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Upcoming Changes To Fpn


wimg

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Could I make a couple of small suggestions with respect to category naming? (mostly due to my Information Architecture/Librarian/Taxonomist background):

 

- In the "Regional Focus" section, it make sense to reverse the category names so that the region (Asia/Europe) appears first. This would allow the categories to self-group themselves and allow someone who's skimming the list to see & understand how it's organized.

- In the "Inks" section, why is the word "Ink" included in the category names? Excluding these would make the category names shorter and more readable (e.g., Thoughts, Reviews, Lab, etc.)

- While I think "Pen Accoutrements" is a classy section name, it might be better to rename this section as "Paper and Pen Accessories" so as to be more understandable/accessible to those with English/French as a 2nd language.

- In the "Writing Instruments" section, would it make more sense to make the Nibs/Feeds... as a child of the Repairs Q&A section? For me, adjusting flow, removing/resetting nibs aren't procedures done by the average pen user in their daily routine but would be done as part of a repair/restoration.

 

If necessary, you can PM me with questions/concerns/feedback. Hope these suggestions help and thanks again for keeping FPN going!

Thank you.

 

We are still discussing how to handle the region naming. P and PA has now been adopted. :) As to giving nibs etc. its own forum: considering the number of requests we have had, and the number of topics covering the subject, it certainly looks like it is a worthwhile addition all by itself. Repairs Q&A deals quite often with different, and/or more complicated repairs, so that also warrants its own section. Creating too many categories (groups) adds a lot of extra scrolling space, as we are not too keen on creating further groups. The list was large already, and has become a little larger again :).

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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Call it grumbling or a suggestion but:

 

in your regional forums there is a lot of verbiage before you get to the pens: High tea, whiskey, rugby yada yada yada. None of that helps me know what pens brands are included. Here is why this might matter. I know that Pelikan is German, Parker and Shaeffer are US, (mostly) but as for almost all other brands, I am clueless as to country of origin. So assuming I'll go to the Britain forum for Cross makes as much sense as assuming I will go to the same forum for Kaweko, or Lamy.

 

I'll have to scroll through all the cute discussion about the region to figure out which pens originated there. In fact you might consider an alphabetical listing under 'other brands' which would link the pen brand to the appropriate regional forum. Faster for the likes of me, and that way I would not have to wade through the long drawn out regional forum info. Just a suggestion.

 

I know you have to include 'other pens ' in some organized way and by region is probably as good as any, but don't make me wade through the preamble to figure out whcih pens are included. The way you have it is fine for those of us who know our way around the 'world' of pens, but for those who are not alreadty expert, just make it a little more straight forward.

 

And thanks for your work but please don't think that my comments are grumblings, like you I am trying to help make this the best place it can be, even thigh I am a FP neophyte.

:D

 

We do like the descriptions, but have taken your comment on-board with regard to the pen brands. Those are listed immediately after the forum heading now. And we tried to make the space taken up as small as possible now as well. There may be further enhancements, but those still have to be worked out. We are still in the process of moving (a lot of) stuff around right now :).

 

Warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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As we are busy moving stuff, it might happen all at once you won't find a certain topic that has already been moved to a new forum that is still hidden.

 

Don't worry, it will show up again shortly.

 

Sorry in advance for the inconvenience.

 

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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I would personally like to see the paper and other paraphenelia split into

- Stationery discussion

- Home/Office/Desk accessories

- Portable gear

 

This helps to narrow down the scope of usage -- since desk equipment usually does not move around a lot, and portable gear typically are not kept parked at a desk.

Visconti Homo Sapiens; Lamy 2000; Unicomp Endurapro keyboard.

 

Free your mind -- go write

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Not sure if this was mentioned already - but I tried to create a new topic in the "nibs" section and was given a "requested page not available" page.

 

Edit: never mind, seems to have resolved itself!

Edited by Betweenthelines
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When you come across something like this, please do clear your browser cache, temp files, history, and cookies, after signing out from FPN. Then close the browser, and open it again, and it should be resolved by the next time you log on to FPN.

 

We have been making some major changes when it comes to browsers, and with the old stuff they still have loaded in cache etc., they may get rather confused :).

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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Some information for those who find it hard when it comes to scrolling:

All categories (groups of forums) can actually be collapsed. In the Library skin (or theme) you will see a little triangular shape on the wood-coloured category title bar. Click on that ant it collapses. Again and it opens again.

 

In the IP.Board skin/theme, the default skin, when you hover the blue category bar it shows a - (minus) in a circle at the right hand side. That functions exactly the same way.

 

Your browser will remember your last settings, so you can more easily go straight to where you wanted to go, and open and close categories to your liking if and when required.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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OH YEAH that helps.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for the updates and all the hard work.

 

I'm having fun with the Shoutbox at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing"-Socrates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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This forum makes the world a better place. Adequate thanks cannot be expressed in mere words.

With the new FPN rules, now I REALLY don't know what to put in my signature.

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While I like most of the changes, I miss the "general discussion / start here section "

 

As with all discussion forums, more people in one place can really mean a more interesting discussion. The new organization divides people into smaller groups, and in some cases I think this reduces the interaction.

 

Just my 2c worth....

 

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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The general discussion start here section is still Fountain Pens, just that it had a different name.

 

From the name and description:

Fountain Pens

and Other Nibbed Pens
All types of fountain pen-related questions or discussions, not covered elsewhere, and your first stop for all matters (fountain) pen.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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So how long would the shoutbox/chat room last?

 

I remember when I actually hosted IPB before the shoutout module was a resource hog.

#Nope

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I like the new threads, but I prefer the "classic" arrangement:

 

1. Writing instruments in general

2. Inky thoughts in general

3. History

4. Paper and notebooks in general

 

Those four should be at the top set of threads. Then the new stuff, although I prefer repair Q&A followed by the brand specialists. Only then do the various type of Marketplace.

Washington Nationals 2019: the fight for .500; "stay in the fight"; WON the fight

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I like the new threads, but I prefer the "classic" arrangement:

 

1. Writing instruments in general

2. Inky thoughts in general

3. History

4. Paper and notebooks in general

 

Those four should be at the top set of threads. Then the new stuff, although I prefer repair Q&A followed by the brand specialists. Only then do the various type of Marketplace.

Marketplace is near the top to reflect the increasingly overt commercial nature of this Forum.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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Regional Focus > Great Britain and Ireland

 

In the region description, under the list of brands, someone has spelt "Stevens" incorrectly.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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So how long would the shoutbox/chat room last?

 

I remember when I actually hosted IPB before the shoutout module was a resource hog.

Our resources are currently quite big enough to deal with it, and refresh rate is set to 60 seconds.

Furthermore, it will only display in a separate window, not, e.g., above the forums itself. The latter really is the resource hog.

I doubt therefore that it will make a big impact based on the test carried out so far, unless we get a few thousand members taking part simultaneously :).

Do note that the advertising on the site is a much bigger resource hog than Shoutbox is, by a very wide margin, and despite that, average load times are still very good.

 

I do hope that is reassuring enough.

 

Warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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Regional Focus > Great Britain and Ireland

 

In the region description, under the list of brands, someone has spelt "Stevens" incorrectly.

Thank you for pointing that out.

 

It has been corrected now :).

 

Warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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Sorry I cant understand new changes. Because when I am trying to read a topic system tell me " I dont have a permission to read"

Which forum, which topic?

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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