Scioly.org

I don't have very detailed answers, but here you go-

Why do you all stay active on the Scioly.org forums?
They exist.

What makes them fun, and why do you keep using them when we've got so much other cool stuff on the site?
They change so often compared to say, the wiki.

Alternatively, why do you think people don't use the forums as much?
Many other resources are available.

Is there anything you think we can do to keep people coming back?
Allowing guests to post on here so that it feels more inclusive, it would've gotten me on the forums when I didn't have an account a few months ago. I don't really know.

onshape wrote: ↑June 27th, 2023, 10:58 am Is there anything you think we can do to keep people coming back?
Allowing guests to post on here so that it feels more inclusive, it would've gotten me on the forums when I didn't have an account a few months ago. I don't really know.

Allowing guests to post on here is a no-go unfortunately. Posts have to be approved before they're shown so you guys don't see them but I have to delete like 10 bot posts per day and allowing guest posts would make that problem a lot worse.

I appreciate all your feedback--the health of the site is a concern for me too and I'm thinking about things we can do to encourage posting on the forums and editing on the wiki as well. COVID definitely did a number on participation too, and I'm not sure how long numbers will take to recover (or if they ever will). If you ever have any ideas or suggestions for things to do on the site, feel free to message me either on the forums or Discord! We're always welcome to new ideas.

I didn't edit for a long time because I felt that I was not "qualified" to, or would mess up the work people had done. I feel like a common misconception is that wiki pages are complete(I sometimes think this too) and that nothing can really be added. Take Scrambler, for example--I have tried my best to contribute but I don't know what to add without simply putting my design or tips I've picked up through years of experience. Speaking of tips, I try to avoid putting ALL my knowledge on there, because similar to the effect of kits, I don't want people reading the wiki to find all answers to any problem. Leaving room for experimentation and discovery is far more important, and I'd prefer seeing new solutions rather than copying the wiki.
Hopefully that perspective helps some!

Oh, also--would you consider bringing IRC or something similar back and integrating it into scioly.org's website? I feel like the Discord became a replacement for the forums and the wiki, and is not related to the site anymore. It's more convenient to type a question in the discord and wait for an answer than to register and make an account. And why add to the wiki when you can just ask people on Discord instead of doing research? The forums are a bit too formal for casual communication and I think that as a result, all communication has simply moved to the Discord. The close-knit community I saw when reading old forums is no longer anywhere--that cannot be replaced by a server.
That's my take on this situation; hopefully it makes sense.

I am BACK from my vacation to Australia(very fun, thanks for asking), and now I’m ready to continue lowering the collective brain cell count of everyone on the forums. But for now, I suppose I’ll just answer questions.

Why do I stay active?
Uhhhhhhh I kinda didn’t, but I’ll start posting now because a lot of the people and topics on the forums helped me out so much over last season, and there’s a sort of camaraderie on the forums between all of us nerds.

What makes the forums fun?
It’s just interaction between other people who also have the same struggles and bad experiences that you did in your events, which obviously makes it a fun place to post at. Off-season, though, many people leave just because scioly becomes irrelevant in their summer lives.

Why don’t people use the forums?
I have absolutely no clue! As soon as I found out that these were a thing, I immediately created an account and started posting.

What can we do to keep people coming back?
The site’s activity is sorta linked to scioly’s activity, so without a big boom in more dedicated scioly competitors, there’s not really a way to get more people on to the forums and posting.

Don't worry random, I lowered the brain cell count for you while you were in Australia!
I mostly post here because the Flight forum literally saved me from placing dead last at states so !!! I really appreciate the help everyone gives here so I guess I'm trying to keep the forums going as my way of saying thank you. I suppose there is a "camaraderie" but there isn't much going on here. Wish there were more people; in 2016 it was insane how many posts came per day. Now I feel like I'm talking to myself!

so i used to be semi active on the forums, but for me, I just got super busy. especially with the looming dread of college admissions, I stopped having the time to sit down and do a lot of things that I enjoyed, which included being on the forums. people just tend to get busy, unfortunately, which is something that we can't control.
i really enjoyed all the friends i was able to make just on the forums, since i don't use discord and don't plan on it anytime soon. i think that was another factor that also made me use the forums less, considering that a lot of the activity was moved over to the discord, something that i didn't use.
i think having a little more happen on strictly forums, as it did in the past, would really improve the activity and bring people over again, but again, that's just an idea! hopefully, it'll get more active on here again and I'll have more time to hop on to see what we can possibly do with this site!!

Oh hi MorningCoffee!!! Haven't seen you for a while. Glad to see people coming back! Good luck with college apps--I'm already terrified and I'm a sophomore...
(oh god I'm getting old I can sense the senioritis already)

soil discs are so magical

pumptato-cat wrote: ↑June 29th, 2023, 3:52 pm MorningCoffee, I just took drivers ed and I feel your pain. Haven't even started driving and I'm absolutely terrified

i literally felt this sm! I'm finally learning super late because i was too scared and all my friends are trash drivers
it was after Life360's drive detection picked up me in my friend's car as he drove horrendously that my parents decided that i would not be behind the wheel for a while

which was a good idea but was quite unfortunate

MorningCoffee wrote: ↑June 29th, 2023, 11:41 am i think having a little more happen on strictly forums, as it did in the past, would really improve the activity and bring people over again, but again, that's just an idea! hopefully, it'll get more active on here again and I'll have more time to hop on to see what we can possibly do with this site!!

Do you have any specific ideas for some events we could host on the forums? I know we used to do stuff like superlatives (maybe I should get the ball rolling on that for this year...) but is there anything new you think we could host on the forums to drum up activity?

Good to see you back on the site--good luck with college apps!