Lazydaisy,
Perhaps you could 'bump' a message over or back to Spike about your concern related to messages that are of interest to you falling off in the limited number of pages that are on the forum. With new ownership maybe there is a way to have more pages, or an archival type forum set up just for items that are falling toward space. And even though there is valuable information in the pages that you have bumped, it does place certain other posts at peril or being bumped off that may have otherwise maintained a little longer on the pages.
There are some who have created a word document within their files that is a direct copying of the information they are interested in. Perhaps that is another option for you or others. I know I have a three ring binder of cut and paste and copy that has a number of pages directly from the GW for future reference.
Good luck in your search for an answer.
Dena

Thanks for responding Dena. It's the way the email was stated that I didn't see a way of responding to it. I'm assuming a person has to go in the Suggestions forum to ask questions like that to Spike?

I do save (and resave) many of these threads for my own use to my hard drive but it seems like we always have a flow of new blood coming in here that hasn't had that advantage or people that didn't get to see it when it was upfront that really have appreciated it. A lot of them also have new responses, suggestions, ooohs & ahhhs added to them on the second and third rounds and I really hate seeing some of the classics go into outer space except for a few people's memories. They are also great for reference links when you're answering the same questions that are always asked by newbies--hehe. An archiving space would be great--maybe iVillage would go for it..?

My bumps usually don't knock off any other posts since they are a one-for-one transistion but, since there are groups of them that are falling off at the same time, they have started occupying a bit of space on the the first page to send them through again. We just have too many talented people for one forum to handle!!

I'm probably becoming too concerned for what it's worth considering the ones that were picked out compared to the many others I have transistioned. I guess I'll keep giving them an afterlife and wait for other warnings if there's truly a problem with it. Wonder if there's a better term than "bump"...maybe "transcending"??

It is often the flow of new blood, that although it may seem they are asking the "same old questions" it is new blood, and interests! The questions are responded to by various others with not only Old ideas but also new! I try to respond to many of the questions by new participators so they know the forum is eager to include them, but with direction to the FAQ's. I have my own personal opinion about the FAQ's it is a phenomanol wealth of information, and believe it is overwhelming and awkward to know where to start, but just like new threads there was a willing 'newbie' back then who put together the FAQ's.
Just as many have seen in recent months, there are 'new' people who get so jazzed about the forum that they begin to search and offer their own take on how to or ask questions that prompt a oldie to have to think it through.
I do think that you can find Spike or someone to ask questions regarding the forum set up through the home page. That is in fact how Hypertufa became a forum, all this information was beginning to dominate at Garden accoutrements. I am not sure how the name came about, but the forum covers lots more than 'hypertufa'. It was cumbersome to find spike, kind of like Waldo or Nemo, but he/she did respond very quickly. That said I am sure there is at least one other person here who has written to spike and knows how to get through.
Dena

If you click back one page to the listing of threads and go to the bottom of the page you can click on "letters and comments". I've always gotten a response within a few minutes.

I remember when the Hypertufa broke off from the Garden Accoutrements. I think I started lurking shortly after it was created and there was a lot of references to Accoutrements where the previous stuff was. I've looked up the archive files in the Wayback Machine and found it broke off sometime in March 2003--looks like Hypertufa Forum is celebrating it's 2nd Birthday and my, hasn't it grown to a fat and happy toddler.

I'm not saying the newbies are "the same old" questions but some of them are the "same questions" and yes they deserve their own replies but it's nice to show them, by linking, to older posts of what had been discussed. More power to the new ideas/concepts that come in here--that's what it's all about and we all learn from it--wouldn't it be boring without them. At this time I'm just saving what "I" think is valuable at the time it's on page 10 but anybody else's help on it would be appreciated. I've been bumping things that had a lot of responses and interest to it or things that may have bypassed people's attention because of the timing, example the holidays.

It does seem to encompass more than just Hypertufa but in a good way. I personally love it that there's concrete/cement creations and other additives here to expand the creativity. I think that we lose some interest with some of the outside people with concrete sculpting expertise sometimes because it appears we don't dabble in those areas--example coastal_concepts--I wish he would hang out here more often. But I think Hypertufa really, by the recipe, is actually a light-weight concrete. It has all of the components by definition of concrete, just not the traditional ingredients. Leave the peat out and your talking about the same thing that the green-environmentalists are making lightweight concrete houses out of. Maybe the forum can expand in size and also reshape the name a bit to include that--I'll try my hand at asking Spike about it but I'm sure I'm going to need backup with it.

Goofyj, thanks for that! I'm going to check it out and see what response I get.

Hi Lazydaisy
I'm not up on the regulations or limitations here BUT:
You know the 'old' timers here the best.
You could take saved pages and edit them in Word and create a single post with the best of the old stuff.
Instead of embeding the pictures use embeded links for speed. How many links are allowed here?
Remove the vanity posts and just keep the meat of the topic.
This way you could get a lot of stuff into a single post.
Update and repost it as often as needed.
It would become a group history of members works and how to's.

By vanity posts I mean those saying they admire your work and the thank you responses. I love them myself but they certainly don't need endless repeating.:)

Forgot this.
Expanding the group may not be the answer.
I thing we need a concrete YARD ART group. Some way to spread the posts out.
I'm getting emails from some really confused newbies about leaf casting recipes, etc.
Leaf casting, Faux Bois, and even Stepping Stones and birdbaths are not really Tufa. None of the recipes in the FAQ are suitable for these types of projects.
I would like to ask Spike to add a Concrete Yard Art group as a sister group to this one in place of Garden Junk but won't bother unless there are a few who agree with me.
Tufa to Concrete to Stone is a natural progression in my view.

Yikes, I wouldn't let the Garden Junk people know you want to move them out! LOL, I think that group has a total world in itself going on and they like it. I'm not sure any of this would fall into Garden Junk, hopefully anyway--they make some incredible things over there but it's very different from this. I know...call it "Garden Accoutrements"--oops, been there, done that. Hmmm, I don't know the solution. My two suggestions would be to try and expand the existing house and retitle it to one) something like "Hypertufa and Concrete Art" or "Hypertufa and Concrete Sculpture" and embrace all of the aspects of this forum that already exist but would expand it in information or two) to ask for another new forum that emcompasses concrete art--but then there's still the crossing-over situation...hmmm, isn't all of this actually more related to Portland cement as the common denominator.

Yes, while some of the leaf casting, faux bois, and stepping stones are more concrete based, some people have used hypertufa in several of those creations in some proportion--has a lot to do with if you want it carvable, lightweight, weight-supporting, smooth-surfaced, aged-surfaced, etc. It's just one of those big wide, confusing, versatile worlds isn't it? I think the FAQS is based off of a few variations of the recipe but I'm not sure if there's enough space to emcompass all of the various "recipes" and conditions and personal preferences and levels of experience and different zones and weather, and applications, etc and that's where the forum comes in and wishfully, an archive. And then there's the personal time someone has to use to update it.

Maybe the forum could be renamed "Cementious Creations" lol

OK the Garden Junk people can stay.:)
Those garden junk folks scary me. They tend to have yards full of pointy objects.:)
We can just ask for a forth group link.
I just though a new group would double the allowable posts and allow for a concrete FAQ. Someone asked me how to make a concrete bench. I don't have any answers.
Leaf casting as well has a huge following and I would like to see more how to regarding the subject. I have some plans to cast small leaves that will then be encorporated into my tufa pots and bowls.
Maybe a rhubarb birdbath/water feature as well but that's in the future. It's the only large leaf I have access to.

I wouldn't be messing with anyone that has pointy objects! lol I thought you wanted the whole forum taken over, not just the reference link.

That's why an archive would be great. All of the things that you've mentioned have been done several times and in many different ways but many have fallen off.

Well, I can help you a little with the leaf casting instructions. I think this must have been posted "over there" before the Hypertufa forum evolved from it:

Here is a link that might be useful: How to: concrete leaf

Lazydaisy, Every thread that you bump moves a recent thread closer to page 2 and faster into Internet Purgatory. It's not fair to more recent posters.
There's always new information and new ideas and repeats of the same old information. If you've been on this site for a while you've see someone post about their "new" technique and it's old hat. But it's new to them and other newbies and the information gets repeated all over again.
You can do as Dena and a few others have done and save the information to a Word document. Then when someone has a question you can post that Word Document. It's also possible that the threads that you think are worth saving can be put in the FAQ. Is Peak still responsible for editing the FAQ? Billie

Well speaking from the old days, I have no idea how the name Hypertufa was given to the forum (there were a couple of very vocal and gungho people who may have just given Spike a name and he went for it), but I do know that there were many people eager to have concrete related answers (and hypertufa falls into there, not the other way around IMHO). To create a new forum does not eliminate the confusion, in fact will create even more of a confusion, 'hmm which site do I post that question on. And many hypertufa, concrete casting, lightweightconcrete mixes, pollanized, hypbridized concrete mixes make things that qualify in the Garden accoutrement and garden junk forum, along with landscape, stoneworks,home improvement, alpine gardens, and Japanese gardens to name just a few. I have reveiwed many of the other forums and when a question comes up there they either answer it politely or link them to one of the other forums for a more complete answer. One of the things that I do see happening at this forum is that people are searching the internet for the perfect solution to a variety of questions, i.e. how to make a bench, how to cast leaves. There is such a wealth of informative people at this site, and many of them have tried and true answers. Sometimes people have e-mailed me direct, I have either provided them what has worked for me, or suggested that they pose the question at one of the forums, generating response often from people who have tried what ever. Example right off that I can think of is the posting about the leaf casting, with chicken wire, YIKES chicken wire is really difficult to work with, drywall tape is as effective and is flexible. Trial and error and many questions posed to others right here at this forum taught many of us that. Not suggesting that links to other sites is bad. I don't know perhaps I am just babbling and need to stop now.
Dena

I agree that another forum isn't the answer--probably just renaming, as suggested, and some sort of explanation at the beginning that the forum is about all kinds of cement art. We might lose some of the hypertufa confusion that way.

Deb

I'm a newbie who didn't understand at all how the forum works, at first. I've still got a while to go :)
I searched GW for "hypertufa troughs" and got 513 threads - which I read. It took about 2 weeks of spare time. I learnt so much, though. Then I realized (by searching what "bump" means!) that there must be something with the most recent posts at the top. Voila - the hypertufa forum.
I only read the first page now that I'm actually doing the "tufa thing".
Lazydaisy, I have really appreciated your bumps. I feel like you are the friend who says "You should really read this". I listen to those friends. If the bumps are not okay I will appreciate the copying into word files - but won't that invoilve lots more work for you?
Talk to Spike for clarity. I emailed him once, and also had an answer back the next time I checked.

David,

Many of my birdbaths, faux bois and stepping stones are really 'tufa. I find 'tufa well suited for these projects as long as I don't need to drive on them.

Amy

I just saw this posting and will curtail from moving things from back to front. I do this mostly because I don't really know how to do it any other way. I am a computer foob and cutting, pasting are still only things I learned long ago in Kindergarten. I guess I need to update my vocabulary. GB

Can't do much if the person responsible for the FAQ has left or can't be bothered to read or respond to the posts in this group.

David, The last I heard Peak was the FAQ volunteer. He's recently moved to the East Coast and could be busy with his life. You can contact Spike regarding the Forums. Billie

I was going about saving my favorite old post to text files and discovered the folly of my ways. I have text, but no pictures. I am a very visual person. I need pictures! I have the text to QueenLaTufa's Rome Inspired Urn Planter, which was on my list of to do projects, but I need to see it again! I guess from now on I will always print out the pictures. Too bad the new folks won't get to see them. Pictures are truly my inspiration.

Dixiemom, If you're using I.E. browser, one way of saving the post with all of the pictures is doing a "Save as" html page which is under "File".

Anyone heard from lazydaisy? Saw in one of the posts that someone got her bumped. I tried e-mailing her through this web site but got no response. Billie

Billie,

Email Howie--I think she's got lazy's email address.

Deb

Billie ann, I emailed you. Did you receive it?

Howie, I didn't receive an e-mail from you. Did you get mine? Billie

Yes, I got yours and have sent replies. Does Comcast have a problem with getting Yahoo? I may have been dumped in your Spam folder--just my luck!!

Howie, I don't have a spam folder. Billie

Got your last one also and have sent off two more...

With the email my service provider gives me, they filter off the first layer of spam and I can view it for a short time if I sign on to my email on their internet site. In general, I pull up Outlook Express and receive my mail, along with some more spam that got past the service provider's filters. But I have dial up and if you have DSL that changes. Does that make sense?

I don't know any other reason that you wouldn't be getting them. Have you been able to get Yahoo mail from other people before?