The next 10 years!

[mikepetro]

Are you looking at changing the Blog structure at all?

I know many of us, Mooch, Myself, etc use it more as a library for archiving testing results, reviews etc. It would be wonderful if each person's blog had its own index page, currently we have to manually make an index entry, and then edit the date to keep it on top.

See link in my sig for example.

 

[Oliver]

Are you looking at changing the Blog structure at all?

I know many of us, Mooch, Myself, etc use it more as a library for archiving testing results, reviews etc. It would be wonderful if each person's blog had its own index page, currently we have to manually make an index entry, and then edit the date to keep it on top.

See link in my sig for example.

Let's do it! I haven't looked at what's available in terms of existing customisation features. Perhaps it's there already...

 

[sofarsogood]

Hi all,

As many of you know I'm currently making some changes to ECF as we approach our 10 year anniversary.

The main one we're working on right now is principally aesthetic - putting into place a new theme that's modern and fresh.

But, I'm also aware that the forum needs more of a structural change....

ECF is many things. It's chronical of the last 10 years of vaping, it's a user guide to new vapers, there's reviews, commerce, all kinds of things, but above all it's the vaping mother community.

ECF has grown somewhat organically over the years. We've tried out lots of things at the request of the community. Some things have been retired, others, forums created, stickies put up, etc etc. For members who spend time here and learn how it's organised, it makes sense. But for people joining up, or just looking around, it's overwhelming.

One thing I've just done is to install a new search system which is very, very good (albeit, with some bugs that need ironing but). But we've never really done a full-on audit of how the site works - never gone through how the whole forum can be run and organized better.

The world of vaping has matured. Our primary role, as a community, has always been in trying to arm new vapers with the knowledge they need to make a successful transition from smoking to vaping. That has to remain our core, and we need to do it better.

Our forum home has 600 "nodes" (forums, forum categories etc). This makes sense for a library - an index for every topic. But for a forum it's too much. We need to reduce this by 2/3. In the process, we can revamp certain areas and make things much more relevant to where vaping is today.

Also, there's incredible knowledge that's buried deep within. I know we occasionally consolidate this in stickies, and that many members find the stickies useful. but stickies are actually a really bad way of organizing information. Indeed, in ECF 2.0, I'd like to see a maximum of one sticky per forum.

There are other things we can do to make great content accessible, and I have some ideas (but I'm still working on them). They'll need your help... but if you're up for this then so am I.

So, with that said, I'd like to open it up to you? I appreciate change is difficult for some, but we do need it from time to time. Nothing I'm proposing here should in any way change the character and dynamic of the forum. Rather, it's a big project I want to start to make it all better. For the next 10 years and beyond!

Please leave your thoughts below, and don't be afraid to think big!

Is there more you can share about trends in the forum or the situation with sponsors? Is the number of forum participants increasing or declining? Are the industry sponsors struggling or seeing good business?

The only place I have any contact with vapers is at work. There has been a lot of hiring in the last 6 months and the number of those who vape appear to out number the new hires who smoke. I don't think vaping is declining here in Michigan but there might be too many vape shops. I'm the only vaper in my work place who relies on rebuilding and mixing but I don't see any collectors who buy a lot of hardware. Mostly I see the same beat up mods day to day.

The great divide for me is between the so-called vape culture and the tootle puffers. The vape culture is about clouds, high watts, and being noticed. It probably generates most of the revenues so no suprise it gets a lot of attention. May be the rest of us don't want to be noticed, just allowed to vape in peace. The tootle puffers are squeezed in to one thread. The rest of the board is about the clouds. Does that really represent the demographics of vaping? May be.

I wish there was more discussion of vape politics and vaping research. Are there ways the forum topics could be revised or consolidated to encourage that?

Consolidating the threads into a smaller number of sub forums is fine with me. Too many sub forums means I miss interesting threads because there are too many forums to check. I check the new posts section more than any other. That's not a perfect solution.

 

[Letitia]

I liked the sub forums, but with the improved search function I see myself using it more.

 

[mikepetro]

To tag onto sofarsogood's post, is there a "target" audience that you are going after, or would prefer to cater to?

May be the rest of us don't want to be noticed, just allowed to vape in peace.

I rest somewhere between this category and promoting vaping to those trying to get off the stinkies.

 

[sofarsogood]

To tag onto sofarsogood's post, is there a "target" audience that you are going after, or would prefer to cater to?


I rest somewhere between this category and promoting vaping to those trying to get off the stinkies.

The main reason I'm here is to contribute what I can to promote the idea of vaping INSTEAD of smoking. The cloud chasers are a public relations problem with non smokers BUT they are persuading kids that vaping is way way cooler than smoking. That is a significant accomplishment. If the kids don't smoke the tobacco age is over.

 

[stols001]

I agree on the kids cloud chasing, rather than smoking. It's not like I encourage it (well, personally I did, I got the kid started on vaping equipment when he asked, and I'm not going to say what age it was, either), I mean, I certainly don't run around encouraging OTHER ppl's underage children to vape, but there is always a teeny tiny voice inside me that wants to say, "You know.... Vaping is so much *cooler* why not give that a shot?" If we have no teen smokers, we have the eventual end of the tobacco industry. I think even the industry is recognizing it....

It's interesting, I wouldn't call Tucson exactly a booming economy (though things seem to be picking up of late), but there seem to be JUST as many vape and etc. shops around the neighborhood, as tobacco shops, in fact the high end cigar shops seem to be struggling the *most*. I view that as a good sign, and I see plenty of vapers out and about. I'm not sure if it's more than smokers, as we get the snowbirds in the winter, but in the summer, probably?

I like it, and I also understand parents wanting to scream bloody murder at their kids for picking up vaping, even THOUGH it's safer. A campaign to educate PARENTS would probably work better than anything else in stamping out smoking, as apart from a hard core group of kiddos I work with who just want to smoke, I do see kids far more interested in vaping, it's an electronic device, and that's cool right there, not to mention taste and, etc. They most definitely want to cloud chase though, I'm not sure I've met an under 30 year old vaper who doesn't use sub0hm equipment.....

Plus, lots of vapers move up the ladder into more "cloudy" equipment, and I don't see a thing wrong with that, if that's their sweet spot. IDK if more than one MTL dedicated thread is needed, as it does come up all the time in the New Members section, and when new MTL equipment (or beloved old MTL equipment) is discussed....

Anna

 

[mikepetro]

The main reason I'm here is to contribute what I can to promote the idea of vaping INSTEAD of smoking. The cloud chasers are a public relations problem with non smokers BUT they are persuading kids that vaping is way way cooler than smoking. That is a significant accomplishment. If the kids don't smoke the tobacco age is over.

Actually, my question was directed at Oliver, I should have been more clear.

I understand your point about even cloud chasing being a promotion of vape.

I just hope that being a PR problem is the worst thing about that genre. Nobody has studied that style yet, at least not that I have seen.

 

[Eskie]

A little scattershot on my part, but I do think a Wiki knowledge resource is far more useful than the current blogs that are available. I know folks do put a great deal of effort into creating and maintaining their blogs, but the open flow of a Wiki is a really nice way to give folks at all levels the ability to locate a resource than try to search which blog post will address their question.

As to subforum simplification, a big yes. I think regulated mods belong together, the APV and temp control subforums do not make much sense as these days almost most devices are both. Mechs deserve their own, squonkers too. The RT section could be simplified. Coil, wick and wire belong together. Subohm and cloud chasers aren't really used much and feel redundant. I would also eliminate whats amounts to the general sections in both APV and RTA sections, as lots of the threads there are easy to see in one of the subforums already there, and more likely to be read in a subforum than languish at the bottom.

The idea for a group conversation is a very good one as well. There are matters that could help the site that can be discussed without being seen as judgmental.

 

[Oliver]

OK, lots to grapple with in this thread... let me try to address some of it.

First, let me explain my personal "vision", and why I set up ECF and spent the best part 10 years in the vaping world: it's absolutely about getting people off the stinkies. Nothing else really matters. The wider questions about products, brands, trends, fads etc - well, ECF has to reflect all of it.

I'm totally up for reinvigorating the politics/culture etc discussions. I think that's an area that would blossom under stewardship, and we should definitely have a good think about how we can do that.

I'm actually a bit more ambivalent than perhaps many of you about the tootle puffer/cloud chaser divide. I don't think it's as clear as all that. I take a diffusion of innovation view on it all, recognising that this IS all only 10 years in... There's a lot more to come in terms of products, brands, trends etc. Well, if the regulations don't kill it all first, of course. I mean, the "cloud chaser" part of the industry is actually only really 3-4 years old, and I've noticed many of the "original" cloud chasers have since moved on to more tootle-puffer type devices.

No, look, this is about taking stock. Looking at ECF in the round and thinking about what comes next. We have extraordinary numbers of people coming here every day. We are, by a country mile, the largest vaping website on the planet. So, what can we (what should we) be doing with that presence to make vaping better?

 

[mikepetro]

It would be my "wish" that ECF represented vaping in all its forms. Whether or not I subscribe to a particular genre is irrelevant.

 

[Oliver]

@mikepetro - A. Notice the "B" by your name?

B. Can you do me a favor, since I'm totally brain-fried this Monday evening?

Would you compose a paragraph spelling out exactly what you'd like to see from the blog features? I'll have a word with some XF devs and see if they can help.

Cheers!

 

[Letitia]

Vaping is evolving as I type. What makes vaping so successful IMO is the fact it can be tailored to the individual. I would hate to see that message being lost. Beginners need to understand this fact.

 

[mikepetro]

@mikepetro - A. Notice the "B" by your name?

B. Can you do me a favor, since I'm totally brain-fried this Monday evening?

Would you compose a paragraph spelling out exactly what you'd like to see from the blog features? I'll have a word with some XF devs and see if they can help.

Cheers!

Yes, hovered over it earlier to see what it meant.

Will do, let me ponder it overnight, would love for @Mooch to jump in as well, for that matter any who utilize the blogs.

ETA: Anyone interested please PM me.

 

[Oliver]

Please - maybe a separate thread in order....

 

[sofarsogood]

Updating the look is a safe choice. Consider showing the community some of the options. You could also apply different options and let the community react or post sample pages. A better search engine would be very worthwhile. The search function on all the message boards i've posted on are very similar, terrible. Consolidating posts into a smaller number of catagories makes sense. The fewer buried sub forums the better.

 

[Eskie]

@mikepetro the B is new. I think that just came up yesterday. I has to check out what is was as well.

 

[Mooch]

@mikepetro the B is new. I think that just came up yesterday. I has to check out what is was as well.

Same here...nice!

 

[tiburonfirst]

@mikepetro - A. Notice the "B" by your name?

neat

 

[mikepetro]

@mikepetro - A. Notice the "B" by your name?

B. Can you do me a favor, since I'm totally brain-fried this Monday evening?

Would you compose a paragraph spelling out exactly what you'd like to see from the blog features? I'll have a word with some XF devs and see if they can help.

Cheers!

1) Auto Index Blog Entries (??? perhaps only if entries >1)
Somewhere in the Users profile settings ask:

• Blog Index page - Yes/No
  • Or skip this and just make index pages the default, it could reduce extra forks in the code.
• If yes, Categories - Yes/no
  • Again, for simpler code you could just make "General" the default category and skip this setting.
• Enter\Change additional Blog categories - Provide field\method for adding/editing/deleting categories
• Sort Order within Category - Alpha/Date
  • Preferably independently selectable for each category.

Then when the user makes a new blog entry, or edits one, allow the user to select a category from a dropdown.

Make the Auto-Index the landing page for the blog unless they are going to a specific linked post. Display each Category as a larger header on the Index page, with entries displayed underneath accordingly.

2) It would be nice if, while in a blog, the SEARCH defaulted to "search blogs by current bloger's username". That way if I were in Mooch's blog I just enter the keyword "21700" and get all his blogs about that, without the extra clicks of going through advanced search.

3) It would be nice if a "New" icon were displayed on the Index for blog entries less than 30 days old.