OT - Forum Suggestion

[kopoloff]

Well, as soon as I'm done pecking, I will move on. Not that any of you will care

Nothing wrong with making suggestions. Nothing wrong with debate. Nothing wrong with disagreeing. But there is no need to make childish and snide comments like that last sentence.

Of course, having made that last comment, you have made sure that we do care. We care if you stay. Please take care and leave.

Have a great day

K

[DreamStalker]

Enter you seach terms into Google followed by "site:cpaptalk.com". Don't include the quotes.

Again, I know how to use the search engines and site searching... The problem comes down to it that this site is so specific to APNEA that almost all messages contain the terminology I'm searching for. My issue was finding a post about a mask. I did not know what the name of the mask was... Using google I put in: site:cpaptalk.com Nasal Mask and got over 10 pages of 15 posts per page. Ya that helped a great deal.

Had I been able to limit it to Equipment/Masks, I would have probably only gotten 6 pages back.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but I'll have to fight with this site almost as much as I fight with my APNEA.

NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

Your math is off ... you would get just as many pages and maybe even more since some would no doubt post in the wrong topic section.

[DoriC]

I am probably the least computer savvy person on this forum, but for the most part I get around here just fine. (I just learned how to use the "Quote" feature, Copy/Paste is next). Sometimes, If I'm lazy, rather than do an easy, quick search, I just start another thread. The "pros" are very patient about answering repeat questions. And if I'm too embarrassed to ask a question online that I think I should already know, I'll send a PM to someone who knows the answer. It all works out very well. No Changes Required.

[jnk]

I like being able to glance down the page several times a day to make sure someone new starting a thread for help hasn't been missed, which shows up with a zero for replies. Having sections would complicate that, making it time-consuming and tedious. This board is able to be more active and helpful than the other ones for that reason, in my opinion.

There are forums on the subject of CPAP and sleep that are divided into sections. For those who like that setup, those forums would love to have you, since they get pretty boring and muddled. Newbies who post there invariably post in the wrong section and their questions get missed or they get fussed at for posting in the wrong section. I like it that this forum is so different from some of the other sleep apnea forums. The differences here are a lot of why the people in those forums end up lurking over here most of the day.

This place is a bit of a social-club-slash-medically-related-helpdesk-slash-whatever board where people like being able to glance around the room to see who is here and whether someone new has wandered in and needs to be welcomed. If this bar were divided into many rooms with many doors, people would get lost and cut off from one another and it would be harder to be together and have everyone else's back in the way tag-team support works here. And more beer would get spilled walking from room to room all day.

jeff

[SleepNazzi]

Well, as soon as I'm done pecking, I will move on. Not that any of you will care

Nothing wrong with making suggestions. Nothing wrong with debate. Nothing wrong with disagreeing. But there is no need to make childish and snide comments like that last sentence.

Of course, having made that last comment, you have made sure that we do care. We care if you stay. Please take care and leave.

Have a great day

K

First of all it was not a childish comment at all... The fact that most have never used a real message system is apparent. The comment and suggestions made are evident of the fact. The statement that I would move on was not meant as a ultimatum or threat, just the fact that I don't have time to search for information on a message board that is not structured.

Make all the accusations you want against me.... The modus operandi of this message board is to belittle anyone with an opinion. Thanks for continuing that trend Kopoloff.

NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[Maple Leaf]

[quote="SleepNazzi"]Is there any way to get the forum broken down into categories? [quote]


I agree with the others in that the forum works well in it's simplistic version, so......

NO CATEGORIES FOR YOU!!!

[SleepNazzi]

Is there any way to get the forum broken down into categories? quote]


I agree with the others in that the forum works well in it's simplistic version, so......

No categories for you!!!

ZOMG MF (stands for Maple Leaf - just wanted that clear... LOL) .... This post is the best in this thread! Thanks for making me smile!


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[DreamStalker]

I'd like to have a beer ... but I can't cuz I promised myself I could have a beer only after I lost 20 more lbs.

[SleepNazzi]

I'd like to have a beer ... but I can't cuz I promised myself I could have a beer only after I lost 20 more lbs.

Well Dream... Since there are no categories... All I can off you is one of these:

(show of hands... How many remember these?)

[Muse-Inc]

No number of minuses you can bring up will surpass the pluses of categorization. Every reference manual, fact book, organized thought, or data mine has categories. WHY? Because it is easier for the human brain to digest.

You want nice little boxes? Well, this foum's a lot like life...messy, organic, everything relates to most everything else. No logic to SDB...it's in the anatomy of our airways/our sleep architecture/sometimes in our central nervous system-brain. There's no reliable & consistent way we treat our particular varient of SDB.

...as soon as I'm done pecking, I will move on. Not that any of you will care.

Gee, rejected before we had a chance to get ta know ya and learn what you have to contribute to the collective info here.

[OldLincoln]

When I had a job and time was limited, and I was kinda new to CPAP, I also suggested categories. Since the economy bit my company and I've been sitting on the beach for a year, I see the value in the kitchen table kind of forum structure. I suspect a lot of members have excess time, or simply take it, to lounge about here. I find I have a few posters I like to read a lot, browse about half the topics, and pick up more of the family aspect of the forum - whose doing what.

So it grows on you if you can set a Type A personality aside and enjoy the ride. I hope you decide to stick around at least until you can experience the family aspect.

[DreamStalker]

That is a great way of saying it OL ... it is a family indeed.

[GumbyCT]

Try this -
Goto the top of the forum home page,
directly under the Lite Bulb "Our Wisdom"
(btw - don't forget to read "Our Wisdom")
but for now select "Advanced Search".

Type in keywords "Forum Suggestion" to see how many posts come up there.
You can drill down even further if you enter a search term in "Search these results:"

But for now just use your browser's 'Back' button....
Then in the field "Search for author:" type in Snoredog
the top post is "Re: Please Rethink The Big Pot Design" (I remember this post but you wouldn't)

On page one you will find the below post from our beloved friend Snoredog, RIP

My opinion:
It seems it's always the newbie that wants to come here and change things, they have been here 3 days have 50 posts and already want to have the board redesigned more to their liking.

There are other sleep forum boards designed with sub-categories as you describe, so I have to ask why haven't you gone over to those?

Here ya go pick one:
http://www.apneasupport.org/

Here's another:
http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/message-boards/

I along with many others with a lot more posts under our belts and we like it the way it is. If I wanted change I'd go elsewhere, suggest you do the same.

I think Johnny does an excellent job and doesn't need to change anything other than allow "Guest" Users to be placed on the foe list

You might consider a forum that better suites your needs.

I am sure there are many more but a new one which may be able to use your skills is -
http://www.sleepguide.com/

Check out those sites - offer them suggestions on "how to" then come back and let us know how you made out.

Good Luck my friend.

[carbonman]

So it grows on you if you can set a Type A personality aside and enjoy the ride.
I hope you decide to stick around at least until you can experience the family aspect.

Very well said!
I don't think I have to say it....
or maybe I've said it too many times,
I'm really glad to be here.

.....just the way that it is.

[mars]

Hi All

I too have thought about the chaotic state of the forum, especially how interesting threads get hijacked into something completely different.

Then I thought about just how much I have learned from these off topic posts, not only about OSA treatment but also about human nature. And the mixture of threads encourages me to look at topics that I otherwise would not have looked at.

For example, whilst just waiting to see if there would be a response to something I posted I had a look at the OT - Health Thread. My God, I thought I had landed in the OT - Hell Thread. I just did not realise the passions that I was rubbing virtual shoulders with.

And the simplest apparently boring thread can turn into something quite interesting and exciting.

And given that some of the questions asked are indications of severe sleep deprivation, then having to post in categories would probably make our current situation look highly structured by comparison. I have learned that a good in-depth background knowledge usually allows a person to respond in a more receivable manner, and often in a more informed manner.

So I love this Forum the way it is. I do not always like the way things work out, or what people say, but that is the way of the world, and Forum posts are a reflection of that world (including the good, the bad, the grandiose, the irrelevant and the humorous).

cheers

Mars