I have similar concerns, and hate every forum I'd used until I saw how Zoho was implemented for jQuery.
http://forum.jquery.com/#AllForums Imagine landing on this, but for coworking, instead of landing on the coworking google group's landing page. I think this is worlds clearer than how to participate in an e-mail list, but would love others' feedback too. That biforcation is also a concern, but lets be honest, at the size we're at, it happens already...we just don't see the effect because people split off into their own side-converations. I think that guiding the fragmentation of a list this big is MUCH better than letting it happen totally on its own...and taking people/conversations along with it. Great feedback, John. Much appreciated. /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 12:46 PM, John Sechrest <[email protected]> wrote: > The difference between mailing lists and forums is much more complex and > much more subtle that you are outlining here. > > I have seen several efforts to move to forums blow up discussions. In > addition, I have also seen moves like this end up translating into a > biforcation of the conversation into two different groups. > > The choice of how you view data is a critical one. And I totally agree > about the need for a tool that helps you focus your attention well. For me, > google groups + gmail does this well. > > In general, I have yet to meet a forum that I like. Web based forums hide > information and make it harder for me to find things. I find this especially > true of forum sites like NING. (pet peave) > > I do not know how zoho forums work, having never used them. > > For me, I am immediately suspicious when I see the word forum. Since forums > usually take me more time to process, take more energy to keep in context. > > I suspect it is an information processing style issue, since these are the > very issues you are trying to address. > > I would just urge caution. A shift like this from google groups to zoho > forums is likely to quietly and subtly alter who is participating, and who > stays connected to the group. > > I have watched other groups have a significant shift of membership with > tool changes like this. > > Be sure you are getting what you think you are getting. And be sure you > know which audience you are serving with the change. > > > On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> So, Woody just suggested that an active thread be moved out of the main >> channel so as to not disrupt others. While I think it was a good topic to >> keep in the group's visibility, his question of "can I move this to a sub >> folder" reminded me of something. >> >> Google Groups kinda sucks. >> >> To be fair, it's become our home. This is the most active repository of >> information for coworking, and the place where I send people first to learn >> more and meet more coworking people. But the Google Group is anything but >> good for discovery. Spam moderation is chaos for the people who actively >> manage it. The lack of sub-threads is annoying, and the lack of message >> context makes it hard to know what messages to pay attention to. >> >> Recently, the open source javascript library jQuery moved away from Google >> Groups for a lot of these same reasons...to Zoho forums. >> >> I did some research and found that a Zoho forum to support our group would >> cost $75/month, and incur a one-time $500 fee to migrate all of the existing >> data (messages, threads, and even users) from Google Groups to Zoho. There's >> even an option to interact with Zoho via e-mail for those of us that like >> this. >> >> The pros: >> >> - Much better organization of our knowledge. The ability to set >> message "topics" to things like "question", "introduction", "idea" would >> be >> HUGE for this group. >> - Easier on-boarding for new members >> - Better spam moderation tools >> >> The cons: >> >> - It's not free >> - Since it's not free, somebody needs to pay for it, which means >> somebody is ultimately a "keyholder" >> >> The cons aren't huge, but they do need to be addressed. >> >> I think this could be a very valuable evolution of this discussion forum >> that we all love so much. What say you, the coworking group? >> >> -Alex >> >> /ah >> indyhall.org >> coworking in philadelphia >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]<coworking%[email protected]> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> > > > > -- > John Sechrest . > Corvallis Benton . > Chamber Coalition . > 420 NW 2nd . > (541) 757-1507 . [email protected] > > . > > > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<coworking%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
