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Forum Testing Example Thread

SuperStroke
milehighgolfer said:
Thought i'd throw out my opinion on the equipment testing. I feel that the testers posts get buried to quickly in the equipment forum and are hard to dig up later. A seperate forum or sticky thread (there's one for "pondering") would seperate the testers posts so they could be easier read and researched. Perhaps even restrict that area for only those who are testing for THP. It was the testing of equipment that lead me to THP and I joined shortly after because I saw value in the site. Just my $.02.
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MikeF said:
I don't think a sticky would work as there would be a lot of sticky topics. A separate forum would however work very well in my opinion
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A separate forum would not get viewed by guests. How many people view the Flatsticks forum comapred to Golf clubs? How about Golf Style? Even Club Building? There is a reason that testing threads are where they are and also get the views they do.

If we have a testing thread that has 7-10 testers of a piece of golf equipment, in my opinion that thread should not fall much past the first page of equipment. If it does, I very much wonder why. 8 different people testing a product at different times and answering questions or discussing a product at different times. If it falls that far back, it wont stay that far back for long (or shouldnt).

An equipment company is not going to donate thousands of dollars in equipment to THP only to have a thread buried in a sub forum for only forum members to find.
 
JB said:
A separate forum would not get viewed by guests. How many people view the Flatsticks forum comapred to Golf clubs? How about Golf Style? Even Club Building? There is a reason that testing threads are where they are and also get the views they do.

If we have a testing thread that has 7-10 testers of a piece of golf equipment, in my opinion that thread should not fall much past the first page of equipment. If it does, I very much wonder why. 8 different people testing a product at different times and answering questions or discussing a product at different times. If it falls that far back, it wont stay that far back for long (or shouldnt).

An equipment company is not going to donate thousands of dollars in equipment to THP only to have a thread buried in a sub forum for only forum members to find.
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I agree, I have had the opportunity to test and am currently testing the Boccieri Heavy Wood and I dont think it has fallen off the first page, if it has it would be over night. Almost every testers thread I have seen stays on the first page.
 
milehighgolfer said:
Thought i'd throw out my opinion on the equipment testing. I feel that the testers posts get buried to quickly in the equipment forum and are hard to dig up later. A seperate forum or sticky thread (there's one for "pondering") would seperate the testers posts so they could be easier read and researched. Perhaps even restrict that area for only those who are testing for THP. It was the testing of equipment that lead me to THP and I joined shortly after because I saw value in the site. Just my $.02.
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I think having a section for testing only is a great idea. They do get lost rather quickly in the equipment forum
 
Degoins said:
I think having a section for testing only is a great idea. They do get lost rather quickly in the equipment forum
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I gotta say that I did at one time agree with you, but take a look at JB's post two posts up from you. You'll see why it doesn't happen.
 
Good examples, that is the kind of info I need to know whether a club is something I should try
 
2Shoes said:
I completely agree...every time I go to look at what the testers are saying...first I have to "relocate" (although I know there are other ways of doing this)...and then I have to sort through everybody's banter about what club cover they intend to slap on. MY $0.02 is to have a seperate area for the testers and restrict that area for tester reviews only. If you want to shoot the do-do....start a viewer thread about the club. I don't need to see 50 "thanks for the reivew" comments so people can qualify enough posts to get into a drawing or contest.

I expect someone to respond to my comment with "well what if a question is posed that viewers might want to know the reviewer's response?" Well, if THP thought I was "old enough" to test/review a product, I would hope that THP would think I was responsible enough to answer applicable questions during my review post.

This would certainly begin to "trim down" the 74 page threads of equipment reviews into very precise, easy to locate, valuable threads.

To the THP staff...I have almost begun to not go back to equipment reviews/test threads once they've gone over X amount of pages because I don't want to spend time sorting though the off topic, back and forth, between 2, 3, or 4 users. I want to know what the guy/gal who has the club in hand has to say...

That said...I still use THP exclusively to review/look, because you're still the #1 place to find the proper information!
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Wow, I disagree with just about everything you have said here. Not trying to be a prick, but saying you don't like when people thank the testers for their reviews is just ridiculous. If you look at the testing thread, most of the conversations that take place are among the posters who post a lot on THP, and I give props to testers when they take the time to share an in depth analysis of what they are doing.

I have had my share of "Thanks for the review", but at the same time, I try to follow it up with a question. The active members of THP keep the threads moving, and the reviewers are the ones who keep the threads to the top of the page. I know with testing that I have been involved in or have followed, most people try to think of new ways to bring up new thoughts/points of interest in the equipment, even after X amount of pages have gone by. One of my favorite threads on THP has been the Blind Ball Testing review threads, and even after a month of testing that ball, a lot of people were still plugging away trying to give their honest review of a ball, and the forum members were quick to ask questions or make comments. To hear that some people give up on threads because of the fact that there may be a few posts that are off topic is pathetic, it's the internet, what do you expect?

THP offers us a free community, with excellent opportunities for testing, but at the same time excellent feedback on equipment that most players would never have the opportunity to game.
 
As a tester of the ML4 I preface all my posts in bold red so they are easy to spot.
 
JB said:
A separate forum would not get viewed by guests. How many people view the Flatsticks forum comapred to Golf clubs? How about Golf Style? Even Club Building? There is a reason that testing threads are where they are and also get the views they do.

If we have a testing thread that has 7-10 testers of a piece of golf equipment, in my opinion that thread should not fall much past the first page of equipment. If it does, I very much wonder why. 8 different people testing a product at different times and answering questions or discussing a product at different times. If it falls that far back, it wont stay that far back for long (or shouldnt).

An equipment company is not going to donate thousands of dollars in equipment to THP only to have a thread buried in a sub forum for only forum members to find.
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Very good points JB, after looking at it from that point of view, I totally understand why it's done the way it is.
 
Wow...after re-reading what I posted and saw a couple comments back...I think I came across in the wrong way (my fault). I didn't want to sound disgruntled, I am actually the opposite. I guess what I was trying to say is that when I look at a product that's being tested, I'm very interested in the information the testers have to offer. It was never my intention of knocking people for thanking the testers...nor to imply that there's no room for discussion. I appreciate everything they (testers) do, otherwise there would be no reason for me to follow the thread. I was just offering an opinion that once a review thread gets way up there in pages, I feel the interest might begin to fall due to knowing there aren't that many pages of "true review" information and thus doing the testers an injustice by having people who otherwise would come back to begin to lose interest because they don't want to sort through to find the pertinent info.

I realize that the responses to my post are from long time, active, interested people and I certainly want to apologize for my choice of wording in my reply. I certainly didn't intend to offend anyone for being active (which is again what I feel THP is all about).
 
2Shoes. I think what gets left out in the ratio of where do the testing threads go (as they fall back) is that many are looking at it from a THP forum member point of view. Truth is most forum members are part of one of the two categories. They either follow along in testing threads or dont care and never plan to read them. However more views come from guests and organic search than anything else. Those threads relegated to a sub forum after they reach their conclusion will just not get read enough by those not active on THP.

For an example of this, take a look at the THP PGA Show section. More information, pictures, videos, etc. than all of the other forums combined possibly. Yet how many forum members, guests or anybody else goes back to there to find information on certain clubs? Almost nobody.

I didnt think your response was offensive and I found it quite well written. Unfortunately its just the hard part of juggling unbiased and honest reviews from regular consumers and this crazy world we call the interwebz and making sure people see said reviews.
 
Thanks JB...as I've stated in other posts, organic search is how I found you. The information I sought was readily available and I thought "cool, I want to know....THP has the answer". I was VERY open minded when I looked to upgrade my driver and exclusively used THP to help my process. I guess it didn't come off as easy as my original find to get the info I desired. I guess you can assume I'm a "meat and potato" kinda' guy...no need for stuff on the side; which I understand is a personal preference. I really felt bad that I didn't take a little more time to review how someone else might take my response and I'm not a person to intentionally offend anyone, certainly not people who've spent a long time working to help make this site what I believe it is...I am sure that those members will understand that it's just my point of view but I didn't want to rub people the wrong way. Thanks again!
 
No worries. This forum is all about different thoughts and you are all good as far as I am concerned.
 
2Shoes said:
Thanks JB...as I've stated in other posts, organic search is how I found you. The information I sought was readily available and I thought "cool, I want to know....THP has the answer". I was VERY open minded when I looked to upgrade my driver and exclusively used THP to help my process. I guess it didn't come off as easy as my original find to get the info I desired. I guess you can assume I'm a "meat and potato" kinda' guy...no need for stuff on the side; which I understand is a personal preference. I really felt bad that I didn't take a little more time to review how someone else might take my response and I'm not a person to intentionally offend anyone, certainly not people who've spent a long time working to help make this site what I believe it is...I am sure that those members will understand that it's just my point of view but I didn't want to rub people the wrong way. Thanks again!
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Stick around 2shoes I think you will really enjoy THP, who knows you might be one of those testers one day. I didnt think your post was offensive at all, just another point of view
 
"A separate forum would not get viewed by guests."

This is how I found this site, I googled xyz club reviews and that thread was one of the returns. I assume this is how most guests are being brought to THP and they will get to that thread no matter where it is kept. But now that I am a member, I do find it hard to find a specific testing thread and damn near impossible to find and one on older clubs. Maybe I just haven't learned the ins and outs of the search function yet. But wouldn't visitors just leave the site before they figured it out? I just believe if all the products being tested as well as past tests were all grouped together in one neat place it would easier for all to see. And I dont see how the manufacturers would see this as bad unless they want someone looking for putting advice to stumble upon a putter review. If this is the case then that raises other questions with me.

As for the banter in the threads, you are asking the testers to post a certain way which is good. However, it would also be nice if the members would keep their posts to a specific question about the item being tested so the pages are entirely on point.
 
milehighgolfer said:
"A separate forum would not get viewed by guests."

This is how I found this site, I googled xyz club reviews and that thread was one of the returns. I assume this is how most guests are being brought to THP and they will get to that thread no matter where it is kept. But now that I am a member, I do find it hard to find a specific testing thread and damn near impossible to find and one on older clubs. Maybe I just haven't learned the ins and outs of the search function yet. But wouldn't visitors just leave the site before they figured it out? I just believe if all the products being tested as well as past tests were all grouped together in one neat place it would easier for all to see. And I dont see how the manufacturers would see this as bad unless they want someone looking for putting advice to stumble upon a putter review. If this is the case then that raises other questions with me.

As for the banter in the threads, you are asking the testers to post a certain way which is good. However, it would also be nice if the members would keep their posts to a specific question about the item being tested so the pages are entirely on point.
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Welcome aboard! I don't think giving gear reviews its own category is a good idea. I think some stuff gets archived and may not come up on a search. In those cases a google search with "hackers" included has done the trick for me. As to the banter, THP is first and foremost a community. Friendly back and forth is part of the community and keeps things going. The banter could detract from some threads, but JB does a god job of keeping things from coming off the tracks.
 
OMG, so many great posts already. Here's two that I liked:

mcook77 with a great intro post:
http://goo.gl/3p21Z

doubledxu recently posted one for the Heavy Driver I thought was creative:
http://goo.gl/URFDx
 
GolferGal said:
This came from a forum member:

I really would like to have the tester let me know _exactly_ what equipment he/she games in the bag and/or more specifically, what club the test club is replacing.

I would like to be able to personally go look at a club like the tester's personal club...It really helps when they describe what "they" think is a "narrow topline". Also, I think they should give a quick recap of any testing including exactly what ball or club (when testing balls) they used. My ball looks, sounds, and feels different when using a Nike club vs. a TaylorMade...and my club can feel and sound different based on the ball.

I would think a lot of us have hit quite a few clubs/balls and this would give us an idea of what they prefer in their bag in order to give me an idea of how that corresponds to what I carry, prefer, or have tested myself.

I think I'd like to see things like this attached to each "testing" session..

Test Date: 08/31/2011
Testing Club: Nike VR Pro Hybrid 3|21* - Shaft: Project X - Flex: 6.0
My Club: Titleist 909H 21* - Shaft: Voodoo - Flex: Stiff -OR- Usually do not bag similar club
Ball Used: Titleist Pro-V1 | or Range Balls (Excellent, Good, or Should only be used to balance 18 wheeler tires Condition)
Environment: Light Breeze in face (if used on range) and any other significant info - for distance purposes

Stuff like that which I feel I'd like to know. Also...I really, really like the A, B, C, grade system for the standard topics!
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I really like this idea. I'm sure it is helpful for GG to see what club is currently being played, but for me I really like the idea of posting the conditions you are playing in and what ball is being used. Knowing how well someoneis spinning the ball will make a big difference depending what ball they are playing or what the course conditions are like.
 
INgolfer said:
I really like this idea. I'm sure it is helpful for GG to see what club is currently being played, but for me I really like the idea of posting the conditions you are playing in and what ball is being used. Knowing how well someoneis spinning the ball will make a big difference depending what ball they are playing or what the course conditions are like.
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I have incorporated this into my posts IN and I love it. I smacked myself for not thinking of it first:beat-up:
 
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