[DeTomaso] POCA FORUM

Garth Rodericks garth_rodericks at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 29 14:33:55 EDT 2010


<<< Just curious as to why this antiquated old mailing list is preferred over the easier to use POCA forum? >>>

Ease of use! I find it MUCH simpler and quicker to scan the topics on this list and read those that interest me than having to click through a bunch of forum topics and threads to find 
relevant information. The information is persistent, meaning the messages do not move; they are always there when needed in the future. The only shortcomings are the current 'search' 
capability (or lack of ) and the inability to attach images.


<<< Frankly, I haven't figured out how to read a posting in proper sequence. >>>

Here's how I do it...
1. I turned off email notifications altogether - no daily digest either. I don't want my inbox jammed full of all the noise that lists such as this one inevitably generate.
2. I visit the archive pages and can view/read messages in the order they were posted. I can also sort by subject or author if I wish.

a. http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/
b. Click 'Date' for the current month
c. Scroll down the list and read all the interesting content. Browser history shows which messages I've read already, so when I visit the archive several times a day it's easy to 
    see if there's any new content I'm interested in reading.
d. If I wish to contribute to a thread, I copy the subject and the original author's email and paste them into a new email message to the list. I also copy the relevant section of the 
    message I'm replying to (or the entire message) and paste it into my reply.
    

Problems I see with forums like the PI forum (which I also participate on daily) or the POCA forum are...
1. Too much time required to ferret out new content - too many topics to look through - tremendous click-stream required just to 'browse'
2. Summary of new posts/threads on the main page of the PI board is totally inconsistent. One day it might list 12-15 threads, then later that day or the next day there are only 5 
    threads. It also does not represent the latest posts for all categories.
3. Message boards/forums like the PI board often have threads moved. Try bookmarking some useful tidbit of information for later reference. When the owner/moderator decides to 
    reorganize the site, split categories/topics into new topics, move threads for whatever reason, your bookmark becomes useless. This has happened to A LOT of threads on the PI 
    board I've bookmarked. Search has failed to product the thread I wanted, and George has not been able to find the original threads for me either. It's a great place to collect useful 
    information, but I must copy it and save it on my own computer. I cannot rely on the PI board as a resource/repository for data I will need in the future.


      


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