A DROPPED BALL?

[Marty]

I've been spinning my wheels a bit... I think we have enough forums. Like sue said, the beginner forum is more of a catch all. Perhaps we should write some articles on the very basics, potting, re-potting, splitting, etc. I'd make it a contest, but I have nothing to give out anymore and I'd hate to pan handle for prizes. Plus I don't want to condition you guys too much, that if there's something cool to be done it has to be done for a prize, hehe

I'm hoping that the community spirit will kick in and we can make some general articles to which we can refer the new/beginner members

something's messed up with article menu, I'll have to figure it out...I'll keep you posted

[Ross]

How about this: Make a menu item like you do for the Alliances section (the *minis* one) where you simply link to other posts? Maybe place it under "orchid discussions" that way no matter where someone posted a culture thread, it would be available in a common spot?

[terrestrial_man]

Hey how about a jpg journal. Use a jpg format and load on text and images. that way it is easy for a newbie to simply print out and have it as a handy reference.
almost all of my web journals are now done as jpgs linked into an html page. If you look at my gallery you will find an example.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Marty

Plus I don't want to condition you guys too much, that if there's something cool to be done it has to be done for a prize, hehe

Too late

[justatypn]

Many great suggestions, hope we can resolve this issue to help all members. I like your idea Tman, which opened a thought that I put together for a boating forum where I used .doc format and the webmaster downloaded the folder from the server which was accessible to all members where they could either read, copy/paste, print or merely step over it. The folder is linked to individual specs; our case it would be individual orchid culture sheets most common ofcourse. I do think that this is going to take a lot of time to figure out and place it in the appropriate location in order for our members to get the full effect. Tindo's suggestion where you can make a sticky within the alliances. The orchid encyclo is a grand idea but I for one do not like the idea of taking them away from the OB going into another site, unless by default it can be set up into opening another window if that is a possibility.

[Marty]

I had an idea for care sheets while back. These caresheets could be linked like glossary terms are linked now, so if you see the genus of the orchid, it would be linked to the care sheet. I'll try to work on this tomorrow and show you guys a prototype.

The articles are fixed too, you can now see the articles that our members have posted. We could also add "Basic" section and list key articles under that section. This would then make it easy to point new members to the right information.

I think that having articles for general beginner issues and having care sheets linked like the glossary might do the trick

[Marty]

It would be a bit hard to follow for new readers, so I started a new thread about this here