General Posting Question

[busylizzie]

I am one of the OP of these threads you talk about. Yes, I have had a very difficult ongoing recovery. Yes the things I mainly post about are relevant to my recovery. I am still having problems. Some people do need additional surgeries such as revisions. My original TKR was carried out in 2011. I disagree that threads like mine should be removed to the socializing forum. I believe that the search function works quite well. You can also filter the threads so that only the TKR ones appear in your list.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

:iagree:

And I learned a a great deal by reading through such long threads.

 

[Celle]

I have a hard time believing that after 3 years that there is anything useful in that thread besides socializing.

So don't read it! Only read the threads that interest you. It's not compulsory to read everything. Although you might not find that particular thread useful, someone else may do so.

As Pumpkln said, some of those whose threads are very long have had long recoveries. During that time, they have been supported by others. Some of them then stick around to support others in their turn.

Some of the suggestions made here have already been tried and found impractical, or have already been discussed in depth.

Moderators and Advisers are voluntary positions. We all give as freely of our time as we can, but all of us either have other jobs or family commitments. Sometimes, a choice has to be made between what is desirable and what is achievable, given that we are not full-time staff.

 

[Phil75070]

Here's a thought. Perhaps if the moderators / advisors used a common and specific list of hashtags in responding to certain questions or concerns then others with similar problems or questions could more easily search for those answers using the hashtag function? It is certainly not a perfect solution (don't think there are any) but it would offer another way to find answers.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

The mantras, the FAQ, the library index and the library itself are all attempts at codifying and generalising answers. I quite like the suggestion -- the problem we have is to think beforehand what kind of search terms might be used!

 

[Josephine]

Someone said that keeping all of my posts and questions in my own thread makes it possible for the advisors and moderators to better answer as they can see my entire history. While in theory that might be true, in practice it isn't working so well.

It works just fine for me! I should point out to all of you some statistics that have been largely responsible for this approach:
1. as a nurse providing the bulk of advice in this forum I do always need access to ALL the previous commentary regarding a member's story when they ask a question. And I DO read the entire thread (or almost the entire thread) whenever I am presented with such a question. It would be reprehensible of me not to do so.
2. since I spend so much time rereading material, a quite simple question can actually take me 30 minutes or more to prepare and post. I suppose you all thought I just dashed these off in a few minutes!!? Not only do I read the thread but I may also need to research on the internet or the myriad of articles I have stashed away in my folders! Imagine how much longer that would take me if I was having to trawl for previous threads as well!
3. we also have a considerable number of guests reading this forum every day. In 2013, I am told we had something like 2.6million hits! I decided to instigate the one thread policy in order to make their reading more formulated, like reading a story: start at chapter one and proceed.
4. the reasons for this are well posted in each recovery forum and are in a précis in this template I use when merging threads

PLEASE NOTE THE ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE
I merged your threads as per this request One thread for your recovery please?
Please don't keep starting new threads about your recovery.

The reasons for this are that it
1. makes it easier for guests to read the continuous story of a member's recovery - the most important reason
2. avoids people duplicating and repeating things like links to articles
3. helps us to refresh on what you've had done and when, plus what advice was given previously
5. keeps all advice previously given on hand for the poster
6. makes it unnecessary for the member to keep repeating surgery details
7. just makes it easier for everyone all round!

Thank you very much!

One still has to wade thru pages and pages of comments to find the last one

There are numerous ways of getting to the last post you read in any thread. Read this "How To" which has already had some 2½ thousand hits! To get to the last message you looked at in a thread

yesterday I needed help with a specific question and posted my question in my thread. I rec'd one reply but not from an advisor.

I replied

I don't know all the rules! Josephine has said that she (and other advisors?) does not need to be tagged as she checks all threads where she has ever made a reply.

I said I didn't need to be tagged when someone had answered my questions as I always watched those threads which is quite different.

Here's what I'd like to see, an ACUTE recovery forum for people, oh, say, in the first few weeks or couple of months post op. It makes no sense for me to have the first page of the forum dominated at times by threads that were started literally years before. Some 'recovery' threads are really socializing threads after a certain amount of time.

While and exceedingly good idea, Jean, it would be largely unworkable for staff as we would have to make a judgement call on which threads were to be deemed acute and which not. Plus if, after a few pages of banter, the OP (Opening poster) needed advice, what then? move it back?

I have a hard time believing that after 3 years that there is anything useful in that thread besides socializing.

Quite the contrary. Any number of members have ongoing problems for that length of time. It would be totally blissful if everybody was a-okay after a few months but the sad fact is that they're not.

But - I'm beginning to understand that this forum is dominated by a few people who identify themselves as moderators and advisors who all think alike, so suggesting anything counter to their opinions fall on deaf ears. They're in control and any suggestions to the way they want to run this forum are simply not considered.

Actually this forum is dominated by ONE administrator who has trained and mentored the moderators and advisors so I'm the one you have to blame. I have a structure - pretty clearly laid out in previous answers in this post - and I have good reasons for sticking to it. If you want to blame someone, blame me. But I ain't budging because for this old nurse, the system works just fine!

Perhaps if the moderators / advisors used a common and specific list of hashtags in responding to certain questions or concerns

Actually that's a jolly good idea but one that could be utilised by everyone not just staff. It already exists on this forum and it has been used a few times. I'd love it to be used more generally.