Forum and its future

[Brian]

I think it would be a sad day if this forum closed down. We are one of few clubs to have a forum attached to the website and that should be a thing to be proud of, not a reason to close it down. This forum is a message board for the club, supporters and a way of getting info out there such as the Prediction League results. I know there are plenty of other platforms these days but many still read, use and like the forum.

I don't see myself as either in the pro or anti Mark Burke corner. My personal view is we do represent the club to an extent on this forum as this is seen by the world and for many their only impression of HTFC. Therefore if I have nothing good to say I don't say anything.
I don't feel it right to be standing with parents of a player and then slagging their son off on here 24 hours later.
Dad was very much an ambassador for the club and I see this forum as a way of trying to promote the club.
I do accept that everyone is different and entitled to their views however views have to be put across in a balanced manner. Singling out a young, volunteer for criticism really doesn't help anyone and without the volunteers we have no club.
I don't have any issues with those that wish to voice their dissatisfaction with the current management team or those running the club but please kept it objective and respectful.
Again many people running this club are volunteers and it would be very easy for them to walk away. Replacing them is another matter.

So if the club is still keen to keep the forum going and still looking for a moderator as I believe Chris is no longer doing it, I would be prepared to sit down with Chris and Nick to discuss becoming a moderator.
If anyone feels I'm not suitable then please feel free to say so.

[MichaelD]

Whether it is on this board, or an unofficial one, debate has to proceed beyond basic topics, such as Mark Burke yes/no.
Where are the deeper discussions about his tactics etc. Was being difficult to beat an appropriate approach to begin the season with. These are just examples;. Postings should provoke thought and discussions - not conflict.

[Becca1980]

Maybe rather than a new forum being created, the current one could have a bit of a refresh?

Currently, there are only 3 posts about Saturdays game, maybe if we had a match day thread building up to each game, it would encourage people to come back and discuss the result?

Could some members be reluctant to start their own topic in case it gets few replies?

There are currently 2 football forums which are: Hitchin Town forum / General football forum, maybe that could be expanded to: Hitchin First team discussion / Hitchin Youth teams discussion / Hitchin Ladies discussion / General football discussion? this would mean they all get a mention on the index page and visitors can immediately see that all aspects of the club can be discussed.

One thing I have noticed is that when I'm logged in and typing a post for more than 2 minutes, when I press submit - it says I have to log in again, so I log back in... but the post I have just typed has vanished, if any other members have experienced the same thing - could that put them off posting?

I'm currently getting around it by making a copy of the post before I submit it, but someone who isn't expecting it to happen would need to re type their post.

[MichaelD]

Would anyone happen to know the reason for the vanishing posts, as mentioned by Becca?

[Chris_N]

Would anyone happen to know the reason for the vanishing posts, as mentioned by Becca?

Happens to me every time, so I copy it before I try to submit it and get kicked out. I then log back in and paste my posting into a new reply box and then submit.

Sounds like it's a system issue. Nick might be able to answer.

[Neil]

I've just read about Lewes, Colin. I was an owner for a couple of years but left rather disappointed with the lack of contact and information flow. I wondered how they can do what they are doing and assumed they were either very well run or had other sources of funding. It does sound like they have wings of wax. A pity, I saw their CEO, Maggie Murphy, at the World Football Summit in Seville recently and she spoke well. Their wage bill 1.3 million? Not everyone is happy with the way things are run there.

[Chris_N]

I think it would be a sad day if this forum closed down. We are one of few clubs to have a forum attached to the website and that should be a thing to be proud of, not a reason to close it down. This forum is a message board for the club, supporters and a way of getting info out there such as the Prediction League results. I know there are plenty of other platforms these days but many still read, use and like the forum.

I don't see myself as either in the pro or anti Mark Burke corner. My personal view is we do represent the club to an extent on this forum as this is seen by the world and for many their only impression of HTFC. Therefore if I have nothing good to say I don't say anything.
I don't feel it right to be standing with parents of a player and then slagging their son off on here 24 hours later.
Dad was very much an ambassador for the club and I see this forum as a way of trying to promote the club.
I do accept that everyone is different and entitled to their views however views have to be put across in a balanced manner. Singling out a young, volunteer for criticism really doesn't help anyone and without the volunteers we have no club.
I don't have any issues with those that wish to voice their dissatisfaction with the current management team or those running the club but please kept it objective and respectful.
Again many people running this club are volunteers and it would be very easy for them to walk away. Replacing them is another matter.

So if the club is still keen to keep the forum going and still looking for a moderator as I believe Chris is no longer doing it, I would be prepared to sit down with Chris and Nick to discuss becoming a moderator.
If anyone feels I'm not suitable then please feel free to say so.

Brian you would be the ideal person for this task if you would be happy to take it on. Happy to talk with you about it. I fully appreciate and accept the viewpoints raised, and it would be easy to take the road of closing it down, but then as already mentioned, to have an unofficial site set up would without doubt take up a person's TIME to administer, and would not necessarily reflect any better on the Club. If used properly and we have a willing person prepared to spend just a small amount of their time to ensure that it is run properly, then why not keep it in house?

[Brian]

Hi Chris.

Yes, very happy to sit down with you and Nick if required, to discuss. Maybe I take things over until the end of the season with a view to doing it permanently if all goes well.

Why don't we meet up before Ko on 29 October vs Potters Bar in the HSC.

[Brian]

Maybe rather than a new forum being created, the current one could have a bit of a refresh?

Currently, there are only 3 posts about Saturdays game, maybe if we had a match day thread building up to each game, it would encourage people to come back and discuss the result?

Could some members be reluctant to start their own topic in case it gets few replies?

There are currently 2 football forums which are: Hitchin Town forum / General football forum, maybe that could be expanded to: Hitchin First team discussion / Hitchin Youth teams discussion / Hitchin Ladies discussion / General football discussion? this would mean they all get a mention on the index page and visitors can immediately see that all aspects of the club can be discussed.

One thing I have noticed is that when I'm logged in and typing a post for more than 2 minutes, when I press submit - it says I have to log in again, so I log back in... but the post I have just typed has vanished, if any other members have experienced the same thing - could that put them off posting?

I'm currently getting around it by making a copy of the post before I submit it, but someone who isn't expecting it to happen would need to re type their post.

Some good ideas there Becca and food for thought.

When I first stated posting on the then HTFC forum some 20 years plus ago it was very vibrant and there was debate into the lead up to a game and plenty of comment afterwards. We would have fans of other clubs on the then forum because their own clubs didn't have the same fanbase or quality of forum to post on.
We even had players and parents posting. Brian Parker still posts a very good summary of most home games but we need to encourage more banter on results and performances. Maybe I'm as guilty. I only tend to post if we have done well.

I think a couple of things have happened in recent years. One, forums have become old hat compared to Facebook and Twitter. For many in our fast paced, throwaway society a simple like or one line comment attached to the official result on Twitter is all they wish to contribute and secondly, it's unfortunate to say but we have had one or two in recent years who have seen the forum as an opportunity to try to provoke and cause havoc. That has driven many posters away. Once gone how do you encourage them back?

I like the idea of separate forum areas for the ladies and youth sections to highlight them. It is something I can discuss with Chris when we chat.
I don't know whether they would get much use but it's certainly worth looking at. We are seeing more information and match reports on the Ladies section in Roy's weekly bulletin than we used to so maybe there are a lot of potential forums users we are missing although they may also do everything via F.acebook or Twitter already.

Thank you for the input and I'm also aware of the issue of having to log in again so I copy the post text before posting it just in case.

[Kate Deller]

Well done Brian and thank you for putting your hand up, you woukd do a great job.

Love the idea of a fresh face for the forum Becca.

Just what is needed.