oes-l...fort knox?
 i have tried several times to log in there, yada yada, i see posts on here about how great it is and yet i may never know...how the heck do you get on there. i followed the link, given passwords, e-mail addresses, full name, rights to my first born...hope it's worth it if i can ever get in!!!!! any help would be appreciated. bridy & matie |
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So It wasn't just me!! I thought it was because I was a stupid Brit and was missing some salient point! Let me tell you the secret - you need to log on and register, and then it's ALL DONE BY EMAIL (I didn't get this at first) - now I getting over 50 mails a day!!!! So the secret is......register, then follow the instructions on the email(s) you receive - It's NOT a web-based forum!!! |
| Well, I never said that the OES-L was the most user friendly or modern forum, just that they have a very large and active community.
The OES-L sees forum.oes.org as some sort of a competitive threat to their email list, saying that forum.oes.org is "dilutive" to OES-L, while I see the two as being quite complimentary, as well as serving two very different audiences. OES-L has banned mention of both www.oes.org and forum.oes.org on the OES-L, while I am thrilled to recommend people to the OES-L. I believe that the OES-L is perfect for people who want in depth and detailed and continuous information about sheepdogs, while this forum is perfect for people searching the web for immediate help and information about their dogs. As this forum accumulates more information, more people are able to find quality Sheepdog information immediately. Anyway, that's MY vision. I wonder what other members think...? Is OES-L right? Should I shut down this forum to protect them? Is OES-L's email approach better? Is this forum's approach superior? Does any of this matter? |
it's working...i'm a natural blonde you know! anyway, i like it, lots of good info. sorry for the vent but when you're having a dizzy moment and cranky at the same time like i was...well, you know  thanks again, bridy |
It's to bad they've "banned" the mention of oes.org from the list. It was my understanding that we are ALL in this for the love of sheepies... 
You are correct in saying it is not the most user friendly site! I have to applaude you Ron for coming up with a public forum for sheepie & sheepie wantabe lovers. This site is MUCH easier to use and a very friendly place to discuss those wonderful dogs that own us  The word has obviously gotten out- I think the membership has grown every time I log in!
Again Kudo's to you, Ron- This site ROCKS Thank You! Brent, Cindy, and the monsters |
| Ron,
I agree wholeheartedly with Gracie Girl - I think it's a huge shame that all the members of OES-L don't use your site - As Gracie said, it's far more user friendly, easier to access and, not least of all has a graphical quality not only easy on the eye, but allowing us to share piccies of our beautiful pets. I'm not knocking the List though, in any way. I heard about it (through you! they should be applauding you) and have been using it daily ever since. My problem is that i have approx 60 emails to go through every day, and it clogs up my hotmail account. So, as Gracie said Kudos to you good buddy! |
| Well, I guess I need to offer my .02 here. I have been a member of OES-L for years, as have Ron and Kevin. The format is the "listserver" style, where every posting goes to every member who subscribes to the list, tho users can "filter" the postings to just those topics that interest them. One of THE most valuable aspects of OES-L, in my opinion, is the archives where users can search for a specific topic, subject, medical term, etc. Since OES-L has existed for years and has hundreds of members and tens of thousands of postings, the archive has a rich body of useful information.
In fact, there is another competing OES forum on Yahoo, called sheepie@yahoogroups.com. You have to apply and be accepted to join that forum. That sheepie forum has a large number of members who are long-time sheepdog breeders and folks who do conformation, obedience and other shows. What's the problem with having all three (and probably more) co-exist? Well if you are a fairly interested and conscientious OES owner as I am, trying to keep up with the huge volume of information on all 3 sources is impossible. Sometimes there are important alerts that are only one one of the sources (e.g., the "mad cow" warning about specific dog food brands). Further, I occasionally have something useful to say based on raising rescued sheepies for the last 25 years, but I really can't participate in multiple forum. What do I wish? I wish that the owner/managers of oes.org, oes-l and sheepie, would have a discussion with each other to clarify how to best serve the OES owning community. What I would find EXTREMELY useful would be an online survey issued to members/participants of all threee groups, to see what they find useful, helpful, or troublesome. I don't think the "politics" of the current situation is particulaly helpful. If Ron and Kevin are interested, I will tell you what my personal preference would be. I was an Information Technology Director for over 20 years, and I am aware of the fact that the "listserver" technology is very different from a "bulletin board" or "forum". There are members of each of these 3 groups who do not understand the difference in the way each operates. Well, that's my not so humble opinion and wish list. Thanks for asking. P.S. I'd be happy to post my note to OES-L.... |
| I certainly value your opinion, and it is always welcome here, Fritzi.
Let me rattle off a few benefits of this format versus the email list format, and the differences between forum.oes.org and OES-L: This forum allows for anonymity. To ask a question anonymously here, just go ahead and ask as a guest: Your identity is not divulged. To ask a question there, you must first be validated by OES-L. This forum is searchable through google. Anyone with an immediate need for info can find it on the web. [Try it: Using Google.com, search for, for example "oes epilipsy" (intentional misspelling, actually this is the most popular query used to reach the site from a search engine!) or "allergic to my sheepie" or my own "when is enough enough for my sheepie"] In order to search the OES-L archives, you must join the List. At OES-L, all posts are subject to approval, and all posters are subject to censure there. For instance, my "right" to post anything there without approval of the list administrator was removed, because of the aforementioned politics. She did not want me to "advertise" this forum on her list. This site and OES-L serve two very different audiences. I traded emails with the OES-L list owner, offered to help in setting up a similar site to this forum under the auspices of OES-L. She was, frankly, extremely condescending towards me (which I won't repeat), and had no interest in discussion of the matter. Quote: I can't read your mind about setting up your forum although I note in your post (unapproved) of yesterday that you don't feel you are competition. What I will tell you is that from my perspective, irregardless of what your intention, "parallel" or "competing" forums dealing with virtually identical topics do nothing except dilute the discussion on both forums. This opinion comes from, among other places, decades in the computer industry plus seven years online, belonging to 25+ mailing lists at any given time, comments from members of OES-L, and extensive discussion with students in Internet classes (which I used to teach) about their surfing habits. In the past, I have allowed postings about lists that deal with OES in different ways... [name redacted -Ron] list for breeding and show dogs is an example. You may consider your forum different (which it is in format) but I can't see any substantial difference in the type of discussion it is set up to handle. Therefore, I feel my responsibility to the over 700 members of OES-L is to reject postings about anything that I think in the long run will dilute the List. My response to her concluded, in part: Quote: The point of all of this is that the OES-L and forum.oes.org are VERY different beasts, not just in format, but also in style, rules and audience. I'm very sorry that you feel this will in some way dilute OES-L, as that is not my intention, and I disagree with that premise anyway.
Maybe there is a way that these two types of communication can cooperate? Have you considered adding a forum or even running a forum vs. running the list? I would be glad in offering any assistance if you would like to explore those avenues, or any other. The email to which she referred ("unapproved") was dated 1/29/2002. There had been a discussion on the OES-L about the forum, but my side of the discussion was not allowed. It is excerpted here: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=273 So, as long as you are a member of OES-L, you can have an "undiluted" discussion about sheepies. People who need to search the web for an answer about why their dog is biting, why they are allergic to their dogs (and what the solution was) or need help in getting over making a difficult decision, people who don't like getting 50 emails a day, or whatever, well, they can all just go hang. According to her. So for right now, I guess that we'll just have to let everyone have their own opinion... including me. |
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