March 2019 Moms
brookepdavis
member
*READ FIRST* Board Organization
brookepdavis
member
I figured I would go ahead and get this started since there are a few of us here now. I went ahead and borrowed this from one of the previous BMBs as a jumping off point. We can go through and pick what we will and won't use to meet our needs, but for now, this is a good template. That being said - welcome to the March 2019 BMB! If you're new to TB, we're excited to have you! Below you will find information on how the flow of BMBs work, guidelines and helpful links.
Some links that you may find helpful:
What do all of those abbreviations mean?
How to add a signature
How to GIF
How-To Guides:
-How to quote: Hit the "quote" at the bottom of the post you want to quote. You will be taken to the reply box with the quote set up already.
-How to tag: Add an "@" in front of the username of the person you are talking to.
-How to change your username: log in to TheKnot, hover over My Knot, and click Account Settings. Be sure to log out and log back in after changing your username. If you are having issues doing it that way, you can email community@thebump.com and ask them to change your username. Give them a few suggestions just in case your top choice is taken. It may take up to 24 hours for the name to update.
-How to insert a spoiler box: click the drop down list arrow next to the paragraph symbol (sixth from the left, next to the emoji button) and choose spoiler. It will insert a grey box, and everything that you type in there will go into the spoiler.
For the sake of board organization, here are some simple guidelines for posting threads:
DO: -Introduce yourself in the "Introductions" thread
-Add yourself to the spreadsheet
-Feel free to start one of the weekly posts listed below if you don't see it started yet
-Check to see if a thread has already been started on your topic or question so we can avoid too many threads of the same topic
-Post a thread that would apply to the entire community and doesn't fall into one of the categories for daily threads listed below (Ex: what to pack in your hospital bag, baby gear, etc)
-Comment, share advice and show support for your fellow bumpies; this is a two-way street, to get support, you must show it as well
DON'T:
-Ask the community if you are pregnant, it is against TOU
-Post pictures of your pregnancy test, this is also against TOU (there is a thread on the open 1st tri page for this)
-Post a thread that asks a question only applying to yourself unless you suspect you may be going through a MC
-Get bent out of shape if someone calls you out for not following these guidelines; if you expect to be part of a supportive board (which we are), you need to be able to take the time to learn the ins and outs of the board.
Here are some weekly/monthly ideas that may be good to start with. We can always add to best suit our boards needs, so please let me know if you have any other ideas! Per this BMB's decision, anyone can start any thread on the day.
** MONDAY
Weekly Randoms
Monday Ticker Change
**TUESDAY
Ten Things Tuesday
Tuesday Ticker Change
**WEDNESDAY
HDBD (Hump Day, Bump Day)
PGAL Check-In
Wednesday Ticker Change
**THURSDAY
TTGP Grad Check-In
Thursday Ticker Change
Thankful Thursday
**FRIDAY
Flame Free Friday Confession (FFFC)
Friday Ticker Change
**SATURDAY
Weekend Randoms
Saturday Ticker Change
**SUNDAY
Weekly Questions
Weekly symptoms Thread
Weekly appointments
Sunday Ticker Change
Once we all get farther along, we will also have pinned threads for things like ultrasounds, sex announcements and birth announcements. I've copy/pasted this from previous boards, and it seems to be the way that they are all organized, but of course we should feel free to tweak for our needs! For example, some boards do weekly ticker changes while others do weekly due date check-ins (ex, DD 1st week of Nov.). If anyone has a suggestion for other threads, please feel free to comment a suggestion. PLEASE keep in mind that there will eventually be a lot of us on this board, and an organized board will be much easier for everyone to use. If we can all keep the one-off posts to a minimum the board won't be too cluttered to navigate, and hopefully we won't end up answering the same question 2,000 times. I had a great experience with my first BMB and the organization goes a long way as the group grows. Let's have a great BMB ladies!
Some links that you may find helpful:
What do all of those abbreviations mean?
How to add a signature
How to GIF
How-To Guides:
-How to quote: Hit the "quote" at the bottom of the post you want to quote. You will be taken to the reply box with the quote set up already.
-How to tag: Add an "@" in front of the username of the person you are talking to.
-How to change your username: log in to TheKnot, hover over My Knot, and click Account Settings. Be sure to log out and log back in after changing your username. If you are having issues doing it that way, you can email community@thebump.com and ask them to change your username. Give them a few suggestions just in case your top choice is taken. It may take up to 24 hours for the name to update.
-How to insert a spoiler box: click the drop down list arrow next to the paragraph symbol (sixth from the left, next to the emoji button) and choose spoiler. It will insert a grey box, and everything that you type in there will go into the spoiler.
For the sake of board organization, here are some simple guidelines for posting threads:
DO: -Introduce yourself in the "Introductions" thread
-Add yourself to the spreadsheet
-Feel free to start one of the weekly posts listed below if you don't see it started yet
-Check to see if a thread has already been started on your topic or question so we can avoid too many threads of the same topic
-Post a thread that would apply to the entire community and doesn't fall into one of the categories for daily threads listed below (Ex: what to pack in your hospital bag, baby gear, etc)
-Comment, share advice and show support for your fellow bumpies; this is a two-way street, to get support, you must show it as well
DON'T:
-Ask the community if you are pregnant, it is against TOU
-Post pictures of your pregnancy test, this is also against TOU (there is a thread on the open 1st tri page for this)
-Post a thread that asks a question only applying to yourself unless you suspect you may be going through a MC
-Get bent out of shape if someone calls you out for not following these guidelines; if you expect to be part of a supportive board (which we are), you need to be able to take the time to learn the ins and outs of the board.
Here are some weekly/monthly ideas that may be good to start with. We can always add to best suit our boards needs, so please let me know if you have any other ideas! Per this BMB's decision, anyone can start any thread on the day.
** MONDAY
Weekly Randoms
Monday Ticker Change
**TUESDAY
Ten Things Tuesday
Tuesday Ticker Change
**WEDNESDAY
HDBD (Hump Day, Bump Day)
PGAL Check-In
Wednesday Ticker Change
**THURSDAY
TTGP Grad Check-In
Thursday Ticker Change
Thankful Thursday
**FRIDAY
Flame Free Friday Confession (FFFC)
Friday Ticker Change
**SATURDAY
Weekend Randoms
Saturday Ticker Change
**SUNDAY
Weekly Questions
Weekly symptoms Thread
Weekly appointments
Sunday Ticker Change
Once we all get farther along, we will also have pinned threads for things like ultrasounds, sex announcements and birth announcements. I've copy/pasted this from previous boards, and it seems to be the way that they are all organized, but of course we should feel free to tweak for our needs! For example, some boards do weekly ticker changes while others do weekly due date check-ins (ex, DD 1st week of Nov.). If anyone has a suggestion for other threads, please feel free to comment a suggestion. PLEASE keep in mind that there will eventually be a lot of us on this board, and an organized board will be much easier for everyone to use. If we can all keep the one-off posts to a minimum the board won't be too cluttered to navigate, and hopefully we won't end up answering the same question 2,000 times. I had a great experience with my first BMB and the organization goes a long way as the group grows. Let's have a great BMB ladies!
Re: *READ FIRST* Board Organization
I am so with you on this! Love the more positive threads idea. We shouldn’t feel obligated to do what everyone else does.
Reading all those rules kind of made me want to bang my head on the wall. I have been through these boards once before with my first baby, and I just feel all these tight rules that every other month board uses takes away from our own induviduality. It also makes it easier for people to constantly make mistakes, therefor having situations where new members are constantly being called out, and threads deleated and frankly... a lot of the threads I see deleated I wanted to read and coment on! And you are right... those mega threads make it impossible to ask for advice. If someone is suffering from morning sickness why can’t they put up a post asking for advice about it? I want to help them, and I want to talk to others going through the same thing. A lis of everyones symptoms is just depressing, and if everyone is comenting in one post about ten different symptoms some peoples will get lost.
I also don’t know why people can’t ask for relationship advice. Sounds really cold to tell them to take it else where. Why can’t we be a community that helps and supports one another? People are going to be dealing with crazy mother in laws insisting they be there for delivery etc. They need help and advice!
ANd then a lot of those daily threads... do we even want them? Or do they keep getting put up because every other board is doing it? They end up blocking out the most interesting threads which are the ones people post as induviduals.
those are my thoughts at least... I have more but will let others speak
Regarding relationship advice- I guess I didn't know that was a "rule". I remember plenty of relationship conversation on my last BMB. I definitely agree that maybe that rule could be worded differently because there will certainly be a need for advice like the example you pointed out. I get the feeling that that rule was created for really serious matters.
Personally, I like some of the daily threads, like the ticker change. I thought that one was good because with such a large community, it helps to break it down a bit more.I found that I got to know the women on my "ticker change" a bit more. But, there's definitely a lot threads so it does seem like a bit much. Maybe we could combine some of them or make them more of a weekly thing?
I do think we will need some sort of organized structure moving forward or it can quickly descend into chaos. I think politely guiding people in the right direction is better than everyone jumping on someone who doesn't follow the "rules" (FYI, I also see rules as guidelines here, not actual rules). I think we can definitely work on our own structure and find our own rhythm, I just think there should be an organized structure of some kind.
I like the ticker change too because you start to get to know people better through those.
I also totally missed the relationship advice one. I can remove that. I remember lots of that from my last BMB and it was really helpful to get an external opinion.
** MONDAY
Weekly Randoms
Monday Ticker Change
**TUESDAY
Ten Things Tuesday
Tuesday Ticker Change
**WEDNESDAY
HDBD (Hump Day, Bump Day)
PGAL Check-In
Wednesday Ticker Change
**THURSDAY
TTGP Grad Check-In
Thursday Ticker Change
**FRIDAY
Flame Free Friday Confession (FFFC)
Friday Ticker Change
**SATURDAY
Weekend Randoms
Saturday Ticker Change
**SUNDAY
Weekly Questions
Weekly symptoms Thread
Weekly appointments
Sunday Ticker Change
I say nay to assigned threads. Some people will no doubt come and go, sadly, due to loss. And some people will just drop away.
And then with me, I live in Alaska and people may want to get posting before I'm even awake! So I'll post threads if they're not up yet, but if I'm assigned something, people might get impatient waiting and think I forgot because I will only just be starting to think about logging on when it's already noon on the East Coast.
But what is weekly randoms anyway, and why does it need two days?
Also... the weekly symptom thread. Is that a place for women to list symptoms? Or to ask for advice? Because if it isn’t very advice friendly it seems it shouldn’t be a rule that we can’t start a thread to ask about a specific symptom.
I agree that some organization is necessary. It'll get crazy as times goes on during our pregnancies. Some many random drive bys that are good for a laugh - but they can overwhelm the boards. I don’t love the assigned threads but it looks like most people agree.
@onechoctawgirl Weekly randoms is where people can talk about whatever - home, work, family. It's nice to have a thread for people to share stuff that isn't always baby related. I think it probably got on there twice accidentally.
But jumping off that Q - what is ten things Tuesday? I can't remember if we had that in my last BMB and I'm coming up blank on what it would be.
Also, in my past BMB we used to do a weekday randoms and then start a new one for the weekend because it was super long by Friday. It's a great way to just talk about everything else in your life and get to know everyone. My first BMB still has a randoms constantly going in our group.
@thedaint87 Ten Things Tuesday is where everyone lists ten things about you or your life. I've seen it done where there's a theme like "Ten Things You Want to Do Before Your Next Birthday" or something like that. Other times it's just 10 random things about what's going on in your life right now. Usually they tend to be pretty positive and a good way to get to know each other.
@christac1010 and @lovesclimbing I like the idea of Thankful Thursday!
On my last BMB, someone started a thread on cholestasis. For those who haven't heard of it (I had never heard the term until a close friend of mine was diagnosed with it), it's a potentially fatal to the baby condition that can develop in late pregnancy, and women with it are induced at 37 weeks due to the potential for death. And someone said that it should go in the symptoms thread. It's not a symptom! At least, it's not anymore of a symptom than Gestational Diabetes is, and that gets its own thread! And I'd argue it's MORE important for cholestasis to have its own thread because everyone's heard of GD and is aware of that. My friend who had it had never heard of it until she commented that her hands were itchy to her doc.
So yea, I really don't want us to get to that level of policing.
@lovesclimbing oh yeah, that is a bit much. I think big topics like that can and should be their own thread. The symptoms thread should be for the regular aches and pains of pregnancy, not potentially life-threatening issues.
I think being more strict with the rules at the beginning allows us to get more loose as the group settles in. As we move along there will be more situations that necessitate their own threads and that's totally fine! Just don't want to start out with a ton of clutter and drive-bys.
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
edit to clarify: Maybe not always weekly but just a place where we can gather and talk about common issues.
It might be my Bump past, but I’d like to see it so there aren’t so many one-off “help me” threads being posted by people who probably aren’t invested in our group.
I feel like as more are posted/being seen on the first thread page, it just invites more “strangers” to do the same thing, as it’s perceived as normal.
If I’m the only one who is bothered by this, I’ll go with the flow, of course.