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'Sticky message' Board


Nana Lily

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A message and suggestion for the moderators.

 

As we embark on a new term and new set of audition rounds many dancers and parents have questions....those which have been posted and answered in previous years. Is it possible to have a 'sticky board' for commonly asked questions which can be posted and fixed at the head of the doing dance section. Eg. What length of dance is needed for solos for year7, 'advice on preparation for lower school auditions' etc etc etc....

 

Don't know if this is possible on ballet.co, but on other similar forums its utilised.

 

Best wishes

 

nana

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Well, nana, things *can* be pinned to the top of the forum, but to judge by the sort of questions you've posed I think there'd be so many that it might be difficult to see the wood for the trees, if you see what I mean.

 

I'll ask, though ...

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Thinking more closely about it, it seems to me that this would be an ideal opportunity for posters to make use of the "tags" feature which can be found under every "heading" field on a new post, e.g. "year 7" "solos" "length".  We none of us do this enough, and if it is used properly the board will also provide links to related threads, which would be really useful particularly in Doing Dance.  However, it does require the original poster to make the effort to put the tags in in the first place: it doesn't seem to be something which can be done retrospectively, even by the all-powerful Moderators :)

 

It would also help if posters would use fairly specific headings rather than some of the rather unhelpfully vague ones we sometimes get.

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Alison, I am referring to questions which arise each year on a regular basis. If there is the ability to mark these as 'sticky' it will be helpful to members accessing the forum to have answers to their questions quickly.

 

I am intrigued by your comment ''judge by the sort of comment you post' remark. Not sure what your inference you are making? I clearly qualified my question by referencing 'commonly asked' questions. Why do you think as a moderator you have the right to judge my own questions????

 

NL

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Guest Autumn days

Nana, I do think that Alison was simply implying that here would be a lot of questions as there are indeed many many questions that come up every year and they tend to wander on and on often going off topic.

 

Also, information does change and I am not sure that you can add to stickys so new threads would probably be started anyway!

 

Edited to add last sentence

Edited by mum in a spin
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Guest Autumn days

I also think that this board provides some solace for parents that are going through the audition process. Sometimes we like to post in the same way that we may talk to people face to face knowing that we are perhaps going over old ground but wondering if there is a new perspective and also knowing that simply talking about it makes us feel better.

 

 

 

Oops, edited for a typo this time!

Edited by mum in a spin
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I think it's a great idea Nana Lily....not sure if you saw a post I made a couple of weeks ago about reading last year's White Lodge Lower School Thread (all 16 pages of it!!) but I'm always searching for tips and guidance.

 

I do use the search box to try and find information from old threads but it isn't always easy and I do think that when you're "experienced hands" it can seem like newbies are asking the same old questions....but I love the fact that we can call on your knowledge and experience...especially when we're going crazy wondering about the possible routes / processes / outcomes.

 

Perhaps a pinned thread for F.A.Q.'s could be a way to go - but I'm not sure how it would be achieved without major efforts of the mods to put together a comprehensive list....unless a pinned thread entitled " Popular Discussions" was created and links were listed to the audition process threads, etc where the same information is sought year on year?  I know sometimes the mods answer a question with a link to a thread so maybe a pinned thread just with the links could be the way to go (maybe changing some thread titles to be clearer?)

 

Anyway, I am grateful to all the regular posters who keep on sharing the knowledge :)

Edited by dtadmin
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I am intrigued by your comment ''judge by the sort of comment you post' remark. Not sure what your inference you are making? I clearly qualified my question by referencing 'commonly asked' questions. Why do you think as a moderator you have the right to judge my own questions????

 

NL

 

Might I suggest that you re-read Alison's posting and then contemplate an apology?

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Well, nana, things *can* be pinned to the top of the forum, but to judge by the sort of questions you've posed I think there'd be so many that it might be difficult to see the wood for the trees, if you see what I mean.

 

I'll ask, though ...

I dont see why Nanalily should apologise.  The 'Well' in this statement is emotive and so is the 'but to judge'!  I think its a great idea.  I access other forums where they have 1 (yes 1) sticky for say 'Year 7 entry to vocational school FAQs' and people add a short post to that sticky such as 'leotards can be any colour but you might want to consider....' or 'solos are usually about 1 to 1.5 minutes long and you might consider...' etc.

 

Great suggestion and would be much easier to find.

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Folks, we are discussing this over on the Committee forum. Not yet sure if it's desirable to have lots of FAQ "stickies" because essentially that could clog up the first half of the front page.

 

Could you let us discuss it and then update you on our decision? Posting, updating and maintaining Stickys would mean lots of work for the Mods who are all voluntary and most of us have jobs too.

 

It might be that we encourage much more use of "tags" to make the information more easily searchable. Anyhow, please be assured that we are giving it thought.

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Another great FAQ list would be '6th form dance schools'.  I bet anyone planning to audition or has auditioned for these in the past has produced their own list of all the schools in the UK and what funding, ie DaDa, student loan and what certification, ie Diploma Level 6, Foundation Degree, BA Hons etc.  Anyone who has a DC at a particular school could add to the sticky giving the key information that was relevant to them.

 

;) Sorry, can't help myself now.....

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I must admit I do feel like a pain asking questions which have already been discussed.  I do the searches but sometimes I don't  quite find what I am looking for.  I hope one day when we are further down our journey I can help people out as much as people have helped me since I joined earlier this year. So just a little thank you to those of you who never get fed up helping us out!

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Thank you for the replies, folks views and suggestions. Another possibility may be additional 'sub catergories' within doing dance. For example, 'lower school auditions', upper school auditions', 'questions about White Lode'. 'Adult dancer' or 'going back to dance'. By having a bit more organisation on the thread, it will be easier for people to find information? Don't know if this is possible, but worth considerating by the moderators?

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Thats a good idea Belljul. It may well be a way of keeping such information in one place. The moderators seem to be forever having to provide links to old threads on the subject.

 

Please remember everyone that the moderators are unpaid and busy people who take the trouble to read all the posts,it must take hours. It takes me long enough to try and keep up to date and thats skimming over many topics!

 

So thankyou mods and I hope some of these ideas might save you time in the long run!

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