Changing times for UKAPS

[NeilW]

True, I think your right mate . Even a separate nano category would be pushing it really, I was only offering a suggestion in response to Dan. Sadly it seems were all too busy with 'non-planted-life'

 

[foxfish]

I help to manage a large forum with over 26000 members, we find two factors that really help the forum stay alive & moving along - first we have a dedicated section where members can talk about non related forum subjects like, other hobbies & general chit chat.
These threads add a personality to our forum & gives a sense of friendship amongst regular members.
Then we have dedicated staff members who make the effort to welcome every single new members that takes the trouble to say hello, this most definitely encourages new members to stay around long term.
Of course the staff are probably the most important aspect to the smooth running of our forum, friendly staff with a helpful mannerism are far more effective than abrupt staff with huge knowledge!
We also run fun competitions with very small prises or temporary titles like "caption of the month winner".

I think this is a great forum although its title probably restricts membership from outside of the UK.

 

[Mrmikey]

I think there should be a Heath warning thread/ section lol
When I first bought my nano tank I thought yeah great it's only £90 and a get a nice nano.
Then I found this site!, that £90 turned into 100's! New lights, new filter, new co2, new plants, more new plants, new fish/shrimp, dead fish/ shrimp, new heater, timers, rocks, wire brushes, test kits etc! Forgot the rock cost me £80 alone

So thinking about it would be good to see three examples of the same tank set up for different price ranges and what could be achived in that tank, listing rough prices E.g budget tank, bit of cash tank and a minted tank.

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for all the feedback! Some very interesting points raised, especially from Foxfish.

I think this is a great forum although its title probably restricts membership from outside of the UK.

Thanks. We are the UK Aquatic Plant Society and I don't see that changing, to be honest. Rightly or wrongly, I'm quite proud to be associated with the UK planted tank and aquascaping hobby and I hope this is reflected through UKAPS and its name.

That said, we do warmly welcome international members. Indeed some of UKAPS most valued contributors are non-UK residents.

Thanks again. All constructive feedback is really appreciated.

 

[ghostsword]

So thinking about it would be good to see three examples of the same tank set up for different price ranges and what could be achived in that tank, listing rough prices E.g budget tank, bit of cash tank and a minted tank.

I think that some of the biotopes and the planted tanks section on PFK have prices.. But yet, planted tanks is an expensive hobby, but only if you want to, look for plants on the forum, they also sell rocks, lamps, all sorts. Also look at some of the sponsors, good quality kit. I recommend TGM and Aquaessentials, helpful staff and good quality plants.

 

[bigmatt]

True, I think your right mate . Even a separate nano category would be pushing it really, I was only offering a suggestion in response to Dan. Sadly it seems were all too busy with 'non-planted-life'

....but could the journals and gallery sections have drop downs in the titles (like the For Sale section) where you can specify pico, nano, small, medium, large or divorce ( ) size tank, so for anyone quickly browsing through looking for inspiration, they can rapidly identify the size of the tank.
Any thoughts?
M

 

[Tony Swinney]

I like that idea Matt - good thinking

 

[LondonDragon]

....but could the journals and gallery sections have drop downs in the titles (like the For Sale section) where you can specify pico, nano, small, medium, large or divorce ( ) size tank, so for anyone quickly browsing through looking for inspiration, they can rapidly identify the size of the tank.
Any thoughts?
M

I did think of that, only problem is that you cannot have different tags per forum, so all the tags from the Sales section would be available for selection on both sections which would make it messy for users to select.

 

[LondonDragon]

In the short-term we've a new administrator, LondonDragon aka Paulo.

Came across this thread and found that sentence amusing, in the short-term! hahaha

 

[Myrtle]

Well, it's short term when considered in the context of the universe as a whole.
Not so short term in the lifespan of a human!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Came across this thread and found that sentence amusing, in the short-term! hahaha

Ah, the good old days. Did you think you'd still be here over 12 years later doing the same job?
The only problem is Paulo, you're so good at it you've become indispensable.

 

[foxfish]

Some names from the past, it is a shame that George no longer participates.

 

[LondonDragon]

Ah, the good old days. Did you think you'd still be here over 12 years later doing the same job?

To be honest, I wasn't sure UKAPS would survive that long, at the end of the day this is funded by donations and the bulk comes from sponsors, so we are glad that some sponsors have stuck around and supported us to enable the forum to stay online at least, because member donations are a rarity these days. (no digs, most of us are feeling the pinch these days).
But it is the members that make UKAPS so there is different type of value in members regardless without them the forum would be up, but gathering dust like many others, so at the end of the day we need both the sponsors and active members
I did not think I would look after the forum long term, and pretty much single-handed run it for a decade, as the founders all disappeared and left me here to manage it all and look after the mods
I haven't got much time to read and contribute to posts to be honest these days, maintaining the forum does take a bit of time in the back end, I have to ensure that everything is patched and secure as often as possible (twice a month), both the server OS and software running on top, does take a few hours a week to keep things running smoothly and see what else I can add/change to make it better.
These days I am just getting old and grumpy so don't annoy me too much please hahaha

 

[foxfish]

You have done and are doing a stellar job mate, thank you very much for all your time and effort.

The forum has changed over time, we dont get the same amount of posting traffic or even a fraction of featured tanks like we did 10 years back but, as far as I am concerned, this forum has not only survived while many have dissolved, it has remained a very pleasant and calm place to spend a bit of time on every day.
For me, many of the members now feel more like friends that you can rely on rather than just letters on a page.

 

[John q]

because member donations are a rarity these days

Perhaps the forum needs a donation drive to help raise some much needed funds?

This could be in the form of members donating plants or no longer needed equipment and giving the proceeds to the forum, or simply highlighting the fact that the forum doesn't run on fresh air and needs peeps that can spare a few quid to donate.

If you don't ask, you generally don't get.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Perhaps the forum needs a donation drive to help raise some much needed funds?

This could be in the form of members donating plants or no longer needed equipment and giving the proceeds to the forum, or simply highlighting the fact that the forum doesn't run on fresh air and needs peeps that can spare a few quid to donate.

If you don't ask, you generally don't get.

Thanks John, that's a good idea. All donations are very greatly appreciated, and as the donation panel on the homepage mentions, they go toward running the forum. Not only to meet hosting costs but also for addons and features that help keep the forum up to date and relevant; as well as fun and user friendly.

 

[LondonDragon]

For me, many of the members now feel more like friends that you can rely on rather than just letters on a page.

That was the whole point of UKAPS to start with, have a friendly place to discuss all fishy things, regardless or age, gender or experience!
Hopefully I will get to meet some folks at the event we have planned in a couple of months time, and see some of the old faces that I haven't seen in a long time

You have done and are doing a stellar job mate, thank you very much for all your time and effort.

Many thanks mate much appreciated

If you don't ask, you generally don't get.

It takes around £1500 a year to keep UKAPS afloat, we had a good surplus when we had 10+ sponsors, which over the years has been gradually reducing, so the question is more what happens when it dries out, which I don't have an answer for at the moment
As UKAPS we never wanted to beg for donations and leave it up to members to donate if they can, but when the time comes we might have to put a monthly target visible on the forum and ask members to contribute to achieve it! But at the moment we will leave it up to members to decide when and how much they can give

 

[MichaelJ]

It takes around £1500 a year to keep UKAPS afloat, we had a good surplus when we had 10+ sponsors, which over the years has been gradually reducing, so the question is more what happens when it dries out, which I don't have an answer for at the moment

£1500... that shouldn't be an issue... if we get a good group of active members to generously donate say £25 a year or whatever works for the individual member - which by and large is a relatively small amount compared to the money we spend on the hobby and the value we get from UKAPS (personally I haven't donated nearly enough to make up for just a bit of all the money I saved on pre-made fertilizers vs. mixing my own based on the advice I've gotten on this forum ). Perhaps whomever donate (regardless of donation size) will get a badge on their Forum ID or something (lasting 12 months)... Tacky as that may sound, living in a country that is immensely charitable, in terms of private donations of which most are tax deductible, small things like that - call it braggadocious if you will - makes a difference. Maybe its a US thing... we are sort of silly that way

Cheers,
Michael

 

[hypnogogia]

One idea might be to encourage a percentage of any sales to be donated, be it second hand gear, plants etc.

Donation just made.

 

[LondonDragon]

Perhaps whomever donate (regardless of donation size) will get a badge on their Forum ID or something (lasting 12 months)

We did consider this, but again opens up a possibility of division between members, which again we didn't want, but might have to consider. Like I said with the donations we get and sponsorship money at the moment we are OK for the time being. The bigger, the buffer, the bigger the security ongoing, hosting costs like everything else have gone up quite a bit over the last couple of years.

Back in 2016 we had a nice buffer and we hosted an event (which cost quite a bit, and we did get some sponsorships at the time for the event, to top that up a little) but it's not something that is easily done on a regular basis, but everyone that attended had a blast.

At the end of the day, we always try to avoid things that can become negative and make some feel left out, I have always tried to keep UKAPS minimalist in terms of visuals (some forums have badges for everything that then clutter the forum and make it look like kindergarten), I even removed most of the stuff under the avatar next to messages to keep it nice and clean. Sometimes this stuff encourages bad behaviour just to get these awards and badges etc... we just want pleasant and friendly chats and not spammers.

It's always about keeping the right balance hopefully we have achieved this over the years, even though on the rare occasion we can be seen as being a little mean to keep things on par But to be honest the forum pretty much moderates itself as most members don't tolerate bad behaviour and use the report button.