DetectingWales.com

i've just scanned through the list of names going on sat and noticed quite a few people singed up for the rally and not returned to the forum since.  some have not logged on for 8 day's since signing up are these people supporting this forum or after a local rally. i've organised 1 rally and there's another in late summer but i must admit to being a bit ****** off with some people's attitudes do they think the organisers are running around to set up rally's so they can have a nice day out every now and then and only log on to sign up. if the rally's were to stop tommorrow you would soon see who the real member's are.  mike

Well said my man. 8) 8)

Id charge them £15 for their cheek!  ;D

Its a hell of a shame but some people will only use this site for this purpose,i think that you will start to see a trend with the same people doing this time after time and then admin can step in to stop this.Would it not be possible for some sort of pass code to be put on the site for a couple of days and if this is not used within a certain time no invite.When i say pass code i mean something loke the code on sign up sorry but i don't know how much extra work this would involve its just a thought.

Yea,  you get them everywhere hey,
wev'e had it for years at our club, people joining just to get the maps of the club site, then we never see them again
 also some regular members may not happen to be at the very meeting a bus trip is announced, ,  wow  they come crawling out of the woodwork and you rarely or never see them at the meetings,,  even worse for a free bus,

 some regular members who buy their raffles ect to help the funds have had to miss out cos the stay aways  have somehow heard about it and got in first,  and they don't even contribute  !!!!!

 we used to have a rule about attending so many meetings before you can go, but that fell through
Alan

I can see just how you feel about this Mike.

Perhaps the rallys should only be open to regular contributors to the Forum as this does seem unfair on some of the people who'd like to go but perhaps didn't get signed up in time!

Personally I'd feel real bad about myself & couldn't use the forum just for a rally ticket but some people don't seem to care.  >:(

Why not name and shame?

Well said Dave. This is the detecting wales website and we now have 230ish members but as i said in a previous thread it still looks like the same people posting as it was last November when i joined. There are some genuine new members in that time that have become regular posters and good on them because that is the purpose of this website. CONTRIBUTION, input, discussion, tips, finds etc, etc. Not join turn up at a rally then disappear until the next one.   :( :( :(

A thread simlilar to this came up when the rally was announced , unfourtunately I think the general consensus was that there wasnt a general consensus.

New members wont have enough posts as they are new. So there cant be a minimum amount of posts

Average number of posts per day wont work as people will just post rubbish to go to the rally

Where do we  set levels at? 50 , 100, 200 posts ? There are people on here with a lowish amount of posts that have contributed to some fantastic threads just not loads of posts.

Another thing we gotta take into consideration is the fact that some people have got busy lives, Kids, work, family life, actually doing the hobby ;D . They aint going to have the time to spend on the computer as much as some of us. My hand is buggered at the moment thats the only reason I can spend as much time on here as i do.

I dont think we can charge more for people that dont meet the minimum criteria as that would be unfair as per the above points. But all in all I do agree with Mike (altinkum) If someone joins the forum, and their account is inactive then the account gets deleted, but theres a problem with this also. Who's going to define inactive. To me 0 is inactive, but their account is never going to be 0 if they intend to come to a rally , as the signup thread will be classed a post. Then we're back into the area of minimum posts. 1, 2, 5, 10?

I think the inactive account solution is a goodun , but I also believe the forum needs to back off a little to allow this site to develop. Then get rid of the hedge fodder  8)

Tricky innit! At the moment the only way forward I can see is to limit the numbers attending a rally as we have for Caerleon and also stating that people must have been registered as site members and actively contributed to the forum at least eg 4 weeks before a rally is announced

Richy.

hi  Mike, i just read the reply from richy and it sounds good  But  "WHATIF"  200 names have all registered in good time and  all 200  have contributed before a rally " this is sods law and could happen"   draw straws or lottery draw  its early days yet for the forum, the forum has possibly taken of a bit faster than people thought,  good or bad,  but will calm down abit later on. i for one have never been involved as much as i am now regarding detecting issues  via a computer and i am "enjoying it," If it comes to a push at a later rally i would let another go in my place, as would others    mick 

my point was people signed up 6/7/ 8 day's ago and have not logged on since. i bet they'll be logging on friday night to get their direction's. it has nothing to do with post count's as all these people want is sign up not come on here for 10 days then log on the night before the rally. if you think this is vthe way forward for this forum then let's all do it.  mike

Yeah , I see where you're coming from , well maybe there needs to be a post attatched to rally announcements that clearly states , that in the event of Registering , putting your name on the list, then logging on the night before to get directions. Will not be allowed, and that non active members will be removed from the rally list.

hi rob  your reply to mike could well be the answer  mick

That does seem like a logical solution. I looked at the members list, available for all to see, and there are quite a few that have registered but never posted. Perhaps some will never return to the site, who knows. So there must be some kind of ruling regarding rallies, whether it be an admin or collective members decision.

Nick

I can understand your point of veiw mike,but having thought about it,i can't see a simple solution,if you delete non posters that will reduce membership numbers and could afect the advertiser's decision to advertise here,as will locking the forum so you can only read the post's if your logged in,this is where the problem is you can read the whole forum as a guest and there is no need to log in,so the people who you have watched could be reading the post's and logging in as you say just for rallies,as for counting post's that will just increase Geoff's work load,Rob's idea's not bad but again it means some will abuse it by logging in posting a few hello's to new members just to go on the rally,as i say no easy solution ? ::)

i being one of those members who can only get access to acomputer at a freinds house as the library is closed when bot me and my partner also on here get back from our busy days.
we try to get on as many times as we can but it's only if my mates home and we can get there.
it is difficult to accept but just because people are unable to post I would like to get on and enjoy more time here .
hope you understand  why some don't post  so often.
some great posts so much time spent reading some,which take most of the time up when i get on here.
all i know is i appreciate the time and effort all of you have put in to set up this great forum and also bring many new friendships started in our brilliant hobby.

There is not clear answer to this problem
We need as many forum member as we can to encourage sponsers to invest in the forum so deleting isnt a good option as im sure Geoff would agree

Im not sure if i want 229 forum member all posting at once but it would be great if a few more would contribute.

Maybe by showing non contributors that we have a well run and friendly forum they,ll be encouraged to join in ;0)

Yeah Charles, but the difference is, that you are on here now , explaining why you cant post that often. the low posters mike is on about dont even do that!... Good for you though at least you're making the effort fella

I agree with Simon C - there is no easy answer to this. Although I don't log in and post much, I do look at the site most days and like to see what goodies people are finding!  Being in the 'one day at the weekend when it will probably rain' detecting group, my chances of finding anything worth posting are much slimmer than the '7 days a week' detectorists!!  I know I could post something along the lines of "great find there m8", like others seem to do, but I don't think that adds any real value, but on the other hand if that's what it takes, then I am sure another hundred or so site members would do something similar to satisfy the idea of 'many or regular' postings that some people think should happen.  Personally, I favour quality over quantity, but that is just imho. :o

all i can add here is that there are a lot f people signed in here regularly.
what i mean is there are a good flow not to many as toblock up the forum .nearly as many on here as minelabowners at on e time which is a good result.
all we need as a sponsership really is small amount of money from a couple of local traders as a boost and a detecting shop that give a prize here and there and offer a little discount to all members who get an offercode from admin which changes  from time to time .so aproach the detector shops that could give a little and gain a lot from it .
may i suggest contacing mick turrell leisure promotions whom offers great support which many already know he may not be able to pay much as a sponser but may be able to provide in other ways it all will help.
he also offers great rallies through the year and himself has just started a website.
scratch each others back here!!
he may need a little time to decide but i wonder myself what have both have to loose.
best of luck with sponsership .

earlier in this thread rob (tafflaff) made some very good pointsabout why counting posts wont work. i totally agree that people who sign in here , never post and want to go on rallies organized by members here are bang out of order. i also agree that racking up your post count by saying welcome to someone is a ridiculous method of judging a persons imput to this site. there are people who spend hours reading the topics here, gaining information and advice but dont feel the need to post mundain replies. yes we have hundreds of members but come Saturday only 70 are going this in itself is a selection process- first come first serve. the people who never visit this site and dont contribute will soon realise they've missed yet another rally because they havent been online and missed the cut off number, they'll soon leave.
i do agree that if after a certain number of days a post hasnt been submitted that person should be deleted as a member. im sure if some one is going to be hospitalised for a long period a quick PM to the admin explaining your future absensewould suffice.

a lot of people are missing my point completly. it has nothing to do with post count's i dont see a problem with some people not posting has someone allready said some people are shy ect ect it's the one's who singed up for the rally 7 8 10 day's ago and have NOT LOGGED ON SINCE.  how can they contribute to this forum when their not logged on. as i said this forum will be chocker tomorrow night with the stay away's wanting direction's for the jolly day out other people have organised. and as for some people having no computer accsess it's funny how they managed to get hold of one to sign up when they heard there was a rally going on.  in my opinion a load of b******'s.  mike

I think this issue is obviously getting a lot of members hot under the collar. DetectingWales.com has always been a friendly and welcoming site and I don’t want something like this to destroy the atmosphere. I will therefore take account of all your comments and before the next rally (after Caerleon) we will institute some kind of system for ensuring that DetectingWales.com rallies are attended by active participants in the website.

I have not been too worried up to now about people signing up to the site just to attend a rally because many of these people have gone on to become regular contributors to the site. However I understand your concerns. DetectingWales.com is a website not a club. We put on rallies purely for the benefit of our members, not for all and sundry.

In the meantime can we please keep this thread friendly and tone down the language (we’ve had a complaint).

Geoff

i'm sorry for my language i apologise for upsetting anyone reading the thread.  mike

hi everbody, firstly  i wouldn t have mike any other way we need people to speak their mind, people that keep us strong heard that a gold fibula was found in the area ,  by a mate  so if true, i think we might have a few interesting finds,  everybody have a great day if you see me run the other way , i m told i talk to much. as regards who should go i think the fairest way is you can only go to a rally if youve been a member for four weeks regardless  regards john pugh

I agree , well done Mike for speaking your mind , the world needs people like you, it promotes healthy discussion and the opposing views of people on forums.
Also well done Geoff for stepping in , I feel this discussion has run it's course.
My main concern is that it may put people off from joining in the discussions because they haven't been posting. I hope it hasn't and that the membership will continue to grow.
I have often read posts without logging in and maybe it is possible to allow 2 posts to be read before a logging in requirement, as it is I can look at everything and anything in the forum anonymously and dip in and out without anyone knowing.
Just a thought , is that a possibility Geoff?

As a new member I just want to wish you all the best with your rally come Sunday.Wish I could have made this one,but due to slight ill health at the moment I maybe out of action for awhile.Happy hunting all!!!

May I start this contribution by congratulating and thanking those responsible for the first two rallies. The website is developing into an interesting source of facts and material, however, I've been reading the comments about posting on the forum with disbelief. So, some members do not have much to say on the forum - so what? Are those who post comments frequently better detectorists or better people than those who don't? I think not. Some, quite rightly, have pointed out the difficulties some members without a computer may have and also the lack of time or expertise, not to mention those who are unfortunate enough to suffer with dyslexia and therefore lack the confidence to contribute. Some who do not post frequently may well use the site generally more often than those who do. I, for one would not enter into any debate unless I thought I had something worthwhile to offer, so why penalise those who are like me? The notion that newbies should be penalised and have to wait and qualify for a rally baffles me. In the case of a restricted number on a rally, if long standing members can't get their nomination in before a newbie then "hard luck" is what I say. I thought the aim of a site like this was to bring like minded people TOGETHER, whether that be in the forum or out in the field. So let's stop all this nonsense and enjoy this great hobby, enjoy eachother's company and enjoy eachother's finds.

Please don,t go there again Cliffwatch. All has been said that needs to be said. Geoff, Neil and others involved in the running of the site know what they are doing and all the reasons and problems of discontent have been duly sorted. After saturdays great day don,t start this again.  ;D ;D ;D positive, positive, positive. Mind you i still agree with Millsy.

having read your comment's twice just to make sure i read it correctly the first time what your saying is it's ok for people to only visit the forum to sign up for a rally then not visit again until the night before for the location detail's. i dont have a problem with people not posting often as i said in previous post's but when people sign up and dont visit the site for 8-10 day's i think it;s taking the mick out of honest member's who go out of their way to offer newbie's advice if they need it. in all walk's of life you get taker's and just because their there does'nt mean you have to like them. as for being better detectorist's because someone post's what planet are you on. and lastly how come people can get computer accsess to sign up for rally's but got no accsess any other time. before you go spouting off why not read all the threads on the subject of rally's and not just the snippet's.  mike

As I've stated before in this thread, I shall take all your opinions into account and try to come up with a solution to this problem in time for the next rally. I think all shades of opinion have been pretty well stated and we're in danger of going round in circles. So in the interests of peace and harmony I'm going to lock this thread and let the issue rest for a while.

Geoff