Question about this site . . . (site admins)

In the short time I have been posting on this site, I have learned a lot about homebrewing. Before I got on here, I thought I knew a lot. I am the guy that a lot of my brew-interested friends ask questions to . . . but my meager knowledge is humbled around here . . .

Anyway, there are a lot of posts around here that I consider to be excellent resources for ideas, recipes, links, etc. My fear, however, is that the site admins may regularly delete old posts to maintain the site and keep it running fast. If this happens, we (I) may lose all that good information.

Do the site admins here delete old posts, etc.?

If this is I'm sure someone will let me know which forum it should be in.

There's a "site questions/suggestions" forum.

Anyway, I share the same concerns as you. I'd like to see a good "FAQ" section here, at least. There used to be one, but I guess it went away due lack of use. But I think now we have a much broader base of knowledgable folks, and I think we could get something like that built.

SwAMi75 said:

There's a "site questions/suggestions" forum.

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Maybe one of the moderators can move this thread.

But this seems to be a valid concern.

If that is true we may need to have a discussion a bout decoction every other month

Kai

In the Site Support & Suggestions section there is a thread on adding a FAQ. There did not seem to be a lot of support for it.

sonvolt said:

Do the site admins here delete old posts, etc.?

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I don't believe any old posts have been deleted to this point...even if it gets to a point where space is a concern, I believe everything will just get move to an archive. TxBrew will correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Kaiser said:

If that is true we may need to have a discussion a bout decoction every other month

Kai

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LOL . . . yeah . . . and one about harvesting yeast or culturing yeast from commercial beers every other day.

I'd posted this in another thread...perhaps it'll contribute to this thread also.

As a new guy to this site, I've got some constructive critisism, and a few suggestions. I hope both are appreciated.

Through participating in other forums (automotive mostly) I've found that if there is a sticky at the top of each seperate board with basic info, a lot of the redundant questions can be avoided.

Example - the Beginners Brewing Forum would greatly benefit from a sticky (or two) with some very basic information:
- A glossary of terms - it took me a few days of steady reading to be really comfortable with all the jargon.
- A list of the different types of brewing (extract, partial mash, all grain etc), and the basic procedures involved in each type. Suggestions for a new brewers would be great as well. (I doubt most new brewer want to jump straight into all grain brewing.)
- A list of links/books that are recommended reading. (Palmer's book/website etc)

The same idea could be applied to the Recipe forum.
- A list of websites with recipes, links to recipe databases, link to this site's recipe DB (if it becomes a reality) etc.

I know there is a thread floating around here with a listing of local LHBS's, perhaps it'd be a good one to stick? Maybe it would be a good idea to have a LHBS forum, where users can post good/bad experiences about certain stores/online retailers etc? Might be a good reference for someone who is thinking about buying from a certain online vendor or brick & mortar store.



These are just some random thoughts from a new guy who is very happy to have found this place.

Please do not take this as anything but constructive critisism and suggestions. If no action is taken as a result of this thread, that's ok. I won't be offended.

Kevin

Edit - thought of one more - a forum titled "Important threads". This thread would contain links to threads with particularly good information. Basically an informational map. Users could 'nominate' certain threads if they feel they contain good info, and the mods would have final say. It would be wise if the mods were the only ones with authority to post in that forum.
A great example is here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54 (List of Useful Threads)

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Kevin

Sonvolt, Swami, Kevin, and all the others who have posted here...I agree with most of your suggestions, tho as a mod there are only certain things I can do. I've added a sticky thread to the Beginner's Forum for FAQs, and I can add FAQs to the list myself as people submit them. I've done a similiar thing in the Recipes Forum to help locate recipes, and I can add other sticky threads as they're suggested. The one thing I think we have to careful of is that we don't have too many stickies in any one forum...we don't want to have to scroll down to the second page to see new posts, IMHO.

I'm not sure if this is the ideal way to handle FAQs, but it will work for the moment. Let me know what you think, and of course since you'all brought it up, I'd better see you posting some now.

To me, the search feature is enough! I have a great memory about what topics have been posted. When I need some information, a quick search is usually enough to find a particular thread. However, once these threads get deleted permanently, searches will no longer reveal them.

On other boards I post on, mods regularly delete older threads to help the site run faster and more efficienty.

While this may not happen for a verrrrrry long time, any system by which we (users) upload data (posts) onto a server, that server is bound to get full. When it does get full, what will happen to all those excellent posts?

I only ask because if posts are sometimes deleted at this site, I will be sure to keep copies of recipes, etc. that I get from here. I don't think that anything needs to be done to the site in any way, I just want to know the policy around here regarding post deletion.

sonvolt said:

LOL . . . yeah . . . and one about harvesting yeast or culturing yeast from commercial beers every other day.

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Least we forget "Can I use bleach?" and of course the number one question that drives everyone batty "Stainless steel vs Aluminum" :fro: