Member Titles

[the simple life]

I agree that the least problematic way is to do it the way Ann suggests and my number of post counts.
No one is going to feel they have been labeled unfairly, its all the same. If Ann wanted people to pick their own titles then I wouldn't have a problem with that either,its just alot of work for her.
The only thing I was pointing out was if we picked our own titles and it wasn't done by post count then someone coming in here may be offended with something they don't want to be stuck with, other than that I really don't care.

 

[FarmerChick]

you pick one from a generic list that describes you circumstances. It wouldn't be a personal choice


it would be limited to what the forum's list is.....say 10-12 choices only

alot of forums give titles based on posts, it is a normal situation...heck alot of institutions do that....cub scout, grade up to boy scout, grade up to master scout.

but I don't think it matters

just a generic list of most categories that might fit a person doing SS type things

 

[reinbeau]

The generic list idea is manageable - I like your additions, Karen. So each person gets to select where they think they are in the self-sufficiency road. I do like that better than post count - I just don't know how it could be implemented via the forum controls. I think this is a Rob question. Otherwise once you've made your decisions, based on that listing, you could PM me and I could change them for you - there aren't that many of us yet that it's going to be a huge problem. So, if this is what most of you want, pick:

City Slicker
Starting Out
Yard Farmer
Country Living
Hobby Farmer
Farming for a Living
Doing it Old School
Sufficient Life
Animal Lover
Orchard and Gardens
Preserving Food Member

and send me a PM, I'll set you up. Any other good suggestions could be integrated into the list, of course, but let's not go crazy! There's 11 up there right now, I think they cover most of the bases.

Now mind you, if something tickles my fancy that comes up somewhere along the way you may see your title change - if you don't like it, then PM me and I'll reset it. But it is kinda fun to see what might pop up under your name, I know I was tickled when I began to lead the Teapot Underground over on BYC!

And if Rob has any objections all bets are off - he is the boss, after all.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Well, I like the one you stuck under me, Ann.

 

[Henrietta23]

I have to admit that the fact I've never been given a unique title on either BYC or SS does bother me. I don't choose to devote a whole lot of energy into feeling bad about it but there's the truth of it. Just had to add my 2 cents.

 

[FarmerChick]

Quail you will always now be the Crazy Chicken Farmer and Pat will be the Crazy Cat Lover...HA HA

Ann I like the list. Maybe add 1 or 2 more if we missed a topic generally, but other than that limiting what is available is smart.

heck we can all go hog wild....but we need to control it..LOL

 

[Nifty]

With all the other things moderators need to do, I try to do everything I can to make things as easy and self sustaining as possible. The idea of manually setting titles for everyone kinda worries me and I feel that it would be a slippery slope if Ann (in her infinite helpfulness) started doing it.

Remember, titles are just for fun and shouldn't really define a person or their relative knowledge. It is just a quick / fun way to see how "active" a member on the forum has been.

So, I think we should just stick with either everyone having a generic title, or create fun titles based on # of posts.

My personal opinion (as a member, not the admin) is that I like the transition from City Slicker into titles that show more and more self sufficiency.

At the end of the day we'll still need to make sure we don't take titles too seriously as they are mostly just for fun.

 

[dacjohns]

After all the thinking I've been doing about this Nifty comes along and sums it up quite nicely. And I'm not just sucking up.

 

[reinbeau]

Ok, I've been thinking about this. In my need to please people and make them happy I guess I tried to be too 'helpful' (when things are a mess in my life I can always fix something else!).

I have to say I really dislike levels based on post count. I think that encourages some people to post silliness just to drive up their post count. I really don't want to see this forum go the way of BYC in the silliness department (sorry, but there's just too much of that there, and I know, I've contributed to some of it, I think we all have).

I do like the idea of classifying ourselves according to a standardized list. If that's too difficult to implement then I guess we'll have to pass on it, but it is the way I would prefer to go. I don't, of course, want to create an administrative nightmare, for me or any other moderator that might come in the future.

 

[the simple life]

I think that if you don't mind changing the posts then its finr, I was afraid, like Nifty said that it would be too much work for you.
I hate that people on BYC will post a million times just to post and its very obvious what they are doing.
I like the titles that you guys have chosen and since everyone can pick one that they feel suits them then no one coming into this forum will feel alienated, since they can choose their own title.
My fear was as I said, that someone would be assigned a title based on their level of self suffieciency as perceived by our group.
Like if you do this much then you are at this level etc. I did not want to discourage anyone from this group of they had thought they were doing so well in their quest for self sufficiency and then were labeled a green horn or city slicker etc.
Since you are talking about labeling ourselves I think its great, no one will feel alientated.
Plus as you said, you can always change someone's title to something unique that you noticed about them.
Having said that, I am not sure what some of the titles exactly mean in terms of self sufficency so maybe someone can explain them a little, like are those in a special order that you feel you move up to or are they just titles in random order.
I am guessing I would be somewhere between a yard farmer or hobby farmer. Not sure what country living means exactly, if it just means you live in the country or if its some sort of level of sufficiency in between the two.