Members niceguy Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I've been posting here since 2001, and for a good many years, this was my home on the internet. I learned so much about gear... It was like walking into a guitar shop, pulling a guitar off the wall, and sitting around the amps with old-timers and experts and just strumming and learning and talking. I loved it. Then, the format changes began. Passwords were changed, usernames were lost. I drifted away. And every time I came back, there was less and less activity on the forum. This is the longest I've been away-- perhaps a few years now. I recognize some of the usernames, and I'm happy there's still a community here, but what happened? It's like this forum is 5% as active as it used to be. Do people just spend all their time on reddit now? I'd rather talk guitars with guitarists rather than oooh and ahhh over freaking cat pictures all day at reddit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 you pretty much answered it yourself....lol.. they basically shot themselves in the foot. Me...I'm just to lazy to go anywhere else honestly....like...I am literally too lazy to make a new account somewhere else...ha.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted April 30, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 30, 2014 It's actually improved traffic wise, since we reverted to vB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Ratae: This is absolutely true. While there shows a dip in reporting for the middle of March (Google Analytics are about 45 days behind), it is now showing a complete turn around.We also have about 50K links in google that were pointing folks to no where. We are working through all them in re-routes and it is starting to turn the graph around. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveAronow Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Yes! It is improving! We have gone from 3 users a day to 3.001 users a day in just the past year alone! Come back in 10, 000 years and we will be back up to 5 people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wedgehed II Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 It's kind of ironic that the folks in charge had 1001 reasons why they couldn't simply update the vB software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 It's kind of ironic that the folks in charge had 1001 reasons why they couldn't simply update the vB software. Only because it wasn't"their idea" to begin with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Its still got some "Major" Glitches. You have threads that lock themselves and you cant post, Long delays posting, No response when posting so you try it again and get a double post, and some things like posting photos isn't reliable. Add to that a good 90% of the regular posters have bailed some are still here. The biggest problem was they didn't think to notify people they would be upgrading. The site just went down for a week and then it limped along one day up one day down for a month. They should have made a post in every forum telling people what was coming up and how to reset your password. People would have balked like they did at the other failed upgrades, but at least they would have known how to reset their passwords and not lost all their old post counts. I was successful in doing that but I got lucky. I read how it was done after digging around for a couple of days. Others just didnt bother to reset and set up a new account. I can say the spam is drastically cut, and when you do post a spam alert its dealt with promptly. We been getting back maybe one or two older forumites a week. That's pretty slow considering how it used to be.but the ones who do hang are a pretty good crowd. Very few trolls visit here. There are a few forums that are dead as a door nail. The Amp forum seems to only open to post once a week. A few of the others haven't had any posts since the upgrade. I only visit because it kills time on the job when things are slow, otherwise I'd only post here once a week. Anyway welcome back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Hey niceguy and Wedgehead are back! Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wayne2 Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Short answer: they switched the software to a weird thing called "Lithium" and it never really worked right. Months went by and most members wandered off and joined other forums. Now that it has been switched back to functional forum software it's taking some time for users to come back. But like you said, people might be less interested in forums than they were ten years ago, with other things competing for their attention. The community here was nuked so many times I just don't see things ever getting back to the way they once were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members popus Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Whoever screwed it all up should be fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members popus Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I've been posting here since 2001, and for a good many years, this was my home on the internet. I learned so much about gear... It was like walking into a guitar shop, pulling a guitar off the wall, and sitting around the amps with old-timers and experts and just strumming and learning and talking. I loved it. Then, the format changes began. Passwords were changed, usernames were lost. I drifted away. And every time I came back, there was less and less activity on the forum. This is the longest I've been away-- perhaps a few years now. I recognize some of the usernames, and I'm happy there's still a community here, but what happened? It's like this forum is 5% as active as it used to be. Do people just spend all their time on reddit now? I'd rather talk guitars with guitarists rather than oooh and ahhh over freaking cat pictures all day at reddit. Yup I left because was sickened that so many of the good folk left also,I only peek in from time to time now. They messed it up and no going back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Whoever screwed it all up should be fired. Musicians friend owns HC. It was their decision to upgrade, likely to target their adds more effectively to match what they use on their site. Thats one of the reasons the Review site is so screwed up. You used to be able to browse it by manufacture, and bring up a list in that category in numerical or alphabetical order. Now you have to either know the exact model, hope you spell it right then search. You have no other way of finding any info. Oh and this auto spell correction is driving me nuts. Some of the words it comes up is screwy, and making manual corrections using a cursor is out right awful. The old system just highlighted the errors which was fine. This system tries to do more and it just makes things more frustrating. I'm not a great typist. I'm an older guy who uses 2 fingers. Back in HS typing classes were still mostly full of girls. We didnt even own a typewriter so I had no reason to learn. Who would thing I'd spend my entire career repairing computer gear and making a decent wage in the process repairing the gear I cant type on efficiantly. Guess were doomed to do the things we hate most in life, but at least its only 8 hours a day and you're compensated for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Then there was the policy of limiting posts to PG-13 content in order to make things more child friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elantric Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I'll add many folks used to check this site daily for killer deals on Music gear, mostly on the "Great Deals" thread: Back in 2010, 4 times a day you could count on a new deal posted there with significant savings http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...lowed-readthis Today in 2014, its ghost town here! It would appear that publicly traded info on music gear deals have either been clamped down by HC / MF management, or posted on other sites now after the exodus that occurred here in the past year. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Its not self policing anymore. The people who should police it dont. Say what you want and threaten what you want. If you are a heavy poster your fine by them. Just one of their detrimental policies.more kitchen ads than Genuine posts, but its all traffic.Think sterile and youre on the right track.They have a stated intent of an environment for school kids. So we post pictures and all go aaaah! I wish it would go back to the flavour of the old place, but its not what they want. They want the same traffic but from a forum with a different culture.I doubt anybody even considered why it may have been succesful in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steve2112 Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 Then there was the policy of limiting posts to PG-13 content in order to make things more child friendly. As well it should. This is a corporate website...dealing with music endeavors. Lots of people left...and some of those guys left because they couldn't use it as their personal adult social website anymore. GOOD FOR THEM! It's what makes the world go around. And GAB is totally awesome website. Check it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 As well it should. This is a corporate website...dealing with music endeavors. Lots of people left...and some of those guys left because they couldn't use it as their personal adult social website anymore. GOOD FOR THEM! It's what makes the world go around. And GAB is totally awesome website. Check it. I have no problem keeping things clean but there's a long history of musicians resenting censorship .It's called free speech. This is not a ladies tea club. or a kindergarten. We talk about electric guitars and most of those guitars play rock music. A little coarse language is just the nature of the beast. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I don't like that I have to log back in every time I come here, and we need better smileys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members niceguy Posted April 30, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 The current censoring of language is a HUGE negative for me. I use colorful language in real life like every other person. Having to "keep it clean" really pisses me off. I would never go hang out with pals at a bar which had a "only Disney language allowed" policy; this forum was like my internet bar back in the early 2000s. It was the best break in between lectures or whatever. Now? Yes, it's a freaking ladies tea room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 The current censoring of language is a HUGE negative for me. I use colorful language in real life like every other person. Having to "keep it clean" really pisses me off. I would never go hang out with pals at a bar which had a "only Disney language allowed" policy; this forum was like my internet bar back in the early 2000s. It was the best break in between lectures or whatever. Now? Yes' date=' it's a freaking ladies tea room.[/quote'] Come on, the place is ideal for non swearing, non drinking rockers who dont rib each other and rip into each other. Rockers who want to hang out in a junior school atmosphere. All they got to do now is find some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I don't like that I have to log back in every time I come here' date=' and we need better smileys [/quote'] Why do you need to log back in? I never do unless I clean out my computer and everything gets deleted. All those smileys and so on are a little to cutesy for me anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted April 30, 2014 Members Share Posted April 30, 2014 I don't like that I have to log back in every time I come here' date=' and we need better smileys [/quote'] Strange I stay logged in. Is there a "keep me logged in" check box that you have missed or do you clear cookies? Which would log you out. Agree we need more smileys and hate these oneseekphil which limits choice even more and will anybody ever use the obscure ones like this hideous thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members erok123 Posted May 1, 2014 Members Share Posted May 1, 2014 To many platform changes, to much heavy-handed moderation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted May 1, 2014 Members Share Posted May 1, 2014 Why do you need to log back in? I never do unless I clean out my computer and everything gets deleted. All those smileys and so on are a little to cutesy for me anyway. I switched back to Maxthon after using Safari for awhile. Safari was the only browser that had some speed on my computer that allowed me to post here. I see that they've fixed that issue, and i can use Maxthon again, so I don't have that problem anymore. But we still need better smileys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.