Invasion of the Sitting Journals...

Hey guys, by a rough count I just noticed that the 13 of the 24 topics in the general discussion forum are currently "sitting journals/practice journals/meditation logs" et al. I was just wondering, with due respect for the importance of these journals, how would you lot feel about having a separate discussion forum (apart from general discussion), just for sitting journals and related content?

I was going to email Kenneth and ask him, but I thought it would be best to see how everyone else felt first.

I don't know if you can implement that in Wetpaint but given the nature of this place I'm not sure I'd want to. It's pretty easy to decide which threads to read if you don't want to read all of them. As one of the early sitting journal authors it just feels right to me that others do that here, too, and then we all learn from each other by watching each other's practice journals. I guess I don't see them as a handicap as much as the strength of KFDh, Mark.

JMHO

Let me say, too, that I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea if it can be done without being too intrusive. I understand the concern you're raising but I'm partial to the DNA of this place

I'm in favor of limiting posts to *only* practice journals and practice related questions to Kenneth, and letting go entirely of all the conceptual discussion.

Hi Mark,

I think the sitting journals are a big part of what we do here, so I don't want to do anything that would discourage them. I love the fact that everyone can track everyone else's progress.

That said, I'm glad you raised the question, because I've noticed that it's sometimes hard to tell one person's journal from another by the names of the threads. So, I suggest that everyone include their screen name in the name of their thread, e.g., Mark VanWhy's sitting journal. For people who have already begun a journal, no worries. Eventually you will want to start a "sitting journal part 2" thread to keep your thread from getting too long. When you do, just add your name to the thread (and link back to the original thread in your head post).

Kenneth

"I guess I don't see them as a handicap as much as the strength of KFDh, Mark."

I completely agree, please don't misunderstand where I am coming from: I'm just bringing it up as a matter of **organization**, I'm not at all saying that some particular content is better than other content or anything like that. Currently there are 3 forums here at KFDh: espanol, GD, and OT. If that's a good number for everyone else I'm fine with it too. No problem.

Anyhoo, maybe having just a few forums is better. I must admit it can get kind of comical when things become too organized. ESanga's, for example, had so many different forums it was hard to tell where to put what where.

I agree with Mark. Currently the "General Discussion" forum is obviously split between two types of threads: practice journals, and general practice threads that aren't about the details of day to day practice. As an organizational matter it would make a lot of sense, I think, to split it up between a "practice journals" forum and a "general discussion" forum. That is not to suggest that one is more important than the other, just to acknowledge the unique focus of each.

"I agree with Mark. Currently the "General Discussion" forum is obviously split between two types of threads: practice journals, and general practice threads that aren't about the details of day to day practice. As an organizational matter it would make a lot of sense, I think, to split it up between a "practice journals" forum and a "general discussion" forum. That is not to suggest that one is more important than the other, just to acknowledge the unique focus of each."

Certainly adding a "Practice Journals" category should be easy and won't affect the site adversely (IMO). In practice, it won't really help all that much though because if you are like me, you bookmark the "Updates" page which does not allow any filtering by discussion category.

"... you bookmark the "Updates" page which does not allow any filtering by discussion category."

Put me in that category, too.

I usually just browse the forums directly, in which case the non-practice journal threads tend to get scrolled off the first page pretty quickly, due to there being many practice journal threads that are updated relatively frequently.

As an update to this thread, please note that there is now a "Practice Notes" category and (to the best of my ability) all practice-related threads have been moved there. The net impact to most people is...zero. The "Updates" tab continues to work exactly as before. The main benefit is for those that are interested *only* in practice threads, or those *not* interested in those threads. In either of those cases, you can go to "Discussions", click on your category of interest, and only see the activity limited to that category.

If I have missed a thread, or if you are starting a new practice-related thread, please categorize it accordingly.

Thanks, Tom.

Looks good to me. As things grow in leaps and bounds, I hope that the site still manages to keep it's vibe. I have now doubt that the dharma will keep it's vibe, it's just a matter of us going with the proverbial flow.