Upsetting statistic

[red750]

I just looked in on my photography forum. My last post was in May 2018. I have the 4th highest post count, with 347 posts. On the 24th March this year, an administrator posted a poll as to whether the forum should be shut down. It received 4 replies. 

 

I don't think these two sites have much to worry about. 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

... With aircraft there isnt the same need for advice as everything is strictly regulated and people are not improvising and modifying. Having said that, I am also in EAA and find their workshop suggestions very useful for non-aviation work at home.

 

That may be true of most pilots, but there are still many of us in the 19- and Experimental categories who modify.

 

There are several thriving forums we use to share ideas and solve problems.

 

... I live in the country and find that people I mix with share the same conservative views. They would mostly vote Lib and don't accept the global warming nonsense.

 

PM I disagree. I too am a country boy, and find much support for action on climate. It's just that in small communities, harmony is valued and many people keep their opinions to themselves

 

I do agree that lots of people may be deterred by a predominance of differing views. Lots of people don't want to debate.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

... I don't think these two sites have much to worry about. 

 

Ian you must be doing something right.

 

I have recently noticed four long-time forumites have returned to the fold after a long absence.

 

 

[Butch]

I think you are doing a great job Ian!

 

I became a financial member this year  to support all the effort you are putting in.

 

When Sport Pilot magazine folded this year the only place left for information and stimulation was Recreational Flying Forum.

 

My suggestion is to all members if you can afford it become a financial member and get behind Ian and support this site.

 

I visit here every morning and most nights and get a lot of enjoyment for only a $1 a day donation. (the paper costs me $1.50 a day) 

 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I agree, Butch. I subscribe to several publications and none of them delivers the value of Ian's two sites.

 

I'm happy to set up a regular deduction. 

 

 

[NT5224]

I think you are doing a great job Ian!

 

I became a financial member this year  to support all the effort you are putting in.

 

When Sport Pilot magazine folded this year the only place left for information and stimulation was Recreational Flying Forum.

 

My suggestion is to all members if you can afford it become a financial member and get behind Ian and support this site.

 

I visit here every morning and most nights and get a lot of enjoyment for only a $1 a day donation. (the paper costs me $1.50 a day) 

 

 

How do I become a financial member?  I've never come across the option!

 

Alan

 

 

[Admin]

On many of the pages you will see a Site Donation box

 

 

 

[NT5224]

No, 

 

i can honestly say I've never seen that before!

 

Ive now found the page where that shows, but I don't normally use the site that way and go through that page. Maybe something to consider? 

 

I'll subscribe

 

Alan

 

 

[Butch]

I visit here every morning and most nights and get a lot of enjoyment for only a $1 a day donation. (the paper costs me $1.50 a day) 

 

Sorry I meant to say less than a $1 a week for a $50 a year donation ! That's only 1/4 of a coffee a week.

 

 

[snarf007]

I have been on this site for 3 years and with the software change I stopped visiting.  Guess I just did not like the new layout, but honestly can’t say what I don’t like about it.

 

I first stumbled across recreational flying when looking for pilot resources and enjoyed the educational/ tutorials that were hosted on site.  The fact that it is mainly Australian content is awesome and I love the weekly emails.  If I see a topic I like, I will check it out.  

 

 

I am also a member of VansAirforce and spend a lot more time on that site and make the yearly donation.  The more technical forms are more interesting to me.

 

Look at how VansAirforce presents adverts, might be a way to cover the sites costs, without diminishing the user experience.

 

Frans

 

 

 

 

[bexrbetter]

 

Look at how VansAirforce presents adverts, might be a way to cover the sites costs, without diminishing the user experience.

 

 

 

I have no problem with adverts, I appreciate the real world, it's the way adverts are presented, as mentioned, is what makes the difference.

 

 

[Admin]

I have been on this site for 3 years and with the software change I stopped visiting.  Guess I just did not like the new layout, but honestly can’t say what I don’t like about it.

 

A couple of people have said this so what I would really really like to know is what is not liked, what was it about the old software (Xenforo v2) that was better than this IPS software like is it the user functionality, the look and feel of the site i.e. cosmetics etc.

 

I can see with the IPS software, Groups, Blogs, Suppliers and People are not used, Resources and Gallery are also no longer used like they were before but with IPS it was easy to bring you Classifieds, Articles and different article sections as well like reading articles, tutorials, aircraft, etc

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

On many of the pages you will see a Site Donation box

 

Sorry to be a pain, Ian, but your Site Donation option requires me to hand over more personal details than I'd like to. Why do I need to give my home address etc?

 

I'm happy to set up a small fortnightly transfer to your account, just as I do for Wikipedia and others.

 

All I need is a BSB, account number and name.

 

 

[spacesailor]

MINE MINE MINE !

 

Just to pay for tuition.

 

"Never ending"  LoL

 

Soon to be astride a bike, then the leg over the combing of a cockpit, Walking a couple of K's a day now, but my legs are So weak.

 

Yippee

 

spacesailor 

 

 

[Bodie]

Ian, Greetings from the middle of Montana USA.  I purchased a Savannah S kit in the fall of 2015.  I was moving along on it in fits and jerks until I accidently discovered this site, and it has been an absolute Godsend for me.  I was building along very well (in spite of the ICP manual) wholly and completely due to this website you host.  Then life got in the road (my dad got Parkinsons and passed, my mom was depressed and suffering from dementia and moved into assisted living, my brother had a stroke, and our farm expanded by quite a bit).  I had originally planned on a three year build but that obviously didn't happen. 

 

There is a saying that states "I would rather have knowledge an inch wide and a mile deep, than a mile wide and an inch deep".  The depth of the knowledge on this site for the particular airplane that I am building is absolutely amazing, and I don't believe any other platform out there can compare.  Even though I am half a world away, Mark Kyle graciously responded to my questions on fuel and electrical, and there are many others like him.  I like that this site takes topics seriously and is participated in by enthusiasts rather than by anyone with an opinion (and I do like the good-natured banter). 

 

I'm 56, and for whatever reason, the new software change wasn't as easy as first because I wasn't used to it.  But I am now.   I'm not really one to post a bunch, and I even find it hard to post to our farm's facebook page, but don't think that lack of participation diminishes the excellent content offered here.  

 

Thank you for a quality site, quality content, and the quality community. 

 

p.s. I just ordered my engine a month ago, so it is somewhere between Austria and Texas, I hope 

 

 

[Okihara]

I didn't read through all the messages so perhaps this has been mentioned by others before. If not, one thing might be that quite a bit has been going on the Aussie side of things on PPRuNe in the last six months as well. I don't know if that alone could explain the drop that you observed but I would expect that it might be a contributing factor.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Ian, Greetings from the middle of Montana USA.  I purchased a Savannah S kit in the fall of 2015...

 

Great to read your post, Bodie.

 

I don't have a Savanna, but I walk past one each time I get my plane out. 

 

When you install your pitot tube, please put it on the wing strut, not sticking out of the wing leading edge, where it's a lethal weapon!

 

 

[old man emu]

This is the advice I was given from a person who runs a digital marketing business. He said that "non-competitive" advertising should occur on the site. Like most of you, I objected to that on the basis that I absolutely hate my use of the 'Net being distracted by pop-up ads and the like. His response was that the advertising could be located as a banner across the top of the page, or in the column on the left of the page, underneath the navigation bar. If the ads were delivered in these places, they would not interfere with viewing the rest of the page.

 

'Non-competitive" advertising on a forum site is advertisements for goods and services that do not compete with the content of the site. For example, Ian has the Pilot Shop. Therefore, any ads for other pilot supply providers would not appear. It is also possible for the site owner to specify other sorts of ads that could not appear, such a porn or gambling ads. If ads were permitted and displayed unobtrusively, there would be a steady trickle of money to support the site. Remember that a penny earned is a penny saved.

 

 

[Admin]

Well everyone, we need to get this sorted now as the IPS software license has expired and needs to be renewed:

 

 

I am also exploring ways to email all users that have not been to the site for some time however that is proving difficult with so many invalid email addresses so when an ISP receives a couple of emails to invalid email addresses they stop emails going to valid ones. Example of the bounced back messages I get from emails sent to users with an isp after a couple of invalid addresses are:

[email protected]

SMTP error from remote mail server after initial connection:

host "ipmailmx.internode.on.net" [192.231.203.138]:

550 Too many invalid recipients

 

and that is even just sending out emails in batches of only 100

 

So software and contacting older users???

 

 

[turboplanner]

Invalid email addresses and phone numbers are becoming such a nightmare as some people change phones every few weeks or run multiple phones and email addresses that I notice some big companies not managing their databases because of cost. One big one I dealt with this week relies on capture and respond.

 

 

[onetrack]

Why bother with sending emails to users that haven't been into the site for some time? 50% of those users would be scammers who registered to try and infiltrate the site, the other 50% would be broken down into 20% who registered and promptly lost interest, 20% who have changed their interests, and 10% who are deceased.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Blame the NBN as a lot of people, self included, have lost their email address,  when changing  to NBN.

 

No NBN means no emails unless  on the mobile phone.

 

AND No house phone.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[old man emu]

Ian,

 

What is your response to "non-competitive" advertising in header banners or side bars?

 

 

[red750]

Blame the NBN as a lot of people, self included, have lost their email address,  when changing  to NBN.

 

No NBN means no emails unless  on the mobile phone.

 

AND No house phone.

 

spacesailor

 

We just had the NBN connected, replacing our old landline. We still have the same phone number, still get telemarketing and scam calls. Can still ring out. Use the same handsets as before.

 

We haven't switched the internet to the NBN yet, still looking to switch with our existing ISP and port the phone from Telstra. Who was your email with? Why would switching to the NBN affect emails like Gmail, Yahoo, Optus Webmail, etc.? 

 

 

[spacesailor]

OPTUS

 

When disconnected from Broadband, no optus &no optus emails.

 

spacesailor