Should changes be made to the Garden & Flower thread?

[skeys]

WhyNot wrote:

"Maybe the title or way we contribute to this thread could be changed.. I've noticed that the last several weeks that earlier threads often get moved ahead of the current thread..."

Pasted from <http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54789446>

Oops, I think that can be mostly attributed to me. As the current host of the G&F thread, I make every effort to answer each new post as best I can with the time I have available, even if/when others make a late post. After opening this thread on a Friday morning, I notice the new posts are mostly finished by Monday evening, yet we do sometimes have later posts which I tend to answer. Perhaps some (many or most?) respondents to this thread would prefer two threads each month, as in: Garden & Flower Thread 2014 Dec #1 and Garden & Flower Thread 2014 Dec #2.

I often wonder if the OP (Opening/Original Post) for the G&F thread should be changed. While I prefer a short, succinct set of instructions and have made a few changes to make the current instruction set smaller, I would prefer something more like this:

### Garden & Flower Thread 2014 Nov 28 ###

Welcome to the Oly SLR Garden & Flower Thread, an invitation to share your photos of: Gardens and Flowers along with their associated Critters and Insects.

Although there are no restrictions as to camera system, please limit critters and insects to a garden/flower context as there are other Threads/Forums for Close-Up/Macros and Wildlife.

PLEASE reply to this thread's Original Post by replacing this thread's title with a title for your own post.

[host name]

It just seems to me the date in the G&F thread's title makes "weekly", the volume number, and the week number redundant and irrelevant.

As for how I perform the duty of host to this thread, I am a storyteller by nature so my posts can, and at times are, lengthy and sometimes tending to being slightly off topic. If you find this to be a problem, please let me know.

The G&F thread does not invite critique of the posted photos but photos of the unusual plant, flower, tree, etc, and those photos with artistic post-processing, are quite intriguing to me and I tend to invite this type of response with my comments.

And therein lies a problem: I have my own unique (and verbose) way of responding to the photos posted to the G&F thread. After awhile, that will become stale and uninteresting, IMO. I believe the G&F thread would much better served if there were four hosts, one for each quarter of the year. Are there three members who would volunteer to host this thread for three months of the year?

For those of you who would like to comment, please do. I would certainly like to hear other, new ideas for this thread. (Actually, I really like the DPR "Poll" function so if anyone here believes we should vote on any changes, just let me know. I am ready to write a Poll thread, LOL.)

Steve

 

[JiminDenver]

With the WCU it was easiest to date them.

 

[John Byrne]

Hi Steve,

Why not use the word Current ie. Current Garden & Flower Thread, week commencing Nov 26th.

FWIW,

John.

 

[WhyNot]

Sorry, .. my original comment was prompted by my concern for posters who have inadvertently entered their photos into an “old” photo thread where they are less likely to be viewed or commented on... I've been there myself... So my thought was to make the “current” thread more obvious by moving the date to the front of the title.. … Or by allowing a thread to run until full and no mistake could be made... I have noticed that you and Andrew keep track of such entries and usually comment on them, so maybe if you want to continue that way no change is needed,, I tend to be too structured anyway... …. By the way I always liked Andrew's solution in the C&C thread of having a placeholder at the start of that thread for comments on the thread.

 

[skeys]

With the WCU it was easiest to date them.

 

[skeys]

Hi Steve,

Why not use the word Current ie. Current Garden & Flower Thread, week commencing Nov 26th.

FWIW,

John.

Uh, oh. I have a feeling I am not understanding you correctly, John. If the next ten G&F threads all begin with "Current", then the differentiator would still be the date.

Steve

 

[skeys]

Sorry, .. my original comment was prompted by my concern for posters who have inadvertently entered their photos into an “old” photo thread where they are less likely to be viewed or commented on... I've been there myself... So my thought was to make the “current” thread more obvious by moving the date to the front of the title.. … Or by allowing a thread to run until full and no mistake could be made... I have noticed that you and Andrew keep track of such entries and usually comment on them, so maybe if you want to continue that way no change is needed,, I tend to be too structured anyway... …. By the way I always liked Andrew's solution in the C&C thread of having a placeholder at the start of that thread for comments on the thread.

Please excuse me, WhyNot, I erroneously thought you were looking for additional changes in addition to the date change. I do like your suggestion about a placeholder for comments about the thread.

Steve

 

[skeys]

I misunderstood WhyNot's original post. I will start the G&F thread Friday with a couple of changes.

If anyone would like to suggest any or changes, please send them to me via PM.

And that means there is no longer a need for this thread to continue and I will LOCK it.

Steve