If I could ask for one thing, I wish DG would....

I voted for improving the navigation. Already had one problem area that I wrote in to admin about (and never got a response) relating to the "Favorites" which insist on showing nothing whatever on my page but demand that I go to DG Home Page to see what if anything is happening. Found another one today when a response to an earlier email discussion was hidden away in a subsidiary Dmail file instead of being in the inbox. Extra steps (going to DG Home Page instead of being able to access the info on my page) and having to go scrounging through subsidiary Dmail files to find out *which* email had a response is a pain for me. I'm referring here to PHYSICAL PAIN because my wrists were long since destroyed by carpal tunnel injuries at work and every mousey infliction of unnecessary garbage steps is yet another PHYSICAL PAIN against my survival. It would be helpful if DG programmers could be sensitized to the reality that, since the mouse got inflicted on society, carpal tunnel injuries have increased from 10% of the population to 15% last I saw, and every extra mouse click is a PHYSICAL PAIN for those of us thus injured.

I voted for having a national dg RU, but I would like to say, that I found the ability to use Microsoft word for something or another one time on DG and couldn't find it again. I couldn't get it to post right either so I think it would be nice if we had access to posting in different sizes and access to the drawing tool bar like when we are helping someone lay out a garden or we are asking for help etc.

I think there are many used for Word here. I am sure you want it kept simple but I still think some of the tools would be nice to have even if it is within limits.

Barstow, hey neighbor. My husband works out at Borax and a lot of his coworkers live there, we are kind of neighbors.

I have carpel Tun/cubital tunnel too and it is hard to click a lot. I found that a lot of the new places they located or renamed things on DG are not as user friendly as the old ones they had before. ie, it took me forever to find my journal and it used to be called diary and journal, but now it is blog so I looked and looked for it and it was set up a bit different too.

This is one example, I have to write down the other ones that escape me at the moment.

I would like a built in spell check so I don't have to download Firefox and can use AOL.

It would be great if somewhere there were planting,growing, germination instructions for seed and cuttings where people can access the information perhaps included in the PF.

Lauri

i think some more forums need to be free not heaps but just a couple to get a better feel of the site to see if they want to subscribe or not

I'd like to see more detail on plant files. It's frustrating to wander through the forums for specific info. I'm growing veggies for the first time, and I have questions like: plant spacing, should I pinch the top? How cold night temp can they withstand? Will they self-polinate or do I need > 1 plant? Special fert. needs? Are there some things that shouldn't be planted beside it? Does it need a trellis? Does it grow well in hot weather (like, I hear tomatoes start dropping blooms if > 95 deg, so should be shaded?) should seeds be soaked/nicked/stratified? plant in the fall(garlic?), Do hot peppers really get 'hotter' if grown in the hottest part of the season? Do I need to plant every few weeks (will it bolt and become unusable? (cilantro), etc

Sure thing, hellnzn11 of Rosamond. In fact, I go past the Borax plant and through your town en route to Lancaster to shop for things I can't get here locally. My young apricot tree came from there. At first the thought of a 90 mile drive each way for shopping was a downer but the beauty of the desert is why I bought my little house here in the first place. Along with getting the supplies I need, I also get a lovely three hour drive to/from with only the last ten miles getting into the LA smog that you are blissfully just outside of.

I would like to be able to find things using the tabs at the top. I never can find what I need. Right now I have to find how to change my settings on my homepage. I have to redo it . My computer "nerd" helped straighten some things the other day, but I lost the way my homepage was set. I have not found where I can redo it and make it the way it was..

Those tabs at the top are not descriptive enough or (2) like tabs should be under like subjects so you can find things. Being able to navigate DG easily has not been achieved in my estimation. I click, go back, click, go back, etc. Many times I can't find something. I don't know where to ask so I just sign off and forget about it.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

greenthumb, don't give up....ever. just go to the daves garden forum and start a new topic. lots of people will be right over to show you how. do you know how to find all the different forums that dg has?

my vote was improve a certain feature!
i really would like a order only co-op forum!!! it would just keep things a lot neater and easier to follow!

I would like the tradelist area to be more organized and user-friendly- for example:

1) the ability to list only active/available trades, especially by year listed.
2) the ability to distinguish between "available for trade" and "wanted"

Also,

I agree with notmartha- the co-op forum is really in need of spring cleaning... it's so difficult to track open co-ops and distinguish between threads related to each co-op. perhaps an automatically generated co-op number that gets referenced the way post #'s do?

I totally agree about the Co-Op forum needing some changes to make it neater and easier to follow!

Regarding the Tradelist area. I would love it if my tradetracker pages showed names in Alphabetical order!

I voted for letting non-subscribers at least be able to view, but not necessarily post to subscriber threads. I have some friends and relatives that are not all that into gardening but might want to see something that I've posted. For instance, on the Greenhouse Forum I started a thread detailing a photo diary of sorts that showed every step I took to assemble a particular greenhouse. It might have been nice if I could call say my sister in Florida, and say go to this site, and see what I've been up to. This is currently impossible to do. I can't ask someone to subscribe to just view something one time. I also have to agree with Palmbob who said that we are losing some phenomenal gardening minds who have incredible knowledge and how to, but would never think to subscribe to a gardening site either for financial or reasons of principle.

Doug

I am out of the loop it appears. Some threads are viewable and postable by non-subscribers, and some aren't? LOL!

DG could always gift a membership to someone who was knowledgeable if enough of the regular forum members suggest it to Dave and the reasons behind it.

Suzy

I selected "improve a selected feature..." Actually, it's an old feature that disappeared. In our list of seeds/plants that we have for trade there use to be a feature at the top of the columns where you could just click on either the common name title or the latin name title and it would automatically alphabetize the list. Is that something that can come back?

JoAnn

I would like to see the chat room restore the notification feature when someone enters the room. It makes for a conversation starter.Also being able to just hit to place new posts instead of having to click on submit would be nice

I would like the butterfly and moth section split up into more sections - for example the brush - foots have too many species stuffed in one file.

I would like to see frogs, snakes, birds included in Dave's Garden. The birdfiles in particular will attracts a lot of attention from all over the internet!

Also the zone hardiness map need to be opened up so it can be modified - there were lots of errors in zone hardiness because some people put in zone 5 too quickly when the plants are actually hardy to zone 4 or even 3 when looking at specific plant species or names. Also common names need to be revived so if someone type a common name that vary slightly DS comes up with a list of close names.

Lastly, if it is possible can DS extend city location and zone hardiness maps to those who lives out of the US? I have noticed seveal non US substribers and one major substriber which controls Bugsfiles is from Australia.

I would still like zones listed for everyone automatically by the admin. or it should be required when joining. It makes information about plants talked about more relevant Five of today's new subscribers don't list a zone.

Maybe their interest isn't really in the gardening part of DG but in some of the art, craft, handyman, home improvement, etc. portions so they don't know or care about their zone. They may not have a single plant and have no interest or ability to raise any. DG is so much more than plants.

I voted for other. I'd like to see co-ops open for those of us who are vendors to host as long as we were not selling our own product(s). Under the current system those of us with business experience and the knowledge on how plants should be packed for shipping are barred. We can bring a lot of experience to co-ops if we were allowed to participate as host too. Seems like a valuable resource is being wasted.

MollyD

oh, yes, the co-op forum needs work. i know i have 3 open threads...discussion, order, and payment and am always searching. it would be nice to have them automatically link up so they would stay together.

I like D-Mail to be subscribers only. But regional forums would be open to non-subscribers. How do you know if you want to subscribe without a little experience?

What about allowing new subscibers use of the site free for a month to see if they want to join? They may like it enough to want to pay and join after the free month.

In line with the use of the fonts and wingdings etc. I agree 100% with the person who said have a spell check on dg too. That is a big one and It is one of the main reasons I was wishing to have more access to Microsoft Word here.

I use Firefox for my web browser. It's got the spell checker in it so I'm already using it when I post on DG.

MollyD

Yes, but not everyone has the option to change their browser.

I guess not if they're using a public computer or someone else's. Otherwise it's free and anyone can do it.

MollyD

DG is a fab site that has all i want in a garden site! Its so easy to use. I would love to meet all of you at a big event. It would be so fun. Seminars, a DG sale with logo apparel, workshops, and more!

There was lots of talk a few months ago about a big DG convention type of event. I guess the idea was tabled, for the forseeable future anyway. I'm still hoping that someday there will be such an event!

More complete information on each plant in Plant Files. I agree also with the alphabetization of lists.
I don't really like the auction idea. I prefer the ambiance generosity of DG members, and being able to give to others when I have something to share.

Good to know, I usually don't use firefox because I have to click my threads too many times to get it to go to the post I need and it seems slower to me, but I may rethink it.

I love DG and have made great friends here and recieved more help in my impossible gardening area than I can say. Don't get too stressed Guys.

I love the Garden Watchdog feature, but have trouble finding it right away. Maybe a button in an obvious spot.

If I could vote for a second thing - it would be to open up forums to non-paying members. Sorry, I don't pay for ANY memberships on the internet.

the possibility to ad one or more documents (and pictures too) to d-mail and threads would be highly appreciated!

I think it would be helpful to have more clear information
on how to add info to lesser known plants in Plantfiles.
I have come across many plants, that ask " Unknown, please
tell us", when I have a bit or two of info that could be added.
Such as propogation, seed collecting, or soil ph. The only
thing I found I have been able to do is report that it grows
in such and such zone. Perhaps this info is already out there,
but I haven't come across it.

And, I like Tuinkabouter's idea of posting more than one pic
in a post. Maybe that would be cumbersome on the grand
scale, so not sure.

I would like to see the forums just listed in alphabetical order...one list.
It is frustrating to have to look so many times thru a certain letter until you find which section something is in.

Regarding opening ALL forums to non-paying members: Unless we want Dave & Co. to end up in the poor house I don't see that happening. I may be wrong about this, but I would think all on line sites have to pay for their sites to operate, it has to be supported some way. Unless we want tons of advertising showing up everywhere on this site (which I know I don't), there will be subscriptions available to those who want more access to more in depth information, sharing and friendship. Some folks purchase just a 3 month subscription, some 12 months. Our paid subscriptions help defray the costs of running such a wonderful site. Granted, one has access to lots of good information without paying for a subscription by just signing up for the few free forums, but there is so much more to this garden when you can view and post on all the forums! Anyone not subscribing is really missing out.

(Just my humble opinion) And, I know many who will agree with me. ^_^

Maybe you give a one day pass or even a week. The more people you can get 'into' it....the better off you will be. People who now blow it off, because they just dont know what it is, will be hooked. Bingo, a new member. Your not doing it to be nice. Your doing it to troll for new members using virtually no ad dollars.
I can see where it could get out of hand if they could talk tho. They would have not signed the verbage agreement contract. I know on some magazine sites, if you want the free week, you have to still give all your sgin up info. first.

When you have a web page you have many expenses. You pay for the web space on the server where your pages are stored or you pay the company through which you access the internet (either is a monthly fee). You also pay a yearly fee for owning the domain name (in this case davesgarden.com) plus he has all the utilities/payroll expenses etc that any business incurs. It's simply not fair to ask him to open it all up to the non-paying public. How are all those bills going to get paid if he did that?

MollyD