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Why the change from "The Environment Site"?


 
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#1 Eclipse

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 02:12 PM

With a career change, I got a bit busy and had some time off these forums. I'm just wondering why the change? That previous site had a good vibe, and OK software, and a good community. I'm just wondering why the change?

#2 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 05:37 PM

We're still a "green" forum. The previous administrator added more topics and sub-categories because
everything is related.
The software has been upgraded so we can connect with Twitter, Facebook, G+ and others; helps
us share our knowledge.
And recently, we had a new administrator come on board; so it's smooth sailing. :biggrin:

#3 Eclipse

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 06:06 PM

The forum sofware seems quick enough to learn, and integration with social media's also the new way of things I guess. But did we lose all those previous conversations and members and data?

#4 E3 wise

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 07:43 PM

One of the needs has been to cycle some of the content due to repeats and multiple post in different forum areas.  Jeff and I came on board after the TreeHugger site so I can not speak for those articles or members.  However the forum has been growing  and is having a positive affect,our guest numbers are very high and I can only hope that many like you will either come back now they time or join our growing group of friends making pathetic Alt. Energy Shift a reality both here in the United States and around the world.

#5 Eclipse

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 07:52 PM

Quote

Jeff and I came on board after the TreeHugger site
Sorry, I might be misunderstanding, but is that your nickname for the old Theenvironmentsite or are you writers that have moved over from treehugger.com?

#6 E3 wise

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 07:57 PM

Actually both, the environmental site and treehugger sites where rolled into Alt. Energy Shift, or at least that is my understanding.  Most of the old timers and moderators have come from those two sites with a lot of us new guys coming on board when Alt. Energy Shift was established.  As an example I never saw the environmental site or Tree Hugger, so I am going off information that has been passed on by the older members.

#7 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 23 January 2013 - 04:58 AM

View PostEclipse, on 21 January 2013 - 07:52 PM, said:

Sorry, I might be misunderstanding, but is that your nickname for the old Theenvironmentsite or are you writers that have moved over from treehugger.com?
I don't know what (other) environmental site you speak of, but Treehugger used to have it's own forum. It was started
by a couple of guys that were interested in eco-conversations.

It was sold to Discovery, and about a year later, it was shut down.
People can comment on the Treehugger site now only via Twitter or Facebook; the forum is gone.
Shame to loss all that information  that was posted there and the links but -oh well.

A few of us migrated over from the previous Treehugger forum; myself, tigerlily, Dustoffer, Eds, Yoder,
Organgrinder Johnson, Still Learning and a few others.

Everyone else is new to this forum as we keep adding members, and it's a great resource for information
via links that members provide.
Hope that helps. :wink:

#8 Eclipse

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Posted 23 January 2013 - 10:51 AM

View PostShortpoet-GTD, on 23 January 2013 - 04:58 AM, said:

I don't know what (other) environmental site you speak of, but Treehugger used to have it's own forum. It was started
by a couple of guys that were interested in eco-conversations.

It was sold to Discovery, and about a year later, it was shut down.
People can comment on the Treehugger site now only via Twitter or Facebook; the forum is gone.
Shame to loss all that information  that was posted there and the links but -oh well.

A few of us migrated over from the previous Treehugger forum; myself, tigerlily, Dustoffer, Eds, Yoder,
Organgrinder Johnson, Still Learning and a few others.

Everyone else is new to this forum as we keep adding members, and it's a great resource for information
via links that members provide.
Hope that helps. :wink:

That's great! I didn't know Treehugger's forums had closed & moved. Now I understand some more about this forum! Excellent.

PS: Just as Treehugger used to run their own forum, http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/ used to hold their own forum in different forum software I think? Anyway, if you've both pooled resources to create something bigger and brighter, all the better. Well done! In my past experience of activism, getting the Chiefs to agree to combine resources and possibly lose a few feathers in the process was always difficult.

#9 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 23 January 2013 - 12:41 PM

View PostEclipse, on 23 January 2013 - 10:51 AM, said:

That's great! I didn't know Treehugger's forums had closed & moved. Now I understand some more about this forum! Excellent.

PS: Just as Treehugger used to run their own forum, http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/ used to hold their own forum in different forum software I think? Anyway, if you've both pooled resources to create something bigger and brighter, all the better. Well done! In my past experience of activism, getting the Chiefs to agree to combine resources and possibly lose a few feathers in the process was always difficult.

To be clear; we are not a part of Discovery or Treehugger or the other environmental site you referenced.
We a separate entity. :wink:

#10 E3 wise

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Posted 23 January 2013 - 06:56 PM

The environmental site was a forum that was going until about 4 months ago, it has since been linked up to alt energy shift, if you go to that site you are redirected to alt energy shift.  The old theenvironmentalsite.org was a good site with a lot of important information and blog posting, unfortunately those forums and blogs where lost when the site shut down and came over to Alt. Energy Shift.  If I am correct I believe the site was based in Germany and the original administrator shut it down due to cost and time constraints.

It is a shame that the postings were lost but as Shortpoet said this site has been growing nicely.  When Lois and I came on board alt energy shift in December of 2011, there where just over 150 members, mow we have over 900, but what is really big is the number of visitors, which is significantly higher than the number of members, we hope more of those interested will join the forum and contribute even more.

Personally we have found this to be the best site on alternative energy, green living and cooking, with everyone being very friendly and helpful.  I hope this answers your question.

#11 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 04:16 AM

View PostE3 wise, on 23 January 2013 - 06:56 PM, said:

The environmental site was a forum that was going until about 4 months ago, it has since been linked up to alt energy shift, if you go to that site you are redirected to alt energy shift.  The old theenvironmentalsite.org was a good site with a lot of important information and blog posting, unfortunately those forums and blogs where lost when the site shut down and came over to Alt. Energy Shift.  If I am correct I believe the site was based in Germany and the original administrator shut it down due to cost and time constraints.


Thanks. I've been here from day one and I didn't know that. :wink:

#12 Tom Butler

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 09:58 AM

I migrated the atransc.org Idea Exchange from a well respected but basic discussion board to a an IP.Board like this one. It is one of the best available. One important point for me was that it keeps posts as files rather than in the database. Large databases are hard for me to manage so I used to have to do a lot of topic pruning to keep it down to manageable size. The was a lot of lost data. this board has a very small, manageable database.

It does cost a little money, though. Thanks to the administrators for making it possible.

#13 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 12:24 PM

View PostTom Butler, on 24 January 2013 - 09:58 AM, said:

Thanks to the administrators for making it possible.
I'm sure the new(ish) administrator, Allan will be happy to hear that. :biggrin:

#14 Eclipse

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 03:32 PM

View PostTom Butler, on 24 January 2013 - 09:58 AM, said:

I migrated the atransc.org Idea Exchange from a well respected but basic discussion board to a an IP.Board like this one. It is one of the best available. One important point for me was that it keeps posts as files rather than in the database. Large databases are hard for me to manage so I used to have to do a lot of topic pruning to keep it down to manageable size. The was a lot of lost data. this board has a very small, manageable database.

It does cost a little money, though. Thanks to the administrators for making it possible.

Hi Tom,
I just replied to you in a rather 'energetic' manner over in our nuclear power discussion, but I just wanted to say that hearing you're an electrical engineer AND web-site administrator has raised my respect for your work. Good stuff! I nearly went into web design myself at one point, and so remain fascinated by various choices in choosing a forum application. Did you look at Phpbb3 or SMF or the other free site softwares?

#15 Tom Butler

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 06:18 PM

Yes, but the problem has always been that setup and maintenance takes more time than they are worth ... to me. The biggest thing was that I wanted a smaller database and a board that offered gallery, blog and download manager. This one does all of that, even though it also cost me a hundred or so per year for upgrades. The price is fair because they are always watching for security issues and will upgrade my sight for me.

I still use Microsoft FrontPage for my websites, mainly now because it still works and I know how to use it. My policy is to keep the board simple so that I can concentrate on content. Right now, I have over 400 pages and average 800-to-900 unique visitors a day on atransc alone. The three areas I maintain are Etheric Studies, the Collective (wikimedia), atransc and a church website. I should convert the church site to a CMS program in case I get run over by a truck but I am not a fan of CMS programs.

The biggest problem I have now is apathy. The social sites appear to satisfy many people's need for interaction and technical people shy away from dealing with the public. My Collective wiki is literally in the "build it and maybe they will come" mode. Without discussion board participation, it is difficult develop people who can assist in research. Social media is all about today and of little use for building a knowledge base, so we seem to be sliding backwards.

#16 Dingo

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 07:54 AM

I'm a veteran of the old TES and mourn its passing with all the great characters from all over the world that participated. There were a gold mine of posts. Too bad they couldn't have been saved.

A thought about one forum they had that I would like to see resurrected. It was the Population Forum. It seems to me it is a topic that is serious enough to deserve its own space. I wonder if the managers would consider adding it.

Best Dingo

#17 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 02:04 PM

View PostDingo, on 20 February 2013 - 07:54 AM, said:

I'm a veteran of the old TES and mourn its passing with all the great characters from all over the world that participated. There were a gold mine of posts. Too bad they couldn't have been saved.

A thought about one forum they had that I would like to see resurrected. It was the Population Forum. It seems to me it is a topic that is serious enough to deserve its own space. I wonder if the managers would consider adding it.

Best Dingo
We have an active discussion on it here-
http://www.altenergy...-overpopulated/

#18 Adi

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 07:17 AM

As the original founder of the old Environment Site I thought I'd post and create a bit of a back story to the site.

It was founded a decade ago back in 2003 as a place for folks to discuss how they could do their bit for the environment.  It grew into a fantastic community of very smart people, such as Eclipse and Dingo, and there were some fantastic discussions.

I passed the site over to Fabian a few years ago as I simply didn't have the time to devote to what was a seriously big community back then.  He made some really nice changes to the design and everything, but I think he too also found that the site required more time than he could provide it, and thus we are where we are.

It's a real shame that the discussions and membership couldn't have been moved over.  I think it had somewhere around 200,000 posts, hence it's claim to be the largest independent environmental forum on the web, with some of the posts in the climate change forum having over 1,000 posts on their own.

It's a great thing that the site has people able to give it the TLC it deserves, but a real pity that all the time, energy and insight that members devoted to the site over the 7-8 years or so prior to its move here has been lost.

#19 Shortpoet-GTD

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Posted 20 March 2013 - 02:58 PM

View PostAdi, on 20 March 2013 - 07:17 AM, said:

As the original founder of the old Environment Site I thought I'd post and create a bit of a back story to the site.

It was founded a decade ago back in 2003 as a place for folks to discuss how they could do their bit for the environment.  It grew into a fantastic community of very smart people, such as Eclipse and Dingo, and there were some fantastic discussions.

I passed the site over to Fabian a few years ago as I simply didn't have the time to devote to what was a seriously big community back then.  He made some really nice changes to the design and everything, but I think he too also found that the site required more time than he could provide it, and thus we are where we are.

It's a real shame that the discussions and membership couldn't have been moved over.  I think it had somewhere around 200,000 posts, hence it's claim to be the largest independent environmental forum on the web, with some of the posts in the climate change forum having over 1,000 posts on their own.

It's a great thing that the site has people able to give it the TLC it deserves, but a real pity that all the time, energy and insight that members devoted to the site over the 7-8 years or so prior to its move here has been lost.

I know what you mean.
Treehugger had a great forum for several years too, and all of that information and insight is also lost.
Big business (discovery) decided it wasn't worth the effort and shut it down.
We drew some really intelligent posters there that I miss talking to.
Oh well.
(Now, comments on Treehugger are only via Twitter or Facebook) it isn't the same. :mellow:

#20 Eclipse

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 10:35 PM

View PostAdi, on 20 March 2013 - 07:17 AM, said:

As the original founder of the old Environment Site I thought I'd post and create a bit of a back story to the site.

It was founded a decade ago back in 2003 as a place for folks to discuss how they could do their bit for the environment.  It grew into a fantastic community of very smart people, such as Eclipse and Dingo, and there were some fantastic discussions.

I passed the site over to Fabian a few years ago as I simply didn't have the time to devote to what was a seriously big community back then.  He made some really nice changes to the design and everything, but I think he too also found that the site required more time than he could provide it, and thus we are where we are.

It's a real shame that the discussions and membership couldn't have been moved over.  I think it had somewhere around 200,000 posts, hence it's claim to be the largest independent environmental forum on the web, with some of the posts in the climate change forum having over 1,000 posts on their own.

It's a great thing that the site has people able to give it the TLC it deserves, but a real pity that all the time, energy and insight that members devoted to the site over the 7-8 years or so prior to its move here has been lost.

Hi Adi,
Long time no chat!  Try not to beat yourself up about it. The reality is not that many people read through long forum discussions that are not even current. They're looking for newer, more relevant data. They're often looking for contemporary interaction as well, a 'live' chat.

Sometimes I will read through an old conversation on a forum I've just randomly googled to, but most often I'm interested in the conversations that are 'live' today. So while there may have been some small value in archiving all those older conversations, I think the far greater achievement was the creation of a fun community and the information and conversations that were shared at that time. Who knows how many great resources were shared and how many minds were educated for the better? You created a community! But groups come and go. That's the nature of things. You can always contribute here now and then.

As a bit of a communicator, my one concern is the name of this forum. It's just a bit 'clunky'. If I were running this venture I would SERIOUSLY consider moving back to the old name, whatever the politics of merging with another group. Consider this fact: I just googled "Environment forum" and look what the top 3 links are?



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