Tank, no, was not literal, and not any sort of criticism of you, my apologies if it came across as such.

I was just meaning that, the fact that there are locked threads is a sign that this is not the 100% friendly forum a few seem to want to make it out as. No forum with more than one member will ever be that

And I'll also add a Thank You for you, for setting it up and maintaining it.

Jim

We are the friendly forum. We are also very family oriented and are very aware of any words, phrases or other innuendos that may jeopardize that.

We obviously  cannot be the 100% "friendly" vehicle. 

But we try our best. 

Quote from: OwL on March 20, 2016, 09:52:42 AM
It's purely down to one man..... Tank (founder and chief moderator)

Regarding the NGS, it's no surprise that their membership is floundering. The current editor's (Grahame Hedges) attitude and obvious deliberate disclusion of listing the N Gauge forum in the recent N Gauge hobby supplement proves the jealousy he has on the fact that that this forum is far more popular and a lot better than the NGS.

Chris (Tank) has done a great job and deserves lots of praise for getting it all going and continuing it when it may often seem like a thankless task!

For a point of clarity - the NGS membership isn't floundering and has been remarkably stable given the shop/kit related issues we have had.

The very personal attack on Grahame has absolutely no place on this or any forum (particularly on the same thread where people are extolling the friendly virtues of the forum and I hope that OwL will reconsider his words. I reluctantly concede that some don't like Grahame's style or messages but no need to make it personal (or imply he does a poor job - the overwhelming feedback is the opposite of that).

Cheers, Mike

(NGS Product Development Officer)

I think there are many reasons that a thread is locked apart from the obvious ones with strong language ,some times a thread just goes on and on and on round and round in circles ,some times the reason is the thread gets a little bit personal ,I think that as a rule the moderators are doing a great job ,If I  was a moderator I would have locked a lot more threads than they do ,on the whole we all have freedom of speech on here but we all have to be carefull of what we post for the above reasons and we must abide by the rules and at the end of the day agree with the moderators decision.
I say THANKYOU to all the moderators and especially to TANK who started this wonderfull Forum and I'm very happy Tank put me on the forum because I've made so many friends and even though I've been into N gauge for a very long time,my first loco was a Farish pannier tank at£3-7-6d brand new, Ive learnt a great deal and I am still learning now ,we really do have some great members with so much knowledge and allways ready to help with things we can't do ourselves such as Ozy making my Alfie nameplate and Woodbury22Uk printing me the signs for my expanding catering company see my media if you don't know what I'm talking about .Must shut up now Val will be home and I havent done my household chores.
Bye for now Bob

Only 13 newbies to go!

Quote from: Bob Tidbury on March 21, 2016, 03:04:20 PM

I say THANKYOU to all the moderators and especially to TANK who started this wonderfull Forum

First off, I agree wholeheartedly with Bobs sentiments about the moderators. 

Secondly, £3-7-6d. I do not know when you are talking about Bob, but when I started work in May 1967, (a few days before my 16th birthday), my wage should have been £5-17-6d, but the bosses who interviewed me were so impressed with me, (at least that is what I like to think  ), that they gave me a half a crown increase before I had even started. So your £3-7-6d was more that half a weeks wage for me  . David.

While 5000 members is certainly impressive and puts us ahead of most other specialised model railway fora, as others have said not all of those will be regularly active, though for me it is the quality rather than the quantity of both members and postings that matters...

Looking at the member list, when I joined on 11 September 2011 (the 571st member apparently) it shows there were 12 members joined on that date but of those 12, 3 have not yet posted and only 2 have reached a double-figure post-count (though we two are both into 4 figures!) The member list doesn't show when members last signed in but I would not be surprised if half of those 12 had not signed in since 2011... If that is typical, you can extrapolate maybe 4000 individual members who have actually posted, but around 2000-2500 who regularly view the forum and no more than 1000 regular contributors...

Comparing to other fora I'm a member of, there are possibly fewer regular posters, but the quality consistently shines through. Just about every poster either offers good advice or asks sensible questions from which others can also learn. I don't think there are any names I can think of who have you rolling your eyes at the mere sight of their screen name.

As with any forum, it is what the members make it, and in this case it is helpful, informative and inspiring, with very little of the 'self-promoting show-offs' who dominate some forums.

Quote from: PLD on March 22, 2016, 12:48:28 AM
it is the quality rather than the quantity of both members and postings that matters...

That is so true and there is certainly a lot of quality on this forum.

you can extrapolate maybe 4000 individual members

Sounds painful 

the quality consistently shines through. Just about every poster either offers good advice or asks sensible questions from which others can also learn.

Apart from my woodworking skills (?), just about everything I have learnt about n gauge and modelling, has come from this forum -  to all who contribute

As with any forum, it is what the members make it, and in this case it is helpful, informative and inspiring, with very little of the 'self-promoting show-offs' who dominate some forums.


Totally agree 

Quote from: PLD on March 22, 2016, 12:48:28 AM
The member list doesn't show when members last signed in

Search for a member, find their profile and you can see when they were last active on the forum (i.e. were logged in).

Nov 2011 for me and not many posts to my name but I always look in and try to support and help where I can. 

But I think back to the number of votes on the 'What do we want from the manufacturers this year" poll.  For a forum of nearly 5000 members I seem to remember that the overall voting numbers were quite low. 

Just think what we could do if we all got together a mighty force indeed..

Wot.... more toothpaste tubes? 

Quote from: Bealman on March 22, 2016, 07:57:39 AM
Wot.... more toothpaste tubes? 

Toothpaste is the new black.....   

Quote from: Greybeema on March 22, 2016, 07:33:16 AM
But I think back to the number of votes on the 'What do we want from the manufacturers this year" poll.  For a forum of nearly 5000 members I seem to remember that the overall voting numbers were quite low. 
Just think what we could do if we all got together a mighty force indeed..

My point entirely in reply #10.
Our membership at the time of the poll was nowhere near 5000 but the number of members who voted was very low percentage wise.
Maybe that's why we are not taken seriously by the manufacturers

Quote from: newportnobby on March 22, 2016, 09:43:21 AM
Our membership at the time of the poll was nowhere near 5000 but the number of members who voted was very low percentage wise.
Maybe that's why we are not taken seriously by the manufacturers

Almost certainly - manufacturers want data - X000 members is no good to a manufacturer if only 100 answer a poll.

I think there is also an important difference in communciation methods between say the large manufacturers and the small enthusiast-led companies - for example Ben and I can pop in and out of here when we have time (given we do this in our spare time and we need good communications to potential customers (and to help improve our products)); that is not the same as the traditional manufacturers who may not have a staff member dedicated to social media etc.

Cheers, Mike

If people do not want to contribute to posts it's a pity but that is their choice...for whatever reason/s.

I do believe when there is a poll it will benefit all of us if people take part. Besides the large producers there are some emerging small producers who are using 3D printing...they could also benefit from having an insight into what potential customers would like to see produced.

It's like political elections, people have a chance to vote but the turnouts can be incredibly low. As my late father a Merchant Navy officer would say... "empty vessels make most noise"

If you have a chance to vote on future products please consider taking part. If you don't vote can you really moan about what you are dealt?