Finally the Forums are back

Is it just me or does there seem to be less forum activity than previously (with the old forums)? I know they go through periods, or cycles...on again, off again increase and decreased activity. Maybe it’s just a learning curve and users just need to get used to the new. ???

Dan 

No, I made that observation in another thread.  Which I think exemplifies part of the problem.  There just isn't enough traffic to justify all the different forums (IMHO).  I appreciate what they are trying to do, but the transition isn't going to be fun.  I realyl dislike this layout.  Much prefer chronological.

community.usms.org/.../291113

Also, non-USMS members are not able to post.

I agree. I was one of the beta testers, and I was hoping this new format would be something I could be positive about; however, that's not the case.  The new format is more complicated, and I really dislike having to look in all of the different areas for new threads.  Before, I would just look in the General Swimming section and see which threads were in bold, so I would know which ones had new posts.  I would click on last and be able to easily find the new posts.  Next, I would do the same for the non-swimming section, if I saw there were new threads.  Now, I'm looking all over the place, and some of the threads have multiple branches of replies rather than them just being listed chronologically.

In my opinion, the forums have become needlessly compartmentalized, and, therefore, complicated.  I thought I would get used to it, but I haven't.

I also am not happy that I have lost all of my "friends" contacts!  It was nice to be able to easily find them and send PM's.  My photo albums are gone, too.

Most of all, I am irked that my beloved "Smilies" are gone!  Now, if I want to use one, I have to insert it as an image from my folder of "Smilies" I lifted from the old forums.  Nobody else has access to them, though. 

I think it is a mistake to not let non- members post. I agree that it can be a member perq, What about letting non-members have a certain number of posts or one month free or something. Newspapers do that for reading online articles, you get so many then you have to pay. I think that might increase interest in the forums and then people could decide it was worth it to join. 

Allen Stark Thanks for the suggestion on letting non-members have limited access. Its something we're considering for the future. The time and resources to create that functionality aren't realistic in the near term but over the next year or so we should have that type of capability available and will be discussing further. 

Allen Stark Thanks for the suggestion on letting non-members have limited access. Its something we're considering for the future. The time and resources to create that functionality aren't realistic in the near term but over the next year or so we should have that type of capability available and will be discussing further. 

I really appreciate that you are there responding to our concerns. Thank you