New Forum

[admin]

I totally agree with gwbushhog. Sean, you have been much too passive in this entire debate over how to have a smooth functioning board that also allows reasonable sized pictures to be hosted. Ask LL to kick in enough to make this a first class board. Otherwise I suspect Paul's new board may prevail. BTW Paul's is about ten times faster than this board.

Forget about third party picture hosting sites. I have tried it, don't like it and this is the only forum out of 6 that I follow that doesn't allow photos. All the tutorials in the world are no substitute for the real thing. Any concerns about this board becoming an LL marketing mouthpiece are silly. If they do then it will die. Make it easy to use and it will thrive.

David

I think you are expecting too much from LL to be honest. This forum was started without any prompting from them and without any expectation that they would support or help it. It was nice that Scott had expressed interest in supporting us, however those interests have not materialized and I'm not about to go begging for support. Its not my style and I dont think its needed.

I'm sorry that this is the only board you frequent that doesnt allow you to post pictures. However there are alternatives that might add a couple of clicks to the process. I understand you dont like third party sites, but that doesnt mean they are a bad solution in the bigger picture. I understand that its easier to simply hit the upload button to post a picture while you are on the forum but that doesnt make it simple in the long run. Purchasing storage and bandwidth is a solution that only works if we end up getting long term funding.

Lets say we get some funding in the short term...we purchase the space and the bandwidth. Everyone is happy and start posting pictures again and its great. Now we have a ton of content stored and funding runs out. All of a sudden all of that content gets locked down and goes away. Essentially we are locked in to paying a monthly fee for the services or losing anything that had been published. I dont like that scenario.

On a strictly personal level I dont see the issue with a third party host. I can upload my picture to a single source which help me stay organized and maintain control. Then from that single source I can share it out to anyone or any place I want. There is no need to upload it multiple times, no need to worry about privacy, and its easy to share. I dont expect everyone to share that opinion but I also did not expect to see such a drastic resistance to it either.

On another note, I'm not here to compete about whos board is better. I personally started the forum because I saw a need and knew I could create something that filled that gap. Its just that simple. We have been lucky that our community has been self regulating to that it hasnt taken a whole lot to get to this point. Yet that doesnt mean it hasnt taken work.

This picture issue will be addressed and hopefully it will make as many people happy as possible. As I've mentioned before, we are looking at the ability to create our own plugin. We are also looking at other alternatives. In the mean time pictures can still be posted, they just cant be uploaded directly to this forum.

[djsamuel]

I too don't see the issue with pictures. I've used photo bucket for all my pictures on all sites and it really isn't difficult.

[dh50]

Paul,  
First of all, we want to express our thanks to you as well as our interest in your new forum.   We believe both sites can work together well in support of LL owners everywhere and their shared love of the great outdoors.  We would also like to commend you on your kind and gentle manner in branching off from this Proboard.  You were respectful and we applaud such leadership.



That said, we are interested in registering on your new site, plan to do so soon to verify its simplicity, security and of course, the photo insert capability!   8-)  You have expressed an open ear and mind to all suggestions and this is REALLY appreciated and needed.  No one person can know everything...we all benefit from listening to good counsel.  

In that spirit, Paul and Sean, we would like to ask if you might consider a category on your forum(s) for interested members which identifies not only the region (or state, area, city, etc.) where they reside, but also their level of interest in being so identified for purposes of organizing future LL gatherings.  This is a feature lacking on this Proboard, but could also be implemented here should you so choose, Sean. 

While 'shop-talk' is a very important component to this Proboard, especially for our wonderfully handy and handsome Guys  8-), another important component which holds our personal interest has to do with the sense of  'community' it affords.   We have hopes that interested LL owners can go beyond interfacing on-line only and actually meet up to share a campfire, so to speak, similar to what you, David and PEIslander are doing shortly, and also like the gathering in SC initiated by Sean.  This makes belonging to a forum, IOHO, much richer and rewarding when folks of similar likes and interests can actually meet to share them.  This potential holds our interest beyond the 'shop talk', but as importantly, such social dynamism can only serve to further the LL brand.  

BTW, we would join you Boys at Bundy, don't you know, if it were not that it is so so very far away.  For that matter, SC was a long ways for just a weekend!  These are examples, as we see it, of how many LL owners (and non-owners) are faced with opting to camp closer to home in light of our current flailing economies and inflated fuel costs.  With this in mind, would it not be a WIN-WIN for all if your forum(s) offered a category such that LLers could voluntarily identify their locales for purposes of organizing LL gatherings as 'close to home' as possible?   Does this make sense?   Again, this is for LLers who want this; purely optional.  Perhaps setting up regional admins or moderators could be one approach to such a sort.  

In conclusion, (finally, right?) some folks don't care to ever meet and are happy with on-line 'shop talk', as well as back and forth banter which we too have enjoyed.   To these folks...THANK YOU for sharing your hard-won knowledge, wit and charm.   We are indeed blessed beneficiaries.   But if the majority of LL Owners are interested in on-line sharing only....while a ginormous colossal massive BUMMER   .....'tis better to know here and now!  There's trails to be blazed, and blazing campfires to be shared!  

Thank you for taking time to read our suggestion, Paul and Sean, but most importantly, thank you both for stepping up to make these LL forums possible.  We're the better for you both!

Happy Trail Blazin'!



        

[gnies]

Hi gwbushhog, I was reading your message on my phone and I was really pleased with all your kind word that I had to go get my laptop to take the time to write you a message to thank you! Right now I am out camping but when I will be back at home I will take the time to think how I could implement your suggestion, not sure how yet but I will think about what I can do.

[funpilot]

[p]In response to facilitating LL owners camping together there is a forum that has a lot of luck creating rallies:  [a href="http://www.popupportal.com/index.php?action=forum"]http://www.popupportal.com/index.php?action=forum[/a][/p][p]
[/p][p]They are not brand specific but have a lot of activity and perhaps the structure of the website might suggest a simple way to do that here. [/p]

[admin]

@gwbushhog, I think it's a great idea to make the meet ups into its own section. Our trip planning board has served well, but I think the "meet ups" would be better served in their own category. I'll work on getting that setup, I'll take a little time to get ideas like the layout shown at popupportal as suggested by @funpilot.

If you have any other suggestions, or specific regions you would like to have represented please feel free to send me a message and I'll try to make it happen

Thank you,
Sean

[daplumbr]

@gwbushhog, I think it's a great idea to make the meet ups into its own section. Our trip planning board has served well, but I think the "meet ups" would be better served in their own category. I'll work on getting that setup, I'll take a little time to get ideas like the layout shown at popupportal as suggested by @funpilot.

If you have any other suggestions, or specific regions you would like to have represented please feel free to send me a message and I'll try to make it happen

Thank you,
Sean

I think you're on the right track in thinking about regions. Many of us would travel a couple of days to a meet-up and it might be nice to have some sense of geography to help that. Maybe something like:

Great Lakes: NY, PA, OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, Ontario

Northeast: MA, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NJ, DE, MD

Southeast: VA, WV, NC, SC, GE, FL

South: TN, AL, MS, LA, KY, TX, NM

Midwest: MO, AR, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, IA, Manitoba, Saskatchewan

West: MT, WY, CO, UT, AZ, NV, ID, Alberta

Pacific: CA, OR, WA, AK, HI, British Columbia,