is there still life in the forum?

[peanut]

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

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 

[Kev]

  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.

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

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

[doddy10]

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.

[Chef Geoff]

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

 
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.

[nfl]

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.

[rjm]

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

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! 
 
 

[relichunting]

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

[jaydogg]

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.

[nfl]

as a open forum you can post what you like {within reason }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 .   

[peanut]

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 .

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

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.

[nfl]

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,

[nfl]

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

[Chef Geoff]

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