Setting up a new forum

mumto2boys

It seems most of us aren't happy with the current comping section here, and although we have been promised fixes (before covid), they don't seem to be forthcoming.  We have lost a lot of posters, and competitions are at an all time low.  There are still lots of comps out there, just not being posted anymore.

Would anyone be willing to help set up our own comping forum?   There are tons of free sites around, and if we stick to just comping, it wouldn't need much moderation.  Would people move over if we did set one up?, it would need posters to make it work, and people who know how to set it up with functions we all love and miss.  I used to run a forum years ago, but not an expert by any means, but would be happy to help.

Ideally we would need thanks buttons, sort function, ticks and crosses of some sort for starters.

Would there be any interest in people moving to a different site if one was set up?  And anyone who thinks they could help set it up?  

Obviously if no-one wants to move, then there is no point,  but there are so many people unhappy here that lots have left, lots are flitting between sites, and lots of competitions being missed, so I feel like someone has to do something before it breaks down altogether and we lose the community that we all once were. 

All opinions welcome

thingamaBob

I am not unhappy. True there are a few minor problems but I can live with them until MSE are able to fix them and, yes, I do believe they will fix them. The only real problems are the Entered/Skipped buttons and hovering preview and they are not show stoppers for me. These things were not on the old forum when it started and it took years before some of them were added. 
This is a brand new forum and it may take a while to get it all up to scratch especially while the MSE team are inundated with other work due to Covid19.
I will not be taking part in any new forum and getting one set up may be a little more difficult than people think but good luck to you if you try.

Blulu

I wanted to sleep on this before commenting, because I have a foot in each camp over this. In theory, I really like the idea of mse compers setting up a dedicated forum. The trouble is that I very much doubt it will ever be what mse was. Apart from anything, it would mean that regular mse compers would be spread out even more. Some would stay here, some would try out the new forum, some have moved elsewhere and may stay there. So, personally, I think our best hope is to try to work with mse over our comping issues.

I mentioned elsewhere about someone starting up a friendly petition in ccc, and maybe linking it to site feedback. It won't be me, because I don't think I would be able to do it well enough, as in laying out what issues we are asking for. It would be asking mse to reverse some of the changes they've made, as soon as they are able to. Perhaps if enough of us 'signed', by adding a comment, I hope that mse would respond and give us their best guestimate as to what they are prepared to do for us, and when. Failing that, they might even like your idea of setting up a dedicated forum elsewhere, and offer to help.

Blu XXX

starrybee

I'm open to the idea. I just want all the comps in the same place.

I don't know how easy it would be to get ticks/crosses back, do we have any web developers amongst us?! I'm assuming it can't be simple otherwise MSE would have fixed it already...? 

mumto2boys

Thanks for the comments so far.   I too would like MSE to be fixed and all the comps in one place (here).  I'm just getting frustrated that it has been months now, and nothing is changing except for us losing more people and competitions.   @Blulu I honestly don't think a petition would make a difference, they know what we all want, they knew way before covid, so I can't see them fixing it.  

This was just a suggestion, to try and make something that works.  I hate sitting around doing nothing about something that needs fixing.  

MrRichTea

83 pages, whole fourm, back in the day, we could have had that many pages in, what, 4 days? I've seen my wins slowly dwindle nothing, as all the posters leave for pastures new, i hated the site redesign, but i stuck with it, for the members, but i can fully understand why now, MSE know this is / was their most popular forum section, but have chosen to ignore requests, so people left.....it is a shell of what it once was, covid19 hasn't helped matters, but honestly, think that's just been nail in coffin for comping section of this site.

Blulu

Mumto, you may well be right re mse. I thought I would post in Site Feedback anyway, just for my own peace of mind. It will be interesting to see if they respond or not. In case anyone wants to see my post, and/or comment on it, here is the linky: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6153534/an-unhappy-forum

Thanks for trying to help us and best wishes

Blu XXX

CompKB

I've honestly moved on to other comping sites and pop back on here now and then. I used to comp on here years ago and it was fab. But I find other comping sites much easier to see what competitions I've entered etc. I assume everyone else is moving over too. 

I would argue there are already many comping forums, there's probably not much point in starting up a new one as people will be spread over more forums meaning all forums are weakened and watered down. I think it would be better that we all stick to one place and do our bit to add competitions.

Moneymadmark

For me, the only two problems are:

1) lack of ticks i.e seeing the red or green without re-clicking on the post.

2) not being able to sort in date order as before.

Any new forum would have to incorporate those features to be an improvement. I would assume that could require specialist web scripting knowledge. I doubt a free forum provider would offer these.

SnazzySazzy81

CompKB said:

I've honestly moved on to other comping sites and pop back on here now and then. I used to comp on here years ago and it was fab. But I find other comping sites much easier to see what competitions I've entered etc. I assume everyone else is moving over too. 

I would argue there are already many comping forums, there's probably not much point in starting up a new one as people will be spread over more forums meaning all forums are weakened and watered down. I think it would be better that we all stick to one place and do our bit to add competitions.

What other comping sites do you frequent? 🙂

rexy0101

SnazzySazzy81 said:

CompKB said:

I've honestly moved on to other comping sites and pop back on here now and then. I used to comp on here years ago and it was fab. But I find other comping sites much easier to see what competitions I've entered etc. I assume everyone else is moving over too. 

I would argue there are already many comping forums, there's probably not much point in starting up a new one as people will be spread over more forums meaning all forums are weakened and watered down. I think it would be better that we all stick to one place and do our bit to add competitions.

What other comping sites do you frequent? 🙂

SnazzySazzy81 said:

What other comping sites do you frequent? 🙂

I have moved over to Loquax. Its very well organised and even gives you the option to block certain competitions eg Instagram, rafflecopters etc if you don't want to enter them. I pop on MSE to see if the problems have been fixed but i don't think they will ever be now.