Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Below is a post from Cerasus which I think merits a reasoned reply.

"It seems to me that there are now too many 'rules' appearing. This forum used to be easy-going, quirky and forum members could post queries without having to scroll through dozens of threads to check if the crossword they were doing was already shown somewhere on the forum (not always on the front page) and friendly chat is now discouraged, apart from one thread which has not seen any postings since the end of August. I now find other forums more easy-going"

Too many rules, really? Recently I have only tried to implement 2 rules as follows :

(1) Duplicate Threads
(2) Chat threads

I am not making rules up for the sake of it, I am doing so in response to emails I received from Forum users. Some objected to trawling through loads of threads dealing with the same crossword and others objected to loads of personal chat threads.

On one occasion the front page was occupied more or less with chat threads and a single crossword generating multiple threads.

Regarding duplicate threads, let's see if amending the rule slightly will help. You are now asked to scroll down the front page to check that there isn't already a thread on your particular crossword. If there is, then please use it.

As regards chat threads, the situation was getting out of hand with too many on the go at once, hence the Cafe thread. The odd thread is OK, it is still happening, but not so many that they interfere with other Users' enjoyment of the forum.

I am trying to run a friendly Forum for everyone to enjoy but it is difficult pleasing everyone. I will, therefore, end with a quotation which I think says it all

"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time"

Thanks, Norah. It's good to see the reasons for things happening, things changing, on the Forum.

Yes, it was irritating at times when it was hard to see the crossword queries for the chattery stuff! I know I also resented the deluge of Rainbow Quiz threads, when that came around.

As you say, you can't please all of the people all of the time, but it's good for us that you're trying to please as many as possible.

Thank you Malone. It’s always encouraging to see our regulars appreciating what I do and you’ve summed it up correctly, I’m trying to please as many of you as possible.

Cerasus is another long term regular and I hope she reads my reply and appreciates why I took the action I did.

Norah, I really do appreciate your listening to forum members' ideas and it is not an easy job when there are differing views.
I just felt that deleting threads was a bit over the top. Usually, threads were deleted because of bad language, insults or rubbish, but now members are being told to re-post their query. I have not posted for some while as I have a family member who is seriously ill in hospital for a couple of months. I do look in but have not felt like posting.
Sorry if I have upset anyone. Take care and keep safe

Sorry to hear that, cerasus. My thoughts are with you.

Norah - again thanks for all your efforts to keep us sensible. I think I would be a bit more lenient about duplicate threads if the earlier one was no longer on the first page of threads.

Thank you ChrisE
I also think duplicate threads should be kept, if the original crossword post does not appear on the front page.

Cerasus, I’m really sorry to hear about your problems, I wish you and your family all good wishes.

Your explanation is welcomed because I felt you were being a little unfair to me. However, it’s not a problem as I was in the same situation as you in the Spring of 2019 so I quite understand how difficult life is for you at the moment. All I can say is hang in there.

I haven’t deleted any posts but have emailed a couple of users asking them to read my DUPLICATE THREAD posts. I want to strike a happy balance between decluttering the first page and keeping everyone happy, believe me it’s not easy.

I think the ‘first page rule’ is probably the best way to go, it would be great if everyone would just scan down the first page before postIng a new query, I don’t think that's not too onerous.

Chris, as I’ve just said, I haven’t deleted anything as yet and believe me I don’t want to have to delete anything. Lot’s hope it won’t be necessary.

People can always use the search facility to see if there's an existing thread.

Norah, I am sorry that you also were in the same situation as myself. It is difficult to relax and I find just the odd visits to my favourite sites does help for a short while, and a good night's sleep !
I wish you well

orson @8
As kenhiggs said on the St xxxx, people aren't consistent in naming the puzzle, so "Search" might not work.