Announcement forum?

[Michael "Dorkman" Scott]

This has been suggested before, but...

A lot of times people may have trouble finding updates and announcements. Sometimes the information is posted in a new thread started by Jim, other times it's posted in another thread by another user, somewhere in the middle.

For example, we have two threads regarding the current delivery status. One posted by Jim, the other NOT posted by Jim asking for an update. Although the one started by Jim is more active and would appear more official, Jim's most recent update was posted in the middle of the OTHER thread, where some members wouldn't perhaps see it.

I'm a member of the Pixelcorps, and in the forums we have one forum dedicated to PXC announcements. That forum can only be posted to by PXC staff, and is archival (no replies allowed).

Now, I'm all for the way Jim and Graeme and everyone else at RED are an active part of this community who take part in all of the conversations. I'm not saying they should sequester themselves in some Ivory Tower (or rather Ruby?) and communicate only through one-way announcement threads. But I think maybe it WOULD be a good idea to have one forum that could be checked for the latest information when they have an update on shipping, firmware, REDCINE's release, etc. Whereas posts like Jim's brief op-ed regarding sharpening would still be posted in this thread, since that's more about discussion than announcement.

Since we're all about workflows here ( ): Log in, look in Announcements. New post from Jim? Great, there's new and exciting information. No new posts? No one has to worry that they're missing any of the latest information. Then everyone who wants the must updated information knows where to go, and we don't end up cluttering up threads and boards with questions or concerns that, in all likelihood, have already been answered, just not in an obvious place. We can just focus on enjoying the community.

[Craig Harding]

A common trick adopted by video game companies, for forums of games in development (or MMO games where the development never ends) is to have a "devtracker" - a special search function that only shows you all the forum posts of company staff (in video game contexts these people are the "devs"). It's basically an amalgam of a "find all posts by Jim/Graeme/Steward/Jarred/etc".

The clever bit is to then put an RSS feed on the front of such a feature!

[Michael "Dorkman" Scott]

I'd take that too, but I figure setting up a forum and restricting the permissions would be easier than writing new forum code and creating an RSS feed.

As it is now, you can search for posts by user, but it only gives you a listing of threads that they posted in, not what page or when.

I suppose one could make a habit of checking Jim's/Graeme's/Jarred's/Stuart's/etc's post history, but what I think is beneficial about the idea of a dedicated forum is the at-a-glance nature of it. No more complaints! :sorcerer:

[Adrian Correia]

this should happen....and hopefully soon. It would beat having to filter through all of the threads for the biggest news. They should be heavily monitored and trimmed that way the most pressing information is the only thing posted....that way the important info is not on pages 1, 8, 12 and 19.

[Noah Kadner]

totally totally agree. An official communications forum, where users can reply but only Red folks can start new threads.

Noah

[Steve Sherrick]

I still like the simple approach of Red having a page on their website that has all relevant information about delivery updates, firmware updates, and anything else they deem important for customers to know. It's easier than the forum format in my opinion. Straight from the horses mouth, less guesswork. If they kept it updated on a regular basis, then no news is truly no news, and less questions to be asked.

We all know these guys are working around the clock trying to get these cameras to us, so maybe there just aren't enough resourses to make this happen, but even if there was a webmaster on it once a week, that would be helpful.

Steve

[rod bradley]

I think Scott's suggestion makes sense. I'm all for the banter and socializing and fun/good stuff that emerges, but some of us are working 80 hours a week keeping body and soul and the red nut together -- so in the name of efficiency and a touch of orangization, if it's not a huge chore for someone -- I don't think it would tamp down the spirit of the forum and would certainly be helpful to many.

[Mark Pedersen]

Scott,

Exellent suggestion!

M

[Rocco Schult]

Dorkman, again, couldn't have been put any better.

[Michael Stanmore]

Yeah, you gotta sort out the real stuff from all the noise created by the thousands of jackasses like me...