According to my count, half the posts on the first page here (at the time of my posting) are off topic. HALF. I’ve got no problem with OT posts per se, but when the volume gets to the point that less than 70% of posts on a forum are topical, then I find it not even worth checking any more.
I know the subject has come up before, but Dale puhleeeease, isn’t it time we reconsider having a separate OT forum???
Loren (Well ready for the flame throwing headed my way…)
I confess that I’ve been thinking about that again. There has been a proliferation of OT posts and, of course, I start OT threads all of the time. I think I would be happier with the present situation if the mix of On-Topic to Off-Topic was a bit more balanced.
I’m going to start a fresh poll regarding this issue. I’m not saying we’ll go all democracy about it, but I’d like to first know if there’s a broad consensus on this.
Thanks, Loren.
Dale
I’m with you Loren, but I gave up a long time ago, it seems most people here arent really serious about whistle playing and the need for a social zone is bigger than actual discussions on the music.
Umm, shouldn’t this thread be labeled OT? 
All the Best, Tom
Maybe instead of an OT forum, create a new Whistle forum to go with the Flute and UP forums? Then the Poststructural board becomes for chat, and actual whistle questions go to the Whistle Forum?
I have also started to think an OT forum would be a good thing, but I’m not sure it’ll increase the number of whistle-related topics.
All message boards go cycle through different phases of growth / stability / instability / loss / new growth.
I think we’re coming out of “instability” and starting to enter the phase where many old members just don’t check back very often.
The board may slow considerably for a bit, but it’ll pick back up as more new players find this place. Also, the friendlier we all seem to be, the more likely those new faces will hang around to ask their own questions and post their own thoughts.
Just my $.02.
–James
James,
You make some valid points and, in general, I agree that one of the things that has made this forum so agreeable 
(most of the time) has been the sort of informal atmosphere, which is due in part to the mixture of on/off topic posts.
OTH, the ratio of OT posts has gotten so high, that I honestly believe it’s a major contributing factor to the decline of more seasoned posters. (And lets face it, traditionally, the majority of OT posts come from people who stick around here from 1-1.5 years or so (Amar aside :roll: ) No one here is more “valuable” than anyone else, but when a forum loses more and more of it’s more experienced members , for whatever reasons, it’s a loss for everyone.
I also think that with so many OT posts, and a less than perfect search function, the board becomes much less user friendly to brand new users who are looking to gather information on specific things.
Finally, from a personal standpoint, I find myself with less and less free time, and while I’d like to be able to continue to read and contribute to the forum, it’s gotten to the point where I really is difficult to justify, there’s just too much stuff to sort through. And when it comes to contributions on a technical level, I have become unwilling to spend the time to write thoughtful detailed posts, because I know that before more than a few days, what I’ve written will be pushed so many pages back, that it will not be useful to more than a few people, so why bother?
Personally, at this point, I much prefer the Highly Segmented forums, like the various acoustic guitar forums, however I realize going to that extreme is probably not the best answer for our little neighborhood here. Still I think and OT forum, and a Buy/Sell (Marketplace) forum, wouldn’t hurt anything, and would help out quite a bit. Just my opinion, of course.
Dale,
Thanks much for taking the time and effort to solicit feedback and consider the issue, it’s much appreciated. 
Loren
This is the sort of comment and advice that could go in
ADVISE DALE HERE topic which I started some time ago. It is not an OT topic.
I commend that topic to you.
Since everyone is used to this forum as being off-topic, this idea makes sense to me.
While I realize that going OT is part of the development of the social aspect of the penny-whistle community, we owe it to succeeding generations of whistlers to give them the benefit of our collective knowledge in a straight-forward manner; and not have them feel as if they are dealing with a social clique. Personally I lost interest in posting for quite a few months because there seemed to be nothing but OT threads.
Besided it is far easier to search for tips etc. without having to sift thru OT threads or Bloomfield replies to legit questions.
Albeit, it may not have a HUGE number of threads a whistle forum will be pertinent to the subject, and since the social community will remain intact, what are we losing?
I agree there should be an On-Topic whistle forum only. Three or four of my favorite posters no longer (seldom) visit or post anymore. They say there’s just too much junk to wade through…that this has become more like a chat-room.
I’m guilty of a couple of off-topic posts recently, and I was happy that this board, and the folks on it, were here for me!!!
I had questions that I knew someone would help me with, and sure enough, I had many great helpful answers within just a few minutes of posting each of my questions.
I really value this board.
But sure, I think a separate whistle forum is a positive evolution here.
M
If we need a new board administrator, we’ll call you up, k?
Hey, whatever. Just so long as we can keep tolerating thread drift. I’d hate to see that freedom go belly-up. I think it contributes to creativity.
Thread drift is good in its place.
Four things can help reduce the OT posts.
More newbies asking the age-old questions about whistles and whistling.
More new whistle models to review and discuss. Get busy, whistlesmiths!!!
More Chiffers playing their whistles.
More Chiffers getting lives. (My Mac arrived in Texas yesterday, and got set up today, so I’m about to go that route, myself. It’s back to work for me. 
)
It’ll settle back down after a while… sometimes there’s more going on in people’s lives that is OT than on… especially, I think at the change of the year… takes a month or so for people to get back to ‘regular’ life.
Personally, I don’t want another forum. I’m quite happy getting to pick and choose from what is here.
While not the most prolific of posters here, I am about as seasoned as they come. And I have been less active here lately, although in my case it’s due to personal, real-life stuff: The arrival of our second child means I have much less time to play music, and with music not being as central in my life as it used to be, I consequently have less reason to frequent the board intensively.
That being said, and having thought about what you say, I am actually - for the first time - going to agree that the off-topicness is getting out of hand and that we’d be better off with a separate OT forum.
Or rather, as has been suggested, a better solution might be a separate Whistle forum alongside the other instrument fora, keeping the OT posts in the well-known Poststructural forum.
And while we’re at it, a separate buy/sell forum would be handy too.
Cheers,
Jens
:roll: 
:roll: 
topic!
I didn’t think so before but now I do think a “general discussion/aka snake pit” forum would be a good idea. I don’t deny that most of my time has been with the OT posts but for new people who are only interested in whistle stuff it can be quite a clutter.
As has been mentioned the search is less then ideal but even if it worked better there’s still be a lot of OT stuff to wade through to find answers to specific questions.