the inability of one to to 'subscribe' to any thread.

==>>> i dont know what the means ...

check off some box.. and you are alerted to followup replies??

ken

So you did know what 'that' means.

Agreed. I was on this site about 10 years ago, then took a hiatus when I lived in a house with no garden. I was very surprised to come back and find that the site had not changed AT ALL in that time. I'd really like to be able to edit or delete a post. Not sure why that's a struggle.

I have not found comparable forums.

For sure 'editing' one's post even within a limited time period would be good but notification of replies to any gardenweb thread is first on my want list. The overdue inclusion of such a now basic feature would dramatically improve these forums.

Amen!

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't mind the current old format. It really isn't that much work to simply click on this site and see if there any follow-ups. Really - it isn't that much work.

I've been on other sites with the format you're talking about. All the follow-up emails gets old after awhile and a lot of these other forums will only send you 1 follow-up email. You have to go back to the site and actually visit the topic before you get another email.

Visually - I prefer the look of GW. It's just a lot cleaner IMO.

Kevin

It is all about customization Kevin. You can choose not to have email notifications of follow-ups sent to you and so it would be status quo...for you.

For those of us that don't check everyday every forum and thread that we are interested in then for sure many worthwhile posts are lost to us.

It isn't like we are asking for the moon.

Yup, I agree. The technical capabilities of this forum's software are stuck at about 1998 levels. Most forums allow the user far more options for creating and customizing their entire forum experience. This one is really bare-bones compared to others I am a member on.

I agree - the ability to subscribe to a thread, and edit and delete posts would be on my wish list.

Deanna

Ranting to fellow GW'ers about any perceived difficulties is not going to accomplish much....other than starting to rile up some folks who dislike these types of posts. (just saying.....that's not me - I check out anything!!)

Have you tried communicating directly with GW and iVillage? There is a Suggestions forum, plus you always have the ability to email directly on any topic of your choosing. Management is really the only appropriate vehicle to address if you want changes made.

I've been a GW member for more than a decade and I find no difficulties with the way the forums work but that's just my personal view. I have also been a member of a number of other gardening forums/message boards/Internet discussion rooms and none of them were even a 10th as effective or informative as GW. IMO, gardeners are darn lucky to have such an online resource.

I think it would be a worth wild addition to the site, but not sure if I would use it. By far this is the best site out there in my opinion also!!! I thank this site and the people on it, for the knowledge I have gained. My landscape would be a mess with out it probably. I might of even got frustrated and not be so passionate about my landscape. My only suggestion to GW would be to find a way to let more gardeners know about this site!! I lurk a lot reading tips/suggestions all over the place on here. I enjoy reading threads from Novice to Expert and could always use more people starting new threads to enjoy/learn from.

After an unpleasant experience not long ago on one forum in particular I stopped checking GW for several months and looked for other garden-related forums. I found two, Garden Photo of the Day & Nitty Gritty Dirt Man, but while I thoroughly enjoy and frequently monitor those, I routinely check several GW forums. Like a few others have remarked, this is where anyone--novice, experienced or Master Gardener--can ask a gardening question and generally get a number of valuable informed answers.

Could it be easier to use? Definitely. I'm not high tech so I generally don't mind the inconvenience or else overlook it in favor of learning from other gardeners and enjoying their viewpoints, photos, tips, ideas and plant suggestions/comments. The honest sharing of information can't be discounted when it comes to our common goal--a garden that satisfies our hopes, vision and ambitions.

Something to keep in mind is that this is a gardening site. It is not a computer/techie site. Over the (too) many years I've been on various internet forums, a common problem is that a forum has been optimized for the latest and greatest hardware/software/internet stuff, and too many people suffer from too many interface issues to comfortably use it.

Do you really want to start excluding everybody who does not have a broad band connection? How about everybody who does not have a computer that is less than five years old? How about everybody who had their kid set up their computer three years ago, and haven't updated a single thing since? Just because somebody knows little about computers has nothing to do with how much they know about plants.

Garenweb might be one of the few websites that have remained in the 1990's. However, it's not in bad company - Craigslist hasn't changed their format much since then either! Recently they changed the photo format, which still sucks IMO, and so I still usually upload photos to a friend's web server and display them from there. Same way as here.

I like GW's basic simple, clean format that emphasizes text, instead of other forums that are cluttered with avatars, signatures, dancing emoticons, etc. But it could improve with a few updates. The ability to edit a post, upload a photo, and receive a notification, etc. doesn't seem all that radical. Maybe a better search function.

You can subscribe to email notification of replies for threads that you started. Just not for other threads. Or perhaps you already know that?

terrene wrote: The ability to edit a post, upload a photo, and receive a notification, etc. doesn't seem all that radical.

It isnt...(i.e. all that radical). There is no doubt it would make GW a much improved resource. Of course such additions could be ignored by some and made use of by others. Customization is the mantra.

It is funny, but I guess when you get old you like something to still be the same when you go back. I like the format. It is like a old shoe all broke in and comfortable.

I am on one site that has changed formats 6 times since I have been going there I think it has finally lost about all the members. As soon as you think you have learned the bells and whistles the format change and you are back at zone one.

I do not go to many forums on GW so it is easy for me to see what interest me and I have not had any problem finding topics I posted or started.

Yes I did know that miclino. It is the ability to subscribe to *any* thread that is of interest to me and would such a worthwhile feature.

Hate to say it, but I don't see anything changing. They're working on making it easier to upload photos, which will be nice for those who don't use a photo hosting site. Why that couldn't have been part of a larger software update is beyond me.

Here is a link that might be useful: GW photo uploading

It would be nice to be able to edit a post, but overall I don't mind the format here at GW. Communication is easy, and the lack of continual format "upgrades" for the sake of change is refreshing. (One easy "fix" would be returning the gardening homepage to Spike's subclassification of forums by category, instead of the current anarchy).

As for missing posts through inability to check all the different forums dealing with perennials on a daily basis - that's the price we pay for the proliferation of specialty forums dealing with one genus of plants. Lots of people felt deprived if their favorite didn't have its very own forum, so as a result, many will miss out on interesting posts unless they make a habit of checking multiple different forums frequently (I rarely bother with the specialty perennial forums). Somehow I doubt that having one's e-mail box cluttered up with replies is the solution. Of course, the gardeners who are only interested in one genus of plants are less liable to miss out - they can stick to Daylilies, Hosta etc.

As to posting requests in the Suggestions forum, the lack of feedback there suggests that GW does not have the staff or inclination to respond in a timely manner.

Woo hoooo! Anybody else notice the "Image file to upload" feature that GW has added??

Way to go GW! This will make it so much easier for people to post photos.