The lifespan of a Forum
I have very frequently viewed these forums and even made a few comments in the past. Recently, I have thought about what is the point of these forums. Are they here for us members, to express our views with other members and discuss the threads? or perhaps, the posts are aimed at the CAMC giving them access to what your thoughts are? It does appear to me that these forums are dying a slow death.
Comments
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Mark, while this CMC forum may or not be as you describe, other non-CMC caravan/motorhome forums are continuing nicely with increasing membership, (the very opposite of dying a slow death).
What is it exactly that you feel is wrong with this forum. ?.
K
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I think of this forum as a chat forum to chat (in the main.
) to fellow members and users/choosers of leisure vehicles.I don't get the impression that East Grinstead take very much notice.
However there is a lot of useful info on here, driving licences, A frames, payloads, alternative sites etc etc.
There is a lot of "opinion" as well. Sometimes I agree with what is said, often I don't..... And it has to be said that there is a quite small core of people who post regularly, and I probably know their opinion on most things already....
We can all spend as much or little time on here as suits, but I feel that overall my time is well spent, just learning from some of the posts....
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Mark
I have moved your thread here as it didn't quite fit into UK Campsites and Touring.
I understand there are 400000 members signed up to use Club Together. Not everyone uses it for the discussion area and many more use it to contribute reviews of both Club Sites and CL's. A far fewer number use the Story section but don't seem to use the discussion area. At the end of the day it is a resource for members to make of it what they wish. I don't know about anyone else but even having been a member for 35 years I am always learning new things on here. Hopefully I can repay that by helping people with some of my knowledge.
I belong to quite a few other (free) forums and my feeling is that many of them are now poorly used compared to a few years ago. Even the mighty UKCampsites is down to a couple of pages of new posts a day when it used to be between 6 and 10. Some will say that it is the time of year which might be one part of the puzzle. I am of the view, which is backed up by people who run other forums that more and more people are turning to Facebook Groups. I do use Facebook but I don't find the various groups particularly good as interesting posts are often drowned out by the social element of posting.
It would be interesting to know if people felt that if Club Together were to be improved would more people use it or is it a case that this type of internet communication is going the way of e-mail discussion groups or usenet?
David
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Over the years I've been involved in other non vanning web sites, mostly family history, there was a rush to those sites when they first started now they've diverted to other forms of social media. I realise FB is popular but won't be joining it, reading one of their co-founders comments on the manipulation of users I think even he now regrets how much time people spend on line, especially younger people. So how this forum evolves is not important to me, I've enjoyed the access and it's been useful, sometimes annoying, sometimes entertaining, but not a bad mix.
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I think brue has summed it up well.
I've learnt a lot on here reading posts about subjects I didn't even know I might need to know. Donald Rumsfell unknown unknowns 😉.
I've looked at the clubs fb page. LOADS of cknowledgement from staff. BUT NOTHING easy to read on a subject such as this forum. One thing I have learnt is that there is no single way of enjoying our hobby. I've found it a great source of hints and tips too.
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We were asked for our thoughts leading up to the launch of this new forum and nearly all requests for enhancements were ignored so, whilst they may actually know what we think through our posts they do not by and large do anything about them.
With regard to the Forum itself then I find it interesting at times, childish at other times, informative and misinformed but I do get something out of it. I have made friends through it and found my caravanning experience a better one because of it.
You can keep Faceache and Twitter is well named.
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i think tintent115 has a very good point quote
Quote And it has to be said that there is a quite small core of people who post regularly, and I probably know their opinion on most things already....unquote
this forum is occupied by a small core of people if you consider the membership numbers.
However, as I am going to take my first venture abroad (Spain) April 2018, i have to say i have gleaned a lot of very valuable information from items such as Johns blog. It is a pity the club is not more proactive is addressing some of the views expressed by members, all their efforts seem to go into replying to users on FB, hence a great deal of frustration cascades from some of the discussions, which gives the impression that we are all gumpy old men.
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At first our forum use was exclusively with the CC and the overseas section. I have noticed that the same it true there, it is very quiet, and looking at this forum, UKCS and CT they all seem to be quiet.
One spin off for me is that I have started to look at, and respond to, other threads beside overseas but that remains my first port of call.As for ideas and why its so quiet one issue for me is the difficulty of having a 'conversation' in a posting.
Recently someone posted asking about a filling station near to Rouen and were departing from Calais-now if in the pub chatting my first thought, and response, would be why did he need fuel so soon after leaving Calais?
Then the info, if I had any would be happily given BUT I did not respond as it often seems that asking that sort of question may not be the thing to do on forums where anything other than an explicit response with information that the OP finds acceptable gets short shrift.0 -
I have friends both internet and met in person gained from this site and would be sorry to see it go
Same for me too David. It's also helped me to find some grand sites which we would never have considered visiting. Don't do the CC's FB.
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I think there are generally fewer folk using forums and more people using the dedicated interest sections on Facebook. However, although we are not really seeing any substantial improvements to the software of this forum, I don't see the it disappearing in the foreseeable future. The Club still see it as another resource for member which does have it's value.
David
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I was a reasonably early user of this CT forum, but to all intents and purposes abandoned it after the disastrous (IMHO) revamp last year.
I still look in about once a week, sometimes less, in the hope that It would improve, but in truth it hasn't very much. Its still slow, and clunky, has no PM facility and really not user friendly.
Compared to the forum that I migrated too it is a poor shadow. I take no pleasure in saying that because I have been a caravan club member since 1979, although I had a short break in the early 80's
My move away from CT, co-insided with an abandonment of the use of Club sites, which in comparison with other providers had just got too expensive. I remain a member solely in order to retain access to the CL network.
TF
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I think everyone accepts that this forum is not the best in terms of operational use. It seems also true that there seems no appetite from the Club to spend the money on putting right all the issues that exist beyond maintaining a forum that works but only in basic mode. That could be because now they have the social media up and running and feel there is no need to put the time and effort into addressing all the issues. It could be that they realise that Club Together as a forum is beyond worthwhile redemption. It is a long shot but perhaps they are looking at alternatives having seen how difficult it is to run an in house designed forum and the demands it makes on valuable Club IT resources? At the end of the day, even without all the bells and whistles, it still works as a basic message forum. You can ask a question and get a response without much difficulty. There will always be the die hards who are here everyday (perhaps I am one of them!!!) but it is also available for those that want to come along once in a while to ask a question.
David
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It's a good job there are a few diehards like yourself around David, (and a few other folks), because I don't think HQ staff give the forum as much time or effort as a lot of forum users would like. A lot of the grumbles and misinformation that can lead to the occasional closure of threads wouldn't happen if the correct information from HQ was given in early response to some queries. I am not intending this as any kind of complaint about HQ staff in particular, far from it, as I have no idea of their roles or responsibilities and how much time is dedicated to dealing with issues and queries on here, but I do think it would keep folks posting more if they knew a definitive answer would be given, rather than member speculations sometimes. Just an observation.
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Things would be much improved if the club put some of the same effort into sorting this forum now as they did back in 2012-13. It’s no wonder people drift away. What a waste of a potentially good resource!
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I have to agree that this forum is dying a slow death and in the years I have been a member there has been a considerable decline in contributors. This has accelerated since the supposed improvements were made and CAMC decided to commit greater resources to Facebook.
However I do believe that because a small number of members are still regular contributors unless the powers that be decide to pull the plug it may survive for a few more years hopefully.
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I know what you mean about Caravan Talk as the new format whilst looking a bit more modern doesn't seem as user friendly as the previous version. They are, of course, in the hands of the software developers with little influence I imagine and for all we know that might have been a deciding faction on why the Club decided the route they did. I suspect the new version of Caravan Talk is still work in progress and I wouldn't be surprised that we see more improvements as time goes by. Just in case people feel we are going a bit off topic talking about another forum perhaps worth saying that was the model that many of us wanted the Club to follow. It would be interesting to hear from Bugs viz a viz control of new versions of software and how much room there is to shape it into what you want?
David
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There are many forum software packages available, they range in sophistication as well as price, some being free. They can all be customised, again some more so than others. The latest version of Caravan Talk is not, in my opinion a very good example of best practice.
In my view there is no excuse for this organisation failing to use a tried and tested third-party package instead of the rubbish that we have to put up with. Forum software can be isolated from the main software package without detriment to it's operation in a way that would be invisible to members.
Unfortunately the management do not seem interested either through ignorance or intent.
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If it hadn't been for this site, I wouldn't have ventured into Europe. I read, with much interest, the stories and blogs on here and gleaned a mine of information - and to all those members who relayed their stories, replied to my posts, made suggestions, gave advice or whatever - I am eternally grateful, because it gave me the inspiration I needed.
Thank you CT - with all your foibles!
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The main problem with this site seems lack of interest by HO now they have the chatering classes system of face book,which as with most of that type are under more and more pressure, (quite rightly) to get real to the damage they are causing
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What I meant was that he has quite a bit of knowledge of forum software and I just thought that he could give us some input on the pros and cons of using such software. Sorry if I confused!!
David
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Jonray
That is very good to hear and thanks for sharing your positive experience. I suppose there is a risk that those of us that have been around on the forum for some time tend to concern ourselves with the issues and perhaps overlook the fact that it probably helps many more people than we appreciate.
David
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This forum has been a source of useful information for me in the past. I have posed the very occasional question when seeking a site in a very particular area and always received useful replies. Often there have been threads that I have not participated in but have contained answers to questions that I may have had.
I also hope I have given useful answers to someone else's question.
So in answer to the OP question. A forum is what the user makes of it. Use it if you like it, don't use it if you don't like it.
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I understood the points you made DK👍🏻. The forum that Bugsy Boy owns & runs evolves on a weekly/monthly basis is driven by input & suggestions from its users. If the suggestions are useful they are incorporated into the forum within a short time. Plus there are active mods tidying up & helping. The fact these mods wear both hats of mods & posters allow them to help the evolution & running of a friendly forum. There is no aloofness or disjointed actions or lack of actions.
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Rocky
I don't think it could work the same here. Mick has complete control and from what I see has a fairly small friendly and compliant group of regular contributors which makes life a lot easier. The set up for the Club is somewhat different in that the few active moderators (very few most of the time!!) only have a limited amount of options although with the new forum those options did increase somewhat. Beyond that there are several layers of responsibility that control the Club's Media presence. What contributors here see as important might not be seen as a big a priority elsewhere as they have to look at the bigger picture and distribute resources accordingly. Club Together works for many despite the odd frustration here and there!
David
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If it was important enough DK it could happen-& there lies the rub
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Hi David
I think the simple answer is that there is a difference between a Content Management System (CMS) and dedicated forum software.
A CMS (as used by the CAMC) is an integrated software package which provides the whole website, of which the "community" or "forum" is just one part. The community bit can often be quite basic, without some of the extras available in dedicated forum software - and because the CMS is totally integrated some of the code can also be interdependent - so it isn't always easy to make changes to the community bit without causing issues elsewhere.
In contrast, dedicated forum software just does forums and often offers extras such as image uploading, playing videos in a post etc as standard.
Hope this helps!
Bugs1
