[kman42]

Are there any other good Mac forums? I like the people here, but the mods are starting to irritate me with their overzealous closing/moving of threads. Any other good options out there?

kman

[Oisín]

It is very tempting to do an IBL™ here

The only other Mac forum (not counting the Lifeboat, which isn’t really a Mac forum) I post at is AppleTalker. I’ve never bothered with any of the other big ones—one is quite enough, and from what people here are saying here, they’re all far worse than MacNN, both content- and mod-wise.

[SSharon]

What was the forum that one of the old members here started after getting annoyed?

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

What was the forum that one of the old members here started after getting annoyed?

That was AppleTalker, started by madra (see link in previous post).


Just for the sake of preemptiveness: please, let’s not have this turn into yet another AppleTalker discussion. There are plenty of those (easily available through a forum search), we don’t need another.

[turtle777]

There is really no option.

You only get turtle® here

-t

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by kman42 

Are there any other good Mac forums? I like the people here, but the mods are starting to irritate me with their overzealous closing/moving of threads. Any other good options out there?

kman

What is annoying about moving threads? If it's in the wrong place, it makes sense to move it. Would you buy a car with the steering wheel on the trunk?

[Turias]

Both thinksecret.com and macrumors.com have pretty active forums.

[bstone]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

What is annoying about moving threads? If it's in the wrong place, it makes sense to move it. Would you buy a car with the steering wheel on the trunk?

Perhaps this should be discusses as well in the feedback forum. The issue of some mods closing threads, immediately banning people, etc are currently at issue. I suggest a thread to deal with this specific issue in the Feedback forum.

as for other mac forums, I dont know. I can't possibly consider that another even exists.

[Apfhex]

I visit the Macrumors forums a bit, they're really active. But some of the sections need stiffer moderation (I can't count how many MacBook Pro posts I see in the Mac Pro/Power Mac forum).

[Mithras]

The Ars Technica Macintoshian Achaia has both an ungainly name and a lot of knowledgeable posters.

[rjt1000]

Mac-Forums.com - powered by vBulletin

The macosxhints Forums - For discussing everything OS X...

[Peter]

I agree that mods shouldn't lock threads if they're in the wrong place, they should be moved.
Thats what I do anyway.
I also think banning people is totally pointless (except spammers obviously) since they'll just re-register...

[Buckaroo]

Most of the mods here seem very nice. They are only trying to keep things friendly.

There is only one or two that I have a problem with, actually only one that I can think of.

Most of them are polite and ask you to fix a problem before they HAVE to fix it. That does not mean we can't be stinkers some times, but it atleast gives us a chance to get our act together before they have to take action.

There is only one thing I don't understand is why they occasionally lock threads that are start out perfectly ok, but some other jerk derails and the Mods lock it. The guy that started the thread didn't cause the problem, but may end up embarressed.

There is one thing that I would like to recommend to the Mods. That they maintain 2 seperate user ID's. One for Mod business and the other for all their personal posts.

It kind of keeps things seperate. Sort of similar to seperation of Church and State. You have a business ID and a personal ID. Of course, they will have to let each other know what their personal ID is so they won't accidentally ban each other. That would be embaressing.

[zro]

The IGN Mac board was pretty cool years ago. Haven't been back in a few years and have no idea if it's any good now, so I suppose this post is nearly pointless...

[Gamoe]

Another vote for AppleTalker. Only thing is, we are a small board. The Ars board is usually good, though it is not free of its own bias and problems, but they are a large board.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

It kind of keeps things seperate. Sort of similar to seperation of Church and State. You have a business ID and a personal ID. Of course, they will have to let each other know what their personal ID is so they won't accidentally ban each other. That would be embaressing.

Why? If a mod violates the rules he should be subject to the same treatment that a non-mod user would be.

[mac128k-1984]

I like MacWorld and Apple Discussion

I checked out appletalker and to be honest it seems rather devoid of anything meaningful. I suppose that those who left Macnn are not large enough in numbers to generate critical mass and they haven't gotten any new members.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

There is only one thing I don't understand is why they occasionally lock threads that are start out perfectly ok, but some other jerk derails and the Mods lock it. The guy that started the thread didn't cause the problem, but may end up embarressed.

Why should anyone but the obviously jerk-like person who derailed the thread feel bad at all? The original poster can start a new thread and everyone should understand-except for the jerk that derailed the first one, because such people just don't seem to get the whole "politeness" thing anyway.

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

There is one thing that I would like to recommend to the Mods. That they maintain 2 seperate user ID's. One for Mod business and the other for all their personal posts.

It kind of keeps things seperate. Sort of similar to seperation of Church and State. You have a business ID and a personal ID. Of course, they will have to let each other know what their personal ID is so they won't accidentally ban each other. That would be embaressing.

We don't do this because there's no need. We're ALL held to the same minimum standards, and we mods are held to much higher standards; by the mods as a group, by the management, and worst of all by certain users who feel we should be omniscient enough to know what they meant was not what showed up in their posts. I have been called on the carpet FREQUENTLY for stating opinion as fact, mixing up issues so that I post the wrong fix for a problem, and otherwise not being on the ball when I say something. Plus, moderators represent MacNN to the userbase. We are the "face" of MacNN for most users, so we, volunteers all, must be very careful of what we say.

I think any more detailed discussion of which thread gets closed and which gets moved should indeed go in the Feedback forum, as bstone suggests. Our task on these forums is to maintain a relatively civil level of cooperation so that technical issues can be resolved and that users can exchange information, ideas, and opinions freely. Sometimes, it feels like we're moderating debates between postdoctorate physics candidates on the relative merits of angle counting and pin-head area, but the problems are mostly when we're acting like playground monitors for a special school.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

I checked out appletalker and to be honest it seems rather devoid of anything meaningful.

AppleTalker has content every bit as meaningful as this or any other Mac board, perhaps even more than the average, percentage-wise, but we're simply small and haven't been around very long, so we lack content in quantity, but certainly not in quality. I don't recall any serious question which was not answered and discussed on the board.

[mac128k-1984]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales 

AppleTalker has content every bit as meaningful as this or any other Mac board, perhaps even more than the average, percentage-wise, but we're simply small and haven't been around very long, so we lack content in quantity, but certainly not in quality. I don't recall any serious question which was not answered and discussed on the board.

I disagree, I saw what was posted and there and I failed to see any quality posts at least better then other boards. I have no idea of how many members they have but the forum had an empty feeling.

[starman]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales 

AppleTalker has content every bit as meaningful as this or any other Mac board, perhaps even more than the average, percentage-wise, but we're simply small and haven't been around very long, so we lack content in quantity, but certainly not in quality. I don't recall any serious question which was not answered and discussed on the board.

Two things:

1) Wrong.
2) If the QUALITY is so much better there, why are you HERE?

[Peter]

Originally Posted by starman 

Two things:

1) Wrong.
2) If the QUALITY is so much better there, why are you HERE?

because it gets boring talking to the same 8 members all day every day

[mac128k-1984]

Originally Posted by Peter 

because it gets boring talking to the same 8 members all day every day

I was going to post the same observation, but I think I've said similar things in the past and I don't want to beat a dead horse. While it seems hypercritical for some of the AT supporters to say how great AT is here I can understand the lack of posting there, it means your just about talking to yourself.

[starman]

I've been here 6 years. If I thought the quality here sucked, I would have moved on a LONG time ago.

[Oisín]

Please, let’s not have this turn into yet another AppleTalker discussion. There are plenty of those (easily available through a forum search), we don’t need another.

*sigh*

[mac128k-1984]

To get this thread back on track or at least attempt to do so, has anyonwe visited the macaddict forums?

[gnomexp]

MacThemes Forums :: Index

Great for all your GUI needs like wallpapers, icons, and themes. It isn't as strong in other conversations, but is a great place to make your desktop quite snazzy.

[Millennium]

Are you asking for another Mac forum or a MacNN alternative? There are several of each out there.

For other Mac forums, I suggest MacWorld, MacAddict, and MacFixIt. If you're an OS9-whiner you can also try A no crap-settling zone, but I'm not joking about the OS9-whiner bit: the attitude there can get a little intense.

For MacNN alternatives, the list is somewhat less reliable: alternatives tend to come and go. Currently AppleTalker is the newest and most active. MacNETv2 and OMGWTFBBQ are both apparently rebuilding at the moment. I don't actually know much about The Lifeboat.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

To get this thread back on track or at least attempt to do so, has anyonwe visited the macaddict forums?

I've done a couple of stints there, but it's been years since I last visited. At the time, the pro-Mac attitude of the community was more intense than it is here, but otherwise it was quite similar. Then again, my data is old, and a lot can happen in a couple of years. It may have changed.

[Buckaroo]

Have moderators ever gotten into a heated debate?

[mac128k-1984]

I've lurked in macthemes from time to time, it seems generally quite. I suppose that can be explained away by the state of theming in OSX.

[imitchellg5]

I like MacNN because it is pretty small. I hate large forums. I don't like it though when there is only like 3 people on. That is boring. My life is boring. Oh well.

[Oisín]

MacNN is small? You mean, with only about 30,000 members?

[Peter]

MacNN must be in the top 5 largest Mac Discussion Boards..?

[turtle777]

MacNN ranks # 329 of ALL discussion boards (by posts), and has 61,663 members, rank#509.

Forums Rankings - all software forums, all languages language, website ranking by members

-t

[Oisín]

Hang on... according to that site, MacFixit has more members than posts?!? Quite a few of those forums do, actually...

I mean, I know there are plenty of zero-post members on every forum, but you’d think the Kevins of the world--er, Internet--would make up for that, wouldn’t they?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Hang on... according to that site, MacFixit has more members than posts?!? Quite a few of those forums do, actually...

Some forums require membership to browse the forums and read the threats. Simple as that.

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I mean, I know there are plenty of zero-post members on every forum, but you’d think the Kevins of the world--er, Internet--would make up for that, wouldn’t they?

That was uncalled for.














Not. Funny

-t

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

I don't actually know much about The Lifeboat.

LOL, me neither. I post there like once a year. Literally !

-t

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

Have moderators ever gotten into a heated debate?

With each other, or with members? I get into heated debates all the time.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

With each other, or with members? I get into heated debates all the time.

With each other.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

I like MacNN because it is pretty small. I hate large forums. I don't like it though when there is only like 3 people on. That is boring. My life is boring. Oh well.

Small?

MacNN is the largest Mac message board by a good bit and it's one of the largest technology boards on the net, regardless of platformism.

We've had more than 6,000 people browsing the board simultaneously before.

[paul w]

Neither the Lifeboat nor the mostly dead OMGWTFBBQ are MacNN alternatives per se. At the most they might be considered Lounge alternatives with a bit of technical discussion thrown in on a smaller scale with more interpersonal relationships.

That many, but not all, of its users happen to be Mac users and post in this forum is besides the point. The identity is not mac-centric at all.

I've tried pretty much all the Mac forums for technical discusson/advice and MacNN is still the one I come back to the most.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by Peter 

because it gets boring talking to the same 8 members all day every day

Originally Posted by starman 

Two things:

1) Wrong.
2) If the QUALITY is so much better there, why are you HERE?

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

I disagree, I saw what was posted and there and I failed to see any quality posts at least better then other boards. I have no idea of how many members they have but the forum had an empty feeling.

Much like your posts, Micheal.

I don't know why you guys have so much contempt for AT or any other board. You seem to perceive it as a threat or something of the like. In no way have I said anything untrue or hateful about MacNN here and yet you continue to express pure hatred for AT-- the kind of which got both of the boards' Wikipedia articles deleted. I'd thought you would have learned by now that this type of attitude-- from anyone-- is rather self-defeating and pointless.

I haven't even said that AT quality is even better, though I think it's an excellent board for it's size.

Oh, and why do you have a problem with me belonging to *both* boards? Just because you subcribe to The National Space Foundation, does that mean that you can't be member of The Planetary Society too? What type of logic is that? I belong to many other boards, both Mac-related and otherwise. Why do I have to choose? I don't swear allegiance to any board. I just enjoy discussions with people on them. Which is why I am a member of MacNN, in spite of spiteful objections.

Furthermore, you're no one to to tell me whether or not I should be a member of MacNN. That very type of attitude is what turns off many members from this board. How ironic that you're just proving the original poster's point. Thanks for reminding us why some people dislike moderators here, Peter.

I really don't want to start a huge argument and yet another problem here, even if some here are determined to do so.

[seanc]

I have no problem with Apple Talker I just don't like the layout. A lot of people from MacNN are registered over at Apple Talker including myself, Simon, Tooki to name a few.

[seanc]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

What was the forum that one of the old members here started after getting annoyed?

There was NotMacNN or something.

[mac128k-1984]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales 

I don't know why you guys have so much contempt for AT or any other board.

I have no contempt for AT or other boards in fact I frequent macworld and apple's discussion board. What I think, and I can only speak for mysel,f is that the AT proponents dis macnn and praise AT. If that's the case why post here. I was lurking over at AT reading some old threads and it was incredible that people posted how bad nn is but here I find the same people posting in threads.

If its so bad here, and it must have been since some left to create appletalker why return?

[Oisín]

What I think, and I can only speak for mysel,f is that the AT proponents dis macnn and praise AT.

There were one or two threads a while ago when it got to be too much, and that was agreed upon by both parties. Since then, AT members have actually stopped ‘proselytising’ over here, but people will still, as you just did, use the present tense. Nobody has “dissed” MacNN in this thread, or indeed in the past half-dozen threads there have been where the subject has popped up since those initial threads (that have long since been deleted altogether).

MacNN has its faults, obviously—no forum will ever be free of faults. AT members are not the only ones to think so (the Feedback forum exists for a reason). The only AT members who think it’s “so bad here [that they] left to create AppleTalker” are the ones who did actually leave MacNN and don’t post here anymore. The ones who still post here obviously do so for a reason, viz., that it’s not “so bad” here.

Now, can we please just drop the subject? We all know that some don’t care much for AppleTalker, and that some don’t get why AppleTalker members would even want to post here; we all know that some think AppleTalker is a great forum with lots of good people—can’t we just leave it at that?

[mac128k-1984]

I agree but gabriel continues to justify his actions and I was refuting them but you're right, and visiting other forums is not wrong in fact I think its beneficial as you get a different perspective and learn new things.

[seanc]

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

I agree but gabriel continues to justify his actions and I was refuting them but you're right, and visiting other forums is not wrong in fact I think its beneficial as you get a different perspective and learn new things.

LOL . You make it sound like the forum you visit most often is your religon or your marriage partner and you must be faithful to it. Of course anyone can visit other forums, we can do what we like, what are the other forums and the NN gonna do about it?

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

What was the forum that one of the old members here started after getting annoyed?

There have been several. I don't remember NotMacNN, but MacNETv2 and AppleTalker both basically started out that way.