Who is running the forum ?

[Daniel Hatchford]

A few days ago I let it be known that I had recently joined this forum.

Since then I have spent quite some time reading past threads and comments.

I have thus noticed that since Sparky, presumably an employee of this website, has been unable to continue with her duties, the administrator, who I understand is PPToni, has failed to continue with her contributions such as the daily weather reports, Who is coming the next month and several other things that kept this forum alive and interesting.

She even failed to acknowledge my new membership.

I have also noticed that many sections of the website are several years out of date, quoting information and prices that are, to put it politely, misleading.

This a shame, and if things continue as they are, I will, regrettably, unsubscribe from this website.

 

[Disorderly]

I think you’ll find that Sparky was a volunteer, not an employee. The website was updated some time ago and is certainly improved, but you are correct that in Sparky’s absence some things are missing. The next one I expect you to notice is the post informing us of the restaurants and bars open over the winter, always useful for those of us who are lucky enough the visit throughout the year. The Forum had its ‘hayday” 10/15 years ago and is now a bit of a shadow of its former self, sadly due to the passing of many regular stalwarts who regularly amused us with their posts. I say this with apologies to our remaining stalwarts…..you know who you are!

 

[bobley]

Well, we dont get paid to come and write things. We just turn up, talk about stuff we do, ask questions about stuff we haven't done yet....

Give and take. If you need any info about things which haven't been discussed in a while then post on the old threads and maybe we can refresh it. In return we do expect a wee "trip report" after you've been to see us.

We're all sat here on the beach with ice creams and phones in hand ready to share our experiences.

Stalwart eh? I'm barely a Stalverruca... maybe one day I'll be allow the accolade of Stalwart but I think you need to have eaten at Stay more than 5 times and shook the Mayors hand... I did get a polite nod and a smile from Snr March in the street last week... I think its because the bonfire that Ernie and I built outside the town hall last January didn't take the building with it!! ( or maybe maybe he just had a bit of trapped wind).

 

[PPToni]

A few points to clarify from this post:

The forum is a separate entity from the website, though it sits within it.
I own both the website and the forum. The forum has recently been updated and modernised, while the website has not yet been refreshed.

Sparky was never an employee, in fact, nobody is paid for their work on the forum, including me as the owner. It’s completely free to join and free to use.

Historically, Sparky provided the daily weather updates simply because she enjoyed doing it and shared them out of the goodness of her heart. She has her own weather vane on her terrace where she gathered her information.
Not having her doing this (and other things) for the last 2 months has left a big hole and we all miss her.
The weather updates were Sparkys "thing" and if she was ever able to come back and continue then that would be fantastic.

What truly keeps this forum alive and interesting are its members.
We’re lucky to have long-standing contributors who are fountains of knowledge and help answer questions, regular members who share updates on entertainment, restaurants and local events, and others who add humour and personal anecdotes that make the forum such an enjoyable place.
Some people post often, others just dip in when they can - and that’s completely fine.
Everyone is free to contribute as much or as little as they like.

However, to join as a new member and immediately start criticising the look or the way the forum is run is, frankly, not good form.
You’re here by choice - and if this forum isn’t for you, that’s absolutely fine.
But perhaps consider starting positively, joining in the conversation, and helping create new and interesting threads instead.

The forum is just a nice thing.
It's a little community where people who might not use social media (or who want something a little less toxic) can come on and talk about Puerto Pollensa, a place we love.

Toni

 

[Gommar Goffer]

I think you’ll find that Sparky was a volunteer, not an employee. The website was updated some time ago and is certainly improved, but you are correct that in Sparky’s absence some things are missing. The next one I expect you to notice is the post informing us of the restaurants and bars open over the winter, always useful for those of us who are lucky enough the visit throughout the year. The Forum had its ‘hayday” 10/15 years ago and is now a bit of a shadow of its former self, sadly due to the passing of many regular stalwarts who regularly amused us with their posts. I say this with apologies to our remaining stalwarts…..you know who you are!

I think the restaurant list is compiled by Lorenzo, not Sparky.

 

[Carol]

Always found the forum useful over the years. I add a bit as and when. We don’t do any other social media so find this site a ‘happy medium’.

 

[Rockape]

The forum is a separate entity from the website, though it sits within it.
I own both the website and the forum. The forum has recently been updated and modernised, while the website has not yet been refreshed.

Hi Toni...may I ask if you're still planning a website refresh?

 

[Disorderly]

A few points to clarify from this post:

The forum is a separate entity from the website, though it sits within it.
I own both the website and the forum. The forum has recently been updated and modernised, while the website has not yet been refreshed.

Sparky was never an employee, in fact, nobody is paid for their work on the forum, including me as the owner. It’s completely free to join and free to use.

Historically, Sparky provided the daily weather updates simply because she enjoyed doing it and shared them out of the goodness of her heart. She has her own weather vane on her terrace where she gathered her information.
Not having her doing this (and other things) for the last 2 months has left a big hole and we all miss her.
The weather updates were Sparkys "thing" and if she was ever able to come back and continue then that would be fantastic.

What truly keeps this forum alive and interesting are its members.
We’re lucky to have long-standing contributors who are fountains of knowledge and help answer questions, regular members who share updates on entertainment, restaurants and local events, and others who add humour and personal anecdotes that make the forum such an enjoyable place.
Some people post often, others just dip in when they can - and that’s completely fine.
Everyone is free to contribute as much or as little as they like.

However, to join as a new member and immediately start criticising the look or the way the forum is run is, frankly, not good form.
You’re here by choice - and if this forum isn’t for you, that’s absolutely fine.
But perhaps consider starting positively, joining in the conversation, and helping create new and interesting threads instead.

The forum is just a nice thing.
It's a little community where people who might not use social media (or who want something a little less toxic) can come on and talk about Puerto Pollensa, a place we love.

Toni

Surely the whole point of a Forum is to say it how you see it? If a new member, with a fresh pair of eyes, offers an opinion it seems rather unkind to suggest that because they are new to the site, their observations are unwelcome, and then invite them to leave. Come on! If that’s how you react to new members’ opinions I would suggest that some people might be reluctant to participate……and frankly, that’s very sad and I wouldn’t blame them a bit.

 

[PPToni]

Hi Toni...may I ask if you're still planning a website refresh?

Hi Rockape.
Yes we're definitely still going to be updating the website.
All I can say is we'll let you know when it happens.
Thanks

 

[PPToni]

Surely the whole point of a Forum is to say it how you see it? If a new member, with a fresh pair of eyes, offers an opinion it seems rather unkind to suggest that because they are new to the site, their observations are unwelcome, and then invite them to leave. Come on! If that’s how you react to new members’ opinions I would suggest that some people might be reluctant to participate……and frankly, that’s very sad and I wouldn’t blame them a bit.

You’re right, a forum IS for sharing opinions. That’s what keeps things interesting!

That said, there’s a big difference between joining a discussion, offering constructive feedback AND opening with criticism about how things look or are managed.
If somebody comes on with a friendly message, explaining they'd joined, had noticed some details were out of date, asking whats going on etc etc...that would give us the opportunity to explain things.

Nobody has been asked to leave. The point was simply that if something doesn’t suit you, that’s fine, but we’d much rather see new members getting involved positively and helping the community grow.

We'd love to see Daniel add his bit on here. Hearing about his move from Soller and the differences between both places, I'm sure would be very interesting to read.

Fresh perspectives are very welcome, especially when they come with the same friendly spirit that makes this forum what it is.

Toni

 

[Daniel Hatchford]

PPToni,
Disorderly hit the nail on the head. A fresh pair of eyes can make a difference.
I based my opinion on that many members, both new and old, were seemingly tired of being told that the new redesigned forum would shortly be up and running.
This shortly took, from what I can gather, more than two years, many in the meantime being unable to join or log in.
Apart from this, it seems that little to nothing has changed since you took over in 2017.
Maybe old and new members expected more from a new owner/administrator, but were afraid to voice their opinion publicly. As a “newbie” I’m not too worried about things like that. All I would like to see is a modernized site, with uptodate information and maps, and possibly more about Pollensa town and its offerings. Bobley ?
I do have a question though.
If Sparky is unable to return to the site, do you plan to find someone else to fill her role ?
Cheers

 

[Kingsley]

Whilst Daniel’s views were quite harsh, I do think he perhaps has a point.
I have no idea really what ‘owning’ a website entails but I imagine it does come with some responsibility or even obligation to keep information shown up to date?
I was a bit sad to see the comment ‘we’ll let you know when it happens’ regarding when the website was likely to be refreshed. It felt more dismissive than helpful.

 

[PPToni]

Whilst Daniel’s views were quite harsh, I do think he perhaps has a point.
I have no idea really what ‘owning’ a website entails but I imagine it does come with some responsibility or even obligation to keep information shown up to date?
I was a bit sad to see the comment ‘we’ll let you know when it happens’ regarding when the website was likely to be refreshed. It felt more dismissive than helpful.

I'm sorry if my response to Rockape seemed dismissive. That certainly wasn't intended.

I've learnt from previous instances, when I've given reasons for delays or things not happening, that they're often viewed as just excuses and lead to more comments or questions that I don't have the answers to.
Things haven't really changed since we last posted about the problems we've had. So there was nothing further to add, except watch this space basically.

The software the current website uses is now defunct so it's impossible to get in and update anything. It will all be done at the same time, when the new website is launched.

Luckily we have this forum so people can ask questions if they need to.

 

[PollensaRuss]

Since the purchase in 2017 our circumstances changed and I in particular had to focus my attention to things that were unexpected and unplanned.

This had a knock on effect on the forum which I obviously regret, although, given the situation there's nothing that I could really change.

Back in January we managed to migrate the forum to new software and it is now working as it should and it seems to be much better overall.

The forum is free to join, free to use and I believe it's also ad free since the update, so no annoying distractions.

Toni's always here to keep the forum friendly, to manage users and stop annoying spammers and to generally maintain a fairly safe space for people to enjoy at their leisure.

We may continue some of the lovely regular things that Lyn contributed at some point in the future but for now we're just hoping she recovers. We'd hate her to log in at any point and somehow feel replaced so we're very much taking it day by day for now.

We definitely hope the forum community will continue to grow with the new software in place as it is a great space with kind and knowledgeable people who take time to help others and it's always been a fantastic resource that people enjoy.

We're very open to ideas for improvements or new threads or topics that we can implement over time and we'll also try to come up with some other regular things of our own similar to Lyn's weather that we can add to keep the forum interesting.

The main site will definitely be updated and the forum design will be refreshed too and we hope people will like the finished design and functionality when it is ready.

After years of annoying building problems I'm finally getting some of my time back so I'll be able to contribute more to the discussion and hopefully get to know some of you.

Best wishes everyone

Russ