What do you want to see at DLA

[WWNF911]

Ok guys....

I think some of you may have gotten the wrong impression. I'm not complaining. I have tremendous respect for our CoOp managers, the work that they and their familys do and appreciate it with all my heart. I'm not involved in any CoOps currently nor do I have any desire for any any time soon. (Although I have been known to be enticed  by our fearless leader from time to time. Thankyou RJ!!) 
Just from a "fly on the wall" perspective, and was bringing it up as a matter of discussion because I've noticed it happening more often. Thats all. I have all the notifications, alerts, alalrms, bells, whistles and everything else and do consider myself to be a "serious DLAer". Thankyou very much. Thats not the point.

RJ, you asked what I'd like to see at DLA, not what I'd like to see that was simple or possible.   

And now back to out regularly scheduled programming. 

      

Leon

PS - After carefully reading your post again RJ I have a new found respect for all who manage the CoOps and yes I do realize that DLA is not just about CoOps. Your response was detailed, carefully thought out and explains a lot. Thankyou for taking the time to explain. My intention was only to invoke discussion and to help DLA.  Thanks again.

[shaunkad]

Time to change subjects. I reloaded my browser today and got kicked off all the forums what I did notice was ahuge trend. They all have adds untill you log in. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THIS HERE!

Thank you for reading

Shaun 

[RJ]

Leon,

 I know you do, it was not about anything you said or really any one person at all. It is just topic that has grown old and tired with me over the years. It is a little like showing up late to a free concert in the park and complianing that you had to sit on the grass cause there were not enough chairs avaliable.

There is no solution that will satisfy everyone so I look for the ones that make the coop managers happy while limiting the unhappy members.

You are right I did ask for what you want to see so it really is not off topic.

RJ

[fertsy]

I would like to see a  moderator group for coop managers. What I would like to see this include
is the following;

• Limits for post/PMs removed
• Topics in the forums for advice for new coop managers and perhaps one for an area we can volunteer and talk about future coops. For instance im not sure whats in the plans for the near future, but im ready to run another coop! if there is any time left.

This stuff may be useless I'm not sure, I suppose it would all depend on how it was used.

another thought perhaps would be to run coops for others items such as vampire plugs or FM transmitters.


With all this being said, I want to say a BIG Thank You!

Thanks to every single person on here that has helped troubleshoot, gave advice, ran a coop, wives that tolerated coop's, RJ and his families support and ever single member that makes this place what it is.

Thank you!

[salongaopm]

Another thought?

I am not even sure if its possible since I am not in the loop. But when a coop is getting setup how about a announcement of it and the date it will start. Instead of the coop just showing up in the coops board.

Example Announcement would be: Freestyle Coop starting July 11, 2007 at 7pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)
* Note: I purposely used a previous date *

Rick R.

[therealbigjim]

It is also part of being successful. There are nearly 3000 members....we all can’t be one coop together. It’s a testament to the innovation and the ease of use of the Lynx and other products. They do more for less money than anything I have found. 
It’s kind of like kids at a big toy box, not everyone gets a toy every time....but when you do its fun.   

[JimWright]

I have read all of the above posts with interest and have several comments. I have only been a member of the DLA site since January of this year. Over the last three years, I have been on many different sites for Christmas light animation. I have to say that this is the only site that I have any interest in at this time. I love the discussions and all of the dedicated work done by RJ, the others in “senior” roles, and the coop managers. I also want to mention the great responsiveness of people to questions and problems. It has been a long time since I have seen a group of people work together so well. This is the most useful site of its kind and I hope that the basic setup (rules/structure) never goes away and continues to expand and improve. With that said, I would like to respond to RJ’s initial post and some of the other posts that have come since.

First, I need to say that I love RJ’s question that started this thread: “What can we do to make DLA a better place for the users?”. As I have said, I think that this is already a great place. There are always ways to improve. The following are not in any particular order.

I like the idea of a chat room of some kind. I was sorry to see the original one go. Of course, the money to get it is a problem. And, of course, someone has to moderate it and that is a major problem. If nothing else, it would be great to have more of the big moderated “webcasts” every once in a while. Maybe those could be recorded and placed on line so that others could hear them later - or not.

I do think that the wiki page needs work. For some reason, I find it hard to figure out all of the pieces to each puzzle. There is some over all information available, but it is hard to piece it all together. I do have some specific ideas on this one.

Also, in my humble opinion, I think that the manuals need to be a little more detailed. As an example, one complete manual for each piece of equipment that discusses everything from start to finish (what it does, how to build the hardware, how to program the hardware, how to set the settings (if applicable), how to set it up, how to test it, how to use it, how it fits into the rest of the system, etc.). This would really help the newer, non-technical people with the construction and use of each item. Right now, the information is somewhere on the site, but not in one location. I have wanted to help with something like this, but like Gary above, I was concerned about “stepping on someone’s toes”.

I like the idea of the wiki opening in a new tab. It only takes a very minor change to the html code to do that.

Concerning the coops: I just, by accident, got in on the Aether 2 coop. I am not sure that I can think of a good solution to this one. I agree with RJ that you can’t let the coops get to big or no one will want to run them. I think that all of the reasoning has already been discussed. In general, I think the current coop setup is well done.

I am concerned to read in some of the posts that members are sending RJ, the coop managers, and others, PMs because they are mad for one reason or another. All of the hardware, software, and information on this site is being provided by volunteers. No one has the right to complain (make positive suggestions - yes). This is supposed to be a group of people who get together because of a mutual interest, and work together for everyone’s benefit. And since this blinky flashy is centered around Christmas, we need to remember what this is all about and why we are doing it.


One possible partial solution to the coop concern, and possibly one other concern, is to let members sign up for certain e-mail alerts. The alerts could be for major areas of interest such as new coops, firmware changes, etc. I know this would be an added burden on the management side of things, but it might help.

I am really looking forward to our get together in Florida next year.

I am willing to volunteer to help out in the endeavors. About the only thing that I can’t help with is the board design or firmware development. Everything else, manual writing, picture taking, running a coop, working on the wiki, beta testing and any general help needed to help relieve some of the burden.

Sorry that this got so long.

Jim Wright

PS - Edit: One thing that I forgot last night. I think that it would be great to have the complete manuals in PDF format. It would make it much simpler to download and keep them on my local hard drive. Jim

[WWNF911]

Not sure how I managed to triple post... removed the 2 duplicate.

Thanks for the response RJ.  I would like to talk about this later in chat if youre available and have some time. Hope all is well.

Great post Jim!  BTW, you do have to ability to sign up for email alerts and be notified every time a new CoOp starts. 


Leon

[JimWright]

How do you sign up for e-mail alerts for new coops? I don't seem to find that setting.

[shaunkad]

How do you sign up for e-mail alerts for new coops? I don't seem to find that setting.

go to current coop's aat the bottom of the page it says notify select that thats it emails will be sent to your on file email

[jess_her]

Thank you Jim well written,
Like Jim I also think the info should be more compact, please don't  :-\get me wrong.  Both the forum and Wiki are great. As the equipment and members grow I think it will become harder to navigate. I've try ed to contribute to the betterment of the site but what are the rules.
Jess

[keitha43]

I didn't know about the notify email feature either. I will now be notified by all coops. Does this mean I will get notified of new subjects or all posts in all coops? I guess if it is all posts then my phone would have went crazy during the aether II coop which would have woke me up for sure.

[rrowan]

I didn't know about the notify email feature either. I will now be notified by all coops. Does this mean I will get notified of new subjects or all posts in all coops? I guess if it is all posts then my phone would have went crazy during the aether II coop which would have woke me up for sure.

Just new topics (i.e.: Aether II coop, EtherDongle Coop, etc) to the coop forum not each post in the new topics.

Rick R.

btw: I will have to wear my reading glasses for now on. Seems I sometimes post without them and people get upset with me
example: 100amp supply and LED lights.

[rrowan]

I do think that the wiki page needs work. For some reason, I find it hard to figure out all of the pieces to each puzzle. There is some over all information available, but it is hard to piece it all together. I do have some specific ideas on this one.

Also, in my humble opinion, I think that the manuals need to be a little more detailed. As an example, one complete manual for each piece of equipment that discusses everything from start to finish (what it does, how to build the hardware, how to program the hardware, how to set the settings (if applicable), how to set it up, how to test it, how to use it, how it fits into the rest of the system, etc.). This would really help the newer, non-technical people with the construction and use of each item. Right now, the information is somewhere on the site, but not in one location. I have wanted to help with something like this, but like Gary above, I was concerned about “stepping on someone’s toes”.



Jim Wright

PS - Edit: One thing that I forgot last night. I think that it would be great to have the complete manuals in PDF format. It would make it much simpler to download and keep them on my local hard drive. Jim

Hi Jim

Please PM me or we can start a new topic about the wiki. I am interested in your thoughts about it or anybody thoughts.

I know about the want for a pdf format (P.S. Has anybody notice the left side menu where it says Printable Version?). We started off with a Word/pdf manual and they got stale really quick and while they provide the info needed to assemble a board they were NO where near as nice as the current manuals (i.e.: LE manual) That being said most if not all of the manuals could use some updating. If you see a minor problem or a small update please just make the change. If you think you can totally improve it than PM me and I will create a temporary work area for you to play with.

Just another thing about printed manuals. They are fine while working on the current manual/board but if RJ makes any changes than the are useless to you.

Cheers

Rick R.

[deweycooter]

Depending on the coop manager's preference, I wouldn't mind helping out with the sorting of parts to make his life easier.  It'd be nice if the manager would post their city/state if they're interested in help.