just to send a link in the thread instead of shouting to search and blah blah blah. Fletchface was an exception because he's been here longer and knows everyone yells at everyone to search the forums. But how about, just an idea here but we don't scare off every noob who comes in our vicinity? Don't get me wrong it's very annoying when people continually want everything spoonfed to them but if the first time we can let it slide and just tell them to search the forums in future it would be much better. By all means if they keep doing it have a good ol' fashioned rant about how they should search and stop whinging but first give them the information.


21st May 2003 16:23 UTC

instead can we tell a mod to modify the website so that whenever someone new visits the avs forums, he/she will get a popup to search the forums before asking.
personally, i dont think its a problem to give the same answers again, but i guess eveyone's not the same :)


21st May 2003 16:58 UTC

instead can we tell a mod to modify the website so that whenever someone new visits the avs forums, he/she will get a popup to search the forums before asking.
wow, we never though of that.

except for the five thousand times before that we did.


and it was stupid then, too.

22nd May 2003 02:21 UTC

Atero, stop being such a smartass. If you don't want to be a part of the group, then don't post in this thread. As far as the group is concerned, I don't really have time to get involved, sorry. But I think it's a good idea. Anything made to inform others about AVS or showcase AVS authors is a positive thing, as far as I am concerned.


22nd May 2003 05:00 UTC

Atero - you're right - and people aren't reading the big red text at the top. In fact I don't even recall reading it myself 99.9% of the time. Do you?

Website interfaces fail miserably because people don't even 'consciously' look at 95% of the screen. If you want to find a price on a new radeon 9700pro for example - you'd go somewhere like www.pricewatch.com - then your eyes flick across the page until you find video cards, then you'd look straight to the sublist which pops up.
You wouldn't even notice the rest.
There is a real science behind putting together a functional layout - in the case of these forums - I agree the warning is failing.
Someone clicks 'post new topic' - they straight away look for the text box to open up so they can write thier quiery. I counted how many different 'segments' the post new topic page has - there are over 90 separate links and buttons and info texts. Does anyone else read more than .5 of them before making a post?
Its not a stupid mistake to miss reading that text at the top - its human nature. I only know that because I've studied it for over 7 years.

The real solution is for you to lobby to the mods and get it rectified.

I'd suggest far bigger text (take up half the screen - and put a big poison symbol up the top) - reversed out in red for people who have been registered for under one month/week.

For those of us with thinner skulls - its a lot better than banging them on brick walls and expecting a different result each time.


22nd May 2003 09:10 UTC

I already have a Yahoo groups username so i guess i`ll join it too,won`t do any harm...But this fragmentation aint so good,maybe specific groups will form and they would start fighting over something,just like in real life.The only positive thing i see in the Yahoo groups is that you can attach bigger files :) The rest(polls,profiles,news bla blah) is all here.
BTW, there is also BIG WHITE-ON-RED TEXT at the top of the page that says FEEL SEXY NAKED.I think most of us and the n00bs seen it ;)


22nd May 2003 10:42 UTC

The search the forums thing is unlikely to go away. Newbies will always exist who do not read the big red text.

Remember it wasn't soo long ago that there was no messgae about searching the forums.

I still don't see why it is sooooo much of a problem in this forum. People in WA TechSupport don't moan in this way all the time (and you should see teh newbies there). They just accept it and move on.

We have a FAQ/search messages and there are a couple of more things that could be done but I do not think it will make all that much difference. ALso, the more that we do to help the more that the newbies that do not follow the search path will be flamed it would appear.

I agree with you about people not following website rules I mean some people will use the "Report this post to a moderator" function for teh wrong reasons even though it says in big red letters "This is ONLY to be used to report spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts, extreme serial Nimrods, etc..." Would bigger text really have stopped a posted being reported when all was need was the attetion of a modator nothing 'wrong'. I don't think so do you legohead. ;):p


22nd May 2003 14:31 UTC

You are never, never, never, NEVER going to prevent every single new member from asking questions already asked. EVER. To pretend otherwise is like pretending you'll never grow old. It's inevitable. Like it or not, it is inevitable. When they do, you can link to or explain the relevent information or let somebody else do it; or you can waste time thinking of a seemingly witty flame that, in the end, usually only causes additional aggravation for all involved. Who knows, by helping out a newbie, that person might take to AVSing like a maniac and in turn help out a bunch of other newbs and save you the trouble. Might not be likely, but it definitely won't happen when they're afraid to ever come back.

As far as the group is concerned, what can be the absolute worse that happens? The "community" gets fragmented? Well, the whole internet is one big fragmented community with all manner of resources spread over all countries and servers and interests. And yet, somehow, it still continues to exist. It manages to exist because individuals will it to. It's up to each one of you to do what he can to make the "community" what you think it should be. Use whatever resources you have available to accomplish what you want. Yahoo Groups does offer (for free) some useful functions over any of the other mentioned sites. It has it's downsides too, but if you can do better, than DO IT.

The real solution is for you to lobby to the mods and get it rectified.
Correction: Not mods. Admin. We mods can't do nuthin' about nuthin' when it comes to the website. The supermod can make changes to the forums structure, but only with admin's approval. Anyway, the rumour mill has it that some rather big changes are coming sooner than later(and no, I haven't a clue what kind of changes they'll be), so it might be best to take it up around the time they happen.

-=Gonzotek=-

22nd May 2003 14:39 UTC

Fragmentation...

Well it's just a matter of what communities are worth being part of, for myself www.deviantart.com and these forums are quite enough :) (sometimes even too much!)


22nd May 2003 21:13 UTC

Legohead: As a matter of fact, I do look at it, simply because it's So fucking obvious. and impossible to miss. I never bother actually reading it, because I've seen it so many times and I know exactly what it says, and I have on a number of occasions remembered to search the forum because of that Wonderful flaming red warning.
In any case, my point was, if nobody pays attention to the In your face wording. then why should they pay attention to a link to another AVS "knowledge base" website? They're FAR to busy to Use the friggin search feature. as it is....

And shock value...blow me.


22nd May 2003 21:34 UTC

Hmmm...I think I am going to change my stock response:

You can find the answer right here.


22nd May 2003 22:44 UTC

Originally posted by Atero
Legohead: As a matter of fact, I do look at it, simply because it's So fucking obvious. and impossible to miss. I never bother actually reading it, because I've seen it so many times and I know exactly what it says, and I have on a number of occasions remembered to search the forum because of that Wonderful flaming red warning.
In any case, my point was, if nobody pays attention to the In your face wording. then why should they pay attention to a link to another AVS "knowledge base" website? They're FAR to busy to Use the friggin search feature. as it is....

And shock value...blow me.
Blah blah blah blah, shut up unless you have something constructive to say. We've all seen you rant on and on and on about the search feature. The mods will know it doesn't work if you pm them once, they don't need a 200 word essay on how people are idiots and should use it. If they make it better they make it better, it's not up to you. If people don't use it just point them in the right direction and they will. If they don't then just don't answer them. Simple enough isn't it.

23rd May 2003 01:17 UTC

I fail to understand how Atero can become so aggravated due to messages being posted on an internet bulletin board. What thread is so important to him that must not be temporarily moved three centimeters down the page while someone answers an honest question from a person new to AVS?


23rd May 2003 01:57 UTC

why?
because they ignore the BIG RED TEXT TELLING THEM TO SEARCH!


23rd May 2003 02:02 UTC

Originally posted by Shock Value
I fail to understand how Atero can become so aggravated due to messages being posted on an internet bulletin board.
The irony of that statement, I suppose, is completely lost on you :p

(I like typing in big red lettering, so sue me :D)

23rd May 2003 02:07 UTC

Not me...


23rd May 2003 02:13 UTC

My new stock n00b response:

Try reading this.

23rd May 2003 02:31 UTC

404. and use the edit button.


23rd May 2003 02:33 UTC

I feel dumb now. extremely dumb.

and 404?


23rd May 2003 05:55 UTC

Rova - yeah I know I was just making sure it made it to the right places.... :)

Atero (this is not a dig by the way) - did you know that 1/3 of males are red/green colour blind? And that your big red text appears less noticable than your normal high contrast text?

Anyway - we've heard the problems - lets not waste space on them anymore. .. any solutions please...


BTW


23rd May 2003 08:03 UTC

9/10ths of males are also braindead, as far as i can tell :rolleyes:


23rd May 2003 10:26 UTC

Let me guess,you are the 10th one...Right Atero ? Whoa! Im so fuckin` smart! I propose myself for the Nobel prize!!!!!
404=cant find website(prolly the site was down or there is some firewall keeping you away from it)


23rd May 2003 11:00 UTC

Going way offtpoic!


23rd May 2003 12:06 UTC

Oh man this got far offtopic. Could we go back discussing the community thing please? And be a bit more optimistic!


23rd May 2003 14:14 UTC

Only pessimism is permitted on these premises!


A nice feature of Yahoo Groups that could be utilized to our purposes is the mailing list. For people who don't mind the extra mail traffic, it provides roughly the same level of interaction as forums do, but ALSO leaves a permenant copy of the discussion on the hard drives (or webmail accounts) of all list members. Great for when you're offline and need some bit of knowledge that's already been discussed. For those that don't want any more mail coming their way, yahoo keeps a searchable archive as well.

-=Gonzotek=-


23rd May 2003 21:18 UTC

.

Originally posted by Atero
9/10ths of males are also braindead, as far as i can tell :rolleyes:
Really? I could have sworn it was more.


About the 404 error- I didn't get any when I posted it originally (I clicked on the link to test it, and it was fine), so try it again \/

Try reading this.

24th May 2003 02:02 UTC

We're sorry, but this page is currently unavailable for viewing.
That is what it said when I tried.

24th May 2003 02:12 UTC

Does this link work?
http://www21.brinkster.com/msqrdk/search.jpg


24th May 2003 12:23 UTC

You've got to cut and paste brinkster and geocities images into new browser windows. If you've clicked-through from another website (say, forums.winamp.com), they know you're offsite linking, which breaks their TOS.

-=Gonzotek=-


24th May 2003 19:59 UTC

Or you could just say this and stop cocking them around:

Try reading this


26th May 2003 12:07 UTC

Somehow i got reminded of the "How old are ya?" thread...

Gonzo, good point but as you said, pessimism... :(