Location, location, location

It drives me crazy on discussion boards that most people don't have any reference to where they live.  I've been on international discussion boards where people don't even put the country they live in.  There just aren't that many brands, plants or other things that are common to the whole world.

Why go to the trouble of giving a list of plants or something, and then finding out you live in Alaska or the Northwest Territories?

We don't have to know your address or your town, just your state (and maybe what part, east, west, etc) would be a big help. 

Just go to the boxes at the upper right of the page, and click on ‘Profile’.  When your profile comes up, look left for the heading that says ‘Modify Profile’ and click on ‘Forum Profile Information’.  Just go down to the box for Location, and type in just a general location.

Few people actually put where they are, and there are others who may have wonderful info, but they don’t know if it applies to you, so why bother to post?

And Paul, how about all the newcomers have to add their general location to register here?

Yes, yes, yes, I know, I'm a demanding person.  I want everything just so.  I'm sure no one has a problem with that, right?     

Sue

Pennsylvania.

Or, better known by the jersyans as pennsyltucky.

When you monkey with your "forum profile information", there is a field called "personal text" - what is that?  Could that be changed to "location"?

well lets see. I just put oklahoma into that spot and I want to see where or if it appears when i post....


edit...yep, looks like it would be a good spot for it.

Thanks, Leah!  I didn't know how to do that.

Sue

When I first joined this site, I left my location blank. Later, I filled it in. But it still doesn't show up under my name when I post. What do I need to do to make this work? I wonder if others are having this problem also. I would love to see where everyone is from. Makes it more personal, and helps me imagine their site better, in case they forget to mention location.

I merged your thread with this old thread - does this help?

Well, yes and no. Now I guess I know how to show my location to others. But this is fiddly, and not many folks are going to bother to track down how to do it. Took me months to ask. Of course, it will be obvious to some.

When I go to that page, under Edit Proflie, it says, "You can change your personal information on this page. This information will be displayed throughout Permaculture Forums. If you aren't comfortable with sharing some information, simply skip it - nothing here is required."

This makes one think that one's location will be displayed under one's name in the forums. Can you change the wording on this blurb to reflect reality? And also, where it says Personal Text, can you indicate that this is a good place to put your location if you want others to see it? And maybe announce these changes in your monthly email?

I can see that at least one other person passionately wants to know where folks are from. I told you two of my reasons, and my third is that it would be fun to see who is from my area, as well. Maybe I could meet them in person. Maybe we could meet others when we visit other parts of the country. Isn't permaculture about building the culture we want?

Ok, enough whining and ranting. I do enjoy and appreciate the forums, Paul.

sup

edit:
there we go

So here's a bump up with more specific instructions:

- click the profile button (near the top right of each screen),
- click "forum profile information" (in the left menu)
- type location info in the "personal text" field
- click "change profile" button at bottom to save.

(It came up in a podcast we recorded last night...Paul was attempting to answer lots of questions that had to do with location.)

I'm from way over t/here and I'm all for giving people a bit of an idea what the climate's like in Wellington, New Zealand!
Making it clearer that your 'personal text' could be just your location would be great.

Hi Leila, it would be great to hear more about NZ! There are plans for a global software change...some time...so this is the best we have until then. Not sure what the options will be in the new system.