BajaNomad

Baja Nomad forum posts/day

geoffff - 12-3-2021 at 10:44 PM

Check out my mad Excel charting skillz!



This shows the daily posting count here on Baja Nomad since this board was reset in August 2002, peaking in 2010.

What's interesting to me is that activity isn't declining anymore, and seems to be stabilizing at just over 50 posts per day.

Of course 40 of those are by DavidK :biggrin:

-- Geoff

BajaNomad - 12-3-2021 at 11:43 PM

:wow: ;) :biggrin:

Lost Roadie - 12-4-2021 at 12:26 AM

Great excel work!

Imagine what it would be if the forum software was actually updated in the last few decades to facilitate posting somewhat modern photo resolutions with dynamic scaling for those on slow connections or 1990’s computers with VGA monitors.
Thumbs up or down options on posts would help avoid the noise as well.
Real mobile device support would be most welcome as would Tapatalk integration.

Even profitable perhaps..

I would subscribe to a modest monthly donation, but I also pay for my own photo and video hosting so nobody has to see ad’s with my content. Nothing in digital life is free.

It would also be interesting to see the graphs of political polarization on this continent over the same time frame.
To see how they correlate with this forums posts which obviously lacks moderation to keep threads on topic and avoid BS political hissy fits too many threads inevitably turn into.
Which in turn directly makes less participation.
Less traffic.
Less revenue.
No money for upgrades.


But hey, I’m glad bajanomads is here, it’s been a valuable resource for a long time for me. Too bad there’s no donation link in the header to remove the one ad. :D



-Finn

JZ - 12-4-2021 at 12:46 AM

Let's go! Get BN rocking again.

I'll never be a FB poster.





[Edited on 12-4-2021 by JZ]

BajaBlanca - 12-4-2021 at 02:42 AM

I think bajanomad has gotten so much better recently! Such an incredible array of topics, lots of info and zero grief.

Santiago - 12-4-2021 at 06:01 AM

Do these include Off Topic postings? Ever since Old Lady got banned:( and BMG passed away:(:( I don't go there. Those two kept me from going full Libtard,je je.

David K - 12-4-2021 at 08:46 AM

The real value of a forum like Nomad, over Facebook, is the ability to catalog data, trip reports, photos, etc. for easy finding.

Facebook posts drop off and get lost forever, it seems. I like reading old posts on Nomad from amigos who are no longer here or past trip reports.

I have used the Albums feature on my Baja Missions Facebook group, to store things, but it isn't as visible to the casual viewer as are the separate forums such as Nomad has.

Ok, so now I need 39 more posts to make geoffff's report accurate! LOL

Oh the thumbs up or down idea is great, as well as the photo posting ease, like Facebook has. Doug, what will it take to keep Nomad going as it is about to turn 20 years old?

BajaTed - 12-4-2021 at 10:24 AM

It looks to me that the process the recent data reflects is between upper and lower control limits if Statistical Process Control (SPC) limits were applied.


JZ - 12-4-2021 at 12:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho  

I have no complaints about photo handling, but some sort of grading system (your "thumbs" idea) so the group could auto-moderate, would be really nice; in my opinion the major problem (drop in number and quality of postings) is due to a small number of toxic posters making the site an unpleasant place.

Doug, I see that XMB is still being maintained; do the later versions address the complaints that occassionally get aired here? (I.e. lack of community-based post grading, mobile platform support, anti-spam mecanisms).

I realize switching forum systems is a major undertaking, but if just upgrading XMB would resolve some of the problems, I for one would be willing to contribute to the cost.


You complain a lot about the posts being made on the board. More so than you actually posting about Baja.

Try to be part of the solution instead of complaining and trying to censor ppl.

Let's see a couple trip reports from you. Or even old stories? Any photos to share?



[Edited on 12-4-2021 by JZ]

TMW - 12-4-2021 at 01:46 PM

I enjoy reading David K's post, go David. Some on here just like to complain and offer nothing positive.

Skipjack Joe - 12-4-2021 at 01:53 PM

TalkBaja took a lot of nomads with it. It would be hard to bring them back now. That group must have a membership of 50,000. If you don't like Facebook that's your choice but you're not going to compete with it.

TMW - 12-4-2021 at 01:53 PM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho  
Quote: Originally posted by Santiago  
Ever since Old Lady got banned:(

Speaking of which, does anybody know why she was banned?

I didn't agree with her politics or social outlook, but was always impressed by her intelligent (!), civil manner of expressing ideas without personally attacking those who disagreed with her.


As I recall Goat or JJJ degraded her constantly calling her unspeakable names and she went to Doug wanting to know who they were and he wouldn't give their names etc. and Doug either banned her or she dropped out. I thought her posts were great. She must have worked in banking because she knew a lot about money and investments etc.

BajaNomad - 12-4-2021 at 09:06 PM

In summary...

- People that communicate they no longer accept the board rules will have their posting privs removed.

- The future vision of the site is to abandon XMB and move to the Wordpress platform to develop a more diverse site that still highlights the forum board. FWIW, XMB support/development/etc is now way too unreliable to invest further effort with over the long-term. I'm making little (nearly no) time-investment effort in enhancing the current software's features - and have extensively followed various forum software options to incorporate into the Wordpress platform. Priorities include fast load times in a mobile-first interface. The forum software option that seems the most realistic at this point is Discourse:
https://www.discourse.org

Other considerations have also been:
https://wpforo.com
https://bbpress.org

- Some of the forum software avoid the block user option due to significant overhead in loading the site, etc. It's desirable, but can only be implemented if it can be supported on the platform.

- The thumbs-up or "like" of a post is also desirable if supported.

- Migrating the database is a HUGE undertaking. I've been making contacts to find someone I trust to work with on this.

- While I'm able to install/manage and work with Wordpress, I've also hired a San Diego based WP developer to help move things along more efficiently and effectively... but for more than just this site.

- Using language as far as profit-incentive is not speaking my language. This site was intended as a service to the community #1. If it makes $, then that's a bonus - and it makes enough (thanks to the long-term sponsors and supporters!!!) to cover the costs of running a dedicated server specifically for the site. A dedicated server is probably no longer necessary due to traffic and the capacity of cloud-hosting these days (and may be implemented at the same time as a site platform migration). It would also be nice to cover the costs necessary for the transformation going forward.

I appreciate everyone's concerns and support. Many good wishes to all! :)




[Edited on 12-5-2021 by BajaNomad]

JZ - 12-5-2021 at 11:28 AM

WordPress has all sorts of templates to start with.

Once you get a site set, it fairly easy to make modifications, even by non-tech ppl. Definitely use a consutant to get the initial release out.



pjpvi - 12-5-2021 at 11:57 AM
Quote:

Some on here just like to complain and offer nothing positive.


FWIW, and I know I am a relative newcomer compared to most if not all of you, this is a major downer about this forum to me. I am one of the very early members of the Sportsmobile Forum and while it has gone through phases over the years, I never experience the amount of negativity and hostility between members that I see here more often than I'd like. I know it is only a few folks but it can make what may start as a great thread into one I simply avoid after a while.

Just my 2 cents worth. Fortunately, the good content does outweigh the negative. I am very appreciative of that and try to contribute when I have something worthwhile to share.

pjpvi - 12-5-2021 at 11:59 AM

... and btw, cool stats Geoff!

surfhat - 12-5-2021 at 02:27 PM

Doug, your efforts at keeping this site going are admirable, especially considering the few who use this forum to further their own misguided political views.

You know who you are. I don't have to be specific. It is all too evident.

These few have degraded this site from what its original mantra of peace, love, and fish tacos had been. Gawd, I still love that rather simplistic viewpoint.

Thank you Doug for putting up with all the bs that some have chosen to inflict upon the rest of us lovers of Baja.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why some continue to choose to express their ignorance based upon who they listen to.

This sites relevance should not be denigrated because of these few who spout their alternate views. Alternate views of reality? There are no legitimate alternate views.

Reality is the real deal.

My appeal to have some of our members leave their political viewpoints elsewhere, will go nowhere.

Do any of us really come here on a daily basis to hear others political stance?

Apparently some do, and it is a shame. I for one, never have. We all have more than enough already in our daily lives.

In my pollyanna world, I hold hopes that our Baja Nomad site can be inoculated against these despoilers of our precious love for Baja.

Peace, love, fish tacos, and whatever it takes to divest this site from certain aspects of our Dsiunitied States of America.

Baja is an escape we can all appreciate. Why is that not enough for some here?











BajaGringo - 12-5-2021 at 04:12 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  

TalkBaja took a lot of nomads with it. It would be hard to bring them back now. That group must have a membership of 50,000. If you don't like Facebook that's your choice but you're not going to compete with it.


Talk Baja just went over 63,000 members and we are currently adding somewhere between 600 to 800 new members each month, after we prune out the spammers and trolls, with spammers the biggest problem today.

Many members here did indeed join Talk Baja on Facebook but most of them were already members of the old Talk Baja forum before Facebook.

The demographics of our group today also reflect what I believe sets us apart from Nomad as the overwhelming majority of our new members are younger (20-45 years old) and who are active in Social Media with over 80% of our members today accessing the group via their phones.

Talk Baja is fairly evenly split between males and females (52% - 48%) and probably half of all of new members joining each month now are Mexicans living down here in Baja - a fact that I believe has contributed to keeping the group vibrant and growing.

Our activity numbers did taper off a bit during the pandemic and we are still trailing where we were in late 2019 but they have begun to climb again, with nearly 1.2 million visits to our group in just the last 60 days.

Why do I share this?

I continue to believe there is a great hunger for a place to discuss topics relating to this peninsula but the numbers don't lie - people are using their phones more and more and and you need to adapt to reach a growing /expanding demographic base.

I do agree with you on the futility of attempting to compete directly with Facebook but also agree with many who argue that it is turning into an out of control monster.

Because of that and a few other issues such as the limited number of tools Facebook gives me to deal with the growing spammers issue, I have spent considerable time over the last year exploring other options. And while I have honed down those options to just a couple and have begun building that new forum that should launch early next year, I also accept one unavoidable reality:

I will have to keep the Facebook Group option alive and running - at least for the near future.
Quote: Originally posted by David K  

The real value of a forum like Nomad, over Facebook, is the ability to catalog data, trip reports, photos, etc. for easy finding.

Facebook posts drop off and get lost forever, it seems. I like reading old posts on Nomad from amigos who are no longer here or past trip reports.


Actually, neither statement is true amigo.

What has made BajaNomad so valuable over time is the sense of community and camaraderie here. There are lots of places online where one can go to find information today but when you add the sense of community and fellowship to the mix, it creates its own chemical bond that helps glue and hold that same community together.

Unfortunately, that glue is old and cracking and the move to a platform that is mobile friendly is long overdue.

Also, it simply is not correct to say that old posts "drop off and get lost forever". That is no more true on Facebook than it is here on Nomad. You simply have to search to find them and while I completely agree with you that the group search tool on Facebook in years past was woeful, it has improved to the point today where it is much easier to find those old posts.



Another point in favor of Facebook is their handling of photos and video. You can upload HD quality images and video and don't have to worry about resizing them and I can still easily access any media that I had uploaded 15 years ago. It doesn't expire or go away due to a hosting provider's change of policy.

Add to that the fact that the vast majority of everybody you have ever met and/or shared common interests with is on Facebook gives the platform an incredible edge.

Yes, some people still proudly wear the "I don't do Facebook" badge but it's like listening to people tell me they don't have a TV in their home.

They are few and far between.

But I will agree with you that Facebook could still improve their internal search engine and group sub-topic handling.
Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  

Alternate views of reality? There are no legitimate alternate views.
Reality is the real deal.


I wholeheartedly agree.

However too many people have succumbed to the idea of redefining the very definitions of reality (on both sides of the political spectrum) and why the US today is so divided.

Neither you or I are going to change that amigo and why I made the decision years ago to completely ban the discussion of politics on Talk Baja as I quickly saw how it only leads to more fighting in the group which in turn, alienates an increasing number of members - from both sides of the political aisle.

A few (ex-members) over time have called me a "N-zi Dictator" for enforcing that policy, but I figure the numbers speak for themselves; our growth has never slowed down.
Quote: Originally posted by BajaNomad  
In summary...
The future vision of the site is to abandon XMB and move to the Wordpress platform to develop a more diverse site that still highlights the forum board.

...The forum software option that seems the most realistic at this point is Discourse:
https://www.discourse.org

Other considerations have also been:
https://wpforo.com
https://bbpress.org


You and I have discussed this offline Doug and you know that I applaud the transition to another platform. I believe that BajaNomad will see a growth spurt and expanded member demographics from such a move.

I looked at Discourse and even spent some time building a basic working model that I could consider for long term development into an option for our members to migrate to but over time I found some limitations that I believed our members would have a problem with so I continued looking.

In addition to wpforo and bbpress, I would suggest you take a look at BuddyPress and if you see something there you like, take a hard look at one extension of that software - BuddyBoss.

That's just my dos centavos and I congratulate you Doug for keeping this up and running for so long and wish you continued success, long into the future amigo...



[Edited on 12-10-2021 by BajaGringo]

David K - 12-5-2021 at 04:44 PM

Thanks Ron... I appreciate the reply and now that I have my own Facebook Baja Group (for historic sites), I know things like the Albums section help preserve content for easy finding, as well.
Happy Holidays to you and your wife!

[Edited on 12-7-2021 by David K]

100X - 12-5-2021 at 05:49 PM

"Talk Baja just went over 63,000 members and we are currently adding somewhere between 600 to 800 new members each month...."

With stocks, I was once told that as soon as everyone gets in, it is a sign that it is time to get out. Sure seems "everyone" is now getting into Baja.

shari - 12-6-2021 at 02:47 PM

Indeed Talk Baja has a whack of members and is very useful for many things but I love Nomads for being able to carry on a conversation with a few folks here that doesnt get lost in dozens or hundreds of responses...call me old fashioned!

Nice to see it holding its own in this ever-changing digital world.
Cheers amigos and thanks Doug for hangin in there.

lewmt - 12-14-2021 at 09:10 AM

Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  
Doug, your efforts at keeping this site going are admirable, especially considering the few who use this forum to further their own misguided political views.

You know who you are. I don't have to be specific. It is all too evident.

These few have degraded this site from what its original mantra of peace, love, and fish tacos had been. Gawd, I still love that rather simplistic viewpoint.

Thank you Doug for putting up with all the bs that some have chosen to inflict upon the rest of us lovers of Baja.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why some continue to choose to express their ignorance based upon who they listen to.

This sites relevance should not be denigrated because of these few who spout their alternate views. Alternate views of reality? There are no legitimate alternate views.

Reality is the real deal.

My appeal to have some of our members leave their political viewpoints elsewhere, will go nowhere.

Do any of us really come here on a daily basis to hear others political stance?

Apparently some do, and it is a shame. I for one, never have. We all have more than enough already in our daily lives.

In my pollyanna world, I hold hopes that our Baja Nomad site can be inoculated against these despoilers of our precious love for Baja.

Peace, love, fish tacos, and whatever it takes to divest this site from certain aspects of our Dsiunitied States of America.




Peace, love, fish tacos, and whatever it takes to divest this site from certain aspects of our Dsiunitied States of America" Funny that you ascribe pollyanna to your attitude....Its incredibly sanctimonious actually.

I really enjoy this site....somewhat enjoy the political banter - even from those I disagree with. Since I absolutely hate everything about facetard - this is my source for Baja info.

David K's maps and travel tips, other's travel info, the trip reports, Blanca's success stories with her students & even the sometimes hostile political banter keep me coming back....just like Baja itself - there's things about it that are incredibly appealing and there's things that make you curse....in the end it's all good!


[Edited on 12-14-2021 by lewmt]

[Edited on 12-14-2021 by lewmt]

norte - 12-14-2021 at 01:48 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaGringo  
Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  

TalkBaja took a lot of nomads with it. It would be hard to bring them back now. That group must have a membership of 50,000. If you don't like Facebook that's your choice but you're not going to compete with it.


Talk Baja just went over 63,000 members and we are currently adding somewhere between 600 to 800 new members each month, after we prune out the spammers and trolls, with spammers the biggest problem today.

Many members here did indeed join Talk Baja on Facebook but most of them were already members of the old Talk Baja forum before Facebook.

The demographics of our group today also reflect what I believe sets us apart from Nomad as the overwhelming majority of our new members are younger (20-45 years old) and who are active in Social Media with over 80% of our members today accessing the group via their phones.

Talk Baja is fairly evenly split between males and females (52% - 48%) and probably half of all of new members joining each month now are Mexicans living down here in Baja - a fact that I believe has contributed to keeping the group vibrant and growing.

Our activity numbers did taper off a bit during the pandemic and we are still trailing where we were in late 2019 but they have begun to climb again, with nearly 1.2 million visits to our group in just the last 60 days.

Why do I share this?

I continue to believe there is a great hunger for a place to discuss topics relating to this peninsula but the numbers don't lie - people are using their phones more and more and and you need to adapt to reach a growing /expanding demographic base.

I do agree with you on the futility of attempting to compete directly with Facebook but also agree with many who argue that it is turning into an out of control monster.

Because of that and a few other issues such as the limited number of tools Facebook gives me to deal with the growing spammers issue, I have spent considerable time over the last year exploring other options. And while I have honed down those options to just a couple and have begun building that new forum that should launch early next year, I also accept one unavoidable reality:

I will have to keep the Facebook Group option alive and running - at least for the near future.
Quote: Originally posted by David K  

The real value of a forum like Nomad, over Facebook, is the ability to catalog data, trip reports, photos, etc. for easy finding.

Facebook posts drop off and get lost forever, it seems. I like reading old posts on Nomad from amigos who are no longer here or past trip reports.


Actually, neither statement is true amigo.

What has made BajaNomad so valuable over time is the sense of community and camaraderie here. There are lots of places online where one can go to find information today but when you add the sense of community and fellowship to the mix, it creates its own chemical bond that helps glue and hold that same community together.

Unfortunately, that glue is old and cracking and the move to a platform that is mobile friendly is long overdue.

Also, it simply is not correct to say that old posts "drop off and get lost forever". That is no more true on Facebook than it is here on Nomad. You simply have to search to find them and while I completely agree with you that the group search tool on Facebook in years past was woeful, it has improved to the point today where it is much easier to find those old posts.



Another point in favor of Facebook is their handling of photos and video. You can upload HD quality images and video and don't have to worry about resizing them and I can still easily access any media that I had uploaded 15 years ago. It doesn't expire or go away due to a hosting provider's change of policy.

Add to that the fact that the vast majority of everybody you have ever met and/or shared common interests with is on Facebook gives the platform an incredible edge.

Yes, some people still proudly wear the "I don't do Facebook" badge but it's like listening to people tell me they don't have a TV in their home.

They are few and far between.

But I will agree with you that Facebook could still improve their internal search engine and group sub-topic handling.
Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  

Alternate views of reality? There are no legitimate alternate views.
Reality is the real deal.


I wholeheartedly agree.

However too many people have succumbed to the idea of redefining the very definitions of reality (on both sides of the political spectrum) and why the US today is so divided.

Neither you or I are going to change that amigo and why I made the decision years ago to completely ban the discussion of politics on Talk Baja as I quickly saw how it only leads to more fighting in the group which in turn, alienates an increasing number of members - from both sides of the political aisle.

A few (ex-members) over time have called me a "N-zi Dictator" for enforcing that policy, but I figure the numbers speak for themselves; our growth has never slowed down.
Quote: Originally posted by BajaNomad  
In summary...
The future vision of the site is to abandon XMB and move to the Wordpress platform to develop a more diverse site that still highlights the forum board.

...The forum software option that seems the most realistic at this point is Discourse:
https://www.discourse.org

Other considerations have also been:
https://wpforo.com
https://bbpress.org


You and I have discussed this offline Doug and you know that I applaud the transition to another platform. I believe that BajaNomad will see a growth spurt and expanded member demographics from such a move.

I looked at Discourse and even spent some time building a basic working model that I could consider for long term development into an option for our members to migrate to but over time I found some limitations that I believed our members would have a problem with so I continued looking.

In addition to wpforo and bbpress, I would suggest you take a look at BuddyPress and if you see something there you like, take a hard look at one extension of that software - BuddyBoss.

That's just my dos centavos and I congratulate you Doug for keeping this up and running for so long and wish you continued success, long into the future amigo...



[Edited on 12-10-2021 by BajaGringo]


Great perspective. You forgot to mention (as some have alluded to here) BN is much more like a club that you must be accepted into. I doubt that will change and outsiders/newbies will be continue to be run off.

Don Pisto - 12-14-2021 at 03:33 PM

so is the FB site Baja Nomad thats just a collection of stunning photo's affiliated with this group?

David K - 12-14-2021 at 04:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Don Pisto  
so is the FB site Baja Nomad thats just a collection of stunning photo's affiliated with this group?


Doug (the host of Baja Nomad) owns that page, too.
Quote: Originally posted by norte  

Great perspective. You forgot to mention (as some have alluded to here) BN is much more like a club that you must be accepted into. I doubt that will change and outsiders/newbies will be continue to be run off.


Wow, that is such a different view, I can't help but comment...
Anyone can come here and all points of view are posted here.

If anything, the lack of moderating has hurt Doug's forums more than any kind of 'group-club rules'.

It has indeed boiled down to a few 'bullies' condemning any "stupid" (to them) questions, chasing away newbies, and a few Baja fanatics who have hung in there that help others.

The Trip Reports forum is perhaps the top value here along with great photos and historical interests for those who want to know more about Baja. The General Baja forum is (or was) a place where new friendships have been made.

No way does one need to do what the few other 'keyboard warriors' here says, to be accepted here.
Know that for every few people who contribute here, there are hundreds of people who only read or rarely post.

"Peace, Love, and Fish Tacos," as Perry used to say!


BajaNomad - 12-15-2021 at 07:25 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  

the lack of moderating has hurt Doug's forums



Some agree with this interpretation, but about an equal amount (of people that do contribute here) feel it's over-moderated.

Just sayin'. ;)

David K - 12-15-2021 at 10:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaNomad  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  

the lack of moderating has hurt Doug's forums



Some agree with this interpretation, but about an equal amount (of people that do contribute here) feel it's over-moderated.

Just sayin'. ;)


Right, as they say, you can't please all the people all the time!
:lol::light: