Hi all-

I've been going through the forums and re-evaluating which I should close due to inactivity and which to keep. Which do you see never being revived?

Also, while closing some down, I'd like to open a Filter Forge Forum, but wanted to hear your thoughts. What do you think?

Let us know and thanks so much!

Yes.

I file against. Are there really enough forumites who use it?
It seems like it would be EXPONENTIALLY better to make a "2D Texture Creating Programs" forum that includes Genetica, Mapzone, and Neo Texture Edit, along with the texture filters of 2D paint programs like Photoshop and GIMP. I would vote yes for that.

Would close:

New Poser users help (Would put all this in the Poser forum, its annoying to check so many places. Stuff posted here could be just as useful for experienced users.)

Newbie corner (Should post in the regular forums, since that is where the people that can help them hang out. And people don't/shouldn't mind helping them)

Suggestion box (Should be replaced with a forum called Website feedback)

Premium tutorials (Not really sure what it even means that its "Premium", Maybe just put them with the normal tutorials)

Modo

Mojoworld

UVMapper (Seems way to product specific and that is not to have a go at the product, but think rather than making a whole forum for it, as im not even sure how many people are actually able to provide help for it. It might be better to make a place for free tools like UVmapper, Gimp etc. so people can go one place and quickly get a good overview of different programs that might be useful.)

Wings 3D

Z-brush (Seems to only be the moderator posting there and honestly there are some very good forums for Z-brush already. And think most people use it in collaboration with Poser/Daz, so they seem to post in those forums anyway. But for anyone modelling "fresh" content i doubt this is the first place the go.)

Marketplace showcase

Contest announcements

Fractals (Most likely)

Html and Web scripting

Macintosh (Don't think the phrase "Macintosh" is even used by apple anymore, at least not when i worked for them, besides that it seems misplaced.)

Mixed medium (Hard to see a use for this with a forum for almost any program/method ;D)

Texturing (Seems to be done in program specific forums anyway)

The CSS

Beta testing

Collaborative film group

The market place wishing well (I dont think a lot of vendors check it or even would consider making products based on it. Maybe if it worked in another way. But I doubt its very useful for either the wish makers or the vendors)

Vendor workshop (Seems everything is being done in the Vendors support forum anyway.)

We cannot close the Newbie Forum as this forum was created not too long ago for the new members as they get overwhelmed with posting to the regular forum. Some of the information is not relevant to users that have been around for awhile and get lost in the regular forums.

The New Poser forum was created because more experienced Poser users would jump on the new users when they asked a question.

Members use the suggestion forum and we have some good ideas that get posted there sometimes. We monitor that forum and keep a sheet with all the suggestions for discussion.

We have vendors that use the Marketplace Showcase forum for displaying products that are coming out soon so since it is getting used, it would not be good to take it away from them.

3D-Mobster posted at 3:43PM Wed, 10 February 2016 - #4254299

Would close: ...> Fractals (Most likely) ...

But... I just got here!

As a staff member over at Fractalforums.com, I hope that particular forum stays. There is cross-over between 3D Stuff and Fractals. We get a lot of interest in Fractal Generators that export obj files, and various ways to force the ones that do not export them into giving output which can be used to create them.

I'm too new here to know much about the others, but I can say that a lot of them could be merged - seems like a lot of sections on that home page.

But... I just got here!

Im sorry :D

The reason i wrote (most likely) is because i dont know that much about fractals, I find it fascinating so it was more based on forum activity :D But i think you illustrate it well with your link to a specialize fractal forum with a lot of activity regarding this and guess a lot of people interested or working with fractals are on your forum. My concern is that with the amount of forums on Renderosity things get lost or inactive. I mean if you look at the fractal forum, its very inactive which i think is a shame, because looking at some of the things you can do with it, its amazing. But the only way you can really show what fractals can be used for or present it to users to how this can be integrated with the other 3d tools they use, is if you have to post in the other forums. Because the chance is that this information is lost in the fractal forum, and as you stated you get a lot of interest regarding how fractals can be exported to obj files. But looking at the fractal forum here on Renderosity it doesn't seem like the interest is posted there.

So i agree with you that a restructure of the forums is needed, so these things are available and useful for people and fractals should maybe be combined with something else to make it more visible to people.

Because what is the point of moderating if there is nothing to moderate?

The New Poser forum was created because more experienced Poser users would jump on the new users when they asked a question.

Im sorry to say it, but that is not a valid reason i think. If experienced users are jumping at people asking basic question then there is a problem with your users. Also experience is a grade, even those that see them self as experienced, might be "noobs" in the eyes of someone more experienced, so what prevent those at having a go on them?

And you can keep asking that question, so if that is such a huge problem that you have to make "special" forums for people, you really have to sort this out, i think. Besides that you could make a sticky or a beginners guide, where all the most basic questions are collected and answered. Like:

How do i make cloth follow my figure?

How do i setup a dynamic cloth simulation in Poser?

And you either make a link to these beginners guide when a user register, which is a good service and give them a good experience straight away or you could do both. Also the more experienced users could refer to this guide rather than having a go at them.

We have vendors that use the Marketplace Showcase forum for displaying products that are coming out soon so since it is getting used, it would not be good to take it away from them.

I see your point, but i have to disagree. Looking at the forum there are 2 posts and the last one is made the 29 january announcing the release of a product, meaning that its already available on the marketplace. Besides that it have 7 views. The other one is made the 18. jan and have 13 views. I like that you don't want to remove that option from vendors, but i would say that the numbers speaks for them self how effective or useful this is, both in regards to the users and the vendors. When comparing to reducing amount of forums, i would get rid of it. The main way for vendors to show or promote there products are through the product page, so if you want vendors to have better options for presenting them and viewers to get information about them, this is the place to do it, i think.

Rather than delete some sections, I'd suggest making "child forums" for many things. You don't need to overcrowd the home page with every section.

Fractals are worth giving them a second chance.

Brotman says to keep the section!

Brotman says to keep the section!

I surrender :)

That is an excellent idea, i think with sub forums. I think a lot of people would like a brief overview or explanation about, what fractals are? How can you use them with 3d? etc. As i said, I don't know a lot about it, but the first thing i think of when hearing it, is math which i guess might scare a lot of people away straight away.

Filterforge & Octane forum Please!

Well, the fractals forum has been a bit dead lately, so that why I questioned keeping it.

@3D-Mobster - To go off of what Kristi said, the reason why we created the other Poser forum is because in the past, newbies to Poser had always gotten jumped on, bashed and made to feel stupid, so we created a separate one where they wouldn't feel this way. It's been a great way for them to learn and not have to worry about feeling dumb, that's all.

In terms of the MP forum, we wanted to keep an area open for vendors to have discussions. But, again, I'm not on the MP side of things, so that would not be my area .

I closed Macintosh, Html and Web scripting, Collaborative film group, and plan to close a few more today. Thank you!

@3D-Mobster - To go off of what Kristi said, the reason why we created the other Poser forum is because in the past, newbies to Poser had always gotten jumped on, bashed and made to feel stupid, so we created a separate one where they wouldn't feel this way. It's been a great way for them to learn and not have to worry about feeling dumb, that's all.

Its perfectly fine of course, it was just what i would do :D So im not going to spend a lot of time or energy arguing against it, simply because as i wrote, I don't see the reason for making the forum as a valid solution or a good one, because if new people are "treated" that way and the moderators of those forum doesn't or can't prevent it or its simply the accepted tone there, then the actual problem seems to just have been avoided rather than fixed. But anyway, its just my view and if the problem have been sorted and people are happy with it then i guess its fine. :D

hopeandlove posted at 1:42PM Thu, 11 February 2016 - #4254416

Well, the fractals forum has been a bit dead lately, so that why I questioned keeping it. ...

If Brotman AND a Kitten were not enough to convince you, then it's time for the Big Guns!

Dropping Mandelbulbs on a Cow's head!!

Hmmmm... Seems animated gif files don't animate on this site :(

To see that in action try here: http://s106.photobucket.com/user/sockratease/media/cowbulb_zpsbec7bc40.gif.html

And if that's still not enough, I have Naughty Adults Only Fractal stuff!

Or maybe I should just be posting these in the Fractals section?

I'll try to get there over the weekend and see if some Fractal Freebie obj files and a few image / software threads can't revive it.

ha-ha. I'd suggest posting it in the Fractals section, please.

I love fractals! They are being used in so many amazing ways now and they don't look like your grandfather's fractals anymore. lol I bought Amberlight so I could add a little fractal/particle art happiness to my photo manipulations. I also download fractal textures to use in my photo manipulations too.

UVMapper (Seems way to product specific and that is not to have a go at the product, but think rather than making a whole forum for it, as im not even sure how many people are actually able to provide help for it. It might be better to make a place for free tools like UVmapper, Gimp etc. so people can go one place and quickly get a good overview of different programs that might be useful.)

I agree. Remove this forum, move it from "Software" to "Topics", and replace it with "UV Mapping and unwrapping programs and tips" It would include stuff like UV Mapper, Pegasus, UV unwrapping in Hexagon, UV unwrapping in Blender, general tips for any program, etc.

Z-brush (Seems to only be the moderator posting there and honestly there are some very good forums for Z-brush already. And think most people use it in collaboration with Poser/Daz, so they seem to post in those forums anyway. But for anyone modelling "fresh" content i doubt this is the first place the go.)

Perhaps send it to Topics like above and replace it with a "3D Sculpting" board. Probably won't make a difference, but you never know.

Texturing (Seems to be done in program specific forums anyway) There are programs that do not have their own forums, such as Neo Texture Edit and Mapzone. (Which reminds me, I need to remake my Stand-Alone useful 3D and 3D related program freebies list on the Daz forums.)

I still want a Filter Forge forum. I know at least 5 members who use Filter Forge, and those are all in chat. That's 3 more than Mojo World.

If you close the Mojoworld forum, then I would suggest making a "3D Terrain Making: Other" forum in the Topics category, with a description like "3D Terrain and World Building Tools without their own boards, such as Mojoworld and World Machine"-- mainly because there are a few threads on the Mojoworld forum from the past 6 months-- a couple even from the last two months.

@ JVRenderer I know at least 5 Filter Forger's as well so we are out to 12 now. We won't compare usernames and risk the possibility it is the same ones, it will mess with our figures. I am sure there are many that have it on their hard drives right now. Bring it on!

@3D-Mobster New Poser users help (Would put all this in the Poser forum, its annoying to check so many places. Stuff posted here could be just as useful for experienced users.).

After reading the responses you received and your further comments added

Thanks for going the extra step to help out the newbies. By pointing out you have to go check indicates you do go there and assist and we are grateful for that. As for Mods and Coords we can only act after the event as we don't have a crystal ball. I do not work with a single member of staff that would tolerate bad behaviour towards a newbie. So it is Remove comment - Yes. Deal with offending member - Yes. Erase a shattered and hurt newbies memory - No.

I guess this forum was added so the members such as yourself that have not forgotten they were new to the software once and are prepared to help the newcomers with their ambitions to become Poser legends will go and share their experience. I am not going to disagree with your opinion as I can see clearly where you are coming from. The staff that made the original decision would have been doing the right thing and that is protecting the ones that get insulted or hurt feelings first and foremost. IMO With what Hope has pointed out it is more disappointing the section had to be considered in the first place than the fact it is there.

Again thanks for helping out the newbies.