Let's Liven Up the Site Again

[Sewdreamy]

Hi,
I am concerned about this wonderful site. First of all, the shows seem just as wonderful as ever..professional, well-done, good guests, great information...and I really hope it will stay around a very long time. I love all the extras too..the classrooms, the dvds, the BOM...but I see things that have concerned me, and some of it has to do with member participation, rather than what the web masters can do.

1) The gallery doesn't have as many quilts being added on a regular basis as it seemed at first. I used to check it daily because so many quilts would be added, but now it seems we don't get so many and once a week seems sufficient to see new quilts. This seems to me that fewer people are joining or participating once they join. If you don't put photos of your quilts on, it's not hard. It's really nice to see them there. There are no quilt police here that will criticize your work, but often you can inspire someone else.

2) The forum seems to have much less participation. There are several things about the forum;;fewer people, people use it kind of like facebook and the topics get very far afield and go on so long that it's hard to follow for members like me who only look once a day or so, or jump in for a new person, but many of the technical problems and things originally not liked by most have been fixed.

3) The old member blogs never have come back. This may be something TQS does not want to restart because it's hard to maintain, or some such. But it would be good to know the answer.

4) There don't seem to be as many participants as there used to be on the Forum. I see a lot of the old members now on Facebook, and it would be nice to see them back on the Forum. I would love to see new members. I would like to see some new fun topics. Let's see if we can keep on topic a little better, and start new ones instead and keep them from running for years, so it gets intimidating to join in.

5) Wouldn't it be fun if all the members put an avatar up? So many just don't. It doesn't have to be a picture of yourself, though I think that is nice, but it's really nice for members to have their avatars.

This site has taught me so much, made me so many friends, been a great resource for getting answers and bragging a little about my own work. I hope it will return to its former liveliness and we will get new members and new quilters and new quilts.

Cheers!

[twiglet]

Betty Jo I know you probably mean the Chinese Whisper thread but really anyone is welcome to join in. It's really a gossip place now the blogs have disappeared with quilting challenges thrown in. It's a good place to go off topic rather than confuse some of the more focused threads.

And the New Year Resolution thread is comfortable to show work in progress or completed where you may feel uncomfortable starting a thread to show off your work, or did you do that in the past?

Its a good idea posting more quilts to the gallery with there being no limit now. I only remember to look at it occasionally but will look more regularly now.

This post is a good start to get conversation going Perhaps we should start a thread after every show to discuss the content

[twiglet]

Oh dear I posted a post card but then realised it's a mug rug but can't edit the description. Sorry if I confuse anyone :side:

[Sewdreamy]

The long threads are only a part of my concern about the site. I wasn't thinking of any particular thread, and it wasn't meant as a criticism. Personally, I don't feel unwelcome to join in, but I find it hard to jump into those very long threads if I haven't been following them for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if others do too. What does "Chinese Whispers" mean in relation to quilting, for instance? How many pages do I have to go back and read to figure out the topic? I have started threads myself. It's now spring, so who would know the New Year's Resolution thread is actually a "Work-in-Progress" thread if you were new to the site. Just some thoughts...not a criticism. I'd just like to make the place comfortable and fun for everyone. I figured I would get some feedback on this topic. LOL

[Sewdreamy]

Wendy, did you mean the post card comment for another topic? Just wondering.

[twiglet]

No was just posting a quilt in the gallery at your suggestion. I want to post a couple of quilts I've made so will start a new thread tomorrow and make it obvious its to show work in progress

You make some good points. Thank you

The CW thread links to the group and there's the full explanation there about the title and challenges etc. It got really difficult using the group section for chatting so it was decided to carry on with the thread and post pictures there so that the work can all be seen together. Does that help :unsure: :cheer:

[Sewdreamy]

Wendy, you can edit it from "My Gallery Quilts" under "see quilts". It allows you to edit your gallery quilts there.

[twiglet]

Cheers BJ it worked this time

[Marianne-is-sewing]

I haven't visited the forum or the gallery since - forever. Got lost in the new forum and all the problems surrounding it last year so gave up. I was in two minds about renewing my membership but have just done so as I enjoy the shows but am now worried about the lack of security doing so. No payment security involved so wonder now if I did the wrong thing using my card. Last time I paid without added payment security my card details were stolen and I had terrible trouble I only looked in here to find out if there was another way to pay but seeing nothing I happened on your thread and thought I would tell you why I for one am not visiting any more.
Re the forum and gallery - maybe people feel like I do that it is so much like Facebook that you just don't want to get/be involved? I don't do Facebook because I don't like the complete lack of privacy control and the feel of the forum here changed when the site changed. To be honest the whole site is so maze-like that it will be a major undertaking to catch up again so for new members it must be very off-putting. At least I know what used to be around. I will look in again to see what is going on but it will have to be as good as the Quilting Board (where I've been hanging out after the site here changed) for me to bother returning.

[twiglet]

Nice to see you again Marianne

Those of us who survived the changes stick to the thread part of the forum and ignore the Community part which is almost unusable because it depends on friends like facebook. Use the Recent Topics tab at the top to keep up with new posts.
I'd love to see what you've been doing and I'm sure others would. A general thread for chit chat and showing work is this one https://thequiltshow.com/forum/beginners-corner-ask-anything/7356-quilting-new-year-s-resolutions-for-2015?start=930. I think most catch up with that one.

We're got a mod now and I think she'd follow up your concerns on security. Its really important and needs to be looked at it's Tribblemom (Kathy). I'll point her to your post.

[twiglet]

Hi Marianne - while I monitor the forum for questions, technical problems, issues, etc., I don't handle customer payments. Please contact TQS customer service for your concerns regarding your renewal payment. The email address is tqscustomerservice @ gmail.com - Eliminate the spaces before and after the @ sign; I had to add those so that the address would appear in this message.

You can also link to customer service by clicking on 'CONTACT' at the top of any page of the TQS website (it's in the gray banner, starting with Home then Daily Blog, Join Free, My Account, Contact.

Wendy, thanks for letting me know about this question!


Kathy

[loise98]

Marieanne, Good to see you. Many of us continue to carry-on nearly like before. Wendy's directions are good. Hope to see you around.

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Thank you, Kathy, for the e-mail address - I'll try contacting them although the last couple of times I've contacted tech support I've never got an answer so didn't think I'd have much luck with other services hence looking for something about paying in the forum.
Marianne

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Hi Wendy;
Thanks for getting in touch! Nice to see familiar faces. I'll head off to the thread you shared and see what you've been up to. I'm sure you've all been very busy.
Marianne

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Hi Lois - good to see you too! I'm off to where Wendy pointed me to now.
Marianne