Site Questions and Concerns

[RedOakGamebirds]

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well and business is good.  Although I've been viewing the site frequently I havent been posting much or like I should be.  Some of you have had some questions and concerns the past few days and I'd like to give some input.  We all know this site has been here for quite some time and I personally never felt it needed monitoring.  Shawn created this site for the betterment of the game bird industry and I took it over to strive to keep it going as was before.  I've been a member here myself for several years and feel I know many of you really well not only from business perspectives but our daily forum topics and replies.  I have made very few and small changes which most arent even noticeable.  I have added my name on the main page but I'm not going to exploit this site for my own gain as I have and still believe that the members here make this all possible.  Thats why this site is at the top of every list and search engine out there.  Its because of all your hard work and dedication to helping others and keeping this place going. 

Also added was the auctions page which I hope that in time will also be one of the top places and rank in there with eBay for all your game bird needs.  Currently I have the auctions running on a free basis and plan to do so until further notice-most likely until next season.  The fees I have listed are much less than other places and I plan to lower those as well in the near future.  Nothing on here is for personal profit and gain as any money collected goes to pay for the sites daily fees.  As far as I'm concerned although my name is here, this site is run by its members.  However recently I've run into a few problems that need to be addressed and I've waited too long to address them and I apologize.

This site is viewed on a daily basis by thousands of people, most of whom are not members.  I know of countless schools and organizations as well as preserves and state run industries who frequent this site for its knowledge alone because there is no other site with the wealth of knowledge and active forum as we have here.  And everyone on here can thank themselves for making all this possible.  Unfortunately, we've come across a few hurdles in which I must take responsibility for as I've had several emails and calls pertaining to some of the topics and replies on this site.  I wont go into detail as most of you all know the topics I am referring to. 

As this site continues to grow there will be members on here who dont have an understanding of how its run and I hope that everyone on here that wishes to help will do so without procrastination.  The search function is here for research and is packed with thousands of topics on anything you wish to know.  The spell checker is active for those who wish to use it.  Regardless of what is asked or asked of I hope that we all can, as a whole, contribute to this site while using our best judgment and choice of words.  Ages range from Elementary school to retirement and we all have to use our best judgment as to what is said.  The general discussion board is for your "other" topics and please feel free to use it.  But I ask everyone to please act responsibly when they post.  I'm not trying to tell you what to say or not to say so please dont take this wrong.

As far as the Karma rating is concerned.  The karma is just a way for anyone to rate anothers topic or reply such as a general feedback system.  This is feedback on your comments only and does not have anything to do with how you run or operate your business if you have one.  Due to the recent problems we've had, and I've talked with some of you personally, it appears that some people are happily abusing the karma system.  Since karma is not business related I havent been monitoring it but some people as being accustomed to eBay use it as a way of judging other people.  I have the ability to track anyones IP address and see where the karma is coming from.  If everyone feels the karma is a problem I can remove it altogether from the board.  Some of you may have noticed your karma buttons have disappeared.  In an effort to try and slow down the "karma bandits" I set the karma functions to run only for a certain number of topics for members overall status.  If you are new to the forum you have to meet a certain requirement before you are able to leave a karma rating.  Like I said the karma is just a function and can be removed if everyone feels its just a nuisance. 

I welcome anyones comments whether its on this forum, a private PM or an email.  I'm not judging anyone or asking anyone to adhere to a certain policy other than to act professionally in their replies and not be judgmental in other members abilities.  Have a great summer, I wish all of you the best, and I'll try and get a little more involved in posting.  If anyone has some ideas on things to enhance our forum please let me know.  I will try to do it.  With this forum we have the ability to integrate chat as well as personal instant messaging such as yahoo or msn.

Larry

[Reeves]

One thought comes to mind.
Can you look at my posts ?
Some I think warrent a sticky, or some way to save them. You may want to save the pics (ie: http://www.thatquailplace.com/smf/index.php?topic=2416.0 )
one day I may clean out my Photo Bucket & the pictures will be lost. I have no idea if the ones loaded from my computer to this site will stay.

Just a thought.

As far as the Karma goes...had fun with it , but I do not think it is needed.

You mention Yahoo or msn for messages (I do not have). Is there no PM option ?
I'll have to update my profile maybe....

[JohnInDixon]

Great post Larry!

I added 1 to your Karma...;-)

Can you add "coturnix" to the spell checker?

John

[gsc]

Two thumbs up   I'd leave karma if I have the ability.  Thanks for your post, its appreciated.

[RedOakGamebirds]

John,
I added Coturnix to the spell checker but not sure if its a site function or an individual computer function.  You may have to check your Microsoft spell checker to see if its in there if it comes up again.  Usually once you change it to the correct format the spell checker will usually keep it saved.

Reeves,

I read your topic one time before and found it very informative.  Everything you save and upload to this site is stored on the server.  Unless the server crashes then you have no worry about losing it and I do backups of this site on a weekly basis just for that reason.  If something were to happen then the most we would lose would be a couple days worth of posts.  For the time being I added a sticky to your topic so it can be easily found in the Advanced Sciences/Propagation board-check it out.  The message function on this site is enabled and members can send personal messages to each other.  There are options that can be added for example if you are on yahoo messenger another user can see you and have a conversation with you there as well as picture messaging and even multiple users can chat with each other at the same time.  If enough users care to chat live I will add the chat features to the forum.

Thank for the replies and looking forward to hearing other comments.

[Reeves]

Thanks !
Found the "button" for PMs as well....

[pamike]

I just tried spelling coturnix wrong and spell checking it. It must be and individual computer thing, I will have to add it to mine.

mike

[JohnInDixon]

John,
I added Coturnix to the spell checker but not sure if its a site function or an individual computer function.  You may have to check your Microsoft spell checker to see if its in there if it comes up again.  Usually once you change it to the correct format the spell checker will usually keep it saved.

Looks like its on my end.  I thought it pulled the dictionary from your side since it opened another window.  I'm working on it now.  Added it to my dictionary and it recognizes it now but that didn't help.  Maybe I have to wait for it to refresh or propagate(?)  Thanks for trying.

John

[Dendrocygna]

Since the "company" changed hands, don't you think you should notify the site for which your species sheets are taken from?

DV

[RedOakGamebirds]

This site as well as all legal issues have been addressed.  For what other issues are you referring to?

[Reeves]

I'm thinking he means GBWF ?

[jbobs]

I've been a member here off and on for about 6 years now. I've always loved this site. I was wondering what happened to Shawn but I'm glad to see the forum does have a moderator during the rare times it needs it.

So far no concerns

Jessi

[RedOakGamebirds]

This site is not intended for any commercial approach and the only changes that have been made to my knowledge is my name added to the front page.  The auctions were here before and I added them back with the exception of a newer and advanced version.  Any and ALL money collected I can assure you goes to pay for the operation of this site.  The monthly fees alone on this site are crazy and again I do not have any intentions of making change.  That name change was done for legal purposes only.  When I took over this site I made a personal commitment to Shawn that his hard work and dedication as well as its members would not go down.  Although I can do anything I wish with the site I have no intentions of doing so.  As I've said before this site in my opinion is run by its members and I plan to keep it that way.  The only reason you see an Admin login is for maintenance and the constant changes I have to do daily its easier than logging in and out every 15 minutes.  I would hope that nobody on this forum thinks that I am there as an "internet cop"and watching everyones single move.  I wish to be treated on this site just as I have been for the years prior before my ownership.  I'm proud to be able to say that our members on here have a very informational forum and they should be proud of their accomplishments.  I certainly am and I have absolutely nothing to gain. The site reaches thousands of people daily which is evident by the number of hits I see on the server and bandwidth being used.  Theres people from all ages and organizations here which is excellent.  The forum alone is full of invaluable information and once again its because of our members.  I know of numerous schools, universities and even large organizations that use this site for reference.  As far as you being notified of this site changing hands I do agree with you 100 percent.  Shawn has posted on here pertaining to the change and during the 8 week process of the takeover to my knowledge every contributor outside this forum was notified.  It is also printed in the agreement that the purchase of the site does not include contents of which some derive from contributions of members such as yourself and other organizations which have been used by permission.  As you can see those pages are denoted by an "*" next to them and your name is at the bottom as owner of those pages.  Nothing has changed within this site.  If you were not notified then I wish to be held responsible since the site merge is now complete.  But all members with content were to my knowledge notified and at the very end to tie up any loose ends I asked Shawn to post publicly here in the forum to fill the void so there wasnt anything left out.  I also created a sticky and made the topic stay in place for the better of 6 weeks to make sure any and all members would see it.  You have a fine organization and I'm proud to display your content on our site for the entire world to see.  I would hope you are benefitting from the millions of users that have frequented this site.  However that since I am now owner of this site and you wish to have your content removed I will gladly do so.  And I continue to welcome anyones comments or suggestions toward the betterment of this site.


Larry

[aKirA]

Dan Cowell,
First I would like to commend you on your site. It's very informative and is one of the few with great pictures.

Second, I would just like to speak on the issue of generating income with this site or any site for that matter. I really don't see anything wrong with it. As a site grows...maintenance, bandwidth etc. adds up. (I know, I run a family forum) Members that are also venders here are benifiting from the popularity of this site as it is. Selling and advertising to other members or what not. So, it is only fair that the owner himself should be able to generate any income/profit. The Auction page is just another option given to us. Those that just chose to hang out and not do any shoping just remain at the forum. Nothing changed much really, atmosphere is still friendly, just more options. Keep up the great work Larry.

[Reeves]

Not a question, or concern..

just a suggestion

Just had a look at your book selection. Two good one that I think all should have:

Pheasants of the World, by Keith Howman. The one I have is likely out of print. But I had read that a newer one was printed, or is in the "works"

Commercial and Ornamental
Game Bird Breeders
Handbook
by
Allen Woodard, Pran Vohra & Vern Denton
printed by Hancock House.

The first is not a cheap book. But one very worth having. One that can be handed down for generations.

The second has info from basic to technical.

Something to look into anyway.....