Unforgiven

[gngrhill]

I do have long wait periods some times, some times I get right on. It is worth having, as far as I can see it's still the best orchid site.

[rbarata]

I do worry whether Marty is okay and, if he is, I wish he would pop in and let us know. He has always been a very decent fellow and that is why I am concerned that no one can reach him. He had some health issues before but it is also possible that he has simply become very busy. Who knows?

I don't know Marty, but yes... it is strange that he doesn't answer.

I do have long wait periods some times, some times I get right on. It is worth having, as far as I can see it's still the best orchid site.

My oppinion too!

[AnonYMouse]

I find it disconcerting that Marty has not responded. Too busy or has health issues, I understand. Most anything else would be weird. Marty is aware and unable or unwilling to fix the problem.

I have, in small ways, been a supporter in the past. Regardless, I am a guest at OB. The moderators have done their best to make this place hospitable for all. I have never seen favoritism based on support. I've never felt that this is a "pay for play" place.

Go ahead and post your concerns but I'm tired of hearing complaints (other threads, too). Despite the problems, you keep coming back because the OB is the best forum for you, there are plenty of other options.

I am not a staff of OB and do not speak for them. Just saying. Do you patiently wait at Starbucks? Besides, these complaints are taking up server space.

[jkofferdahl]

To an extent I've taken to Ree's thoughts. When I come to the OB I open a second (and even third) window so I can explore other sites of interest while I wait for delays here. Am I frustrated? Of course I am, because the site doesn't need to act this way. Am I concerned about Marty? Of course. Do I want this fixed? Absolutely.

The alternative which keeps coming up is Facebook. Like others, I don't consider Facebook to be an option. When I last visited some 4 or 5 years ago it was a terrible, intrusive, sophomoric pseudoworld with a sense of high school toxicity. I'm not going back there.

I've also thought about my being a Forum Supporter, and using the withdrawal of that as a lever. Perhaps even advocating for others to do the same. But what that's most likely to lead to, especially given the absence of Administration, is a disconnection of services to the OB. No sense cutting off my face to spite my nose.

Finally, there is a huge advantage to the layout and features of the Orchid Board. There is a sense of temporality which allows us to create an easily-searchable history. It's a well-organized forum which also allows for convenient browsing through various threads which are divided, subdivided, and thus extremely easy to peruse. It contains, then, a pretty astounding knowledge-base for the orchid hobby.

In the end, I'm going to see if we can ride this out. My hope is that eventually the Administrators will emerge from their cocoons, lairs, or sick beds and get things restored. I'll probably complain again (it's in my nature), but it's still a better base of information than is going to be found elsewhere, and some pretty cool people occasion through from time to time.

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

I find it disconcerting that Marty has not responded. Too busy or has health issues, I understand. Most anything else would be weird. Marty is aware and unable or unwilling to fix the problem.

I have, in small ways, been a supporter in the past. Regardless, I am a guest at OB. The moderators have done their best to make this place hospitable for all. I have never seen favoritism based on support. I've never felt that this is a "pay for play" place.

Go ahead and post your concerns but I'm tired of hearing complaints (other threads, too). Despite the problems, you keep coming back because the OB is the best forum for you, there are plenty of other options.

I am not a staff of OB and do not speak for them. Just saying. Do you patiently wait at Starbucks? Besides, these complaints are taking up server space.

I agree. It is possible that Marty lost interest or just has put this on the back-burner for a while. At least it is still here and for that, we should all be quite grateful.

[fishmom]

I started coming to the Orchidboard regularly early in 2016 when my previous orchid home, Orchidgeeks, seemed moribund. For all the aggravations, I have yet to find a better alternative. There is serious information here, as well as a gentle welcome to newcomers. I've never asked a question without receiving several answers, and sometimes I am able to help others also. I like being part of this community.

Like others, I would be more willing to donate if I had a better idea of where the money is going. But I assume that we are all helping to keep this site going in its imperfect fashion. Even if there is no new development here, it takes something to keep it functioning.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

Finally, there is a huge advantage to the layout and features of the Orchid Board. There is a sense of temporality which allows us to create an easily-searchable history. It's a well-organized forum which also allows for convenient browsing through various threads which are divided, subdivided, and thus extremely easy to peruse. It contains, then, a pretty astounding knowledge-base for the orchid hobby.

This right there is pretty much the only major benefit forums offer nowadays. Because of their intrinsic function, they become great libraries of information.

Besides added privacy and a more personable environment, that's where they begin to fall short. Facebook Groups is easy because pretty much everyone (especially younger people) has Facebook. Also, on the risk of beating a dead horse, Facebook lets you directly upload pictures to the website from your phone. Since many young growers have phones with cameras that are beginning to rival actual cameras, that extra step of uploading somewhere else then uploading to a forum is gone. Additionally, I really can't see people who upload phone pictures to Facebook actively caring about who has what rights to their picture.

At this point, the only real benefit I see to uploading photos to a forum is that they become easier for everyone to find via Google Images. It's much more difficult to search for specific things on Facebook or Instagram, which I mainly use nowadays.

Long story short, the Internet and how the coming generations use it is rapidly changing, and there are some formats that are going to be killed whether we like it or not.

[estación seca]

For perspective, in the 1970s there was no orchid growing information available outside the brains of expert growers and books.

The Orange County, California library system had almost no orchid books. The library was far from our house, and my parents were too busy to take me there. The bookmobile stopped within bicycle range once a week. I was allowed to borrow 7 books per week.

The catalog was available as a printout in the bookmobile, sorted by the Dewey Decimal system. The books they had needed to be ordered with a paper order slip at the bookmobile. Then I had to wait until the book was returned to the library by the previous borrower, put into the bookmobile, and the bookmobile arrived. Sometimes it took many months to get a book.

After running through the orchid books available at the library I saved up what seemed like an enormous amount of money and bought the third edition of Rebecca Northen's book Home Orchid Growing. That was the best book by far at the time.

Guess what? The amount of useful growing information in that book is minute compared to what is available here on the Orchid Board. So even if I had to wait a half hour for a page to load, which hasn't happened, I'm still far better off here than I was in the 1970s.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by estación seca

After running through the orchid books available at the library I saved up what seemed like an enormous amount of money and bought the third edition of Rebecca Northen's book Home Orchid Growing. That was the best book by far at the time.

Guess what? The amount of useful growing information in that book is minute compared to what is available here on the Orchid Board. So even if I had to wait a half hour for a page to load, which hasn't happened, I'm still far better off here than I was in the 1970s.

I still have the 3rd edition of the same book! It still has some useful information, though some information is outdated. I agree that Orchidboard and other fora are usually better sources of current information useful to growers.

[gngrhill]

I agree and as I said earlier in this thread, I think it's the best orchid forum going. For the much needed info and the welcoming friendly people who hang out here.