by angie » Oct 16, 2007 9:59 pm
I hope this comes across as nonconfrontational and suggesting a future solution for this type of problem, because that is the intent.
Speaking as one of the people who are clueless as to why and what here, I was horribly confused by the forum suddenly missing. And when a few people appeared to be innocently asking where it went, which honestly, if they hadn't posted...I would have, the answer seemed to be a sometimes (sometimes not) polite "shut the heck up."
Now, just speaking as a person who wandered in confused and clueless, I can safely say that if one admin had posted here, as soon as the forum was taken offline, with a topic that said "Life Forum" and inside was a very quick and short note that said something to the effect of, "Life forum will be temporarily offline until further notice. We will have it back up as soon as feasibly possible. We appreciate your patience." Then a lot of this anger and defense and spiraling would have been nipped way in the bud.
Would it have stopped everything entirely? No. But it certainly would have helped.
Just something to consider for future reference.
As you have found out, when there is mis/mal communication, then no communication is just as bad. If you don't know what to say, then at least posting that upfront lets everyone know that and they can adjust their receptivity. And I think that was part of the confusion. It just happened, and no one could get an answer except to say "don't ask any more questions."
A simple, "yes it's offline. We'll let you know when it's back up." would have gone a long way if it had been posted as soon as the forum was taken down.
Just my 2 cents.