We are still seeing new members posting questions, mostly in the Plant ID and the Ask a Question forums and there is no location information.

Perhaps the members of the "welcome wagon", whoever they may be - when they send their welcoming Treemail to each new person could mention the importance of location and instruct the new member how to find and complete their profile page.

I think this is always going to be a problem because of the fact that due to security and safety issues many people don't like to divulge personal information. Location does help a lot for identifying plants and if the poster can give a general idea of where the plant is growing there's a better chance of finding an exact ID.

I wonder if we could have a "guide" of sorts at the top of the Plant ID Forum: http://garden.org/forums/view/... listing the information needed to be able to offer an identification? I have no idea how it should be worded but for example something like the following:

~To have your plant identified, please list as much information about the plant as possible and upload photos of the plant in question. A photo of the entire plant, a photo of the leaves and (if the plant is in bloom) a close up photo of the flower will all help. Also of importance for identification is to tell us in what part of the world the plant is growing. If the plant is growing in your own personal garden and you prefer not to divulge your exact location, you can list a general area like your state or country, i.e. Kansas, Maine, Northeastern United States, Australia, England, etc. and whether the plant is growing in full sun, full shade, etc.~


Some folks ( and I'm quite often guilty of this) scan past a lot of typing and don't read it thoroughly so we will probably always have to continue to gently ask for that information from some posters.

I will call the Plant ID Forum moderators to see if they perhaps have suggestions. @Calif_Sue @eclayne @jon @KentPfeiffer @zuzu

It's not totally about securtity because when you ask them to put the information in their profile, they don't. But they will give you the information in the thread which is just as public as the profile.

Oh, okay ... I know sometimes people are cautious and don't want to reveal any personal information, including their location. Maybe they just sign up to ask the question and don't think about filling in their profile info or stating their location until prompted by another member.

... so, perhaps no heading on the forum is necessary and we can just continue asking for their location when they post for an ID.

The flip side of that, tho, is if they DO include that information to begin with, they are much more likely to get a helpful answer right away, which would make them more likely to stick around. Maybe just a general note like: Please include photos if possible and at least general location information.

I still think they should be asked "where the plant is growing".Country, State/garden/wild? We have many long time members with profiles complete, that ask about plants they have seen in their travels. That question could be included in the instructions on the right side of the page, and it's not necessary to tell the world where they live.

Unfortunately, Lin, guides and instructions are rarely read. A message in boldface, circled in red on the home page of the ID Forum, says: "Attention: start a new thread for each plant that you need identified!" in spite of this, people persist in posting threads requesting ID's for more than one plant or, odder still, adding their own ID requests to the bottom of someone else's thread.

Besides, the current emphasis on location seems excessive to me. It can be necessary in identifying a weed or wildflower or in nailing down a species, but in most cases the plant can be identified without knowing the location. An azalea is always going to be an azalea and a cosmos is always going to be a cosmos, for example, regardless of the location, so there's no need to demand a location from the posters in these cases. I think a polite request for the location, in the cases in which location can be relevant, is sufficient.

zuzu said: "Attention: start a new thread for each plant that you need identified!"

When I read those instructions I want to yell at the computer screen....It should say "Attention: only ONE plant for identification per thread!"

I agree that many people do not read the rules, the instructions, or whatever...but then they get rather pissy when we ask for information that we might need in order to give a better answer. It is excusable when new members don't know the ropes, but after a couple of months, or a couple of years I would think that the members should have figured out what is needed. That was not the point of my suggestion.

Anyway, my suggestion was for the "Welcoming Committee" people. Except for the one person who welcomed me I really do not know who they are but I know that any time there is a new member, someone from the selected group says hello and welcome to each new member; just thought it would be a good idea to add a few lines about the importance of location (even if it is just the nearest large city) in gleaning better answers.

I was told that the "Welcoming Committee" was going to be discontinued, although I'm not sure at what point.

Somewhere around the first of June ( I forget exactly when), we transitioned our oldest daughter Katie to be the sole welcoming committee, so it does still exist, but it is an NGA "staff" and not our wonderful volunteers who spent countless hours through the years welcoming new members.

Believe me- new members rarely if ever read the email. Additional information won't help. However, we do all we can to encourage members to include their information. That's really all we can do.

Way to go Katie!

I don't think anyone should badger people about their location. I've actually widened my own profile location in response to all this hoop-lah. If you recognize the plant in question, let the poster know what you think it is. If they have asked a care of plant question, answer how you would address it in your region. If they want to complete their profile, they will. If not, oh well.

If the management is under the impression that people do not read Treemails then there is no use in my offering the suggestion so I will withdraw my suggestion.

As a new member I did read my Treemails; I appreciated receiving a warm welcome and knew that if I had any newbie questions I would be able to contact the person who had welcomed me to the site. For me it was a positive experience.

Katie Good luck in your new job!

You can always ask the poster for location. But I agree, many people just don't want their personal information floating out there. Our personal info is everywhere nowadays. If you are ever the victim of identity theft, you'll understand better.

Karen

I think there is a second category of question-asker who won't read or respond to suggestions or even red-bold-flashing dire threats,.

In the "Ask a Question" forum, we get a lot of "drive-by questions". The original post is very short and shows little time or thought. Then they never reply to questions or say "thank you" or "that sounds right or wrong". I often wonder whether they even come back to read the replies.

But such is life. I'm glad that 3-4 people usually post lots of good answers based on "If THIS is case, try THIS". At least in the future, if someone has a question similar to the thread title, they may read the replies and learn something, or contribute an idea that everyone else missed. The only person gaining nothing from such a thread would be the original poster!

Especially when the question shows ZERO time and very little thought, and the OP never posts again, I assume that their maximum investment in ATP/NGA is going to be the 15 seconds of typing "how due i improv my soil".

If they won't even say whether their soil is sand, clay or gravel, when asking how to improve it, are they likely to look for, find and fill out a form?

People who intend to become real, participating "members" as opposed to drive-by shooters probably will, whether we ask them too or not, after they settle in.

Maybe some people are spooked when they get multiple responses and are too shy (or something) to actually participate in a discussion. ???

BTW: thread topics like "Help!" are less likely to attract an answer than stating the problem or request in the topic. But that's been a problem everywhere since the days of 300-baud modems. Perhaps since cave paintings were invented!

I read all of my treemails when I first joined. I was very happy to have emails from Woofie and Greene, and did ask them more questions as I started to post and surf the site. I'm glad your Katie will be doing this now. It's a big job, so kudos to you, Katie!

Way to go Katie.

Thank you! I enjoy doing it and hope to continue for a long time!