Has WiX gone too America-Centric?

[Scott Rose]

I hope that makes some sense. I know the mustangsmustangs board really dried up with their format change too.
Dan

I think mustangsmustangs issue is they became a pay site, which annoyed alot of people.

[Scott Rose]

Hi Scott,
I really hope that you didn't take my comments as criticism.

No worries there, I understand peoples concerns and if I could have left the old forum intact I would have. But the choices I had were to move the forum or shut it down. When it comes down to it, it's the people that make this forum what is is, not the graphics.

However, I guess I did like it when the WIX was a more all-encompassing forum, rather than being split into more venues.

The amusing bit is that the other sections have ALWAYS been there. They were completely seperate forums and barely anyone posted there. The largest one had 400 messages in 2 years.

I think that fundementally people don't like change. Give it a chance, explore a little, make sure you autolog in, and if you really hate having multiple sections the goto the hanger and create a shortcut to there. (for example http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=3

This will take you straight to the WIX hanger.

[Roger Cain]

Scott,

I too liked the other board better, but as with all things, change does happen, and like your board, mine changed with a new server at the NorCal board, and it dropped down to one or two postings a month, compared to the action it had prior. And now my server has done some changes that have killed my board and the Aero Vintage board (we both use Lunar), I have yet to call them to fix it.

As far as overseas participation, that will just be a personal choice by those that post, and with all the boards that have popped up in recent times, people will tend to gravitate to those that catch their fancy.

I have a list of about fifteen boards I like to visit, and while they rotated from one favorite to another, WIX is the only one I check daily, and visit several times a day, in the last six months.

I'm hooked as are most that are here, and will gravitate towards this one mostly. Vintage takes 2nd place..................Roger

Last edited by Roger Cain on Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[DaveM2]

Firstly ..welcome back Tony.....I am sure we have all missed your input, a lot of which sparked lively debates in the past...it's always good to have someone who has an ear to the ground as far as possible recoveries in the more remote area are concerned.

I too think the board has gravitated to being more 'US-centric' , whereas previously we had a more global input, which was obviously far more interesting. Flypast was always 'UK-centric', so there has been no change there, I do visit it regularly but the amount of petty arguements is a bit off putting. On the other hand it does have the advantage of a large amount of picture posting, I have no idea if Scott is able to make that as easy over here ??
Like others I am not certain why there has been a change in orientation, mostly since the new board came about. I think the old board had a more open feel about it, although that bought the already described disadvantages, a subject would get lost within a matter of hours..but that was because there was such prolific posting....Catch 22!
Using 'auto-login' I don't find using this board much of a problem, although Scott hit the nail on the head saying that people don't like change.

As far as the drop off in discussion about wreck recovery etc goes, I don't think it is a reflection of what is happening in the industry, it is still going on in the 'usual' places. With my new job, my hands are somewhat tied a bit more I suppose. As far as what is going on in Russia, there are some 'significant' recoveries planned in the near future, but not only do the Russians want no publicity until they are secured, it is my job to see that such things are reported within the pages of Classic Wings, before they appear elsewhere...a bit frustrating to say the least !

Finally a word of thanks to Scott for keeping this community going, changes are inevitable which will see things 'ebb and flow'....but that is a reflection of life itself I guess....



Dave

Well, Well

Its time for the Col. to chime in here. First to Tony I've posted many things on recoverys but it seems that NO ONE wants to jump in don't know why.

As for this being to North Amercain has anyone check out the list of members and see were they are from anothe said there.

I think this forum is far better then the old one because I don't have to scroll three million pages to find a response to anything, the only problem I have is Posting photos. As for Flypast I'm a member and I must say their is far more whining over there then is here.

As for the Nav-Op board and the others since I was the person who asked Scott to set up the Nav-Op board for all of us to stay informed on the on-going Navy meeting and other stuff related to the Navp problem. But if you checked out the hanger section their are a few items on the Navy IE The Lake Mich.

I think this is one of the best forums on the net and besides this style of Forum is what all are going to.

I would like to see more posting on recoverys and restoration also.

Well thats my two-and half cent US that is

[mrhenniger]

As for this being to North Amercain has anyone check out the list of members and see were they are from anothe said there.

No one argues where the majority of posters are from... The question is how do you encourage a greater global participation as that helps keep things interesting.

Mike

[DaveM2]

Indeed Mike...and perhaps encourage back those who have decided to 'drop off' for one reason or another.

Dave

[Tulio]

I don't post as I used to do in the past, simply because I have to sign in every time I want to use the forum, and this takes a little bit of time. Then, I have to go into each sub-forum, to find out what is new. Then, I must have to have cookies enabled in order to use the forum.... the bitching list goes on and on and on. And to top it off, I have many problems posting messages, as it is happening right now, when for whatever reasons, the connection to the WIX is being refused. Like in other occasions, after a few attempts, I simply give up. I do not like to have passwords or user-ids stored anywhere and this has helped to limit the spam and virus attacks to my computer somehow.

I DO UNDERSTAND though, that the new format was the only way to go for Scott, due to technological changes in the web. The old stuff has to go away, no matter how much I liked the old forum.

Too America Centered? Well . . . for someone whose main areas of interes lay in the "other America" -read Central, Insular and South America- I personally find that most forums and aviation magazines present either the UK or the USA as their main areas of coverage, and the rest of the world is just a curiosity that has to be addressed once in a while.

At the LAAHS website, it has been suggested a change in format for our discussion forum, but I have opposed it, precisely because I feel that by breaking the main theme into too many sub-categories, we are having more work to do in order to cover the same subjects we cover in our main, cover it all forum.

This is of course, just my personal opinion, and I am known for having been wrong in the past oh, so many times!! : )


Saludos,


Tulio

Part of the problem is that one or two of the regulars have a tendency to take over every discussion that is started. Some people can't resist making a comment on every last subject that comes up. I know for a fact that this has ran off several of the old regulars.

Also, the embarassment of the Navy discussion and certain people making the whole board look bad by their threats and language hasn't helped matters.

I remember when (Pull up a chock) Scott first made his kind offer for somewhere for us to go.

To repay him, myself, the Late great Mick, Cees, Peter A, NZ Dave , Elliott, Brandon, Brad, Patrick, Richard , Phil, Tulio, Paul1 , Paul2, Tim and many many others , trawled the web, or put in our own contributions to create, in a very short time, a must visit board. That is not to denegrate anyones contributions on the old board, or people I forgot to mention.

The idea I think, was to create an atmosphere of discovery and wonder. We all loved Warbirds, I loved discovering, hunting and researching on Rumours, as does NZ Dave, Phil and Cees and Elliott. Others contributed valuable research like Peter A, and Christer (Engine Man)

Photos of forgotten aircraft or venues came from Eric , Gregory kept us in tune with the Italian scence, Paul McMillan and Ross contributed histories, or provided the missing links to aircraft , Tom kept us in touch with rebuilds,Ed was Mosquito mad, , Matt and John Parker kept us in touch with the Australian scene etc etc . It was the sheer diversity of topics that made it so good. We , most of us weren't experts, but our enthusiasm, tempered with a degree of professional etiquette and respect for the industry (errr for the most part ) led to the operators and rebuilders joining us.

That seems to be missing now.

It's my personal opinion, I'll admit, but the sheer "bounce" seems to be missing from WiX.

On another note, having read the board now at length, I do find myself in agreement with a lot of "Guests" comments above.

Well, it shouldn't take long to get it back , NZ Dave pinged me and got me back in, I'll dust off my contacts list and see what I can do too.

Tony )

[Scott Rose]

I appreciate everyone's concerns and understand them. If there is anything I can do feel free to e-mail or PM me. This forum is for you guys and I will do my best to make it the way people want it. I am going to put a poll up in a moment so make you opinion heard and vote.

Tulio. I'm sorry your having issues, your a valued member of the community and I would like to see you on as often as you want. If you don't want to give your e-mail out I will create one for you to use for admin purposes. And yes you need to use cookies to have the auto login feature work.

[Steve T]

Hi Tony et al--

Yesterday I'd just finishing emailing Jim Bates in Ohio about something (I forget exactly what), and tossed in a query at the end about whether he thought WIX had gone mainly North American in scope. Immediately after doing that I logged onto WIX and lookee what the top topic was...!

The resulting discussion has been very interesting. My two cents (which would be somewhat less than two cents US and nowhere near two pence!) is simply to echo Tony, and urge WIXers from less-frequently-covered climes: c'mon back, we miss you! The more, the merrier...and so much more interesting. This had been a chief reason I started frequenting WIX; pretty much each week I'd read of a remarkable discovery, recovery or project in Holland...or Norway...or Russia...or Iraq...or India...et cetera. A while back, for instance, from India alone came two surprise recoveries (Ambala Spit and the tech-school Me109) and confirmation of a long-rumoured survivor (Cochin Firefly), all in what at least seemed like a matter of weeks. I would probably still not know about that sort of news had not one of the WIXers (Jagan, in the above cases) posted it here. And that kind of news always made my day.

As Tony suggested, roll on the return of "the bounce"!

Cheers

S.

Thanks Steve et al,

Remember when people used to come to WiX , because you were almost certainly guaranteed to hear it here first? As you rightly say, Jagan's sensational news from the sub-continent , NZ Dave's scoops,Paul McMillans digging ensuring no stone left unturned

That's the sort of thing I mean. Yes for a long time we were , well, arrogant, because I think our "Motley crew" knew , we were the best around

It's not about Scott's board design, which is pretty scrumptious , it's about the content, and the people.

Maybe, we do need less topic headers, and a "Warbird rumours and discoveries" header, maybe an "Intelligence Cell" forum, or something like that?

We're here to share a common love for a common subject, but, we're also here to encourage others to join in.

Tony )

[Manonthefence]

Haveing just had a quick scan through the previous postings can I make a couple of comments

NEW BOARD SOFTWARE

I totally prefer this one, its easier to navigate and topics which are getting the most attention stay at the top, wading through 3 pages of posts just to see if there has been an update on your last post on a topic was a pain in the butt so I stopped using it.

AMERICAN CENTRIC

Well I am trying to keep the trans atlantic flavour with my pictures, however its an American owned board with most of the members being American so I guess it is always going to leant in the western direction across the pond. That said I view it as an American Flypast board, I believe that there is room for both. I'll keep chipping in with some photos from the UK as and when I can, I hope that is ok.

What you call bickering on FP we call "healthy debate" (most of the time anyway) although there are sometimes when the arguement keeps going around in circles, but thats life I'm afraid.

[agent86]

It's good to hear from Tulio,His posts and the banter between he and his cronies is(are?} one of the aspects of the old forum that I miss most.Dont avoid us Tulio! ............................Tim.................