::tone - conversational discussion, not confrontational:: :downtown:
Interesting. Pete & I are not promoting classism, just making it easier for folks to recognize those who have the experience to give reliable answers to questions, and acknowledging those who contribute their funds to keep it all going. Is it labeling people to indicate those who are experienced, and those who support the site? I think you're reading a lot into what is just an acknowledgment of contribution of time, knowledge and cash.
As to the patronage acknowledgment, we don't do 'secret' stuff in the patron boards, I offer them their own space as a reward because they chose to help me pay for the site, to give them a place that is solely devoted to more advanced meadmaking techniques.
Since the entire cost of this site comes from my personal pockets, and I am for all intents and purposes unemployed (the web design business is suffering from the recession too), I think it only right and proper to acknowledge their kind contributions in a visible manner. This is no different than a park putting a person's name on a brick in the walkway acknowledging their donation. That isn't classism, it is gratitude.
I doubt you can find any decent forum that doesn't have 'administrator' or 'moderator' or 'programming god' or some other title on those who are either accomplished or who run the place. You can't identify the players without a scorecard. Would you rather know if the person you're asking a question to has 1 month or 10 years experience? I would. I don't ask Joe Smoe who got a jar of honey last month and decided to make mead for recipe advice, I ask Pete, who has 30 *years* experience. It isn't classism to want to ask your questions of someone with more experience in a skill than someone with less.
90% of this board and the site are open to the public, you don't even have to register to read and search. More than 50% of my site traffic is unregistered visitors. If I was promoting 'classism', I'd lock it down to all but paying members to 'keep out the rabble', as it were, if I were an elitist. However, I believe information should be available to all, so I keep the forum open. I make parts only for patrons so that I have something to offer those that support the site with their hard-earned money. It is no different than a ticket discount for museum patrons would be.
As far as feeling 'put off' because you've been asked to use the search function here on the site, see the quote from the FAQ below. We've 60K+ posts, that comprise a very detailed discussion of meadmaking. What is the point of having that vast compendium of knowledge if you don't use it?
Item 8 in the FAQ (first forum board, and the agreement you clicked 'ok' on when you signed up): "8. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! This site got started because I was doing my research on meadmaking and created a web page to give me a place to keep my research. The search tool for the forum is located here, and the rest of the site has lots of articles, tips and info, read it first before asking a question that may have been asked dozens of times before.
Don't expect us to do your homework for you. You came here to learn, so study and learn! We're not here to hold your hand, I'm not your mother, and the mead world doesn't owe you instant answers because you don't care to do a search. I spend hours every day searching tech-support forums to learn more about the dozens of tools that run this site, and I don't expect someone to hold my hand, and neither should you."
I get asked 10-20 times a day 'tell me how to make mead'. My time is short too. Running this place is in itself a full-time job, and I've also got my business to run. Nearly everyone here has full-time jobs (sometimes more than one), and they take their personal time to answer questions. We reserve the right to not answer questions that have been asked umpteen times before. I suspect if you had answered them as many times as we had, you'd tell someone to 'use the search function' too.
Did you not come here to learn? And learning, unless it has changed markedly since my college years, involves research. That is why we have the search function. You may have noticed that we don't get surly when people ask these questions, we politely point them to the search. Most forums you'd get flamed for that.
I spend probably 10-15 hours a week searching out information on the web for clients, to figure out how to fix an issue here or on a client site, to find new and interesting mead information or links, or just to learn a new tool or skill. I spent 3 hours research an upgrade of the main site yesterday, and never made a single post, because research gave me the answers I needed. I don't log onto the Vbulletin forums and say 'my forum is broke, how do I fix it?'. I'd not only get shot down, I'd get shot down in an extremely hostile manner. So, I surf the forums, using the search tool and Google, and 9 times out of 10, find my answer. Pete and I did that with a permissions issue last night. It took us 20 minutes, and we had our answer and fixed the problem. On many of the forums I've used to learn things, I don't have an ID, because I've always found my answer by searching. When the answer isn't in the search, *then* I post my question, always prefaced with 'I searched the forums, and didn't find the answer to this'.
"Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for life."
We're not here to tell each person who arrives how to make mead, we're here to learn ourselves, myself included. And the information here *is* here because myself and many others *did* use the search functions here and out on the greater web to learn. This site is the compilation of many peoples' search for knowledge, and is there for anyone to use, if they'll just take the time to find it. :downtown: