YT Welcoming Commitee
 

It seems to me that YT has gotten so bad with negative posters lately, and great members leaving because of it. I've been on for almost a year now, and its like it just keeps getting worse and worse. I'm to the point that I can't stand it. There is sooo much imformation and so many GREAT people on here and that is the only reason I have tried to bear with it, but its getting to be too much now.

I think A LOT of it has to do with the "clicks" here on YT as well. A lot of these women (or men) have formed great friendships on here, and that is awesome, but it makes it REALLY hard on newbies to feel like they fit in. There are constantly threads on "why didn't anyone respond?" or people who feel left out. Or, they get attacked on what they are asking. And I know some things are utterlly ridiculous, and there are a lot trolls out there, but there are also some people that are naive and maybe we just need to help!

So here is my idea....

We can start a sort of welcoming commitee for newbies to feel like they are apart of this board. Whenever there is a new member, we can send out PM's welcoming them in a little more personal way.

We can also have a list of members who specialize in certain things (breeding, feeding, toys, grooming etc.) so that way they at least have one person they can go to without getting wrong advice from others.

I'm not sure, but I want to do something to help others feel like they are not just a newbie, but they are an important member of this board.

So let me know what you think, if you have other ideas, PM me, and maybe we can set up our commitee and get this going.

BTW, please don't make this thread about the negative posts, or turn this into a discussion on why things are the way they are...this is purely for a YT Welcoming Commitee! Thank you!

I think this is a great idea! I'm relatively new and I didn't feel unwelcome, but I still think that adding a personal touch to the welcomes couldn't hurt. I'm sure it would help the new people start some special friendships so they feel more like part of the group. I'm still developing some relationships and I would have loved if it had been a bit easier. I'm new to all this but let me know what I can do to help! :D

This is an interesting idea.
I, for the most part, don't communicate by PM but I would like for newbies to feel more welcome. I don't know if you saw the thread I started the other day making sure the newbies didn't have any questions and there were a LOT of responses. I think some have trouble navigating the board. People really do need help.

There is also one more point I'd like to bring up. A couple months ago I found a post from a new member that had ZERO responses. This was 50 pages back in general discussion. I started a thread about it in Off Topic and quite a few of us started bumping up all the threads with zero responses. This has seemed to stop (I'm including myself in this) and I don't know why except that it does take time. I don't think any thread should have zero responses.:(

Sounds like a great idea. I try to welcome all the newbies but we are growing so fast that I know I miss a lot. So count me in. I really hate it that we lose some before they even get started.

Ok, great, I'm glad you guys like the idea! Would anyone be willing to head out the committee with me, and we can keep things organized and send out updates (eventually) and get everything rolling? We can make it so we have a Pres, VP, Secretary, and so on. PM me if you're interested!

I have been here going on a year and have had threads go unanswered or maybe one or 2 people answer...it does make people feel bad:( I understand that sometimes threads get lost but what I do is constantly click "new post" at the top. That way I see what new threads are made in all forums and new responses made. I know some people go into specific forums but I find that by clicking "new post" when you log in and every so often helps keep track of all the new threads. hope this helps :)

I think this is a great idea to include with this. Maybe we can somehow assign a few people to keep track of this and be the "Bumpsters" of the commitee! Let's give this thread until tomorrow to get more people interested, and then we can start from there! Again, any ideas would be wonderful! I haven't thought this through a whole lot, but figured we can make it work together!

I'll definitely be in!

I would be glad to help if I don't have to be computer literate....cause I know NOTHING....not even how to post pics.:D

I like the idea, but I guess I can see some flaws with it. For example,

"We can also have a list of members who specialize in certain things (breeding, feeding, toys, grooming etc.) so that way they at least have one person they can go to without getting wrong advice from others."

Why would we need the threads? I realize people often get and give wrong advice, but someone usually comes along and clears things up.

I try to look for threads that have few responses and answer those if I can, or just bump up the thread so someone will see it. It seems like once a thread is on page 2, its dead.

People who feel left out should take it upon themselves to start welcoming new people, and might add a line or two beyond, "Welcome to YT."

Some people may find the PM intrusive. I got several that were for the purpose of selling me things, and became very suspicious after that. If someone is "made" to welcome you, the welcome doesn't seem very genuine.

I think it's a great idea to have a welcoming committee...I was actually just thinking about this the other night! I think that it would be nice to send a PM out to newbies explaining how to navigate the site, respond to posts, create their own thread, post pics, etc. Is there a way to find out when a new member signs up?

That's a good idea. New arrivals can be found at the bottom of this page http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/index.php where it says" YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community Statistics

Oh, I never make it down that far:rolleyes: Thanks!

I think it would be good to have a 'WELCOME' area of the forum that new members are automatically directed to....where they go first to 'introduce' and tell a little about themselves.....and there the 'welcoming committee' could greet them, answer any questions they may have about navigating the forum and such. If there was a 'WELCOME' area, newbies posts wouldn't get lost in the 'General Discussion'....

just an idea....:dreaming:

I think this is a great idea i havent really been here that long but actually have never really felt that welcome and the only reason i was staying has changed i wont go into that but im so upset i just dont think i want to come back here anymore which breaks my heart because it has really helped me coming here with my issuses i have never reached out to anyone here because of not feeling welcome i do want to say thank you to all that were nice to me

Oh memphismomma. I don't know what experience you had, but I hope it wasn't too bad. For those not feeling welcomed, sometimes, other factors can play into that. When I joined, it was during a busy time of the year - people were out enjoying vacations and lovely weather. On the flip side, some people join at a peak busy time, and threads are buried as quickly as they're made. But I hope that instead of keeping to yourself because of your reception, you'll reach out to new people even more to make their experience better than yours. :)

Count me in!

Like I said before I am all for a welcoming committee, think its a great idea, but I feel the problem goes beyond making that member feel welcomed initially. I think we need to make new members feel at home here. Make everyone feel like they are a valued member here, I see threads started that get few responses but the threads that get started by the older members get filled up so quickly. I understand that people establish friendships here and that is great but everyone should be treated equally. I personally love YT and have only been here a short time but when someone asks for prayers and 75 people view the thread and 5 answer...where is the support? Then you see a thread by a long time member started and 50 view it and 40 respond...that could be hurtful. I dont know its JMO.

Count Me in:D With 30,000 Members it is really hard to get to all but I Always try too. I hope we can get this started :)

you are so right ! I hate seeing this.. It just happened to a Thread I atarted for a Friend not to long ago and I had to start sending PM's to members I knew to show them it was there.. I feel that should not have to happen.

I think this is a good idea. I am new to this and sometimes feel that my opinion doesn't count. However I have received some good info so I continue to strive to build myself up in YT. I would like to help others do the same. COUNT ME IN!!!!!

Good Mornining Ladies! You guys have some great ideas, and I'm glad everyone (well, almost everyone) is receptive to this idea! I personally think that this can help bring up the moral (so to say) on YT! So, MyBabyBoyMax and myself are going to start getting this organized to get it going. So, here is how I would like to start it out. Could everyone interested please PM me (so I know who to include in mailings and such) and include any YT specialties you have...like avatar making, teaching someone how to upload/ resize photos, or anything else that has to do with the site that would be beneficial to newbies. With the PM's I get, I will start sending out a mass PM each day listing all the new members. We will need a few people to be in charge of searching for threads with low repsonses and then we can send out alerts on those as well. This is going to be an ongoing thing, not just a "hey how ya doing, welcome" type of thing. But lets make it our mission to build friendships.

So please PM me so I know you definitely want to be included, and let me know if you are interested in anything more. Lets get this going!

Count me in :) My habit is to go through all new posts throughout the day vs. visiting certain forums so I don't miss anyone.

Just like Sammiz said, I really wish the forum had a thread "Introduce Yourself" like so many others I am a member of. It is much less intimidating to post in a thread with other newbies vs. jumping into the fray...

Anyway, I think your idea is great :)

Yeah, I agree about having a separate forum for introduce yourself, but I think people have asked for separate forums before and I don't think the server can support it. But I'm going to PM Admin right now and see what happens!

Memphismomma,

I want you to stay! We are both from California and I would hate to think you don't feel welcome. Consider me and my fur babies your newest friends, I'm reaching out to you.:wavey:

I felt the same way for awhile then when I couldn't welcome everyone I figured it out. Sometimes I only got 2 replies on a thread but it isn't because of any special reason just timing or too many things for everyone to see.

I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in also. I have been on here about 8 months and there have been many many times that I have felt anything but welcomed or important. Again, I don't know if I just joined at a busy time or what and it doesn't matter, its water under the bridge now. My point is that if this "welcome committee" can be pulled off I think it will be a WONDERFUL addition to this forum for newcomers and hopefully let them know that they are welcome and appreciated. As a newbee, it sometimes feels like you are "intruding" around here but that may just be me...........LOL

Anyway, GREAT idea and let me know if I can help.

Sorry if somebody has already said this, but I just skimmed through the responses.. in addition to just bumping up threads with no responses, I think we need to find a solution the chaos that is the General Discussion section.

I really hope nobody gets offended by this, I'm not trying to be hurtful or mean, but I personally get really annoyed whenever there are 6 thousand new posts on the General Discussion section, especially questions that would have been automatically answered had they looked or posted on another section of the forum. If the welcoming committee can inform newbies of the search feature as well as the other great sections, maybe that'll cut down on the amount of posts and there will be less that get looked over.

Just a thought.

I just bumped up probably about 10 threads and there are sooo many more to do.:(

I'm not offended at all, but for me I'm different in that I do not get annoyed because I know (especially for me) that I could have looked up everything on this forum and never posted at all, and asking questions was my way of becoming comfortable with everyone here. YT can be a bit intimidating at first (at least for me) and getting some "real time" responses to my posts and questions made me feel a part of so that I could venture forward and become a part of the group:) That's just me, and everyone is different.

I've said it before and I'll say it again that I do think an "Introduce Yourself" section would compliment the YT site tremendously but I'm sure the Administrators of the site get so many great ideas they have to pick and choose what they believe is best.