Plans for the ATX Community

[Eric]

I've been away on vacation for a while, in a place with no cell phone service or internet connection.  Just a lake, kayaks, hammocks, and books. It's been a nice break.

KC and Judy and I had discussed closing down the politics forum some time ago.  Now it's gone (I'll delete the forum itself soon) but I'd like to replace it with something else eventually.

I thought it'd be more beneficial for this community to have a place to discuss more no-tax topics.  Right now, I think General Chat has a comfortable balance of Tax and Non-Tax related posts... but that balance is what keeps me from posting much, since I don't have anything tax related to contribute.  My feeling is that I would share more NT stuff if there were a dedicated forum for it and I think other people might too.

I'd like to shoot for an Off Topic forum that focuses on more personal/friendly threads.  Talk about your kids/grandkids.  Post photos.  Post articles / videos about subjects that you find interesting.  A recent example I really enjoyed was Catherine's post about Fibonacci numbers / the golden ratio. 

There are plenty of places to argue about politics.  We have a good community here and I would personally prefer to grow this community in a more positive way.  I'm really hoping that our members have more varied interests than just politics, and I'm hoping that people will share those interests here so that everyone can get to know each other beyond their political views.

I don't have a timeline for these changes.  There is a very big forum upgrade on the way--I've been doing beta testing on and off for the past few months, reporting bugs, and testing fixes.  The changes will be significant, and so I'd like to lump that upgrade with the forum changes and do it all at once.  There is no timeline for the release of the new version, but it's looking pretty polished at this point and I can't imagine that it'd be more than a few months away.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

[Eric]

Also, I plan on having a post count requirement to view the new forum.  It will be invisible to the public, and even new members won't see it until they have created a few posts.

 

The Off Topic forum will therefore not be crawlable by search engines or spam bots or anything/anyone else that isn't a contributing member of the community.

[Gail in Virginia]

Eric, that sounds nice.  Truthfully, some of the political posts were getting so mean-spirited, IMO, that I was about ready to quit visiting this site altogether.  (It was kind of like a train wreck - I could not NOT look, LOL.)  I too enjoyed the post about Fibonacci numbers - I love any post where I learn something completely new.  And I like the pictures of people's kids, dogs, cats etc.  The idea of keeping it "private" is very appropriate!

 

And I am glad that you took a vacation where you got away from it all.  Maybe you can start the new forum off with a peaceful picture of your idyllic vacation spot!

[kcjenkins]

Sounds really good to me.  I like the idea that you have to 'earn' admission by contributing to the tax board, too.  Maybe change the name General Chat to Tax Chat?  How would new members learn of the Private Chat forum?  

[Eric]

Eric, that sounds nice.  Truthfully, some of the political posts were getting so mean-spirited, IMO, that I was about ready to quit visiting this site altogether.  (It was kind of like a train wreck - I could not NOT look, LOL.)  I too enjoyed the post about Fibonacci numbers - I love any post where I learn something completely new.  And I like the pictures of people's kids, dogs, cats etc.  The idea of keeping it "private" is very appropriate!

 

And I am glad that you took a vacation where you got away from it all.  Maybe you can start the new forum off with a peaceful picture of your idyllic vacation spot!

 

I'm a private person, so I'm hoping that keeping the new forum locked down is something most people will agree on.  I do have some good photos from our camp; I'll post a few to get things started once the new forum is in place.  I wish I had taken my whole camera bag full of lenses with me--the one lens I had is better suited for portraits.  Even so, I got a decent photo of a bald eagle grabbing a fish out of the water right in front of the camp.  

 

 

Sounds really good to me.  I like the idea that you have to 'earn' admission by contributing to the tax board, too.  Maybe change the name General Chat to Tax Chat?  How would new members learn of the Private Chat forum?  

 

My thought is that new members won't know about it until they hit the magic post count, which wouldn't be very high.  I'd prefer not to have any trace of it visible to the public. 

 

Personally, I don't care if there are a few NT posts mixed in like they currently are, so we'll have to figure out if it'll stay that way or not.

[Catherine]

I like the idea - while I love the NT topics, it does make it harder sometimes to find that tax topic you ignored yesterday but is suddenly pertinent after today's phone call.  

 

I just got back from a one-week bike trip with Gwen in the NY finger lakes region.  Haven't even off-loaded the pics from my camera (just a digital point-n-shoot; no fancy lenses at all) and will share a couple of good photos with people here.  That's exactly the sort of thing a non-tax, hidden forum would be perfect for.

 

Also *really* like the private part and post count requirement.  

 

And I was glad to hear that folks liked the Fibonacci number videos.  There are SO many totally cool things out there to share - that have nothing to do with taxes.

[michaelmars]

I like the idea - while I love the NT topics, it does make it harder sometimes to find that tax topic you ignored yesterday but is suddenly pertinent after today's phone call.  

 

I just got back from a one-week bike trip with Gwen in the NY finger lakes region.  Haven't even off-loaded the pics from my camera (just a digital point-n-shoot; no fancy lenses at all) and will share a couple of good photos with people here.  That's exactly the sort of thing a non-tax, hidden forum would be perfect for.

 

Also *really* like the private part and post count requirement.  

 

And I was glad to hear that folks liked the Fibonacci number videos.  There are SO many totally cool things out there to share - that have nothing to do with taxes.

i see you like the post count idea but you know the level will be set at 4,000 so you have some more postings to do!!!!  /s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s

 

 

Actually Catherine, your n/t posts are some of my favorite.

[jklcpa]

Actually Catherine, your n/t posts are some of my favorite.

 

 

Mine as well.

[jklcpa]

Also *really* like the private part and post count requirement.  

 

 

I participate in another forum, not business related, and it has a private section that works very well for those subjects or private photos that we want to keep from anyone other than members. Like Eric is planning, it is also hidden from the search engines and bots.

 

I hope this new addition will give us the opportunity to get to know one another better and will make for a friendlier place that people want to come back to.      

[kcjenkins]

And I was glad to hear that folks liked the Fibonacci number videos.  There are SO many totally cool things out there to share - that have nothing to do with taxes.

totally agree.  This is one of those.  "How to make a clarinet from a carrot"

 

Edited August 15, 2014 by jklcpa
link wasn't working. Found the same one on youtube

[jklcpa]

Linsey Pollak is totally cool. Google his name and watch him make clarinets from other household objects. The curly garden hose is a fun one:

 

[kcjenkins]

Thanks for fixing the link, Judy.  

[Eric]

Mr Curly makes me wish I knew how to play a clarinet.

[SFA]

I've been off our site for a few weeks--mostly because of working some long hours. Sometimes the combination of taxes and politics just gets a little too intense. I have some pretty strong political ideas of my own. It was hard to like someone on the general chat forum, then see another side of their personality on the politics forum that totally changed my perception of them--sometimes in a negative way. So I just didn't go there.

 

I am interested in coming to this site and leaving feeling a little better, a little richer for the experience. These changes will be a refreshing upgrade.

[taxxcpa]

Very little in the way of political beliefs would make me dislike a person, even if I totally disagreed with them.   I am conservative on most issues, but I don't dislike a person just because he is a liberal (unless he is an elected official).

[BulldogTom]

I never go anywhere but the general chat.  Most of the posters like to post links and I don't click on them, regardless of how neat they sound.  I think I went to the political forum 2 times total.  I like most of the people on this board, and I have met a couple of them.  I think the "NT" in front of the post has worked well and keeping the political attacks off this board has worked well.

 

I am for whatever you want to do Eric.  It is all good to me.  But I will pretty much stay right here in General Chat. 

 

But whatever you do, keep this board.  It is my lifesaver at times.  And let us know if we are not contributing enough.  I hit the donate button once a year, but if that is not enough, let me know.  I will be happy to contribute more.

 

I Love You Man!  I have a bromance for you.

 

Just don't tell my wife.

 

Tom

Hollister, CA

[Eric]

[Eric]

Well... I was going to wait and do all of the forum changes at once, but since I don't have any time frame for the software updates, I figured I should put the new forum up early.

 

I'll likely make changes later, I just put this together quickly to have something available.  

[Lloyd Hudson]

No opinion. Just keep the  forum open. I  read it a lot during tax season to learn things to avoid.

[Lloyd Hudson]

Also, I plan on having a post count requirement to view the new forum.  It will be invisible to the public, and even new members won't see it until they have created a few posts.

 

The Off Topic forum will therefore not be crawlable by search engines or spam bots or anything/anyone else that isn't a contributing member of the community.

what is a "post count"?

Unless I have specific knowledge I seldom post anything.

[jklcpa]

what is a "post count"?

Unless I have specific knowledge I seldom post anything.

 

Lloyd, the post count is the # of posts you've made and shows up at the left below your name and avatar.  It will probably be a pretty low #, only to make sure that new users are legit real people that are tax professionals that should be participating here, not just the spammers that we sometimes get.  If you can already see the new private forum, you don't need to worry about the post count.

[windmill]

I also seldom post, but read nearly every day during tax season, looking for the hot topics and answers to tax questions

[kcjenkins]

I'm sure 110 posts is well over the minimum required.  

[Jack from Ohio]

Hmmm.... Wonder if I have enough....

[michaelmars]

Hmmm.... Wonder if I have enough....

Depends if its the quantity or quality of the posts!!!  [just kidding Jack] [i mean /s/s/s/s/s/s]