When I click on one of dbphoenix's threads, it is not there, I just tried: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33766 I got the link from the last page of the journal linked to in the first message of this thread. I'm not familiar with his journals as I'm new here but with all the people talking about them I hope they can all be restored, I'd love to read them. Thanks Baron!
No problem. I took care of that issue. If there are any other threads that seem to be missing, just let me know.
Some very good points presented throughout this thread. A comment on "modern websites", though. Some of these sites have turned into more social networking sites - and lets face it - that is the venue for the future. However, none have found the perfect balance between ease of use, great content and being able to meet the needs of "everybody". We used to scour just the forums, looking through what sequences of posts that users made - or topic threads in forums. Now we're also interested in seeing more about the personal profile of other users - we share more information because we can show pictures, videos and more without great effort. All of this is not effortless to make happen though. There are new techniques to rate users, score content and link everything together - even XTM topic maps to stitch together "knowledge" from fragments. It is a huge investment to keep up with these new times, but just like the railroads meant the death of the canals for commercial transportation - there are paradigm shifts in online communities happening too. The value is a lot in the content that has already been produced, and even though I have been away from quite some time - I still come back here to see how things are. Elitetrader.com has a very low (online) technical entrylevel, and that means friendly for many of the "oldtimers". The content can be reused for new formats, but that is also pretty labour-intensive. However, coupled with some techniques it could be possible to leverage the value in the sometimes great wisdom presented in Elitetrader.com topics. Adding e.g wiki-functionality or blogs could be some valuable additions like pointed out by others here. I seem to remember a FX trading magazine e.g showing the Chinook EURUSD mumblings thread as one of the reasons for traders to go online. That is really great publicity for Elitetrader.com . I create various types of portals nowadays for clients, and it's neither cheap nor easy to get a really professional result. With some rather easy extensions, Elitetrader.com can take a step into the newer areas of functionality - because newer generations of users demand it, are used to it and will continue to use it. When we take our time to dish out explanations to newcomers or peers it is exactly because of the influx of newcomers that we see spurring interest, harsh words of wisdom, long-drawn questioning of old ways versus new etc. Without new and younger users embracing the concept, it slowly dries up. In Internet terms that does not take a whole man generation before it happens. Online advertising is now worth more than newspaper ads and more, so the potential is there. ;-)
Hello I also have a comment about the site I think its too little too late Sponsors need eyeballs and a responsive audience. Sales is a numbers game. The question is, can Baron deliver enough "numbers" to his advertisers to justify his fees? The newbies that show up want one thing. They want to know how to make money in the markets. They come for that content. Now that the majority of skilled folks have left, the trolls and psychos have the field so to speak. Since Baron cannot control them, a significant part of the content is abusive language and bullying. What these posters all have in common is the knowledge that the site's rules of conduct aren't being enforced. At first it was people like myself who left or decided (like myself) not to post content. Now I notice similar comments about leaving from members with low post numbers. I think its regretable but I also believe that it creates a nice opportunity for investors to fill the void. Best to all Steve
Let's give a little credit where it's due, and lay off Baron for a few days! For the first time in history, he's actually listened to our feedback-section input, and made the according structural changes to ET. This is an <b>incredibly difficult thing to do</b> for someone who's spent year after year depositing all of our suggested ideas straight into the plastic bag lined 'file' under his desk. Kudos Baron, for real!
Baron, Why not bring back/restore ALL of the deleted threads, but them in a Archive forum and give everyone 30 days to vote yea or nay on keeping them. I have always felt some of the best content is from years ago. An Archive thread with the best of past content makes good sense. Thank you.
Well, of course it's "never too late to change". The thing to do IMO, is seeing how some of the new functions of Internet content-presentation can be used to leverage the rich old content that is inherent in these forums - since that will keep newcomers coming to learn or participate, while at the same time introducing more revenue streams - and funding expansion. Not doing so - is risky at best when it comes to doing business on the Internet. Careful execution is also needed, since too drastic changes could alienate the existing userbase which would mean too much bleeding to cure the ailment.