So what is off topic, what is enough?

Im kinda curious as to what is off topic and when is enough enough.

I seem to find a lot of threads in a few of forums that "should be" somewhere else. Not that they cause any harm but I really want to get back to the topics that the forums are for than to stray out more and more and get lost!

Sorry its late and Im rambling a little but the FORUMS are CORRECTLY named for their SUBJECT content and its not that hard to put things where they belong!

I'm trying to be fairly lenient in the discussion forums, but if I should happen to post a subtle nudge that a thread or direction of a thread is getting off topic, I do expect people to take the hint. If that doesn't work, then they will get (and have gotten) warning points for ignoring my suggestion.

In the future I guess I just have to be a bit more hardlined about it. I'm trying to play nice, but some people just don't seem to get it. If you start a thread in a forum that is NOT appropriate, then that is known as posting "off topic" and can earn you a warning point. Do it enough times, and you will find yourself suspended and fined for failing to get with the program.

If you post in the thread something like "I know this is off topic.....", then stop right there, delete what you just wrote, and find the forum on this site where it WILL be on topic and invite the people you want to discuss it with there.

Sorry the message did not get across sufficiently earlier.

At some point off topic posts and wrong forum threads muddy the whole organization.

Originally Posted by dragonflyreptiles

Im kinda curious as to what is off topic and when is enough enough.

I seem to find a lot of threads in a few of forums that "should be" somewhere else. Not that they cause any harm but I really want to get back to the topics that the forums are for than to stray out more and more and get lost!

Sorry its late and Im rambling a little but the FORUMS are CORRECTLY named for their SUBJECT content and its not that hard to put things where they belong!

Is there a particular thread that prompted this one?

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

Is there a particular thread that prompted this one?

I'm fairly sure it's http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=73543.

I see what you are saying about things getting "muddy", and I understand you (Rich) would like some of the other forums to be more active. But it does seem kind of silly *to me* that when you have a group of people that know each other like we do on the Leo Forum, that you can't post something such as the aquarium pics like Dan posted, to share with your leo forum buddies, as long as OFF TOPIC is posted in the subject line.

I post pictures of my children sometimes on the Leo Forum. I like to share with my friends there. Would that be considered off topic? Here's an example thread-
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=73537

Jim is the winner its the fish thread, I mean that entire post has nothing to do with leos.

Kelli I enjoy the pics of your children and enjoy them in the leo forum, the ones like that I think are fine because its not an animal topic in the wrong forum, is a friendly addition to a post that makes everyone smile! Hope that makes sense.

Rich, I think this is another of those things that some will complain if you throw points and give no hints that its coming and others will ignore your hints that could haev sved them the points to begin with.

Originally Posted by dragonflyreptiles

Rich, I think this is another of those things that some will complain if you throw points and give no hints that its coming and others will ignore your hints that could haev sved them the points to begin with.

Yeah. Everyone wants "ruthless enforcement" of the rules, unless it applies to them. Then it's a different tune being sung.

As I mentioned, I am fairly tolerant in the discussion forums, but I do have to put my foot down every now and again when it gets carried away.

Really, wouldn't it have been easier to move the thread in the first place? That would have saved you from dishing out points to at least 3 people.

I'm more with Kelli here. The leo community is pretty tight, and it's pretty unusual for a post to be off topic...but it does happen. When people do post off topic, it's because they are trying to talk with their FRIENDS in the one place they know they will find them. So long as it says "Off Topic" in the title of the thread, what's the harm? If you don't want to read an off topic post, don't go in there. So long as people don't go crazy with the off topic posts, I REALLY don't see the harm in one or two a month (which is what it is!). Just as we give warning for lots of pics because it's annoying to dial-up users (so they don't go in without knowing what they are going into), a warning was given that it was off topic. So you choose to go into a thread thar you knew was off topic from the start, only to get annoyed at the fact that it is off topic?? That's like the dial-up user getting mad that there are so many pictures in a thread that said "warning!".

On the other side (Wendy) you can't have it both ways. If there is no toleration for off topic posts, then it's shouldn't matter what the subject is. I personally like hearing from my friends about what's interesting in their life - be it their sons, or their fish. If it was a newcomer to the forum and they saw a post about Kelli's son they wouldn't like it because they do not know her as we do. You can't let the fact that you like Kelli cloud the issue - such a post would be off topic no matter how you look at it.

Speaking of off topics posts... PLEASE make a dog forum. I am sick to death of seeing all the dog posts in the welcome forum. That's all they are talking about in there. I like dogs, I like the welcome forum, and I didn't even mind the 1st thread. But when 1 thread became 5 (with no other things going on) it got REALLY old. It has derailed that whole forum into the unofficial dog forum.

You know, after giving it some thought, you guys are probably right. Posts on topics to which there is a specific forum should be posted in the correct forum. I do think that some threads can and will go off topic, and that should be fine, to a certain extent. I mean, that's how we get to know each other, as people, we learn alot about each other when posts go "off the topic" LOL. Some good, some bad!