U20 Yahoogroups vs U20 Class Forum vs Facebook

[Gregg Henning]

Hi All,

I am wondering peoples thoughts between the current forum, facebook page and our past use of the Yahoo Group list serve that we used to use.  It seems as we had more activity on the list serve than we do in the forum or facebook.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Gregg

[Denise Hammond]

Having the topics sorted and stored in the forum makes it easier to find an old piece of information than it was to sort through hundreds of old emails.  There is no spam on the forum.  I don't do Facebook.

Having to remember the login and password is a hassle, but it is better than the other options.

Phil
#155

[Gregg Henning]

So far it is very interesting with the responses.  I have gotten a good response to this via email which would indicate that the list serve generates more responses. 

The Forum can announce a topic by the adminstrator which sends an email.

You can watch a topic which will email you when there has been a response to that topic you are watching. 

I have my computer save my username and password for the forum and make favorite link for it so I can go straight to the forum without the whole login frustration. 

[boroughf]

I know there are many people that just used the yahoo group only as a list serve, and never made the transition to the new forum (even after prodding and mentioning that it can be set up to send email notifications).

I liked the yahoo group since I am a member of several other yahoo groups, and a one stop shop was nice. I thought it had more functionality than this forum, like attaching files, editable spreadsheets, parts lists, etc.. 

To be honest, I didn't understand the shutting down of the yahoo group prior to getting sufficient membership transferred to this forum.  I think the lack of activity is directly related to the number of members.  Being a spreadsheet geek, I collected membership numbers, and post count of the yahoo group and the new forum as the transition was occurring, and it was pretty sad to see the drop off.

There was logic that this forum gave more functionality, but I haven't been able to see any additional features that the yahoo group couldn't provide. Maybe there are some moderator features that I can't see?

I think at this point either forum will work, but there needs to be an effort to contact the many yahoo group members that never made it here and educate them on how to use the new forum, or just go back.

I know some (my dad/co-owner of Salsa included), may never make the transition to the new forum since he's fine handling emails, but navigationg to multiple forums or facebook just isn't his thing.

[Eric Jurado]

A communications and PR expert who advises and directs the communications function for global corporations recently told me (since I used his expertise for my funds' portfolio companies) that all communications have to flow to one final site. As an example, think of The Wall Street Journal. All mobile apps, website, print, video, Facebook, Twitter, etc., flow to their sources of revenue -- the subscription and advertising. The reader sees the headline but will have to subscribe to see the full story and other benefits of membership.

For us, we have to decide which final medium we want all communications to flow to. This can, and, in my opinion, should be the U20 website. In other words, all media should flow to the site. Be it the Yahoogroup, Forum, Facebook, etc. As an example, one may presently subscribe to all three forms of communication. Maybe others are just one or two. The contents should be just headlines or announcements, which should direct one to the U20 website to see the full information and to receive feedback. Members get more information and benefits while the public get what's important in terms of marketing, regattas, etc. Many of the best companies don't answer their Facebook, Twitter, and other messages.

Kind regards to the general membership.

[Brian Jones]

In my opinion the forum has a much better user interface and is without a doubt a better way to  share and find technical information.  The forum allows users to add attachments, photos, calendar events, and even use advanced editing features. It can be very flexible and dynamic in nature by adding more detailed categories and additional permissions. 

For example:  Boat maintenance and care could be expanded into more specifics such as rigging (standing vs running), fiberglass/paint, trailering, sails, etc.  Other categories could be created such as "class rules",  "class business",  "classifieds", "racing tactics and strategy", etc. to easily find information and empower members to add content to the website without putting all of the burden on a webmaster.  Security is quite flexible in that some categories could be for "class members only" while other areas can be open for input and comment from the world of sailors and U20 interested parties.

All members should take a quick look around at the features of Simple Machines Forum available to a regular member: http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?board=5.0;sort=subject
 

[boroughf]

Yahoo group features are similar.  The category feature seems to be the primary difference between the yahoo web page and this forum.  The other is the list serve feature that yahoo uses that I can't tell if this forum can do.  From what I've seen, you must visit the forum to reply to topics, where the yahoo lst serve/ forum can reply by either email or through the web page.

Member features:
Messages: Post via web or email to group. No edit function except delete.
Photo album (100GB): Organized into album/thumbnail structure.
File storage (100MB): Capable of storing any file format.
Link directory: Options for folders, text labels for each link.
Poll: Members can create multiple-choice polls, including various options for ID display.
Database: Up to ten tables, each with up to one thousand rows and up to ten columns.
Member list: Scroll of registered member profiles, and the basics of the information they provide.
Calendar: Scheduling system for clubs with regular events.
Promote: HTML box for website display (to join a group).

Administration features (owners or managers who can do post approval)
Invite: to invite more members by email.
Management of members (approve new members, delete members).
Management of messages (approve new messages, delete messages).
Options: Edit of the group homepage display text etc.
Post approval: It is possible to switch to strict moderation if required.
Web tools management: Options are off, public, members, administrators.

[Brian Jones]

Good points on the Yahoo features.  As mentioned Yahoo is a discussion listserver and SMF is a discussion forum so comparing features is really like comparing apples and oranges. Wikipedia defines them nicely if anyone is interested in the details.  With that said it really depends on what the active users will participate in. I see that the listserver has been reactivated so the vote may already be in. 

[Gregg Henning]

The email response regarding the listserve was overwhelming. It was just not seen on the forum! Both good modes of communication! The listserve is back!