More Mods! Welcome to @ploverwing and @Arcy!

[TimWilson]

These two fine folks made the sad mistake of telling me that they have experience with various aspects of (gestures broadly) this stuff. That includes ukuleles and other instruments, for sure, and they've also been around UU for much longer than I have. But also lots of experience managing forum backends and development, each in their own unique way.

We've already been mapping out some of the issues in front of us, starting of course with posts that all of you have have been making in the Site Suggestions forum over the years, but also some of the sneaky behind-the-scenes stuff as we've been looking under the hood together.

I've happily been making some of the low-hanging fruit kinds of changes that can be made on the front side of the admin control panel, and I have a few more of these fast fixes in the wings. The big stuff takes time though, but please know that we've already been spending a couple of weeks laying those foundations with support from Aaron, Aldrine, and everyone else who's been getting it done behind the scenes for all these years.

Which leads me to mentioning how grateful I am to every mod, admin, and member who's come before us, many of whom are still very much engaged with the community. Ukulele Underground is awesome exactly as it is, but I know that you know the issues that need addressing, because you've been asking for us to address them. We're not planning on turning anything upside down. On the contrary! Our goal is to set things back upright.

Enough from me for now. You've already seen how engaged and helpful these two folks are, and I'm delighted to tell you that their work on the technology is every bit as engaged, hopeful, and inspired as their work on the boards.

Lots of good stuff coming, and with the two of them on board, coming sooner and better.

More news soon!

Best,
Tim
Mod

 

[Jan D]

Many thanks to ploverwing and Arcy for stepping in with their expertise to help make our lives on the Forum even better!

 

[TBB]

That’s great, thank you @ploverwing and @Arcy !

 

[Dohle]

Big thanks to the new mods and also to @TimWilson! It's great to see an active mod on the forums.

I also really want to thank whoever is responsible for the forum maintenance in general. I just noticed there are some new features I haven't seen before, such as multiquoting, which leads me to believe that the forum is still being updated. Very nice.

 

[don_b]

A toast to Ploverwing and Arcy

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Perfect picks, @TimWilson!
These are two wonderful people. Congratulations to @Arcy and @ploverwing. I don't know anything of @Arcy's civil life, but I know of @ploverwing's art work. She's very accomplished and she's a very warm soul.

 

[Jim in Oregon]

Thanks to ploverwing and Arcy for helping Tim pump new vitality into this already-great site.

Jim

 

[Spicysteve]

A huge thanks to Ploverwing and Arcy. We can't enjoy this fabulous forum without the mods.
Thanks to all for your commitment to UU.

 

[Ziret]

I’m delighted to read this! Thanks for your help and expertise, Tim, ploverwing and Arcy

 

[TimWilson]

I also really want to thank whoever is responsible for the forum maintenance in general. I just noticed there are some new features I haven't seen before, such as multiquoting, which leads me to believe that the forum is still being updated. Very nice.

So far, that's been me, and you're welcome! But it's definitely going to be all three of us working on all kinds of good things!

In the meantime, I'm so glad that lots of little steps are leading to a feeling of general vitality. The hardest part of building an online community is the actual community, and UU has that in spades already. Getting busted tech cleaned up, and some energizing new features are just the beginning of the next phase of Ukulele Underground's growth!

 

[Brian PacNW]

Thank you @TimWilson , @ploverwing , and @Arcy ! Woohoo!

 

[ripock]

does anyone remember circa 1995 and moderators? Remember when you had to be on-topic or you would be deleted because we can't be wasting band-width on usenet? Those were simpler times. Harsher times. And I am not suggesting that our moderators go back or even approach those standards. I am just reminiscing.

 

[Brian PacNW]

does anyone remember circa 1995 and moderators? Remember when you had to be on-topic or you would be deleted because we can't be wasting band-width on usenet? Those were simpler times. Harsher times. And I am not suggesting that our moderators go back or even approach those standards. I am just reminiscing.

That was not on topic. Now where's that warn button!?!

 

[ripock]

That was not on topic. Now where's that warn button!?!

I also remember the hotly debated quoting discussions. When we were at 14.4 baud or lower, people were bitterly complaining about having to wait and to pay while quoted material was slowly uploaded when it wasn't necessary because it was self-evident. And this has all been in our lifetime. Obviously smartphones are de rigueur but there are those of us walking amongst you who do not have cell phones and remember a time when they weren't the assumption and the default. It is very monumental when you think about it...if you think about it. If I were an historian I think I would classify people as pre- or post- internet because that is a very significant rubric.

 

[ploverwing]

does anyone remember circa 1995 and moderators? Remember when you had to be on-topic or you would be deleted because we can't be wasting band-width on usenet? Those were simpler times. Harsher times. And I am not suggesting that our moderators go back or even approach those standards. I am just reminiscing.

That is definitely a way to run a forum. And if that's the direction that the majority of the community here would like the forum to be moderated, that would be our responsibility to take on; we don't want anyone to feel that things aren't the way they should be. So we'll pay very close attention to requests, suggestions, recommendations, to see where the drift lies, and behave accordingly. If there's a sudden change that might be brewing, though, we wouldn't take that without involved community discussion. We're trying to make things more secure and consistent in the background, clean up a little of the out of date/broken link stuff where we can, but we're not interested or intending on overhauling everything. We're all here for a reason, and we're all staying for a reason, so I don't think any of us want to mess with that.

there are those of us walking amongst you who do not have cell phones and remember a time when they weren't the assumption and the default

Yup. I very much remember dial-up and the patience required and the costs involved. You are so right.

they've also been around UU for much longer than I have

Lol, that's sweet, Tim, but I, for one, have not even been here for a year. And I've tried to not be too pushy in any convos/replies; I am just a naturally chatty person, lol! So I probably seem like I've been here forever because I talk and talk and talk and... you get the picture

Thank you, everyone, for your very warm welcome. Thank you, Tim, for spearheading getting some much needed updating accomplished. Thank you so much to everyone who is a member (past & present), moderator / staff member (past & present) and anyone involved herein, who have made UU forum what it is today, and continue to support this lovely community. I am so, so pleased and happy to be here with you all.

 

[KohanMike]

Bravo to all.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 6 thinline acoustic bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video and www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[Neil_O]

I also remember the hotly debated quoting discussions. When we were at 14.4 baud or lower, people were bitterly complaining about having to wait and to pay while quoted material was slowly uploaded when it wasn't necessary because it was self-evident. And this has all been in our lifetime. Obviously smartphones are de rigueur but there are those of us walking amongst you who do not have cell phones and remember a time when they weren't the assumption and the default. It is very monumental when you think about it...if you think about it. If I were an historian I think I would classify people as pre- or post- internet because that is a very significant rubric.

I still prefer a text based experience and would be fine if there were no pictures pre-loaded on my browser. I wonder if there is a text-only browser? I'll look into that.

 

[Neil_O]

Mod

Thanks to all of you for doing this!

 

[TimWilson]

Lol, that's sweet, Tim, but I, for one, have not even been here for a year. And I've tried to not be too pushy in any convos/replies; I am just a naturally chatty person, lol! So I probably seem like I've been here forever because I talk and talk and talk and... you get the picture

I made two posts in my first two years, so I think of myself of starting here late last summer. So I see anybody who's been active longer than August 2022 as having here been longer than me.

But I'll definitely note that I spent a good bit of those two years while I was lurking also gritting my teeth and thinking, "I could fix that goofy problem in a couple of minutes. That next one would take 10 minutes, and this big one might take a little longer...but still, I could totally help with this. Maybe some day."

 

[ploverwing]

But I'll definitely note that I spent a good bit of those two years while I was lurking also gritting my teeth and thinking, "I could fix that goofy problem in a couple of minutes. That next one would take 10 minutes, and this big one might take a week...but still, maybe I could help with that some day."

And we are so lucky that you a) are interested enough to notice, b) are generous enough to reach out and offer to the UU staff/owners your experience and time, and c) are enthusiastic enough to tackle these issues, despite the fact that you have a full life outside of UU that requires your attention and energy.