The atmosphere in here

Re: The atmosphere in here

Lorna McHardy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:15:07 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]

[/quote]

Loving this one!

Re: The atmosphere in here

Niall Taylor — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:47:48 GMT

[quote user="Lorna McHardy"] where do you find this stuff?[/quote]

Just copy and paste off other forums I'm on - never thought of trying it until I saw Julian's masterpiece of a post - now I'm overjoyed!

Niall

Re: The atmosphere in here

Lorna McHardy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:12:41 GMT

where do you find this stuff?

Re: The atmosphere in here

Julian Earl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:49:39 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]More smileys? etc... [/quote]

Niall

[/quote]

Re: The atmosphere in here

Niall Taylor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:23:02 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]More smileys? etc... [/quote]

Niall

Re: The atmosphere in here

Julian Earl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:15:49 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]

[quote user="Julian Earl"]Would this work for the heated?

[/quote]

Actually, on that note it would be good to have a wider range of emoticons - I know some regard them as cheesy but I use a lot more than I used to these days and find they are a useful substitute for body language and facial expression, helping to soften the bare words of a post and give inflection to the meaning.

I love the catfight one that Julian has used, also one for 'really, screamingly hilarious' would be great. Also, with the smileys available at the moment the 'mischevious' one looks like someone who is really angry so could cause misunderstandings.

Bit of a minor point, but since this seems to have turned into a suggestions thread...

Niall

[/quote]

More smileys? At first I was a bit then thought that yeah, that's a good idea even though it came from an . ( ) So as long as extra smileys don't lead to a lot of , communications should improve like Niall says -

All in all better communication should lead to more of this and less of this .

So, in the meantime, I'm back to to see whether more smileys get this or .

All in all though, if you really don't like them, then...

Re: The atmosphere in here

Tim Cheyne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:26:22 GMT

[quote user="Lorna McHardy"]

[/quote]

I think, Lorna, that we are following two different lines. I see your point, I think, and I was certainly not disparaging veterinarians whose origins were not the UK. There are several posting regularly and probably others in the shadows from whom we never hear. At the moment though I am working with colleagues of several nationalities IN a country that has a very different culture and needs to those of UK and where we share the same problems, frustrations, and sometimes successes, that are probably different to those experienced in UK. I believe that it could be helpful to us and, I hope (I refuse to use 'hopefully') interesting to other posters if more veterinarians IN other countries would contribute to these discussions.

I am aware of the supposed Churchillian quote, with which I have some sympathy, but in my present 'home', an Arab country with a polyglot population, more English is spoken and understood than Arabic. In years gone by French was the language of international diplomacy; today the 'lingua franca' for us hoi polloi tends to be English.

Tim.

Re: The atmosphere in here

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:52:44 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]Oh no, now I feel really bad![/quote]

Really? Oh good.

If I knew how to use photoshop, I would.....

Re: The atmosphere in here

Niall Taylor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:44:48 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"] ok...just to prove the wrinkles aren't too bad yet, here's a new one![/quote]

Oh no, now I feel really bad!

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]... Ian is getting in on the act too!!![/quote]

Nothing that photoshop couldn't fix surely

Cheers,

Niall

Re: The atmosphere in here

Niall Taylor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:42:00 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]Would this work for the heated?

[/quote]

Bit of a minor point, but since this seems to have turned into a suggestions thread...

Niall

Re: The atmosphere in here

Bob Russell — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:11:18 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

Would this work for the heated?

[/quote]

No but bl**dy marvelous for the fight!fight!fight! posts!

Re: The atmosphere in here

Julian Earl — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:01:41 GMT

Would this work for the heated?

Re: The atmosphere in here

Dagmar Steele — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:13 GMT

Keep it in English. If I want to communicate in my native language with German vets there are enough opportunities to do so. I like to look over the fence!!

Re: The atmosphere in here

Bob Russell — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:18:11 GMT

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I like the banter and it is a shame to move anything (even RMB) away from the main forum. A getting heated or getting personal symbol or even both! Possibly have an international member symbol for those based outside the UK because it is often very interesting to see the differing perspectives!

A flame or fire for the heated and boxing gloves for the personal?

Re: The atmosphere in here

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:11:20 GMT

If you want different languages you don't have to go outside the UK I could always write my contributions in Welsh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wynne

Re: The atmosphere in here

Lorna McHardy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:05:57 GMT

[quote user="Tim Cheyne"]

[/quote]

Actually, I did very specifically mean 'from', not 'in'... my point being that other traditions are generally acquired from other countries regardless of where those sharing them may currently reside. I completely agree about the valuable contribution - my point exactly. What was that about a common language again.... ?

Re: The atmosphere in here

Thomas Johnson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:56:46 GMT

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]

This might be a rediculous suggestion but couldn't the posts be listed the other way around to the most recent is at the top and they run away down the page as they get older. That would be easier surely and achieve the same effect.

[/quote]

That would work if you were only reading one new post, otherwise it would be very strange to read a conversation backwards, or to try and read up the page.

Re: The atmosphere in here

Tim Cheyne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:45:46 GMT

[quote user="Lorna McHardy"]

[quote user="Tim Cheyne"]

Yes, I do see what you mean but I would not split the site, at least for the moment until you see how it goes.

[/quote]

I agree. I'd only split it if a multilingual thing develops to the point where it causes confusion. Discussion and interaction with colleagues from other countries and traditions can only be a good thing, surely?

[/quote]

Totally agree, Lorna, except that I would say "colleagues IN other countries" rather than "from other countries". Already vetsurgeon.org has colleagues from other countries and, yes, they do make a valuable contribution. I would not like the site to become multi-lingual, selfish point of view I know, but English is spoken so widely that it is useful to continue with a common language.

Tim.

Edited for a typo.

Re: The atmosphere in here

Lorna McHardy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:34:15 GMT

[quote user="Tim Cheyne"]

Yes, I do see what you mean but I would not split the site, at least for the moment until you see how it goes.

[/quote]

Re: The atmosphere in here

Tim Cheyne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:38:30 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]

Tim, thank you for suggesting the site to others. Much appreciated. In fact, you've touched on something I've been thinking about for a while, which is growing our overseas membership, making VetSurgeon a global community. But I'm in two minds as to whether the community should grow as one global community, or whether the site should be split into communities specifically for each country, each with its own forum/news/jobs etc., but allowing for members from one country to dip into another country's forum, if you see what I mean. [/quote]

Yes, I do see what you mean but I would not split the site, at least for the moment until you see how it goes. If they can be encouraged to join, many will be UK, European, or 'Commonwealth' graduates, fluent in English and with an understanding of the 'English way' of doing things. The main difficulty that I foresee is attracting them and retaining them because probably many would be LA practitioners (perhaps specifically equine) and many of the posts on the site are orientated very much towards UK SA matters.

Do you know how many members are non-UK (I mean location, not nationality or qualification) and how active they are? I notice very few posting but perhaps I am not verry observant.

Tim.

Re: The atmosphere in here

Mark Holmes — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:52:37 GMT

Re: The atmosphere in here

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:38:12 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]While you're looking for a flame could you consider some things I suggested a while ago: that you introduce a 'hover' feature that shows the first few lines of a post when the mouse is held over the title and a 'go to first unread post' so we don't have to scroll through the entire thread to get there.

[/quote]

Hi Martin,

Couldn't remember what had happened to those suggestions - I thought I remembered discussing both with our techies, but just got off the telephone to them, and they only remember me asking them about 'latest unread post'

Anyway, we think the 'hover' feature is probably doable, and I've asked them to add that to the 'to do' list. We don't think the other is possible. At best we might be able to take you to the page with the most recent post you read. But it looks like even that would be very complex, and place quite a high additional load on the server. So that one looks like a non-runner. A shame - as you can imagine, it would save me a lot of time as moderator if we could make it work!

Re: The atmosphere in here

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:53:54 GMT

While you're looking for a flame could you consider some things I suggested a while ago: that you introduce a 'hover' feature that shows the first few lines of a post when the mouse is held over the title and a 'go to first unread post' so we don't have to scroll through the entire thread to get there.

Re: The atmosphere in here

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:44:04 GMT

Well, thank you so much everyone.

Reading through the thread, I sense that probably notice 'flaming' posts more than anyone else because as moderator I read more of them than most. And I probably get more exercised about them (other than perhaps the person on the receiving end) because this is my baby, so to speak.

Anyway, don't worry, no plans to start running this by committee. A couple of good ideas, though:

[quote user="Bob Russell"]Perhaps at a future update you can put a warning flag (such as a flame symbol!) to warn that the debate on that thread is rather heated! [/quote]

Yup, I'm going to find one, and

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]One thing I might mention is that any 'flamey' threads are moved into the 'controversial' section where very few people are aware of them as they have to deliberately scroll down to the very bottom to find them, they don't appear in the general list. Some of the topics down there I feel are relevant to the profession and it's a shame that they languish, largely unnoticed.[/quote]

Yup, that may be a way of rendering the controversial forum redundant (I'll probably keep it, but change the code so that threads in the controversial forum appear in the main listings like all the others).

However, I wouldn't want everyone to think that just because there's a flame symbol, it gives everyone carte blanche to rip each other apart

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]I've tried to moderate my contributions, especially to newbies,[/quote]

I think the point about newbies is so important (not just you, Martin, but thank you anyway)

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]I agree that there does seem to be an element of 'self policing' going on as people with a pride in the forum pick up on 'issues' and try to advise appropriately. I have done this from time to time and it has crossed my mind after the event how Arlo feels about this or whether he'd prefer everything to be reported back to him.[/quote]

Someone else made the point about the site becoming self-policing (Mark?) and yes, that is a natural progression. I certainly don't mind if others step in and assume that role, and don't feel everything should be reported to me, as long as anyone who polices is polite about it

[quote user="Tim Cheyne"]Only this evening, at a race meeting, I made a casual comment to another vet about a case that he was describing and he exclaimed "Yes, I should try that; that is why it is important to have someone to talk to." I hope that more overseas vets will join, and join in.[/quote]

Re: The atmosphere in here

Alan Tevendale — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:13:26 GMT

I generally think the atmosphere on this forum is a good one. Obviously from time to time we will see some more than heated responses but do we not get that from any discussion involving a large number of colleagues anyway. On the whole I've always thought the input from Arlo has been fair handed and consistent. We've lost a few people to what they have thought to be 'unfair' posts or moderation but on the whole, from what I can see, the number of regular posters has been dramatically on the increase. Surely this means that the atmosphere must be a good one and that Arlo is doing a job that most of us approve of.