Thread: Blog discussion

Originally Posted by Big Shed

On a more serious note, what do people think about the new blog facility?

If I posted my true feelings the post would be deleted so I'll limit myself to saying it is a wast of time and effort and will not be something that I'll avail of.

IMO, whilst there is a limited facility for commenting on what is written in these bloggs, there is no ability to test and even question or refute the comments like in the forums. Hence no proper debate and so these musings are not worth reading.

My humble 2cents worth but I don't want Neil to complain about us being whingers when he brings in something new again, so Neil I appreciate your efforts but it is not for me.


Peter.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

On a more serious note, what do people think about the new blog facility?

I'm reserving judgement, until such a time as I can see any general trend in how the blogs are being used. If 'tis just personal maunderings, I'll be ignoring that whole section.

However, I don't see why more technical issues can't be covered in blogs. After all, people can cross-link to 'em in the forums if they feel any point merits discussion, can't they? IMHO many WIPs would make good blogs... as often as not, all the 3rd-party posts are simply saying "nice job" and not actually contrbuting to the "knowledge quotient." Surely other's not being able to chip theirr 2 cents worth into a blogged WIP won't suddenly make the WIP "not worth reading?"

For example, I've been thinking about setting up my own blog along the lines of "Woodturning on a shoe-string" aimed at beginner turners on a budget. Covering all those questions that get raised time after time and are generally answered with "do a search." Sort of starting at "Which lathe should I buy" and working through "what are these chisels?" into more technical areas.

With these areas alraedy well-covered, why would I throw a blog into the fray as well? Because it'd lump all these basic questions into one contiguous read, no hijacks off into "this tool/lathe is better than that" etc, etc. that are of more interest to turners who are already set up and know the basic principles involved. (Of what practical interest is a debate over different chisel profiles when the typical newby can't even use a basic spindle gouge properly yet? )

I may or may not do it - depends on how much time I have on my hands - but my point is it'll be interesting to see just how the blogs do develop.

Give it time, people. Give it time.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

I'm reserving judgement, until such a time as I can see any general trend in how the blogs are being used.

So am I

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

However, I don't see why more technical issues can't be covered in blogs. After all, people can cross-link to 'em in the forums if they feel any point merits discussion, can't they? IMHO many WIPs would make good blogs... as often as not, all the 3rd-party posts are simply saying "nice job" and not actually contrbuting to the "knowledge quotient." Surely other's not being able to chip theirr 2 cents worth into a blogged WIP won't suddenly make the WIP "not worth reading?"

For example, I've been thinking about setting up my own blog along the lines of "Woodturning on a shoe-string" aimed at beginner turners on a budget. Covering all those questions that get raised time after time and are generally answered with "do a search." Sort of starting at "Which lathe should I buy" and working through "what are these chisels?" into more technical areas.

With these areas alraedy well-covered, why would I throw a blog into the fray as well? Because it'd lump all these basic questions into one contiguous read, no hijacks off into "this tool/lathe is better than that" etc, etc. that are of more interest to turners who are already set up and know the basic principles involved. (Of what practical interest is a debate over different chisel profiles when the typical newby can't even use a basic spindle gouge properly yet? )

Maybe I don't understand how blogs work, but it appears to me that there is a facility for "comments", so the blog can still be hijacked with the "mine is better than yours" type of comment, cant' it?
I agree that a continuous thread on what you are proposing, without interruption, would be of real value. However, if the comments break it up by people putting in their two bobs worth, then it is really no different from the forum. Hence my question and my concern about information being lost to the forum.

The other thing that concerns me is how easy it will be to search the blogs?

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

I may or may not do it - depends on how much time I have on my hands - but my point is it'll be interesting to see just how the blogs do develop.

It will be interesting to see.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Give it time, people. Give it time.

BS in regard to hijacking, you can turn off comments or even moderate your own blog through the blog options.

I think the blog will be good for WIP like my 'Finally got a start on shed site', you could turn comments off till it's finished then turn them back on or provide a link back into the forums for comments.

We will just have to see how it goes.

I reckon they're a solution waiting for a problem.

I can't really think of a purpose except that fewer people will read them, so you can pretend your talking to yourself!

I figured I'd try to post something every day for a month (except I'm going away after three weeks) and see what comes of it.

I thought it would be a good place for work in progress, but I'm not sure. If you check out the larger of the WIP threads for instance :
This one with 250 posts and 25,000 views, it's hard to see how it would have evolved or attracted the interest it did if it was tucked away in a blog. The fact that people are still adding to it, says something for its relevance. I don't think the blog format will give that.

Similarly, I rather like musing in open forums, so that occasionally there's a bit of biffo-fun provoked too!

Anyway, let's just see!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Maybe I don't understand how blogs work, but it appears to me that there is a facility for "comments", so the blog can still be hijacked with the "mine is better than yours" type of comment, cant' it?

Yes. But by my understanding, the comments remain just that: comments.

The body of the blog can be expanded at will, with the comments staying down the bottom and not interrupting the "flow" of the blog.

I agree that a continuous thread on what you are proposing, without interruption, would be of real value. However, if the comments break it up by people putting in their two bobs worth, then it is really no different from the forum. Hence my question and my concern about information being lost to the forum.

Here's one way I can see things happening: someone posts a comment suggesting that such'n'such a topic should be included. Rather than fill comments discussing the point, the forum itself could be used for the discussion. With referral links to the blog. Once it has been discussed, the blogger could choose to incorporate the ideas into the blog. Or not.

Thus it's not taking away from the forum as such, it's becoming an adjunct. ie. The forum for rough drafts, open to suggestions, criticisms and hijacks , the blog as the final draft.

I expect that the blogs will be used in a variety of ways (including the stream of consciousness muck) but the above is how I would probably use them. For what little that's worth.

The other thing that concerns me is how easy it will be to search the blogs?

That's something I've been wondering, too. Also, how will they be moderated? If someone complains about a blog's content, will the offending text simply be modified? That entry deleted? The whole blog?

And who's to judge whether something should be deleted? After all, we've had posts apparently stating simple facts or opinions that've started people off on the topic of libel.

I suspect our mods are in for some long, hard hours in the near future...

I think DJ has it in a nutshell. The blogs are an unproven product at this stage. It may help if people posted links to a variety of blogs so we could get some ideas of how they can be used.

Please note that Neil's comment needs to be read a bit more carefully. He was referring to woodwork questions, NOT woodwork content.

We had a number of new members that found the blog area before anything else and posted a question in there which we had to move to the main forums(hence Neil's message).

I don't think Neil intended to stop WIP blogs, to the contrary, I think that was one of the reasons he activated them (I'll ask him to confirm that <- EDIT: confirmed).

Think laterally, the blogs could be underused or the greatest thing since sliced posts.

Searches in blogs: Look in the BASIC skin at the toolbar under search. It should now expand into three search panels: Search forums, search blogs and search projects.

The skins have not been updated yet. Until they are I am using the BASIC skin to look at the new stuff.

Mods in for long hard hours -

Moderating
"That's something I've been wondering, too. Also, how will they be moderated? If someone complains about a blog's content, will the offending text simply be modified? That entry deleted? The whole blog?

And who's to judge whether something should be deleted? After all, we've had posts apparently stating simple facts or opinions that've started people off on the topic of libel."

Skew, we'll just suck it and see mate. We don't have all the answers - sheesh, we don't even have all the questions yet!

Originally Posted by Groggy

Mods in for long hard hours -

OK. Make that longer, harder hours.

Skew, we'll just suck it and see mate. We don't have all the answers - sheesh, we don't even have all the questions yet!

I know. I was just pondering aloud (well... my keyboard is a tad on the noisy side ) over how it'll develop, not asking for answers that I know you haven't got. Yet.

Originally Posted by Groggy

Searches in blogs: Look in the BASIC skin at the toolbar under search. It should now expand into three search panels: Search forums, search blogs and search projects.

The skins have not been updated yet. Until they are I am using the BASIC skin to look at the new stuff.

Umm Greg, I have changed back to U-beauts skin and the search bit is there for all of them, including the links to Blogs & Projects, think they've been there since yesterday

Originally Posted by djstimber

Umm Greg, I have changed back to U-beauts skin and the search bit is there for all of them, including the links to Blogs & Projects, think they've been there since yesterday

Really? Well there you go (I've been a little busy moving hundreds of posts between forums and haven't tried to change skins recently)

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

OK. Make that longer, harder hours.

I know. I was just pondering aloud (well... my keyboard is a tad on the noisy side ) over how it'll develop, not asking for answers that I know you haven't got. Yet.

I reckon they will be a good thing once we figure them out. We just need a bit of vision.

Hope you guys enjoy the BBQ tomorrow, wish I was with you instead of sanding walls, ah well.

I placed this as a first blog entry, but it might as well be cut & pasted here. I would have just linked to it, but there 'tis:

Stream of Consciousness

Posted 13th Sep 2007 at 11:52 AM by Stuart.
Blogs, RSS, API Keys, Akismet, blogging - welcome to the wonderful world of Web 2.0

A blog, short for Web Log is, or can be, anything from an easily updatable website, to a diary, to a stream of consciousness.

What do you do with one? Anything you want (within the rules obviously). It is somewhere that is your personal place to talk about what you want, or record events, or share information, or.... how large is your imagination?

You might think it is competition to the regular forums, but there, once you have started a thread, it is "owned" by the forum members to talk to, disagree with, hijack (sometimes), add to, complement etc. Whereas, here, you control the environment. Each post is yours, each thread has only your content - you may allow comments, but even then, you get to choose which ones are seen, or even if comments are allowed at all.

Perhaps you want to keep a record of projects you have made - sure, share them with the rest of the forum, but also post here, so there is an ongoing chronological record of your work - how cool would that be?

Want to try the discipline of posting a thought every day? Doesn't matter about topic, - the topic is you, and your thoughts. All kept neatly in one place, and not watered down by others posting in the meantime.

How about using it to keep track of your experiments? What worked, what didn't? Did a glue joint you made 5 years ago using a new glue survive? Have you found a new formula for a finish, but what to track how it survives over time before releasing the product to the world and make $millions?

I find the chronological nature of a blog very cool, and the fact that it is MY space on the forums.

If you have any questions about blogs, blogging, etc, just ask. I've been blogging now for about 3 years - in various locations, and various topics.

My latest is Stu's Shed - feel free to have a look, as it might help clarify what in the world this is all about!

Thank you Stuart, food for thought indeed. I must admit I enjoy your blog.

The thought of a continuous thread (blog) of all of Sturdee's jigs, mods and projects puts a whole different slant on this blog idea.

You may have to re-consider your aversion to blogs Peter.

It will interesting to see what develops.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

The thought of a continuous thread (blog) of all of Sturdee's jigs, mods and projects puts a whole different slant on this blog idea.

You may have to re-consider your aversion to blogs Peter.

It will interesting to see what develops.

No I don't think so for an advanced search for jigs etc as the key word and using Sturdee for the user name will already get that result.


Peter.