Re: What the future holds for ASA

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On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 1:06:50 AM UTC-5, Jim wrote:

=20

> That sounds ok .... for now. I DO however think that if the forum does be=
come occupied by a lot of people that the time involved in moderating, pars=
ing, tweeking etc. will become quite a chore and get more involved as time =
goes on. It could begin to get out of hand but .... time will tell.=20

To the contrary. Besides an Administrator (me) I have already assigned 2 gl=
obal Moderators who can help Moderate ALL groups, 1 Reg. Mod. to moderate o=
ne of the private groups already created for his company, and plan on addin=
g 1 or more for each private group, and as the number of total members goes=
 up, I can always add more Global Mods as needed. Also, there are a number =
of features that can be implemented through software to automate some of th=
e processes.

> Sounds good. I'll explore next time.

When you return, you will notice all of the current public forums under dif=
ferent categories, and at the bottom, you will see a category for Private g=
roups in which you will see a general private group as well as an ASA priva=
te group. However, you will not see several other private groups that alrea=
dy exist there because you do not have access to those groups. Hopefully th=
is will help you understand how it works. I can assign users to different a=
vailable groups without them even knowing other groups exist, much less all=
owing them to enter. This will keep the public out of groups that proprieta=
ry or Industry specific (codes, etc.) conversations are taking place. Anoth=
er example would be, *IF* I create a DIY or Resi group, those members who d=
o not or cannot demonstrate a need to be in the Commercial groups will not =
be allowed access, folks like yourself can be assigned privileges to MULTIP=
LE Forums, Resi, DIY, Commercial, private, etc.=20
=20
> The AVS forum is an audio/video/home theater and related ....site. It's b=
een around for a long time and has years of threads on anything you'd ever =
want to know about home entertainment equipment, setup, reviews and problem=
s. It's pretty well organized but as controled as it is, threads get off on=
 tangents and there's just nothing that can be done about it. Every once in=
 a while a moderator will break into a thread and redirect it to either a n=
ew thread or another category. But there's got to be hundreds of threads th=
at started years ago and some still get reopened long after they were start=
ed. It's as controled as it can be but sometimes it breaks down and new thr=
eads have to be started. Sometimes you can find information on a subject in=
 the strangest threads.

The software can help here as well. Myself or any Mod/Global Mod, can "Move=
" topics to where they belong in a mere couple of seconds, or a topic that =
has run it's course, can be closed just as easily, but still read. Also pop=
ular topics that are of importance, or simply asked repeatedly, can be "Pin=
ned" to the top of the Forum so that it never gets pushed down and forgotte=
n about. It can also be "Un-pinned" as needed.

 With DIY'ers it's less disciplined because they'll start a thread titled s=
omething like "Help I'm setting up my TV" instead of categorizing it to a b=
rand or a particular problem. That's one of the advantages that an open for=
um such as ASA has over a moderated, categorized forum. Any subject can be =
brought up in a new thread at any time. It gets answers and then dies. A da=
tabase search can always be used for research, etc.

I don't see how this differs. The software I use does EXACTLY THAT. And as =
previously stated, if it doesn't die on it's own, we can "Close" it ourselv=
es.
There is also a robust search engine. Search by topic, content, user, etc.
=20

> DIY'ers are a good catlyst for starting threads, so I think that they sho=
uldn't be kept out. I don't quite understand how you're going to segregate =
people into their respective groups and control who can see what ... but I'=
m not familiar with how these things ( Groups/Forums, etc) are set up. Howe=
ver I'm sure it will take some trial and error to get it running smooth.

Covered above, but yes, it will take some trial and error tweaking as I hav=
e noted.I do not expect it to run flawlessly, but what does? I am still con=
sidering something for the DIY and resi people but I'm fairly commited that=
 I don't want those types of discussions in the Pros group, simply to keep =
from having to sift through all of the (for lack of a better term, "irrelev=
ant") topics. I have nothing against those topics myself but I think higher=
 end technicians will not want to deal with those kinds of topics. If they =
do, they will be free to go to the DIY or Resi groups and discuss them ther=
e.
=20
> In the past I've tried to think of a way to get the word out to people th=
at ASA exists. I've never been able to come up with an idea. We used to get=
 a lot of people stopping in and after things quited down here, I thought t=
hat ASA would eventually see an upswing in participants. That hasn't happen=
ed. I know that the reputation of ASA was pretty bad for a long time but I =
did think that that it would repopulate after awhile. Hasn't happened so no=
w I think that back then, the initial attraction  for new comers was probab=
ly the quantity of posts that made people think that it was an active alarm=
 forum, when it was really more akin to a forum like the Colliseum in Rome.

I hear ya. When I first came in, probably 15-18 years ago, I thought it was=
 great, but over time it quickly turned ugly and people like RLB and some o=
thers here as well, just made me not want to bother coming in any longer. A=
nd YES, I posted quite a bit, not just a lurker. but most of the time, I fo=
und myself trying to defend myself or others from attacks, and that doesn't=
 seem to have changed after the many years I've been gone, and that, I find=
 to be a pity, that as professionals in an industry such as ours, we can't =
even be civil to one another. We don't have to agree with each other, but w=
e don't have to attack each other either. When I got attacked (and I repeat=
, "ATTACKED") when I came in here last week, and then had what he believes =
is my full first and last name posted several times and details that weren'=
t personal but no doubt an effort to show his brilliant (LOL) detective ski=
lls, did I get pissed off and go and post all of his info? no I did not. Di=
d I go and get all of that info. you bet your ass I did, I know who he is, =
where he lives, The names of, and where his 2 businesses are located, sever=
al phone numbers, his hosting company, that the domain for his alarm busine=
ss is "Parked" for some reason and not accessible (USUALLY only 2 reasons f=
or that, either you park it yourself because you no longer have the busines=
s but don't want to pay the full charge to keep it active so you park it fo=
r a reduced price in case you want to activate it again, OR, it is parked b=
ecause the domain name is in litigation because someone else (in his case, =
an alarm business in California has the same company name, and similar doma=
in names) MAY be in litigation to take control/ownership of the domain in d=
ispute.
But....Did I retaliate by posting that personal and private info here? NO, =
I did not. I simply got the information to defend myself if the need to sho=
uld ever arise. He thinks he's playing with an amateur, but he has no clue =
as to my skills and information accessibility. Then he has the nerve to ask=
 me several more revealing questions about myself as if I would actually co=
nsider taking his bait and providing him with more ammo, or even entertain =
the idea of having a conversation with him.
Also, he chastised me for not hosting the Forums on it's own domain. Well, =
there's a couple good reasons for that, that I'm not going to bother going =
into all of them but one was because if I ever want to add any other conten=
t specific to the industry, I didn't want the Forums on the home directory,=
 but I find it interesting that his alarm domain is actually a re-directed =
sub-domain under his PC repair domain. POT, KETTLE, BLACK!!!

> Anyway, I can't think of anyway to bring people to a group such as yours.=
 As you can see, there are people who just don't want to be moderated. I do=
n't have any problem with it until it becomes a problem. I'll deal with it =
then.=20

Again, I fully understand that and respect it, it's not for everyone but I =
wanted to provided an alternative. They are welcome to join if they feel li=
ke it, if not, it's all good.

=20
> Civility is a two way street.=20

Indeed it is.

> >> By the way, what was your old screen name here? (if you care to divulg=
e it)=20

> >I DO NOT, and I think you can guess why! :D

> You're shy?

Sure, let's go with that. LOL

Just give it a good lookover, call it a test drive, nobody will force you t=
o stay and you are free to delete yourself or just stay registered even if =
you don't think you'll use it. Maybe later you may change your mind. In any=
 event, you can always still come here regardless if you stay there or not.=
 ;)
Have a nice day!