Uks changes for july 2022

[alison 2]

Points for the snap challenge is not a new thing, they’ve almost always been there but have never really been promoted , and I don’t think they are now. The change really was the suggestion to chat elsewhere and keep the snap thread about the photos. I think that was maybe a bad decision, it was a lively thread, but to be fair it is still more chatty than other challenge threads. It still takes on the same format of 3 prompts, which can be anything, and if we want to think outside the box we do ! I think the Snap thread has been the most chatty in recent years and as that involved a good proportion of UKS members it was difficult when it came to moving the chat elsewhere .
I too find it difficult having the two places to chat, and the daily chat that is new each day I do find difficult, and it is much easier to just catch up with people in the snap thread as and when. Susie we do miss your contributions though, I do hope you will begin to have more time to join in again.

The apostrophe thing is just when commenting in the gallery, not on the threads, and I believe is just for iPad/iPhone users, and now I know what the issue is it isn’t really a problem to me.

As for points, I’m happy without them

[MaryAnne]

I can think of a couple of immediate things to say regarding all the chat. Yes, UKS is a forum and as such (and running on a platform that is as up to date as is allowed without MAJOR cash infusions - which won't happen because I am funding UKS thru a combo of the small amount of existing sponsorship and donations plus out of pocket expenses) works differently to FB.

I have to say UKS will never be a FB group. The FB group is really only there to point people to the forum.

I agree with Scrapdolly - I lose things on FB all the time and the couple of private groups I am part of (like my Addi knitting machine pattern sharing group) is CONSTANTLY rehashing the same ground over and over and OVER again because no one can ever find all the threads about fixing dropped stitches or problems with one yarn brand. With a forum set up, the replies are threaded, you can subscribe to a thread or look for pinned threads that are of ongoing interest. I loathe the way FB handles things, the way it collects, keeps and sells your information. The way it changes stuff just because and removes things you like but adds or keeps stuff that annoys. But now I am just ranting so...



I have to say I never have the problems with UKS some people have mentioned but then I have been here since the beginning LOL! and know most of the ins and outs of it. But I will ALSO say that literally, no exaggeration, 90% of the time I get a panic-y emails saying "I can't do this thing" or "What is happening today?" or "AARRGGH! Help me!" it is generally down to issues with the person's computer and conflicting software, or an update to their browser or phone OS that they didn't even know had happened, or some other weird glitch in the Matrix that sorts itself out by the next day and we never know WHY When there is a problem for one group of people, it is often hard to tease out from them the info needed to figure out what unites them and then what the common issue is.

Surely this is not solely a UKS issue! Everyplace on the internet is prone to bugs or problems. I cannot count the times I have tried to join an online class for example, and end up not being able to because I want to use Firefox as my browser and many sites don't support it because it protects you better from cookies and tracking. My choice so I have to live with it.

The Gallery software is no longer supported or even sold, but it is the one that interfaces with the forum. We have discussed doing a major cull of old layouts and I have been very reluctant to do that as it is the history of UKS we would be losing. It would totally screw up all the links to layouts in forum posts and cyber crop threads and all the rest of it. But it does mean that we can't let people upload 10mb photos. SOMEONE has to pay for the storage of that

MAYBE the better option is to CLOSE the Gallery to uploads and do like many other forums and let people post their layouts in a forum thread but only by using the Post Via URL option. The people only need to copy the URL of their photo from whatever other site it is hosted on and post that. The image would get called from that other site and DISPLAYED on UKS but not stored here. I would be 100% OK with that if people prefer it. Shifting layout sharing to the forum posts could work and it would sure save storage fees!

On the teams. UKS is not here for a single team, which is kinda what I am getting from the comments. There is a team who dose the challenges every month and in a big way. Well done. If only there were 3 or 4 teams who did the same.

I have been on the verge of closing UKS for a couple of years now. People always pipe up to say how much they would miss it. But it is not feeling like they would miss it anymore.

I am out of ideas, frankly and while I have been ill with a chronic condition that isn't really going to get better, just be held at bay with regular, somewhat grueling infusions and nasty daily medications that are once again on the up, Sue and Karen have soldiered on, day after day, working to provide as much fun and inspiration as they can. If you get ANYTHING out of UKS you have them to thank. But I think you know that already.

I am not sure there is a solution. But happy to listen to any ideas.

[MaryAnne]

... Sadly, I can’t see your proposed changes will do anything to encourage more contributing but I am happy to give it a try. ...

I think it has to be a conscious effort on the part of all who really, truly want UKS to keep it's doors open.

Try this for even a week - Every morning, pop on and comment on ONE recent layout then post ONE thread designed to get people chatting or REPLY to a chatty thread you see. Rally that team of yours and see what happens.

It would be an interesting experiment whatever the results...

[tigerlady]

I apologise that this is long and rambling but it has taken a while to gather my thoughts together!

I think a month with no stress to scrap for points is a very interesting idea. I suspect people will slow down and enjoy creating for creating’s sake, rather than hurrying to complete a challenge- kerching points claimed, on to the next one. Perhaps all the challenges for the month could go up at the start of the month and each challenge thread could become a chat thread for that challenge. If you see something in a layout which isn’t explained in the journaling , use the thread to comment “ Scrapper1 I see your Grandad had a lot of medals, do you know what they were for?“ which might promote a chat. Maybe if people spread the word to scrappers/team members who haven't been on here for a while and said "I know you are scrapping layouts about your new grandson, pop over to UKS and share them with us. You don't have to be in a team, you won't be asked to count points, we just want to see what you are up to and enjoy your work and stories."

What about a thread along the lines of “What’s on your workplace Wednesday?” where we can share ongoing (I’m thinking mainly scrapping but I suppose it could be any crafts) projects? Those layouts that just aren’t going well and need to be left for a while; big projects that are ongoing and taking a long time; that special picture you want to scrap but just can’t figure out where to start. Let’s offer support. Let’s see what members are doing that may be taking forever but will never count for points.

I feel the 30 bonus points is way too high. If people are simply doing every challenge to try to get to the top of the table, either as an individual or a team, it may result in a case of quantity over quality. How many of us have done a layout for a challenge, finished it and thought “Great, I’ve got all the bits for that challenge, but to be honest, I would never have added green on this layout so now that I have uploaded and claimed the points I am taking it off again and will re-make it the way I want to”? If the bonus was 10 points someone who didn’t want to do challenges as they are busy doing (say) a wedding album, could simply do two layouts of their own choice and still be collecting the same amount. I think it would help move the focus back from scoring points to recording memories which, lets face it is what we are all really here for.

I have never ventured into the machine cutting/Robo forums, and rarely into the card making forum so don’t know how busy they are, but could we amalgamate all these sub forums into one general crafting forum with sub groups for scrapping/cards/photography/robo etc? It would probably make the forum easier to navigate and it might seem busier to anyone popping in. There are few things less encouraging that looking at a forum which has thread after thread with no comments for years. If it was more streamlined at least the visible threads are likely to have had recent comments.

Gold star to anyone who made it through all that.

[thriftycrafter]

I think it has to be a conscious effort on the part of all who really, truly want UKS to keep it's doors open.

Try this for even a week - Every morning, pop on and comment on ONE recent layout then post ONE thread designed to get people chatting or REPLY to a chatty thread you see.

I do post comments on all the LOs I see in the gallery, it's something I really enjoy. However I haven't joined in the chat threads as I've imaginned that there would be too many people on there for me to keep up with and we have a team thread that I struggle to keep up with anyway.
However, I've had a look at the daily threads and see that there aren't too many people on there, so I will pop in from time to time, but I do come here to get my act together for scrapping mainly, the chat is something that's an extra.

Gold star yourself Hilary LOL
I went on one of the cutting threads once (?Silhouette?) and was almost sent off with a flea in my ear as I asked about people's LOs and was told it wasn't a scrapping thread it was about die cutting, so I haven't ventured back.
The fun threads do seem to have disappeared, like the Worktop Wednesday and 'When did you last?' type thing, I would dip into those from time to time, but it does need someone to keep it going.
Still, it's nice here and there's always something good to look at.

[Susie.A]

Hilary, if you thought your post was long did you see mine!

First off, thank you MaryAnne for all the info, I couldn't agree more about glitches on sites. Being logged out of Sainsbury's constantly is one of my favourites or when you get the 'Oops this is our problem not yours', message on other sites. I use Safari and don't have the issues mentioned on here but on other sites I have to switch to Google, which I hate, it is so long winded but that's the way it is.

I would rather sacrifice the journaling, we can always see it in a separate photo or ask what it says than lose lots of LO's from the gallery but then whatever helps has to be considered. I have cleared out some of mine but then I don't have as many as others because I am not that prolific a scrapper. I've got a cheek calling myself a scrapper at all at the moment.

I have finally found a spot for my Silhouette and hope to start using it again (once I get in my craft room) so it is always nice to know the Silhouette/Craft Robo thread is there. I do remember a time when I felt a bit worried about mentioning I'd bought a Silhouette and not a Craft Robo, so Karelyn I can understand you getting a flea in your ear about scrapping on there. I think it has all changed now and they are a very sharing, generous and helpful bunch I've found. Hilary, I also know what you mean about going on threads which haven't been used in years. I replied to a thread once and found the post was about 4 years old, I felt such an idiot.

As for challenges, I am in awe of those of you who meet the challenges, they are off putting to me because I like to do my own thing, although what I do love about them is seeing a LO and thinking 'what a great idea I must use that at some point.' I would definitely be a stick some green on and take it off later person Hilary if I did them.

This thread has actually done me a huge favour. Since having Covid I haven't been interested in crafting and until last night I hadn't picked up my knitting either. You've given me the kick up the bum I needed to think about crafting again and for me it is not down to lack of interest in the site, it is purely down to lack of time and energy and the energy has to be spent elsewhere at present. MaryAnne, I am sure you know all too well what I mean.

Finally, Alison, I couldn't agree more about the snapchat thread. It was a brilliant, fun and busy thread until the chat was moved and now it has lost something. I hope we can bring it back and thank you Alison for the bit about being missed. I can't explain how ill I was with Covid ( a few of you know) and I didn't realise how it had taken its toll overall. For anyone who thinks Omicron is just a sniffle beware, for some it is so much more and how scary that after 4 tests not one was positive. I think I had lost interest in the snapchat thread because I felt it had gone back to being more about good photography so now I'll just add in my 'thinking outside of the box' snaps like the old days.

Don't give up on us yet ladies you do a wonderful job.

[tigerlady]

Susie, I have solved the Sainsburys problem! Switch off your VPN before logging in and all works a treat! It was driving me crazy too.

[Susie.A]

I didn't know I had that on Hilary, where do I find it please? I know I have the bit to do private browsing.

[scrapdolly]

I do post comments on all the LOs I see in the gallery, it's something I really enjoy.

You are notable for your comments. They are not only regular but always meaningful too. You give great comments

[elainevking]

I think it has to be a conscious effort on the part of all who really, truly want UKS to keep it's doors open.

Try this for even a week - Every morning, pop on and comment on ONE recent layout then post ONE thread designed to get people chatting or REPLY to a chatty thread you see. Rally that team of yours and see what happens

Maryann.. I think you’ll find you are preaching to the converted here! I come in several times a day, every day and contribute ALL the time. I’m sorry if my comments are not good/ detailed enough for everyone’s liking but I comment on nearly all the layouts in here.

As for rallying ‘that team’ of mine… I’m at a loss what to say.. they contribute a LOT.. when they have time. We all lead busy lives, they are grown women and it is not my place to tell them to come in here any more than it is yours.

I find it amazing you think I should!

[g61]

I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments. Here are my thoughts.
1. A halt on the collecting of points for the month of July …
I like collecting points. Some of us are motivated by point-collecting, some are not, and I’m glad UKS has been able to accommodate both positions. However, I will still do challenges even if there are no points to collect.
2. A new photography challenge – for fun only …
I only ever post photos on the Snap threads for fun anyway, so no real change for me.
3. Regular scrappy related chat threads in General scrapping …
Good idea, I will do my best to support this by contributing and starting some.
4. A real focus on all members of the community sharing their pages in the gallery … and a real focus on members of our community commenting on gallery uploads.
Ah yes, comments - who doesn’t like receiving comments? I value every comment left, and I comment on most LOs, though I’m not always able to say something original.

Thank you MaryAnne for explaining how UKS is different from FB. I am (reluctantly) on FB, but I don’t like it and I don’t get on with it – I was nodding along with several previous negative comments about it.

Now for some random thoughts.

• The Gallery. Oh I hope we can keep the gallery as it is, technical issues allowing. It’s one of my favourite parts of UKS and a place I regularly look for inspiration. I really don’t like the idea of having to post a LO somewhere else and just link to it, but I realise technical issues may influence its future.
• I love the daily chat threads. I don’t know a single person IRL who scrapbooks, so UKS is invaluable to me. And especially during lockdown.
• What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday: we did this in our team for a while, until it fizzled out. I think it would be worth a shot, site-wide.
• Life gets in the way of scrapping for all of us in one way or another. Sometimes I don’t pick up an ABC or Chainlink challenge because of the 3-day deadline. Could you give consideration to extending this to 5 days? Maybe I’m just a very slow scrapper, but an extra couple of days would make all the difference.
• Another thing I keep wondering is, is there any way the sponsors can be encouraged to play a more active part in threads?

Whatever happens next we are all indebted to MaryAnne, Karen and Sue for all the invisible work they do to keep the site afloat. Long live UKS.

[MaryAnne]

Maryann.. I think you’ll find you are preaching to the converted here! I come in several times a day, every day and contribute ALL the time. I’m sorry if my comments are not good/ detailed enough for everyone’s liking but I comment on nearly all the layouts in here.

As for rallying ‘that team’ of mine… I’m at a loss what to say.. they contribute a LOT.. when they have time. We all lead busy lives, they are grown women and it is not my place to tell them to come in here any more than it is yours.

I find it amazing you think I should!

Just because I used your post to make the suggestion doesn’t mean I was calling you or your team out for not doing those things. They just seemed the most likely, most active group to ask to participate in that particular experiment to see what happens.

and I certainly didn’t comment on the quality of your comments, nor would I!

[MaryAnne]

...

[LIST][*]The Gallery. Oh I hope we can keep the gallery as it is, technical issues allowing. It’s one of my favourite parts of UKS and a place I regularly look for inspiration. I really don’t like the idea of having to post a LO somewhere else and just link to it, but I realise technical issues may influence its future.
...

I think this could actually work better than you expect and would relieve a huge burden on UKS in terms of online storage.

What I am thinking is that when a challenge is posted in a thread, all the layouts that go with that challenge get posted as replies in the thread itself. So everything would be self-contained. I would propose deleting all but say the last 5 years of the Gallery (which has been suggested by many in the past and it's been ME that was loathe to take such a drastic step, but needs, must!) so there will still be plenty of stuff to look at there, it will be just the current stuff that is in threads.

I would suggest maybe we have a go and see how it works. I had a thought. We often had a challenge in cyber crops where we asked people to do a UKS-based layout. Why not let July have a UKS-based challenge? Make a layout about you and UKS - then when the time comes, post it by linking the layout image URL in your post. If nothing else it would let people see how it works and sort out any issues. I'll figure out a sample (for those who feel they need an tutorial to do it) and then let's see what happens.

I think the next couple of months are a good time to try a few things. It give me plenty of time to collect some info on how various things might work and help me decide - which I would aim to do by 1 November - if UKS will be here next year or not.

[scrapdolly]

I’d love to see everyone engage on scrap chatter (I have posted several scrap related threads in general scrapping which are a little empty) like they have engaged in chat here. That would be awesome.

I am going to try as someone suggested … I am sorry I can’t remember who … what’s on your desk Wednesday and let’s hope we get some engaging chatter there. There is so much scrappy knowledge and love and experience here I am sure we could get chatting about the thing that binds us all together. Scrapping.

I post every day in the community chat thread but am as bad as everyone else at chatting about scrapping. So let’s see if we can reinvigorate the scrappy chatter.

We will see how the next few months go with our changes as planned and then … if we revert to points … we will be looking for volunteers to do all of the points collating, posting results and, more importantly, coordinate all the challenges throughout the year. I have done this since 2007 so I think it’s time I had a break.

[alison 2]

I’m happy to go along with the suggestions. I will definitely need a tutorial on how to upload with a URL !