Proposed New Forum: Whistle Reviews

Whistle
1

OK, I’ve been thinking about this for several months, and even started researching how to do it on my own as a part of the Annex/Matrix, but I’ve held back because, well, it might be seen as being competitive C&F. But now that a new forum was recently created for TRAD, perhaps Dale and Rich would consider doing this as well…

I created the Matrix because the search feature of this board is, well, ineffective. While the Matrix does collect a bunch of threads together, I’ve been dissatsifed with how it tracks whistle reviews. And now the subject of whistle reviews is surfacing on various threads…so…

How about creating a new form specifically for whistle reviews, but it would be structured differently…one thread for each whistle make/brand. If you have one of those whistles you can simply post on the thread for that whistle. Searching and finding info for a particular whistle would be easy, because the subject of each thread on the forum is the whistle brand/make. To keep it simple, I would suggest that the board administrator simply create the topics, one for each known whistle, and lock it so that new topics cannot be posted…this way it doesnt become another discussion forum and doesnt clutter up the whistle listings (general discussions shoudl happen in the main board anyway).

Obviously, the usual RPP standards would apply. It seems to me that even my efforts with the Matrix are not adequate on the matter of efficiently collecting whistle reviews and encouraging people to post their experiences with particular whistles. This would be a nice and easy place to post your comments about particular whistles, to send clueless newbies looking for information, and to prevent valuable whistle comments from being lost in the Vortex, never to be seen again.

So, this is my suggestion. If y’all like it, great. If not, then rag on me for a while and give Enders a break.

Reasonably Yours,

Citizen Dazed

Edited to Add: I havent followed the the recent discussion about a review board very closely, but I do think that the lack of a well organized, searchable whistle review feature that reflects the comments and experiences of the Chiff community is part of the problem.

I personally feel that we are all more or less reasonable people, and if we had something like what I’ve proposed above, then everyone has a chance to let their thoughts be known about the whistles they’ve had experience with, everyon can find the info easily, and everyone can judge for themselves the merits of the comments provided by each particular participant. I think anything more elaborate that soemthing like this is gonna be difficult to maintain on a long term basis, while this proposal sort of maintains itself (in a way, kinda like the board itself).

[ This Message was edited by: DazedinLA on 2002-08-11 20:17 ]

2

I like the idea, but prefer the idea of a place where you can rate various whistle characteristics on a scale of 1 to 5 a la Amazon in addition to written comments. Dale mentioned (in another thread) that if someone else would put it together, he would host it. He lacks the technical skills to build it (as do I).

3

Oh, I agree, Jim, but in the event that noone with the talent and time surfaces to design and implement it, then perhaps my suggestion is an easy and viable, if less desirable, alternative.

4

What I really like about your idea is this:
when I was considering a Burke, I was eager to read as much as I could. It would be nice to have a lot of it in one place.I still support numerically review features in some context but like your idea, too.

5

CNet also has a really cool review board feature where you can give items a number rating, and your comments are grouped under that item. Yeah, that would be optimal because it would incorporate both the number rating (that could be automatically tallied and totalled) and also individual detailed comments.

All it takes is some Silcon Valley programmer dude or dudette with the kung-fu to git da job done.

6

I like the idea of the whistle rating system, but I have one hesitation:

How many individual board/forums will it take to make everyone happy?? I kinda thought that the whole purpose of the C&F board, was for whistlers to chat whistles, which - I would hope - also involves rating them, or giving some form of feedback as they play/progress.

Perhaps a structured rating scale as you suggest is a good idea, but do we really need yet ANOTHER forum to post it to?

Just curious really…

B~

7

Brian:

Yeah, I hear you. Again, I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of months and havent said anything…it does add another forum to the list.

One thing is true though. While the main board is great for general chat and discussion, it just doesnt work well for keeping track of whistle reviews. I wish I had $10 for every thread that covers Dixons or Susatos…many of which cover the same ground. If they were all in one place, then we wouldnt be reinventing the wheel all the darned time, and more important, newbies could actually find the Ancient Wisdom when they need it.

I guess we could leave things as they are, but I think we could do better.

Again, its just a suggestion

[ This Message was edited by: DazedinLA on 2002-08-11 23:43 ]

8

If you visit the “Mandolin Cafe” message board, you’ll find that they have their board segmented. They have a section for which instruments to buy, as well as one for the epuipment that goes with a mandolin, as well as a couple others. -JP

9

I don’t think the new forum would
necessarily stop discussions
of whistles in the main forum.
There would be a first line of protection
from bad stuff, newbie questions
would be answered in advance,
but I figure other whistle discussions
would continue.

10

Excellent idea Dazed; it would really help new people to hear from users of respective whistles (eg I’m a Rose/Grinter/Overton user and can help with those).

Take a look at http://www.dpreview.com where there are excellent forums for camera brands in the same way (it’s the world’s premier site for digital photography).

11

ditto Nickt’s comments, excellent idea.

So many people keep asking for reviews, this would make it much easier for all to keep tabs on who likes what and why.

12

I also like this idea. Another benefit is that, since posts can be edited, you could go in and add to what you said about a whistle after you’ve owned it longer.

Tery

13

OK, so people like the idea, but like the rating system plus comments better. So who out there has the mojo to program a rating system? Anyone?

14

I like this idea, I must say. I agree that the Search feature doesn’t work very well. My only reservation is that I think it would neeed to be fairly tightly moderated. Not to censor, but to make sure that the threads stay consistent and OTs be kept out. This would have a different purpose that the main board and so I think would need to be edited. I think I could manage that.

I haven’t talked to rich about it but I will. I’d only ask for a a bit of patience here. I do want to be involved in it and my week is going to be rather full with non-whistle related realities.

Dale

15

“…and my week is going to be rather full with non-whistle related realities.
Dale”

What Dale, work ??

16

On 2002-08-13 08:45, DaleWisely wrote:

I haven’t talked to rich about it but I will. I’d only ask for a a bit of patience here. I do want to be involved in it and my week is going to be rather full with non-whistle related realities.

And I’m preparing to go on vacation! I think it’s a decent idea too (one thread per, not one forum per), but it might not happen until I get back.

Cheers,

    -Rich
17

A while back, I proposed a review system similar to Harmony Central - http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/
It is an automated system with number ratings for various instruments. It keeps a running sum of ratings at the top and is quite good. The only drawback with such a system is when a review is submitted during the “honeymoon” period before an instrument is throughly utilized to reveal it’s characteristics. People poo-pooed the idea stating that an mp3 of whistles was a better idea. (I disagree.) An mp3 does not tell you if your lips get numb or if weird fingering is needed to play it in tune.

A system that rates whistles by users is valuable for BOTH the manufacturer and prospective buyers. It would help buyers decide on which whistle to purchase. A whistle dealer would make an excellent sponsor for such a venture. After all; who wants to sell (or buy) a poor whistle?

Gary

18

Whoa, I guess one problem with a 1-5 rating system is that if someone rates a whistle a 5 when the first get it, then later a 3 after 6 months, they average a 4 unless they can go back and edit the rating, but then that alters the original review, which also has some value…hmmmmm

Anyway, maybe one way to make it easier for Dale/Rich to monitor and keep it focused is to lock it so that the masses cannot post their own new threads, they can only contribute a review to an existing thread under the heading of the whistle in question.

And yes, I’ll refrain from mentioning Nigella, no matter how relevant to the particular topic she may be… :slight_smile:

Anyway, thanks for the comments, and I’m glad Dale and Rich like the idea too. No hurry…I’d rather we do this right than do it quickly. With so many people, with so many different experience levels, I love the idea that we could soon have a really comprehensive collection of whistle reviews.

Oh, and now that “less than favorable” reviews of a particular make of whistle wont vanish into the Vortex, never to be seen again, it may prove to be a little extra motivation for some or all manufacturers to do their very best in the areas of quality control and customer service.

Kev

19

What if the review posts stayed here (as always) but the subject lines were written in some standard format that the Search feature could use?

Mike

20

New members wouldn’t know to search for them.