Paul

Just to clarify a few things about this thread (and to a point the other regionals + the rest of the forum). The undertone of unpleasantness between some members needs to stop here and now - we will take a zero tolerance approach to any further public bickering, sniping, name calling or disruption of the thread. That means if it happens, the person(s) involved will instantly be stopped from using all regional threads - regardless of what may happen in terms of the regional layout once we've stopped discussing it in the other thread. What is fine in this thread? Posts about the weather in the region - reports, forecasts etcPosts a bit about the weather, a bit about life, banter etcPosts which are light hearted, banter, chat, and not too much about the weather - but more as exceptions to the rule rather than the gist of the whole thread. For out and out banter please head over to the lounge. What is not fine in this thread? Posts complaining about the content of other postsPosts complaining about other membersPosts complaining about how other members have been upset/annoyed etc by someone else.Posts digging, sniping, being sarcastic or generally being unpleasant about other members, their posts etc.Posts which are designed to or simply do disrupt the discussion or atmosphere of the thread in any way.I'd say at this point in time 99+% of posts are fine, but it's that <1% that has to stop. People who think there is a problem, think another member is out to cause a problem or anything else - this thread is not the place to make that point - you have the report button on posts, profiles and pm's to alert the team to anything untoward. You can also pm me and any of the other team members should you have concerns, questions or feedback. Obviously we have an ongoing discussion about the layout of the regional threads with an aim to get something resolved this week so please take time to have a read of that and get involved - particularly with a view to having larger region areas over summer. Obviously it got a bit heated in there as we did close the regions prematurely yesterday which I apologise for, but hopefully we can have a decent discussion about things over the next 7 days. http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/80194-regional-threads-changes-for-summer/?p=2964356 Paul

I'm sorry Tom but that is simply untrue for a many reasons. Firstly, have a look at some of the other regions, they're barely being used - that for me is a pretty significant reason for change in any case, and I've been open about all of the thinking behind it - so it's a little perturbing that you're essentially saying I'm making it up? I've talked about the SE thread issues in depth and that is part of the reason for some changes being needed also, but like so many others on both sides of that particular situation you're looking at it purely from your point of view and seeing it as a black and white - we're right, they're wrong type picture which is seldom ever the case in anything. Take the post you've quoted, frankly it should have been removed, calling another poster a troll is out of line but you're ok with that because it's someone you're not friendly with / believe is some sort of trouble maker. You're entitled to your opinion of course but this continual need to play this out publicly is the issue regardless of what the actual underlying problem actually is and regardless of what side of the fence you're on. It all needs to stop and I'd suggest that may be accelerated if you ever get round to replying to the emails I sent to you many months ago or the pm from just a few days ago - it's all well and good moaning at the team publicly on here but why refuse the opportunity to open a private dialogue about these problems when it's offered to you?

Ok, having looked at this I do agree with the fact that some prior discussion would have been reasonable, so as of just now the regionals are unlocked and will stay that way for at least the next 7 days. In the meantime I think we need to continue with the discussion in here, particularly with a view to using the larger regions as noted above, something similar or going withthe original plan to close the regions for the time being. Hopefully though this will take some of the heat out of the discussion and allow everyone to express an opinion without being riled up by the fact that the threads are currently closed. Hands up, I think it was a mistake to close without some discussion first and that's my fault for pushing it through fairly speedily, so apologies - it was done with the best of intentions but maybe in the wrong way. Hopefully now we can move forward from this point and come up with something that works for everyone though. Paul

Perhaps it's time some folks stepped back and calmed down a touch - if the idea of closing the forums was just to do it and tell people to like it or lump it then this discussion would have been locked and that would have been that, but it's not the case - this was opened for discussion and all opinions are being listened to. The regional discussion forums have been closed for something like 12 hours so far, this discussion is ongoing (and yes in hindsight maybe some discussion first may have been worthwhile, but that said since there's clearly a spread of opinions we'd never be able to please everyone whatever we do or don't do). So those getting annoyed and a bit heated, please stop - this is opportunity to discuss options in a rational way - please don't take it down another less constructive route. Obviously the SE thread is in a different boat to the other regions in that it's been fairly active, but it's had its own problems - the cabin fever part is related to that in that there have been issues bubbling under the surface which refuses to go away due to people on both sides of a divide that has formed not being prepared to call off hostilities. So it's another of the reasons why we decided that things needed a break. So that's 2 distinct problems we need to solve - some 'cabin fever' in the more active regions, and a lack of activity in other regions. One proposal I'll put forward as a compromise for people to consider is to go with 3 regions: 1. Northern Britain (Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland), 2. Southern Britain (Midlands, Wales, East Anglia, Southern England) and 3. EIRE. I'd like to think that could solve both problems by a. adding more people to the less active parts and b. adding more people to the cabin fever affected parts. I understand that does still lose some of the locality for discussions, but we can still open up smaller regions during active weather periods, and will obviously add more people into the more entrenched groups but I'm sure the majority of people in those groups would be very welcoming. So with this in mind, what are people's opinions on this as something to try for a week or two?

Because someone joining from (for instance) Wales thinking they're going to be active in the Wales thread then going into the thread to see an average of just over 1 post a day for the last few months is likely to take one look and not be too impressed. At that point they may walk away.. If that thread wasn't open and they saw lots of people from across the country into a daily weather thread they may be more inclined to get involved. (Historically it's the daily thread people have tended to post into first, and latterly the regionals during winter in particular) As also mentioned above, as the threads get quieter there is the tendency for small groups to form which can be difficult to break in to for new users, and can also lead to a sort of cabin fever where clashes and issues get magnified purely because of the lower number of people and posts than there may usually be. As I keep saying - if it doesn't work we can look again..

John, I'd say try the model thread as your posts are well suited in there and would be appreciated. If people complain about imby posts then we can deal with that as many posters will always put their local slant on things and that shouldn't be a problem. In winter it can be a bit more manic and is harder for us to moderate but it's a lot more relaxed at this time of year and would imo be a very good fit for your informative posts. Like I've said to others, give it a try for a few days - if it doesn't work out you've not lost much and we'll be monitoring in any case and will do all we can to make sure things do work out - if that means bringing the regionals back in some form so be it, but why not give it a shot first and see what happens?

You're posting as if you definitely won't enjoy using the alternative threads - why not be a bit more open minded about the change and see how it goes? When you first joined the forum there were several years before any regional threads were introduced, so I assume the general threads were interesting enough to keep you here then, why shouldn't they be now? There's no techie knowledge needed for the majority of threads on here - the daily weather thread is much like the regionals in content except it's from people across the country - take a look here: http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/80193-sunday-4th-may-general-weather-chat/ The storm threads are very chatty, the banter thread isn't weather related at all and there are dozens more - for me the regionals can lock people in a little too much and you're perhaps a good example of that - giving something else a try may actually increase your enjoyment of the forum and open up discussions and interests you may not have been aware existed purely because you've been looking so much in one place and talking to a relatively small group of people virtually the whole time. Worth a try I'd suggest? And we'll be reviewing how things go very frequently, so if it's not working out we'll look at what options there are - such as bringing back the regionals with broader areas as a start..

Who said everyone was happy with it though VM? A fairly small number are using the threads, and I've heard plenty of views that suggest that it worked better when they weren't open all year round as it helped the atmosphere in the non-regional threads. And we've already said they can be opened back up during weather events which will hopefully give the best of both worlds anyway.

In terms of the usage of the regional forums, since 1st May all but 2 of them have had less views than this thread has in the few hours it's been online today, and with that just a handful of posts - that tells you the usage many of them have been getting. I thought last summer was the first one which we kept the regionals running for although I may be wrong on that, it could be the previous year . I understand the perspective of the weather in southern England not being especially relevant to the weather in Scotland, but looking at it from another perspective, the Scotland thread has had 13 posts in 4 days since the start of the month (including mine this morning), and that's mid-range in terms of the typical usage across the regions really, so how much discussion and interest is that bringing to someone who wants to talk about the weather up there? Not a lot I'd suggest, and so therefore surely having that daily weather discussion involving a range of regions there's more likely to be more to discuss, a nicer atmosphere and within that, more interest for new people to latch on to and get involved in. I'm not sure a new person coming into the quieter threads would be particularly keen to get involved, whereas in a centralised thread with more posts and a more active atmosphere they may. We try to take peoples views on board and will obviously listen to feedback here, but what I would ask is that people give things an opportunity - I do understand that weather locality is relevant so a balance is needed there and is something we'll definitely try and get right (nothing is set in stone and for instance do we look at opening up larger regions again?), but beyond that, is there so much wrong with chatting with people from other parts of the country?

Getting a few questions as to the reasoning for the closure of the regional threads, so thought I'd summarise them here for everyone who may be wondering. 1. The time of year - the regional threads weren't created to run year round and were initially thought of as additional threads which opened at busy weather times - particularly during winter months when the forum is traditionally busier. 2. Cabin fever - some threads have been quite quiet (as we'd expect at this time of year) whereas one or two others have remained more active but often when there is a smaller pool of posters taking part, small niggles can tend to become more blown up than they perhaps need to be, and personality clashes (which happen wherever and whenever groups of people are together) are magnified because of the relatively small number of people taking part in the particular discussion. 3. Community - the community doesn't need to be divided on a regional basis. Yes, there is relevance when talking about specific weather info, especially during weather events but beyond that there's a great mix of people within the community as a whole and so many really good discussions and mini-communities outside of the regional forums, so no real need to always have a division purely based on where people live. I hope that clarifies things a bit

Yep, they will be opened as and when needed

The threads are no longer closed - please see here http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/80194-regional-threads-closing-for-a-summer-break/?p=2964379 As of today the regional threads will be closed for a summer break. We understand that some people may be disappointed with this, but after some consideration we do think it is the best option. The regional threads were only really designed for peak weather periods (and may be still opened temporarily on a region by region basis should any weather events occur during the rest of spring, summer and autumn). Last year we did experiment with leaving them running throughout, but the general feedback we have received is that they are best suited to weather events and busier periods, and outside of these times having everybody within the community posting together makes for a better atmosphere and improved discussions. There are of course plenty of places to post away from the regional forums and hopefully all of those taking part in the regions will get involved in the wider community. A few popular options are: For day to day weather chat, reports and the like we have a daily thread open in the weather discussion forum: http://forum.netweather.tv/forum/1-weather-discussion-and-chat/ For storms and severe weather there is a live discussion on upcoming weather and possible storm risk always ongoing, the current one can be found here: http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/80164-convective-storm-discussion-1st-may-2014-onwards/ For those wanting to follow and post about the models, there is of course the model thread. Some find it a little manic and too fast paced in the winter, but there's a more laid back vibe in there at this time of year - so an ideal time to get involved! http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/79879-model-output-discussion-310314-onwards/ For non-weather chat, banter and the like the lounge is always open. http://forum.netweather.tv/forum/17-the-lounge/ If you're wanting a bit of the community to call your own maybe to put regular forecasts, or to blog about your day-to-day life then a community blog could be ideal - you can start one here: http://forum.netweather.tv/blogs/ As ever, if you have any queries about this, the best places to post or anything else please feel free to contact the team. Paul

Apologies, a bit odd that, have fixed it now.

There was a small problem with the file server this morning, but it's all sorted now and I can see your new avatar (refresh the page if you can't).

I think / hope this is definitely fixed now!

PS, please don't touch that post now - am going to get Invision to look at it to investigate the cause of this.

Don't worry, I found it. I'm hoping it'll be fixed from here on in, but may still occur on posts made before now.

Which post was that on?

Have you tried clearing your browser cache - usually clears most quirks.

Just for information for those using this thread.. There are some of you who want to use posts in here to have little sly digs at other members who they may not get along with, if you don't stop now you will be stopped from posting, it's that simple. No-one is going to get on with everyone else, sometimes there may even be arguments and dramas between individuals, but that doesn't mean they have to go on and on, disrupt the thread and generally create hassles. This is aimed at a very small minority, so the vast majority can safely ignore this post, but those involved need to take this on board immediately as frankly this thread is the only one with any ongoing issues such as this and it's getting completely tedious.

All working again now

Has this stopped happening now?

This has been fixed now (you'll need to refresh the page), apologies for the problem.

Thanks for the reports, I think I know what's going wrong and will get a fix in place during the next 24 hours.

Lol, got to love intermittent bugs which disappear when you try to test them. If you see anything like it again though please shout!