OT But What Happened to This Site ???

[nickel-city-fab]

Instructions for doing that Google search should be a stickie.

That same trick also works on the sub-forums, example: "Whatever I'm looking for" site:https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forum/general
will search for "Whatever I'm looking for" right here in "General"

It works on every other site, too. Everywhere.

[J Tiers]

..........
Example: in google search bar I type in "Whatever I'm looking for" site:https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net
and google returns hundreds of pages full of "Whatever I'm looking for", from here. ...........

Part of what makes searches relatively worthless is the "hundreds of pages full".

Trying to find what you ACTUALLY want in that mess is an issue. Sometimes it's right there, but if not, now you have a slog that is comparable to searching manually through the long thread.

It shoulda been a subforum. It would make a legitimate subforum. Too bad that will never happen here, what we see now is all it will ever be..

[nickel-city-fab]

Part of what makes searches relatively worthless is the "hundreds of pages full".

Trying to find what you ACTUALLY want in that mess is an issue. Sometimes it's right there, but if not, now you have a slog that is comparable to searching manually through the long thread.

It shoulda been a subforum. It would make a legitimate subforum. Too bad that will never happen here, what we see now is all it will ever be..

And yet somehow, I usually find it within the first 2 pages of results. If not, I refine the search terms, using the clues I gained the first time around.

[J Tiers]

Perhaps an example of finding something in the "SMT" thread might be appropriate. Something which is not so odd as to be obviously easy.

[thin-woodsman]

One thing I will say for HSM is that it's *far* more relaxed and civil over here... makes it easier to tolerate. Many times I think the guys on that other site are extremely full of themselves and it gets aggravating after a while when you are trying to find a simple answer, or show off a project.

Couldn't tell if you were referring to PM, Chaski, or the "friendly" orange site. All of them have their ups and downs, and really it's either buy into the forum culture or move on to a new one. In regards to the OP, though, the question that needs to be asked is why do those boards have a large amount of daily activity, and this one has so little? Clearly FB/Instagram/Youtube are not the problem, nor is the medium of a webforum, nor is the lack of interest in machining amount youngsters.

I think some of it has to do with the monolithic approach to the forum ("one big section for everything! one big thread for projects!"). Certainly VP is not all that interested in the site, much like they appear to be not all that interested in their magazines. I came across some 1997 issues recently, and was blown away by how much more useful and informative they were compared to every issue I've gotten as a relatively-recent (a handful of years) subscriber. They seem to be intent of living off residuals. That Projects book series? Fantastic stuff, but the most recent one was Projects 11 - "features articles from the years 2003 and 2004". So yeah, pretty sure the decline is systemic to VP and is essentially the result of neglect.

[RB211]

You know, I think the perfect response to the OP is simply this; "What changed your perception of this forum?"

[J Tiers]

.......................

I think some of it has to do with the monolithic approach to the forum ("one big section for everything! one big thread for projects!"). Certainly VP is not all that interested in the site, much like they appear to be not all that interested in their magazines. I came across some 1997 issues recently, and was blown away by how much more useful and informative they were compared to every issue I've gotten as a relatively-recent (a handful of years) subscriber. They seem to be intent of living off residuals. That Projects book series? Fantastic stuff, but the most recent one was Projects 11 - "features articles from the years 2003 and 2004". So yeah, pretty sure the decline is systemic to VP and is essentially the result of neglect.

If you do not like the content of the magazines, you have two obvious choices aside from "putting up with it".

1) cancel your subscription

2) submit articles for publication.

[Doc Nickel]

In regards to the OP, though, the question that needs to be asked is why do those boards have a large amount of daily activity, and this one has so little? Clearly FB/Instagram/Youtube are not the problem, nor is the medium of a webforum, nor is the lack of interest in machining amount youngsters.

-A big chunk is the fact HSM apparently isn't search-engine indexed.

I know I've mentioned my Nichols mill here. Google "Nichols Mill": First listing is Practical Machinist, second is Hobby Machinist. HSM is nowhere to be found- by the third page, it's offering up building addresses on a "Nichols Mill" road.

I know I've mentioned my Arboga drill press here numerous times. Google that: PM is the last listing on the first page, HSM nowhere to be found on the first three pages.

I've been talking Logan lathes here since I joined in 2004. Google that: PM, Makingwithmetal, VintageMachinery, Garage Journal, Homemodelmachinist, Canadian Woodworking (??), Hobby-Machinist, Chaski.... Four pages back and HSM still hasn't appeared.

When I was looking through Shop-Made Tools at the start of this mess, upon randomly clicking on a page- I can't recall what page number- there was a nice trick with a rotary table. Google "rotary table trick". Chaski, Sherline.com, model-engineer.co.uk, PM... finally, HSM shows up on page three.

THAT, gentlemen, is the primary problem.

These days, it's literally a case of, if it's not on Google, it doesn't exist. (And don't suggest alternatives like DudDuckGo- virtually all of the 'alternative' searches use Google as a base- the 'alternatives' just add a layer of anonymity.)

Some neophyte machinist Googles "how do I cut threads?" Two pages of results, PM is third down, HSM is nowhere to be found. "what size lathe toolpost": PM, hobby-machinist... HSM is actually on the front page, at the bottom. "Using a boring head"; PM is the third listing, HSM nowhere to be found in the first four pages.

What attracts the most new people to a site is Google results. In this case, someone looks up a part or a process or a specific machine, finds a forum talking about it, he or she finds that forum useful and sticks around. And nine times out of ten, PM is among the first results. The other ten percent get split among all the rest.

I have no idea if it's simply a Google-algorithm thing that means PM has more traffic so it's results are higher (which gives it more traffic, which raises the results, ad nauseum) or if there's some "search engine optimization" going on in the background- it's quite easily possible that it's both.

In one of these two threads, it was noted that HSM is declining, and there's not much we can do about it. I'm starting to suspect that's right. Neither the hosts nor the regulars here seem to care much about it either way, so an end, at some point, is inevitable.

Doc.

[nickel-city-fab]

Perhaps an example of finding something in the "SMT" thread might be appropriate. Something which is not so odd as to be obviously easy.

Yes, you're right about that. I'll have to do that sometime. Did you notice that George has apparently "un-stuck" the SMT thread? It is no longer at the top of the page, nowhere to be found. Likely in response to this and the other, now-locked thread.

[Doc Nickel]

2) submit articles for publication.

-That problem was well-illustrated in these threads: Several people have indicated that they don't post projects here because it's too hard. Posting photos is too much of a pain, apparently.

And if five minutes of copy-pasting links and a few minutes of typing some legible text is too much trouble, then trying to write concise magazine-worthy text and ship/mail/fax/email digital photos to VP is out of the question.

A few guys in these threads also noted they don't post because, in effect, nobody pays any attention to them- that is, they're not showered with praise and kudos. Well, you get pretty much zero feedback whatsoever from a magazine article, so...

Doc.

[thin-woodsman]

If you do not like the content of the magazines, you have two obvious choices aside from "putting up with it".
1) cancel your subscription
2) submit articles for publication.

That's a bit of a willful mis-reading of what I wrote.

[nickel-city-fab]

-That problem was well-illustrated in these threads: Several people have indicated that they don't post projects here because it's too hard. Posting photos is too much of a pain, apparently.

And if five minutes of copy-pasting links and a few minutes of typing some legible text is too much trouble, then trying to write concise magazine-worthy text and ship/mail/fax/email digital photos to VP is out of the question.

A few guys in these threads also noted they don't post because, in effect, nobody pays any attention to them- that is, they're not showered with praise and kudos. Well, you get pretty much zero feedback whatsoever from a magazine article, so...

Doc.

I have to confess that I don't understand any of those arguments. My own policy is kinda simple: I only post what I feel are major accomplishments for myself, or else I try to be helpful in other people's threads. That is the vast majority of my posts because I don't do major accomplishments very often.