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What happened to JamesC

Off top of my head: being an IT guy I found very helpful site stackoverflow.com with very simple idea: you ask precise question about your problem - and you get precise answer (sometimes severals) about it. There is no room for long discussions, although there are comments, but often you can ignore it. So it's 1 to 1 situation: if you have quite similar or the same problem - you very easily can google it and find answer. Of course computer sciense is quite logical and 1+1 is always 2, while in our hobby it's not always true. Many people already said they can give answers, but still not sure it's totally correct. That's the problem. Just to think about.
 
Hi guys,
First when I read this thread I didn't want to post in it, but now I want to post my experience of UKAPS.
When I discovered this forum (end of 2011) I started reading and reading all these endless information and UKAPS was a REVELATION for me. It has answered so many questions I had on the hobby !! After 6 months of reading I decided to join the community and this was the best decision I did in this hobby.
I was a bit afraid to post here because English was not my language and that I was a complete noob in planted tank.
But the welcome of the members was so nice that I felt directly part of the family.
UKAPS started to be an obsession for me (visiting the forum every hour haha).
After a while it was like, I personally know some of the member (that's not the case), knowing who is the one that makes the jokes, who is the beSt for this or that, I don't how to explain the why of the UKAPS effect on me. This is not a forum, it is more a family table where we all give and take advices.
All question that I have posted here have been answered, and different solutions have been proposed by different member.
What I love in this forum is the exchange between the members and the debate that can occurs with this exchange and for me that what make a forum alive !!
We have a lot of different members with different back ground and different level of scientific knowledge and that's why also UKAPS is great! You want simple answer you can ... You want deep scientific answer you can... If you want to have a mentor in to help you you can ... I have asked Ceg to be my "mentor" and we have exchange a lot I can't even count the pages of private message we have exchange and it was great for me to have some one like that, taking me "in charge". Thanks Clive !!!
I started to visit and be member of other Aquascaping forum, but always keep coming back to UKAPS. Now I only comes here. Because I "know" the members and
It is so friendly compare to other forums I have been a member (French Americans etc...).
I can understand why people says that this forum is a bit elitist! Because there is so much precise and scientific explanation that you don't have in other forums. But this is great for me, becauseI love to know why ...
Newbies are not all the same and most of them just want to post have an answer and taking hours and hours of reading to find different answer (I have read so many hours on the forum). That's why I also think that a rookie section could be a good idea.

I don't know why I posted all this maybe I just wanted to say thank you to the members, to the founders, to the moderators etc ....
I think I can talk hours about how this family is great and how it can help rookies.

GUYS A HUGE THANK YOU FOR ALL !!!
Long live UKAPS

Regards


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
 
I did not give the hobby a break.. still have about five or six running aquascapes, just busy with the moving to SA..

Trying to catch up in the forums.. so came across this post.

James Star Marshal, stil scapping? And Alastair, have not heard about him for ages..

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk
 
@ghostsword are you in RSA? Follow the cricket at all? What's the aquarium/scaping scene like over there?
 
I am in Cape Town.. I do not follow any sport

The aquarium scene is somewhat convoluted. Lack of competition means that many shops sell non aquatics. It is hard to get substrate, rocks and quality wood.
However I improvise and have a nice collection of rocks and wood. :) it is africa.. lots of natural stuff.

Plants are hard to get, so I started with cuttings and grown them emersed. Got enough to sell, to use in my tanks..

The hobby is where the UK was in 2005, way behind.. but things are changing.

Main thing is to drop price fixing and the monopolies.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk
 
James Starr Marshall. think he does a lot of aquascapes to different shows events, done some really useful articles discussing his own Aquascaping failures which is sort of refreshing to read from a expert, high cost aquascapes to a good one about having a a good aquascape with low cost equipment and a little DIY
 
Is it possible that some of the experienced folk could reach a point where they heard every question, every answer and can grow any plant? Aquafatigue or aquatic-burnout (pun intended). Perhaps that's why some fall out of forums etc...
 
rebel said:
Is it possible that some of the experienced folk could reach a point where they heard every question, every answer and can grow any plant? Aquafatigue or aquatic-burnout (pun intended). Perhaps that's why some fall out of forums etc...
Click to expand...

Partly but quite often peoples lives get in the way and posting on forums takes a back seat.

I used to read every post when I first joined ukaps but now I only really tend to read bits that seem different, new theories, posts about new products appearing on the market etc.

oh and any posts that are on the sections that I now moderate.

I will answer questions from people, if I see a topic that has no replies, or that has missing/inaccurate information which I can add to. I guess this is my way of contributing to a forum which has taught me so much.
 
Big clown said:
Partly but quite often peoples lives get in the way and posting on forums takes a back seat.

I used to read every post when I first joined ukaps but now I only really tend to read bits that seem different, new theories, posts about new products appearing on the market etc.

oh and any posts that are on the sections that I now moderate.

I will answer questions from people, if I see a topic that has no replies, or that has missing/inaccurate information which I can add to. I guess this is my way of contributing to a forum which has taught me so much.
Click to expand...
Fair call.
 
Well, my two pennies...or probably several ones. ;)

First of all, forgive by not citing to all the things I am highlighting here from the former conversation, but too many people to cite!

I understand the concern from some members and/or people. I can tell that it is an intrinsic problem from any forum. Not many years ago, I had chances to manage several forums with lot of people, and the same "issues/problems" some people cited here, are exactly the same ones:

Veterans: Meanwhile being veteran in a forum is good, it also has some side effects, not always so good, but unavoidable. People staying for long time in forums have spent lot of time sharing thoughts and experiences with others. This leads unavoidably to affinity between the members, and many times with additional support. This is totally normal being human and social beings. Because of that, veterans tend to be listened more frequently, and attended more frequently than the ones that are more new. In other words: new people have to create their own room in an environment with well established lads, with people that they defend each others just because of they have become friends. This situation in no few occasions creates the sensation that a forum is "elitist", especially when goes to debating or arguing about ideas that the veterans accept as right, despite of being incorrect. But there is always an inertia that it is not always easy to break with new ideas. This is also typical from old forums, as there are these ideas that consolidate within the time and everyone assumes as universal truths. But again, this is normal, and sometimes there is a reason behind why some ideas become lied in stone, even if there is no apparent argument for that.

Consolidated truths: As mentioned above, there is always a tendency in forums to people adopt ideas that become popular in the time. These ideas become in dogmatic things that can be based in real stuff, or just are ideas created by people with better communication skills, or that got a more relevant weight due to external factors. No offence intended, but you will see few people trying to convince Tom Barr, George Farmer or Clive (for example) that their arguments are wrong. They are heavily experienced people that have showed lot of success in this hobby for many years, which has made of them a sort of reference. However, that does not mean that they are always right, or that the arguments they have traditionally offered are correct. In an open forum as this one, debate is the important point because it is the debate which forces people to improve knowledge, go deeper in the reason behind the things, and essentially, what creates progress! The day everyone sticks to what some guys say, that day the forum will stop to create new ideas, face new problems, and try to get new and better solutions. So my view here is: if you become in a reference, be ready to face all the arguments with good mood! Otherwise, you have to keep an open mind and be ready to learn from new people. I taught at the University for 7 years, and I can tell you that even people considered as "newbies" can offer a point of view that no one considered before. Less experience does not mean that new people cannot express themselves. And if they (we) are wrong, it does not matter! It is a part of the path of learning, and a very important part, by the way. It is much better to express a wrong idea than silence a good one, and in many times the criteria to put one idea in one side or the other depends a lot of the context.

Egos: Well, as mentioned, here there are human beings with different characters. Since shy people that are scared of expressing their own ideas or questions, to very outgoing people with stronger character. These differences are normal, but it does not mean the forum has bullies inside. It is just how people express themselves sometimes. The problem accents when the things are said in posts, instead of directly speaking on live to someone. I perceive that there are some scientists around (I am one, for instance, for the sorrow of some of the readers), and in my experience in research, scientist tend do become debates in something quite hot when they do not agree about some points. But the important is not that the arguments become hot, rather than the discussion never becomes personal and goes around the ideas. At the end, these discussions tend to drift towards the basis behind the phenomena we observe, which brings knowledge to the forum, as well as interesting points of view, links, references, etc. Those events are happening, but they are kept in terms. However, I understand that sometimes these discussions can be frightening, especially because here we will have people from very different backgrounds. But as already said by some of you, it is not point to get upset or fed up. If some discussion bothers you, or you think is not of your interest, just stop following it.

Finding information: It is some times difficult to find something in a forum that has been running for years and with may active members. The search tools usually arr not optimal, and most of users like to have fast access to the information they are looking for. On the other hand, search tools does nor grant you to have access to the thread about a topic with the "most up to date" information. Someone proposed to use more stick posts. This is useful, but in my point of view, that requires to be done in a slightly different point of view. Sticking a post it does not mean is up to date, especially if the post was stuck several years ago. At the same time, normal threads are in many occasions dead lines that do not end in a conclusion about the topic. The best idea in fact is to gather these conclusions in articles that are accessible but blocked to comments. In the forums it is then allowed to open discussion about the articles, and use the community inputs to correct the articles and collect on it the new views that are scientifically sound or well based in experience. In order to avoid the issue of the "egos" or "veterans" ans pointed out above, these articles are just references or aids for people, not "universal truths" and of course, not associated to personal names. As said, just a mere collection of conclusions generated by the whole community with more or less contrasted information if possible. Basically, something someone new can read and apply, written in plain words and trying to be as objective as possible. For instance, an example would be an article explaining each of the most common fertilizing methods applied for the community, with a list of pros and cons, and signed by UKAPS as organization and no by specific people. This way of acting is what brings prestige to a community. This is, of course, just a suggestion from my side, as it is how we work now in may ways in the scientific community, and works quite well. Of course, different points of view are totally allowed. ;)

But beyond those "issues", there are also some "good practises":

1. Not be in a hurry when you ask something in the forum. Best result comes from allowing the community to provide several answers and you taking your decision based in those answers.

2. Not limit yourself to ask. If you ask and you have a reply that you apply, it is good to provide feedback. Did you apply some method to correct algae problem that someone proposed and worked for you? Express it in the thread. Did you try but do not work? Mention it also. Provide as many details as possible in your feedback, so some learning of the experience can be transmitted to the community.

3. People are not infallible. So if you apply advises coming from the community, but you do not get the expected result, do not blame the community. All decisions you take based on the information contained here are at your own risk. If does not work what you did, just try to learn why it did not, and debate this in the community. This is not exact science, so if you apply some method/technique that the community proposed and does not work, it does not mean necessarily that they were wrong! Something that works many times for many people can fail for you, because each tank is different and the amount of variables to consider so big, that it is really difficult to have "universal" solutions.

4. Be ready and humble enough to learn: It should not matter at all your previous background/experience. The most relaxed discussions will happen if all the participants are thinking, from a start, that they could be wrong. If you start a thread or participate in one thinking that you are right, with no intention to correct yourself if someone else offers a more solid argument, then the discussion can become annoying. So always participate giving some room to a potential error, even if you are 99.99% sure about what you say. You never know, so be open to learn from everybody,

5. Do not repeat again and again the same argument. If you do not agree with a comment from someone, the right thing is to extend or support your answer with more information or properly refer it.

6. And, of course, the basis: do not take comments as personal, respect the other users, have patience with the members, focus in the ideas behind instead of the wording, think by yourself before acting, and again...be open to learn new things. This forum is not intended to compete between the members rather than collaborate. When people successes thanks to guidelines and help provided here, it is a success of the community, not only of that person. This attitude and way of thinking is what makes great to a community. Note that, however, success is something that you have to define by yourself, despite of whether you are looking for just an impressive tank at home, or you are trying to score high in the EAPLC or IAPLC. The highest the expectations, the most difficult will be, but the contribution of the community to your work will not be less important because of that.

And well, long enough for only two pennies. :p
 
Brilliant forum that I have learnt so much from over the years.

I've been on a few others for different hobbies and this is by far the best, I remember a few which you would be ripped apart on, the odd spelling or grammar mistake and they would hound you for it. You would come back to your thread/post and there would be 8 or 9 belittling comments. Post a picture the wrong size or format, comment similar to someone else comment, ect ect

There's a good bunch here and I've never felt like that, early days when I guess I may of made a scene or two but I'm older now and more mature. I do check back but I'll normally find what I'm looking for without having to ask or post, I'll do my bit for sure and make sure I chime in. It wouldn't be fair of me to of asked the q's got the answers and then run of into the sun set haha. I'll be abit more active and for sure will be chiming in again.

Good to see the ghostsword name popping up!! It's been a while since I've seen that!

LONG LIVE UKAPS
 
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