Requesting split of Skinks & Tegus Forum

A Skinks forum group that was once friendly and welcoming has become snippy and impatient with the merging of Tegus. I'm not sure why.

After posting a simple question regarding a magazine article, the first replies were uncharacteristically mean-spirited.

I am formally requesting that the Skinks & Tegus Discussion Forum be separated so that us skink folks, who know and like each other and all get along, can maintain our informative forum without derision.

Thank you
Lisa

Lisa, I really don't believe the posts you speak of were meant in a "mean-spirited" way to begin with....they simply had no idea on earth what article you were referring to. If you were aware that the skink and tegu forums had merged, perhaps it would have simplified things to have named the article to begin with, to avoid confusion in the "non-skink folks" that simply had no idea?

That and well...the forums were merged if they had little traffic. Since you have a grand total of 22 posts (several of which have been since posting the referenced thread about "the article") in the 2 years you have been a member here, I don't see that you have had all that much discussion nor shared that much information there to begin with.

Originally Posted by guitrldy

A Skinks forum group that was once friendly and welcoming has become snippy and impatient with the merging of Tegus. I'm not sure why.

After posting a simple question regarding a magazine article, the first replies were uncharacteristically mean-spirited.

I am formally requesting that the Skinks & Tegus Discussion Forum be separated so that us skink folks, who know and like each other and all get along, can maintain our informative forum without derision.

Thank you
Lisa

That combined forum has only one active thread in October so far, and only a handfull that were posted in during the month of September. I've said it before and am now beginning to act on it: If you don't use the forums, they will be gone. This was the first wave of those changes.

That being said, I am not ruling out the possibility of just rolling ALL the lizard forums into a single, simple, Lizard Discussion Forum. Obviously the discussion forums are not earning their keep for the screen real estate they take up. They have little participation and few sponsors. I can take a hint.

This goes for the Snake Discussion forums as well, btw. Some forums there are on the chopping block as well. These forums are just not what the members want here, from all evidence I have seen over the years. It's a battle that I have stopped fighting.

I've been trying for years now to get more interest and participation within the discussion forums. Obviously most people here don't give a damn about them, so I am no longer concerned about it either. It makes my life easier to just have fewer forums, so that is the direction I am heading with a restructuring. As I find time, of course.....

Once the forums are rolled together, they will NOT become separated again in the future. It's easy to combine them, but a MAJOR chore to separate the threads into dedicated forums after the fact.

Originally Posted by guitrldy

A Skinks forum group that was once friendly and welcoming has become snippy and impatient with the merging of Tegus. I'm not sure why.

After posting a simple question regarding a magazine article, the first replies were uncharacteristically mean-spirited.

I am formally requesting that the Skinks & Tegus Discussion Forum be separated so that us skink folks, who know and like each other and all get along, can maintain our informative forum without derision.

Thank you
Lisa

Two things (to start with, anyway)
1) Nothing has changed within the forum. The responses you were unhappy with had nothing to do with the merging of the two subsections...I say this with relative confidence, since none of the respondants are "tegu people".
2) My response was not in the least mean spirited. Simple, and to the point, yes...but not mean spirited. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, I was able to make an educated guess as to the topic of the article - because Corucias are the only subject I have seen you post on. I didn't need to see the article, because my response would have been the same regardless of the topic...regardless of the poster, regardless of the periodical. Quite simply, if you have an issue with the article, you should write to the magazine. There is no reason to call in reinforcements, no need to brain storm with your friends - simply apply your fingers to the keyboard and make it happen.
3) (ah, what the heck, I've already started, and I'm not opposed to a little meanspiritedness in the morning) Now, lets take a look at the friendly responses from the Corucia clique

I think you guys need to lighten up

anyone that has anything to say would already know which article was being referred to

Thoughts (from PTS owner/breeders)?

anyone that would have been able to contribute would have known which article was in question

It is nice that there are people who are interested in species which they have little experience, but jumping all over a post meant for those with experience is a little harsh.

You have no idea of what my experience (or that of any of the other "new" posters) may be. To assume that any, or all, of us know less than than you, simply because we haven't partaken in your "informative forum" is foolhardy. You may not know us, but if you want friendly, you need to be friendly. Climb off your high horse, you aren't the sterling examples you think you are.

They have little participation and few sponsors

I think it might be possible that some have moved their discussions elsewhere, as we are doing, due to a certain tone that has moved into the forums lately. (not being argumentative, just stating an observation) Many of the threads in the prior skink forum were about Corucia, a species that is not widely kept in the herp community. I appreciate that the forum was not always very active, but there are just not that many of us to post all the time. I understand the need to generate revenue to keep the site running, I have no problem with that. That being said, I found the information collected and made available to those who searched very valuable as a resource. I know that people will still be able to search for past information even if all the forums are merged, but the lack of future discussions will definitely reduce the information made available.

It might be helpfull for us to all remember that we are here for the same basic purpose, that is to improve and further the reptile keeping hobby, and a bit of patience and understanding can go a long way in making people feel comfortable and encourage them to participate. I have seen positive discussions and negative discussions on this site, I would like to see more of the former in the future regardless of the merging of forums.

Thank you, WebSlave, for giving us a place to have these types of discussions. I am not interested in debating any of the opinions I have expressed, I just wanted to provide my small amount of feedback.

Kisha

I'd like to also thank Rich for giving us a place to post and share information on our reptiles.

I've been posting about Mountain Horned Dragons in the Other Lizard Discussion Forum because when you google Mountain Horned Dragon it used to be that you got a few hits most of them being another Forum where MHDs have a separate forum and FroggieB's web site. When I got my first pair of MHDs I searched and searched for some relevant information in addition to those mentioned and didn't have any luck. As I gained knowledge and starting having clutches hatch, I wanted to share what I knew to make it easier for people seeking information.