Upcoming Changes at Hammock Forums

[Just Jeff]

Starting Monday, 9 August, all threads not directly related to hammocks and hammock camping will be moved to the Donating Members section.

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In October 2006, some members from whiteblaze.net created HammockForums.net to be the go-to source for hammock camping information. We kept HF strictly on the topic of hammocks, and did not tolerate disrespectful behavior...and HF thrived because of that.

Over time, we became a tight-knit group of hammockers and created friendships...both online and in person, as hammock hangs began springing up nationwide. These friendships and the respectful online tone led to people wanting to discuss other hiking related topics in a respectful environment, where individuals felt comfortable posting their new ideas to be discussed and critiqued in a respectful manner. As the forum traffic increased, and additional moderators were added, we began to tolerate off-topic discussion. We even enabled it by creating off-topic subforums.

Because of this, however, Hammock Forums lost its focus. Discussion of knives, stoves, paddling, backpacks and other non-hammock related issues has detracted from our original mission of being the leading source of hammock information on the internet. Excellent information on all of these topics can be found on dozens of other sites around the internet...but only this site can claim to have the most experts on hammock camping in the world. We plan to return to our roots.

Starting Monday, 9 August, all threads not directly related to hammocks and hammock camping will be moved to the Donating Members section.

We expect some frustration from some HF members during this adjustment period, and we'll work thru that frustration together. We even expect to lose some of the newer members who are not as intensely focused on hammocks. However, this policy is not open for debate. Our goal as moderators is not to grow the forum, nor to provide a friendly discussion forum for outdoor enthusiasts. Our goal, as I said earlier, is to provide a respectful forum for hammock enthusiasts, and to ensure that it runs smoothly. Fewer posts, but higher quality ones focused on our primary mission area, is a perfectly acceptable outcome of this policy change.

So on 9 August, we will move all off-topic subforums into the Donating Members section and will moderate the on-topic subforums accordingly. We will return to our intense focus on hammocks, and encourage members to take their discussions on other outdoor issues to other forums.

[angrysparrow]

This is a 'bump' for those that haven't noticed this announcement yet.

[Just Jeff]

As as addendum, we had not considered the vendors with subforums here who make non-hammock gear. Since hammock forums is fundamentally a non-commecial site, we do not plan to treat the vendor subforums any differently than the standard hammock subforums. These subforums will only contain discussion of hammocks and hammock-related gear. Other gear offered by these vendors can be discussed in the appropriate off-topic sections in the Donating Members area.

And for further clarification, the $10 donation was never intended to be a subscription for extra access. That money goes solely towards the operation and maintenance of the site, which is run completely by volunteers. It goes to support the original intent of this site - providing the best hammock information on the web. The Donating Members off-topic area was created as an additional benefit for friends to discuss non-hammock topics.

As I said, we expect some frustration during this adjustment period. Although we will not change this policy, we will work to make sure it is applied reasonably and will try to address any difficulties that may come up. Please PM me or any of the other mods if you have concerns.