Please feel free to contribute to our About page. Write a paragraph or two about what you think of the forum, describing it in your own words. It doesn't have to be complimentary. Don't post it in this thread, but send it to me via private Conversation.
As for myself, I think this forum is a GOOD one. Am sure I've mentioned that I visit multiple forums off and on. Also, I have noticed that forums can go in cycles of their members being active and posting, while at other times, things seem to not be moving along as much. With this said, SeniorsOnlyClub is a great forum and likely will remain so in the months and years to come. Thank you Ken for all your efforts and a wonderful forum.
Ken, I remember showing some interest a few years ago, but then the bottom fell out for me. My daughter-in-law developed an extremely toxic form of uterine cancer, and was gone in 4 months. Nothing helped.1&1/2 months later, I wound up having my gall bladder removed. Needless to say, my though processes went thataway. I am not finished yet, but I do not intend this to be considered Lois' and her family's ailment. I just will put my thinking cap on.
Once again, I am caught up in medical problems, so what I was thinking of is nil for the time being. When I get all straightened out, I'll try to come up with something.
I only use this forum as of late. I used to be on horse forums but my horse is not here at the moment. I probably already said this forum is great. Not too squishy, not too hard...just right. It is where I pull up a chair with my coffee, no matter what time it is. I am probably here too much but that is not the fault of the forum. It is that I am a lazy bum and it is easier than doing the work that needs doing. Thanks Ken and other moderators for putting up with me.
I had that problem again earlier this morning. Site went all wonky on me. It has been brought up before and Ken explained in another thread
First off, I don't own a website so not sure if it is a asset or liability to use old threads instead of new ones. I do realize there is probably extra cost in lots of threads with the same subject being discussed and don't see any benefit in doing so. I think we should have a thread for those of us who have passed, yet I don't think we should move new post or thread to their threads that have a " Rest in Peace" avatar is good for newcomers to see so often. I honor our loved ones and friends, but I don't want to visit the cemetery daily or be reminded of them so often. If there is a financial or workload reason for this then I do understand. If not, I question the reasoning.
I'll try to give you my thoughts. Others can chime in. The only way to prevent folks from seeing RIP avatars or prevent dupes from being merged where a deceased member had posted is to delete every thread where a deceased member posted, and then start a brand new thread. We would lose all those conversations and all that history. Imagine loosing a thread you have a lot of history in because someone who made a comment in it passed away yesterday. I don't want my comments zapped because of the death of a member, nor would I want my demise to disrupt things here. Plus, when people join forums (and even after they've been members for a while), they like reading the legacy stuff. It gives folks a flavor for who we are, and it passes the time. Regarding merging threads...we do that so that conversations on the exact same topic don't get fragmented (although it does happen from time to time.) It's got nothing to do with resources, it's just good forum management. Otherwise, things get confusing.
To my knowledge, most forum administrators retire forum topics that no one has replied to for a set period of time. They might do this by scolding members who bring up old threads, or they might close old threads so that no one can post a new reply to them, or they might delete old threads. I don't do that because, first of all, I believe there is value in not doing everything the same way that everyone else does, but also because longer threads do better in the search engine results, as long as they haven't strayed so far off topic that the search engines can't figure out what the thread is about. I also encourage posting to old threads because a lot of people who are no longer with us, either because they have died or simply because they chose to no longer be with us, have nevertheless contributed some interesting topics, and I hate to see that lost in the same way that it saddens me that people tend to read only contemporary books. Lastly, I do that because when we have two or three threads about the same thing, it's hard to figure out which one to post in, and the search engines are likely to prioritize whichever is the longer or has the most on-topic content, so visitors to the site might be directed to a thread that has been closed rather than to an active discussion.
I wasn't thinking of getting rid of all their threads, just not adding to them so much if there are alternatives. It was just an thought maybe it was not well thought out, but I'm seeing more come up than before. Babs,Lons Thank you for your reply, I'll read it later after I fix supper, when I can concentrate more on what your saying and what I said too.