What is the matter with everyone

[Redemption]

Most things in life go full circle. People will be back, they always come back. Whether it's the Facebook group fads, people being burned by scam artists or anyother dramas that go on. Mark my words... "She'll be back"

 

[Allan]

I don't think that fb has taken over just because this forum was so "mismanaged" It seems to be a trend with a lot of forums, both here in Australia and overseas. What I miss on fb though, is the wealth of information that this site that can provide with a simple search and the ease with how you can follow threads. Particularly if you only visit the forums a couple of times a week.
As for the sometimes heated exchanges, how boring if we all agreed, a debate should be able and allowed to stir up a verbal mudpool.

 

[BredliFreak]

I'm definitely still on, but I'm too lazy to post and I like reading the older threads as well, they can be very interesting. It is a shame though, that this forum is close to being abandoned but if we can get more people back on board, invite them on FB to come back potentially we could get this site running again. I personally value the advice of the 'seasoned pros' but I guess there are some people who just challenge things and can't savour the advice. I think the change of ownership was a good idea and I KNOW that Stu will do a great job of managing the site.

Regards,
Bredli

 

[ronhalling]

That's just it Bred, we need to get it out there that APS is under new management, it is not really like the old management was really a big problem but more like they had become like an old favorite blanket, felt good to have around but did not really offer much in the way of warmth and started taking us for granted, I have run quite a few forums in the past (some with 100k + memberships) and know the frailties and unpredictable nature of their membership (and admins/mods) it is a fine balancing act trying to keep everyone happy and in the end can become Stalin like, it is at this point members start to stagnate and start to move on, it is now up to Stu to salvage what was once a great forum and show the long time (and new) members that it is going to once again be great, even if it means going off at a tangent and bring in different and better subject matter as well as more interesting sections, this is where he needs to take notice of the members with their ideas on what could make a better APS, lol i tend to ramble on a bit when i am passionate about something but i truly believe APS is worth saving. It is a good idea to advertise on all the different FaceBook groups telling them that a new improved APS is is endeavoring to get all their old and new members to come have a look, it might tempt some of the older brains trust to return and once again give us the invaluable information we crave. ..........................Ron

 

[twistedFrog]

Well as quite a new comer to the hobby, having only been owning snakes a few years. I am also only a very relatively new comer to this site. What I can say as a newb is that I do not know the difference from before and now! What I can comment on is the fact that I have found the site very useful, every question I have had, I have found the answer through searching the threads. I have seen very little of the ill mannered folk, however, I have seen it. In all walks of life, there are bad examples of behaviour, each has their own unique personality, but each has to live with themselves and karma is a boomerang, that hits harder than it was thrown. So I tend to just ignore the bad and focus on the good.
I will continue to use the site for reference as it has proved worthwhile so far. I will commit to the membership when I become self sufficient, trying to build my own business at the moment in graphic and web design, but as the content is freely made available, I cannot recommend it more highly as a resource for anyone interested in the hobby.
I think that operating this site must be a huge undertaking and if, as stuart mentioned it is not for monetary reasons, then I applaud the courage and commitment to do so. I know as a web designer the amount of work that goes into building a site and then maintaining it and finding ways to fix the broke bits can be all consuming. So my guess is Stuart, probably works full time (gotta feed the obsession some how) and his spare time must be jam packed with site maint. etc. just a guess, but either way I applaud the dedication to undertake it!

What everyone can do is simply treat others the way you would like to be treated and continue to share knowledge, advice and your interests, for the betterment of the whole community. If we all took five/ten minutes everyday to give back to the world, can you imagine what could be achieved??? Let alone just here within the APS community. After all aren't we all here for the because we love pythons, monitors, turtles, lizards etc. imagine the possibilities if everyone adopted an attitude that "things are what they are until they are different, but I will give what I can when I can, because I can" Then the cumulative effect would rock all our worlds!!!

Sorry maybe I might be a little philosophical, but I just imagine the possibilities that we are all capable of if we let go the negativity. I am in no way accusing or setting blame, nor acknowledging that this is a prevalent thing. I am just hopeful for a better experience for this wonderful world we live in.

Cheers

 

[Snapped]

Well I hope people come back, it's a wealth of information, and I learned so much through APS and still have much more to learn, I missed APS when it went offline.
Plus I can look at all the new snakes here I can't afford (yet)

 

[Blackdog]

Interesting stuff. I wasn't even aware that the site had changed hands.
Reading this thread it appears to me that Stuart might have what it takes to get this up and running again or at the very least give it a red hot go. Good luck to you anyway mate.
I don't do facebook and as you can see from the handfull of posts in the past 10 years or so I keep my opinions to myself most of the time. When I was breeding and selling animals though I loved nothing better than trying to help new owners understand the needs of their new animal and look after it really well, but I did have an ulterior motive in that I wanted my babies to thrive not just survive. Nowdays I concentrate on trying to take pics of wild critters and finish my bloody book that has been 20 odd years in the making. The hobby is great fun and the passion of most of the people involved is undeniable so we should probably use everthing at our disposal including APS to learn and grow with the hobby we love.
I received my APS subscription notice email today and I wasn't going to renew but I think I will now.
Cheers,
Mike.

 

[vampstorso]

Old management were beyond arrogant,
So in that sense it would probably be an advantage to make it clear it's under new management even if it isn't technically something people are entitled to know

Also keeping with that same theme perhaps an update on the look of the site might help differentiate it from the messy past

Perhaps a new colour scheme, logo or forum server platform etc (easier said than done of course),

I think the difference between old and new needs to be more obvious

The feel of the old board is why I stopped visiting,
And only really now seeing it's in New hands and Stu seems decent bloke am I starting to visit regularly again ...but if I didn't just happen to notice I'd still avoid it

 

[ronhalling]

Hey Vamp, these are the sort of posts and comments that Stu and the team need to hear to be able to make the site a more enjoyable place to visit, i know by seeing the likes that Stu is reading them and am sure once he see's that more and more of the wonderful APS regulars are coming back he will put into practice the suggestions he see's here (if feasible). It is good to see you and Blackdog back here, looking forward to seeing more. .......................Ron

 

[Stuart]

Interesting stuff. I wasn't even aware that the site had changed hands.
Reading this thread it appears to me that Stuart might have what it takes to get this up and running again or at the very least give it a red hot go. Good luck to you anyway mate.
I don't do facebook and as you can see from the handfull of posts in the past 10 years or so I keep my opinions to myself most of the time. When I was breeding and selling animals though I loved nothing better than trying to help new owners understand the needs of their new animal and look after it really well, but I did have an ulterior motive in that I wanted my babies to thrive not just survive. Nowdays I concentrate on trying to take pics of wild critters and finish my bloody book that has been 20 odd years in the making. The hobby is great fun and the passion of most of the people involved is undeniable so we should probably use everthing at our disposal including APS to learn and grow with the hobby we love.
I received my APS subscription notice email today and I wasn't going to renew but I think I will now.
Cheers,
Mike.

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the kind words and the support

Old management were beyond arrogant,
So in that sense it would probably be an advantage to make it clear it's under new management even if it isn't technically something people are entitled to know

Also keeping with that same theme perhaps an update on the look of the site might help differentiate it from the messy past

Perhaps a new colour scheme, logo or forum server platform etc (easier said than done of course),

I think the difference between old and new needs to be more obvious

The feel of the old board is why I stopped visiting,
And only really now seeing it's in New hands and Stu seems decent bloke am I starting to visit regularly again ...but if I didn't just happen to notice I'd still avoid it

Thanks vampstorso, I will take those suggestions on board as there have been a few comments on updating the look of the site. I can't afford to do it right this very moment but I might have a think as I am sure there are alternative ways. In regards to the server platform, I have changed that (which accounted for the horrendous downtime in June/July), but I also might misunderstand your comment, were you talking about the forum software itself? Cheers for the comments

Hey Vamp, these are the sort of posts and comments that Stu and the team need to hear to be able to make the site a more enjoyable place to visit, i know by seeing the likes that Stu is reading them and am sure once he see's that more and more of the wonderful APS regulars are coming back he will put into practice the suggestions he see's here (if feasible). It is good to see you and Blackdog back here, looking forward to seeing more. .......................Ron

Ron, thanks for all your support and time invested as well mate. I appreciate you helping getting these sorts of discussions rolling. I can't promise to change everything for the better but I will say that I'll try my best to improve the forum for everyone.

 

[Deano]

Good to know it’s under new management, all the best with it Stu!

 

[briansworms]

I don't own any snakes or lizards just an Eastern Long Neck Turtle. My main reason I pop in is because I sell worms ( composting / fishing) and woodies. Now to make a success of that( mainly the woodies) I need to get to know people and find out what is going on in the reptile world. Sadly I work full time and do the other as a hobby which makes me 7 days a week busy. I want to build the worms and woodies so I can do it full time. Till then any spare time I get I try to pop in. I recently upgraded to a Power seller once I had sufficient stock. Well as sufficient as I can be. I do my best to supply quality woodies that don't die on the way or soon after you receive them. That's why I never sell old woodies.
I think Stuart has his hands full and I thank him because without forums like this we would all end up on FB. I don't do FB
regards
Brian

 

[cement]

Its great that this site has changed hands, best thing that could've happened to it.
So good luck to the new APS.

Its unfortunate that (and i'll bring it up) jags were brought in to the country. This factor alone has been a major force in dividing the reptile keeping community, and I reckon that it also became a large part of why so many people quit the forums and took to facebook where jaggers and purists could get away from the angst that the arrival of these animals has brought in with each other. It's difficult for newcomers to the hobby to understand this rift.

The growth of the "hobby" has been a pretty interesting journey, it never used to be a hobby as such, but in the words of JW after the first very successful wild expo, "its gone from a hobby to now an industry". This also brings a myriad of factors that can bring along frustrations and malcontent. Expo's these days are really nothing more then place for breeders to make bucks, I like to go occasionally and catch up with friends, but the rest (for me anyway) is just a massive sales pitch and I have absolutely no interest. The original wild expo has sadly been surpassed by the "industry".

I have met a lot of really nice people on this forum and also the opposite..... I've been thanked wholeheartedly by some and had my life threatened by others, the reptile world is and always will be "colourful".
Most good, honourable keepers and breeders, leave these forums because they get sick of having to endlessly defend themselves for speaking their minds.
You wouldn't be able to count the amount of people I have seen/met who seem to be good, but really have no real empathy or concern for the animals they keep, as long as they're pumping out a sellable product. Its a minefield for newcomers, who would be surprised at what some of the "big name" breeders actually get away with at times.

It's definatly an interesting scene!

personally, I kept getting banned by a couple of particular moderators for some pretty lame excuses, mind you there were times when I deserved it, i'm ok with that, i'd make apologies if I felt it necessary and cop it on the chin....... but there was one time when I got suspended for two weeks after I got a rather large (probably a world record) clutch of diamonds, and for fun said I would give away for FREE , a hatchling to the first person who could guess how many hatched out. The reason for the suspension was unauthorised money collecting!!

I don't want to or have any advice for the new site owners, i've never run or moderated a forum so wouldn't know where to start anyway, just wanted to throw in some reflections that might be a bit of a read.

So good luck to the new APS, may your skin be thick as a lacie and your sense of humour as indomitable as a large wild male salty!!

 

[hulloosenator]

Personally, I think charging private breeders to advertise their animals was a massive step in the wrong direction. With fb and the other online classified sites being completely free and reaching a far broader audience it seems counter-productive to be charging for the service, especially at the price it is offered at.

I have been around these forums for about a decade and one of the biggest problems was admins/mods deleting people from the forum because of their own personal problems with members.[/Q
Well said ..... i agree totally. The site must be made free to advertise the sale of reptiles or else we just go to another site that is free. And yes , there were certain Admins that took an instant dislike to certain comments , and no way in hell did they reason or try to compromise - it was just boot you off.

- - - Updated - - -

geeeez ...... i can never do those quote reply things above . lol

 

[ronhalling]

Hey there hulloosenator, the 1 big prob with advertising on FB and some of the other online classified sites is the fact your add quickly disappears into the netherworld among the myriad of other posts and you have too keep bumping them up which is very time consuming at times, Having to pay for an add in here mostly keeps the sellers honest and you usually get just what you have bought especially if it is 1 of the bigger well known sellers, but each to their own.
the Quote tag thing is best done by using the "wrap

tags around selected text" icon at the end of the item bar above, the copy paste the text you want wrapped in between the ]text[ i.e.

I think charging private breeders to advertise their animals was a massive step in the wrong direction.

hope this helps. ...................Ron

 

[Waterrat]

Cement, thank you for posting your thoughts. I agree with every sentence you wrote, especially re- the events that caused the fragmentation and the current state of the "hobby" - spot on.

Cheers
Michael

 

[Sdaji]

Hey there hulloosenator, the 1 big prob with advertising on FB and some of the other online classified sites is the fact your add quickly disappears into the netherworld among the myriad of other posts and you have too keep bumping them up which is very time consuming at times, Having to pay for an add in here mostly keeps the sellers honest and you usually get just what you have bought especially if it is 1 of the bigger well known sellers, but each to their own.
the Quote tag thing is best done by using the "wrap

tags around selected text" icon at the end of the item bar above, the copy paste the text you want wrapped in between the ]text[ i.e. hope this helps. ...................Ron

A forum for sale area works better than a Facebook page, for sure, but as much as ever there is a reluctance for people to pay for things they can get for free. Back in the day, before Facebook killed the internet, APS was one of if not the biggest online marketplaces for herps in Australia. APS held a strong monopoly and had the luxury of making a profit out of that. For better or worse (I'd say worse, although that's a huge understatement) Facebook stomped on individual chat forums like APS, and the reality is that charging money when someone else holds a monopoly probably isn't the most efficient strategy. Sites like RDU are free, and as a marketplace are even better than a forum like APS. Perhaps a modest fee, or a fee for those wanting to advertise more than a small number of things would be okay, but a good market place is encouraged by allowing free advertising. In itself, that is advertising for the forum; it brings in traffic directly, and people send links to their friends saying 'Hey, did you see this ad on APS? Check it out!' When I was working for the herp magazines, sourcing ads for the classifieds section was hugely important for the popularity of the magazine, even ignoring any revenue. Herpers love to see what's getting around and how much it's going for.

I'm glad to hear about APS changing hands. I have largely stayed off APS for a few years (after being an active member for about 10 years), and will be glad to give the site another go. Best of luck to the new owners and the forum!

- - - Updated - - -

Heh, the quoting function doesn't seem to work as well as it used to!

 

[MatE]

A slight name change would be nice.I need a new decal(Sticker)for my car since i sort of rolled the last one lol.

 

[ronhalling]

[MENTION=688]Sdaji[/MENTION]

Sites like RDU are free, and as a marketplace are even better than a forum like APS

I do not want to start a slanging match but i find that statement very amusing considering the amount of "SCAM" advertising found on that particular site, another reason paying for advertising works better than free, when you have to pay for Adds you tend not to waste your time "scamming" .......................Ron

 

[Firepac]

$10 to be a subscriber which allows you to sell up to 20 reptiles a year, or 50 cents/animal, seems pretty cheap to me! Especially as that money is ploughed back into keeping APS going.