Maliling List vs. Forum Debate [was: cat anyone?]

[andrew]

Might as well make my first post an interesting one...

Seems like there are some die hards on the mailing list, who think forums are a waste of time. I happen to disagree.

Anyways, being a newbie, I posted over there suggesting a move to here, not knowing the issue had been raised before - I did a serach for this forum name - but got no matches). Someone pointed me to the prev. posts...interesting reading.

No harm in opening up the debate again I say.... :eek: <insert posts violently disagreeing with this comment below>...we need to make people aware of this forum...and take some heat off the mailing list.

I for one know 7 people who just this week have ordered TiVo's from the US and all their mates want one now...this is going to get big me thinks - too big for a mailing list style approach to hadle.

Anyways, time to sleep now. Chat with you folks more soon.

TiVo -10 days and counting. :)

Andrew

[tenty]

Firstly, welcome to the Forums, and to another extent, welcome to the mailing list.

Where I agree that the topic of tivos can get too big for a mailing list, there are hundreds of mailing lists that have thousands of people on it. Take for example Bugtraq (a mailing list regarding security vulnerabilites).

I installed this forums though so that anyone who wants to hop accross, or between mediums, can. I personally like a forums outlook because I can access the information anywhere, where as I have to wait until I get home before I can read or post my email.

well that's my .2c worth

Cheers

[curto]

Yeah pity you got the search results after posting.

Different strokes for different folks - hopefully we will start to build up some decent info on here and some of the newbies will gradually migrate across.

You can help by starting up some new threads or FAQs with links to some of the more interesting mail topics on the other list

Craig

[andrew]

Actually, I do think it's a good thing that this topic remains a sticky.

It is in the best interest of all of us to merge the communities to a single OzTiVo forum. This need increases as the number of people using TiVo in Aus increases...and I personally have added 5 people to the numbers.

I am new to tivo, but still have loads to contribute.

Chat with ya soon.

[tenty]

Best interests I agree, but you cannot always force people to see your point of views and use the software you want. I agree that the mailing list is a proven communication tool, and the forums have their advantages and disadvantages! I'll make it sticky so that other people hopefully see it and make their contribution to the topic.

Cheers

[105547111]

I also prefer the forums to mailinglist.

You can simply browse topics to see what you want to read.

Also you can simply look and glance over the topic from start to end.

:)

[DavidSymons]

I think the low traffic (so far) on these forums makes them more manageable too. I find the TiVoCommunity and DealDatabase forums to be somewhat bewildering due to their size. Of course a mailing list suffers from the same issues as the community grows.

For me the big advantage of the forums is the ability to edit your posts to fix tyops :)

GoodOnYa tenty for getting the forums up and running.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with the mailing list if you want your messages to thread properly you have subscribe to the list in non-digest mode and reply to the actual message itself. I've tried clicking on the email address at the top of messages in the list archive, this brings up a mail window with the correct address and subject title but the resulting message doesn't thread properly (ie. thread from the message I was looking at).

Cheers, Dave.

[tenty]

GoodOnYa tenty for getting the forums up and running.

Thank ye! :D

[Charliektm400exc]

Correct me if I'm wrong but with the mailing list if you want your messages to thread properly you have subscribe to the list in non-digest mode and reply to the actual message itself.
Cheers, Dave.

Yep got it in one

Charlie

[elarbee]

hiya

saw this thread was a sticky so heres my thoughts...

as a newbie ( back and forth from the US ) i was interested in getting tivo here in Oz. after some googling i found the oztivo site then i found these forums. the oztivo sight obviously has much more info on it, but these forums are easier to read and navigate ( and easier to communicate through )

ive joined the mailing list but i think forums are much more accessible

i'd suggest splitting the forums up a bit more... maybe...

> getting started
> hardware
> software
> networking

or something like that.

but i gotta say you guys have done a fantastic job at getting all the information ( through many hours of work no doubt ) i think the next step would be to now make it more accessible..

- six days till my first tivo arrives!! :D

[ScubaGary]

I may be coming in a bit late on this thread but having just joined the forums and got my TiVo working I also just read it.

I spent several weeks reading all the FAQ's and browsing this and other forums before making the jump and ordering my TiVo from the US.

While the FAQ's contain a LOT of information, sometimes it is not ordered in a way that a complete novice/beginner can easily comprehend.

I know I myself got a bad case of INFORMATON OVERLOAD. There was just to much information available on so many different subjects that I just didn't really know where to start. (even after going through the beginners FAQ)

I had never used mailing lists before, or searched in them either, so was not sure what to do there.

By asking a few easily answered questions on this forum, as well as reading through the stickied links threads I eventually felt confident enough to order my TiVo.

I agree with tenty that these forums are a great way (far superior to the mailing lists, as beginers tend to get a bit snubbed and just told to go off and read the FAQ's) for beginners to get the confidence to make that first move, as I did.

I will be helping people out on these forums where possible, by answering quetions that are within the scope of my currently limited knowledge and as that knowledge grows I will be able to help out more people.

Gary Giles

[DavidSymons]

Hi Gary,


While the FAQ's contain a LOT of information, sometimes it is not ordered in a way that a complete novice/beginner can easily comprehend.
This is an acknowledged issue and there are initiatives in the pipeline:

http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Developers/WebSiteImprovements

The recent issues with Guide Data have (rightly) taken people's attention away from this. The logo poll is one of the initiatives and a sign that things are moving again.


I will be helping people out on these forums where possible, by answering quetions that are within the scope of my currently limited knowledge and as that knowledge grows I will be able to help out more people.
That's the way. I was there in early April '04. I've learnt a lot since and have (hopefully) helped a few others out along the way.

Cheers, Dave.

[tenty]

If you have noticed, Improvements are on their way and Andrew Palm has started to move things around and make things look more user friendly ;) That has been shown with the new layout: http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view as well as the voted on logo. (PS. Logo nominations are closed already)

Cheers