Hello, just trying to think of ways to improve the marine sections and make them more user friendly. Any suggestions will be considered and most appreciated. You guys are the board after all.
Cheers
Chris
Cheers
Chris
What do you guys want?
- Thread starter Max
- Start date
Free fish/inverts/equipment from the sponsors would be really nice!
Ok, sorry, I know you are looking for serious things, but I couldn't help myself! :devil:
Ok, sorry, I know you are looking for serious things, but I couldn't help myself! :devil:
Simplification.
When I was researching, I knew nothing about saltwater, and it turns out, I had a lot to learn about freshwater. For instance, I didn't know what the cycle was (which explains why my casual freshwater tanks were failures). I didn't know that water needed to be tested. I didn't know how you got the salt in the water. I didn't know what a powerhead was. I didn't know that filters were a waste of time for saltwater. I had no idea what a protein skimmer was, or what it did.
I had no idea the cost, and the planning involved to have a successful system.
I found out most of this information by using the search feature to death, and I eventually got them answered. Now that I know what I'm doing (for the most part), I find myself skipping over some of the simple repetivie questions that some users have.
If there were a sticky that explained the most basic things, things you haven't thought about since you were first beginning, that would be tremendously helpful to beginners.
Most of those who post their concerns here are not that experienced, and do not know the "obvious" answers. You might cut down on a lot of the "this is my first tank, what do I do?" threads.
When I was researching, I knew nothing about saltwater, and it turns out, I had a lot to learn about freshwater. For instance, I didn't know what the cycle was (which explains why my casual freshwater tanks were failures). I didn't know that water needed to be tested. I didn't know how you got the salt in the water. I didn't know what a powerhead was. I didn't know that filters were a waste of time for saltwater. I had no idea what a protein skimmer was, or what it did.
I had no idea the cost, and the planning involved to have a successful system.
I found out most of this information by using the search feature to death, and I eventually got them answered. Now that I know what I'm doing (for the most part), I find myself skipping over some of the simple repetivie questions that some users have.
If there were a sticky that explained the most basic things, things you haven't thought about since you were first beginning, that would be tremendously helpful to beginners.
Most of those who post their concerns here are not that experienced, and do not know the "obvious" answers. You might cut down on a lot of the "this is my first tank, what do I do?" threads.
Sonic has some really good points and while there are some good stickies on the big big topics, there could be some more posted about common things like:
How natural filtration works in SW tanks
Saltwater Ich (noticed a lot of replies that stated to treat it just like freshwater Ich which it is a completely different beast and only similar in looks and in name)
Skimmer benifits and possibly how to use the more common models. I found out a lot later after putting my skimmer to work that it was doing nothing because I didnt understand how it should work.
I am sure there are a few others, but these are the ones I can think of right now. I would say that if a question is being asked a lot, a sticky could really help people get faster general answers and then the forum can be used to ask more situational type questions or more detailed questions.
How natural filtration works in SW tanks
Saltwater Ich (noticed a lot of replies that stated to treat it just like freshwater Ich which it is a completely different beast and only similar in looks and in name)
Skimmer benifits and possibly how to use the more common models. I found out a lot later after putting my skimmer to work that it was doing nothing because I didnt understand how it should work.
I am sure there are a few others, but these are the ones I can think of right now. I would say that if a question is being asked a lot, a sticky could really help people get faster general answers and then the forum can be used to ask more situational type questions or more detailed questions.
Ghost_knife said:
I'll second that.
I've seen some boards with so many stickies that there's only 5 or 6 normal threads on the first page.
Perhaps some of the additional topics suggested by sonic and TommyGun could be written into short articles, with links to them posted in a single sticky or place them in the articles section. I feel the articles section could use some additional spotlight to help direct newcomers to it.
Kind of like what the previous people were saying, simplify the stickies.
However, I think it would be a good idea to have some sort of sticky Index, which directs you to stickies on stocking, filtration, etc..
It would make it easier and more efficient for people to get information on questions that have already been asked.
However, I think it would be a good idea to have some sort of sticky Index, which directs you to stickies on stocking, filtration, etc..
It would make it easier and more efficient for people to get information on questions that have already been asked.
Perhaps we could activate some sort of feature that sends an email with all those useful stickies to all the new members here; ie, Welcome to AC! Now that you've joined our community here; here are some links you may find useful/ might help to read first.
that kind of thing.
thanks, B. W.
Edit: Forgot we were talking abouot the marine forums here...
maybe we could use a similar feature that would become activated upon the members first visit/post/thread in any of the marine sections?
that kind of thing.
thanks, B. W.
Edit: Forgot we were talking abouot the marine forums here...
maybe we could use a similar feature that would become activated upon the members first visit/post/thread in any of the marine sections?
What I've seen on other boards that seems to work is having a single sticky at the top of the page acting like a FAQ page. In this, you can link to other FAQ pages, articles, post general forum rules, constantly searched/referenced threads, etc. I like it a lot better than having 6 or 7 different stickies on every page on AC. Build sort of a table of contents with links to everything else for each page and I think it would be a lot cleaner and easier to keep track of.
An initial email is a good idea, but chances are its not going to be saved, so I would say it would be good to have access to it right on the page.
An initial email is a good idea, but chances are its not going to be saved, so I would say it would be good to have access to it right on the page.