Changing times for UKAPS

[MichaelJ]

At the end of the day, we always try to avoid things that can become negative and make some feel left out, I have always tried to keep UKAPS minimalist in terms of visuals (some forums have badges for everything that then clutter the forum and make it look like kindergarten), I even removed most of the stuff under the avatar next to messages to keep it nice and clean. Sometimes this stuff encourages bad behaviour just to get these awards and badges etc... we just want pleasant and friendly chats and not spammers.

I absolutely agree. We don't want the bounty hunter mentality on UKAPS that you see on some other forums with Awards and things like that, or worse where you become an "Expert" or "Veteran member" because of volume of posts and not necessarily the quality etc. I for one, do not want any of that here either. And I like the nice and clean interface of UKAPS btw. 👍

As for the "donation appreciation badge" mentioned in my post above, that could possibly be something you could put in the popup when you hover over the users avatar - which makes it more subtle. For instance instead of saying "Member" it could be "Donating member" (again, regardless of donation size). Just an idea.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[AlecF]

I just wanted to thank those who made the forum what it is now. It's a truly democratic community where the advice is conflicting, in the best way, but there's also a consensus around always helping the newbie and patiently explaining things. For me it's been a model of non-patronising expertise shared with good humour. Even when the chemistry goes WAY over my head, I enjoy that my hobby brought me back into contact with science, but in a way related to the little ecologies we all care for. I also value the chance to buy great plants. The founders and everyone who allows it to evolve thus far have done a fantastic job.

 

[rdk1402]

I'm actually quite proud of all my badges on another forum, but perhaps I shouldn't for all the bad advice I'm giving to people.

On a serious note, I much prefer the down-to-earth, content first and foremost approach on UKAPS.

Edit: and I wasn't even aware of the donation possibility (and not that I am aware, it is all I see).
I feel obliged as I've been spying on this forum for lord knows how long prior to joining.