Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Announcements from the Management and assistance with forum software. New to FWF? Please consider introducing yourself
User avatar
Solo
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 83
Joined: 16 Mar 2008 00:59
Location: West Coast, BC

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Solo »

longinvest wrote:My thanks to the management for the change.
. :thumbsup:
like_to_retire
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 5923
Joined: 27 Feb 2005 07:14
Location: Canada

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by like_to_retire »

Peculiar_Investor wrote:We appreciate the member feedback on this change, both good and bad, as it provides a learning opportunity for us.
Hopefully, any comments from myself on this subject have been taken as simple feedback and not a complaint against management (especially P_I's tireless yeoman's duty). Thanks to all who keep FWF running so nicely.

ltr
User avatar
scomac
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 7788
Joined: 19 Feb 2005 09:47
Location: The Gateway to Wine Country

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by scomac »

Solo wrote:
longinvest wrote:My thanks to the management for the change.
. :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1830
Chuck
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 2048
Joined: 21 Feb 2005 11:48
Location: Manitoba

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Chuck »

eezee wrote:Before these changes you were able to :

1) omit the Watercooler from your view
2) just not open any thread
3) ignore posters

so what was achieved with these changes ?
Somebody missed the part of " If it ain't broke don't fix it"
There is a thread titled "Political Correctness -Where did it come from?". Of course, it is in the watercooler so now many people may now not be able to see it.

However the concept must be considered in order to understand this change. Canadians as a whole, appear to be easily offended. As such, they must be protected from such offense. Management here, in accordance with generally accepted Canadian values, has made a move to protect those easily offended. It springs from the same source as where the political correctness question comes from. I don't see it in the same way, but I realize I am in the minority, so I must live with it. So opt in I have. It's all I can do.

Any further opinions must be confined to the water cooler. ;)
User avatar
scomac
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 7788
Joined: 19 Feb 2005 09:47
Location: The Gateway to Wine Country

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by scomac »

Chuck wrote: There is a thread titled "Political Correctness -Where did it come from?". Of course, it is in the watercooler so now many people may now not be able to see it.

However the concept must be considered in order to understand this change. Canadians as a whole, appear to be easily offended. As such, they must be protected from such offense. Management here, in accordance with generally accepted Canadian values, has made a move to protect those easily offended. It springs from the same source as where the political correctness question comes from. I don't see it in the same way, but I realize I am in the minority, so I must live with it. So opt in I have. It's all I can do.

Any further opinions must be confined to the water cooler. ;)
I'd like to discuss this for just a moment. I went to The Watercooler to the thread in question to see if there was a discussion taking place regarding the recent changes. Not a peep.

If for a moment we assume that your contention underlined above is correct, is it not in the best interests of the forum administrators to provide a communal, collegial and convivial environment for all members, not just those with thick skin? This achieves such an end without compromising the desire for free speech as a suitable venue is provided for that as well. So you have to opt in. Is that so difficult? At most a one time inconvenience.

I understand that some don't see a problem and view any change as a negative, particularly one that they view as impinging their rights. You still have a place to discuss what you want, in the manner in which you want to discuss it at your convenience. Is this not a reasonable compromise? Let's not create a tempest in a teapot.
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1830
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

eezee wrote:so what was achieved with these changes ?
Somebody missed the part of " If it ain't broke don't fix it"
Some of the discussion in Bylo's Absence. provides viewpoints that something might not have been quite right. The theme comes up periodically and we've been listening and giving it thought.

To address the "what was achieved with these changes?" I'm going to quote myself from my original post in this topic.
We're a financial education forum first and foremost and we offer registered members the additional benefit of the ...and Your Life forums. We hope that by making these changes, we will emphasize the financial role of FWF, while still providing a place for those FWF'ers who enjoy debating politics and other controversial topics. Those discussions will just be walled off and sound-proofed a bit better.
FWF started out essentially as a financial education forum, but clearly a bigger sense of community has developed over the years and the discussion has expanded beyond only financial discussions. We get that and accept that it's now part of the fabric of FWF. However we're a financial education forum first and foremost. The changes are intended solely to help emphasize the financial part of FWF.

On the non-financial side of things,
Community Centre is a consolidation of existing topic areas. The focus is non financial topics: autos; computers; entertainment; gatherings; hobbies; sports and travel. The Plugged In and DIYers at Home and Abroad forums were merged together to create this forum. Behind the scenes a number of non controversial Watercooler topics such as the "Beer in *" topics will also move to Community Centre.
Before the change, Watercooler appeared to have become the default home for many non-financial topics. Many who had no interest in Watercooler would potentially miss those discussions.

We're hopeful that we've expanded the audience for the non-controversial topics with the Community Centre forum and the movement of many non-controversial topics out of Watercooler.

We're actively listening to all feedback on these changes.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
eezee
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 2082
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 09:44
Location: BURLINGTON , ON

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by eezee »

eezee wrote:Before these changes you were able to :

1) omit the Watercooler from your view
2) just not open any thread
3) ignore posters

so what was achieved with these changes ?
Somebody missed the part of " If it ain't broke don't fix it"
My post was not intended as a complaint, merely an observation. Before you could opt out, now you opt in, either way a one time action.
And some threads were re-categorized. If it helps people in their happiness all is good.
Keep up the good work.
I am going to live forever .... so far so good.
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

eezee wrote:My post was not intended as a complaint, merely an observation.
I took it as an observation. But you did ask "what was achieved with these change?" so I answered.
Keep up the good work.
Will do and thanks. And please continue to provide feedback on what works on FWF and more importantly how it could be improved.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
pmj
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 3412
Joined: 27 Feb 2005 18:15
Location: Ottawa

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by pmj »

If someone approaches FWF as a non-member / potential new member (I suppose I could test this by logging-out ...) would they see all the forums, their descriptions, and the opt-in buttons?
If someone opts for Finance-only, does this mean that they would not see "Now Hear This"? If so, how do Finance-only members get announcements?
That was the reason for my earlier suggestion that "Now Hear This" - or maybe a subset of it - be listed at the top of the menu.

Added - the first post at WaterCooler - about not viewing that forum - needs to be edited.

Edited again - and also the description at the second radio button at the opt-in/out page.
Peter

Patrick Hutber: Improvement means deterioration
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

pmj wrote:If someone opts for Finance-only, does this mean that they would not see "Now Hear This"? If so, how do Finance-only members get announcements?
:oops: Missed that one in testing. Now Hear This! should be visible to them.
Added - the first post at WaterCooler - about not viewing that forum - needs to be edited.

Edited again - and also the description at the second radio button at the opt-in/out page.
The 'No Watercooler' group was kept and is an option for those members who want to remove all traces of 'Around the Watercooler'. There are existing members of that group. We'd looked at the wording, but I'll double-check. Thanks.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
always_learning
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 530
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 21:44
Location: Halifax

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by always_learning »

Many thanks to management for the thought and effort that went into these changes.
User avatar
kcowan
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 16033
Joined: 18 Apr 2006 20:33
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by kcowan »

As a longtime user and contributor, I find that "View all new posts" including Watercooler generates about half that I want to look at on any day and much less for contribution, maybe 5-10%.

I have no idea is that is good or not but it is higher than any other place. To me it seems lower and I worry that it might be the nature of the beast? Like gummy and bylo, real life pulls me out. So maybe my filter is narrowing.

But I believe that forum moderators have to keep innovating to keep up with the times. I worry about the lack of Facebook/Twitter presence for attracting the young people. But fortunately it is not my problem!
For the fun of it...Keith
User avatar
AltaRed
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 33399
Joined: 05 Mar 2005 20:04
Location: Ogopogo Land

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by AltaRed »

I can't imagine trying to run a forum with FB and Twitter interaction. Most organizations cannot afford the effort required. Been there, done that with a few prior lives, e.g. City planning, Community Associations, etc. Almost need a paid staff member to stay on top of that.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki The go-to place to bolster your financial freedom
2 yen
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 4116
Joined: 09 Apr 2005 09:15

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by 2 yen »

kcowan wrote:As a longtime user and contributor, I find that "View all new posts" including Watercooler generates about half that I want to look at on any day and much less for contribution, maybe 5-10%.

I have no idea is that is good or not but it is higher than any other place. To me it seems lower and I worry that it might be the nature of the beast? Like gummy and bylo, real life pulls me out. So maybe my filter is narrowing.

But I believe that forum moderators have to keep innovating to keep up with the times. I worry about the lack of Facebook/Twitter presence for attracting the young people. But fortunately it is not my problem!
Young people who are smart will quickly realize that the Finiki is worth reading for a few days before posting much - the Twitter crowd might not have the patience for that.

2 yen
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

pmj wrote: Added - the first post at WaterCooler - about not viewing that forum - needs to be edited.

Edited again - and also the description at the second radio button at the opt-in/out page.
These two have now been fixed. Thanks for noticing and reporting. Still working on the issue with the Finance Only group.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
kcowan
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 16033
Joined: 18 Apr 2006 20:33
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by kcowan »

2 yen wrote:Young people who are smart will quickly realize that the Finiki is worth reading for a few days before posting much - the Twitter crowd might not have the patience for that.

2 yen
Are these the same young people who are impatient for instant gratification and do not go to the library anymore?
For the fun of it...Keith
2 yen
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 4116
Joined: 09 Apr 2005 09:15

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by 2 yen »

kcowan wrote:
2 yen wrote:Young people who are smart will quickly realize that the Finiki is worth reading for a few days before posting much - the Twitter crowd might not have the patience for that.

2 yen
Are these the same young people who are impatient for instant gratification and do not go to the library anymore?
:thumbsup:

2 yen
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Peculiar_Investor wrote:
pmj wrote:If someone opts for Finance-only, does this mean that they would not see "Now Hear This"? If so, how do Finance-only members get announcements?
:oops: Missed that one in testing. Now Hear This! should be visible to them.
That has now been fixed. Members of the 'Finance Only' group now can see 'Now Hear This!' and also the 'Testing Sandbox'.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Peculiar_Investor wrote: 24 Jan 2016 14:08 We're a financial education forum first and foremost and we offer registered members the additional benefit of the ...and Your Life forums.
Times change and so are we. Our Community Centre forum contains lots of helpful discussion on Non financial topics: autos; computers; entertainment; gatherings; hobbies; sports and travel that might also benefit guests.

So we've decided to give guests access to reading the topics/posts in this forum effective January 1, 2020.

The 'Around the Watercooler' forum will remain private and only accessible to registered members who specifically select membership in the 'Watercooler please' group.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
longinvest
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 3956
Joined: 10 Sep 2012 17:26
Location: QC

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by longinvest »

The "Finance Only" is described like this:
Custom group for those who want to omit the ... And Your Life non-financial forums, i.e. Community Centre and Around the Watercooler, from your views and searches.
Since the change to the "Your Life" forums, the Community Center is now included as part of finance forums. It would be nice if it could be omitted (again) for "Finance Only" group members.
Variable Percentage Withdrawal (finiki.org/wiki/VPW) | One-Fund Portfolio (VBAL in all accounts)
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

longinvest wrote: 06 Feb 2020 22:48 The "Finance Only" is described like this:
Custom group for those who want to omit the ... And Your Life non-financial forums, i.e. Community Centre and Around the Watercooler, from your views and searches.
Since the change to the "Your Life" forums, the Community Center is now included as part of finance forums. It would be nice if it could be omitted (again) for "Finance Only" group members.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm investigating why this changed.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Changes to the '... and Your Life' forums

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

longinvest wrote: 06 Feb 2020 22:48 The "Finance Only" is described like this:
Custom group for those who want to omit the ... And Your Life non-financial forums, i.e. Community Centre and Around the Watercooler, from your views and searches.
Since the change to the "Your Life" forums, the Community Center is now included as part of finance forums. It would be nice if it could be omitted (again) for "Finance Only" group members.
The board configuration has been changed to address this unintended consequence of the previous changes so ‘Finance Only’ group members should no longer see the Community Centre forum. longinvest has confirmed the changes work.

If there are any other unintended side effects that anyone notices please post here. Thanks and stay safe.
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
User avatar
Peculiar_Investor
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 13271
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 14:52
Location: Calgary
Contact:

The 'Around the Watercooler' optional forum

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

From another topic,
afulldeck wrote: 09 Mar 2021 12:42 I actually did not know about watercooler, until last week.
Since the first post in this topic is from 2016 and many newcomers might have missed it, and some long-time members have probably forgotten about it.
Peculiar_Investor wrote: 24 Jan 2016 14:08 Around the Watercooler has become an opt-in forum, with tightened mandate. This forum is for discussion of Politics, religion, controversial events, rants and gossip. The purpose is to contain the 'potentially controversial' topics in Watercooler. The forum itself remains visible to registered users, but they won't be able to automatically enter the forum. To be able to read topics and post in this forum you must opt-in and select membership in the Watercooler please group. The forum description includes instructions on how to opt-in.
If you select membership in the No Watercooler usergroup it overrides other usergroup memberships so the Around the Watercooler forum will not appear in the Board index.

Logged in members can check or change their usergroup memberships via their User Control Panel, in the Usergroups tab (direct link provided).
Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki New editors wanted and welcomed, please help collaborate and improve the wiki.

Normal people… believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet. – Scott Adams
Post Reply