3 replies to this topic

[Mike Evans]

Dean, Our local Palm society chapter is having problems with keeping our website current & up to date. I am sure that there are a number of different affiliates around the word that have the same problem. So, I was wondering if the Palmtalk forum could start a new subtopic labeled "Affiliated Chapter News" Under this subtopic could be other subtopics for all the affiliated chapters that would like to post their news on IPS Palmtalk. What I am getting at is, this space would be for each affiliated group to post their newsletters, photos and updates about their chapter, on this forum, rather than have their own website. This Forum would give the local members a place to provide feedback for their local group. I know that there is already a subtopic "Affiliate News & Meeting Dates". Maybe it could be changed to just "Meeting Dates". I think this would be a win win for IPS & affiliated chapters, by bringing more traffic to Palmtalk, which could generate new members & providing a service for local chapters. Anyone else like to comment on this?
Thanks
Mike

[PALM MOD]

This is a very complicated answer. But the short version would be that newsletters, etc. can not be posted here in any "usable" fashion - this is only forum software. It has many limitations. You can upload .pdfs or .docs. But the problem is that any news, photos, etc can only take the form of a topic which quickly becomes disjointed, rambling, with no way to organize anything. Don't forget that anyone can post anything to a topic. So each topic can become long and off topic quickly. And if not posted to regularly, eventually falls many pages back.

You are not the first chapter/affiliate that has come across this problem. Eventually the Affiliate "webmaster" loses interest, and because he is the only who knows how the website is put together, it is hard for someone else to step in. I devised a solution and the software for this problem on Palmpedia. It has been set up to accommodate the needs of Affiliates while allowing for multiple parties to help maintain a web presence - a sort of hybrid website - free and easily maintained, with many features. But it hasn't received much interest. You may wish to contact me or check it out.

Nevertheless, I will talk with the website committee and see if they want to further fragment the Affiliate Forum. However, I am unsure of exactly what you are suggesting. Did you want to have a separate sub forum for Affiliate Meeting Dates and another for Affiliate News? And then have those further divided into a separate forum for each Affiliate? Probably a 'no-go' as we have been trying hard to keep the number of forums to a minimum. And another concern that would need to be worked out is who would take the responsibility for moderating and maintaining each Affiliate's sub-forum?

Feel free to contact me via PM and we can discuss this in more detail if you like.

[Mike Evans]

Yes, you are right Dean. I went to your Palmpedia website & saw where you have now included some of the other IPS affiliates. Looks like that may be a good alternative. Let me discuss with other board members. BTW, thanks for all your effort on Palmtalk. You make it happen. I know it can be a thankless job at times.

[PALM MOD]

Yes, you are right Dean. I went to your Palmpedia website & saw where you have now included some of the other IPS affiliates. Looks like that may be a good alternative. Let me discuss with other board members. BTW, thanks for all your effort on Palmtalk. You make it happen. I know it can be a thankless job at times.

Mike,
We appreciate all feedback and suggestions. So thanks for that.

I found it interesting that within days after your suggestion, I received some completely opposite feedback from another Affiliate's President who suggested getting rid of Affiliate News and Meetings all together, and rolling those topics in with Discussing Palms. So as you can imagine, there is no way to please everyone, and a middle ground compromise is what is usually the best solution.