suggestion What do you want to see?

I feel like even if we had dedicated camera reviewers with pros, cons, and scores, and they were all in a neat little database, we'd still get the what camera is best questions. It's just the nature of a forum. People come to ask. I really have no problem with it since it is what this place is for. However sure, we can find a way to consolidate those answers. Somehow. So yeah something to ponder. ;)
 
I was pondering an auto-reply to the post that picked up on keywords. So let's say a bunch of people have edited a document for the cameras. And they keep it up to date as you say. And someone asks "Which camera is best for a first camera? The system picks up on camera, best, and first as keywords and bam! The reply to their thread is the post with the info in a polite way that tells them they can reply if they have further questions. You get the idea. It can actually work in a lot of scenarios, not just cameras.
 
I was pondering an auto-reply to the post that picked up on keywords. So let's say a bunch of people have edited a document for the cameras. And they keep it up to date as you say. And someone asks "Which camera is best for a first camera? The system picks up on camera, best, and first as keywords and bam! The reply to their thread is the post with the info in a polite way that tells them they can reply if they have further questions. You get the idea. It can actually work in a lot of scenarios, not just cameras.

If you could do it when they hit post reply - but before it's actually posted - and ask if they still want to post, then that would be even better.
Yeah thats a great idea.

I think youre right though about the nature of a forum and we should focus on forum related things.

I think the biggest bummer right now is that if you upload to the media section and someone else uploads something minutes later you get kicked off the front page right away. Its like being on price is right and someone bets for $1 more.
 
There's actually a function called similar threads that, as you are typing in the title window, a dropdown appears that lists 5 similar threads using those keywords so they can click one instead. I have not enabled this due to a server performance issue and the search needing more ram but you made me want to look into that so thx!
 
The similar threads and auto-reply combo could work too.
 
The whole point of "similar threads" is the exact problem you mentioned with camera threads. They can click and read and reply to and existing one. So I think this is a good idea. Nice work bringing that up! :D
 
So let's say a bunch of people have edited a document for the cameras. And they keep it up to date as you say. And someone asks "Which camera is best for a first camera? The system picks up on camera, best, and first as keywords and bam! The reply to their thread is the post with the info in a polite way that tells them they can reply if they have further questions. You get the idea. It can actually work in a lot of scenarios, not just cameras.
I think almost a 'here's how to phrase your question' suggestion would be better than one dedicated thread - I've seen on other forums threads that are anywhere from ten to one thousand and ten pages long that has to do with discussion around 'what [x] do you think is best' and it becomes quite an effort to dig through the pages to get an actual answer especially if you're looking for information on a specific piece of equipment.

I'd rather have updating lists that can be pointed to, or otherwise a suggestion on how to frame a question (i.e. I've been workign at this for [x] years, I already understand [x], and I want to achieve [x], what's going to be best for me?). Ultimately, you do want to keep discussion happening, and everyone's question and situation is slightly different - so there will always be questions. I just know that digging through a lengthy thread to find an answer can often be off-putting. I don't mind the idea of a blog/document style system, but I'm not sure if it's exactly aligned with the purpose of IT (i.e. to be a place for discussion, rather than a place to take classes)
 
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Okay so you bring up another good point, and feature we can use. Custom fields. So let's say you are asking a car question. The custom fields would be:

Make:
Model:
Year:
Color:
Condition:
Miles:

Right? So pretend for a minute this existed on IT. You have your "Title" field and then custom fields under it before the post body. I guess the question is what the heck would they be? They would have to fit each category etc. And they would not be marked as mandatory in case they didn't apply but they could help shape questions. Know what I mean?
 
A "What to buy" section could cover all gear and have
Budget
Experience
etc... type fields...
 
A "What to buy" section could cover all gear and have
Budget
Experience
etc... type fields...
maybe you could put work into that but i think youll just be saving a question every now and then. not a big deal in the grand scheme of things imo to use that feature here
 
I remember one of the older big questions was how do I get video to look like film. That one seems to have all but disappeared with technology. This was back in the mini-dv days.

I guess the big one that can be corralled is still the, which camera one.
 
A filmmaking meme section (I wanna laugh more... it's 2020 after all)
Someone already started one :lol:
 
I remember one of the older big questions was how do I get video to look like film. That one seems to have all but disappeared with technology. This was back in the mini-dv days.

I guess the big one that can be corralled is still the, which camera one.
This is what I mean when I say above: Is it in the spirit of IT discussion to have blog pages (for example) covering specifics? Maybe it is?
There's a difference between having a topic thread named 'what camera should I buy' that has pages of good discussion and a blog/sticky/document entitled 'what camera should I buy' that is essentially a written class on the basics of camera.

What to buy at [x] budget level is ultimately more 'bloggy' than 'forumey' but that doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't do more 'bloggy' stuff (if that's what wanted).
 
My 2c.

Now I don't know how traffic is going compared to how it used to be. It could be up. If that's the case, that's friggin awesome.

I do remember, this site used to be "happening" when I first came here. Heaps of action posts and replies, heaps of people.

There are so many places now days for beginner filmmakers. There's heaps of facebook groups, reddit groups etc. Most of them fall into the problem of servicing beginners, which in itself is fine, but it's always a rotating group of the same questions being asked by yet another one-post-larry with the same answers (correct, wrong, angry, do a simple search), time and time again. It's the kind of thing that an AI bot could handle quite easily. Oh, and people asking broke filmmakers to fund their kickstarter campaign. It's something that's everywhere.

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. Horrible English, but it's a saying.

What are the goals?
To drive traffic?
To make it a special place?
To build a business?
To build a community?
To have its members grow into professionals?
To be a safe place?
To push members to become better filmmakers?

Start with what you'd like to achieve. Then start to look for ways to achieve that.

About the closest crack I've seen to a site like this was that that film school thingy (maybe Rocket Jump) by Freddy Wong a couple of years back. I don't know if a Youtube channel would be the best idea, but it seemed to drive something for them. I think a big part of it was the people who were running it were put front and center. You kind of felt you got to know some part of them.

There's lots of API's for websites/services/apps out there. I'm sure some things that can be useful to the members can be engineered.

I dunno. You might be looking for tiny little things like, "Change the background so you have a dark mode" kind of ideas.
 
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So last week I turned the Video Gallery off and NOBODY NOTICED! That's how popular it was. :lol:

I have a new plan for posting vids. Coming soon! Better interaction, better exposure.
 
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