SimplyDiscus Disease Board 2.0 Reboot. PLEASE PLEASE >>READ!

Hi all,

I may have been away but Simply was on my mind. After careful consideration I decided that the way we do the disease board is just not working. It was a very well thought out and well meaning idea and one that made sense to many of us. There were too many times when novices were giving out advice without knowing what they were talking about,potentially harming others. Best to have experienced members handle that was the consensus when I asked the membership. Problem is , the majority of the knowledgeable ones don't help. They either are unsure of themselves or are tired of trying to help members that often ignore the suggestions and advice, or are too busy. I understand all these and did try to fill the gaps myself when I could. The other problem with the system is that people needing help would circumvent the system and post in "general" on it which made more work for us and made it confusing. Lastly, if people needed help and weren't getting it here because of the posting restrictions they just sought it elsewhere, like social media . The fact is members in need really want to feel like they are being helped. Thats an understandable thing . Our system though well meaning by having only the most qualified members helping those in need actually discouraged dialogue, something thats key to a Discussion forum and when trouble shooting a disease issue, can help figure out whats happening.

With that in mind I am rebooting the disease boards emergency room back to the way it was .. All members can reply to requests for help and are encouraged to help out if they feel they can.. I can only hope that the experienced ones will flag well meaning bad advice and offer their own. That system we had worked for years and was very helpful to people. The system we tried where only experienced members (as denoted by post count and years at SD) is something I had really hoped would be an improvement for us, but it just did not work out in application. Lets reboot it and see how it goes.

Effective immediately , provided I changed all the permissions back correctly ( it was a bit of work!), Members should now be able to post replies to those in need of help regardless of their post count or years on the forum.

Thanks,
al

Back in effect is as follows for the disease board...


SimplyDiscus.com has a disease board here for use by the forum's population where by members looking for help on disease issues can ask for advice in dealing with an issue. It is a courtesy section. This advice is not screened, or approved in any way by the moderators or the owners here...nor are the qualifications of those answering requests for help. If you post in this section looking for help, you must do so fully understanding that you will most likely get a full range of answers from those that are very poor suggestions on how to deal with an issue to those that are very good suggestions.


It is up to you to take the time to further research any suggestions and read the back posts here of those suggesting them....Weigh the pros and Cons of any suggestions or advice made.

It is the position of this forum's ownership that disease issues are best handled thru the use of Veterinarians and Fish Health Specialists, such as Fish Pathologists. You should always try to locate one of these when you have serious issues. Use of any advice in the Forum's disease section is at your own risk.

This Forum's disease board is not moderated for accuracy of posts or advice..so do not expect it to be. It is moderated as all other forum sections at SimplyDiscus are...to enforce Forum Rules.


***IF you are posting Questions here we ask that you be as specific as you can about what is going in your tank..This will minimize potential mis-diagnosis by well meaning fellow hobbyists. You are responsible for how you deal with any advice given.

***IF you read a request for help and would like to offer your assistence and advice.. YOU MUST BE SURE THAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCED ENOUGH ON THE ISSUE TO HELP. Your advice, however well intentioned could very well kill someone elses fish...even if it "worked" for you.

***IF you see advice that is given and disagree with it...The same rules that apply to other sections of the forum apply to the disease board... State that you disagree in a civil and polite fashion and state why you feel that way. If possible, post proof in the forum of articles and research papers supporting your thoughts and beliefs..These types of help boards work best like this as it enables members with more experience to chime in and correct those with less experience....if there is something suggested thats inaccurate.



*** If you are not giving first hand information or documented information in response to a request for help......DO NOT POST offering advice... The goal should be giving assistance to a hobbyist in need..not making posts for the sake of posting or to make yourself seem more experienced.




Thank you,
Al Sabetta
SimplyDiscus.com

I was wondering why I could all of a sudden see a reply bar! Additional suggestion, what about either:

A 'rating' system that the OP could give a 'point' to a helpful member, this would be displayed in their profile to at least help others decide on the potential reliability of the advice?

A system I really like on another (non breed specific) aquarium forum I am on is instead of replying you can also hit a 'like" "agree" "thanks" button, these count up and display on the users post. Also helps to clean things up a bit in cases where you have several posters quoting someone and saying "what they said" :) Their system displays the users who gave what ratings as well, so you could detect someone spamming it inappropriately.

Just some thoughts because I have seen some pretty horrific advice out there, I know we all have, so I understood the idea behind the high post/time requirements for posting in this section.

Thanks

I just saw this thread. If it worked better the old way than the new way, going back to the old way is a good idea. I didn't even know that we had changed from the old way. Don't tweak it until you think it needs tweaking. If you ever have "like" buttons I will be forced to abandon the forum.

hello everyone.

Lat time just 2 month ago when i needed this group to help me, i was not able to post anything.
I even searched google, how to post in Simply Discus.

Although i lost 4 of my discus back then, but i am not disheartened, i still keep them. But some words from experts here would have given a breath of relief that i am not fighting my hard time alone. just Psychological thing.

I am from India, into fishes from last 7 months only.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaushal

hello everyone.

Lat time just 2 month ago when i needed this group to help me, i was not able to post anything.
I even searched google, how to post in Simply Discus.

Although i lost 4 of my discus back then, but i am not disheartened, i still keep them. But some words from experts here would have given a breath of relief that i am not fighting my hard time alone. just Psychological thing.

I am from India, into fishes from last 7 months only.

---

Hi Kaushal,
Im sorry to hear about your problems with your fish and your inability to post a new thread. Just to clarify things though, access to the disease board was never restricted to members needing help. What used to be restricted was who could reply and help. The intent there was have a higher standard of advice. This was something forum members had wanted. Unfortunately it did not work as intended. We have returned to the old ways of it being openned to all members in the hopes that members in need will get the help they need.

On your particularly issue I went back and read your backposts.. I did note that one of our Moderators, Filip, did respond to you but there was no further dialogue from you. Im sorry you could not figure out how to post a thread.... If that is still a problem, please let me know by pm and I will walk you through it.

hth,
Al