DetectingWales.com

is it just me that has seen a sharp decline in the number of posts and contributors to the site recently ?

The odd thing is there still seems to be plenty of visitors but they don't seem to post?  Why are there only 4x posts in one of todays threads for example and yet over 130 visits to the thread ? Its not an isolated instance either.

I struggle every day to find forums with recent discussions  because there are so many forum headings and sub headings ! ::)   It seems that it is the same few passionate members that post regularly every day and keep this forum going

There are ninety four forum headings 94 ? and then there are further sub topic headings . Surely that is too many ?  There are 9x boards that appear to have never received a single post ?

The board with the most prolific threads is the  'Discussion forum' yet that is buried down the page at number 72x ???  I have to scroll 3x pages on my notebook to get to the busiest part of the forum whilst above that there are endless forum headings that do not have a single post in them !  ever ! :o  whats the point of that ? 


Take this board  for instance the last topic raised here was back in early February and that was mine too !  not that that got any discussion , just a simple cursory dismissal really.

I fear that this forum is in decline and I think we should do something constructive before its too late and either apathy takes over or members migrate to a more lively forum .

This is not intended to be a critism but an attempt to raise a constructive discussion on the issue and hopefully some action ;)

It's always a bit quiet at this time of year as land gets scarcer and the rallies tend to decrease. That said though I have just come in from an evening out and there are 12 topics that have had new replies or are new since I was last logged in at about 6pm. If you go to Home rather than  Forum it will show you the latest replies as New, but you probably already know that.

We have always had a lot more readers, than posters and I can't see that ever changing - I'm the same myself on other detecting, football and antique forums where I just read and never reply. It's not a problem and is part of 'web life'.

Just go to home rather than forum and you should never need to do the scrolling mate.

We have plenty of rallies lined up later in the year, including the 4th annual 2 dayer, a few return visits, etc. we are just struggling a tad with getting land at the mo. Rob, Geoff and I all have a few other things on at the moment so we may have been a bit  quiet on here, but the forum is definitely not losing its life.

All the best and keep the faith.

Neil

I'm afraid I'm  not convinced  Neil ;)  There are 15 posts showing today  and all of those are from  the same six posters that post every day ;D

if 3x of those posters didn't post today the forum would have lost 50% of its posts  :o  Two of the posts are items for sale ! hardly discussion ... ;)
I'd be interested in other members thoughts about the prolific number of forum headings many of which are completely empty  but I'm not holding out much hope of any response to be honest  ;D ;D ;D.

Lets hope things pick up a bit soon because it would be a real shame for the forum to fade away.

As Neil has said, every year around this time it goes quiet. I personally never used to bother detecting between April and October as arable land was scarce and pasture was too dry or in silage, it was only 3 years ago that I started bothering but my heart is't in it in the summer.
The majority of the visitors are guests and so they can't post. Once again, as has been suggested by Neil, just load the "Home" page, that way you only ever have recent posts.
There have been nearly 13600 topics, so having a greater number of boards does help if you are looking for something particularly.

well I don't quite get the correlation between lack of detecting land and less posting on the forum ?  I should have thought that members would therefore have more time and inclination to post but I guess i know when I'm beat  ;)

When people aren't out detecting, the hobby isn't so lucid in their conciousness and they either don't bother coming onto the forum or don't feel they have anything to post.
And as with many forums and the hobby in general, the people are very transitory,  a huge percentage of people who start in the hobby have within a year packed it in.
If you look at the total membership of this (and any other) forum the membership says 1680 but if you look back at any 6 month period since the start you will probably find that their has been less than 100 active members at any one time.
Wait until October and I guarantee you will see a much more active forum ;)

...and with the long sunny summer nights with us, who wants to spend time in ealry evening on the computer, when one can get onto the fields.  ;D ;D ;D

besides which, in one months time, the nights start drawing in and winter is on its way!   ;D ;D ;D

Well what is summer lol  because so far it winter all year long .

You will not be suprised how many join the forum just to get some detecting at rallies. Many members only post to sign up for rallies. I have spoken about this many times with people and they have openly admitted they use the forum to expand their detecting experiance only. A lot use computers owned by their kids just to check for rallies. Quite a few pensioners use the site for the same purpose. I myself use to post regular but the time spent in front of the PC  has given me health problems which now restricts my use and for a multitude of other reasons once the rallies start you will see a change Peanut.

The seasons again will reduce the amount of people coming on here as often, take myself for instance early in the year when i joined i was on very frequent, not just to make posts but to gain vital knowledge and tips from the more seasoned detectorists. This has only bolstered my enthusiasm for the hobby. Hence the hours ive put in in a very short few months (must be hundereds!!!!)

 I certainly wont be losing interest within a year !!! now the weather is turning i have more work commitments and not so much leisure time!!! so a cursory glance and the odd post is all i can manage some weeks.

I have certainly made some good friends locally, who otherwise i wouldn't have known  without this forum, its a Hub for people with the same enthusiasm and interests to share and promote the hobby in all the right ways. ;D

I guess if we're not out as often at this time of year, there's less to report in the way of finds, incidents, requests for i/d etc. Personally I'm very happy to be a forum member, attend the occasional rally and keep up with people who have the same interests and great sense of humour.

I think Peanut is correct.

There hasn't been many DW rallies over the past few months. It's nothing to do with the time of year as this is the leanest spell ever on DW!

I have drastically cut down on detecting posts on most forums and more or less just stick to one now after my posts were deleted on here. Like already said above, I was spending too much time in front of the screen. There's more to life!

I know a couple of others who don't post here much, if at all, now.

We will see if rallies pick up...hopefully on new land.  :)

Bob - I think you'll find your posts have been deleted either for persistent swear words, pornographic images or a blatant advertising campaign - take your pick out of any of them - they all apply.

The lack of rallies has every thing to do with the time of year, but that's beside the point.
When we launched Detectingwales.com it was never originally about arranging rallies, they have just been a added bonus of the site. First and foremost it's a forum for chatting about detecting in Wales. - the rallies have always been just an added extra for the members. We have always had peaks and troughs in the amount of rallies we arrange each year due to our other commitments.

Cheers
Neil

 ;)Hello all, Please remember Detecting Wales is a forum where members can find some interesting source of informations  chat with others all related to metal detecting , since day one I never expected a forum to organise rallies so please appreciate this option because many forums don't do it , many of us have joined clubs  where its the place for rallies as you pay a membership ,on DW its all free so rallies are a bonus to us ,    if you find less you don't post as much we all agree , I always like what people find in their own land , see the metal detecting news ,videos and so on all this informations its up to us to post them on DW.Happy hunting everyone. Nap.

The topic discussed and the replies given were all good reading. This time of year, out of season for us detectorists, gives members a chance to recharge their batteries.Once harvesting starts the interest that will be shown by members on the DW forum will dramatically increase.The DW forum is a credit to all Welsh metal detectorists. Great post  "peanut"  .

Can I add a silage crop is harvested from the second week in June every year. Usually a second crop from the same fields is harvested about four weeks later. Clearly these fields are available to DW for holding outings. Watch the interest in the DW forum surge if a rally is organised on a silage field.

Neil you seem to be taking my observation about the low number of posts as a personal critisism of you and the forum and I assure you that it is not meant to be a critisism .  ;)
I was  not looking to you to defend the forum I was just hoping that my observation might generate some discussion amongst members which I'm glad to say it has.

By way of an illustration of my point, UK MD received approx 74 posts yesterday to our 12 !  I expect someone will say that they have 6x times the membership.lol .
 Lack of detecting land does not seem to be effecting their level of posts to any significant degree does it!;D

I think my main concern was the high percentage of  views that posts on DW  are receiving without any comment or interaction . The post I mentioned had received 130 views and just 3x responses. To my mind that level of disinterest and apathy is a worrying indication particularly if it is a trend.  No doubt that can be explained also  ;)

 ;D while im on here you bet your bottom dollar there is life on here (even tho im not on here much lately ) ;)                  HAIL D.W. ;)

Peanut, dont know if you've looked at the forum stats but we do have a history of peaks and troughs with regards to posts, page views ect. May is Historically a drop off, right through to the end of the Summer.... But at least you've got a discussion going.

http://www.detectingwales.com/index.php?action=stats (http://www.detectingwales.com/index.php?action=stats)

chef has spent 392 days on the DW forum imagine what he would of found if spending all that time detecting !! lol  :)

 I am also one thats visits the forum daily, but have not been out detecting for a month now due to a house renovation that is going on forever, but I am going out sunday no matter what.. if I find anything i will let everyone know about it.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I have to be honest...I cheat lol. I have an auto-reloader which means whether I'm here or not the computer is always being updated with site content. :-[

of course there is life on this forum {more than many other detecting sites}i myself like to read and contribute to detecting discussion if im able i dont post finds unlesss i find a few in a day ,or something i think is special  as i believe weve all seen the usual hammys and roman and i detect for the enjoyment of it which  is gratification enough for me ,,so i lkie many others on here will continue to try and get involved in the general banter and discussion on this site and may i had that dw is doing a great job in running this site.

I don't swear as such and any swear words I posted in jokes had aterisks in.......which you took exception to, but others users seem to be immune from. I have never posted pornographic images. The one I think you are referring to was a baby that had a paper cup instead of a nappy and was titled 'the ingenuity of men'.

As for the advertising campaign......I e-mailed you before posting a single thing about BLISSTOOL explaining what I intended doing, that my mate was the distributor, and asked for two sections to be set up for the purpose of explaining the machine, which you did. (Thanks)

**I have all the e-mails pertaining to this as proof........so don't say it was a blatant advertising camapign. I have no financial involvement with it. **

As it happened, the removal of the posts was beneficial as there is now an actual forum set up for the machine.

I accept that DW is mainly for posting with rallies as an added benefit. However, I have never known it this quiet on the rally front.

You contradict yourself a bit when you say it is the time of year but then go on to say that you (and others) have been a tad busy...
                          ". Rob, Geoff and I all have a few other things on at the moment so we may have been a bit  quiet on here, but the forum is definitely not losing its life"

You also go on to mention return visits to previous DW rally sites.

I just agreed with Penaut that the forum had gone quieter and that I didn't post as much as I was trying not to spend my life infront of a computer screen.....now look what you made me do!  Reply!  ;D
 
 

Its quite on all the forums at the moment,its that time of year,and not been able to get out and do any detecting

Hmm.. interesting. Ok this is my 2d.  For me, Detecting Wales should first and foremost be about metal detecting as it was when it first started back in the day, it was fresh and there was no shortage of people posting interesting finds, recent and from their collections. I find that quite a lot of people on here, especially some who regularly turn up on rallies and who obviously go detecting on a regular basis, never post their finds or start a new thread based on their detecting finds or at all. I also believe there is a lack of discussion in regard to posts. I do try to engender it when I post new finds or comment on other posts but usually receive the customary 'keep em coming' sort of thing or no replies at all which is a shame because I am deeply into metal detecting, history and archaeology (I have a degree in it) and am always interested in hearing sensible and different opinions from other DW members.

If I thought people would actually be interested I would contribute a lot more to this site and post reports of some of the archaeological excavations I have been on, or archaeological and historical features Mark and I come across when out and about (and more of my finds). For example, we believe we have come across a possible late medieval unrecorded (on the HER) building which is still standing, although in bad shape; we also recently identified a hitherto unidentified Roman site and I had the privilege to excavate two Neolithic sites recently...or maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree on here? Still, an interesting discussion none the less.

as a open forum you can post what you like {within reason ;D}im also a archaeology undergraduate and one of the reasons i come on here is to see whats going on ,yes i detect regulary and rarely attend rallys {if i decided to not source any more farms from now i would still have enough to last me till i hang up my detecter}thats why i dont usually bother,,whatever any body posts on here youll get  a mixed reaction so all it comes down to is post a topic or not .   

Hi jaydog
 that sounds absolutely fascinating and I for one would be very interested in reading about the Medieval building and your Archaeological digs .My degrees are in Architecture but I have often wished that I had taken another course and followed my interests in history and wildlife but then it probably wouldn't have made me any money lol.

I'm glad to hear that at least one other member seems to share my observation about general apathy on the forum . I don't buy the 'its quiet on all forums this time of year ' argument at all. As you say its more the lack of response to posts which is frustrating.

Have you considered  starting  a blog ?if you haven't already. I know its a lot of work but it would open up your interest and experiences to a wider and perhaps more interested audience. Like you I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with others . learning for me has been my over-riding passion since I was just a kid.

I have been intending to start blogs myself but I've so many interests I'd scarcely know where to start. I envy those who have followed  a single interest and have the dearth of knowledge on their topic to match their passion.

Perhaps there is an argument for intoducing an Archaeology board to replace one of the many redundant and unused boards on DW.

look forward to reading some of your articles in the not too distant future hopefully .

I still personally believe that It is the time of year, and yes the lack of rallies will compound the problem further. I just have not had the time of late to phone around 30 farms a day - yes 30. People ask me how I get so many farms, well its a numbers game, phone enough and you'll get a yes eventually.

So its a mixture of the time of year, wet wet weather, lack of time on my half which is making an already difficult time of year to get land even harder.

However you can see the comments that people have not been out that much and whether you like it or not that will slow discussion down on the forum.

theres plenty of land around at the moment but i know where taffs coming from with not  having the time to phone around ,i know from experiance that if you phone 30 farms youll probably get 2 yes,s,

i also feel that there are many people that come on dw just for rally tectin {hence no rallys ,quiet forum}.

OK just had a look through the stats for past years and this is how April (being the last complete month) shapes up against September when land is probably at it most available, on the posts front.

                        2009                  2010           2011           2012
April                3670                   2688           2671           2160

September      4787                   2917           3820            We shall see ;)

Well this topic has certainly added life to the forum. Well done peanut!

I wasn't taking it as personal criticism from you and it's a valid discussion topic.

Bob - I have sent you a pm rather than reply on here clarifying the issues I raised regarding your deleted posts.

Keep the debate going guys - I like the idea of an archi page.

Neil

.. i read that as an 'anarchy' page.    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I don't understand the remark that this isn't the time of the year for detecting.

AT LEAST 50% of land in the UK is pasture at anytime (more like 95% in Wales!) and that's even what most of the land we do on rallies is anyway.

I can accept that it is time consuming finding land for rallies and it takes a certain type of person to do it
as most (29 out of 30? as Taff says) say "No!"

Most farmers are wealthy and the £100 offered doesn't sway them anymore.......that probably wouldn't fill
up their Landrover!

An anarchy page sounds like it'd be lively and interesting!  ;D

my thought exaactly bob ,availability of land isnt a issue here at this time of year i think the problem is that some people that that attend rallys have little or no land to detect upon,hence lack of finds i also think that asking a farmer for permision for 70+ people is a bit difficult especially when theft off farms is a major concern these days.

Yes, I have a few thousand acres of land to detect upon but, as it's mostly unploughed, it's not exactly that productive!

I was speaking to one farmer earlier this week and he has just had electric gates and CCTV installed due to thefts. With the cutting of police numbers and the economic climate, it's only going to get worse for farmers and landowners suffering thefts.

Even when the thieves are caught, the sentences are a joke.

get down the beaches u whingers lol.no rallies no rallies whens a rally ?.beaches are free so stop the moaning or get off ur arses and find a friendly farmer its not hard theres farms everywhere.
 whingers lol :D

No point going down the Welsh beaches............you've had it all !   ;D

Funny you should say that Peanut as mark and I have just started a blog about the history and archaeology of the Vale of Glamorgan, its not strictly related to metal detecting, although some of our finds are on there, but they are put into a context rather than simply finds. I also love historical architecture and have a number of good reference books on the subject. Its nice that a fellow DW'er has similar interests. Are you an undergrad nfl or have you graduated? If so where?

On the subject of land during these summer months, I find that I can get land but its very limited for reasons we all know but I happen to make most my best finds during the winter months. 

pm sent jaydogg

Theres loads of Pasture around Bob granted, but the problem I am hitting is that the livestock is now out in the fields and other pasture is growing for silage.

Hi peanut, would just like to say ( being one of the guilty ones) that it is not thru lack of interest that i don't contribute, rather a lack of time. I can only snatch occasional sessions with the tector, due to an ongoing build project (will b ongoing for next few years!!!), also i ain't got the hang of posting picies etc yet.
However please don't despair as i always have a scan thru the forum and thoroughly enjoy reading contributors reviews and experiences ; so would like to say thanks for the effort that people put in to their posts and that they are appreciated, the forum is an invaluable source of information. Metal detecting is about more than just finding things, there is a huge amount of satisfaction gained from the research and history of the places we all detect so,thanks again.
Cheers ,Baj