Is it me, or....

[Bruce Haugen]

I really would like the option of increasing the font size. These teeny little letters are very hard to read for these old eyes.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

I really would like the option of increasing the font size. These teeny little letters are very hard to read for these old eyes.

Simple fix. Just go to your browser and click zoom until your eyes are happy.

[Rob Young]

Simple fix. Just go to your browser and click zoom until your eyes are happy.

If you have a mouse with a center scroll wheel, hold ctrl and wheel back and forth to zoom in and out. Keyboard short cut used to be ctrl and + & - keys on the 10-key side.  This is for PCs, don't know if Macs do the same.

[Steve Friedman]

Hey Steve, you planning to get a new mobile phone to replace this one?


I hear the new WN interface is great on them new fangled phones.

Now that's funny.  I may be old, but not that old.  First phone I remember at least had the earpiece and mouthpiece in one.  

I wasn't commenting negatively on the new interface.  I was just responding to your comment about younger folks using social media and aren't drawn to "archane" sites like WN.  Just meant to say that WN is pretty high-tech for many here.  Proof in is the number of posts about how to post a picture here!

Maybe one day I'll venture into the world of Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and the like, but I haven't even ventured as far as Facebook yet.  Maybe I need to start slowly and set up a MySpace page first? 
 

Steve

---

Boy, I can't believe fudge who use 19th century woodworking handtool technology are ragging Steve about digital technology...... that takes chutzpah!  

Rich,

Thanks for having my back!  Of course, most of my 19th century tools are made in Maine or Ottawa.  


Steve

[Bibliophile 13]

I'm still getting used to the few forum software, and I even got to test-drive it before it went live. I really enjoy a lot of the new features.

As to the number of posts declining, I've been here 10 years, and I've seen a lot of members come and go. I miss many of them. But I'd say that an active poster will stay on the forum for 2-3 years on average before wandering away. I don't know why that is, exactly. Some get interested in other hobbies. Some go through major life changes (having kids, getting divorced, retiring, etc.), take a break, and never come back. Some migrate to other forums and/or media. I'm sure that social media has sucked up a lot of our potential membership.

On social media like Instagram, you can get positive feedback on anything you post almost instantaneously, and the immediate gratification really appeals to young people. (It always has, I think.) On a forum, sometimes you have to wait a day or two for any response to a post, which taxes the attention span of people who experience the internet (not to mention life) through notifications on their smartphones. I'm on Instagram, and I post occasionally. (Follow me at steve_schuler if you like!) One of the things I dislike about the format is that real discussion is just about impossible, and interaction is limited to one-sentence comments. There's a lot of surface but very little depth to Instagram. Facebook is a little better, as threaded discussions are possible through the comment feature. But I still come back to WoodNet for actual discussion.

To speak for myself, I haven't posted much here because I write a blog, where I can post pictures directly, have some control over the layout, and see usage stats. I also haven't posted much because I haven't been working wood as much, and the projects I've done have been pretty utilitarian--they haven't stretched my skill set, so they haven't been interesting enough (to me) to write up. That will change eventually--I hope.

Edit to add: threads like this are interesting, but if you want to keep the forum alive, the only reasonable thing to do is to start posting about your woodworking.

[Mike Brady]

Is Dominic still a moderator?

[Derek Cohen]

.... if you want to keep the forum alive, the only reasonable thing to do is to start posting about your woodworking

That's it in a nutshell. 

There is minimal woodworking value in posting a picture of the Stanley #4 you found at the flea market. The is a little more value if you add some information why it is uncommon, or relate something that opens the door to discussion .... and not simply others commenting "nice #4". Show your restoration, if that is what blows your socks off ... just not another set of photos of how you wiped it down with a rag, or washed it with a hose. That is not woodworking. Ask how to use a #4. This is a common question for someone starting out - that's about woodworking.

Woodworking projects do not have to be about fine furniture. We all started with something simple. Just show your best, not rough-and-ready tool stands. That has little woodworking value. We all had to start somewhere, so post what you do, even bloody shop cabinets.
Hey, we all need them.

Above all, show or describe something that opens up discussion about woodworking. Or the guys with experience will leave, and WN becomes a beginner's show-and-tell.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Skip J.]

Above all, show or describe something that opens up discussion about woodworking. Or the guys with experience will leave, and WN becomes a beginner's show-and-tell.

Personally, I enjoy the "kinder, gentler" format that Steve and Dom have strapped on us here... but in the not too distant past this place was a place of raging (mostly male) harmones where most anything was said between us.  I personally said a few things I wish that I could have taken back.

It may be that the lack of the old fire and brimstone - which I don't want to see return - has softened us up to a less "committed" interest.  There is no longer that burning need to check in to see what someone said to that flamer I threw out there as bait.  For many years I spent way too much time here and said way too many things I shouldn't have.  And, yes, I'm getting older too... besides most of that was said to evenfall (Rob Hanson) and he rarely posts here any more.

[Mike Brady]

I received a questionaire from FWW regarding the magazine content.  When I went to their web page I noticed that they are dropping their KNOTS forum from the site in the near future.  Not that their forum was ever a factor among the many forums available, it does identify a trend away from the forum format, at least by the outlyers.  This all seems de-evolutionary to me.  There is nothing out there to replace the virtual woodworking community.

[hbmcc]

"I received a questionaire from FWW regarding the magazine content.  When I went to their web page I noticed that they are dropping their KNOTS forum from the site in the near future.  Not that their forum was ever a factor among the many forums available, it does identify a trend away from the forum format, at least by the outlyers.  This all seems de-evolutionary to me.  There is nothing out there to replace the virtual woodworking community."

Mike Brady's post (quoted above) showed up at an interesting moment. 

I ran into a blog that demanded my signing up to a service in order to comment. That might not be too bad, but after grudgingly joining FB for relatives' benefit--and, several others since Windows 3.1, completing the alphabet soup of names--I don't want another membership. I struggle to avoid FB and its ubiquitous exposure of my various interests. I finally found an ancient Yahoo User Account to avoid handing out my cell phone number when joining one of their sites. I don't know who owns Wood.Net. Even tried searching a couple times. I do like to patronize decent benefactors. 

It must be perfectly legal for business and the rich to ignore laws and promises. My daily media procedure involves email, and then blogs. Today, I finally resigned two vendors to the Block Sender list, because they ignored "unsubscribe", or re-entered my email address into their mailing list. A month ago, I finally went to Egghead and hit the nearly 30 separate mailers to remove me. Every new service has me regretting the attention I receive after sign-up. What separates spam from legitimate advertising?

I suspect individual vendors will form elete forums and cast them aside, like FWW, and as others in the past have done. Or, do what every business now does, hide from the wrath of "Gawkering" libel suits that have Hogan (PayPal), Ailes (Fox), and Trump (a spouse) on the Free Speech censoring floor. In its favor, FWW may be posturing to avoid libel. 

I hope Mike declined to answer the FWW questionnaire. They might sue.