What About Moderators in the New Forum?

[John T Smith]

Read the spam thread for awhile and you will see that moderation works well in these webx forums

You will also see messages concerning the LACK of moderation over in the cfusion side of things

Will the new forum software/structure allow for "this" moderation to continue, or will it fall away to "that" style of non-moderation?

[David_Powers]

> Not in the Photoshop Forums.

I'm not a heavy Photoshop user, but I do use it on a regular basis, and would love to benefit from the expertise in a Photoshop forum. However, my desktop is a PC and my laptop is a Mac Book Pro. Both have Photoshop installed. From a purely personal point of view, a joint forum would suit me better.

I can see that certain OS- or hardware-related questions wouldn't be of interest to everybody; but, as with any topic that's not of direct interest, you can just ignore it. As for keyboard shortcuts, in my experience, the vast majority of shortcuts easily convert: Ctrl/Cmd and Alt/Opt. Of course, there are exceptions, but it's a helpful rule of thumb. When answering questions in the Dreamweaver forum, I usually give both Windows and Mac equivalents, although I agree it would be too much trouble for someone who uses only one platform.

[Kath-H]

The trouble is, David, we've been over this. Tried it. People didn't like it. Changed back. The arguments were gone into at great length, on both sides (merged/separate). I appreciate this is a new conversation for you and other newcomers to 'this side', but please understand there may be a bit of sighing as issues are resurrected that are seen as flogged to death and settled.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

@Stanley...

The post #245 above may not get moved, so just come to either of the main Photoshop forums and have a look around. If you can't find the info you need, just start a new thread, with a clear title and focused, detailed questions.

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

As Kath said, merged Photoshop Forums were tried and were a disaster equally hated by users of both platforms.

Mac users do tend to have an underlying dislike and contempt for anything connected with Microsoft or "Windoze" so it doesn't take much to trigger a full-blown flame war!

If you use both platforms, I suggest that you should read both Forums.

But don't even THINK of trying to merge them!

[Guest]

Those like me, who want the bigger picture just visit, both forums in turn.

I agree that they don't need merging.

[Cindy-]

Please please please don't try and merge the Windows Mac forums. DW is entirely different. I use it and don't mind the merge although I don't like the DW forums much.

Merging the Photoshop forums would be a disaster!

[David_Powers]

OK, I hear you. I can't comment on something I wasn't part of, but it does make Photoshop users sound rather intolerant.

I worked for several years with a Mac fanatic, who was so anti-Windows, he turned me against the Mac. After we stopped working together, I eventually decided to try a Mac, and quite liked it. I still prefer Windows, though. Habit, probably.

Still, this is way OT.

[Stan Jones]

While OT from use of moderators, it illustrates why moderators are needed.... Ha, ha! And I'm too lazy to find a better thread for the turn this one has taken. I'll follow your lead....

I'm not arguing for a merge; there's no need that I see to change the current culture of each forum. But I'll share this example: a non-Adobe AE list I track has no subforums. Mac/PC, plugins (lots of esoteric), all versions, etc. But it is a forum of almost all pros, and it is rare to have a post that is not properly titled, including OT etc. Their (lack of) organization works just fine, and the content would be diminished if they had a Mac and a PC list.

The PPro forums reorganized when CS4 came on line, and the arguments for and against various subforum options approached the intensity of this thread (well, maybe approach is too strong a word for the rancor in this thread). This discussion of mac vs pc etc reminds me that the software used for the forums, while important, may be less important that some of the other decisions (pc vs mac vs no separation; version of the application in the forum; and content area).

For the new user who is/will be confused by any choices and the inevitable overlap, good search options are more important than multiple forums. But some Adobe forums have different needs from other Adobe forums. But we've all seen applications (usually standalone) that have large numbers of subforums and sub-subforums, but do they really add enough to make it worth the trouble?

I realized in an excursion to the jive site, that, while I can turn off the indenting, I would not be able to turn off the ability of posters to split the thread into sub threads. I've become very linear in dealing with these forums. Yes, I can adapt, but that could be one of the most significant changes in dealing with content.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

I'm a stone-cold, died-in-the-wool, hard core Maccer, but I find myself answering more questions in the PS Win forum, for some reason. I really don't give a crap about Windows-specific issues, and only very rarely snigger out loud about problems Windows users might have.

If their system is working like it should, great. I prefer to get down to the nuts-and-bolts of wrangling Photoshop.

Still, there is a certain faction who continue to find platform wars worth their time, and it's for this reason that the forums should be kept separate.

[_Murray_Summers_]

So that begs the question - how will the legacy Macromedia forums be handled? With they too be split, or will they be maintained as single fora?

[Guest]

>Say I have a question about color management. Then I want to know what Peter Figen, or Gernot Hoffman, or Gary Ballard has to say about it, because I know these guys have the knowledge I need,

of course, a well placed label is appropriated at times. i remember about a year ago asking whether peter finigan knew what the bloddy heck he was talking about re: color management. imagine my embarresment when i realized all his past accomplishments and expertise in the area. i apologiezed profusely and felt like a fool. the episode could have been avoided if there was a tag next to his name. (i still feel like an idiot over that peter, if you read this, and i hope you've found it in you to forgive me!)

how many times have clueless newbs asked chris cox if he knew what he was talking about (this was before the labels under adobe, employee names).

so there IS some use to identifying those who truly know what the heck they're talking about.

i'm all for giving it a try if john c. thinks it's going to work. we've trusted his judgement in the past. he's made lots of great changes, and some not so great. the poorer one's he's rolled back and i believe he's a straight shooter.

-----------------------------

>I'm saying the actual size of the file on the Server or computer will be smaller as the DPI goes down.

... no pj. it won't. download both images. look at the file size. there. see?

>This is because as you decrease the DPI (or resolution) you are throwing away bits and pieces of the file that the naked eye can no discern of a Computer screen.

no you're not. you're telling the printer how tightly to pack "dots" together when printing, nothing more or less than that.

resampling is different from resizing. when you RESAMPLE the image, yes you are throwing pixels away or adding pixels that don't exist. it actually involves two steps, changing the resolution (a metadata change only) AND adding or removing pixels from your image.

but when you resize, that is change the dpi (ppi to use the correct term) while unchecking the "resample" box in the image> image dialog in photoshop, the actual image dimensions don't change. if you start with an 800x600 image, you'll end up with an 800x600 image.. that's what my example page shows.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

As mentioned by others, combined Mac/Windows forums have been tried and soundly rejected as abysmal failures. This is not a theory or an opinion, it's a proven fact. Don't try to re-invent the wheel all over again.

[Guest]

In the new forum software there's a provision for tagging threads and/or posts - I just wonder whether that would enable a PC/Mac split to be implemented via tagging of threads rather than by maintaining the total split of forums.

I'm just throwing this out as a piece of thinking aloud. It might well not work, but it's just an example of how the new software might, just possibly, enable some whole new approaches to how things are done.

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

ANY attempt to combine the Mac and Windows Photoshop Forums will end in disaster.

Guaranteed.

Your suggestion would just to lead to even more unwanted clutter in the forums and platform wars.

You haven't had much experience of this very specialised software, or the way that these Forums work, or of the characteristics of the people involved in this industry or you would know that.
8/

You are not dealing with Sound Engineers here this is an entirely different gene pool.

[_Murray_Summers_]

@Ramon

There's also a 'proven fact' that the union *does* work existing right now on the Dreamweaver/Flash/Fireworks fora. So perhaps the paradigm needs to be rethought?

[_Murray_Summers_]

@Ann

No sound engineers here, either. Nor are there any on the fora to which I am referring.

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

No sound commonsense either it would seem!

Just how much experience do you have of the Photoshop Forums, Murray?

Over what period of time have you been a regular contributor to them?

Do you even have any experience of using the product other than for preparing low resolution images for web site work?

[Cindy-]

Murry, I am wondering why you care whether Photoshop forums are merged. You have been touting this from way back. Are you just trying to poke the Bear?

We do not want it. Oh sure, there are a few but basically it is Windows users who are always wanting this not Mac users. And what is the big deal leaving it the way it is?

[_Murray_Summers_]

@Cindy

I don't care at all whether the PS forum is merged. I have never touted that the PS forum be merged. At one time I questioned whether it would make sense to merge the GL forums. Now that GL is gone, that's moot. However, I do care whether the DW/FW/Flash forums are merged. Note my previous question to this effect (#262).

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

Well, in that case, don't stick your oar into a discussion about merging the Photoshop Forums.

[Cindy-]

> I don't care at all whether the PS forum is merged.

Good!

> However, I do care whether the DW/FW/Flash forums are merged.

I don't balk too much at that although I would prefer a Mac forum for DW. There have been many times I had problems specific to Mac and just couldn't get the help. Also I believe there are Mac users who prefer GL simply because of the Mac help.

You don't really know what it is like since you are a Windows user.

[_Murray_Summers_]

@Cindy

I am also a Mac user. I have to be to be a successful web developer, and to help people on the forums, too. So, I do know what it's like, and I see the merged forums work every day. There are plenty of Mac-specific questions answered there. I even do some myself since I can so conveniently test my responses.

@Ann

I don't know where you got the idea that I was putting my oar into a discussion about merging the Photoshop forum. I'm very particular about where I allow my oar to go....

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

>ANY attempt to combine the Mac and Windows Photoshop Forums will end in disaster.
>
>Guaranteed

It always has.

The last person in the world to whose opinion I'd give any weight is this Murray guy.

[_Murray_Summers_]

Funny. We certainly seem to share opinions of each other. I'm not sure what to then do about the non-disaster that is currently running with the legacy MM products, and has been for ohhh 10 years or more.

[Guest]

I think at the moment, with the problems with the Apple OS on the one side and the 64 bit situation on the Windows side, it would be better to leave them separate for Photoshop. It can be considered later.

There are other differences too.

It does seem to be just a few rabid Photoshop Mac users that are are so upset, so let's keep them in their own pen.