An IRM Archive?

[David Holman]

It was really sad to read of Ken's (KCME) passing today and looking back at some of his posts didn't make it any better. We have lost a rare and remarkable talent.

 Recently, we have also learned that Patrick's wonderful layout has run its last train and this has set me thinking. This Irish Railway Models Forum is a really valuable resource and hopefully Ken, Patrick and other's work will remain here, available to view for many years to come. However, as is the way of things, when individual posts no longer get updated, they eventually drop off the front page and fall down the order, not lost, but increasingly out of sight, so I have a proposal:

Is it possible to set up a new category to cover such things?

For example Ken didn't just have his work bench thread, he posted other topics too and wouldn't it be nice to put them all together under a single heading in a new category? 

 Similarly, rather than just see Patrick's layout drop from the scene, would this also be a worthy move to preserve its interest?

 There must be other layouts that have similarly passed on, as it were.

 Another thought concerns esteemed modellers of the Irish scene, who have not been with us for quite a while - for example Drew Donaldson, Richard Chown, etc. While neither posted here, feel sure we could easily create an archive of their work.

 Technically, am thinking it would probably be down to the administrators to set up a new category and then find and migrate posts to appropriate sections - especially for folk no longer with us. An archive for old layouts could be cut and pasted by anyone still around, likewise any historical stuff.

 Seems like a decent idea to me, though there may be obstacles I haven't considered, but just wondered if there might be a way to honour the best of what we have here and Ken was certainly up there.

[Metrovik]

Sounds like a great idea, let's get this topic some attention.

[BosKonay]

Ultimately the forum itself remains a permanent archive that is searchable. It should be possible to split things like ee have done with shops closing etc but does that then put them out of the realm of places where people would browse?

[jhb171achill]

22 minutes ago, David Holman said:

It was really sad to read of Ken's (KCME) passing today and looking back at some of his posts didn't make it any better. We have lost a rare and remarkable talent.

 Recently, we have also learned that Patrick's wonderful layout has run its last train and this has set me thinking. This Irish Railway Models Forum is a really valuable resource and hopefully Ken, Patrick and other's work will remain here, available to view for many years to come. However, as is the way of things, when individual posts no longer get updated, they eventually drop off the front page and fall down the order, not lost, but increasingly out of sight, so I have a proposal:

Is it possible to set up a new category to cover such things?

For example Ken didn't just have his work bench thread, he posted other topics too and wouldn't it be nice to put them all together under a single heading in a new category? 

 Similarly, rather than just see Patrick's layout drop from the scene, would this also be a worthy move to preserve its interest?

 There must be other layouts that have similarly passed on, as it were.

 Another thought concerns esteemed modellers of the Irish scene, who have not been with us for quite a while - for example Drew Donaldson, Richard Chown, etc. While neither posted here, feel sure we could easily create an archive of their work.

 Technically, am thinking it would probably be down to the administrators to set up a new category and then find and migrate posts to appropriate sections - especially for folk no longer with us. An archive for old layouts could be cut and pasted by anyone still around, likewise any historical stuff.

 Seems like a decent idea to me, though there may be obstacles I haven't considered, but just wondered if there might be a way to honour the best of what we have here and Ken was certainly up there.

An absolutely excellent idea!

[DJ Dangerous]

I'm a little confused by this. Do you mean a new "Gone But Not Forgotten" section of the forum?

If so, it would be a nice idea, but the mods struggle to deal with current forum maintenance as it is. The spamming, duplicate posts, bullying, fighting etc, plus basic maintenance, updates, bug fixes all drain their time.

If somebody were to volunteer their own time to do the work, a la THIS post, then maybe it would be manageable for the mods to make the final changes.

Also, taking @patrick's lovely layout into consideration, what happens when he starts posting again after the house move? Move his thread into the RIP section, then back to the layout section?

Also also, the same rules will apply in the RIP section as the rest of the forum - the more stuff that goes in there, the more things will get buried.

I feel that a simple solution would be for any member to bump the threads that they wish to keep fresh in other's minds with a post every six months or so. Something short and sweet like "Missing Ballyercall" and that brings it back to the top of the layout section.