2009 Suggestion Drive: How Could We Improve The Cauldron?

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[FierFlye]

One other option, now I think about it, would be initiatory witchcraft trads - which'd include Feri, and BTW and stuff like my trad, but not a lot of stuff in the general discussions. (And I admit to a certain interest in a more focused place to have those conversations, but I'm not sure we'd have enough traffic for it?

But what could be discussed?  Wouldn't many of the topics be oathbound?

[Jenett]

But what could be discussed?  Wouldn't many of the topics be oathbound?

Yes and no. The Amber and Jet email list has been running for something like 8 years, with 80,000 messages, and that's a Seeker-level (non-oathbound material) list for BTW trads and seekers. There's certainly plenty to discuss.

Stuff that springs to mind:

- How to start learning more about these paths. Suggested reading lists, resources, etc. How to figure out which group/path/etc. is the right fit for you, when some number of specifics aren't available.

- What it's like to work with a small group in a specific tradition - different ways to do things on a purely practical level (a lot of the stuff I've been discussing in my blog, like scheduling.)

- How do you evaluate a group which has oathbound material or lineage questions, when you're looking for groups. And how do you avoid dysfunctional ones?

- How do you handle talking to partner/spouse/family/friends about stuff in an oathbound tradition. Especially if they have concerns or questions.

- What sorts of things are useful in preparing for ritual experiences that you don't know the full details about in advance (like an initiation). Some of these, in my experience, hit oathbound stuff, but some of it is mostly experience and common sense ("Plan for some recovery time" or "I'm really glad I did [non oathbound things] A, B, and D-E beforehand - C wasn't so helpful, though")

- Integrating your personal practice with group practice - how do you balance between the two, how much of the trad stuff do you do when you're working solely on your own, etc.

- How do you talk around the edges of the oathbound stuff, anyway without driving everyone batty? (Some of this depends on what someone's precise oath is, but there's a lot of ways to approach this one.)

Many of these topics have come up here at one point or another in the Cauldron's history, so there's some interest - just not sure if there's enough to make a SIG worthwhile. Not sure there isn't, either, mind you.

[Waldfrau]

Yes, this would be a larger subset of Wicca/Witchcraft, and would probably be the only one we currently might be able to get enough people to form a SIG.

I would found such a SIG interesting, but think there might be more curious seekers than initiated members.

[Phoenix]

The "problem" being that many of such initiatory groups are secretive < snip > -- which makes discussion hard for for them and for outsiders.

Yes, I thought about that, too

[dragonfaerie]

But what could be discussed?  Wouldn't many of the topics be oathbound?

I'm part of an initiatory Wiccan tradition, and there really isn't anything about us that's oathbound beyond not outing covenmates. I'd be down for such a board.

My only other suggestion was to perhaps start one board that's more fellowship oriented, for the folks who wish that sort of atmosphere. But I can see where that might also derail the rest of the board, since it's hard to have special rules for one forum.

Karen

[RandallS]

My only other suggestion was to perhaps start one board that's more fellowship oriented, for the folks who wish that sort of atmosphere. But I can see where that might also derail the rest of the board, since it's hard to have special rules for one forum.

It's not that hard -- several of our boards already have special rules. What were you thinking of?

[dragonfaerie]

It's not that hard -- several of our boards already have special rules. What were you thinking of?

I dunno. I really hate boards where everyone's just expected to be nice and not talk about anything controversial. But I know of some places that just seem to revolve around sending out happy witchy graphics every day with "Have a good Monday" on them or something... is that what non-debate folks are looking for?

Karen

[RandallS]

I dunno. I really hate boards where everyone's just expected to be nice and not talk about anything controversial. But I know of some places that just seem to revolve around sending out happy witchy graphics every day with "Have a good Monday" on them or something... is that what non-debate folks are looking for?

I really don't know what people not interested in heavy discussion and debate are looking for. But I do know that most of the boards I've seen where heavy discussion (let alone debate) is strongly discouraged seem (to me) to end up as little more than places to either send out those happy messages or tell people how special you are where people can't disagree with you. Note: I'm sure this isn't a true picture but is just what I see filtered through my "I really like debate and discussion" filter.

[dragonfaerie]

On a more practical note, how about a Pagan Parenting board? We're looking at having a baby in the next couple years and I'm really curious about folks who are raising their kids in a pagan religion. How do you break down rituals to a kid's level? How do you deal with them talking about being a witch at school? etc.

I'm rather lucky in that my Tradition does have a kids group, so I can get info from other parents in our covens... but that's probably not true for a lot of folks. And unlike what I've seen in other parenting-type forums, I'm not likely to get a lot of fluff talk about "indigo children" here and that sort of rot.

Karen

[RandallS]

On a more practical note, how about a Pagan Parenting board?

We could easily do a Pagan Parenting SIG. All we would need is a SIG leader, would you be interested in the position?

[Collinsky]

It's January, so it's time for our annual "suggestion drive" when we open a topic and request your suggestions for how TC (the forum, the web site, the MUX, forum rules, etc.) could be improved.

Could there be a multi-quote function?  (Besides the "Insert Quote" - that is very helpful but only allows you to insert from the last five or so posts.)

I also would be very interested in a Parenting board, that's a great idea!

[Star]

Could there be a multi-quote function?  (Besides the "Insert Quote" - that is very helpful but only allows you to insert from the last five or so posts.)

I'm kind of doubting it, but even if it is possible I'm also doubting we'd be that hot on implementing it.  Generally, we prefer that each post get replied to individually, rather than lumping replies to (and quotes of) multiple posts into one big reply.  We feel it helps keep the conversation easier to follow and to read, especially in debate and discussion threads.  So I'm not thinking that a way to quote multiple posts in one reply more easily is going to be high on the priority list. 

[Collinsky]

I'm kind of doubting it, but even if it is possible I'm also doubting we'd be that hot on implementing it.  Generally, we prefer that each post get replied to individually, rather than lumping replies to (and quotes of) multiple posts into one big reply.  We feel it helps keep the conversation easier to follow and to read, especially in debate and discussion threads.  So I'm not thinking that a way to quote multiple posts in one reply more easily is going to be high on the priority list. 

Gotcha. Makes sense!

[Collinsky]

We could easily do a Pagan Parenting SIG. All we would need is a SIG leader, would you be interested in the position?

I'd be willing to help out with this SIG, as needed!

[Yez]

[...]it's time for our annual "suggestion drive" [....]

Four items are completely off the table, however:

1) Changing forum software. (SMF has a low server load as well as some features the Hosts can't live without.)

Since this deals with the software, my whole post may be moot.

I'm confused about email notifications.  In the forum I came from :> I could choose to be notified of replies to me, but I don't see that choice here.  Is it in front of my nose?

I have checked off "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email" - self-explanatory.

Originally I also checked "Receive reply notification only for the first unread reply", which I thought was an odd description of what I wanted :>  Shortly thereafter I found that someone had replied directly to me, but I never got an email notification.  I felt bad that I hadn't replied in a timely manner.  As a newbie, it's hard to remember where a particular thread is, and when I'm on the forum I'm usually reading new-to-me threads, so I don't see any replies to me.

(I had also checked "Turn notification on when you post or reply to a topic", although I thought that once I requested notification, the system would remember my selection and stay "on".)

I went back to my profile and tried to read for comprehension!  Originally I hadn't noticed the dropdown "For topics and boards I've requested notification on, notify me of:", but none of the choices seemed to fit.  My best guess was "replies and moderation".

Now I find that I'm getting notified of each and every post in each thread to which I've posted.  What am I missing?  Is it not possible to be notified only of direct replies to my posts?  Actually, I know it's possible, elsewhere if not in SMF, so was it a conscious decision not to offer that option?

Thanks :-)

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