Attention ladies!

Attention ladies of GardenStew! It was my plan this year to upgrade GardenStew's forum software as, after 9 years, it is showing some signs of age. However upon further inspection I decided it would be unwise to attempt this. The plant database, blog system and Garden features would make it too difficult and I wouldn't want to do anything to mess up our fine community.

I would still like to try something with new forum software however and as I don't want to attempt it with GardenStew I have decided to start a completely new forum website. Don't worry it's not gardening-related! I would like to start a forum for the ladies of GardenStew and the wider female audience out there. Think of the tagline for the new forum as "Simple, everyday chat for women".

Now there is a problem, a BIG problem! I'm a man. While I can handle the technical and moderation side of a ladies forum, I am *ahem* no expert in what ladies want to talk about. I have rough ideas and I will list them below but if you can post your ideas also below it should get off to a perfect start.

There will be a single gardening forum but it will link to GardenStew also (which in turn would send even more visitors here in time).

Does this sound interesting? I believe with your feedback/suggestions we can mould a new community from the ground up to be something special! You can expect the same friendly atmosphere that we enjoy everyday here at GardenStew and chat about things that maybe are not suited to a gardening forum.

Here is the very rough draft of forum ideas I have so far (in no particular order):

* Hi, I'm new here
- Introduce Yourself (hobbies, interests, living where, family)
- Forum Rules & Guidelines

* Family & Parenting
- Baby & Toddler
- Teenagers
- Parents
- General - Family & Parenting

* Cooking & Food
- Recipe Share
- Cooking Utensils & Equipment
- Food Storage
- General - Cooking & Food

* Hobbies
- Photography
- Dancing
- Reading
- Internet & Computers
- Painting / Drawing
- Gardening (will link to GardenStew)
- Writing & Blogging
- Watching TV & Movies
- Collecting
- Other Hobbies

* Arts & Crafts
- Knitting / Sewing
- Quilting
- Scrapbooking
- General - Arts & Crafts

* Health & Fitness
- Running / Jogging
- Gym
- Weight Loss & Dieting
- Yoga
- General - Health & Fitness

* Charity Work & Volunteering
- Recent Events
- Raising Awareness

* Fashion & Physical Appearence
- Hair & Makeup
- Clothes
- General - Fashion & Physical Appearence

* Relationships & Dating
- Happily Married!
- The Single Life
- Divorced

* Money & Finance
- Frugal Living
- General - Money & Finance

* Take a Break
- Let's Chat! (General chat and discussion)
- I Need To Vent (Got something to get off your chest?)
- Jokes & Games

* Site
- Suggestions / Feedback
- Site Announcments
- Testing



Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
// frank

 

Under Arts and Crafts...

Quilting/Sewing
Knitting/Crochet
Spinning
Weaving (could be combined with Spinning)
Candle Making
Soap Making

Don't know of a title for a forum but the subject of homemade lotions/salves, first aid treatments, herbal remedies...basically using Herbs for something other than making food taste good.

Under Hobbies....
Genealogy

 

Chrisle, what kind of subject were you thinking about? First thing I thought about concerning older women was "How many times do you groan and moan when getting out of a chair?" Bet I would win on that one.
But being almost 68 myself, I know there are some things in our lives that don't involve kids, parents, beauty regimens or if we are lucky, cooking. Got some ideas?

 

These are excellent Toni. Genealogy will definitely be there!

Can you explain to me why Quilting/Sewing and Knitting/Crochet are paired together? Is it because Quilting/Sewing is joining existing pieces of fabric together and Knitting/Crochet is starting a garment from scratch? Could Candle Making be grouped with Soap Making or are they distinctly different in method?

Most definitely Chrisle. Just let me know what sure be here and I'll add it to the consideration list.

Excellent dooley! These will be added for sure

I'm loving all of the suggestions so far.

 

Yes, me too!

Yes I think there needs to be more home-oriented forums also. Thanks Jewell.

Done! Thanks again

Forum named "In a Relationship" perhaps? This will be added Bip, thank you!

 

Hi Jewell,
Of course guys are still welcome to join and contribute I will explain my reasoning for the ladies theme. Today there are so many forums online that unless you have a distinct theme it is hard for a community to gain traction. In fact even a ladies theme is quite broad so it's a risk in and of itself. However I believe it would be of interest to members here already so it would be off to a good start! Does this help?

 

Quilting and Sewing both involve fabric and a sewing machine, whereas Knitting and Crochet involve the manipulation of yarn with either a hooked stick or two sticks
But in that line of thought Spinning and Weaving could also be combined with them in that topic as they also involve yarn...Spinning the creation of yarn and Weaving another form of the manipulation of yarn in the creation of an item. Maybe under the title of Fiber Arts

Candle making is distinctly different from Soap Making. While both involve fragrances. colors and molds, not paying attention to wax melting on the stove can burn down your house, whereas melting pre-made soap base can be done safely in a microwave or on the stove top in a bain marie (double boiler). But if you make lye based soap that requires a different set of safety concerns more related to the use of the chemical Lye than anything else.

What could be done is listing Candle and Soap making under other hobbies as I have a feeling that I am the only soap maker here and Glenda and I appear to be the only candle makers here. Maybe wait to see how active those topics become before breaking them out on their own.