It's no wonder nobody can find the answer to a simple question around here.

The trend of 'monthly filers' has now moved to the AOS forum. Not only do these people keep track of each other in these threads, they converse with each other about RFE's on their cases, etc.

These threads need to be killed. Honestly, they serve absolutely no purpose and too much information is lost inside them.

How about just adding a subforum like in the K-1 section? This should take care of all the fluff-posts.

That's a good idea...a "filers forum".

THINK most forums could use a case filing and progress sub-category

IMO I'd like to see them gone from K1 as well.

I'd like to see Captain modify the existing timeline searches so these folks could locate data without creating threads.

Too much info is getting buried.

I think the filer threads are great...gives everyone 'on the same boat' a feeling of cameraderie.

Dito

I thought they were great at first, as well.
But then they kept coming. First half of the month filers. Last half of the month filers.
Early morning of the first half of the month filers. Afternoon filers.

I don't think creating yet another subcategory in the forums is a good idea. We have too many of those as it is.
I understand there is a lot of information (Not going to comment on whether it's useful or not) out there but does everything need to be labeled and put in its own little box in a bigger box and in yet an even bigger box?
We're not in kindergarten here.

Good idea but your making the assumption that people are actually familiar with the use of the Search function.......

The search tool will search within threads to find information as well (by default). In general, I see both sides of the coin. On the one side of the coin the diversity of threads build (as was said) a great sense of community and friendship which is something that many people are looking for through the process (the feeling of being all alone in immigration is tough when generally you do not meet people day-to-day in the same situation). The other side is to improve organization and make things easier to find. As of now the best ways to find things are the primary site search on the top of every page, the the forums only search, you can also search within a topic at the bottom of each topic, and also finally the portal page where you can find topics from people of a similar interests as yourself very quickly. I am very open to suggestions and ways to improve and make the site even more welcoming and easy to use .

If the purpose of these threads is to create data, why can't the existing timeline functions of VJ be used to create the same data?

How many members are there here now? Over 34000? It's not hard to find comraderie. In fact, the more people continue to stay in their own 'threads' and 'forums' the less comraderie there is.

I think these are getting out of control, honestly.

A sub-forum for AOS would be handy, but in the same token don't want that to get out of hand either.

I see both sides, and the problem may be different personal preferences. I'm subscribed to the daily digest version of the February filer's K-1 thread, but I don't usually read that email (that is, when that thread was active) because it had so many one-line posts with no information. If there was anything I wanted to read, chances are that I'd miss it scrolling past everything else. I haven't updated that thread with my status because if I did, I'd feel that I should check back on that thread to see if anyone responded with questions for me, and I don't want to wade through that thread.

Filer threads aren't the only ones like that, and again, it comes down to personal preference. Some of us have limited time here and find that sense of community more in posts where people are helping each other with information. For some others, short posts and lots of them are their way of dealing with the difficult waiting stages of this process.

To accommodate everyone's preferences, I think the sub-forums are the best solution. Everyone can find the types of threads they want, the main forums are less cluttered, and as Captain Ewok said, we have the search option.

My perspective comes from the 'old days' when we didn't have these types of threads.

We all managed to 'know' the people who filed around the same time we did without them. And I do believe we managed to find friends from all around the world much more easily.

It was tons easier to find answers to questions also - from a thread title. Most times it wasn't even necessary to use 'Search'.

I used to be of the opinion that the 'filer' threads were entirely useless, but now I think they can be a good way of letting people engage in inane banter about mailing off packages/checks being cashed/files being touched/etc, without clogging up the forums (and irritating the hell out of people) with thousands of such posts. The problems I see with them are that yes, important information could be lost in amongst the hundreds of 'pointless' posts (they definitely shouldn't be used for seeking advice on anything remotely important, IMO, as the people who are actually likely to be able to give accurate answers are unlikely to be reading!), and also that I think it can insulate people from the wider picture - there are definitely people, for example, who seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that it is NOT at all unusual for AOS approval to take a long time, and I have seen a few people who seem to be sinking into despair because someone else has had everything happen in record time, it hasn't happened to them, and therefore something must have gone horribly wrong with their application. Similarly, people who've been waiting all of three months getting seriously pissed off that someone else has been approved before them... crazy. I'm not sure if the 'filer' threads are the cause of this, but I'm not sure that they help at all...

Sooo... my opinion (for what it's worth!) is that they're not necessarily an altogether bad thing - they can be a good way to keep all the chitchat posts together. But I agree, they might actually be causing problems of their own... oh, and I do think it's got beyond a joke when people are starting 'First Week In April Filers' threads, or country-specific ones. The country-specific one in the AOS forum has me totally bemused - what has country of origin got to do with it!? And before anyone says it, I know that NOA dates have bugger all to do with anything, either, but...!

Capt Ewok,

It appears that folks seem to forget or potentially abandon using the search function as much because it creates work for the end-user. That's typical because we are a "right now" society. I would speculate that folks also forget how it was like when they first began their journey through the immigration process and how that sense of comradery and information sharing is vital part of the experience of being on VJ. Since, these "Monthly Filer's Threads" have been permitted to flourish in the AOS Forum, it may be discouraging, at this point, to simply kill those threads upon their creation. However, there may be a viable argument to create a sub-forum in the AOS Forum (like the K1 Sub-Forum) due to the growing community that is changing the culture. That way more concentrated/specific threads can be easily identified and discussed in the primary AOS Forum.

That's my two cents. Can someone please give me my change?

As always, CHEERS!!!

Sheriff Uling

While the search does search the body of the threads, there's a greater noise-to-signal ratio on the bigger threads because it's tedious to dig through all six zillion of the pages of (say) the June thread to find the place where I-864 is highlighted. So it's not just laziness, as if I'm looking for information on how to fill out a form, it's a lot hard to find if it's buried in a conversation about six other things.

Plus, there's a minimum on the length of the string that can be searched and I don't think it takes hyphens. I don't know if there's a way around this, but I just tried to search for I-864 and it returned nothing. Three letters is too short of a string, but how many immigration-related acronyms are three letters or less? AOS, NVC, AP, any of the form numbers.

I think making a case progress/discussion forum would help keep the sense of community and hopefully leave the bulk of the forum uncluttered so people can BROWSE for their answers.

Uling, just for clarity....

I'm talking about eliminating ALL the filer threads. I know in my original post I point out the threads in AOS - my bad for that.

IMO this 'new culture' divides the members - it doesn't unify them at all. And it makes those left at the tail-end of each month more stressed than they need to be.

It's a matter of perspective. Monthly filer threads are helpful in the respect that one can more easily gain a general idea of where their case is in the process relative to others who have filed around the same time. These threads also help build a camaraderie between members with like situations. This, in turn, builds a feeling of belonging, so now the member feels comfortable venturing to other areas and posting there also.

VJ is a pretty vast site, with a number of very strong personalities dominating the forums. This can be off-putting for some. In a site this large, I don't think it's possible to restrict how members post when they remain within the TOS guidelines. If these threads were "killed" how do you see them replaced, going forward?

They don't need to be replaced.

I'm not dismissing your question krikit. Thing is, I believe these threads lead in many ways to a lot of the 'other' problems people complain about insofar as site 'usefulness'.

There's a lot of grumbling about members who want to be spoonfed. If it's mega-difficult to find information then maybe there aren't as many 'spoonfeeders' as we think.

There were no 'filer' threads for ages. I have always was been able to find my 'peers' by simply reading the forums.

So when someone posts "I've just mailed my I-485. Has anyone else mailed their's today?" and 10 other people join in the discussion and start chatting and following each other's progress, you would kill that thread?

Yes. They can join the July/1st week of August/'2nd week of August, but in a leap year' filers thread.





Totally out of control. I filed AOS in December & these thread weren't there then!!! And I still made it thru, A-OK.

Noooooooo. Not at all.

I'm talking about these mega threads that never end.

I understand your position, RebeccaJo. And I think Caladan has a valid point. The search feature could certainly use some refinement. Among other reasons, the "filer" threads probably originated due to the less-than-user-friendliness of the search feature.

As to the spoonfeedees (lol), my general attitude is to ignore them. Once they realize it's not going to happen, they'll soon learn to do some research.

Unfortunately, I must run out now, so I'll check in on the discussion later/tomorrow.

Ciao!

Evolution is a wonderful thing. Just because it was done one way when you were going through it doesn't mean it should stay the same now. And even if you can't...there are those who find value in their existence. Actually, the participation in those threads is proof that people like it & find some value in it.

The focus needs to be on people learning the 'search' feature, not spoon feeding answers by dictating what is said where.

And yes, there's cameraderie with all the people of this forum because we all know about being in an LDR....but people filing at the K-1 stage have more in common with each other than they do with someone who's at the AOS stage. And so on and so forth. And going further, people who file together have an even stronger cameraderie because we're all at the same stage & can bounce countless bits of excitement off each other...

But the same question is prolly answered 500 times over in more specific threads as well.

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

Believe it or not, people actually bounced plenty of excitement off each other before the 'filer' threads. So there's really nothing 'evolutionary' here. There's just more separation.

The "Search" feature here has always been woeful. Using it won't change until it's more user friendly.

The timeline function, if modified, could give people the 'monthly' data they need. Although, why they want it, I have no idea. They'd be much better served looking at data for their Service Center and/or Consulate (at K1 stage) or District Office (at AOS stage).

There is an easy fix to working with legitimate questions buried in the filer threads - those questions can be "split out" of the topic. Now, I know in some cases this is not the most popular thing to do - but for the community it could be very beneficial and is a very common handling in other forums. It's great to see people coming down the pipeline knowing what nuances to expect by way of others just ahead. That happens a bit less I would think because - (and I have heard this stated) "I don't go in xyz monthly filer threads - they don't have anything for me".

That's true.

I find it interesting though that some of the newer members think if we change something 'back' - that this is bad.

Get my point?

The new site search in the blue bar at the top of every page is powered by google and is night and day better than the forums only search -- plus it searches the entire content of the site. If you have only used the forums search you will be impressed. It also can search for words less then three digits so is useful for form searching where the terms are small in length.

I don't think changing 'back' is bad. Í just think that going forward as opposed to backward is better. I will be moving on to the AOS section in the near future, and I can see that what you have pointed out is an issue. I was only trying to offer a possible solution. However Ewok and the members decide to handle it is fine with me. I don't think anyone will leave the forum just because a different approach is taken.

I do use the main search box.

However, it is impossible if you want filter in a forum/by a person for a 3 letter search word (and we know they are MANY), by using the advanced search option.




ah, yes 'the old gits on VJ don't know anything' gem again.....

That sounds like a good idea to me. In addition, the stickies / pinned threads for these forums could be updated to state that these threads are only for updates and that questions will be split into new threads in other forums. Not that most people read forum announcements, but at least the information would be there.

Personally, I thought that the filer threads were a great idea at first. I looked forward to being able to post in one once we got our I-129F sent off. Posting in it was a mark of our progress. I got turned off by them when I saw how much reading was required to come to information that other people could use, but we all have our own preferences about how to use the forum. Why should we deny these threads to those who want them? They can have them, and those of us who don't want to read through them don't have to. Every forum has types of posts that interest only some people. And whether or not we split questions and informational posts from those threads, the same questions will get asked again and again anyway.

I would hope they wouldn't.

You're correct in a friendly, philosophical way.

My only concern is the PURPOSE of the community. Which is finding information.

I wholeheartedly believe friendships and support can be had here without sub-categorizing everyone.

I just went into the K1 subforum & boy is it a mess. I would never know where to look for anything useful!

There are 2 May filer threads, one July filer thread, an April filer thread, a Feb filer thread, a March filer thread, 3 approval threads, a SEPARATE VSC filer thread, & a pot thread .

I do frequently visit the normal K1 forum though, and appareciate how much more informative it is.

The purpose of the community is to help people connect with each other as well as to provide information, and the filer threads help with that.

If someone wanted to remove a forum or type of thread that we find useful, we wouldn't be happy about that. For example, someone once suggested removing the regional forums. The regional forum for my country is my favourite forum here, and I'd be really upset if it were gone. Those who don't want regional forums don't have to go to them. The same with filer threads.

I don't see sub-categorizing forums as the same as sub-categorizing people. In every forum I've taken part in, members tend to have their favourite forums or types of threads and those that they don't take part in. Information can still be found, and everyone can have the types of threads that they want.

Personally, my AOS is attached to the June filer thread, i've posted numerous messages in there about my AOS and they never get answered, they seem to get buried amongst all the chitchat between the rest of the filers, so its got to the point i dont ask questions in those threads anymore, nobody reads them anyways.

They seem to have their own little Clique going on in there, i do comment when they get good news, maybe they get transfered to CSC or they're EAD gets approved or what not, basically thats it. If i've got questions now that i need answers to, and i can't find them on .google search. and yes i do use it then i'll start a new thread.

Maria

Regional forums are a very different type of place tho, IMHO.


As several have already said, it's too hard to wade thru all the filer threads to find any useful info. Therein lies the problem.

Honest question here.

Do you really believe people would be unable to find that same 'connection' without those filer threads?

I like the Regional Forums for their original purpose (read the definition of that intent on the main Forums page).

I do get dismayed when I see too much immigration info in them. I think, again, it makes finding an answer nearly impossible.

When i started out on VJ about 2 years ago, there were no filer threads and i still managed to get through the process of the spousal visa, and make friends at the same time.

rebeccajo put it this way, we arent limited to just one forum many of the people in the filer threads do meet up in regional and off topic and many other threads as well

just my 2 cents worth

Here is a link to a Google cheatsheet for search Query Inputs:

http://www.googleguide.com/quoted_phrases.html

No, but to me, that isn't the point. Some people enjoy those threads. They don't hurt other members, and search works for the whole forum. I don't see any reason to take away a feature that some people like.

I should add that the filer thread I posted in last February did have value for me for the first month or so. It helped to have one place where I could see what was happening with people who had filed at around the same time. It was only when the thread became long and (to me) cluttered that I stopped reading it.


Some of them have immigration info because (a) it's related to the country or region, or (b) the member finds too much rudeness in the main forums and so posts in a forum where s/he knows that people will be friendly and helpful. That's another problem, but it's a real one. Also (c) the member feels more connected with the members in his or her regional forum and wants to share updates with them.

Some of the discussion is going in a circle here:

Having filer threads makes information more difficult to find.
Google search works much better than the forum search we used to have.
We don't need filer threads for people to find a connection with other members.
The filer threads are how some members find that connection.
There's no harm in some members using the filer threads, and they have value for some people.

We agree that the purpose of the forum is find information and to connect with other people who are or have been in our situation. We can have both, with or without filer threads, but the filer threads help some people.

Can we accept that all of the above is true?

But that's YOUR opinion, Becca....and speaking as someone who has participated in the filer thread, and one who's going through this now....I like them. Apparantly a lot of other people do too. You didn't have them when you were going through, but that doesn't mean they're useless. They serve a purpose. It's evolution.

I have to say, for you to come in all 'Get rid of them' seems a bit misguided as well as 'wtf?'. If you don't like them, don't read them. But there's no need to kill the joy that the rest of us get from them.

I just took a look at the AOS forum and it seems like there are only four of the twenty threads that are "month filer" related. Is it typically worse that this? Creating a sub-forum for only a few topics wont help much unless typically there are a lot of them. The K1 forum is a good example where the filing forum seems to stack up quick while leaving the main forum on topic and useful.

In any case if we want a sub forum for AOS for status threads than we need to make sure it will have critical mass first. Please let me know on if this exists.

One nice tip as well is that people can search for all the posts made by people from their home country in particular forums to find useful information. For example. Here is a list of all topics started by people related to Brazil taking in the Embassy Forum:

http://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.p...zil&ppage=5

Exactly, that was the subforum, not the main thread.

Is it 'misguided' and 'wtf' because it's my opinion? I bet if it were yours, it would just be calling it as you see it.

"Monthly" date time-tracking serves no useful purpose to the site. No worthwhile data can be obtained from it. During petition processing, it's more useful to compare your progress to other people who filed at your same Service Center. During AOS, it's more useful to compare people going through your same District Office.

The only purpose of the "monthly filer" threads is comraderie. There's nothing wrong with that at all unless useful information gets buried. I think Laura's suggestion that informational posts within those threads be 'split' from the filer thread is the best solution.