[Aroid-l] One problem with IAS - Discussion Forums

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.07.16 at 13:12:14(18171) I see your point. Perhaps Steve Marak and those that maintain the achieve of Aroid l could consider new ways to improve that database. I use it all the time since I can often find accurate information from past members who are no longer with us or don't often post today. Plus I can find all the posts from our resident botanists. Some of those members who have passed on were among the most knowledgeable the society has ever had but their explanations live on through the achieve. One suggestion to increase membership I have offered, and hope others will pick up and implement, is for those of us who operate any sort of aroid website to promote the IAS via your site. I sought permission from Dan Levin when he was president along with that of Tricia Frank to add over 100 links to the IAS on my own site using the IAS name and logo. The search engines pick up on that and more than one entry point to the International Aroid Society website and membership page is presented to anyone who searches for "aroid society" or any similar term. Since I use a tracking service I can "see" how many people click on the link, I just have no idea what action they take once they shift over to the IAS site. I am always hopeful they elect to join! I see at least 10 or more individuals daily take a look at the IAS site directly from my site. I would encourage anyone who maintains a plant website to promote both Aroid l and the IAS. Our society needs a constant supply of new members and I see it as the obligation of the membership to promote our group. If we are not all suggesting others join, the membership will remain either constant or begin to decline. I am always interested to hear from any member who can offer better suggestions as to how we can make the IAS grow. So your suggestions are certainly valuable. I too enjoy the "chit chat" where people can post information that is instantly available. I personally elected to leave the UBC forum. There are some really good people on UBC but there are also those that love to try to stir up trouble. That was probably not a good move on my part but I've received more than a few personal emails from others who have tried to provide good information and became tired of being told their information was not accurate even when it came directly from a scientific source. Perhaps a second "instant post" Aroid forum that works in conjunction with Aroid l could be considered. At least that way, most of the participants would already be seeking aroid information and be less concerned with "posies and daisies". Steve Lucas +More ----- Original Message ----- From: a san juan To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 7:26 PM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] One problem with IAS - Discussion Forums Hi Steve, I think people misunderstood my point here... I didn't say you couldn't search the past aroid list topics.. what i meant was that from the general google search engine, there does not seem to be a way for general people to find subjects in aroid-l..try it.... this is why i think many people don't even know there is a mailing list, or even an IAS. Plus, it's a shame that all the past knowledge of in this mailing list cannot be found in google. I like the mailing list, i'm just wondering if we could make them accessible to google so the genral public can stumble on aroid topics in aroid-l. --- On Mon, 7/14/08, ExoticRainforest wrote: From: ExoticRainforest Subject: [Aroid-l] One problem with IAS - Discussion Forums To: "Discussion of aroids" Date: Monday, July 14, 2008, 10:31 AM I often search the Aroid l files via Google at this address: http://www.hort.net/lists/aroid-l/ I've been able to access all the files back through 1996. Part of the trick is when you enter your search term make it brief and tick off all years unless you know for certain the year the post was made. Steve Lucas #6 It's easier to follow the thread of a conversation in discussion boards, unlike in mailing lists, where the asynchronous, non-realtime nature of the thing makes it hard sometimes to follow the thread of a conversation. --- On Thu, 7/10/08, a san juan wrote: From: a san juan Subject: One problem with IAS - Discussion Forums To: aroid-l at gizmoworks.com Date: Thursday, July 10, 2008, 11:33 AM I think one problem with the IAS is that it does not have an "official" forum or discussion board. People have tried to start real discussion forums once in awhile (my own board, the current UBC board) but they all peter out and die sooner or later (or languish in a state of slow death), mostly because the regulars on Aroid-L tend to avoid them. The Aroid-L mailing list is supposed to address this, but one thing I noticed is that the contents of the archive are NOT available to google search engine. ALL the enormous content from past times is thus hidden from potential aroiders. I encountered this when searching for P. x evansii information. All the hits I got where from other websites, and I had to directly go to the aroid-l site and do a second search there. This means that aroiders have to continuously tell people that there is such a thing as the IAS and that it DOES have a repository of very useful information in the Aroid-L archives. Can we get it so google can search the aroid-l archives? As an aside, other plant groupings have very successful discussion forums, for example, the Palm Society. The advantage of discussion forums is (1) The layout is MUCH better than email; (2) Topics are segregated into useful sections (e.g. Growing tips, General Discussion, etc); (3) You can upload permanent images into the threads; (4) It is searchable by google; (5) You can use smilies ;-) -------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________Aroid-L mailing listAroid-L at www.gizmoworks.comhttp://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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