grouper52
Masterpiece
BNut, and others:
Forgive me if this idea has already been discussed, or even brought to fruition in some area of the new upgraded site that I have overlooked, but I don't see it anywhere.
Earlier today I wrote a medium length but carefully thought-out post explaining some very fundamental and essential aspects of this hobby to someone new to bonsai. It was, however part of a thread is not only getting little traffic at this time, but that is tucked away in a specific tree forum that few beginners are likely to visit.
It occurred to me that there are certainly many such valuable posts from the more seasoned among us, scattered over these forums in places where new folks will never find them. That seems a waste; and, since we often complain that we get tired of saying the same basics again and again to beginners, and since old-timers who eventually drop out of such forums frequently cite this as one of the reasons they drop out, it seems to me that this site might benefit from a section in this beginners forum where our collected wisdom - reviewed and approved in each case by the moderator - might indeed be collected for the benefit of the beginners.
This section could, in fact, even have subsections that would address questions of a similar nature: A soil section, a potting section, a watering section, etc. If the "expert" opinions vary, so much the better - the beginners will have several options to consider on each section, and also a sense that there are often ongoing debates about some things. I think, however, that this section would work best if it simply had the posts, but not ongoing debate/discussion about them right there in that beginner forum (such debates being better "taken outside" for heated resolution attempts). The moderator, screening the info ahead of time as either viable/sound or not, would also be able to make this more simple, straightforward, unchallenged approach work well. It would be simply didactic, not argumentative or controversial.
It would also present a reference database that people could link to when discussing various topics with beginners elsewhere on the site.
I have seen such beginner Q&A databanks and tutorials in their own sections on several other sites, for this hobby as well as others. I don't know how successful they are, but I can't imagine that they detract or hurt the atmosphere or experience for anyone, and they seem to have potential to be of benefit to all concerned.
Anyway - just a thought.
G52
Forgive me if this idea has already been discussed, or even brought to fruition in some area of the new upgraded site that I have overlooked, but I don't see it anywhere.
Earlier today I wrote a medium length but carefully thought-out post explaining some very fundamental and essential aspects of this hobby to someone new to bonsai. It was, however part of a thread is not only getting little traffic at this time, but that is tucked away in a specific tree forum that few beginners are likely to visit.
It occurred to me that there are certainly many such valuable posts from the more seasoned among us, scattered over these forums in places where new folks will never find them. That seems a waste; and, since we often complain that we get tired of saying the same basics again and again to beginners, and since old-timers who eventually drop out of such forums frequently cite this as one of the reasons they drop out, it seems to me that this site might benefit from a section in this beginners forum where our collected wisdom - reviewed and approved in each case by the moderator - might indeed be collected for the benefit of the beginners.
This section could, in fact, even have subsections that would address questions of a similar nature: A soil section, a potting section, a watering section, etc. If the "expert" opinions vary, so much the better - the beginners will have several options to consider on each section, and also a sense that there are often ongoing debates about some things. I think, however, that this section would work best if it simply had the posts, but not ongoing debate/discussion about them right there in that beginner forum (such debates being better "taken outside" for heated resolution attempts). The moderator, screening the info ahead of time as either viable/sound or not, would also be able to make this more simple, straightforward, unchallenged approach work well. It would be simply didactic, not argumentative or controversial.
It would also present a reference database that people could link to when discussing various topics with beginners elsewhere on the site.
I have seen such beginner Q&A databanks and tutorials in their own sections on several other sites, for this hobby as well as others. I don't know how successful they are, but I can't imagine that they detract or hurt the atmosphere or experience for anyone, and they seem to have potential to be of benefit to all concerned.
Anyway - just a thought.
G52
