Improving AudioKarma Community

As a long time member, I do appreciate it when newer folks add input as far as the forums go. No harm there at all, it is a community after all.

However, I do think that is what most new members don't realize. If the truth be told, this isn't really a place that was designed for technical information or a place to compile large lists of specs and dry information. It started out in the early days as a place to get away from all that. It was just a few friends from different ends of the Earth who needed a place of their own for just hanging out and shootin' the shit.

It is more a place like the local speed shop or pub where friends get together and talk about the things they love and enjoy. There is a ton of knowledge here and even more than a few industry insiders. The difference between this and most other boards is that they aren't here to shill the gear they sell, but to pass on a love for the gear they use.

As for the old posts that pop up, that is one of my favorite things. It is nice to see an old post from a good friend who has passed on or has moved on to other things. It is one of the things that keeps this a tight community. They may be gone, but when we see their avatar, we remember them. This is missed in a lot of other "well run" forums.

So as was said above, it ain't broke and doesn't need fixing. We like it just the way it is. And I guarantee if you stick around for a few years, you will too.
 
It's annoying to have TOO many at the top of the page/forum

Maybe One Sticky to rule them all. One per forum, with links to FAQs.

Isn't that how the concept of FAQ got started?
 
I agree with all the "things are fine" posts. One thing that might be fun, though not really what the OP was getting at, is a "best of AK" place. It could be best threads or best individual posts, I suppose earning the designation via nominations. "Best" could be most informative, most entertaining, stories of unusual experiences... whatever.
 
Maybe your other forums adhere to those specific rules. I don't really care one bit. AK is AK and we all like the interaction between members.

Hang around for awhile and see how it works. I don't think you've spent much time here and are influenced by other forums. AK is superior to any other forum I've tried.
 
You guys STFU already... :D

Hey stratmaster4,
AK works the way it does because of it's members. If you need something all you need is ask and most often you will have a bunch of folks helping you out. The place isn't perfect but it's a wonderful and incredible place to learn, share and hang out with friends. The members make it this way.

btw... in the beginning, I kinda asked the same question and I also couldn't figure how the polls worked. You are not alone! :D
 
I think your post is too long. I didn't read the whole thing.

You don't read many of my posts, either, huh?
:D

AK may not be "broke" but nothing on the planet exists that can't be improved at least a little. And since someone broached the subject...

AK's search engine is excellent compared to many I've used and it's generally easy to find what you're looking for. There's no problem resurrecting old threads and reactivating or updating them.

One thing that makes it less efficient is when users list their gear in their signatures and it comes up and clogs the search results. There are often multiple unrelated-to-the-search threads at the top of search results because someone who's posted multiple responses in those threads has listed the name of the searched item in his or her signature.

I'm not a web tech and don't know if it's even possible, but segregating the signatures from the text of posts and blocking the signatures from the search engine would greatly improve the search function.

Just a thought.


1. AK surely isn't broke. Too many auctions lately to raise funds for the server, for it to be broke. :D

2. I completely agree that it would be a BIG improvement if those signature listings could somehow be segregated from search results. Once in a rare "blue moon" I want to find who owns something, and want a sig included, but in about 99 percent of searches, those unrelated signature listings really get in the way.
 
By organizing common questions, topics, and information into sticky databases we could reduce a lot of the thread pileup in the forums.

I'm not sure what that would be, but it sounds like a bit of work. I think anyone could write a comprehensive post about a topic and that might end up stickied or referenced in some other way.

There was a fairly contentious topic that come up here and in a couple other forums at pretty much the same time. I liked the way it got handled here and thought in one other forum in particular, it was dominated by jerks.

There's always the seach engine.
 
There was a fairly contentious topic that come up here and in a couple other forums at pretty much the same time. I liked the way it got handled here and thought in one other forum in particular, it was dominated by jerks.

There's always the seach engine.[/QUOTE]

Bet you're talking about the Grant Fidelity complaint :D
 
I belong to a similar forum, Flyertalk.com which is a frequent flyer (and traveler) forum, Each sub-forum exist for a specific airline, hotel, chain, or whatever. There are typically about 4-6 mods per forum and they do a lot of tidying up WRT threads, especially if new threads pop up which relate to an already existing thread. So a lot of thread get redirected or merged to an existing thread and the redundant ones are closed.

That is generally pretty helpful in that existing knowledge is referred to and people can see their question answered or explored. On the other hand, IMO, it takes a TON of work by the mods to do that, and to remember all the other threads that are floating around, and I think they work around the clock doing that and other moderation duties. Also, there are some thread stickies there too, but many of them are referred to in a master FAQ thread at the top of the forum.

For Example, I'm on the United Mileage Plus forum and they have this master FAQ sticky:

"United Mileage Plus Forum FAQ, Wiki, and Glossary"

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus-pre-merger/336354-united-mileage-plus-forum-faq-wiki-glossary.html

Its full of primary explanations of terms, issues, and links for the uninitiated and the seasoned forum user to logically find and work with threads already established. The OP incorporated suggestions from posters and updated the initial thread post as needed. With over 500K views, you can see it has gotten a lot of use.

If a group of forum regulars and mods wanted to put together something like that for each forum, it could be a useful addition. But it is very time and labor intensive. A family forum like ours can do it, it just takes a long while.

A similar thing occurred at the Lansing Heritage forum where LH/AK member HJames pulled together and linked in a master thread all she could find about the JBL 4341 speaker that she acquired and was working on. That's a great resource and saved me and others a lot of time. Again, sometimes mods would need to merge or pull together threads that get started about similar topics in order to keep thread numbers smaller and allow previous knowledge to come together. Forum members could also chime in and link up or point to existing threads they know about too.

Just my 0.02 x 5!

Bart
 
I am a member of many forums, and moderator on one. I feel that Audiokarma is one of the best, or perhaps thé best. Yes, things happen that I would do different (although that might be worse...) and there are some things that perhaps could be better. However, as been said a numer of times before: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I wish I 'd be so wise when it comes to some gear I 'fixed'... ;)
 
It won't take years. I loved AK after the first few visits. I've visited other audio forums and none compare to AK. But it seems to have grown bigger than a "pub" and the amount of data already compiled is priceless. It's a great resource for anyone seeking to keep their favorite old gear alive, improve their systems, or just expand their knowledge--not just for those wanting to "shill their equipment." Anyone shopping for opinions here on what gear to buy of course should be leery, but when there's a consensus of opinions spread out over time about a certain brand or item, that has value.

For me, the most valuable part of AK is the expert information so generously shared by the tech wizards and knowledgeable audiophiles. If I'm in the mood for friendly chat, I'd go to the Back Alley Pub, but I barely have enough time to search for repair manuals, recommendations for better gear, info on obscure pieces, etc. Things that'll help me put together and maintain the best audio system I can on my meager budget.

I appreciate that the long-timers here might resent suggestions from newbies. I just hate wasting time sifting through dozens of useless threads trying to find some needed bit of info because someone with fifty receivers listed in their sig and fifty thousand posts inadvertently clogs the search engine.

Even four hundred year old British pubs clean out the pipes when they get clogged.

That said, AK is still the best audio site on the web, with a great group of folks. In fact, with the way civilization is crumbling these days, I was surprised to find such a genteel and intelligent web community.

As a long time member, I do appreciate it when newer folks add input as far as the forums go. No harm there at all, it is a community after all.

However, I do think that is what most new members don't realize. If the truth be told, this isn't really a place that was designed for technical information or a place to compile large lists of specs and dry information. It started out in the early days as a place to get away from all that. It was just a few friends from different ends of the Earth who needed a place of their own for just hanging out and shootin' the shit.

It is more a place like the local speed shop or pub where friends get together and talk about the things they love and enjoy. There is a ton of knowledge here and even more than a few industry insiders. The difference between this and most other boards is that they aren't here to shill the gear they sell, but to pass on a love for the gear they use.

As for the old posts that pop up, that is one of my favorite things. It is nice to see an old post from a good friend who has passed on or has moved on to other things. It is one of the things that keeps this a tight community. They may be gone, but when we see their avatar, we remember them. This is missed in a lot of other "well run" forums.

So as was said above, it ain't broke and doesn't need fixing. We like it just the way it is. And I guarantee if you stick around for a few years, you will too.
 
I just hate wasting time sifting through dozens of useless threads trying to find some needed bit of info because someone with fifty receivers listed in their sig and fifty thousand posts inadvertently clogs the search engine.

Even four hundred year old British pubs clean out the pipes when they get clogged.

I would say that the people that makes these posts and the people that reply to them hardly think they are "useless". :sigh:
 
I would say that the people that makes these posts and the people that reply to them hardly think they are "useless". :sigh:

By a useless thread I meant useless in regards to the search tool. e.g. -- like searching for "Sansui 9090db" and having the first ten search results have no reference at all to the 9090db except in the sig of someone who posted five replies in that thread.

Obviously they aren't useless to those posting.They just undermine the purpose of the search engine. unless of course the purpose is to see how many times something is mentioned, rather than actually discussed.
 
By a useless thread I meant useless in regards to the search tool. e.g. -- like searching for "Sansui 9090db" and having the first ten search results have no reference at all to the 9090db except in the sig of someone who posted five replies in that thread.

Obviously they aren't useless to those posting.They just undermine the purpose of the search engine. unless of course the purpose is to see how many times something is mentioned, rather than actually discussed.

Ooooohhhh!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0
 
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