Best UK enclosure threads

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britishzoofan

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{Note from mods - this thread split from here: Best UK Clouded Leopard enclosure}




Unfortunately, there have been a couple of complaints about the threads I have been creating causing cluttering in the forum and I have been told by the moderators I am only allowed to make 1 or 2 threads a week or my ability to create threads will be taken away from me. I have tried to argue that people might lose interest if it is once a week and that it would take ages to finish. For example the number of threads done so far would take half a year. I also pointed out only 8 threads are open at a time and that yesterday for example only 10% of threads were Best UK ones. Unfortunately I was told I haven't got enough posts to be allowed to create threads that often like in the ZooChat Cup and that there was no option to move it to a separate forum.

I'm extremely disappointed in this decision because I thought these threads were a good addition to ZooChat and generated good discussion with over 100 members taking part in the polls. However, unfortunately the moderators have put a stop to this and in my opinion ruined the format which will be extremely slow paced now.
 
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To be honest, I concur with the moderators on this decision. Your own threads, and similar ones re Germany, have swamped the forum to, some extent, of late (as some feared) and the nature of some of the questions posed with almost unanimous answers (e.g. best Jaguar enclosure) doesn't really add that much the forum.

I'm not against the threads as such, as they generate some interesting debate, but you can have too much of a good thing. ;)

Also, why I'm criticising I think you offer likes too easily (in excess of 50% of posts on your own thread) -it can look a bit desperate. :D
 
Yeah I agree, although I have found some of them interesting I think it has got a little bit out of hand. Why not create one thread and upload all your questions on there?
 
Shorts said:
To be honest, I concur with the moderators on this decision. Your own threads, and similar ones re Germany, have swamped the forum to, some extent, of late (as some feared) and the nature of some of the questions posed with almost unanimous answers (e.g. best Jaguar enclosure) doesn't really add that much the forum.

I'm not against the threads as such, as they generate some interesting debate, but you can have too much of a good thing. ;)

Also, why I'm criticising I think you offer likes too easily (in excess of 50% of posts on your own thread) -it can look a bit desperate. :D
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Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it as it is good to get a better understanding of what members are thinking. Yes I do understand some votes will be more on sided than others, however they still generate interesting debate.

I also agree that you can have too many, however I have cut it down to two a day which I thought was the right balance myself. However, that is what is up for debate.

Yes, one thing I would agree with you on is the likes I had realised I had been doing them too often, but I didn't want to stop and offend posters who had seen me liking other posts. However, I'll turn a page on that and not like your post (which previously I would have done).
 
banham.tiger said:
Yeah I agree, although I have found some of them interesting I think it has got a little bit out of hand. Why not create one thread and upload all your questions on there?
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Not really sure that would work. First of all you are only allowed one poll a thread. In my opinion the best solution would be a separate sub forum which those who want to engage with the threads can do easily and those who don't can easily ignore them.
 
For those of us that were enjoying these threads, it's a little disappointing to see them limited... They'd prompted good discussions and gave people something to think about during isolation. They may have "cluttered" the UK page a little... But it's really not that hard to sort through them... ;)

If these posts had prompted no discussion, and were used by very few people, then fair enough. However, in this case, I think the wrong calls been made :rolleyes:
 
ThomasNotTom said:
For those of us that were enjoying these threads, it's a little disappointing to see them limited... They'd prompted good discussions and gave people something to think about during isolation. They may have "cluttered" the UK page a little... But it's really not that hard to sort through them... ;)

If these posts had prompted no discussion, and were used by very few people, then fair enough. However, in this case, I think the wrong calls been made :rolleyes:
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I agree. Whilst I may not post on them all, I have thoroughly enjoyed voting and reading what other zoo chatters have had to say. Also, like you said it's something to do in isolation :)
 
amur leopard said:
Is it difficult to make a sub-forum?
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It's not difficult per se, it just makes little sense to do so for something that is unlikely to last in the long term and which would set a precedent potentially requiring a sub-forum for every country :P

ThomasNotTom said:
For those of us that were enjoying these threads, it's a little disappointing to see them limited... They'd prompted good discussions and gave people something to think about during isolation. They may have "cluttered" the UK page a little... But it's really not that hard to sort through them... ;)
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The problem is not merely the fact these threads were starting to clutter up the UK pages - although they were, given the fact there were over 15 posted in the span of less than a week :P the issue is that if EVERYONE started to do threads of this kind for their home countries, and at the same rate, things really would get out of hand.

Even if you assume this only happened for the most-represented countries - let's say Czechia, USA, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Australia - this would be something in the region of 135 threads on the theme posted every week...... and this was already starting to happen, with 8 threads on the sole topic of "best elephant exhibit" posted in the Germany forums over the space of a single day.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
It's not difficult per se, it just makes little sense to do so for something that is unlikely to last in the long term and which would set a precedent potentially requiring a sub-forum for every country :p



The problem is not merely the fact these threads were starting to clutter up the UK pages - although they were, given the fact there were over 15 posted in the span of less than a week :p the issue is that if EVERYONE started to do threads of this kind for their home countries, and at the same rate, things really would get out of hand.

Even if you assume this only happened for the most-represented countries - let's say Czechia, USA, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Australia - this would be something in the region of 135 threads on the theme posted every week...... and this was already starting to happen, with 8 threads on the sole topic of "best elephant exhibit" posted in the Germany forums over the space of a single day.
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In my opinion it is unlikely this format would really work very well for most of the other countries you have mentioned due to there being more members from the UK than any other country by far (except maybe US) and the distance between zoos being much smaller in the UK meaning more members have visited a larger number of collections in question. Therefore it is extremely unlikely the scenario in which you posted above would happen. Furthermore, I do think this idea does have some longevity to it and has made for some really interesting discussions and generated a good idea of forum members opinions on collections and individual exhibits.

As you can see from the response to the decision lots of people were enjoying the polls and the discussion they were generating and by cutting it to one or two a week will weaken the format. Perhaps the moderation team would reverse the decision and allow one thread a day as a good compromise. If it is in a separate sub forum or not is entirely up to you.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
It's not difficult per se, it just makes little sense to do so for something that is unlikely to last in the long term and which would set a precedent potentially requiring a sub-forum for every country :p



The problem is not merely the fact these threads were starting to clutter up the UK pages - although they were, given the fact there were over 15 posted in the span of less than a week :p the issue is that if EVERYONE started to do threads of this kind for their home countries, and at the same rate, things really would get out of hand.

Even if you assume this only happened for the most-represented countries - let's say Czechia, USA, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Australia - this would be something in the region of 135 threads on the theme posted every week...... and this was already starting to happen, with 8 threads on the sole topic of "best elephant exhibit" posted in the Germany forums over the space of a single day.
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I think your reasoning makes sense and is logical, but a tad pre-emptive. Would it be possible to separate these into a sub-forum nonetheless and wait and see if it does generate discussion in other countries? Granted, a similar series of threads was started in the Germany forum, but given the author's username I don't think they'll be spreading far beyond the realms of elephant enclosures :p, and it has hardly been 'EVERYONE' making their own threads - although if there has been similar activity further abroad than the UK and Germany, do correct me - but I think it is only those two countries concerned in this instance and one of them seems very short-term and with a slim focal point. Not trying to be a pain, just trying to figure out solutions.
 
britishzoofan said:
. Furthermore, I do think this idea does have some longevity to it and has made for some really interesting discussions and generated a good idea of forum members opinions on collections and individual exhibits

As you can see from the response to the decision lots of people were enjoying the polls and the discussion they were generating and by cutting it to one or two a week will weaken the format. Perhaps the moderation team would reverse the decision and allow one thread a day as a good compromise. If it is in a separate sub forum or not is entirely up to you.
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We'll doubtless be discussing the matter further in any case to find a good balance - it must be emphasised that the content of the threads has been really good, it's the density/frequency that perhaps needs fine tuning! :)

And I suspect you'll find rather more forum members have visited Continental collections than you realise :P
 
britishzoofan said:
I hope your not trying to tempt me into making a European competition as well :p
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Oh it would have to be country by country given I'll think you'll find the zoos on the continent are much better than those we have here with the exception of Chester :p
 
amur leopard said:
I'll think you'll find the zoos on the continent are much better than those we have here with the exception of Chester :p
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And even Chester would be in for a fair few tough fights compared to collections such as Burgers, Prague, Vienna and the Berlins!

As the recent Zoochat Cup rather proved ;)
 
TeaLovingDave said:
And even Chester would be in for a fair few tough fights compared to collections such as Burgers, Prague, Vienna and the Berlins!

As the recent Zoochat Cup rather proved ;)
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Oh yes - Chester in the final round :(

Otherwise, what do you think of holding off for a bit on the decisions and seeing what happens? I explained it more in post #31 if you want to see justification, although of course I respect your decision.
 
amur leopard said:
I explained it more in post #31 if you want to see justification, although of course I respect your decision.
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Well, the decision was made by Sim, not me :P I'm merely explaining the reasoning for it, given the issue has been highlighted in this thread.
 
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