I've been equally dividing my time around my favourite Model Train forums (not just this one) for a many years now. And as many of you all also do - I come to soak up as much information as possible and see the fantastic work that can be accomplished so I to can aim higher. Once in a while you can almost see and follow a poster's modelling skills develop right on this forum or others like it before your very eyes. Now my question - has there ever been, or is there forum etiquette which is followed as to a number of postings one can or should make in a particular thread ? The exception being a discussion about a particular topic. It's a foggy boring Sunday morning - and I should be doing something train related.... ...I suppose I am right now. Keep up the great work everyone !!!
In my opinion, no, there is (and should be) no limit to the number of posts to a particular thread. Look several of our most popular threads on TrainBoard. Some have been going for a long time. Better to have one big thread than many small ones with similar content. Compare this to the new TrainBoard Groups feature. Anyone can start a group and it is basically one big thread for one purpose controlled by a particular member. Good question (or observation). Charlie
All successful groups rely on self-regulation, both as an entity and on the part of its constituent members. Each of us comes to a forum with experience, preferences, and biases, not to mention a particular need when we post a given statement. Trying to get all those factors to gel from post to post and thread to thread is unlikely to succeed 100% of the time. Hence the self-regulation...we rely on good manners, common sense, sensibility, sensitivity, and mutual respect to relay to one another when we think the boundaries are being pushed. I have often used the private mail exchange feature included in most fora when I get my buttons pushed sufficiently that I feel I must address the issue with another member. It almost always goes as I had hoped, but some folks can be mighty wilful and/or obtuse. In the end, though, it can only ever be a request for a modification of the undesirably behaviour...only the moderators/administrators can force the change. All this to say that some folks, in my opinion, do post a bit much, but I always try to stretch my elastic a bit more so that my own druthers don't become an obstacle to either my enjoyment of the forum or the enjoyment of others. I try to adapt and find a new limit first before I cave-in and make a fuss...so to speak. In that respect, I feel we have little choice but to rely on feedback, hopefully tastefully and respectfully given, to help to police our individual efforts. Another clue should be what is evident before us. Clearly, some posters will post multiple images in the Weekend Photo Fun, my favourite. I don't mind it now, but did at first. I worked on myself first, and it eventually became a non-issue. Now, two people are happy. :tb-biggrin:
Any way to tell what the longest single thread has been? My favorite (and one I still reference) is the N scale roundhouse scratch build...what an inspiration!
The Pueblo Roundhouse thread (John Widmar) was a really good one! :thumbs_up: I don't know how to search for threads by number of posts, but there are a few threads here that have over 1000 posts.
Go to the main forum page where it shows the newest posts and in the upper left-hand corner, click on "Popular Threads." Charlie
IMHO, let 'em run. Although I'm an infrequent poster, I really enjoy threads such as JD's and Cleggie's.
