Banjo Hangout - Improvements and Suggestions Forum Feed

For Sale & Wanted Ads Together?

eric@banjohangout.org — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:49:27 CST

Hey Eric.

I search through the Classifieds quite regularly and have a suggestion. How's about separating the For Sales from the Wanted's. I myself don't really need to see the wanted ads if I'm looking to buy parts and such also I believe many others might feel the same way.

Thanks for your time and consideration,Terry.

( I )======'----<::)

New Hangout....

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:29:40 CST

Eric, why not start a New Hangout; Harmonica Hangout....I'm sure there are a lot of really great Harmonica players out there that would be glad to contribute to those of us that would like to play the harmonica along with the Banjo, Guitar,

Maybe a section on Country Harmonica and also some Blues Harmonica for those that play the Guitar...

Just a thought.

Thanks,

YZ Newberry, aka elgato

Tabs On Tabs Off Tabs On Tabs Off Etc......

eric@banjohangout.org — Tue, 8 May 2012 03:39:08 CST

I don't feel it's fair that people who take the time and patience to write and upload tabs onto the Hangout should see them pushed right down the "Newest Tabs" list by people who insist on putting the "same" tabs on then taking them off over and over again, I'd say as well as being very selfish it's bordering on the weird. It's as if they have some kind of compelling urge to be "The Tabwriter" and dismiss other peoples work,... it's needless ,discourteous and as I've already said weird and the person / people should be discouraged from carrying on this practice. and do what everybody else does and just leave them on the Tabs list or Homepage.........simple !

It seems that all forum subjects are wide open for any subject.

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 6 May 2012 11:43:01 CST

I do not wish to be thought of as a whiner/complainer. However, it is becoming more apparent that about any listed forum subject is wide open to post something totally unrelated. A couple of examples: (1) the "playing advice" (Scruggs style) recently featured a long thread on behavior in school;; (2) the "Swap Shop: Buy, Sell, Trade" subject recently had a fairly lengthly discussion about microwave popcorn. It seems now any category is open for discussion of nearly anything. If this continues, why keep headings for certain subjects? I guess it may as well be like facebook, where any subject, no matter how silly, can be discussed.

Best of ZIP files?

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 5 May 2012 18:04:57 CST

From time to time, members want to know what CDs to buy to get a good handle on old time music styles. The BHO jukebox is a great resource, but it's overwhelming.

My idea is to compile about 50 or so good-to-excellent recordings of common old time tunes, and make them available as a ZIP download. I'd spend some time and make sure the MP3 tags are correct (including player, of course). I'd make this available as a free download from my own web site.

My question: Is this allowed? I think it is, since members voluntarily posted the materials. And most would probably welcome the additional exposure. So when a newbie asks, "what CDs should I buy to get familiar with common clawhammer banjo tunes," he/she can be told to download this ZIP file.

Better yet... Take this idea and run with it. Expand it to bluegrass and other styles, and host the downloads at BHO. Call it "Best of xxxx," where xxx is old time banjo solos, old time string band, bluegrass solos, Irish tunes... etc. Obviously, the Playlist feature kind of covers this, but it's not possible to download all of the tracks in a playlist. Each genre and sub-genre could have a member responsible for keeping their respective "best of" up to date.

Open for discussion.

E-Bay Banjo Spammer

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 5 May 2012 09:00:52 CST

I have compiled screen captures of 7 instruments which have been used by the "Banjo Spammer" as bait on hijacked E-Bay accounts on multiple occasions. In many of these cases, I have e-mails from the legitimate account owner, confirming that his/her account was hijacked. Is there a way to post these permanently somewhere on this site, so that the group can consult a file of known frauds?

inlay group

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 4 May 2012 15:00:51 CST

Is there a hangout inlay group?

Good Deal

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 4 May 2012 09:29:30 CST

I was thinking it might be interesting to allow members to "like" or mark classified ads. Have a little box next to each one to click if you think its a good deal. Sorting by rating would also be nice if this were to happen.

How do I find the location of the winning name for the drawings?

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 3 May 2012 17:57:18 CST

This is my first D.A.Q. to the forum. Every month I spend untold time hunting for whom-ever won the contest > Why isn't it more easily found? Guess I have old timers and can't seem to locate it. Today I have finally totally given up! Is it possible I am the only hopeful winner but will never know? Seriously, what's the possibility of a link from main page directly to a (ugh....) place that stores all the winners each month?

Al W6GSQ

Video genres.

eric@banjohangout.org — Tue, 1 May 2012 20:11:24 CST

I'm sure it's been pointed out before, but it bears repeating. When selecting a style for one's video, one of the choices is "classical." There may be people who play transcriptions of the great classical masters, but not too many. There was a style of banjo popular in the 1890's and still played today, now called "Classic" style. Classical and Classic are not the same. There is no "Classic" choice when posting a video. It's sort of dissatisfying to choose "other." It would be nice to have the marvelous "Classic" style acknowledged.

Also, there is no "Minstrel" choice. "Minstrel" style is growing in popularity but still microscopic in overall terms of popularity. Perhaps the term "minstrel" is problematic (understandable). "Stroke-style" is a recognizable sub-genre of "clawhammer." It would be swell to be able to label your video "stroke-style" after many hours of hard work with the Briggs or Buckley or Rice or Converse method books. ;^}

Does this bug you guys…?

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:09:02 CST

Does this bug you?: People who join the Banjo Hangout solely for the reason of finding out how much the banjo they: found in the attic, inherited, bought at garage sale, etc is worth. Many have not used the search function nor looked at eBay to get a clue. After getting their question answered, they never post again. I have actually answered these people, but now I'm wondering how you all feel.

One of the other music boards discourages these type of questions until the person has spent some time using the search function. Perhaps if we are using our experience and time to answer these questions (especially the stupid ones) maybe the person should agree to let us have first "dibs" on buying the banjo.

New Forum Category?

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:02:46 CST

Just floating the idea here of creating a new forum category called something like "Performances, Upcoming or Reviews & comments".

Performance threads have a limited audience because they are regional or have limited interest based on tastes. These threads quickly get buried in the other forums, and they show up in a wide spectrum of topics. Being able to find what is coming up in your area, or how a particular concert or show was perceived would be a really nice feature. This is where festival reports and reviews could reside, as well as special performances. The stuff that is out there in the web world is so hard to find and compile.

Anyway, it's just a thought.

Tom

Gift cards for workshops

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:07:50 CST

Eric, is there a way to buy a gift card for members here in the BHO for workshops? I would like to pay for a workshop for a friend and was wondering if there could be some kind of gift card payment plan. If not then how would I enroll a friend with there name in the workshop and me paying for it? Thanks...Oscar

Newest and Most Popular Topics

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:32:29 CST

When you visit BHO, before signing in, you get "Newest Topic" and "Most Popular" forum topics going on, but this screen disappears once you sign in - or if you choose one of these current topics you can't return to this page after signing in. "Active Topics" is quite small in comparison to this initial screen showing newest and most popular forum topics. Would there be a way to link the page you see when you arrive at the BHO site, and change "Active Topics" to "Newest and Most Popular Topics?"

Search by Forum Area?

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:35:49 CST

Is it possible to search just within one forum area? For example; Search for the term Vega only within the "Playing Advice: Clawhammer and Old-Time Styles" area.

This type of search would be very helpful. Thank you.

Directory of area jams

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:11:49 CST

It would be handy if there were a source of jams in particular areas pickers could look up. I live in a fairly unpopulated area of the country. Maybe some sort of a map would be something that would work. Just a thought, thanks!

Forum topic= music happenings/bands playing,e vents, and so on.

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:14:23 CST

Could you have a forum where people post music events and jams and get-togethers? thanks. Annie

Two "Post Changes" buttons

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:34:21 CST

When editing a post, there are two "post changes" buttons - one to the lower left, which works, and the other below that and centered, which also works but gives a scary message (at least in Internet Explorer) about navigating away from the page and the changes will be lost. Why the redundancy and deception?

Same situation for posting new topics.

Jukebox Never Plays

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 9 Apr 2012 03:54:57 CST

I can never get the Jukebox to start playing, does anyone else have the same problem......can I rectify it myself ?

Points/$ available to "likes"

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 8 Apr 2012 11:35:26 CST

I may be fun to experiment with a point/$ system, related to the likes a person gets, that allows you to purchase different parts or even a brand new banjo, all virtual of course. You could have a virtual store with banjo parts you save up for, eventually you could own a number of BHO virtual banjos.

My requests

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 2 Apr 2012 13:59:06 CST

1. The chat doesn't work on linux. I develop all sorts of java web start stuff myself, and java web start works fine here... so it must be that the chat is trying to use some activex control or something like that. Don't...

2. I can't seem to see any keyword box to do a search of the classifieds. This seems like a really, really glaring omission to me. If I want to search classifieds, then I have to to the search box in the top left corner, and select classifieds from the combo box. However, when I do this, I can't filter any search results to even anything simple like "active only" ads, so it doesn't show me expired/removed ads from years ago. Does this box not exist on this site, or does it just not show up on linux/firefox?

What changed?

eric@banjohangout.org — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:38:38 CST

I read the Trayvon Martin 15-page topic.

What changed that actually resulted in its being locked?
Seems to me everything after page 3 is the exact same stuff as on page 15 so I'd like to know what changed.

I personally would have shut it down after the first post, but that's only because I think if you have written rules, you either follow them (it's a political topic period) or you don't (change the stated rules which is what I keep suggesting).

WHAT CHANGED BETWEEN PAGES 11 AND 15?

That way I'll know what sorts of topics I can actually start safely in the Off-Topic section.

Hangout Podcasts on Apple TV

eric@banjohangout.org — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:13:10 CST

My Apple TV updated last night and I noticed that they've added a Podcast category. Lo and behold all the Hangout sites have audio podcasts. Didn't know it was coming and have seen no mention on any of the hangout sites. Will we be seeing video soon?

Bruce

Classifieds Search by Price

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:15:33 CST

Rather than having to look through all the postings in Classifieds, it would great if a person could enter a price range, or a maximum price, and get a list of all the banjos for sale in that range. Although it's fun being on the hunt, too.

Jukebox player skin

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:25:50 CST

Can we get a player skin with a volume control, please?
I don't understand why some flash skin makers think it's a good idea to leave out a volume control.

Bonus if we can get one that doesn't have 2 pause buttons.

It should be "Three Finger", Not Bluegrass/Scruggs Style

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:41:12 CST

The category Bluegrass, Scruggs styles is too limiting and misleading. There are other styles within bluegrass - Melodic and Single String to name the two most popular. Also, why plural? There is only ONE Scruggs style, and BTW, it can be used for other genera besides bluegrass.

IMO, the category should be re-named Three-Finger Styles, or maybe there should even be three separate new categories: Scruggs Style, Melodic Style and Single String Style, and even yet a fourth category: Other Three-Finger Styles? It may be arguable whether Single String is a legitimate style or just a technique...however Scruggs and Melodic are definitely accepted "styles". If we are going this far, why not a Plectrum Style and a Classical Style category? Dixieland jazz? Two-Finger Style? Brush Style? Plectrum style is basically single string style played with a flat pick, and Classical style incorporates almost all of the other styles, even use of four fingers on all four strings and tremolo. Just because some of these styles are not currently as popular as Bluegrass or Clawhammer does not mean they do not warrant their own category on BH. Creating the discussions may pique the curiosity of some and sway them into trying these styles they may never have heard of, and thusly provide a service to the banjo playing community.

Jump to bottom

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:29:35 CST

The full site is best, but I do like to browse the Hangout from my phone occasionally. I find myself working hard to scroll to the bottom of topics I've read before in order to get to the new content. A link to jump to the bottom or to the first post I haven't read would help, for the mobile site if not the full site also.

Also on the mobile site, the post entry textbox doesn't seem to shrink down to the screen size.

Delete locked threads

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 9 Mar 2012 20:28:37 CST

If a thread gets locked, it's because the material isn't up to standards on BHO. Then it should be deleted or removed, so that no one can read the thread. If it's not worth keeping on BHO, it's worth deleting. For example, the "What is Earl Scruggs up to" thread was deemed derogatory by the moderator, and I agree, but was upset people can still read that thread. With respect to Mr Scruggs and the other people involved, it should be deleted.

"Hover" pop up view...

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 8 Mar 2012 11:36:41 CST

Suggestion from another forum I haunt (a recumbent bicycle forum called "'bentrider online" http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/forumdisplay.php?f=2 ):

In the forum itself, if one hovers their pointer over any given topic, a small popup window appears with the text of the original post...not the whole thing, but about 7 or 8 lines of text. This allows one a quick shot of what the topic is really about (esp. since many topics get 'mystery' subjects). I have found that little feature to be quite the neat idea...and it keeps me from having to open those mystery topics just to find it is something I'm not interested in.

Moderators

eric@banjohangout.org — Wed, 7 Mar 2012 21:14:00 CST

How do we know who the Mod is on the thread you are on. If you ask thru the " Report to Moderator" function they never answer. Would be nice when things start disappearing and changing.....you know who's doing it. Also, if you request the "Mod on Duty" to respond,,,,,shouldn't they?

Stars and Member Ratings

eric@banjohangout.org — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 12:38:24 CST

I just posted enough comments to become an Average Member and have 3 Stars, but there ain't no more member ratings and stars. I guess I'm a day late and a dollar short. Oh well.

threads with many "likes"

eric@banjohangout.org — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 09:54:58 CST

There are different little icons next to a thread which shows if it is:

-new
-old
-has 20 or more replies
-locked

It would be neat if there was a new icon to show if there were a certain number of "likes" given in the thread.

-matt

"recent additions" to hangout

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 5 Mar 2012 18:26:05 CST

This is just a question, not really a suggestion. The number of my recent additions to the hangout goes up whenever I post in the forums, obvious enough. But it never seems to go down if I haven't posted in a few days or even a week. Seems to me it used to go down, as I'd expect if it referred to a certain number of days past. But now it just goes up. How many days does it refer to as "recent"?

clickable

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 09:56:40 CST

When I posted a link in my posts in the past they would get put in the post in a 'clickable' form. Now if I post a link it's not clickable anymore. I must've missed one of the changes along the way. Can someone please tell me how to put a link in a post that's clickable ? Thanks.

Ray

Tapatalk

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 1 Mar 2012 14:33:43 CST

I'd love to see Tapatalk access added to the forums. I find myself using my Blackberry for forum browsing a lot these days, and BHO is the only forum I regularly visit that isn't Tapatalk enabled.

Prevent photo copying

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 1 Mar 2012 06:00:06 CST

Can photos provided by sellers be protected against copying? It's too easy for a scammer to copy hangout photos and place an ad somewhere else claiming those photos as their own.

I'd like the member ranking back

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:46:03 CST

Eric when you first made the changes to the information under the avatar I thought that's ok don't need that information, well I've since changed my mind. There are a lot of new names showing up some are folks that just changed their screen name and more that are new to the HO which is great. When I post a question I've always looked at the people that respond as well as the response, I know how many times you've posted is not a good indication of your knowledge of my question but I feel it helpful knowing how long you've been around and possibly know more then me. Larry

Mp3 auto play

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:51:24 CST

What about the idea of when you click on a thread it automatically opens and plays the mp3 in question...i often notice that the times a thread is 'read" to actual plays of the song differ greatly...

just an idea.

Birthday list?

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:16:42 CST

I wonder if there would be any interest in showing a daily list of BHO folks whose birthday it is (or restricted to folks on one's friend list, perhaps) similar to the Facebook notifications. The only purpose, of course, would be to extend felicitations.

BTW, Birthday wishes to all of you readers of this whose birthday it may be today!

Cheers,
ZEPP

Sticky the Backing Tracks

eric@banjohangout.org — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:46:10 CST

This thread is a great resource thanks to the hard work of Mark Beck (Beckyboy). It would be an excellent sticky in the Playing advice-Scruggs Style forum.

http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/218356

Drawing Entry

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:36:26 CST

Eric this is more a question then a improvement but why when you enter the drawing are you taken to the page asking for email address of three friends. Can't you add another box you can check if you want to go there, make it an option for us that never use it. I guess I'm just really getting lazy and don't want to click anymore then I have to. Larry

Beginner Catagory

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:40:05 CST

I think it would be nice if the beginner had their own catagory. Currently there are 36 pages in the Scruggs section on a beginners topic.

Archives - More Accessible

eric@banjohangout.org — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:12:53 CST

Hi Eric...

I was wondering if there was a way that the archive posts could be made more accessible. I am thinking by year and with a dedicated search option.

I would dearly like to look back to some of the earliest posts on the Hangout, see what sort of things were being discussed. There must be some great posts buried in those early archives it seems such a shame that they are rarely accessed.

Eric, here's a suggestion for the "to do" list

eric@banjohangout.org — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:49:25 CST

I recently got an iPad - sure makes it easier to keep up with the BHO shenanigans while on the road.

Two things I've noticed. First, if you reply with quotes to a message in a thread, you see all the HTML tags. It sure would be nice if the quote looked the same as it does from other machines; it would make it easier to select the relevant passage of a quote, rather than the whole thing (might save a tetch of bandwidth, too...?

The other is more significant. I've noticed that when hitting the "enter" or "return" key with the idea of creating a paragraph break, the Hangout doesn't recognize it as same. This has resulted in several posts showing as one long graf as opposed to several shorter, easier-to-read ones.

Would be nice to see a modification in that regard.

Problem with "email this member"

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:00:04 CST

I was trying to use the funstion to send an email to a memebr in the classified on 2 different items and members and both time got an error. Then I tried to send a private message to a member and got the same message. Ami I doing something wrong, or is there a problem?

Tom

Banjo terminology glossary?

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:37:54 CST

Does one exist already? If not, what are the chances of one being constructed to be a forum feature?

There is so much terminology that goes straight over a newcomers head, it would be nice to have a reference page for terms used within the banjo community. Might reduce the need for countless questions from newbies asking what this means and what that means.

We could have an ongoing thread that members could contribute to and the list could be at the top, updated as suggestions come in?

Just a thought.

Calv.

Banjo terminology glossary?

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:34:08 CST

Hi all,

Just a thought after reading dixiedawg80's new thread, is there already, or is there any chance of a glossary or banjo terminology being constructed here on the forum?

There is so much that goes straight over a newcomers head, it might reduce the need for posts asking what this means and what that means. Whilst the list is being constructed members could add suggestions to it.

Just a thought.

Calv.

Has anyone ever suggested this one?

eric@banjohangout.org — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:24:35 CST

The emails that notify you that a thread to which you are subscribed has received another post....why can't they just tell you what the post said? When I'm following a thread, I find myself clicking on the email, then loading the website just to read one comment. I realize this drives more traffic to the website (which is a good thing for the website itself), but it'd sure save some time if I could just read the post from my email....especially when I'm checking from my phone.

Has this been suggested/tried before?

Search result sorting

eric@banjohangout.org — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 14:01:59 CST

It would be nice to be able to sort search results by date.

blocker?

eric@banjohangout.org — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:19:30 CST

What has happened to the banjo Hangout guys? There seems to be two teams, One dubbed the posers and the other the Praise Scruggs Crowd. From what I can tell it all stems from one member (the name of whom escapes me) blasting his poor opinion of Earl Scruggs and his playing across the hangout, in what was to be perfectly honest a mis-guided and ignorant rant. Understandably many many other members were offended by the comments and bit into the argument which has since spiralled into a legnthy, tedious and at times, frankly, pathetic argument. It is easy to come up with the generic "don't read it" answer but is easier said than done when as I said I have friends on both sides who's disgruntled post constantly pop up in my friend feed. It is also clear that the agree to disagree policy is not going to work. There is talk of the hangout being sued and various other horror stories. Is there no way we could have a block feature applied to the hangout essentially so neither side can see the posts made by the other? Please please do not take offence to this post I'm trying my best to come up with a reasonable solution to this horrible state of affairs.