Wedding Blog

I think boards could definitely work. It’ll definitely be easier to read and follow a thread.

I think they would be a great addition. You should give them a try and if they don’t work then at least you can say your tried.

i agree that boards would be a great addition to the already wonderful weddingbee website… i must admit that the Hive can be hard to read/comment/follow up on…

Love the idea!

It’s something I’d actually considered suggesting to you guys. So many times I want to ask a certain commenter a question about something they said, and have to ask it openly in the comments for that post, hoping the reader will check back. If there was a way we could do a board that also have a private messaging (PM) feature, it would be great.

Maybe you could set it to where one of you has to approve each new topic. That way you don’t have to gather all questions, organize them, reword/condense them, link them to their original post and make sure you didn’t miss anyone. You wouldn’t be able to control snarky responses, but with the exception of the hot-button issues, we are generally pretty mild around here. Also, approving the topics would help avoid spam and general nonsense.

I also agree with having to register (at least to use the board.)

I think a WeddingBee board would be great! I think one of the reasons a lot of people come to WeddingBee is because it is a more positive atmosphere than, say the *ahem* Knot message boards.

Enforcing strict community guidelines and having moderators would be the key to keeping it a constructive and useful board, though. Maybe you could ask for volunteers to moderate boards?

And as a commenter above mentioned, you could always get rid of it if it doesn’t work out.

I think it could work. Boards are naturally open to web-rage since the internet let’s us be anonymous and as brides-to-be we can all get pissy sometimes.

I knot a lot and am a regular on the Destination Weddings board. We aren’t registered for anything special but we seem to do a good job of self-regulating. So even in the chaos of all the other boards, we are a nice, helpful oasis on that site. It is possible to have nice wedding message board if the participants work together.

I think it should at least be given a try. If it doesn’t work it can always be taken down.

Way back when someone suggested having a FAQ page for generic questions that often come up in the Beehive - that may help with the plethora of questions.

As someone who has lots of questions and would like a friendly forum in which to discuss them, I like the idea…. but I also wonder if it will at all take away from the unique nature of Weddingbee. Will having boards take the focus off of the super-creative, diverse and well-spoken Bees that have been specifically chosen to blog about their experiences? As a non-Bee, I still appreciate the exclusivity of the Bees because I think it brings focus to the site. It is much easier for readers to follow along with each Bee’s process and personality when there is a limit to how many Bees there are. It is part of why I read every day.

What if instead of it turning into a discussion board with scattered posts about anything and everything, it is organized so that each new string begins with a specific question (asked by a registered member) that has been approved by Mrs. Bee/Miss Lovebug/another moderator in which people can then answer? Meaning, it’s not a place for the “I hate my boss” or “What should I eat for lunch?” kind of posts, but a place specifically for wedding/relationship Q&A. This would cut down on the clutter and snarkiness that many boards experience while still fostering an open “help me help you” kind of atmosphere.

Does that make any sense? Have I gone off my rocker???

Great point Brooke! Being able to watch how each Bee’s wedding unfolds not only keeps you focused on each each person’s journey but also endears you to particular writers. i.e. l love love love Miss. Snow Pea, Mrs. Caterpillar, Mrs. Orchid, and Mrs. Bee b/c their circumstances were so similar to mine.

I think it would work too. I agree with Tessa, give it a try. I mean, Weddingbee readers have generally been pretty good (hopefully it stays that way!) and as long as everyone remembers why it is they like Weddingbee, they should hopefully stay tame. (I hope that made sense)

I think that it would be a great idea as well. Check out the switchboards, it’s a board for women with small businesses. They have different catergories in which to post questions and I have never seen problems with the boards there. You do have to register to be able to post questions and answers but its worth it because there is a wealth of information there.

I love the idea. Maybe you could give all of the bees some overall guidelines as to what’s acceptable and not acceptable on the boards and you can have like a million bee moderators?? Just an idea…but I definitely think it can work and it’ll be super helpful.

Hi thistleorchid!

I forgot to mention that I also like the indiebride boards — also not snarky.

I’m in the minority and resist the change. I do agree that it would be more organized but fear that it will take away from the bee.

I like that weddinbee is focused on the ideas of the blogging bees. It’s what distinguishes it from other sites, as others have said. I’m afraid that adding a forum will shift that focus, but maybe I’m wrong.

Wow, I too agree that the Beehives are getting out of control….message board it is. We’re all mature people here and should be able to handle constructive posting. I do agree though that registering before posting should be mandatory. Oh, and maybe with a flag system for comments that are out-of-line.

i think with registration and moderation, a board could work quite well to address the beehive issues. it’s worth a trial run at least.

i was registered with a board a few years ago that had a moderator and required you to register to post/comment and i’d say 95% of the posts and comments weren’t offensive or rude in anyway. you are always going to get those few people tho. but that’s no reason not to give it a try. i think revamping the beehive into a board format would organize the Q&A’s much better. honestly, i don’t even look at the beehive sometimes b/c i know the responses are all over the place.

for those who are worried about it, if it’s a separate link and the only change to the weddingbee site itself is the lack of the beehive bits, then not much will change around here… just a new wing on the hive that is optional to visit.

I think if the boards were well organized and had moderators that would be a great idea. Definitely I would make posters register.

It could be lots of fun!

I am in the minority that dislikes boards, I think that they bring out the absolute worst in people. I’ve never seen a single discussion board where it didn’t eventually degenerate into snarkiness and childish popularity contests as the user base grew - Indiebride being a case in point (I actually stopped visiting there 9 months ago because it was turning into the Knot).

I like Weddingbee just the way it is, the blog format is a refreshing change from the obnoxious behavior of people on boards! don’t change it!

I think for boards to work, they would require a lot of moderating, which would defeat the purpose of less work! The only online forum I visit regularly is the TV website televisionwithoutpity.com. The forums there are great because they remain civil even when people get very worked up about their favorite TV shows. BUT the site has very strict rules and is very carefully moderated–trollish posts are deleted almost immediately and repeat offenders are quickly banned. It seems like a huge amount of work, and they have quite a large staff to deal with it.

Honestly, though I’ve asked a couple questions in the Beehive myself, I think you could do away with it altogether or make it a twice-weekly thing instead of daily. I also think every question need not be posted–some recent questions have been the sort of generic etiquette questions whose answers you can find anywhere, and seem to be asked not out of a genuine wish for advice but simply to stir the pot and create the kind of circular arguments that are already everywhere on the knot. I’d rather not have the Beehive at all than have to wade through that sort of stuff.

You might narrow the focus of the Beehive to DIY questions alone since that is the aspect that makes Weddingbee unique (questions about makeup artist recommendations or places to buy cute favors, etc. are very well covered elsewhere).

So, in short, I guess I come down on the side of leaving the forums to places like the knot and keepng Weddingbee a simple blog with comments.

I’m a little late - but I vote yes on a well moderated and well spirited board. It would proubably take a full time person just to keep such a board helpful and positive and not let it fall in to where the knot boards have. I’m so sick of their snarky high-school attitudes.
The beehive, as helpful as it is, is much to hard to read and keep track of topics in. JMO.

i’d say yes to the boards with good moderation and forced registration to post (not to view or search.) it would help in double beehive postings, and i think a lot faster than theknot’s boards, which seem to be SO slow for me.

don’t allow for pictures in signatures, or for avatars, or for ratings of users. perhaps even keep the moderators anonymous. all of these things breed animosity on almost any message board.

unfortunately, about the cliques, it’s nearly unavoidable. you may want to focus the boards down and force everyone to stay on topic, with no off topic board, which is usually where the cliques form.

anything about a wedding will breed competition, no matter how hard you try. it’s up to the users to be adult about it. and if there are mean spiteful people like the ones on the craigslist wedding discussions, they just need to be promptly banned.

your workload will increase as administrators however, running the boards in addition to the site. this is just my experience from moderating another set of forums.