Old POTN -vs- New POTN, Poll

Please do not vote if you are a new member who is unfamiliar with the old POTN. This Poll is reserved for those who were familiar with the Old POTN as they are able to compare it to the new POTN. There is already a separate poll started for new members...

If you are undecided at this moment, give if a little time and then post back with your view.

Thanks,
Ralph

Can I vote? Well I did anyhow.

How old are we talking?

This version???

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17313453

New version is better, just takes some getting used to visually. I find myself having to visit other forums less with the new inclusive approach.

jptsr1 wrote in post #17313745
New version is better, just takes some getting used to visually. I find myself having to visit other forums less with the new inclusive approach.

What this guy said.

I like the new format with new features. It gives you a lot more personalization options/

I voted for the last choice even though I don't agree that the forum is no longer Canon-centric. Canon is at the center and other brands at the periphery.

I voted for the last option, it took a day to get used to it but it was not that hard. I also on hour 1 just selected not to see all the other non canon "stuff" it is nice in the gallery threads to have other people posting. However being a canon shooter its nice to only see canon items and topics discussed.

Is there really a purpose for this thread/poll other than "just for fun" or trolling for debate? Even if everybody that posted on this thread votes for "I hate the new POTN and wish we had any form of the old POTN back." Pekka already said it isn't going to happen.

By the way, I voted for the first choice as it looked lonely being the only option with no votes. It isn't really how I feel, but I also didn't see a value or reason for the poll.

KurtB wrote in post #17314098
Is there really a purpose for this thread/poll other than "just for fun" or trolling for debate? Even if everybody that posted on this thread votes for "I hate the new POTN and wish we had any form of the old POTN back." Pekka already said it isn't going to happen.

I believe it is to show that a lot of the complaining is coming from a very small part of the group, and that the large mass is happy with the new forum.

I'm between 2 and 4 myself (voted for 4). I had no issues with the previous forum and personally don't really see a great benefit [yet] of the new format. Adding features to the previous forum would have been fine with me. Having said that, I'm not completely opposed to the new AMASS either, it will just take some getting used to. The biggest struggle is the fact that it is different than any other forum - I'm a member of about 6-8 different forums that I visit and use on a pretty regular basis and they all use a very similar setup and structure - whether it's phpBB, vBulletin, etc.

Sure, I get that there have been users on POTN that use Nikon, Fuji, whatever... and that has been the case for a while. Yes, I get that this was never a Canon ONLY place, but it was very Canon-centric - that's why I joined here and not somewhere else. I shoot Canon and want to be amongst the largest amount of others who do as well. Based on the current user base, I think it will likely remain that way, but I do think the forum will also get watered down quite a bit with the new setup. I'll give two examples of where I expect to see this...

1) I frequently visit the Flash and Studio Lighting section. Sure, lights are mostly generic, unless you are talking about Canon Speedlites. However, today the MAJORITY of users who post there today are shooting with Canon bodies. So when the question comes up about supportability with ETTL triggers, it's pretty standard to suggest those Canon supported products. I foresee this changing, with more shooters from the other brands joining in with questions about flashes, triggers etc that work with their brand. This waters down the Canon-centric part I mentioned above.

Heck, I'm on a specific forum to the model car I drive - not just the Brand/Manufacturer, the specific model. It's powerful to be able to find specific information like that.

2) The Classifieds area. Again, sure, there are non-Canon items listed, but the large majority of items posted today are Canon centric. I foresee this changing quite a bit where it will be more common to see a lot more items from the other brands listed. I don't own an Olympus, so I don't care to see those items. Today it's easy to browse past the (maybe) one per page, but that's changing...

I get that there is ongoing work for the Classifieds area to. I haven't read into it specifically, but it sounds like you may be able to search for specific item - that's great if I'm looking for something specific; I used to handle that by going to the section then searching for the specific item within the section. However, I also just like to generally browse what's selling too - again, Canon-centric items. So, I'm hoping there will be some good filtering options so I can get rid of all the stuff that I don't care to see.

This really should be two polls -- one dealing with content (Canon-centric, etc.) and one dealing with structure/format. I like this not being a Canon-centric forum but I am having some real difficulty navigating the new format and finding things.

Curt

OhLook wrote in post #17313796
I voted for the last choice even though I don't agree that the forum is no longer Canon-centric. Canon is at the center and other brands at the periphery.

I agree with that today, because we just made the transition from being a Canon-centric forum to now having dedicated areas for other users. This is obviously more inviting to those who shoot with other brands and I think that will change the overall user base over time. It would be nice to see a poll of users per brand today... and another in 5 years.

My guess is that today's poll of users would be majority Canon, with a few Nikon, and much less of the other brands. Five years from now, I'd guess it looks like the general market share of sales per camera manufacturer.

umgrizz wrote in post #17314108
This really should be two polls -- one dealing with content (Canon-centric, etc.) and one dealing with structure/format. I like this not being a Canon-centric forum but I am having some real difficulty navigating the new format and finding things.

Curt

Definitely agree with the notion of 2 polls for this.

I'm glad that the forum has moved beyond just canon. it's now more about the photography and the gear doesn't matter.

While it's nice to think that canon forum will lose something and perhaps it will. but having subjects more related to other gear and just about photography means that we are going to create a bigger forum with a much deeper pool of knowledge and help