I did an unscientific comparison of posts to the threads I follow. I have approximately the same number of forums that I follow on ATP and DG. After a seven day period I compared the number of posts either I made or someone else made that were related to my posts. That number on ATP was 42 and on DG the number was 13. I have noticed this same tendency for the entire 2014, and the discrepancy between ATP and DG seems to be growing wider all the time.

ATP rocks!

drdawg said:ATP rocks!

Ken - I can conclude what you are saying. I rarely use DG, but once in a blue moon I have a plant question and want to post it on more than one forum hoping someone with experience from FL will reply, therefore I will post the question there as well as here. It often takes longer to get a reply on DG and then the replies are very limited. Usually 1 (maybe 2) reply posts. ATP seems much more active to me than other "plant" websites. I like ATP because it is always improving (thanks to Dave)! And it IS FUN and educational!!!

Becky, I do the same thing and with the same results. WE BOTH CAN'T BE WRONG!

with both of you!

I never felt welcome at that other site. Self appointed experts were condecending and rude.

ATP does seem to be a happier and more friendly site. I can't explain why.

There's a general lack of community spirit there. When I first joined DG many years ago, there were threads and forums that included and invited comments and discussion by members from all over the site. These discussions gradually moved to individual forums, which became cliquish and uninviting. I only saw one DG post congratulating the winners of this year's photo contest, for instance, and I'm not sure anyone responded to it. Compare that to the discussions here following our photo contest.

Unless you are a paid member there, you have very limited access. Their payed membership has been dropping drastically since Dave left. In July of 2009 they had 7861 payed subscribers and two weeks ago they were down to only 2798. At their current rate of loss, they will have no paying members in less 3 years.

That's interesting information. I hardly ever use DG, so I had no idea that the membership dropped so much. I think quite a few previous DG members followed Dave here or have been migrating here over the years since ATP was created.

Jay, this has nothing to do with ATP, and needless to say, I have commented quite a bit on its advantages. I lived in Nederland in 1952-1956. Small world. I was born in Beaumont (my dad worked in the ship-yard and then enlisted in the Navy in WW II.

drdawg said:Jay, this has nothing to do with ATP, and needless to say, I have commented quite a bit on its advantages

I'm afraid I missed your point here. I was not talking about ATP. You and zuzu both mentioned DG and I making a correlation about you comments and hers.

drdawg said: I have noticed this same tendency for the entire 2014, and the discrepancy between ATP and DG seems to be growing wider all the time.

DG membership is dropping while ATP is growing, which might explain why there is such a difference in the two and why the gap is growing.

zuzu said:There's a general lack of community spirit there.

The lack of community spirit is likely a big reason their membership is dropping

zuzu said:I only saw one DG post congratulating the winners of this year's photo contest, for instance, and I'm not sure anyone responded to it. Compare that to the discussions here following our photo contest.

Both community spirit and declining membership probably contributed to this. While ATP has both a large membership and great community spirit.

You've misunderstood drdawg's post, Jay. He was merely warning you that he was going off topic (ATP vs. DG) to tell you that he once lived in Nederland.

I realize that I misunderstood, that's why I said "I'm afraid I missed your point here." I thought he was telling me I was of topic, but now that you pointed out my mistake it's seems pretty obvious what he meant. Thanks for the clarification.

drdawg said:I lived in Nederland in 1952-1956. Small world. I was born in Beaumont (my dad worked in the ship-yard and then enlisted in the Navy in WW II.

You were gone a couple of year before I arrived. I technically I was born in Beaumont, since that was where the hospital was, but we lived in Beauxart Gardens.
Both my parents were from Beaumont, and my grandfather worked at the shipyard.

Your grandfather and my father may have worked together, Jay. How about that!

The hospital was probably Hotel Dieu. That's where I was born in 1943. I don't know whether there are any Hotel Dieu hospitals left in America. Hotel Dieu de Paris has a great and interesting history, being the first hospital established in Paris, France. That hospital, though established in 651, still exists and is the oldest hospital in the world.

Thanks Zuzu for clarification...I misunderstood too.

drdawg said:ATP does seem to be a happier and more friendly site. I can't explain why.

I totally agree -- as Zuzu noted, many of the forums seemed to become quite "cliquish," IMO. Seems odd to me, since Dave created both sites, but maybe it was just some sort of natural progression Or maybe ATP just feels different to me because I've been here essentially since the very beginning. I hope new members find it a fun and friendly place as well!

I can assure you, at least from my perspective, the two sites are nothing alike. I have met some really nice, knowledgeable folks on DG, but the "feel" is just somehow different. To really get anything from the DG site, be ready to fork up money. To advertise anything at all on DG, be ready to fork up some money. Forget listing my website anywhere, anytime on DG. Make that misstep, the God's of DG will quickly be down your throat. I know, I have made some mistakes there.