Word Limit on posts what do you think?

[itiwhetu]

I feel it is time for a word limit to be placed on posts, some of the reply's we are getting to simple questions are ridiculously long and way to hard to follow. Those replies destroy the flow of the thread and are purely self indulging for the people who post them.

I was originally going to put what is written below into Bruce's Thread but moved it to here.

"It is interesting that I get a mention for taking this thread off subject. I am actually the only person to give Bruce an answer. And thanks to @Byron and @AdoraBelle Dearheart writing their usual essays on subjects the whole thread turned to custard. I think it is time the mods put a word limit on posts so that someone in the future can get something useful out of a thread like this. I suppose it is he or she who speaks loudest gets listened to."

 

[Colin_T]

There is a word limit on threads. I know because I hit it a couple of times

Some threads need a decent explanation and you have to write a bit to do that. Most other threads don't need as much explaining.

One of the things I like about this forum is the lack of 1 sentence answers like you see on other forms of social media. These generally don't help if there is a major issue.

 

[Naughts]

I feel it is time for a word limit to be placed on posts, some of the reply's we are getting to simple questions are ridiculously long and way to hard to follow. Those replies destroy the flow of the thread and are purely self indulging for the people who post them.

I was originally going to put what is written below into Bruce's Thread but moved it to here.

"It is interesting that I get a mention for taking this thread off subject. I am actually the only person to give Bruce an answer. And thanks to @Byron and @AdoraBelle Dearheart writing their usual essays on subjects the whole thread turned to custard. I think it is time the mods put a word limit on posts so that someone in the future can get something useful out of a thread like this. I suppose it is he or she who speaks loudest gets listened to."

No

 

[Fishmanic]

Ok … you can't post more than 3072 words per post. Be sure to count your words before hitting post.

 

[Guest14017]

While I do agree some posts are unnecessarily wordy - I also agree that oftentimes you need a proper explanation which does take a bit of writing. I think some people may just need a reminder to try and keep threads on topic and be concise. So not actually limiting the words people write, but reminders to stay on topic and try not to be repetitive.

Byron for example posts a lot of science based information on threads that need it and Colin posts the disease assistance template. These are helpful to many people.

 

[FishHobby99]

I feel it is time for a word limit to be placed on posts, some of the reply's we are getting to simple questions are ridiculously long and way to hard to follow. Those replies destroy the flow of the thread and are purely self indulging for the people who post them.

I was originally going to put what is written below into Bruce's Thread but moved it to here.

"It is interesting that I get a mention for taking this thread off subject. I am actually the only person to give Bruce an answer. And thanks to @Byron and @AdoraBelle Dearheart writing their usual essays on subjects the whole thread turned to custard. I think it is time the mods put a word limit on posts so that someone in the future can get something useful out of a thread like this. I suppose it is he or she who speaks loudest gets listened to."

Would it still be ok for me to write a short novella?

 

[itiwhetu]

Would it still be ok for me to write a short novella?

Of course Novella is fine it is when we get the whole Harry Potters Series I object to.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

"It is interesting that I get a mention for taking this thread off subject. [...]

Oh Iti! It was a light-hearted reply where I apologised for asking Byron questions that were sparked by the things you and he had been debating long before I posted in the thread. Not meant to get you all upset and heated. I am genuinely sorry if you were hurt.

But are you denying that you took it off topic? Byron mentioned what he believes is a safety concern with the substrate the OP was planning to use, so shared his view. Then you did the thing you often do, and started arguing over a topic that is a pet peeve for you! And hey, I carried on with the hijacking and admitted and apologised for it, so saying "in my defence, it's Byron's fault for being interesting and sparking my curiosity, and your fault for doing your usual debating thing, so don't be mad at me, please!" was admitting I was at fault too, not meant to be a crack at you.

You admit that you have pet "causes"; you have very strong views on using water conditioner, hating sand substrates, fitration and plants, how to breed fish (and how not to) and a few other topics I can't remember now -and you often state those views strongly when you think someone is wrong. It can be a tad frustrating at times when you're henpecking me and others, but it's also amusing and interesting - it's healthy for people to listen to different view points and challenge their own stances - helps to avoid groupthink.

And thanks to @Byron and @AdoraBelle Dearheart writing their usual essays on subjects the whole thread turned to custard.

I've never been good at being concise. Some people are more verbose than others, and some of us enjoy reading detailed explanations and sourced "essay" replies like Byrons, I certainly do.

I'm aware that I am terrible at being concise and I genuinely try to edit myself. But I cannot completely change who I am or how I think and express myself. You, and anyone else, can always reply or pm me and let me know if they think I'm derailing or overwhelming a thread. I mean that.

If you don't like my posts, you can skim right past them! The ignore function on here works just fine

As to a word limit, @mjfromga sums up my view perfectly:

While I do agree some posts are unnecessarily wordy - I also agree that oftentimes you need a proper explanation which does take a bit of writing. I think some people may just need a reminder to try and keep threads on topic and be concise. So not actually limiting the words people write, but reminders to stay on topic and try not to be repetitive.

Byron for example posts a lot of science based information on threads that need it and Colin posts the disease assistance template. These are helpful to many people.

The only additional thing I'd say is that it's a forum, not Twitter.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Sometimes you need to be more detailed in order to get the instructions you are trying to explain across and understood.

One person's perception of waffle might be another person's answer to a life or death question.

 

[NannaLou]

No to word limits, I’d much rather read a very long post with proper details than try and ‘join the dots’ in short bulletin points…

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I've no problem with long posts...PROVIDED they are pertinent to the original post and not what is, in effect, a thread hijack.
For those, have the confidence to create your own thread.
For my own guidance, I always imagine a thread as a conversation taking place in Real Life...
Sometimes, I'd continue to participate...others I would leave.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I was originally going to put what is written below into Bruce's Thread but moved it to here.

I'm so glad you did.

 

[Wills]

I think keep it as it is personally, the two people pointed out in the OP post provide some of the most insightful content on the forum and I am quite partial to a long post myself.

Spoiler: If people want to shorten their posts for some reason they could use the spoiler tool as a read more button

Suprise

Wills

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Ok … you can't post more than 3072 words per post. Be sure to count your words before hitting post.

Fishmanic has spoken.

Some people talk too much; some don't talk enough. We deal with it. The advantage of a forum is that one is free to simply skip over the long-winded people. I often wish that I had that option with some people in the real world.

 

[FishHobby99]

I fast forward through some posts like a bad movie. Some I copy & print for my Fish Files

I think some lengthy posts are cut & pasted from other platform/publications the poster uses. Not saying plagiarized, but not created for this forum.
Some way too long for me & laden with his info even a newbie like moi knows.