Okay ~ I have set up a No Longer Quivering forum where we can discuss the many issues raised by the posts here as well as topics of interest to forum members.
I don’t have all of the boards completely set up yet ~ but hopefully they’re good enough to get us started anyway 
What I’ve decided to do is move most all of the comments over to the forums so that we can continue discussions there. After I have moved the threads, I will post a notice stating that we are no longer accepting comments on the relocated threads here on the blog.
Once I feel that the topic is going fairly strong over on the discussion board, I plan to remove the old comments from the blog. My plan is to eventually have all comments in the forums. I will have the blog posts linked to the forum where that topic is being discussed.
So ~ unless there are a some good reasons why readers would object ~ my plan is to make the No Longer Quivering blog comment-free ~ while encouraging discussion over on the forums.
Please let me know what you think ~ comments may be posted here. ‹(ô¿ô)›
16 Responses to “Introducing NLQ Forums!”
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I’ve been a lurker up until now, but I think you are making a huge mistake here. Part of the dynamic of blogs is in the comment sections. There is nothing at all wrong with posts that run to a couple of hundred comments, it happens all the time on the political blogs that I read. If you make folks go to 2 places, one or the other is going to wither and die. I would hate to see that happen to the valuable resource that you’ve built here.
JG.
I can’t figure out how to post over on the forums. I don’t like it. I’d rather just post right here in the thread than have to go over to another forum to participate…
I don’t have a problem with long comments threads. Anyway… Just putting in my two cents. I don’t really like this new forum.
The forums should be a supplement for further discussion in a better format. But for most comments to a direct post, you would lose a great deal of the best kind of blog dynamic if you moved those to the forums.
Truthfully, when I woke up this morning and checked the forums ~ saw all the organization and how easy it is to follow the various conversations there ~ I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
To me, the comments here on the blog are just a big sprawling mess ~ and since I have to moderate every comment, whenever I was away from my computer for any length of time, the comments would pile up and I couldn’t *really* get away because I was thinking about the readers who were waiting to see their comment show up and any responses. Several people remarked that it was frustrating when the comments would be approved in blocks making the flow of conversation difficult to follow.
Since only members can post on the forum (guests can view, but not post) ~ I feel comfortable turning off the moderation feature and trusting the members to continue the NLQ “tradition” of respectful dialogue.
So ~ while I spent a good portion of the day with John (today’s his birthday) ~ the conversations on the forum went right on without me ~ hooray! It definitely gives me, at least, the sense that this is *our* forum ~ with no need for me to be constantly at the computer controlling it all. It looks like this format will also free me up to spend more time writing my story ~ which I just know you all are anxious to for me to get on with
We’ve only had the NLQ forum up for one day ~ and look at all the wonderful intros ~ I feel like we’re finally getting to know each other. It makes it easy to put stories to names.
I will be linking all posts on the NLQ blog to their appropriate board or sub-board for discussion over in the forums.
I’m also planning to open a new category (coming SOON) in which guests are free to leave comments without registering or signing in ~ so they can have their say too ~ although spam and similar junk posts will be removed.
Thanks for all of your input. I welcome your suggestions.
Once she gets the forums the rest of the way set up, it will be great. I also thought they had gotten so long.
Also, there wasn’t a great way to post quotes. Many discussions had gotten very long.
I also felt sorry for Vyckie, knowing she’s trying to “have a life” and yet she’s tied to the computer all day long waiting to moderate comments.
It isn’t true that both necessarily will die. I read a blog called http://www.getrichslowly.com and it is quite active both on the comments and the forums as well.
Well, you could potentially just…stop modding your comments on the blog? You can always delete any that you find problematic when you get a chance to read them. Also, you could unmod regulars and only opt to mod first-time posters to make sure they’re here in good faith(Not sure if this is an option on blogger, but I think it is on wordpress at least.).
Honestly, I agree that most of the dynamic of blogs is in comments threads, and there’s really no reason that you can’t have both. So, yeah, you could have a more personal sort of “getting to know people” atmosphere on the forum without losing the energy that you’ve generated in comments. I think you’ll lose a lot of what you’ve accomplished here if you switch to the message boards only.
*Or* you could opt to mod only particularly sensitive posts, maybe?
Also, if you check out some of the major feminist blogs like, say, feministe, long, unwieldy comments threads are kind of the lifeblood of that community. I just think it would be a shame to lose the comments threads. I’d be disappointed–and won’t really have time time to participate as fully on another forum.
Kristin ~ thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, blogger doesn’t give me a lot of options for moderating comments ~ it’s all or nothing.
I’m still thinking about possible options ~ but right now I’m really leaning towards having the comments over in the forum only.
One last thing–I do think WordPress has a lot more options, and I think it’s possible to just…import all of what you’ve done so far on to wordpress.
There is one board over on the forum specifically for those who do not wish to register to be able to give their input on the various topics.
“Guests” may only post on the “Open Forum” board ~ but they can view comments on all of the boards.
Oh, I thought you had to be invited or something to register… I’ll try to figure it out.
I think you’ll find that your original core readers — those who were already commenting AND logging in — will be willing to move and register. Those who weren’t using an existing login, or are uncomfortable with registering, won’t move — they won’t bother going just to read other comments and post is the open forum.
New readers of your blog won’t bother going to the forum at all I suspect. Blogs are typically give-and-take with comments, people expect that. Forums are more of a supplement, not a replacement.
Loredena
Note: You’ll still need to moderate the forums. Spammers will create throwaway registered accounts, so you’ll still get spam even on the forums that aren’t open, and expect flame wars and trolling.
It’s your blog, your forums. But I do think that cutting off discourse on your blog and attempting to funnel it to forums is a mistake. People who comment on blogs are not necessarily the same people who will join forums (I do do both, but I know others who will not — being able to post a comment without registering, in an active conversation, will stimulate more responses than a forced derailment to take time to register for a forum).
Loredena
I think that once you have registered (and it takes two minutes!), and got used to the dynamic of the forum, it’s a better way to have conversations. You can always see which thread has new posts, very useful if you have commented and want to see if someone has replied, or if you are just following the conversation. Forums keep several conversations alive for longer, while conversations on blogs seem to die when a new post is made.
I like the forum, at least so far.
Madame
Oh, and I forgot to say, once you’re logged on, commenting goes so much faster than on blogs! Quoting is easier, there’s no need to prove that you are a person every time you post, and posts don’t tend to vanish into thin air.
Madame
All I have to say is whoa-am I confused! I have not clue where, how or what I am doing over in that forum……never been on one before.
melissawith4kids