h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Weeders,

I'm Jonny, one of the ACEs here at h2g2. The ACEs are a volunteer group who go round h2g2 looking for new researchers and greeting them. You can find out more about the ACEs here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/ACEs

If you have any problems or questions about h2g2, or just want a chat, you can talk to me by clicking reply and I'll see it later.

Meanwhile you might like to see the page of links to some of the places of interest at h2g2. I've compiled a list of links here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A599330

Or there's The Post's (our weekly newspaper) page of useful links here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A616718

If you want to know how to do smileys click on this one:

Don't Panic,

Jonny

Hi, Jonny -

Thank you for welcoming me. Sorry I have not replied previously. Until now it hadn't occurred to me to look at my space!

One thing is bothering me. Last week I posted an item of conversation on the topic How to Write Bad Poetry (in which I consider myself to be something of an expert). But nobody has so far replied. The reference is http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A577118, and my item is entitled "Worse Verse".

My worry is that people may have read my thingy and hated it so much that they didn't bother to reply. Is this likely, or is it just that not many people are interested enough in Bad Poetry to visit the site?

Barry Weedon (Weeders)

Hi Weeders - My name is Feisor and I too am an ACE (Assistant Community Editor) at h2g2, (there are lots of us)

In answer to your question - h2g2 is such a big place that sometimes a new thread can go unnoticed One way to get a reaction is to post to an existing thread - that way everyone who has posted in the forum will have it pop up on their page and know that something is happening - If people haven't subscribed to the main page they probably won't know that there IS a new thread.

Is that too confusing?? Let me know if it is and I'll try to clear it up.

Hope that you are enjoying h2g2



Feisor

An example of this: I'm subscribed to so many pages, I didn't notice your reply. It took Feisor's reply for me to notice because it made the thread appear towards the top of the list.
It's always worth reminding people that the threads there to make it pop up to the top of the list.

Jonny

I'm not sure I understand what is meant by 'subscribing' to a page. Is it the same as posting messages? Or does one need to follow a specific procedure.

I post quite a few messages to the Science notice boards such as Science Q&A and Natural World. There the threads are kind-of intertwined, with new subjects coming up all the time. People there seem to reply to most entries on new subjects - regardless of how peculiar. In contrast, since I started a new thread on the How to Write Bad Poetry page two weeks ago, nobody has taken a blind bit of notice. I think that the reason must be, as you suggest, that h2g2 is so big that obscure topics just don't get looked at.

I'll follow your suggestion and try posting to an existing thread, hoping to stir things up.

Thanks for your help and encouragement.

Subscribing to a page means that you want to be notified of new conversations about the entry.
For example, if you go to the Science Q&A page you can click the link at the bottom of the page which says "Click here to be notified of new conversations about this entry".
This means that whenever somebody starts a new conversation at this page, you'll get a link to it appearing on your personal space.
It's quite useful unless you subscribe to too many, like me and you can never find what you're looking for!

Jonny

Been there ... know that feeling

so I might add that if you check a thread and find that it really doesn't interest you, you can "unsubscribe" to the conversation but still be subscribed to the page.

Many thanks to Jonny and Feisor. Despite using the Net for years I hadn't found out those simple but useful facts!

Furthermore, as Feisor is Muse of Limericks and Pointless Doggerel, (both subjects dear to my heart) I feel I ought to show my special appreciation.

Just in case you haven't encountered the Blank Verse Limerick previously, here is the one I put into the posting on How to Write Bad Poetry (the one that nobody reads) as an illustration of that art form:

There was a young maiden of Deal
Who never could learn to say No,
And her partner was not
A responsible type,
So now she's an unmarried mum.

Yes, I think "Bad poetry" is probably the right forum