Suggested Topic sections.

[Greenbare Woods]

Hi Karla,

I don't know what to call the division of the forum.  This forum calls each new post a "Topic" and the Free Range Naturism is a "Forum"    What is "Suggestions" called?   What I'm suggesting is a couple of super Topics on the level of "Suggestions" or "Rules" higher than the "topics" in each section.

On the old SNS there was a section called "Themed Photos."  It was very popular.  It was a place where someone could start a "Topic" for something like "Water" or "Trees" or "Tunnels & Bridges" etc.  Naked ramblers would take photos of themselves by a large interesting tree and post it in the Topic "Trees."   There was "A Man and his Vehicle" where the guys could post photos of their cars.  Once the category existed the members invented a lot of category Topics for Themed Photos.

Another sectional Topic that is needed is "Technical Support" where users can post questions about passwords, how to post photos, etc.   

I agree with someone else's comment that this forum needs a "Testing and Trash" section too.  That helps to keep the regular sections clean because people can test post on the Testing and Trash board.

We can start Topics but only the Admins can start new Sections.   Thank you for your consideration.

[Karla]

Sure yeah, lots of good suggestions there. I learnt from experience not to rush in and start loads of new boards (or sections or whatever you want to call them) until there was a call for it or a clear need. It means that the members end up having some input in how the forum is shaped and that helps create a sense of community.

Some naturist forums have galleries which can be quite popular but often people post picture there thinking it's a private space when it isn't. If we stuck with threads (or topics) and people can post them as they desire then people know from the outset that whatever you post will be public. We can have different threads such as trip reports, skinny dipping, hiking, extreme sports etc. That way it can inspire other people to do their own activities and to report back. I can see that working quite well!

[nuduke]

We can have different threads such as trip reports, skinny dipping, hiking, extreme sports etc. That way it can inspire other people to do their own activities and to report back. I can see that working quite well!

Hi Karla,

Taking up Bob's suggestion and your generally positive response, I have a suggestion to build on that too:

You will by now have realised that you & Stuart have given a safe haven to a ragged bunch of secret naturist shipmates washed up on your shores after the wreck and sinking without trace of our beloved and many years old bark, the good ship The Secret Naturist Society.  For your generous harbour we are very grateful.  I think jbeegoode2004 (jbee) may be hatching a plot to create a new forum that we can use as a self contained, self motivated group and stop cluttering up your beautiful site with our inchoate ramblings. But until then your proffered place of safety is one that is looking like the one we shall thankfully use at the moment.

By now you may also have discovered that we are a kind, polite, open minded, intelligent and articulate bunch of mainly middle aged and older men (and in last tally of active members on TSNS: 1 woman) that share the joy of being naked in nature and to do this have to resort to being cautious, solitary and isolated in normal areas of countryside, rather than being devotees of social naturism.  You and Stuart must know lots about that from your isolated hiking, Munro climbing and swimming.

Our TSNS correspondence has flowered and faded, blossomed and wilted, burgeoned and waned over 8 years in my case and very much longer for the whole site.  We talk a lot together and the threads, posts and topics that arise are many and various with several such as Weather, How was your month for SN, Spouse progress update, Benches and Styles and several others running to in the region of 20 pages with threads of discussion being sometimes focused, often full of digressions and 'topic drift', but always conducted with camaraderie and courtesy of the highest order.  It's a pity neither you not Stuart ever joined us.

My suggestion is, that with all that going on and whilst we are your cyber lodgers (so to speak! ), perhaps a main section of your forum ought to be for TSNS transactions.  Not private or exclusive, just gathered together in an area of the FRN forum where we can avoid cluttering the FRN discussions and create the sort of topics and threads that we are used to which, from being under the one heading, can be branched inside that area into other topics such as Bob suggests.  I suggest Secret Naturism would be the ideal section title.  What are your views on that suggestion? 

Also:  We have been privileged on TSNS to be able to post pictures, unhindered by data restrictions of many adventures, often in spectacular country and beautiful places.  What is your capacity to receive pictures?  I am assuming that you have not purchased a huge amount of data space with your hosting package so we need to be careful.... but are we allowed to post some photos?

Kind regards

John

[jbeegoode]

We can have different threads such as trip reports, skinny dipping, hiking, extreme sports etc. That way it can inspire other people to do their own activities and to report back. I can see that working quite well!

Hi Karla,

Taking up Bob's suggestion and your generally positive response, I have a suggestion to build on that too:

  ....I think jbeegoode2004 (jbee) may be hatching a plot to create a new forum that we can use as a self contained, self motivated group and stop cluttering up your beautiful site with our inchoate ramblings. But until then your proffered place of safety is one that is looking like the one we shall thankfully use at the moment.

Our TSNS correspondence has flowered and faded, blossomed and wilted, burgeoned and waned over 8 years in my case and very much longer for the whole site...(and in last tally of active members on TSNS: 1 woman)...

...Also:  We have been privileged on TSNS to be able to post pictures, unhindered by data restrictions of many adventures, often in spectacular country and beautiful places.  What is your capacity to receive pictures?  I am assuming that you have not purchased a huge amount of data space with your hosting package so we need to be careful.... but are we allowed to post some photos?

Kind regards

John

Cough, cough, uh excuse me, but that would be TWO women, DF and Kayaker, whose input is sporadic but…well, they’re there and important endearing crew members, not just one. then we don't know which one that you forgot.

I have been fiddling around with the beginning of my own website/blog for a couple of months and thinking about its nature for longer, but not a forum. There are providers of templates that can be figured out by even novices like me. I had settled on one, but now, I have to go back and read the fine print after this “adult” shocker. My intention has been to only to have a site where I can promote free range naturism, by posting our adventures. Between a new one at least each month and reposting old ones, after a spruce up, of our old trips/hikes/excursions, I can post one each week for the next two years. I figured that I have enough writings that I can also, educate and rant a bit for newcomers to naturism as an aside. That is all, and very manageable for my time, especially when I enjoy participation in forums and blogs, sitting around the ‘ol potbellied stove, bare feet kicked up at the general store with my friends, too. I had planned to have links to forums, this one included, so as to not to detract from them, or TSNS and do discussion and banter there.

However, things have changed. I had been having thoughts to having select others contribute, adding to our mostly southwestern USA habitat. It would give them a chance to share and I would lay it out in a nice format.

Again…However, things have changed. Here we are with a great forum that will change and adopt with need. It is run by someone who has a sense of “community,” seemingly a tendency to be more the facilitator and very flexible, ready to bend to a collective vision, granting a sense of ownership to the members (sound familiar). This is the makings of a treasure trove like TSNS.

 There is a need for pic posting. It certainly flavors the communication and brings life to the imaginations of the far reaching corners of the earth and this site falls short. What to do? I really like it here, but for that. How does one create a paste place to place pics (Cripe, NOW, he’s doing alliterations!) and link it to the text here? I don’t know. I’m a novice. I don’t even know how to run, or set up a forum. I am getting the hang of a simple blog, but that’s just my baby and meant to be a satellite and this group needs something that reflects what it is, a community in common support of a passion. Look at JMF’s site, then remember TSNS and look at FRN and that’s close to the realms of which I’m talking about. Is there something out of that box? Could this format be expanded for a price to have better pic posting abilities with the members contributing to make that happen?

Ideas?

One more thing. TSNS would have been 15 years old on July 8th of this year, B-day just a week away. Can Stuart and Karla picture themselves still as guardians of the tribal sacred texts in 15 or more years? We would need to ask for quite a commitment. Would they rather someone else take such responsibility? Contributions could be made, shared moderating and storage, if not.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

We can have different threads such as trip reports, skinny dipping, hiking, extreme sports etc. That way it can inspire other people to do their own activities and to report back. I can see that working quite well!

Hi Karla,

Taking up Bob's suggestion and your generally positive response, I have a suggestion to build on that too:...

...My suggestion is, that with all that going on and whilst we are your cyber lodgers (so to speak! ), perhaps a main section of your forum ought to be for TSNS transactions.  Not private or exclusive, just gathered together in an area of the FRN forum where we can avoid cluttering the FRN discussions and create the sort of topics and threads that we are used to which, from being under the one heading, can be branched inside that area into other topics such as Bob suggests.  I suggest Secret Naturism would be the ideal section title.  What are your views on that suggestion? 

Kind regards

John

Secret naturism is under the umbrella of freerange naturism. If this site is complete then it would of course encompass SN. TSNS has always had a free range aspect. There are many grey areas where ven diagrams would best explain. TSNS hasn’t been exclusive and the site would be better to be inclusive. Things like spouse problem updates, “Dear SN” advice, or hiding from neighbors, avoiding  any problematic situation where ones fun naturism might be disturbed, or carnuding, doing things under the noses of others all are SN, but allow for a free range. Creating a site within a site, making and defining delineations sounds more confusing to me than the confusion of mixing these things up.
Jbee

[eyesup]

I could certainly provide a list of some of the topics we had on TSNS. By no means is it a comprehensive one.

When I would travel for an extended period, after returning I would log on to the forum and if there were a significant number of posts, I would do a screen capture, save it as a list and take a leisurely time responding to them.

That way I didn't have to remember which ones popped up while I was gone. I was looking through my directory of old posts and ran across a couple of those files. I listed about 55 different topics in the General, Secret Naturist and Themed Photos sections.

Some would certainly remind us of old posts we might still have around gathering electrons.

I've cleaned up the files and made a list if anyone is interested.

Duane

[jbeegoode]

I'd enjoy that list. It must be clear though, that it took 15 years to slowly accumulate all of those topics. All at once would be overwhelming.
Jbee

[Karla]

You're welcome to stay for as long as you like, or to go off and start another forum if you think you have particular needs that can't be met here. A discussion forum is shaped by its members more than anything else. Don't feel that there is a danger of out staying your welcome, the forum would be dead otherwise. We started it as an alternative to a guest-book and on the off chance that something might develop. But I never intended putting in the work to build up a community, not after all the effort I put in for my sustainability forum. So if an existing community wanders in looking for a new home and wants to use the space as they see fit then I'm perfectly happy with that. It's been a delight to provide a home for you all and I am glad to have been able to help out.

Obviously there's still a sense of grief from the loss of The Secret Naturist Society and I'm not sure what boards that place had. But I can set up a private area for you all to chat in if you want. I had that in my last forum. You needed 50 posts to gain access to it. I don't want to spend extra money hosting the site myself though which is the only reason why I would prefer people linked to pictures on image hosting websites. Otherwise it's up to you what you want to do with this space.

[Karla]

OK leading on from my previous post I just checked the forum settings and there's a limit on the amount of attachments that can be uploaded. This is about 10 megabytes.

It then occurred to me that people don't actually need to upload to FRN. Dropbox can be used to share files. So if anybody has a Dropbox account then you can share a folder and upload your pictures to that. This gives you a link which you can paste in here. It will be far more permanent than uploading it to a free image hosting site or fighting over the spare capacity of the FRN server and you always have the image available to you.

I am sure that Google's and Microsoft's version of Dropbox has the same feature.

[eyesup]

I'd enjoy that list.

I started to PM this to Jbee but as I scrolled through them, decided to post them instead.

Jbee,

I found these listed in 2 separate files from when we were traveling on extended trips. They're recent as I never kept the others, not imagining I would have any need for them. These cover a smattering of posts over the last 10 months.

Theme Photos  ( all of those had great pictures ) all gone - We could all add to this list.
        Bridges
        Trees
        Arizona Highways
        Water
        Shadows

General
        Another book about nudity
        Benefits of barefoot walking
        Boat Trip 2013
        End of CO days at Abbey House?  ( an update from the locals? )
        Go Kansas!!
        Good advice
        Menorca holiday  ( seen here recently )
        Mid week update
        My 2014 French Holiday Trip
        My Canal Boating  ( JOhn's trip reports were always fun )
        Naked Munroes update  (yes! As compadres we were tracking you guys )
        Naked in Kansas
        Nude for Fifty Years!  ( odd story from Indonesia )
        Nudity Is Healthy for Brains and Bodies
        One goes down and forty rise to take her place!
        Radonnues  (jmf's updates)
        SOC walks programme 2014
        Smooth Operator
        The BEER subject again  ( oh yes the other one being "This is the BEER thread" )
        The naked city
        Weather
        What does this make me?  ( interesting discussion on this one )
        Winston Churchill a Secret Narurist!?!

Secret Naturism
        Endless Naked Summer
        2015-05-24 Relative Luxury in the Ironwood Forest  ( jbee's reports and photos )
        Barefoot all over, the craft...and fivetoe shoes.
        Chebo Falls the Reunion 2014
        Cover ups
        Cyber confusion nothing here  ( a nice bit of silliness that was fun )
        Desert Flowers  ( great pictures in this one )
        Driving Naked 
        Encounters 
        How was your month for SN?
        May 2015 Redington B-Days
        Naked geocaching
        Naked in the Rain and Fog
        Near perfect weekend
        Nudes amongst Textiles
        Paddling Naked 
        Charlton Forest Reconnaissance Walk
        Scottish Opportunites  ( I think this was one of Dan's )
        Secret Naturism - a dilemma
        Sedona Arizona Trip Part #2
        Some everyday experiences
        Stampede!
        The "Where's Tanman" Thread 
        The longest day of the year  ( summer solstice hikes )
        Ultra-lite backpacking
        Utah Trip I
        Weather

. . . and much, much else.  There are only 55 listed here out of how many that were there? Maybe this will spark memories and we can pick up where we left off.

Duane

[milfmog]

You're welcome to stay for as long as you like, or to go off and start another forum if you think you have particular needs that can't be met here. A discussion forum is shaped by its members more than anything else. Don't feel that there is a danger of out staying your welcome, the forum would be dead otherwise. We started it as an alternative to a guest-book and on the off chance that something might develop. But I never intended putting in the work to build up a community, not after all the effort I put in for my sustainability forum. So if an existing community wanders in looking for a new home and wants to use the space as they see fit then I'm perfectly happy with that. It's been a delight to provide a home for you all and I am glad to have been able to help out.

Obviously there's still a sense of grief from the loss of The Secret Naturist Society and I'm not sure what boards that place had. But I can set up a private area for you all to chat in if you want. I had that in my last forum. You needed 50 posts to gain access to it. I don't want to spend extra money hosting the site myself though which is the only reason why I would prefer people linked to pictures on image hosting websites. Otherwise it's up to you what you want to do with this space.

Karla,

Thank you! I would feel it was rude to turn up, use your forum and then flounce off somewhere else. If you are happy to have us here then I, for one, am more than happy to be here.

If it will help with keeping the uploads under control, I will see if I can find, or recreate, the post I wrote a while ago that detailed how to post an image in a post as a thumbnail that could be clicked for a larger view. I used Flickr to host my pictures as they are very tolerant of nudity (and other more uhh... extreme pictures provided that they are properly tagged as restricted.

Have fun,


Ian.

[jbeegoode]

Eyesup the list, the memories. I found myself taking a very deep breath and emitting a very deep sad sigh...


Well, all of my old trip reports will be back with a vengeance, all redone and glossy, even better, additional pics, grammar fixed, just a click away. Some of us more prolific report writers could set up small websites for free, but for the time involved. Just a thought. The imbedded links may make the text flow even better than the TSNS site did. I'm looking forward to the tutorial Milfmog.

It took 15 years to accumulate that trove and it was very fun. We have years of time before us and more fun to be had AND we don't have a problem with redundancy anymore. It's all new!

We do love our monuments, but Shiva and wildfire have their place and things tend to work out perfectly....
Jbee 

[Kayaker]

Gosh Duane that recollect is AWESOME... Great historian work!  I agree with JBee, it kinda draws your breath away.

If we stay here as a site within a site I think we should subsidize Karla and Stuart a little for their trouble.  Willing to help out or tidy up or whatever is helpful.  We go silent for patches of time but always resurface. lots to catch up on. 

[jbeegoode]

OK leading on from my previous post I just checked the forum settings and there's a limit on the amount of attachments that can be uploaded. This is about 10 megabytes.

It then occurred to me that people don't actually need to upload to FRN. Dropbox can be used to share files. So if anybody has a Dropbox account then you can share a folder and upload your pictures to that. This gives you a link which you can paste in here. It will be far more permanent than uploading it to a free image hosting site or fighting over the spare capacity of the FRN server and you always have the image available to you.

I am sure that Google's and Microsoft's version of Dropbox has the same feature.

There are 1000 megabytes in a gigabyte (and 1000 kilobytes in a megabyte, and 1000 bytes in a kilobyte). If a picture is shrunk to less than 330 KB that is three pics per meg x 1000 = 3000 pics,

then 10 gigs x 3000 pics=30,000 pics total for potential.

 All of my pics posted to TSNS were less than 400Kb, mostly much less. This site requires less than 300Kb to post a pic. I’m not seeing 30,000 pics posted to this site, ever. 10 gigs is a lot! Is that 10 gigs just the forum? Is it just the attachments or the whole enchilada? I’m assuming that the main FRN site is its own and they are just linked together. Lookee once warned me to be sure to have backup of all the pics on the TSNS site as sometime, the space would run out, but no time soon. I doubt that we had even 2000 pics on the old site over years. 10 gigs should be more than ample storage, unless we go totally nuts, staying up for weeks at a time shrinking and posting pictures of ourselves. My reports with pics will all be on my site with a link, so that eliminates most of my pics here. Maybe there is not a need for concern?

Still, the site is having hissy fits when I attempt to download pics. I was just putting two on my last report and it rejected them. I tried again and it got stubborn. I tried different ways and then just blew the pic addition to my report off. Both less than 142Kb. Less than 300 together. Then Ian does this wonderful seamless thing on the Menorca report. Sheesh! I need lessons. Ian, what size were the pics that you posted. There is a governor thing limiting to 300Kbs for two pics together.
Jbee

[milfmog]

I was just putting two on my last report and it rejected them. I tried again and it got stubborn. I tried different ways and then just blew the pic addition to my report off. Both less than 142Kb. Less than 300 together. Then Ian does this wonderful seamless thing on the Menorca report. Sheesh! I need lessons. Ian, what size were the pics that you posted. There is a governor thing limiting to 300Kbs for two pics together.
Jbee

JBee,

I'll try to find (or recreate) the post I wrote previously about how I include pictures that are hosted elsewhere.

To give you an indication of size however, the first photograph in my Menorca report is 500 x 375 pixels and is 60Kb as displayed in line. The linked version is 1920 x 1440 and occupies 394Kb of memory space.

These file sizes are far smaller than they were when extracted from the camera and were achieved by using desktop software to compress the files. I simply open the files using IrfanView, do something to them (anything will do, so long as the software thinks you have made a change, typically I just rotate them left then right again) and then resave them over the original file. This forces the software to run its JPG compression algorithm, which is far more efficient than the camera one and will dramatically reduce the file size with no appreciable loss of image quality.

IrfanView also has the facility to crop images and resize them by pixel count which can also drop image size significantly. To put it into context, the picture I referred to above came out of the camera as a 5.4Mb JPG, sized at 3264 x 2448, which is bigger than any monitor I own can display, hence my decision to shrink the image to 1920 horizontally (the resolution of an HDTV).

Have fun,


Ian.