Any information that a member posts will help someone at some time, and isn't that what it's all about?...Although I must admit, it's nice to get an immediate response directly on the forum..:bigsmile:
I get the feeling that some folks may have interpreted this as a fishing for compliments or gratitude effort. It must be my writing style or choice of words that leads to this type of reaction. So let me restate the reason for this thread.
It is my belief that the vast majority of visitors to a site like this just want to see what their options are and then clear instructions on how to implement their choice. That belief leads me to be concern about starting threads to share brain storming, experimenting, development, and theoretical discussions. I try to clearly distinguish the type of thread by the contents of its title. While I may stray from my own naming conventions for experimentation threads I always identify threads that contain a DIY Screen "SOLUTION". So that is how I try to make sure the majority of our visitors can find the solutions that I have offered up.
The real motivation for asking for input was to avoid the situation where I am posting too much in the way of experimentation logging. This has met with some rather nasty criticism in the past and I would not like to find out after the fact that I have been annoying people.
While I do appreciate the positive feedback and gratitude that some successful implementers pass on, I am more interested in negative feedback. The best example of that I can think of involved the
Basic Roller Painting Instruction post. Originally it was only text instructions. Actually the original instructions were for a two roller method employing a regular fuzzy roller and a 6" foam trim roller for smoothing. One day I received some feedback from an individual who had applied the paint to the screen using the fuzzy roller and then went back and down rolled the whole screen with the trim roller. Unfortunately this was absolutely not what the instructions were meant to convey.
I recruited a neighbour and we did some painting and took photos. I spent the better part of the night rewriting the instructions complete photos. So that negative feedback was very much appreciated. That was also the moment when I realized the tremendous responsibility one takes on by posting any kind of instructions. It's not a legal responsibility but for any decent person there is a moral responsibility to make the instruction or solution information as clear and as accurate as possible. I had felt terrible about the loss of time and money this fellow had suffered because my instructions were not clearly written.
A couple of months after that I received a message from KristiSwallow. She had several questions about the Basic Roller Painting Instructions. It became obvious that the instruction were still not clear so I worked with Kristi and we rewrote the instructions. Again negative feedback that lead to a rewarding and very enjoyable collaboration. Fortunately we here at Home Theater Shack have Kristi's efforts available and will benefit greatly from it.
So please know that when I ask for feedback it is a genuine effort to make sure I am providing or withholding information as per the needs and interests of the members here. I am grateful for any feedback and my immediate concern is that I don't overwhelm this forum with useless information that some will view as self serving efforts to garner unwarranted attention.
"Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and I am nursing more than one bite at the moment.:dizzy:
ellisr63 · updated 
