Oroblanco
Gold Member
- Jan 21, 2005
- 7,841
- 9,850
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Lobo Supertraq, (95%) Garrett Scorpion (5%)
Hola amigos,
Count me among the unhappy with the new format and look. I see that a similar background has been added, which only serves to "trick" the old timers like me into thinking we are on the old format, which is not the case.
What surprises me the most is that the new owners did not try any sort of customer survey before making the sweeping changes. The site just suddenly went down, then re-appeared in a new format, which is way too similar to all the other treasure forums that many of us don't like and don't use. Would it not have been a good idea, before making such sweeping change, to perhaps send out an email questionnaire for the members (you have all of our email addresses and a form letter would do) just to ask what we like and don't like? The members and visitors are what help keep the ad revenue coming in, and some of us are paying members. I pay because I wanted to support the forum, not for the extra features of being a charter member but at this point am not sure I will renew.
I see that we have lost the "New replies" function and have a "subscribe" to replace it, which is clunky by comparison and a nuisance for me. I never realized it but that old "Unread Replies" function was the function I used the most here on T-net. I could sign in, click on that replies button from either toolbar, and presto any thread that I had been participating in that got new posts shows up on a list. Made my limited internet time work - I could sign in and catch up on all the conversations I am following in minutes. Now it is a maze, a hunt to search out to see if there are new posts. I am not interested in what ever is the "hot" topic today, or what someone else just found I mean good for them and all that, but more in a moment. Perhaps there was something about this particular forum that was not noticed in the sale transfer?
Many online forums are focused on one subject, car collectors, or fly fishing, or Little Bighorn afficianadoes, ad infinitum for different subjects; for these forums, the v-bulletin system works alright, for most of the conversation is around one main thing. In treasure hunting there is a w-i-d-e variety of different sorts of treasure hunting, from armchair hunting to geocaching to coin roll hunting to bottle digging (and I am skipping many) and many whom are interested in one or more of those pursuits, are NOT interested in every type of treasure hunting. So a person who dives on sunken wrecks, is not likely to be interested in the 1913 Mercury dime I found in my back yard today - it isn't even a treasure for some folks. Point I am getting at is the idea of the most popular topics and "hottest" for new posts, are not going to appeal to a fairly large segment of the membership since it has nothing to do with their own interests. Heck we often go off into totally non-treasure related topics for discussion matter, from recipes for cornbread to UFOs, politics and religion.
I also realize that we have no vote in the matter, you are the owners and we use your site. I am somewhat of an old-timer on this forum, in fact if you go into the old archives you will find posts from Oroblanco in the early 1990s, but I left the site for several years due to the hostile attitude of some members whom are no longer members and returned in 2005. I don't have time to spend trying to re-learn how to use a site and this forum is the only one I have even tried to keep up on, mainly for the good folks and great conversations, and now am not sure I can do that. The "subscribe" function is (to me) a kludge, not a tool, and will it now track the OLD conversations that still occasionally get posts? Not unless I can go back and hunt through the thousands of pages to find them apparently, and it does happen that someone will post a question for me on a thread that has not been active for two or three years - well now I will not be able to answer them because I can not find them.
One of the old forums I used to frequent was run by Lost Treasure magazine - they pulled the plug on it and it vanished, then not too long ago they attempted to bring it back. The members mainly did not return. Once you drive away your customers it is very hard to get them to come back, look at DesertUSA for an example of what I am talking about. I have to agree with those that think this new format is going to have a sad result on the forum membership. I have owned successful and un-successful businesses in the past and can offer a bit of advice; it is not a good policy to tell unhappy customers to "get used to it or get left behind" for many will choose to just go elsewhere, and bad word-of-mouth advertising spreads faster and farther than good.
Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I have been specific about what I dislike. I saw that someone said we were supposed to put our software glitch complaints in a particular thread, well I could not find that at the time I asked about the Unread Replies. I realize you folks are still working on things and have mentioned for us to check back in a week, so I will give it a little more time.
The format is not "growing" on me, in fact I am getting a stronger dislike. Maybe that is just me though. The member who said it is like getting a new car, you just have to learn the new features well no amigo, not a good analogy; it is like waking up in Timbuktu with no map and no clue, with a car that has completely different controls, a steering wheel on the wrong side, hand brakes , clutch and throttle instead of foot and a gear box that is a complete opposite from what your normal vehicle was. There is a McDonald's sign and you see familiar faces but otherwise it is alien. 
Good luck and good hunting to you all, I hope you find the treasures that you seek. I don't know if I will be visiting Treasurenet much in the future. I miss the old Treasurenet already.
Oroblanco
Count me among the unhappy with the new format and look. I see that a similar background has been added, which only serves to "trick" the old timers like me into thinking we are on the old format, which is not the case.
What surprises me the most is that the new owners did not try any sort of customer survey before making the sweeping changes. The site just suddenly went down, then re-appeared in a new format, which is way too similar to all the other treasure forums that many of us don't like and don't use. Would it not have been a good idea, before making such sweeping change, to perhaps send out an email questionnaire for the members (you have all of our email addresses and a form letter would do) just to ask what we like and don't like? The members and visitors are what help keep the ad revenue coming in, and some of us are paying members. I pay because I wanted to support the forum, not for the extra features of being a charter member but at this point am not sure I will renew.
I see that we have lost the "New replies" function and have a "subscribe" to replace it, which is clunky by comparison and a nuisance for me. I never realized it but that old "Unread Replies" function was the function I used the most here on T-net. I could sign in, click on that replies button from either toolbar, and presto any thread that I had been participating in that got new posts shows up on a list. Made my limited internet time work - I could sign in and catch up on all the conversations I am following in minutes. Now it is a maze, a hunt to search out to see if there are new posts. I am not interested in what ever is the "hot" topic today, or what someone else just found I mean good for them and all that, but more in a moment. Perhaps there was something about this particular forum that was not noticed in the sale transfer?
Many online forums are focused on one subject, car collectors, or fly fishing, or Little Bighorn afficianadoes, ad infinitum for different subjects; for these forums, the v-bulletin system works alright, for most of the conversation is around one main thing. In treasure hunting there is a w-i-d-e variety of different sorts of treasure hunting, from armchair hunting to geocaching to coin roll hunting to bottle digging (and I am skipping many) and many whom are interested in one or more of those pursuits, are NOT interested in every type of treasure hunting. So a person who dives on sunken wrecks, is not likely to be interested in the 1913 Mercury dime I found in my back yard today - it isn't even a treasure for some folks. Point I am getting at is the idea of the most popular topics and "hottest" for new posts, are not going to appeal to a fairly large segment of the membership since it has nothing to do with their own interests. Heck we often go off into totally non-treasure related topics for discussion matter, from recipes for cornbread to UFOs, politics and religion.
I also realize that we have no vote in the matter, you are the owners and we use your site. I am somewhat of an old-timer on this forum, in fact if you go into the old archives you will find posts from Oroblanco in the early 1990s, but I left the site for several years due to the hostile attitude of some members whom are no longer members and returned in 2005. I don't have time to spend trying to re-learn how to use a site and this forum is the only one I have even tried to keep up on, mainly for the good folks and great conversations, and now am not sure I can do that. The "subscribe" function is (to me) a kludge, not a tool, and will it now track the OLD conversations that still occasionally get posts? Not unless I can go back and hunt through the thousands of pages to find them apparently, and it does happen that someone will post a question for me on a thread that has not been active for two or three years - well now I will not be able to answer them because I can not find them.
One of the old forums I used to frequent was run by Lost Treasure magazine - they pulled the plug on it and it vanished, then not too long ago they attempted to bring it back. The members mainly did not return. Once you drive away your customers it is very hard to get them to come back, look at DesertUSA for an example of what I am talking about. I have to agree with those that think this new format is going to have a sad result on the forum membership. I have owned successful and un-successful businesses in the past and can offer a bit of advice; it is not a good policy to tell unhappy customers to "get used to it or get left behind" for many will choose to just go elsewhere, and bad word-of-mouth advertising spreads faster and farther than good.
Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I have been specific about what I dislike. I saw that someone said we were supposed to put our software glitch complaints in a particular thread, well I could not find that at the time I asked about the Unread Replies. I realize you folks are still working on things and have mentioned for us to check back in a week, so I will give it a little more time.
The format is not "growing" on me, in fact I am getting a stronger dislike. Maybe that is just me though. The member who said it is like getting a new car, you just have to learn the new features well no amigo, not a good analogy; it is like waking up in Timbuktu with no map and no clue, with a car that has completely different controls, a steering wheel on the wrong side, hand brakes , clutch and throttle instead of foot and a gear box that is a complete opposite from what your normal vehicle was. There is a McDonald's sign and you see familiar faces but otherwise it is alien. Good luck and good hunting to you all, I hope you find the treasures that you seek. I don't know if I will be visiting Treasurenet much in the future. I miss the old Treasurenet already.
Oroblanco
