bus

claire wrote:i imagine ww is not the top list of prorities right now ...
but has anything been said alex?

I apologise about taking so long to get this up here, you have imagined correctly as there is alot going on at the moment so it's moving along slower than expected.

What has been mentioned so far:

Positives from me

1. Takes pressure off people who pm newbieswho are then just chosen by the newbie as someone to always talk to.

2. Will help make people feel more at home when they join.

3. Will help to create new friendships.

4. Could possibly take pressure off mods/admins as people will have someone to ask what is right or wrong, rather than just trying to see for themselves.

Negatives from me

1. Not everyone knows the ins and outs of rules, so the 'mentor' could be telling the newbie wrong rules.

2. People who don't really match (i.e a mature 20 year old with an immature 13 year old) could be put together causing tention if they just stop talking.

3. People may not get matched up with anyone which could make them feel even less comfortable as a new member.

Idea - get some longer-term members of the WW volunteered to be fixed "buddies" to all newbies for awhile. Perhaps create a link to the staff bios page followed by other bus members. As then perhaps people would know to go to staff with questions about rules and such and maybe the 'normal' bussers for community questions or something?

View - Dislike the thought of trying to mould new users into a specific vision of what one (or even a group) things a busser should be.

It’s Better just to work at making new users feel more comfortable with asking questions and seeking out help.

Other idea - Why not just assign someone from WW to keep an eye out for each newbie for a little while... without saying "this person is your buddy".

And another - At the top of the page along with profile and messages and such is the usergroup list.
When someone sends a welcome pm, along with the basic welcome and whatever else is said, maybe you can direct them to that area andlet them know that those in the welcome wagon are here to help if they need any guidance


As of yet it has really just been a case of people putting across alternate views and ideas, long way to go. Nothing mentioned above is a final idea, but i will let you know how things go.

green wrote:I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I haven't been around much in this forum lately... I've been going through a bit of a shit time and haven't really felt up to composing coherent PMs for new people. I should be around more often soon though.

Not a problem. I have been then same really.

im liking the both the ideas.
gosh im desisive

what do some other people think?

i know there is more than me and alex thinking about this ...
i hope

Anyone 0.o

i really dont have anything to add...but i have been reading here and like what you have listed Alex, especially...

At the top of the page along with profile and messages and such is the usergroup list.
When someone sends a welcome pm, along with the basic welcome and whatever else is said, maybe you can direct them to that area andlet them know that those in the welcome wagon are here to help if they need any guidance

i do have a question though...

is there anyway that we, the welcome wagon members, can tell who is a spammer and who is not...sometimes it is obvious but sometimes it isnt...

Look through the "would-be spammer" list at the top of the forum. That's where admins post when they've splatted a spammer.

thanks Mian...i do look there...

i was actually asking about knowing before the admins squish them...before sending out a welcome pm to new members...that is what i meant if there was any way that we could tell before sending out a welcome pm...sometimes it is easy to see the spammers cause they post a website...

sorry if it seems that i am talking in circles...it is just the way things are going for me today...in circles...

Sorry about the long wait for a reply

pinky wrote:i was actually asking about knowing before the admins squish them...before sending out a welcome pm to new members...that is what i meant if there was any way that we could tell before sending out a welcome pm...sometimes it is easy to see the spammers cause they post a website...

It's frustrating to know you have sent a pm to a spammer, sometimes you only find out they are a spammer once they have posted. Sometimes, like you say, they have a website so you can avoid them. Another thing i do is try to avoid sending pm's to members with random numbers somewhere in their name, however that does and will exclude members who are not spammers. Even when i joined my original name had numbers in it. But i just wait until i see that they have posted before i welcome them. I'm also a bit weary of names with alternate caps and names that just generally don't make sense e.g azzaentse. But again this can exclude non spammers.

I would suggest making up a pm template that you can just send to those who you are unsure of, as that way you havent wasted time typing a pm out for them. Yet if they are 'real' members they will still get welcomed. And for those who you don;t think are spammers or who have posted you can personalise the pm's a bit more.

Just a few ideas..

thanks Alex for your help and advise...and nice to see you around...

Gah. My brain has gone into meltdown mode, i really don't know how to get lots of people interested. If i were rich i would give people a free hat or something, but unfortunately that isnt an option.

Nice to see you as well pinky

i dont have any ideas either...but i have been waiting longer before i send a welcome pm cause if they are spammers one of the admins get to them and then i send a welcome pm to the others that arent...

yeah if they look like a spammer, I don't bother sending them a PM. Like if they've got a dodgy website or something

if the welcome wagon really is becoming defunct would it be easier to just PM people who make a first post? it would cut down ALOT on the number of PMs needing to be sent (which could be both good and bad) but it might make the idea of the welcome wagon more useful. It would probably be a bit more personal too, as there would be alot less to send.

mmm

im wondering whats been going on.

so im posting this to say

i have no idea really...

Well not alot has been happening to tell you the truth

When i get some time i will try to get a post up about what has been discussed and the outcomes of these discussions so far.

I shall start another convo with the mods/admins, see if anything else can be done. I'll post in here if the thread achieves something.

Quick update


What has been done so far:
Old rota threads have been cleared and started from scratch to gauge who is actively involved.

Thread stickied on main to raise awareness of the welcome wagon and to encourage people to join.

Some people have ‘member of the welcome wagon’ in their sigs to raise awareness.

What has been discussed and the conclusions of those discussions so far:
Advertisement – been done by creating threads and changing sigs.

Having to send out lot’s of pm’s can be tiring/intimidating – tried to make it clear that it is not essential to have to pm all the time if you are unable to, or don’t feel up to it.

Make the welcome wagon something to be proud of – suggested to have different buses for active welcome wagoner’s, the views have been divided on that, and as such different buses may not be ideal. Though making this place something to be proud of is a good idea, and something that should continue to be discussed.

Buddy systems – As of yet no real system has been decided on, but until (if) this takes place it has been suggested to point new members in the direction of the welcome wagon members (by use of a link) in pm’s, and say that those people should be around to talk if needed. Or if you don’t mind being there to talk to them say so in the pm e.g. ‘I’m around if you need any help with anything’.

Knowing how to say ‘back off’ if a new member pm’s you too much/ uses you as an agony aunt – perhaps I could make a thread with tips on what to say if this happens to you?

- getting welcome wagoner’s to reply to the newbie thread on main more – a reminder thread has been created in this forum for that.

Other ideas:

Perhaps get something made for welcome wagoner’s signatures. Some kind of icon, picture etc to show involvement in making new members feel welcomed. Kind of like the different buses idea.

I’m still quite keen on pm’ing all members of the WW and asking for their input on why they stopped being active and what they would change if they were able to.

Create a thread full of multiple pm templates for people to use to make pm’ing newbies easier.

Just to say that all ideas are merely that, ideas, and will only be in discussion stages, and may not go ahead.

If I have missed anything please let me know. Any thoughts on what I have said are welcomed, and any ideas are also welcomed.