Large Scale Central

The future of LSC and the demise of GR

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#41

I totally agree, Pete. My build threads serve a different purpose (share technical info, plus have some bantering fun) than an article would (share technical info). So any kind of thread-to-article conversion process / assistance / documented advice would be great.

For example:

  1. Build thread stage

  2. Give an overall intro story about the project

  3. Document the key details & steps, as if a someone 10 years from now was trying to understand it

  4. Put pics in for details

  5. When needed, put pics in for overall shots, to give orientation

  6. Answer questions

  7. Be polite

  8. Have fun!

  9. Article stage

  10. Copy-paste entire thread into Word or other editing software

  11. Pull out extraneous banter / joking / etc., leaving the technical info intact

  12. Leave in questions & helpful comments

  13. Give credit where credit is due

  14. Leave in the dates, in case someone wants to see the original discussion in context

  15. Review for, and remove, any bad language, coarse jokes, personal arguments, & so forth

  16. Review for typos & grammar

  17. Review for, and remove, any images not by the author (alternatively, put in full-up credits in a footnote, for source / creator / accessed date / etc.)

  18. Insert a formatted LSC first page and edit accordingly (title, author, date range, key pic or two)

  19. Print to PDF and upload to articles area, perhaps in a subcategory for the forum it was specifically threaded on

  20. Review & posting by BD (or delegate)

  21. General Comments

  22. The original thread is where article comments would be made / addressed

  23. The author has the freedom to edit and resubmit an article, if subsequent effort / dialog warrants

  24. Copyright for an article is automatically held by the author (cited on the standard title page template); publisher is LSC

  25. NO images can be in the article that belong to another source, unless that source is fully credited and permission has been obtained, or the image is public domain

  26. Consistence of format across articles would be nice; but that will only happen if an easy-to-use template is available and followed

  27. Process recommendations:

  28. Make a standard LSC format docx for easy insertion of thread content (copy/paste, fill in the blanks, whack stuff out)

  29. Develop a standard process for folks to follow (the above is merely food for thought)

  30. Consult an IP lawyer for any other issues to avoid for both authors and LSC

  31. Make a citation rule sheet for proper format / info of any non-author content

Cliff

#42

In my $.02 post from way earlier I was trying to propose a way to automatically get the article from the build topic by marking the posts (by the author only) that should show in the “article” view. Or make the joking/banter be different than posting (i.e you comment on individual posts rather than adding whole new posts).

This vague approach removes some of the cleanliness and crispness of a rewrite, but makes it a lot less work. Then users can decide if they want to see the article view or the topic view, and we surface the article view in most places (with a link to the topic view) where a newbie searching or an archive is being presented.

I, for one, am not interested in rewriting each build topic into another form. If credit needs to be added it can be edited into the original post (or a new post added).

Anyway, maybe this is $.001 worth…

#43

yeah, guys, copy & paste, then strike out some, then rewriting parts, that the remaining bits fit together again…

i had that glorious idea some years ago to feed my website.

copied all my building threads to txt, did what is mentioned above, then converted it to html-text…(BR)

i think, i’m only about four years behind now.

that’s hard, frigging work!

(but every time Bob wrote about closing the forum down, i got a boost)

may i humbly remember, that we are talking about a hobby?

#44

Bob, Thank you for continuing to operate and upgrade this (daily to me) fantastic site and for addressing this opportunity to fill the void that will be left behind as GR disappears.

For me, easier picture and video posting is the key for filling this void. I have given up attempting to post pics. Even with the appreciated help from other LSC members my picture posting efforts from my Mac Pro laptop and iPhone have been for the most part unsuccessful. There have been a number of times that I have wanted to contribute to the forum but this inability has literally stopped me in my tracks. As so many others have already mentioned, I think that easier picture posting would be extremely beneficial to that end. I know from your earlier posts that a major site upgrade would be required to achieve this and that the upgrade would be very costly.

I have just donated my $29.95 GR subscription amount to LSC’s cookie jar and would encourage others to do the same. If we had some idea of where the “cookie jar’s” level currently is and where it needs to be we would have a better idea of how effective our donations would be. I don’t need to know the actual dollar amounts. That’s none of my business. But by knowing the percentage of the goal that needs to be received would be helpful. An organized campaign to acquire these funds might help lead to that upgrade. My two cents, Mark

#45

Thanks for the feedback folks. I’m sensing a few main themes here, some of which we’ve known about for a while.

  1. Make picture posting easier, from any device/computer.
  2. Make search better, add tagging, etc.
  3. Some kind of articles, or specialized threads.
  4. Monthly/etc scheduled content.

The software package I’m looking at has 1 and 2 figured out. I’ve successfully posted pictures directly from my phone (iPhone), drag and drop from my computer (both Mac and PC), and pasted links for pictures and YouTube videos, and they all seem to work just fine. Searching has a pretty robust full-text-search, and it also allows both hash tags (#something) and user tags (@someone). The hash tags are particularly neat for grouping and searching for subjects.

For the articles, I keep going back and forth on them. They get almost NO traffic now, being off on their own tab. I’m wondering if a special kind of thread, where only the author has rights to continue the thread. And have a separate forum, like we do now, to discuss the article.

For the schedule content, that’s a harder issue. Someone needs to be responsible for providing it on a timely basis. I am looking for some kind of micropayment ‘tip’ system, where, if you like an article, or something, you could ‘tip’ them a tiny amount of money. Some sites have started using this as a way for authors to get paid for their effort. Not sure how to implement this yet, but its on my radar.

#46

I like the hashtag idea and if you can search via hashtag it makes life even easier.

What about notifications? Sometimes I get notifications about posts when I check the box other times I don’t. Don’t know if its the spam filter on gmail that’s catching them or this site sending them.

#47

My build threads serve a different purpose (share technical info, plus have some bantering fun) than an article would (share technical info).

Cliff, your suggestions are laudable and probably a lot more work than any of us want. I’m not sure you have to sanitize it completely - light relief is always welcome!

In my $.02 post from way earlier I was trying to propose a way to automatically get the article from the build topic by marking the posts (by the author only) that should show in the “article” view.

Jim, I love that idea. Much easier to implement.

  1. Some kind of articles, or specialized threads

Bob, is there really that much difference between an article and a (clean) thread? I come to LSC to browse threads, and I always forget there are articles!

#48

Bob McCown said:

Thanks for the feedback folks. I’m sensing a few main themes here, some of which we’ve known about for a while.

  1. Make picture posting easier, from any device/computer.
  2. Make search better, add tagging, etc.
  3. Some kind of articles, or specialized threads.
  4. Monthly/etc scheduled content.

The software package I’m looking at has 1 and 2 figured out. I’ve successfully posted pictures directly from my phone (iPhone), drag and drop from my computer (both Mac and PC), and pasted links for pictures and YouTube videos, and they all seem to work just fine. Searching has a pretty robust full-text-search, and it also allows both hash tags (#something) and user tags (@someone). The hash tags are particularly neat for grouping and searching for subjects.

For the articles, I keep going back and forth on them. They get almost NO traffic now, being off on their own tab. I’m wondering if a special kind of thread, where only the author has rights to continue the thread. And have a separate forum, like we do now, to discuss the article.

For the schedule content, that’s a harder issue. Someone needs to be responsible for providing it on a timely basis. I am looking for some kind of micropayment ‘tip’ system, where, if you like an article, or something, you could ‘tip’ them a tiny amount of money. Some sites have started using this as a way for authors to get paid for their effort. Not sure how to implement this yet, but its on my radar.

If 1&2 are covered, I would probably go with just that - since those seem to be the major complaint areas. I’d let 3&4 evolve to whatever; you may come up with an even better way to accomplish that - you don’t have to stick to what we are used to. Just because we want them, does NOT mean we NEED them. (When I was writing articles for GR, I would typically copy the appropriate text and pics from the forum and plop them into Word - articles could just be a list of pdf with tags available for searching. Hate to have a different forum as I recall getting some pretty useful feedback during building. But, if they are not getting viewed much it doesn’t seem to matter much.

#49

Pete Thornton said:

  1. Some kind of articles, or specialized threads

Bob, is there really that much difference between an article and a (clean) thread? I come to LSC to browse threads, and I always forget there are articles!

Not really. Way back when it was suggested that we could have articles as sort of a build-log, instead of the free-flow forum threads where they can get derailed. That hasnt worked as desired, NOBODY updates them, and they hardly have any traffic. If we could keep thread discussion clean, then just having a forum thread is ideal. Makes my life easier.

And to Bruce’s point about photos and search, yea, I’m pretty happy with what Ive been seeing so far in testing. The hard part is getting the users and forum threads imported. I DONT want to lose all the history.

#50

Bob. that you would even ask the question speaks highly of you.

I echo the thoughts of others regarding photos and videos. Just last week I found out how to post videos in this iteration of the software. For ten years I had no problem posting videos, then, suddenly, no joy. If you could post tutorials each time you update the software, that would help, a lot.

BZ, BD.

#51

Bob McCown said:

Pete Thornton said:

  1. Some kind of articles, or specialized threads

Bob, is there really that much difference between an article and a (clean) thread? I come to LSC to browse threads, and I always forget there are articles!

Not really. Way back when it was suggested that we could have articles as sort of a build-log, instead of the free-flow forum threads where they can get derailed. That hasnt worked as desired, NOBODY updates them, and they hardly have any traffic. If we could keep thread discussion clean, then just having a forum thread is ideal. Makes my life easier.

And to Bruce’s point about photos and search, yea, I’m pretty happy with what Ive been seeing so far in testing. The hard part is getting the users and forum threads imported. I DONT want to lose all the history.

It’s so NEAT that you don’t want to lose history; I really appreciate that - it’s sort of like a time machine and it’s nice to have all those early posts. Not that I look at them THAT much, but I sure do like that they exist. I remember another site changing software versions - NOT for the better, as they LOST everything and just started over.

#52

Yes more praise for the way you run the site from me also. I was always taught that :

You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Not many sites on the net are free but this one still is and you don’t deny access to features if I don’t pay, it’s free

Anything is better than nothing. What ever you decide on for the site it is still better than no site to go to.

#53

Bob: Do we still help you if we click on the ads?

#54

With reference to articles being build logs I resorted to using Blogger so that I could keep all my “Construction Logs” and my “How I did it” logs in one place.

My use of Blogger has allowed me to post progress reports/“this is what I am up to” on forums with a link to the blog if anyone is interested in more details. I have asked every forum owner/administrator for permission to add the links when I first started and the common theme of the replies “no problem anything to help promote the hobby”

For converting threads to articles, in Blogger a page can be created and updated by the author and there is a function where the author can show or hide comments and the comments are all below the text.

I am not suggesting that Blogger be used but if there is a software offering that has similar features and still operates as a forum it may be worth investigating.

Being in Australia I do not have access to conventions, local clubs and hobby shops so these forums are my primary source of information.

#55

Bob & all,

Regarding my earlier suggestions, in retrospect, I see where I was going off the rails. I was taking the idea of “article” too formally and rigidly (e.g., analogous to GR’s, whose demise was part of this thread’s basis).

Furthermore, I hadn’t been to the Articles section for a long time, and Jim’s and Rick’s articles are great, wow! Great job, guys!!

So, how about a monthly reminder, just saying that yes, “The Article section exists! And this month, be sure to read about so and so and his this and that!”

At least, that would remind dopes like me to make the big trip over to that other tab. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Also, perhaps build threads could be incorporated into the Articles. For example, a “thrarticle” might consist of just a photo, and content being a paragraph and link to a build thread – whether ‘living’ or not. And the author of that thread would have the option of later converting to a real article.

Point being Bob, that using your existing structure, build thread content could be included in an already categorized and easily searched index.

OK, I’ll shut up…

#56

I’ll plead guilty of looking under the Articles tab seeing only a few articles and moving on.

It was not till this thread that I went and looked closer and found the Articles categories which includes a “construction logs” and the Archive links.

I have opened an archived article from 2000 and looked at it but the pictures just give me a 404 error which is a pity because I am interested in the subject (building a battery tender).

I now plan to look through all the articles and read the ones that cover a subject of interest, this will be like reading a magazine.

It appears to me that we have the equivalent of a magazine already in place but perhaps members are not aware of its existence or like me just skim over it with out really looking.

I agree with the suggestions that more attention be drawn to the articles page or perhaps it is relabeled to something that will attract attention (can’t think of anything personally sorry)

May I suggest the tab layout be reconfigured so that the contents/categories page is the first thing that people see when they click on the tab similar to the Home page.

#57

RE: Articles on Forums

I use to participate in the Aristo-Craft Company Forum many years ago, and at that time I would occasional post a thread on problem issues and provide an example solution or fix. I called those threads “vignettes” (then short articles). Of course, being a company disciplined forum, there was a sensitivity by the owner / management at times that could be interpreted as being critical of their products. An example of a fix to a problem was always offered, but it became evident this was not enough to mitigate Aristo’s concerns as they appeared to feel any problem aired would be denigrating.
Hence, an independent Forum, like LSC, is a better palace to participate in than a company forum that implicitly or explicitly expects obedient loyalty.

Around year 2007, Greg Elmassian, offered to host the “vignettes” that were on Aristo’s Forum and since on his website which has been very consistent over the years (no change in ownership, administration, etc. that could result in lost information & pictures).

I did / do those vignettes to memorialize things I worked / work on so I don’t have to figure out what I had done sometime later should the need arise and had decided to share the information with anyone. Currently there are about 80 vignettes on Greg’s site.

-Ted

#58

That is a mind-blowing body of work, Ted. Of course, Greg’s site is amazing in itself, so much info there. But I hadn’t seen your vignettes though.

I was just looking through one of them, and it must be 30 or 40 pages if printed out. Excellent photos, notes, pointers, even revision notes. Really well done.

#59

Thanks Cliff. Vignettes are not meant or lend themselves to printed in whole, particularly, the newer ones with what I call composite images.

-Ted

#60

David Marconi,FOGCH said:

Yes more praise for the way you run the site from me also. I was always taught that :

You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Not many sites on the net are free but this one still is and you don’t deny access to features if I don’t pay, it’s free

Anything is better than nothing. What ever you decide on for the site it is still better than no site to go to.

I don’t know how you put it any better than this.

Thanks.