[Wolves] Forums and the mailing list

[Jono Bacon]

--- Peter Oliver <p.d.oliver@mavit.freeserve.co.uk>
wrote:
> We have list archives, so why do we even have forums
> on the website?  
> Because we can?  That's not a good reason.

OK, let me be clear on the rationale behind the
forums. The forums are on the website to provide a
community base for users to discuss and read
discussions about Linux from within a web interface.
There are a few reasons behind this:

 1. Many people will want to visit the Wolves LUG site
and want to see the information on the site without
ever joining the mailing list and coming to meets.
These people would be able to browse the list archive,
but would not be able to take part in any wolves based
discussion due to the fact that they either
cannot/won't join the mailing list. This will give
these people a Wolves LUG resource that they can use
which provides discussion faciltities without joining
a list.

 2. Some people may not wish to join the mailing list
due to the traffic involved, and may instead want to
access discussion when they want to without it
cluttering their mailbox. The forum again provides
this facility.

 3. The Wolves LUG list has 62 subscribers, and the
discussion is largely kept to topics covered at
meetings and items of interest. We don't really want
new users asking how to get their mouse working on the
mailing list - the forums can supply a place for this
discussion.

 4. The steps to join a mailing list may be not
familier with some new users, and as such a forum is
an easier place to access to get to know the group
initially before moving onto joining the list. The
forum provides an easy access point to Wolves LUG
members who use the forums.

The aims and intentions of the mailing list are
generally to provide a discussion place for fully
fledged members who want a primary point of contact
with Wolves LUG members. The forums provide a second
base solution to provide discussion areas for
individual subjects in differing areas (without making
each of us subscribe to 10 different mailing lists on
different subjects).

I hope this makes things clearer. :D

  Jono




=====
Jono Bacon - http://jono.dyndns.org/
KDE Developer - Freelancer - Musician

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