On Feb 21, 2006, at 11:41 PM, Geoff Perlman wrote:
I think this is a matter of which method (mailing list or web
forum) you are accustomed to using. Having just compared reading
and responding to messages on both, I can't see how the forums
require more time than the mailing list. The forums provide an easy
way to see all the posts since your last visit (similar to
receiving all the NUG messages since you last checked your email)
and also include an easy way to see the posts that have yet to
receive a reply which is very helpful for those that want to help
but also be efficient with their time.
i think in some ways this is our fear. right now, i should be
working... but this email came, and it affects me personally enough
that i'm writing back. same with questions people ask, discussions
etc. on the forum, i would never seek out -and therefor reply to- a
thread such as this. my fear is that as such, the forum places more
burden on the question answerer - they need to look for questions to
answer rather than stumbling on them in their inbox.
as an example... by far the easiest for me to read - is searching the
archives. but if we all did that...
The forums also allow the users to see only messages in the topic
area in which they are interested. And when an off-topic post
appears in any forum other than the off-topic forum, the moderators
can immediately move the message to where it belongs.
i'll give you a point for that :)
Someone mentioned that they thought the NUG mailing list had gone
downhill since the forums were introduced. I'm not sure exactly
what was meant by that however, it appears to me that the number of
messages on the NUG has not decreased. The forums are getting about
the same number of messages per day as the list. This would suggest
that the forums are serving users that were not subscribing to the
lists.
or it would suggest that hot air (im making fun of myself here, so
everyone chill out!) fills any vessel :) but seriously, when we have
people with answers who frequent just one or the other, it makes
getting answers that much harder. aaron's departure from this list
is one example.
It would be better if you could have all the messages in one place
of course.
I was not a fan of the forums and resisted supporting them for a
long time. However, I realized one day that perhaps my resistance
was more about what I was used to rather than reality. Once I
started using the forums, I found them to be much more efficient.
Again I think this is all about what you are used to rather than
which method is better.
i'm sure that's part of it for me too.
mike
--
Mike Woodworth
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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