Do we already have too many reading forums?

[eye_of_tiger]

EoT,

I was not talking about separating reading forums from general ones at all.

I was just saying that forums may be shortened. For example mystic 101 or similar

Just a suggestion though...


Rishi

Rishi,

Message received and understood.

We are looking for everyone's suggestions and there are indeed several forums which could either be clubbed together (condensed) or completely removed as being redundant (non reading). But we also need to know what if anything to replace them with, which is going to be of enough interest to be able to regularly attract new members to MB in the future.

Also we have the challenge that the people who once administered or oversaw those forums have long gone and are unlikely to return, but they have left behind  them valuable teaching resources still in place which nobody here is qualified to sort through, nor has the time and energy or motivation to do so.

I feel that there is a general agreement developing within this thread that the current number of reading forums is about right, so we now need to look at the existing ones and decide how they could be used more effectively and made more user friendly, which is exactly where some of Talia's practical suggestions come into the picture.

Talia,

I thank you once again for your input. While it is true that those four reading forums which you have mentioned have had the most new threads/topics) since  the board was started well over 10 years ago (to the best of my knowledge nothing has been pruned/removed from the boards during that time) a forum's activity level is usually measured by the number of new postings per day or per week (new threads plus new postings within the existing threads). When you use that criterion to calculate the activity levels of the four forums, the Vedic Astrology forum is well ahead of any other, but it is still very slow compared to what it was only six months before.

I'm not making any point just thought someone might be interested.

But you are making a valid point here, and I continue to be very interested in whatever you have to contribute. Those four forums have over the years enjoyed the greatest share of all reading requests. Even this information is valuable in itself as a guide to what new members are looking for from us.

I think it is good to have the discussion and learning of a topic kept together with the reading forum for that topic, that way it is all in one place and not all over, and if someone wants a reading or to learn or discuss they know that all that information and opportunity will be in one place?

So do I and so does Swetha who designed the discussion and reading forum together in that way with good reason. This is why I needed to clarify with Rishi whether he was suggesting that they should be separated. That misunderstanding on my part has now been cleared up for me by Rishi, and as long as we keep the readings out of the discussion forums both members of each pair have a complementary role to play in furthering our understanding of the subject (discussion forum) and ourselves (reading forum).

I do wonder though about the Psychic Reading board. I think that could be expanded and less restrictive. It is quite offputting to see a notice right at the top saying ' No Akashic, Angel or Past Life Readings on this board' then if anyone bothers to read the thread it goes on to say that actually angel readings are being given over on the tarot board?
It would be kinder to get rid of a lot of these very old pinned threads and look at what might be a new look to the boards. Offer more varied readings in psychic, after all angel readings, past life  and akashic readings can be and should be classed as psychic? People won't go to the Tarot reading board to look for them, as they are not tarot?

Yes I think that you have mentioned this to me before. At the time that the sticky was posted we no longer had any people offering to give Akashic, Angel or Past Life Readings. Therefore we could hardly offer these types of readings on that board. When you started with MB and began offering angel card readings to the members, it was decided to keep all the different types of card readings together in the Tarot forum. Particularly as you also offer full Tarot readings and because the other Tarot readers at the time were quite content for this arrangement to continue. But I have taken your suggestion on board (thanks) and fully intend to further explore the possibility of increasing the variety of readings on offer in the psychic reading forum. Diversification without at the same time losing the forum's identity, is the way of the future. Without an openness to different ideas and a willingness to diversify, there is no future.

Thanks again to the both of you for your useful input and ongoing support, for my efforts to improve the site for everyone.

Cheers,

Brian  :smt038  :smt038