Are we not seeing enough beginners bows?

[willie]

a slowing of using this type of forum versus other social media platforms.

this

It's a shame because they don't know what they are missing. The in depth knowledge and explanations you get on here are so much better than the few lines you get on Facebook, which can be a bit confrontational, with no shortage of trolls and 'armchair experts'.
If I have a question, this is where I come.
Del

you are absolutely correct Del

PA might have just run its course.

run its course as a format. there could be a tranistion of comunnity
it would not be easy

[organic_archer]

The PA forum is dying because people have moved to modern social media platforms and this website is outdated; with owners who refuse to renew the long-neglected security certificate. Few in the age of internet data-mining software enjoy the unease of visiting a site that says “DANGER - Unsafe Connection” every time they log on.

Reddit’s r/bowyer forum is thriving, with dozens of posts per day. Be careful what you wish for, though, because 75% of those posts are beginners flooding the forum with questions that can be solved quickly and with minimal effort by any one of the many bowmaking books, blogs or YouTube videos out there. There’s no shortage of people there who don’t put a single iota of research into the craft before posting, which can make it frustrating to scroll through.

PA has early 2000’s pop up ad spamming now too. Posting pictures is a runaround. You’ll jump through the hoops if you love the forum, but most people won’t. All it needs is an update and it’s not all that difficult to update a website. Hate to see it go the way of dinosaur, but it will if they don’t fix the security warning telling everyone to stay away.

I’m bummed about the current state of PA. Wouldn’t be where I am today without the unrivaled collective knowledge of the bowyers here. I send everyone who asks for resources here, and show them how to do detailed searches. Hope it makes a turnaround, but the outlook is not so good.

Edited to add details.

[Kidder]

It can be intimidating posting on a site like this where many of the members post absolutely stunning bows, and sometimes where the discussion gets extremely technical. But that is also what makes this site great. That and the fact that we virtually never have the trolls dogging on someone about their work, questions, or as is very common on Facebook forums, getting extremely defensive to what was well intentioned (and needed) criticism. Either way, I will always look to PA as both a source of inspiration and information.
It’s also important to remember that there are many many people that set out to make bows who start the journey, make one or two, break one or two, and call it something that they “used” to do. PA is not as easy to find early in the journey as a facebook group, unless someone early on directs you to it. I was fortunate to find PA early on my journey and didn’t have to go too far down the rabbit hole before I found it. And that is probably why I continue the journey.

[Aaron1726]

I'm a beginner, and glad I found PA.  I did a lot of reading here before making my first post.  But just to echo what others have said, when I did post I got great feedback and help with things.  I'll admit it's a little work to post pictures here with the resizing and all, but once you get a system down it's fine.  If anyone out there happens to be reading this who is a new bowyer or just considering giving it a try, I say join, ask, share your stuff and contribute to the wealth of knowledge and experience here.

[WhistlingBadger]

The PA forum is dying because people have moved to modern social media platforms and this website is outdated; with owners who refuse to renew the long-neglected security certificate. Few in the age of internet data-mining software enjoy the unease of visiting a site that says “DANGER - Unsafe Connection” every time they log on.

Reddit’s r/bowyer forum is thriving, with dozens of posts per day. Be careful what you wish for, though, because 75% of those posts are beginners flooding the forum with questions that can be solved quickly and with minimal effort by any one of the many bowmaking books, blogs or YouTube videos out there. There’s no shortage of people there who don’t put a single iota of research into the craft before posting, which can make it frustrating to scroll through.

PA has early 2000’s pop up ad spamming now too. Posting pictures is a runaround. You’ll jump through the hoops if you love the forum, but most people won’t. All it needs is an update and it’s not all that difficult to update a website. Hate to see it go the way of dinosaur, but it will if they don’t fix the security warning telling everyone to stay away.

I’m bummed about the current state of PA. Wouldn’t be where I am today without the unrivaled collective knowledge of the bowyers here. I send everyone who asks for resources here, and show them how to do detailed searches. Hope it makes a turnaround, but the outlook is not so good.

Edited to add details.

I agree.  I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, of course, but I think we'd see a revival if the owners of the site would put a little work into updating the place.  Their choice.  The security issues and the difficulty of posting pictures probably drive a lot of people away, since there are many other options.

[willie]

I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, of course, but I think we'd see a revival if the owners of the site would put a little work into updating the place.  Their choice.  The security issues and the difficulty of posting pictures probably drive a lot of people away, since there are many other options.

The PA community has been geting a bit of a free ride for quite a while. Maintaining a forum is not free or effortless. In addidtion to the volunteer work of the mods, the owners pay for the server and whatever server administration is needed to keep the ball rolling.  The ads generate some revenue, and the users, thus far, have only been asked to support the magazine.  How that all pencils out for the owners is probally indicitive of how much updating and maintence we see. 

Without a new business model for the owners..........we only have to look at Paleoplanet for an example of whats on the horizion.

Typically in situations like this, someone has to step up to the plate. They would need a business model or otherwise have a finacial plan.
And the  time to do the ongoing maintence.

[Selfbowman]

I’m a beginner with hickory. Should I post my current build?🤠

[Bob Barnes]

I’m a beginner with hickory. Should I post my current build?🤠

YES...please...

[Gordon]

Maintaining a forum is not free or effortless. In addidtion to the volunteer work of the mods, the owners pay for the server and whatever server administration is needed to keep the ball rolling.  The ads generate some revenue, and the users, thus far, have only been asked to support the magazine.  How that all pencils out for the owners is probally indicitive of how much updating and maintence we see.

As a retired CIO, I totally appreciate your point. Maintaining and administering the infrastructure necessary to host a public forum like this is not without significant cost, and I doubt that ads alone are covering it. Unless a better business model reveals itself, I don't see a happy ending here.

There is one thing that members can do to help right now. I know that ads are annoying, but for better or worse that is how this site is being financially supported. So, click through an ad whenever you visit this site so that some ad revenue can be generated.

[WhistlingBadger]

The PA community has been geting a bit of a free ride for quite a while. Maintaining a forum is not free or effortless. In addidtion to the volunteer work of the mods, the owners pay for the server and whatever server administration is needed to keep the ball rolling.  The ads generate some revenue, and the users, thus far, have only been asked to support the magazine.  How that all pencils out for the owners is probally indicitive of how much updating and maintence we see. 

Without a new business model for the owners..........we only have to look at Paleoplanet for an example of whats on the horizion.

Typically in situations like this, someone has to step up to the plate. They would need a business model or otherwise have a finacial plan.
And the  time to do the ongoing maintence.

Yeah, you're right.  I hope I didn't sound like I was just griping; it's just the way it is, and I hate to see it happen.  That's all.

[WhistlingBadger]

I’m a beginner with hickory. Should I post my current build?🤠

Heck yeah!  Hickory is a great place to start and we'd love to see it.  I hope to get some pics up of my current bow, as well.  I haven't done any building for over a year, but I have four bows almost ready for backing. 

[willie]

Yeah, you're right.  I hope I didn't sound like I was just griping; it's just the way it is, and I hate to see it happen.  That's all.

WB. just following up on your perspective, nothing directed towards you or your comment.

It is possible that one day, if something goes wrong at the server, PA may simply be gone.  This archive of advice, sharing and pics unaccessable and irretriveable.

I saw this happen at another long running forum when the owner passed. Lucklily, a few had noticed the owner had not been posting and some things were getting out of date. It being a computer oriented site, some members had the expertise to ressurect a replacement once the executor was able to release access. Time sensititve backups and online registrations had to be accessed. It almost didnt happen, as sorting out onlineline accounts and finding backups for an internet forum were probally not very high on the executors list of things to get done.

[mmattockx]

I'll admit it's a little work to post pictures here with the resizing and all

The security issues and the difficulty of posting pictures

Why in 2023 do people still insist on posting pictures directly to a forum? Use a third party hosting site and simply link to the pictures there. No need to resize or anything else and you can share them easily anywhere you want across the interwebz. My biggest gripe with people that use the forum hosting is the pictures are so small as to be worthless. Again, in 2023 we have long since passed the point where a picture that is 200kb is worthwhile. It is simply a big thumbnail these days. My pictures are 5-6mb each, which allows for actual detail viewing and I wish everyone else would do the same. Some of the work posted here is absolutely exquisite and I would really like to be able to see it in large format.

I, too, have noticed the forum slowing down substantially. I think social media is probably the largest reason for that. Forums everywhere are slowly withering and dying as the younger generations move to instagram and others. The sad thing is that forums serve as a repository of technical information that is vastly superior to most of the newer formats.

For myself, I haven't posted a bow in a couple years because I've been busy with building a house, finishing a basement and now building a garage. I will get back to bows once I have all my infrastructure completed. Hopefully this forum is still here for that.


Mark

[WhistlingBadger]

I'll admit it's a little work to post pictures here with the resizing and all

The security issues and the difficulty of posting pictures

Why in 2023 do people still insist on posting pictures directly to a forum? Use a third party hosting site and simply link to the pictures there. No need to resize or anything else and you can share them easily anywhere you want across the interwebz. My biggest gripe with people that use the forum hosting is the pictures are so small as to be worthless. Again, in 2023 we have long since passed the point where a picture that is 200kb is worthwhile. It is simply a big thumbnail these days. My pictures are 5-6mb each, which allows for actual detail viewing and I wish everyone else would do the same. Some of the work posted here is absolutely exquisite and I would really like to be able to see it in large format.

I, too, have noticed the forum slowing down substantially. I think social media is probably the largest reason for that. Forums everywhere are slowly withering and dying as the younger generations move to instagram and others. The sad thing is that forums serve as a repository of technical information that is vastly superior to most of the newer formats.

For myself, I haven't posted a bow in a couple years because I've been busy with building a house, finishing a basement and now building a garage. I will get back to bows once I have all my infrastructure completed. Hopefully this forum is still here for that.


Mark

Instagram et al are great for showing off one's finished work, but forums are so much better for learning the process.  I help out at an aquarium forum, one of the few that is still really active, and the amount of knowledge exchanged is really pretty amazing.  Same thing here.

I also agree that bigger pictures are better.  The issue is that with more updated forums, one can simply post high-quality photos straight to the forum without going through a third party.  It's quicker and easier.  It would be nice to not have to go through the extra step.  I suspect it's a server issue, and since this is a free service, we can't really complain.  I sure hope we can keep it going for a good while yet.

[Gordon]

I suspect it's a server issue, and since this is a free service, we can't really complain.

Yes, bandwidth and storage.