Welcome new Users (& advice for everyone too!)

I have begun to notice that many questions already asked and answered are starting to appear again.  Let me remind you that at the top of the screen is a "Search" function, and I suggest you use it to see if your question has been asked.  With over 1000 topics and 16,000 postings, there is already a lot of ground covered!

Alternatively, look at the bottom of each section and you will see that many sections now have fifteen or more pages of topics, and for newer users, go back through and see the older topics.

Also, sometimes people are just posting questions wherever they happen to be at the time, so PLEASE, when posting a new question or topic, make sure that it is in the right section.  As an example, if you want to know about a book about Nicholas II, the "Imperial Family" section is not the right place, post it in the Books section, etc.

On the same note, when replying to a topic, make sure it is ON TOPIC, and not something for a new discussion, like discussing jewelry or a movie role in a thread about the life of a particular Duchess.

If ever unsure of something, please do not hesitate to send me an instant message or private email.

No one should take any of this personally, as I don't mean it that way.  Just that with so many postings (sometimes 150 or more a day!) I need your cooperation to keep things in order.

Thanks for helping us out!

Thank you Rob - as a user I quite agree. I have actually found it really frustrating on here of late because the same points seem to be made over and over again - and some posters reply to a reply by repeating their original point. This combined with the format of the board (not easy to simply download and delete posts one isn't interested in) mean I've given up reading most of it....Yesterday evening it took me several hours to read and post in four threads.
Again, this isn't personal, just a plea that people respect others' limited capacity to read stuff.

Janet

While I was guilty of participating in the 'movie' thing, and I am relatively new, even I have seen an increase in 'clutter' on the main board. Too many threads are being started, not only on things that may have been discussed pages back that newer members were not aware of, but starting too many on the same topic, even 2 on the same woman within days of each other, or things that belong in other forums. Such excessive threads only push the interesting discussions off the page faster, and once they are off the main page, more people are less likely to look for them. I only make these suggestions for the order of the board.

That being said, Janet A.,  I do think it's a bit rude to insinuate that other people's posts are junk that are wasting your precious time. I'm sorry if we are not all mind readers and unable to know before we post if it's something you don't want to see or waste your day on. There are a lot of people here and what you consider junk may be relevant to someone else. Also some topics, like the AA subject, are so complicated it should not be surprising there are so many comments on it, and how some of the same things may end up being repeated as a similar aspect is brought up that may have also been mentioned in another thread. Oh and the comment that some of us spend way too much time online, (in the AA/Anastasia thread) just plain wasn't very nice at all.

That being said, Janet A.,  I do think it's a bit rude to insinuate that other people's posts are junk that are wasting your precious time. I'm sorry if we are not all mind readers and unable to know before we post if it's something you don't want to see or waste your day on. There are a lot of people here and what you consider junk may be relevant to someone else. Also some topics, like the AA subject, are so complicated it should not be surprising there are so many comments on it, and how some of the same things may end up being repeated as a similar aspect is brought up that may have also been mentioned in another thread. Oh and the comment that some of us spend way too much time online, (in the AA/Anastasia thread) just plain wasn't very nice at all.

Annie; I'm sorry if I've offended you. Perhaps I can clarify:

I don't characterise anyone's posts as "junk". If I'm not interested in a thread, I don't read it. No-one wastes my time either: I have a job which is busy but ends when I go home; I spend a lot of my spare time doing Russia-related things, which sometimes means choosing to post in certain threads if I think I can help or if I want to discuss something, and when I make a promise I follow up. Right now I'm aware that I'm never followed up on the "Nicky's tattoo" thread, when I promised to find info about where his tattoo was. I will do so when I've time. On the other hand, I don't think anyone singles me out as a particular expert on any topic, asks me questions, or is disappointed if I don't reply when they've spent their time asking me something. So I don't feel bad. Think about it. Please.

I didn't say either that anyone spends "too much" time on the internet. Some people are obviously here a lot  contributing a great deal. My concern is that we all spend what time we have as productively as possible.

Hope that makes sense...

Janet

Okay I'm sure you didn't mean to insult anyone. I hope I didn't insult the avid thread starters either:( One more thing about the google search though is that as you know sometimes it can bring up thousands of results, many unrelated to the person's question, many no longer functional, etc., and I can understand how someone might want to just drop by and ask here since surely there is an expert who will know and be able to answer them soon!

While I am new to this board, I am not new to the message board scene and I do know the importance of 'condensing' and 'everything in its place' because boards that have ended up as runaway clutter caused by disorganization and too much repetition usually do not last long:( (I was on a board once where several people a day would start a thread on the same topic, then since it happened so much things got pushed off the board quickly, someone else thought it was hot news and posted it yet again, this being within days!) But that is certainly not a problem here at least not yet. I enjoy this board very much and the posters are sensible, considerate, intelligent and interesting people:) (something sadly rare in a lot of boards)

I think we may need a Boneyard.  

There is one on another board where I post, and it has been great for tweezing out off-topic posts, or things that could be addressed by IM or email, or even topics that have been discussed ad infinitum.

All that happens is this: The FA removes any inappropriate posts to the Boneyard, which is a read-only thread.  No questions, comments or discussion necessary -- and if any arises, it's Boneyarded too.

Just an idea...

Penny,
The idea is one we have explored. The only problem, and its a doozy, is that this BB software does not allow me to move single postings.  My only options are to move an entire thread or delete single postings.

Dear Forum Administrator,

I plead guilty to discussing jewelry, i. e. La Peregrina. However, when I notice that there seems to be confusion swirling around a certain topic and many questions posting back and forth because of it, I do feel the need to clarify should I have the knowledge (or the access to it) to do so.  It seems to me that, however "off-topic" some might judge a thread to be leading, in the long run it saves time and space for everyone involved just to answer the question so that we can all move on. And, for those new to the site, many of us might not have been aware of what you have now advised us to do regarding the search.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help all of us.  Having now been chastised, we will try in the future to be on our best behavior.

Many Blessings, Kay

Kay, Annie, and everyone. PLEASE do not take my words personally. I took random examples to illustrate my point, and specifically said I was not pointing a finger at anyone.

Kay, as for your point, imagine that someone has a question about (hypothetically speaking) dinner on board the Standardt. IF you answer the question in say, a thread about Anya Vyroubova's family life, while it might pertain to Anya having BEEN to dinner there, the person wondering about the Standardt would not KNOW to look in a different thread, and would go right to the Transportation thread....
I hope this illustrates my point about trying to keep things "tidy".

Dear FA---Not to worry.  I am not one who takes things personally. Just trying to bring some Newbie logic and humor to the situation.  Thank goodness Annie has posted that lovely picture of the Faberge piece and all those questions about The Wanderer and Felipe and Felix and Liz were so beautifully and directly cleared up for us by Antonio---Many Blessings, Kay.

FA, reading these messages I feel terrible about jumping around with questions.  Thank you for being patient.  

I've probably been guilty of this as well.    I do try to prowl through the threads before posting. Often I just rely on memory because on the 'main' boards (ie not topic specific like AA or the Yussupovs) I tend to participate more and I often remember at least reading about a certain post. I think I once dredged one up from waaay back to post some new info.

Has anybody seen the new Star Wars movie?

lol, joking, couldn't resist    

I also plead guilty to asking the first question that pops into my thread whether it applies to the topic or not. Thanks for the post FA, being realtively new, it was good for me to read.

I am quite new in this forum, and when looking at old messages, many times the pictures have disappeared. Or I find comments about things that do no exist any more. Is there a possibility to recuperate all this "lost" material?
Many thanks.
Cristina