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Just want to weigh in and say although it perhaps sounded like a neat idea, this new sticky isn't working for me - I never open it, it all seems too complicated, much too time-consuming and actually disorienting. I just open the threads whose titles I can see right off the bat.
I think the new sticky is a good idea for those who are new to the retirement forum, or new to city-data. If someone has just started thinking about retirement and wants to research some aspect of it, the sticky makes it very easy. Those who have been reading the forum all along can just ignore it, as they'd ignore any thread not of interest to them.
I like it. Could City Data post more guides like this? I'm glad they tried this first on the seniors section and I think all the other sections should do it too. A direcotry is valuable to older readers like me who need a little help finding things. And now I'd like to say to all my City Data friends, greetings and I'm sorry I don't answer the emails much anymore. just because I stopped posting don't think I dissappeared. I don't write much now, but I'm still feisty and I'm still here reading.
I'm the mod there - this was created by popular request and I think it ties it all together quite neatly! My thanks to Caladium and Poncho for working this one out. It's primarily for newbies to get their feet wet and locate the topics that have generated a lot of interest - if anyone comments on that particular thread, then the thread moves to the top of the regular forum page per the usual. Everything's still open, you don't have to go to the sticky to access any one thread.
I think it's good for some people, perhaps the newer ones. As for me, I do not read those threads in the combined forums, far too time-consuming to open each one and sort through the many, and cannot tell who was the last poster as one can in the general topic forums. I continue to open and enjoy the threads I can immediately see in Retirement, feeling these are the more hot, current topics. Perhaps it is my loss, but that's how I'm experiencing it. Wonder if one or two others feel the same way.
newenglandgirl, I think you've failed to realize - as soon as someone posts to one of those threads it will return to the main page of the Retirement forum. You can then do like you do with any other post - click it and open it, click View First Unread, and go on. The threads are not "stuck" in the sticky - they are still in the forum. This is just for quick reference.
I just did a test - picked a thread at random and posted a note. It returned to top spot on the main page of the retirement forum...I deleted that post, but all is working fine.
What you should see is a standard list of threads from previous months/years that were selected for having detailed tips, useful links, and other particularly helpful resources. It's for people who are new to the retirement forum or simply want to find information on a particular topic that may not be covered by what is being discussed on a particular day.
If you're checking this thread right now, what you see should be extremely similar to the sticky for the Denver forum, except that this particular list was broken into sections and then separated by spoiler tags--to see the whole list, simply click on the buttons that say "show". If you don't see the list described above, please let us know, so we can fix it. I'm not sure what the OP means by combined threads--but if there is some sort of funky phenomenon going on that other people see, we can remove the spoiler tags. That should correct any technical problems.
Regarding making more lists like this, the reason you don't see this done more often is creating a list like this is a major project to undertake--it took me roughly 20 hours to put it together and several people from our forum were involved in suggesting threads and reviewing the list. Not that I'm complaining--far from it. This was a labor of love. I'm glad I put it together and have heard from several people in our forum that it's been helpful to them. But since the question was asked, that's the answer to why you don't see more of the forums doing this.
On a related topic, I have a question for the admin. I've noticed that when I click on this thread, the viewing stats don't change. I assumed that when I opened the thread the stats would go up by one point, but apparently that only happened the first time I opened it. Does that mean that once a poster has clicked on a thread that particular person isn't counted again no matter how many times they click on a thread? In other words, does that mean that the 340 people who have viewed it since we started this ten days ago are 340 different people? If so, that's kind of cool.
I think it's good for some people, perhaps the newer ones. As for me, I do not read those threads in the combined forums, far too time-consuming to open each one and sort through the many, and cannot tell who was the last poster as one can in the general topic forums. I continue to open and enjoy the threads I can immediately see in Retirement, feeling these are the more hot, current topics. Perhaps it is my loss, but that's how I'm experiencing it. Wonder if one or two others feel the same way.
Caldium did a lot of hard work, which I hope will be useful to Newbies.
I looked at it once, but it's easier for me to just use my Subscribed Forums link to find new threads or posts.
newenglandgirl, I think you've failed to realize - as soon as someone posts to one of those threads it will return to the main page of the Retirement forum. You can then do like you do with any other post - click it and open it, click View First Unread, and go on. The threads are not "stuck" in the sticky - they are still in the forum. This is just for quick reference.
I just did a test - picked a thread at random and posted a note. It returned to top spot on the main page of the retirement forum...I deleted that post, but all is working fine.
Yes I did fail to realize that! I'll look at it in a new way now, thanks, this makes sense
I am still disinclined to open all the topic headings and scroll through so many threads in the first place, however. Just don't want to spend that kind of time. Especially since, over time, more threads will be added to these groupings. I might be on CD all day ~
Caldium did a lot of hard work, which I hope will be useful to Newbies.
I looked at it once, but it's easier for me to just use my Subscribed Forums link to find new threads or posts.
Thanks Gandalara. And you know what, it's only been ten days. You may be surprised to find the day will come when you use it. On the Nova forum I can sometimes go months without using the stickies--then suddenly I find myself with a need for them. For example, you may want to find a particular resource that you remember being in an old thread. In the meantime, the list services the newcomers (and apparently some oldtimers, too). As to whether people are using it, I think the best evidence of this is 4-5 threads from the list that have had new questions added recently. Sometimes people like to ask a question after they've read through an older post, just to make sure their question makes sense.
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