Uks changes for july 2022

[scrapdolly]

MaryAnne, Sue and I have been discussing the way forward for UKS. We are all concerned that there is a lack of community with people not really engaging with any scrappy chatter, and there is too much focus on challenges and uploads for points. We would like to see if we can bring the community feel back to UKS and so have decided to try the following for July before we think further ahead about where UKS will go moving forward.

It is a lot of work and expense to keep UKS going and the three of us are committed to it IF it is a community, but every member of that community needs to play their part in this if it is to continue.


These are the changes for July.


• A halt on the collecting of points for the month of July (we hope people will still engage with the challenges that are still available)
• A new photography challenge – for fun only not for points
• Regular scrappy related chat threads in General scrapping. Although we will start some of them we would like to see members of the community also start threads and engage with the threads other have started. It will be about the hobby we all love and the reason why we are all here.
• A real focus on all members of the community sharing their pages in the gallery just because it is fun to share in a community not for points and a real focus on members of our community commenting on gallery uploads.


We hope that all of you who want UKS to continue will see why we are doing this and how everyone has a part to play in regenerating the community feel of the scrappy ‘home’ we have all loved for so long.

[Maggie B]

Interesting changes planned it seems. I am not one who would normally get involved in a thread such as this, however this time I would like to share some thoughts with the members.
IMHO what sets UKS apart from the many FB scrapbooking groups are the challenges and collecting points aspects, they certainly inspire my team Scrap That to scrap more and encourage friendly competition between ourselves. It was always my hope that we might lead by example and generate a healthy competitiveness with other teams, something which you seem to be suggesting here is a bad thing.
If point collecting challenges go what is the ups of UKS? It is far easier to chat, upload LO’s and comment on them on a FB group than it is to upload to the UKS gallery which, also in my opinion, is outdated and clunky.
Why not utilise the existing FB page, instead of changing this site, if the aim is to bring back the community feel?
Finally, this is a scrapbooking site not a photography site, I’m not sure how you would interest more members to join in with that Forum if it isn’t linked to scrapbooking.

[thriftycrafter]

Time for a cyber crop?
That used to get people from different teams mixing and chatting.

[scrapdolly]

If someone would like to organise a cybercrop that would be fabulous.

Maggie the completion of pages and gathering of points is fab and yes your team do awfully well - but we are concerned that is all it is becoming. There is little community interaction and that is what we are hoping we can get back. It is why we were all part of it in the dim and distant past. There used to be dozens and dozens of teams and in that instance yes it did generate lovely friendly competition and encourage others. However there was also scrap chatter, there was a gallery which was not just about claiming points and there was an energy in the forums. That is what we feel UKS has lost along the way.

And if you say there is nothing left for UKS if we don't have teams and points then I think that is what we wanted to explore. If that is the only thing here then it is not the forum I used to belong to back in the day and I think that is very sad. I for one do not do allt he work I do just so there can be a points system. I do it because UKS used to be a vibrant community.

And yes the facebook group could be used but we have a perfectly good forum and it may be that the forum has lost its purpose but before the three of us make any long term decisions we need to see if we can inject community back into the forum. However, we cannot create a community. The community members need to do that.

[Maggie B]

You say that there is a perfectly good forum on here but it isn’t being used in the way it was and people are no longer coming on here to chat, despite the best efforts of Admin. I’ll be interested to hear what other responses there are on this thread

[scrapdolly]

well hopefully you and others will have suggestions as to how to re-ignite the forums and help them become vibrant again if, indeed, that is even possible.

[elainevking]

From the feedback I have from the newer members in our team, it is the clunkiness of uploading LOs and finding threads that put them off commenting. I had to post a link to this thread in our private members chat to lead them to this as they just couldn’t find it.
Sadly FB is a so easy so I think spells the death knell for UKS.. I believe that’s why so many people have defected.
As someone who contributes to lots of thread and comments on almost all the LOs that are posted, I feel I can’t contribute any more. I will really truly miss my UKS friends but I don’t believe it is sustainable any more in its current format.

[scrapelephant]

Hello, I would like to comment on here as someone who was an active member of UKS many years ago and has recently returned. My view would be that in those early days UKS was great and was pretty much the only place for scrapbookers to chat online and share layouts etc, etc. It really was good back then. I think the issue is that UKS has not changed and technology and social media has evolved to such an extent that UKS is outdated and old fashioned. It is so quick and easy to upload pictures, to chat etc on other platforms so that is where scrappers now go rather than try and battle with using UKS, which is so difficult compared to elsewhere. I started off with all good intentions a few months ago but quite honestly gave up as it’s too much faff to upload pics and try and keep up with all the rules!

[scrapdolly]

I think quite a few of you are focusing just on the gallery and that is not that we were really talking about but sadly what it seems to have become for so many people. I think posting threads is no clunkier than anywhere else and often easier to find than in facebook groups where things get lost

However, I think I have become increasingly disillusioned that UKS has lost all of its scrapping community spirit, which saddens me, but I am also of the opinion that its day may have passed in light of facebook. I was very happy to organise all the teams and challenges, coordinate it all when it was a vibrant scrappy community but in recent years it has become JUST the challenges and even many of the people who love them only do the challenges and do not take part in the community. It is an issue in facebook groups too. People bemoan there isn't a lot of chatter but don't instigate or take part in chatter. A community is only a community because of the people in it and as I said on a couple of facebook groups recently, it is like the old adage of friendship, to HAVE a community you have to be PARY of the community.

[elainevking]

I agree Karen.
When I joined UKS I came in, took a look around and didn’t know where anything was or how to find anything so I didn’t set foot in here again for eons. Eventually, due to my real life UKS friends, I was persuaded to come in and find my way round. (I am talking about the threads not the gallery). I have since ‘recruited’ several members but they just don’t stay, saying it is difficult to navigate. And in my opinion, that is the crux of the problem. Unless you stay to get very familiar with the site, it is very off putting.
It is the same in every community whether in FB or IRL.. I bet it is a handful of people that organise all of these lovely Jubilee celebrations we are all enjoying presently.. it is never the entire community. There are always those that will turn up to events but never get involved in any of the organising and you don’t hear from them until the next event.
Those stalwarts that are left will miss this site terribly but trying to recruit and also retain new members is a virtual impossibility in comparison to how easy other sites are. People don’t want to take the time to learn their way around. In todays fast paced world it is a sign of the times in my humble opinion.

[scrapdolly]

Elaine which other sites … not Facebook … are easy. I think our list of threads NSD sub menus re well organised to be honest

[elainevking]

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. I find FB a doddle especially on my phone where I can just tap on ‘groups’ although I also find UKS easy now because I’ve taken the time to familiarise myself with it.

[scrapdolly]

See I think things get lost so fast on Facebook and there is no easy way to fine them … no menus … oh and I do it all on my phone

It’s a good job we are all different

[alison 2]

I think it’s a matter of what you are used to doing.
I much prefer coming here to going on Facebook, if I see something I like on FB I have to screenshot it or I’ll never find it again !
On here I just use ‘forum spy’ and it shows all the recent chats.
I have no problem uploading photos to this gallery, it’s straightforward and I can see what’s happening, on FB I’m never sure if I’m doing it right, or where it’s going to end up.
It is sad to see UKS slowly fading away, we’ve tried to save it from extinction a couple of times now, we get a few new people, everybody starts with good intentions and joins in with chat then gradually the activity reduces again. It will be interesting to see how this discussion progresses.

I do feel that the challenges on here have taken over a bit, people post their layouts and that’s about it. We have some fab challenges, it’s a shame we don’t interact and discuss them more , this only seems to happen on the cards and SNAP threads. I do feel that points collecting is a bit of a waste of time at the moment, certainly in team form as it seems there’s only one properly active team who chat together and scrap regularly at the moment
I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to lack of chat, we all just lead such busy lives. I also feel there is a slow but general move amongst many people to reducing screen time and people have to prioritise where they spend that time

I shall watch July’s experiment with interest, and will join in when I can
Thankyou to the three of you for all the time and effort you put in to keep UKS going, I’m sorry we are having this kind of discussion again x

[yiayia]

Hi all. It is a bit difficult for me to comment very much on this topic - except to say that although I don't do scrapbooking I do make cards as a hobby and also post the monthly card challenge No2, which folk join in with (thanks guys!). I also like the daily chat thread, which helped me loads during the lockdowns, especially during some very dark days following DD's diagnosis. I love seeing all the contributions in the Snap thread each month and have been known to contribute to this now and then.

I don't "do" FB - I have no desire to - ever! So it is unlikely that I shall take that route. This group has the most brilliant moderators as well, they put their heart and soul into it. For which, my heartfelt thanks ladies.

I feel I have made some truly great new friends over the years. We share our joys and sorrows and buoy each other up when needed. These threads can sometimes give you a new perspective on some things as well. I sincerely hope that UKS will go on and on.

Thanks for reading.