Well, it seems that Vance is ok. With that settled, would it be fair to begin thinking about WHY so few trees get posted or commented on? I joined this forum last summer as I began with my own trees and used the threads of others as a guide for my own.
I for one, have only posted a few trees because I only have a few trees in the works. I am collecting material that I will be working this winter into next year and will make threads for each.
My thoughts as to why there is less productive traffic are as follows:
New members post trees hoping for one of two things: Experienced people will tell them step by step what to do, which annoys the experienced people, or that experienced people will tell them that they did everything properly and that they are experts already, which never happens. When the experienced folks are truthful, the new people get defensive and arguments ensue. I have been guilty of this.
Secondly, I've seen some pretty big rifts form between some of the experienced folks. Every comment either has an edge to it or is perceived as having an edge to it, so the more experienced folks can rarely give each other constructive feedback. New folks can say little more than, "wow, great tree. I hope to have one some day like that." Thus, experienced folks don't post trees.
There's also the fact that it is quite challenging for a new member here to get much traction in the community. I've posted here a good bit in the fourteen months I've been a member, but I don't know that I've been able to form any real connections or relationships with other members. That might just be an impression of mine, or something peculiar to me, but it's hard to form a community when people are so wrapped up in themselves that they aren't connecting with others.
If this post is out of place, please let me know politely and I will remove it or move it to a new thread.
