Proposed New Rules

[skip]

The results will be shown after the poll has run for a couple of weeks.

[sergio]

i'm sorry but I don't agree with the 5-post rule. I try to post as much as I can, and I get frustrated when I post a question and it doesn;t get answered, so to a certain extent it's good. However, wouldn't it lead to people posting a lot of BS just to avoid getting kicked out of the forum ? If people have nothing to say, it's better not posting than posting a lot of rubbish lol. Anyway, that's my two cents. Great forum though, I'd hate to see it put down.

[skip]

Sergio,

Thanks for your comments. Whatever the outcome, we certainly don't want to take the forum down/offlline. Yes there may be a tendancy to post BS, that's something that has occured to me, but we've also noticed from the stats that when there are no new posts, people log in and log straight off.

Once you read something once, you aren't really going to go back to it unless you need to reference a tip or a technique. So new posts are important to keep the forum alive. We need to encourage those in the forum and those in general who fish in Malta to be more open about discussing things. It seems for many years, fishing in Malta and how it should be done has been kept a secret by those who do it, for fear that others will 'steal their fish'. From a non-commercial perspective I really dont' see this being the case!

The results will be shown at the end of the poll, and we'll go with whatever the majority prefers.

Skip

[twoutes]

I don't think that it would take much effort to be a little more active. Even if comments where left on a post, it would not be difficult to accumalate 5 posts over a 3 month period. I think it would make things a little more interesting. I think its a little harsh though if members were dropped for not having an opinion. I understand that the 'forom commitee' would like to see the forum flurish, but, you don't want people to just enter any old thing just for the sake of it.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out

[skip]

We will certainly evaluate on the 5th of July and see how we can best accomodate everyone. Certainly if people have some alternative suggestions, they are always welcome to post them

skip

[ColinD]

I will explain why I personally am against any such rule and hope you will not mind if I include some other information/requests.
I am a features writer/photographer for a uk sea angling magazine 'Boat Fishing Monthly' and during my visit to Malta in early October 07 hope to put together a featrure on boat fishing in Maltese waters (particularly lampuki hence the timing of my visit). I also hope to visit a fish farm for a feature on bass/guilt head bream farming (farming these species help to reduce the pressure on our wild stocks).
By closely following the forum I can gain a good insight into fishing within Maltese waters and the anglers who participate, hence my request for continued access to the forum.

I visit Malta every two to three years and in the past have had features published including a profile of Josef Camilleri, his Mister Fish tackle shops and his Mister Fisherman TV series. Another feature was following a Selima shore competition organised by the Malta Section of EFSA. Winds on each visit prevented any boat fishing.

During my visit in October 07 I am hoping someone will allow me to follow a fishing trip on theor boat with my camera and notebook at hand.

Your web site and forum has supplied me with a great deal og information already, long may access continue. Many Thanks and Tight Lines.

[skip]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your interesting post on your work. Whilst we appreciate members who come to read and learn as many do, we also feel that in order to make the forum an interesting place for all, participation is needed by those involved. My fear is that if nobody posts, people will no longer visit, the regulars who do post will lose interest and ultimately the forum will lose its appeal and close down.

We have already noticed this trend, with less and less people coming online, people registering, logging in to read for an hour or so and never returning. I admit that perhaps I should have conducted a poll first as opposed to the manner in which this proposed new rule was done, we live and learn!

Currently I am running this forum and covering the annual costs of hosting myself, for the second year running. To go out to some sponsors requires a member base, without this they won't be interested as there would be little or no exposure for them. For the third year if we don't find this minimal sponsorship then things will have to change.

As I have no intention of running this forum as a dictatorship, I am taking into account everybody's comments, both positive and negative and will let the poll reinforce this. So far no one has been denied access and I have no intention of doing this until we have as many ppl's feedback as possible. We may strike a compromise and have something like 5 posts a year as some felt that 20 posts per year per member was too high.

We've also not yet managed to meet in person with members, so perhaps the time is right to have that meeting and make a final decision there, but for those who aren't in Malta or wouldn't be able to attend, I would still want to hear their views.

Skip

[placebo]

hello,
you can come in my small 14 foot boat if u like for no charges.
We can do a lot of port fishing.

cu

Adrian....

[ColinD]

Thanks for the offer Adrian, I'll make contact via your email address.

Colin D.

[placebo]

pls email me on adnels@di-ve.com

cu

adrian...

[kempy]

while fishing today in birzebbuga i saw to asian looking looking guys swimming from boat to boat looking in side they went on 6 different boats that i saw .... pls ensure every thing is secure

[skip]

Given how the results are pretty close, I think we will implement 5 posts a year as opposed to every 3 months, which certainly everyone can manage. I think this is a very fair compromise.

[kempy]

its your call site has been running very well these past few weeks so well done on that keep up the good work

[dcassar]

Hey Skip...

I think the 5 post a year is a good choice - I used to Mod a mobile phone forum in the U.K. and we tried everything you can think of to get people to post - but no matter what you do you end up with a handful of your subscribers submitting the bulk of your posts.  The only time we got everyone to post is buy limiting access to the download section - but then we were just getting a lot of junk posts.

The people who DO post in this forum do so because of their love of fishing and their thirst for more knowledge to get better at it.  If others just want to tag along for the ride let it be...

djc

[twoutes]

Well Put DJC!!!! And yes, The forum has had lots more activity lately....So well done Skip for stirring things up. Hopefully we will get some new members contributing as well.