BTW, how come nobody posts on here, or joins in discussions? This list
and so many other tea lists seem almost lifeless. It's much more fun
on Sanzui. Lots of posts everyday, and better set-up. We should have a
better, more powerful forum than one like this. This posting method is
ancient.

On 2009-12-14, niisonge > wrote:

> BTW, how come nobody posts on here, or joins in discussions? This list
> and so many other tea lists seem almost lifeless. It's much more fun
> on Sanzui. Lots of posts everyday, and better set-up. We should have a
> better, more powerful forum than one like this. This posting method is
> ancient.

Hey Warren! Good to see you still posting here.

Keep in mind that Google Groups is just one way to access USENET. For
better or worse, USENET isn't that popular today -- it's not just this
newsgroup that's suffering a loss of activity. Like it or not, a lot of
folks who used to post here have moved on to other places. And while
there are some great people left here, there are also some slightly....
well let's just say "eccentric" folks, some of whom post quite a lot.

One advantage of USENET is that no one (whether a company or individual)
owns it, and the information is likely to be preserved for quite a long
time. Since a newsgroup is not a forum, I don't know if it's fair to say
that we should have a "better, more powerful forum" - newsgroups are a
little closer to email than to a web-based forum by nature, and that's
not going to change. Anyway, to me, it's the community more than the
interface itself, that really matters.

I think a lot of the traffic that used to be here has moved to forums
like Teachat. While there are some disadvantages to supporting a site
run by a tea vendor (especially one who attracts some pretty clueless
customers), I do find that there's a little more action over there. Of
course there is also a lot of noise.

Shameless (but, I think, relevant) self-promotion -- I have started my
own forum, mostly focused on Chinese and (to a lesser extent so far),
Japanese tea, which is still growing and building critical mass
(slowly). I've posted about it on this group in the past, and my
signature has details. You are welcome to join / post information,
questions, photos, etc. The site isn't the nicest looking thing, and
could use a face lift, but comments and suggestions for improvements are
welcome in the relevant sections of the forum. What it really needs is
more users and more active discussions.

It's a little unfair to compare any of these communities to Sanzui,
Tea4u, Potsart or any of the other Chinese language tea / teaware forums
simply because I think there is still quite a bit more knowledge and
interest in tea in Chinese language communities (though I am seeing more
participation in English language tea communities from ethnic Chinese
who live in Malaysia and other SE Asian countries). The reason those
communities are so active is because they have a lot of members, not
because they have a nice forum interface.

--
Multi-lingual forum for Chinese and Japanese tea and teawa
http://teadrunk.org/

Will, I just signed up. I agree, it could use a facelift. It's not as
easy to use as Sanzui. And I agree, there should be more users. Maybe
that will improve as time goes on. Let's hope for the best.



> Shameless (but, I think, relevant) self-promotion -- I have started my
> own forum, mostly focused on Chinese and (to a lesser extent so far),
> Japanese tea, which is still growing and building critical mass
> (slowly). I've posted about it on this group in the past, and my
> signature has details. You are welcome to join / post information,
> questions, photos, etc. The site isn't the nicest looking thing, and
> could use a face lift, but comments and suggestions for improvements are
> welcome in the relevant sections of the forum. What it really needs is
> more users and more active discussions.

niisonge > writes:

>
> > Shameless (but, I think, relevant) self-promotion -- I have started my
> > own forum, mostly focused on Chinese and (to a lesser extent so far),
> > Japanese tea, which is still growing and building critical mass
> > (slowly). I've posted about it on this group in the past, and my
> > signature has details. You are welcome to join / post information,
> > questions, photos, etc. The site isn't the nicest looking thing, and
> > could use a face lift, but comments and suggestions for improvements are
> > welcome in the relevant sections of the forum. What it really needs is
> > more users and more active discussions.
>
> Will, I just signed up. I agree, it could use a facelift. It's not as
> easy to use as Sanzui. And I agree, there should be more users. Maybe
> that will improve as time goes on. Let's hope for the best.

I completely agree with Will's point that the trouble with all English
language tea venues on the Net is simply that there aren't enough
people writing for them. Every other issue is minor compared to this.

But speaking of minor issues, Will, any chance of RSS for teadrunk?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On 2009-12-15, Lewis Perin > wrote:
>
> But speaking of minor issues, Will, any chance of RSS for teadrunk?

I believe PunBB already has builtin support for it.
[new topics]
http://teadrunk.org/extern.php?action=new&type=rss
[recently active topics]
http://teadrunk.org/extern.php?action=active&type=rss

--
Multi-lingual forum for Chinese and Japanese tea and teawa
http://teadrunk.org/

Will Yardley > writes:

> On 2009-12-15, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> >
> > But speaking of minor issues, Will, any chance of RSS for teadrunk?
>
> I believe PunBB already has builtin support for it.
> [new topics]
> http://teadrunk.org/extern.php?action=new&type=rss
> [recently active topics]
> http://teadrunk.org/extern.php?action=active&type=rss

Thanks. I don't believe those URLs are accessible from the site
itself, though, are they?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> I completely agree with Will's point that the trouble with all English
> language tea venues on the Net is simply that there aren't enough
> people writing for them. *Every other issue is minor compared to this.

Yes, that's the problem, not enough people, and every forum is getting
somewhat diluted too, so many of them. People also seem to blog more
to their own tea blogs than post on forums.

Maybe in the future, we could have a specially designed tea site that
incorporates blogging, tea forums, photo albums, and a profile page
like Facebook - but only for tea people; and an IM feature; and other
features.

Like I said, Sanzui is quite good now, but they are using off the
shelf software designed by a Chinese company to run the site. I like
it. Very user friendly, and I already have 45 tea friends on my list.
They're adding a chat feature soon too, which means I can chat with my
buddies on there, instead of just sending a shout out. Well, that's on
the Sanzui Cun page, which is separate from the regular forum page.
The forum page is still pretty much as it was before.

One difference with Sanzui though is that many tea professionals use
the site. Tea shop owners, tea factories, everyone in the tea industry
is represented on there. And they use it because it's also part of
their job. Then there are also many tea enthusiasts too.

It's too bad there's nothing on the English web like that - yet.

Google wont let me spruce up RFDT with imbedded HTML like IMG and
QUOTE because there is the USENET Newsreader legacy. The best I can
do is HTTP links. Ive been putzing around on Sanzui. You need an
Account. The Forum makes you pigeon hole your thread in six
categories. I didnt see any appropriate place for a question on Nano
tea technology. It seems more like a social network site based on
tea. Lots of bells and whistles with glitz and glamor. But its like
going to Las Vegas. Been in one casino been in them all ie video
poker is video poker etc. My wife got lost once in one and the
security guards had to go find her. You can get lost in Sanzui. My
biggest quarrel is the 'new' posts. Theyre are only good for 24
hours. So if there is a break in the activity the thread rolls off.
So if I reply today and nobody replies tomorrow the thread essentially
disappears. It wouldnt be too bad if thread activity was identified
by last post. Any date on the thread is when created. Im not a big
fan of a vendor telling me their tea is better than the another guy.
Duh. That does add to the noise in the form of 'new' threads.
Besides the artificial categories, vendor salespitches and threads
that are more than a day old it is a tea posters dream. Its enough to
make me break out my bad Chinese grammar.

Jim

PS One last picadillo. There is a search function in the lower right
by subject,content,author. No matter what I put in using Chinese
characters it essentially says 'not found'. I can backdoor the site
using Google which gives me subject,content but not author. Im
chasing more information on ËïÒå˳ Áù°² SunYiShun Luan. Im not finding
anymore than what I already know.

On Dec 15, 7:40 pm, niisonge > wrote:
> > I completely agree with Will's point that the trouble with all English
> > language tea venues on the Net is simply that there aren't enough
> > people writing for them. Every other issue is minor compared to this.
>
> Yes, that's the problem, not enough people, and every forum is getting
> somewhat diluted too, so many of them. People also seem to blog more
> to their own tea blogs than post on forums.
>
> Maybe in the future, we could have a specially designed tea site that
> incorporates blogging, tea forums, photo albums, and a profile page
> like Facebook - but only for tea people; and an IM feature; and other
> features.
>
> Like I said, Sanzui is quite good now, but they are using off the
> shelf software designed by a Chinese company to run the site. I like
> it. Very user friendly, and I already have 45 tea friends on my list.
> They're adding a chat feature soon too, which means I can chat with my
> buddies on there, instead of just sending a shout out. Well, that's on
> the Sanzui Cun page, which is separate from the regular forum page.
> The forum page is still pretty much as it was before.
>
> One difference with Sanzui though is that many tea professionals use
> the site. Tea shop owners, tea factories, everyone in the tea industry
> is represented on there. And they use it because it's also part of
> their job. Then there are also many tea enthusiasts too.
>
> It's too bad there's nothing on the English web like that - yet.

> Google wont let me spruce up RFDT with imbedded HTML like IMG and
> QUOTE because there is the USENET Newsreader legacy. *The best I can
> do is HTTP links. *
That's my point, it has its limitations.

>Ive been putzing around on Sanzui. *You need an
> Account. *The Forum makes you pigeon hole your thread in six
> categories. *I didnt see any appropriate place for a question on Nano
> tea technology. *It seems more like a social network site based on
> tea. *Lots of bells and whistles with glitz and glamor. *

That's right, you actually have to sign up for an account before you
can post a thread or post a reply. But here's the catch: if you're a
newbie posting isn't allowed initially. And believe me, all that glitz
and glamor is useful on Sanzui.


> biggest quarrel is the 'new' posts. *Theyre are only good for 24
> hours. *So if there is a break in the activity the thread rolls off.

Well, a lot of people post or reply to a thread, so that's why things
get switched around. Depends on number of new posts and new replies
to older threads. And also the forum. The Chamagudao forum for Puer is
by far the most active. Other categories post less, but still there is
heavy traffic. Depends on the type of post. Someone posted a series of
pics of a pretty woman brewing tea in a kitchen. That post got a lot
of attention and replies to be sure.

> Besides the artificial categories, vendor salespitches and threads
> that are more than a day old it is a tea posters dream. *

I don't really see any sales pitches on there. People are pretty good
about that. China is a big contry anyway, there are plenty of
customers. No need to go to a forum like Sanzui and make sales
pitches. Lots of banner ads though to bring in revenue on the main
page. Mostly people are there to share their experiences in quality
differences and demonstrate why. That's why imbedded photos are so
useful. And it's what makes the site so useful. People can share their
experiences with their own photos. Or ask for expert opinion.

There was a question asking "If you tea experts have such a low
opinion of Dayi and Xiaguan puer teas as demonstrated in so many
posts, then please point out to us exactly which puer brands/companies
are better. I'm always drinking Dayi and Xiaguan; that means I'm
drinking garbage tea!" No concrete response though. People just said
Dayi and Xiaguan are ok.

> PS *One last picadillo. *There is a search function in the lower right
> by subject,content,author. *No matter what I put in using Chinese
> characters it essentially says 'not found'. *

Yeah, the search function is disabled for newbies. Sanzui is a site
based on hierarchy. The lower you are, the less options you can do.
And the way to increase your rank on the tea totem pole, so to speak,
is to post a lot and post often. Or at least reply to other posts. But
putting in just a smiley or 1 word won't do. You get punished for that
by the Sanzui cops; take away some of your points. That's just their
etiquette on there.

So basically, the people that have been on the longest and posted the
most get all the bells and whistles.