Apologies for the blunt question, but there is not much going on here anymore. I check every few weeks and there are precious few new posts. Maybe it's because there is both a "Hornbowyers" and an "ATARN" Group on Facebook, and a substantial part of the discussion has moved from ATARN.net to there.
Peter, are you still working on an updated version of ATARN.net?
Maybe if uploading of pics was easier (imho main impediment of ATARN.net), more people would post their projects and observations here.
KenH
I understand that Peter is (slowly) working on a new version of this site. You're right that the Facebook page has taken over a lot of the day-to-day posting, and ATARNet has become a still very valuable archive of information in detail (the long posts that Facebook just can't support.
jiao
china forums same case, they are in the group like facebook,but facebook can not use in china
lurz
Also hard to follow a thread, like a "buildalong" or other things needing an explanation over some time, on a facebook page. Worked much better here. Miss it.
pcoutin
lurz wrote:
Also hard to follow a thread, like a "buildalong" or other things needing an explanation over some time, on a facebook page. Worked much better here. Miss it.
Yeah...
KenH
All we can do is encourage Peter to speed up the website revision, and encourage folks on Facebook to come here so their work can be saved for "posterity" -- I'm particularly thinking of Jason's Scythian recreations and Beau Vance's works, but others as well!
lurz
Second that! :D
Peter Dekker
Hi guys,
Yes, activity on the ATARN forums has sadly been dropping for a long time as the rise of several Facebook groups made it redundant to some.
I agree that there is still a place for a forum like this, as an archive of info. I fully second that better ways to share images would really help in that respect.
As for speeding up the process, I've found myself submerged in work since I switched from an office job to trading antique arms full-time.
I would love to speed up the process, but I could use some hands. The new site is all set up, but the old articles need to be manually converted to a new layout.
As for the forum, I'm open to modernize the whole structure. Does anyone have examples of forums that they really like, and that seem to cover much of the functionality that is needed here?
I'm all ears!
KenH
Peter - what's involved in re-formating articles, I can probably help some in that department. [email protected]
I do a lot on www.everythingdulcimer.com, which like ATARN has become somewhat of an archive site. But it's mechanisms for adding photos, etc is much nicer than here.
pcoutin
KenH wrote:
Peter - what's involved in re-formating articles, I can probably help some in that department. [email protected]
I do a lot on www.everythingdulcimer.com, which like ATARN has become somewhat of an archive site. But it's mechanisms for adding photos, etc is much nicer than here.
You mean than the forums or than atarn.org?
The search function in atarn.org is broken. Was Windows based...
I guess it'd be cool to improve image uploading or something. Or update the forums. ...
Seems like sharing images works okay here, though? Just needs some kind of click to expand thing like in the PA forums... or just a thumbnail, and clicking opens the full one in a new tab. But I dunno if in-line images would be much better.
More themes would be nice, this one is wide.. and green.
Does anyone have examples of forums that they really like, and that seem to cover much of the functionality that is needed here?
I guess the Primitive Archer forums (SMF), but maybe the structure could be a bit better. And I hate that images uploaded through the forums get pruned there.
I run one in punbb... slow development, fluxBB would be better. But SMF may be the best choice if you're going to go through switching forum software. Though it is a matter of taste, too. Probably would make the most sense to upgrade to phpBB3 if this is still phpBB2, I have no idea of what it is.
I could definitely help after I graduate...
KenH
The Search function here works as well as it ever did -- not great, but not bad.
pcoutin
KenH wrote:
The Search function here works as well as it ever did -- not great, but not bad.
And yeah, I've had too much trouble finding some things with the forum search function.. fuzzy search would be very awesome, basically no forums implement it AFAIK.
Not sure if we should allow Google to index the forum, too.
lurz
What needs to be done? I can see it it's something I could do. PM me for email :)
Bj?rn Sofeit
FB has it's advantages, it's more fast paced and you get more pictures and faster responses, but it's no ideal.
There's definitely a problem in the FB group following different things and searching for something. You're not able to present buildalongs in a stringent fashion. It's always a jumble of different posts.
Forum threads have always been better at this, they're far more accessible. The search function here sucks pretty bad though.
Then there's the problem with FB not being available in China outside of using a VPN.
Judging from how frequent you see materials for bowmaking on Taobao, there must be alot of people making bows. Sucks to have these people not be able to participate without jumping through all the hoops to make FB work there.
jiao
if who can copy the atarn fackbook info(pics,words) to here , easy?
did we need say good buy or week up
pcoutin
Bj?rn Sofeit wrote:
FB has it's advantages, it's more fast paced and you get more pictures and faster responses, but it's no ideal.
There's definitely a problem in the FB group following different things and searching for something. You're not able to present buildalongs in a stringent fashion. It's always a jumble of different posts.
Forum threads have always been better at this, they're far more accessible. The search function here sucks pretty bad though.
Then there's the problem with FB not being available in China outside of using a VPN.
Judging from how frequent you see materials for bowmaking on Taobao, there must be alot of people making bows. Sucks to have these people not be able to participate without jumping through all the hoops to make FB work there.
And this is why I like the idea of improving this forum. Say, upgrading it, making it HTTPS, adding UTF-8 support?, doing some sort of more seamless image uploading thing. I'm willing to do it...
jiao wrote:
did we need say good buy or week up
I'm not sure what you mean by this.
But it would be possible to copy things from FB if one made a program to do it. Would need to do page scraping and database code. But I guess we should ask FB people for permission... not sure if it's worth it
Peter Dekker
Thanks for the constructive comments, guys. Very helpful!
Pcoutin, KenH,
It would be great if you can help modernize this forum. You can e-mail me at [email protected] and we could discuss the details.
Once the new and improved forum is up we can promote it through several websites. Facebook, atarn.org, manchuarchery.org, etc to show traditional archers that it's back and more user-friendly. Those who post build-alongs can link to their post from Facebook to create awareness on facebook again that ATARN.net is back.
I'm getting some people together to speed up the ATARN.org work as well.
Regards,
Peter
mikekeswick
I hope you fellas get a new site up and running. There are plenty of us who wouldn't go near FB with a bargepole.
On a positive note I have quite a few new bows that could be posted :)
Kviljo
We miss you on Facebook, though, Mike! There are groups with names like "Atarn", "Hornbowyers", "Flight archery" and so on... :)
It's sad, but it's going to be difficult to compete with the ease of Facebook. Sad, because it is hopeless to find anything there that is older than a few days...
Amarutu
Yeah, so why take the time to write something with thought and a well made picture or two on fb? I still don't get it. It takes a little extra effort here, and you get a reply everey other day instead of merely instantly ... but aren't they worth the wait? Fb is ideal for cat-pics, jokes and ads. Short, flat, haha, skip, next. How can this be seen as a biotope for a topic as diverse and complex as archery. The only reason is the number of eyeballs looking over there, which is why I really like the idea of spreading the rumor via fb and have the thoughtful stuff here. Thank you all for the effort in refurbishing ATARN. :)
KenH
My thoughts exactly, Amarutu! Facebook is only marginally more information-dense than Twitter or SnapChat and we know how well they (don't) work! The whole world can't work with instant gratification! That's why we're fixing this place up and making it better all around.
Peter Dekker
Hi guys,
There has also been a discussion on Facebook regarding the subject.
My current take on the matter is that we probably cannot make a successful shift back to ATARN. The reason is that forums all around the world, also those with massive budgets, are failing against Facebook. Reasons are beyond our control.
Facebook is fixing many issues with groups and has successfully updated their search functions and statistics insights. Their mobile usability is second to none, and most internet access these days is through mobile devices. I'm sure they will get better and better over time. That and the single loging / access to many groups, makes them beat forums everywhere.
That doesn't mean we cannot, or shouldn't try. The least we can do is update the software of this forum and migrate all the old material to a modern interface.
As I said before, I need hands to do that. The current forum is very old, it's not an easy task to convert this ancient database to anything that works with something today. I build my own websites but this is something I cannot do.
Who can do this? You find me this person who is willing to put in some time to migrate the database, and I will give you a new forum.
lurz
Ok, seams more or less dead then. I'm sorry, but I don't think I have the skills needed to help making a new forum. But will the forum be kept online? I feel there is a lot of knowledge to be found here, and it would be a pity if it should be lost.
Peter Dekker
Yeah, it's hard to find someone with the right skills that helps us out for free so I decided to hire someone instead.
The forum will definitely be kept online for reference, that's a main priority of the big update.
lurz
Thanks, that's good news! :)
Peter Dekker
Welcome to an updated ATARN.net!
Attacing images is now a matter of drag & drop.
KenH
Hurrah!
mikekeswick
Hurrah! A new forum!
Well I suppose i'll have to post some of my new bows.
Thank you to everybody who helped behind the scenes :)
Markus
Great with a new forum. How do I post pictures from IPad ?
Markus
T
KenH
Have both this window and the window where your pix are available, and then just drag and drop to where you want the pix here.
KenH
Or use the Attachment tab below the text block to locate pix and "import" them.
Scyth
Testing . . . Testing . . . Testing
Scyth
KenH
Well, Scyth... I see you know the word "testing". The site works just fine and has been running for a couple months now. Putting pictures with your post is as easy as drag-and-drop.
Markus
Cannot post pictures. From IPad drag and drop do not work. When trying attachments from IPad it just says file is too large.
