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The Good and Bad about WildFact - Need your suggestions
The Good and Bad about WildFact - Need your suggestions
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The Good and Bad about WildFact - Need your suggestions
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Thanks for the reply Peter!
Ok if you guys have already decided against Animal vs Animal debate, I can only respect your decision, but still I'd like to put forth some thoughts regarding moderations you people can consider. Just my thoughts, I think if any problem is understood broadly enough--than solutions are aplenty. 1st, if anyone who wants to start a discussion regarding any A-V-A, he/she will first have to make a request to moderators. Only if the mods or admins if they are convinced that a suggested topic is worth debating over, only than they will start this thread. Now who should be allowed to participate in this thread? Strictly only those members who have a good repute on the forum, members with certain numbers of liked posts or stars etc. should be allowed to participate in A-V-A debates. Participating in A-V-A debates should be a special privilege enjoyed by members with good repute only, newly joined members should strictly not be allowed to participate. You can also restrict the number of posts a member is allowed in a particular A-V-A thread, with rationed posts a participant will only make meaningful postings. I've seen on some forums where they have even restricted the no. of emoticons you can have in a post (not more than two lol). Well that's all I had to say, just speaking my mind out, won't bother you guys again, thanks. 
Appreciated, Bronco.
OUR POLICY ON VERSUS DEBATES In order to understand our policy, I decided for a few words on the past. Most of us are former members of Animal Versus Animal (Yuku). I was a mod at that forum. AVA had plenty of versus debates. Although most of them produced good information, it also is a fact it was a warzone. Most of my time was invested in keeping those involved in all kinds of battles in check. It had little effect, as the climate kept deteriorating. In the end, the forum was hacked and that was the end of it. When I was all but done with 'forums', Sanjay proposed to give this one a try. One of the first decisions we took was to refrain from versus debates for the reason stated. We decided for data and good information and the result is almost 2 million views in a few years only. This means there is a market for a forum like this one. Most other forums started after the collapse of AVA failed. I'm not sure, but the number of versus debates could have been a reason. My take on debates is expressed in post 52 of the animal trainers thread (captive animals section). The bottom line is I like debates, as they often result in exchange of knowledge. Most unfortunately, it also is a fact some debates nearly always result in failures. Lion versus tiger is the most prominent of them. The main reason is this debate always attracts many posters unable or unwilling to interact. In order to offer good posters a chance to give it another try, I started the animal trainer thread. It immediately resulted in animosity and a ban. We don't want it, our members don't want it and our readers also are not that interested. It's telling that the thread on captive animals started by Tigerluver attracts much more views. If you think it should be possible to discuss lions, tigers and interaction in a way that would prevent animosity, you can revive the animal trainer thread. I'll do the moderation, but I admit I'm not that interested. Well before I joined forums, I interviewed trainers, keepers, vets, directors of training facilities and many others who saw interaction between captive predators. Apart from that, I read books written by trainers and saw quite a bit myself. The bottom line is the outcome of an all-out fight between big cats of similar size and age is close to unpredictable. This is the reason the old rulers kept organising fights for centuries. One of the things that stuck in the period I talked to trainers and performers was they agreed on individuality as a decisive factor in a fight. In their opinion, there's no such thing as species-related ability. Furthermore, every fight is unpredictable. At forums, posters guided by preference often invest a lot of time in proving them wrong, but it is not easy to take them very seriously. The reason is they saw nothing, whereas some trainers and performers saw a lot. CLIMATE CHANGE, THE PLIGHT OF BIG CATS AND THE FUNCTION OF FORUMS Today is the day of humans. There are over 7 billion and all of them want a chance to live a decent life. They need ever more room and the result is wild places are disappearing everywhere. Big predators can be considered as mirrors: if they are on their way out in a region, we know it is going downhill rapidly. In many parts of southeast Asia, forests are all but empty. If we don't act now, the point of no return will be reached real soon. Same for things ignored by many, like climate change. This year, again, was the year of new records everywhere. Change often starts at the bottom. A forum about the natural world can be considered as just another way to make a few bucks, but one could also consider it an attempt to affect the outlook of those interested. As the natural world is changing ever faster, chances are more people will get interested in the world they once considered safe. To them, the question is what next. At that stage, books or documentaries come into play. A forum about the natural world also can have an effect, meaby even more so. The reason is it is updated every moment of the day by people living in different parts of the world. People interested in the natural world, with access to sources unknown to others. A forum offering spectacular stories about bouts between dangerous animals wouldn't be much different from other agencies offering information intended to draw a crowd. A forum offering insight into an unknown world, however, would be different. Insight, we think, is what the world needs. It's our contribution to addressing a problem hardly recognized as one. It may seem a bit dramatic, but those hit by storms, floods and landslides might have another opinion. In New York, they're still repairing the damage caused by a storm that raged some years ago. New Orleans nearly was completely destroyed. In northeastern Russia, heat waves resulted in less permafrost. Bodies of prehistoric animals who succumbed to diseases dangerous for all have been found. As long as we're able to do something, the damage can be contained. But what will happen if we're no longer able to repair all damage caused by rising temperatures? And who will decide which region is to receive help? Also remember life and death is a very interesting market for big firms. Healthy societies have a kind of balance between private and public, but the days of 'We, the People' are long gone. Most of us can understand why big firms want to have a say, but the situation today is very close to overdoing it. This is one of the reasons ever more people lose their interest in politics. The first thing we need to do, right away, is to protect our home. This planet is our home and it's a very nice one. We largely lost the ability to communicate with it, but those who live in the emerald forest, the deep blue sea and the skies have not. They can tell us what needs to be told, but they're struggling nearly everywhere. Our first task, therefore, is to protect them. To protect them is to protect ourselves. The next step is to listen to them, to study them and to accumulate and understand knowledge. Knowledge about the planet and its capacity. Than we need to act on it, meaning we need to develop a long-term policy directed at survival. This also means scientists and those in the know should decide, not politicians and CEO's. We could do with a few shamans as well, as they, like Dersu the trapper, were convinced every living creature had a soul. Furthermore, they thought everything was connected. Research strongly suggests they could have been right, but we don't have to time to wait for definite answers. Back to square one then? In a way, this could be the case. It is about the essentials. WildFact contributes in that we focus on some of them. As large predators can be considered as landmarks and mirrors, they in particular feature in our forum. Not to fight, but to talk.
since the thread on BBC report on India's "aggressive" protection measures at Kaziranga is closed I'm putting this news on further development on the subject here.
so the news is, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that governs all tiger reserves in India has imposed a ban on BBC and its journalist Justin Rowlatt for five years. In a memorandum issued on Monday evening, NTCA said BBC had failed to submit the documentary to MoEFCC and Ministry of External Affairs for obligatory previewing "in order to remove any deviations, so as to achieve a balanced and accurate exposition of the theme". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kaziranga-report-gets-bbc-banned-from-tiger-reserves-for-5-years/articleshow/57382826.cms 
I think the search engine is a bit broken as when you type in the exact thread it's not the first thing that comes up weirdly enough, at least for me
Hello Guys,
WildFact is more than 5 year old and It was created due to instability in AVA. There is lot of things I can say about WF, but I leave it on others. The purpose of this thread is to tell us What things you like and What you don't like? what can be improved and how we are when compared to other website or forums on internet Knowing this will help us to improve the forum further so that we can share the passion of wildlife with each other on wildfact. Below is my questions 1. What do you like about WildFact? 2. What you don't like? 3. What improvement do you want to see on this forum? 4. Is any important feature we are missing? 5. How is WildFact compared to other forums and websites (In animal category)? 6. Are you happy with the moderation? Or do you think we need to improve? If you have any other questions or any suggestion, don't be shy, Share your thoughts here. Base on your feed back we will try to improve the WildFact.  (08-02-2018, 08:23 AM)sanjay Wrote: Hello Guys, Good that you asked! I myself was considering a post regarding this on the Mods thread... 1. High standards & zero troll-tolerence. Earlier i used to think the moderation a bit too "iron-fisted" but having seen a few mischief elements being swiftly filtered out, i'd changed my stance. That leaves the mature, quality posters & the atmosphere is civil. 2. For some reason Wildfact images don't appear in Google search. For example; if i use the keyword "Sundarban tiger" then despite having probably the best collection on the internet, there are no image hosted in this forum is in the first 200 results, while most image before it are random Bengal tigers in water... some even from zoos. That's blatant misinformation! I understand that search results vary from user to user, but this is ridiculous. Even old AVA stuff still make appearance. 3. Often random snaps are posted without any photo credits & source. I myself am guilty of doing it regularly until a few weeks ago. (Eg: #39) While a statutory disclaimer is displayed below every image, some photographers are more finicky about their name being mentioned than others. If a camera-trap image or infographic of statistics is posted from an article, the presenting it's source would lead the viewer to an interesting read while doing justice to the author/researcher. We must actively encourage sharing of link to photographs source website/profile/article (Eg: #48). 4. Two. 1st is a FOLLOW feature. Most forums have it, shouldn't be that tough to incorporate. There is already a "buddy" feature that's pretty redundant. I don't think anyone uses it. It could be replaced. If parvez or SuSpiciouS makes a rare post on a thread i don't follow, i'd like a notification about it. If peter likes a post, i want to get notified. That's something i'd like to read. 2nd would be a BOOKMARK feature. The forum is like a sea of information. There's no way to find a particular special post for future reference other than tedious searching. Presently i quote them for new reply & save them as drafts. A set of links should take a lesser toll on the server, especially when every profile has a 2-page list of last 100 posts of the user. Could be replaced by chosen ones. 5. ... 6. Personally, i think Mods could make better use of the "Quick Edit" feature & remove (never add) some parts instead of whole posts. Erasing a few words could change tone of the whole conversation & would be less tedious than the whole delete-explain-warn-ban cycle. 
There seems to be an inordinate amount of posts containing defunct photos and videos that imo detracts from the experience of reading threads. Perhaps a cleanup is in order, coupled with some guidance for posters on what photo and video links are likely to stand the test of time.
Apart from that I appreciate the forum immensely, and in the coming decades if it continues, Wildfact will be a fabulous resource for future generations living in a world with ever diminishing numbers of wild animals. 
. What do you like about WildFact?
Incredible source of information. Unrivaled anywhere else, as far as I'm concerned. 2. What you don't like? See #6 3. What improvement do you want to see on this forum? I would like to see different skins options. Maybe a dark theme. 4. Is any important feature we are missing? Not that I can think of 5. How is WildFact compared to other forums and websites (In animal category)? I only know of AVA and Carnivora and this site blows them away. Not even a comparison. 6. Are you happy with the moderation? Or do you think we need to improve? Mods are way too quick to yell at people and threaten to ban people and then actually do it. We all come from different cultures and speak different languages and maybe that plays a roll in it. What is "acceptable" in USA society may not be in India or Iran or Russia. You can't build a community when mods are chasing people away with threats or unchecked power. At some point you have to let people be who they are. 
1- Be more mindful of the way the forum rules are enforced, avoid confrontation
Mods often engage in pointless discussions with good intentions I'm sure but it's still pointless, just give people a set number of warnings telling them precisely which forum rule they are breaking and then if they don't comply punish them. I'm certain these back and forth discussions are one of the reasons for some people to be a member but not being active/more active. 2- There is distinct lack of information about individual animals (lions,leopards and tigers), lion coalitions, and specially individuals within lion prides. Plus the information that there is scattered throughout countless pages in each topic, the information needs to be condensed somewhere maybe in the first page of each topic. For example Coalition Birmingham Boys/Gowrie males Names of each lion Ages Natal Pride Dominant over which Prides Number of Offspring-Gender Coalition Dynamics Just an example, people that participate in the forum for some time probably know all this information but even for them it would be still useful to have access to a page with all this information condensed and up to date. For new members this would be immensely useful for obvious reasons. As caveat much of the discussions on this site are often members asking questions to more senior members having a page like I described would probably reduce even more the discussions had. 3-Like others said having a way as a member to mark or follow certain topics would be good
We are really liking your suggestion, I expect more from old members.. Please keep giving your suggestion... We really value our members
Being able to follow or subscribe to an individual thread would be great. I utilize that feature over at Skyscraper City to just follow the projects I'm interested in or are relevant to my hometown.
In a few words...
1) The good about WF: - The only one animal forum I know that is really about wild animals' life, whose aim is clearly motivated by the passion of the animals. The other forums (AVA, Carnivora...) being only like sports forum, the players teams or the individual champions being replaced by the favorite animals of the groupies/fans. No use to describe it more... _ The mods are very competent, talented and... patient. Always a pleasure to read some very instructiv comments by Peter, Sanjay, Pckts, Rishi, Tshokwane and so on. - Extremely wide range of photos and videos. 2) the "bad": - IMO, WF is the only one animal forum that stands up to the interspecfic animals conflicts fanatics. Thus, not surprising to see from time to time a new forumer tempted to invest the place by wishing to impose his vision that would be the only one good about his favorite animal (because us, we didn't understand anything). By this way WF arouses keen interest... 3) the improvements...: May be a larger control about some new forumer's first posts whose excessive diligence (zeal) leads to post some fake photos or some photos already posted, sometimes several times. Without forgeting some irrelevant photo, recently we were several to be angry because of a hangeg and flayed jaguar photo with a completely "off topic" question. I know, we were all new forumer. And I don't want to insist more and lecture. 4) "Is any important feature we are missing?": From my point of view, no. 5) WF and the other animals forums: Already answered in 1) 6) "Are you happy with the moderation? Or do you think we need to improve?" Idem, already answered in 1)... The moderation is clearly an asset of WF
Thanks for participating and giving your suggestions
@Rishi -- For some reason Wildfact images don't appear in Google search. Images are widely not controlled by us. Most of the images are directly inserted from any other website. In order to rank images in google search, some optimization needed, It should have alt tags, It should be light weight and the text around it. We lack all these things, becasue most of the people here do not know these things and there is no way we can force them to do so.. they are not IT people they are just regular people. Regarding Point 3. Thats why I manually created that functionality (inserting credit disclaimer at the bottom of every image). AGain, it all depends on poster. Some of our members give proper credit (epaiva, ngala, tshokwane) But some don't care.. we can only remind them time to time.. we can not do much more about that.. This is problem with all community where anyone can upload. Regarding point 4. I agree these are 2 important feature. Following and Favorting a posts. I quickly searched for them, but they are not ready made and hence I need to invest time/money for it. I have several option in my mind and I will take appropriate decision. Regarding point 6. It is actually Nice Idea and I have used it in past. Announce it in Mod section @Herekitty We are trying to to cleanup process and our mod @Ngala and @Tshokwane is doing it. We will further discuss about this. @ Adding new skin for forum is not big deal but Since we are animal forum therefore we are little selective to this. We will add more skin in future if we found related to animals. Moderating is tough job and if we start giving space people start misusing it, I can understand your concern though and hence in most of the cases we first give mild warning. The most important thing is attitude, If you have good attitude and know how to talk in general forum then little mistakes can be ignored. But still thanks for your suggestion we will try to incorporate it as much as possible. You can subscribe a thread and you will get notification when some one make posts: below is screenshot of how you can do this  *This image is copyright of its original author @Michael Thank you michael for these suggestions. Actually your suggestion is something that we have in our mind but since it is tedious job and requires lot of time to gather information scattered here and there. Most of the mods or member here do it partime and hence they are bound by time. I still think with the help of our members and mods we can do this. If you or other willing to this thing, please open a thread and start gathering information for individuals or pride. @Ngala and @Tshokwane may be we should discuss it in mod section and do something (See Michael post above) following a topic is possible see above answer, following a member need some time, we will do something about it. @Spalea We have restrication set for every new signup, their first few posts are moderated and once we think the poster is genuine we remove the restriction. Though I agree that some time old members start posting same information without doing research. We are trying to tell them and hope in future we can come with some solid solution for this. |
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