Homeseer Message Board

[BraveSirRobbin]

smee:

I certainly didn't mean that the HS board was not useable:

I like the fact that beginner's feel comfortable here and feel free to post ANY questions they may have.

We at Cocoontech strive to try to make the beginner comfortable here. This is what Electron wanted to emphasize when he created this board. Certainly the HS board will answer beginner's questions as well. I was just stating that this was one of our main missions at this board.

Hopefully we will expand as we get more experienced users on board who find it enjoyable helping other people as well!

As you pointed out, our membership does not have near the members that HS has. We certainly don't mean to "compete" with them. Sure, we may have a little fun with our posts, but I like to think of the two boards "complimenting" each other. We would very much like to increase our membership, especially with experienced users who enjoy helping beginners.

You will also find that we often reference posts over at HS in our answers and responses to user questions here. I have also seen where HS members will reference posts here as well.

You can NEVER have enough forums to help users. Each person seems to have different takes, approaches, and solutions to problems. In the end, hopefully everyone benefits.

Also, thank you for being a member here as well!!

Regards,

BSR

 

[jwilson56]

Well I feel comfortable over here. Lately it seems that the HS board just doesn't seem the same. Not sure if its me or the kinds of posts being made. I guess I like the interesting posts I have read on this board. I actually prefer a lesser number of guys that share a closer love of HA. I myself kind of took a break from it all. What I have is cranking away ok (except for the occasional quirk). I am suffering a few health problems so the break has been welcome. Its still fun to read about other peoples ideas.

I really like the how-to section. Its something that is long over due on the HS board. Even a good FAQ thread would give newbies a place to start. Many of these ideas have been suggested to Rich and Rick but they don't seem to get it. I loved some of the Audrey boards I frequented and one had a great hyperlinked FAQ on all the common questions that newbie Audrey people needed to know. The how-to section is as close to that as I have seem.

John

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Rich and Rick are very busy people as I can imagine!

One thing I would like to mention about the HomeSeer staff is this. I actually met most of their staff in person (at CES here in Las Vegas), this included Rich, Rick, Karen, and Jeff. They are VERY nice people and you can tell they have a great attitude and enthusiasm about their product that really shows when you see them in person.

They had a very nice display and all of them were very polite and anxious to ask any question I had. I did this post about my visit there.

 

[smee]

Don't get me wrong. I like both boards and I agree that they each have a different "feel."

But I think the HS board used to feel more like this one in the past. There was more of a community feel to it. It does seem to be more dominated by some people - I don't think this was intentional on their part, it just happened. I like think of this as "the cult of Rupp," although I don't mean to single him out at all - this is just a reflection on all the excitement of his 10,000th post. I can easily imagine newcomers getting caught up in something like this.

Right now, this board is easy to manage. As it grows, I fully expect it to become more like HS. When people ask questions, they should expect to be "cross-referenced" to another post. If new information needs to be added, it should go into that post - consolidating it in one place (this doesn't happen enough on the HS board).

In closing... I like both boards and hang out on both. It just seems that there's been a little HS board bashing going on and I don't want new people to get the wrong impression. It's an incredibly valuable resource (even with the things we'd probably all like to see change).

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Yes, I totally agree on HS board being a VERY valuable resource! I also would not have purchased HS if it were not for that support board. We are all very fortunate it exists.

As far as the HS bashing goes, it seems that whenever you have a large user base and you introduce change, you will get all the extremes and everything in-between. People all react differently.

I saw similar things on some boards I have frequented in the past including Anandtech.com.

Rich and Rick have the very unfortunate (and sometimes unpleasant) task of trying to please a LOT of different people! B)

 

[Skibum]

Seems to me it was around the time that pay plug-in's, and "moderators" appeared that the whole thing went to the dogs....

IMHO
http://ubb.homeseer.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=...4576#7132904576

 

[justonemore]

Too bad we can't link y'all to the DELETED threads where we first posting our objections.

 

[smee]

Skibum:

I don't want to get involved in a plug-ins discussion, but I do agree with your comment regarding the time of this change. Whether it was coincidence or not I'm not going to judge.

There are still plenty of discussions about scripting and free stuff going on over there. The for-pay plug-ins do not seem to have killed them off. I think part of this may be that people are seeing how much work is involved in supporting these plug-ins - people expect a lot when they've paid for something. And some of these plug-ins seem to have backfired or been abandoned.

 

[JohnBullard]

Here's my .02 Been using X10 for seems like 20 plus years (the old BSR stuff) and also love my Ocelot. I have tried several different PC based HA programs with varing degrees of sucess and just recently decided on HomeSeer.

As a HS newbie, I find the HS board to be "overwhelming, so much stuff, most of it I don't really relate to, or quite often don't understand (scripts and plugins for example).

I do read the HS forums, I like to pick a topic, go to the last page, then start reading the threads going up the page, auntil I get to the most recent. Kind of frustrating now when the links don't work!!! (I just hate to ask questions that have been asked and answered a dozen times, and hate to read posts that ask the same question that was asked and answered a week or so previous, just one of my quirks I guess. I think I have maybe 3 or 4 total posts over there.)

The first board I always go to each morning while having my coffee is CocoonTech. And each evening, CocoonTech, then to ADI (I still have some unresolved things there still pending ADI response) then maybe to RemoteCentral or HomeSeer or one of the Audrey boards (got a ton of stuff I need to learn about my new Audrey)

Sorry for such a long post, but, E - YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT!!!! Yeah, I was shouting!

Thanks for putting it up!!

 

[electron]

Thanks for the support guys, your support is what makes this site great, we really have a lot of good things planned for the site, I am in the middle of a few projects, but soon will be devoting all my time to cocoontech.com again. With BraveSirRobbin and Zack being permanent staff members, things will only get better. Thanks again!

 

[jwilson56]

As the person that started this post I want to assure all of you is was not my intention to be bashing HS. I was just concerned that once again the boards have changed and for me not for the better. I also feel that over the past couple years the tone of those boards have changed as well. Maybe its the pay-for plugins maybe not. I know there has been some ruffled feathers along the way. Change is inevitable but not always for the better. I will frequent both boards although its tuff to follow a few sections on that new board and not get burried when you following a thread. I was very fortunate to have been part of the era when Nowplaying was being worked on by so many talented people. It was exciting and fun. I can understand the desire for people to want to make a few bucks from their efforts but it does take some of the fun out of it.

I still recommend HS to people I know that are thinking of getting into HA but I also mention this board as well.

Most of us just want to feel part of a community with a common interest and have some fun. Lets face it nobody really needs home automation. Its just fun to do so lets all try to keep it fun.

(steps down from the soap-box) B)

John

 

[Skibum]

I guess it could be summed up by...

If you dont like it... just go away. Don't go away mad, just go away.

....and hang out at Cocoon, or Skibumsplace! B)

 

[Squintz]

I am taking back my previous post. In fact i am going to edit it so that new users wont read it.. After sleeping on it and reading the rest of the post i changed my attitude about homeseers board. You guys are right that board is priceless and i wouldnt have even known about cocoontech if it wernt for the homeseer board. I personally have never got the RTFM and your right that nobody ever really says RTFM they just point to the right section of the manual.

On the other side i do think the manual is due for an overhul. Maybe thats why i find the board a little hard to use. when people point me to the manual and i dont understand whats in it i get frustrated.

The reason i love cocoon so much is because of the STEP by STEP how two's which i dont even need to open the manual for.

HomeSeer board is a great resource but in order to get the most out of it you need to be an itermediate user of homeseer and not a beginner... Although the NEW User topic has given me some good pointers.

Sorry for bashing the board....

 

[Skibum]

and now you can come out of the corner and return to your seat.... B)

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Yes, Cocoontech is the board that I recommend people to as well. Eletron, when are we going to get the link back in place for that????

I also do like Skibum's site too. I spend a ton of time on the computer everyday and lot's of time on boards. It's nice to also go to a board that I can check out cool pictures of the Hubble and also read a couple of jokes!