HP for Grown Ups - Suggestions for Improvement

[Steve]

There are a couple thread going on right now in the OT group about how
difficult it has become to read, track, and respond to messages in the
Main groups, as well as repetative and poorly researched messages.

Suggestion:

1.) Change the access parameters of the group to allow non-members to
read the posts, but NOT to respond to them. In other words, read-only
access that is limited to 'Messages' area.

This would encourage people with a short term desire or interest to
read the latest views on HP, but not join the group. 

People with one quick thought would be less likely to jump in with
'done to death' posts and poorly researched responses.

If after reading the group for a while, they decide they want to join,
then they can go ahead and do so with the same moderated provision we
have now. 

This would discourage I guess what we could call frivolous posting.


2.) For those of you who have been around a while, and who either get
the digest or receive post via email, consider temporarily switching
to reading the group on the web. This will help unclog your email box,
and makes it easier to read through the post Subject Headings and pick
and choose what you want to read.

Example; there is a thread on Charlie Weasley's age that has been
going on for days and probably hundereds of post, can't imagine how or
why that thread went on for more than 6 post before the question was
sufficiently answered. So using web view, I was very easily able to
avoid all the 'Charlie Weasley's Age' post. No offense intended to
anyone who posted in that thread, I am well aware that threads
frequently morph beyond the original question, so the thread may have
dealt with other subjects. 

My only point is that when you can view a long list of Subject
headings, it's a lot easier to pick and choose what you want to read.

2a.) Also, to those who talked about withdrawing from the club, I
would suggest you just temporarily switch to web viewing of the club. 

That way you maintain your member status and at the same time unclog
your email box.

2b.) Pick and choose - seriously, pick and choose without mercy.
Really, you don't have to read every post. At ultra-high volume times
like this, I read posts that seem interesting or deal with my favorite
subjects. I'm always up for a good 'defending Ron' or 'defending
Neville' discussion, but rarely read Snape, Slytherin, or Draco. I'm
alway up for 'how the wizard world works', portkeys, wands, and
magical creatures, but rarely read SHIPS, ESE (Ever So Evil). TBAYs
are fun, but I could never do it, so they are a little intimidating,
and require some time to get a sense of the character's personalities,
so I don't read them that often, but when I do I'm always impressed by
the skill it take to write them.


3.) Last month there were 8200 posts, so far this month (Aug 18) there
are 3200, so the volume is dropping quickly. I suspect next month, it
will be back pretty close to normal.


4.) Give old links to Newbies- As bad as Yahoo Search capabilities are
(I just spent hours searching for one of my own posts) it would be
nice it the long term members made the effort to refer Newbies back to
existing posts that answered their question or dealt with the same
subject. Perhaps even a mild and friendly suggestion that if they
still have ideas or comment after reading what is already written, we
will be happy to continue to discuss the subject. 

This would show Newbies that we are willing to talk with them and that
while limited Yahoo group search can provide answers to their questions.


5.) Cut the moderator and List Elves some slack. I'm pretty sure that
even as obssessed of HP fans as they are, they do have lives and other
responsibilities.

6.) SNIP... SNIP... SNIP... and MORE SNIP...
Snipping and editing out unneeded information from the previous poster
is really boring and tedious, but not as tedious and boring is having
to wade throught ten old paragraphs to find one new one at then
bottom. Not SNIPPING is something we all get lazy and do, and within
certain limits, it's OK, but at times like this we need to set an
example for how it should be done.

So, let's show the Newbies how it is suppost to be done. Snip out
unneeded paragraphs AND within paragraphs snip out unneeded words from
sentences. Frequently, if you trim extraneous words from a paragraph
you can reduce it to one fourth it's original size and still keep the
original posters full thought.

If we lead by example, instead of getting lazy, as we all do, we can
show Newbies how it is suppose to be done.


7.) Reformat the paragraphs of the previous poster.
This is also boring and tedious, but I find it very tedious to read
posts that have lines and paragraphs broken up into unnecessary short
lines. Each time a person replies in a thread, the 'Psycho Wordwrap'
compounds itself into paragraphs that are difficult to read.

This is especially a problem on my computer because I use a somewhat
large font. Not really 'that' large, still normal by any standard, but
Yahoo in it's infinite wisdom adds additional 'page display' wordwrap
that makes posts difficult to read.

In some other groups, instead of quoting the previous poster like this-

>This is the first line.
>This is the second line.
>This is the third line.

It's done like this-

>>> This is the first line. This is the second line.This is the third
line. <<<

This eliminates any problems with wordwrap, including the problem with
lines wrapping at the advert that is usually found at the top of the page.

Just a suggestion.

8.) Paragraphs and LOTS OF THEM.
This is more of a general rule. I think it is a lot easier to read,
and a lot easier to follow the train of thought when reading on-line
when thoughts are broken up into small 'take it in in a glance' size
bites. 

- Use many more paragraphs than you would in normal printed writing,
and many more than you would when adhering to standard rules of
writing. NEVER write huge long paragraphs. That's a good way to get
people to avoid your post and move on to the next one.

- Don't indent. That may be how your teacher told you to do it, but it
doesn't work on the web. Three first-line indented paragraphs on the
computer screen are no different than one large paragraph. Save or
eyes and our ulcers, and use a full blank line paragraph separator.

Just some general suggestion. I realize this deteriorated into a rant,
but I think the first couple points are valid for the group in general.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn