Some observations.. (1 Viewer)

[PNGBill]

Some observations today. Maybe I have too much spare time

The thread on renewable energy only has 15 voters. Is this an indication our energy supply is not a concern ? or just not a gripping subject for database people ?

Is it just me or are we having an increase in new members ? there just appears to be a lot of Introductions posted.
Either way, I guess it is good for the forum.

The Water Cooler doesn't seem as active as it used to be ? again, may just be me.
I must admit to not being a frequenter of the Water Cooler

 

[Vassago]

It's not as active as it used to be. Jon moved it here to try and revive it.

 

[Lightwave]

I'm in a number of different forums and quite a few have quitened down a bit.

I put it down to online social connection overload. There ain't nothing like meeting people face to face every now and then.

 

[Vassago]

I think people just socialize more on social networks now. Facebook has kind of taken this role for the most part, Myspace before it. People are less inclined to do so on a forum, especially one related to a professional topic like this one that serves a more specific purpose.

 

[PNGBill]

I think you are correct Vassago. The car forum I am on appears to have quite a social network but then they can share parts, help with repairs and attend Meets.

For Access, you can do nearly all of that within the main forum. No need to have a Cuppa or beer at the same time.

 

[Lightwave]

I still prefer my online focused forums. I actually find the subjects interesting and learn a lot from the knowledgable people in forums such as this. These are people that unfortunately I would never normally get access to.

 

[Jon]

There has been a significant increase in new members recently, as a result of several modifications I made. Also, the Watercooler activity is probably about 5 times the volume of a couple of months ago, before these changes kicked in.

But yes, your comments about social media sound spot on as to why the activity is reduced here.

 

[oumahexi]

I'm in a number of different forums and quite a few have quitened down a bit.

I put it down to online social connection overload. There ain't nothing like meeting people face to face every now and then.

Sure. We can do that

 

[VilaRestal]

There has been a significant increase in new members recently, as a result of several modifications I made.

I expect the global economic situation may have something to do with it too:

Every organisation is trying to cut costs. Bringing IT in-house - DIY if you like - will be a common decision in boardrooms across the world I expect. Access is a DIY alternative to expensive bespoke databases. Managers and admin staff will be told "build your own system, we have the software to do that" and a lot of new people forced to get to grips with it. And at the same time government bureaucracies continue to expand (to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy) and that means organisations continue to need to store more and more data and need to automate as much as they can to keep staff costs from growing with it.

All-in-all I expect there's a lot of people learning Access now whom five years ago either would not have needed to or would have paid a professional database developer to do it.

And this is the best Access support forum in my opinion. It's only natural that these newcomers discover that too and register.

So, for us professional Access developers it's a mixed blessing. In the short term possibly less work - people try to do it themselves instead. But more Access databases out there should be good for us in the long run as these amateurs will need help and the more complex designs will, with all due respect, be beyond them (they haven't the time to learn it to that level).

The future of Access and the need for people who know how to use it (and the need for support forums like this one) is looking brighter than ever.

That is one of the reasons I'm happy to help here whenever I can (the other reasons being I quite enjoy it and it massages my ego ): It is helping more and more people up onto the learning curve. Most of them will probably never get close to the summit but if they get high enough then they will see the power of Access and will use it liberally. The more Access databases that are being used the more sure we can be that our expertise in it will continue to be in demand into the future. And that's not just good for me (us) but also on a philanthropic level: Greater understanding of Access around the world will improve productivity and efficiency and thus help global prosperity.

I welcome other peoples' observations and thoughts on that...

 

[RainLover]

Just to put the other point across.

The more people trying to use Access and making a mess of it the more reasons to only let the IT department design Databases.

Long story short.

Nothing happens.

I sincerely hope I am wrong.

 

[VilaRestal]

I think you may be. The times they are changing. That option "let the IT Department design Databases" may not be an option any longer in organisations where once it was: The IT department has been laying people off, they can't cope. The need for databases is growing but the funds for them is shrinking. In a lot of cases now I think, they have to built by managers and admin staff. No alternative. And they have to get it right and for that they will need help.

 

[RainLover]

Hope you are right, and if so then it is time that Microsoft made Access part of the standard Office Suite.

But Pigs will fly before Microsoft makes things easier.

 

[VilaRestal]

I think so, at least for small to medium companies and NGOs in the west in the foreseeable future.

The best we can hope for from Microsoft is that they don't make things impossible.

 

[Jon]

VilaRestal, what are your reasons for thinking this is the best Access support forum?

 

[VilaRestal]

Good question.

Firstly, a disclaimer: I'm not saying this to please you. I'd say this to anyone. (I'm trying to ignore the fact I'm saying this to the owner ) And secondly I haven't researched widely. There may be other fantastic Access help forums I've never seen.

But anyway, I think there's three reasons:

It's a good design. Not necessarily the best design. I haven't played around enough on the others to say that. Adverts don't get in the way. It's accessible to all (no "you must register to see the full thread" like some sites I could mention). It's easy to navigate and find what you want. Generally user-friendly I think.

It scores high in google searches. A very important factor. You could have the best site but if nobody visits...

But most importantly, because of the people on it. The quality and speed of responses to posts are generally better than anywhere else I've seen. And of course, that's lead to a large cache of existing threads that cover almost any problem anyone would ever have with Access.

I expect that last one's a natural result of the other two factors.

And of course, I'm not saying it's perfect - the Suggestions thread shows that.

So yeah, I do honestly think it is the best Access forum. I've got no vested interest in saying that. And I suppose while I'm at it I should thank you Jon for creating and running it. It's been useful to me on a number of occasions and I think it does good work for the world as a whole empowering people. You should be proud.

 

[Jon]

Thank you for your kind words and detailed feedback. For sure, there are things that could be improved but on the whole I have tried to maintain a "hands-off" approach, leaving many of the decisions to the users themselves.

Yes, Google does seem to like the site somewhat, which is why we are the most popular Access forum according to the Alexa rankings. Lets hope it continues!

 

[VilaRestal]

I'll drink to that and for the reasons I gave above I think it will not only continue but increase. I feel sorry for the rest

 

[Lightwave]

I expect the global economic situation may have something to do with it too:

Every organisation is trying to cut costs. Bringing IT in-house - DIY if you like - will be a common decision in boardrooms across the world I expect. Access is a DIY alternative to expensive bespoke databases. Managers and admin staff will be told "build your own system, we have the software to do that" and a lot of new people forced to get to grips with it. And at the same time government bureaucracies continue to expand (to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy) and that means organisations continue to need to store more and more data and need to automate as much as they can to keep staff costs from growing with it.

All-in-all I expect there's a lot of people learning Access now whom five years ago either would not have needed to or would have paid a professional database developer to do it.

And this is the best Access support forum in my opinion. It's only natural that these newcomers discover that too and register.

So, for us professional Access developers it's a mixed blessing. In the short term possibly less work - people try to do it themselves instead. But more Access databases out there should be good for us in the long run as these amateurs will need help and the more complex designs will, with all due respect, be beyond them (they haven't the time to learn it to that level).

The future of Access and the need for people who know how to use it (and the need for support forums like this one) is looking brighter than ever.

That is one of the reasons I'm happy to help here whenever I can (the other reasons being I quite enjoy it and it massages my ego ): It is helping more and more people up onto the learning curve. Most of them will probably never get close to the summit but if they get high enough then they will see the power of Access and will use it liberally. The more Access databases that are being used the more sure we can be that our expertise in it will continue to be in demand into the future. And that's not just good for me (us) but also on a philanthropic level: Greater understanding of Access around the world will improve productivity and efficiency and thus help global prosperity.

I welcome other peoples' observations and thoughts on that...

These are very good points and although there is some kickback from the IT department about designing our own systems the need to get jobs done has always trumped breaking IT preferred policy.

I also fear working for people who know nothing about databases. They often have unrealistic expectations don't spec their systems well and sometimes are completely inaccurate in their requirements. As a result completed systems sometimes don't get used.

Give me a dabbler who has attempted and failed every time.

Their attempts always give you a great idea of what they want to achieve and they are so much more understanding and grateful when you can help out. They also appreciate skill better.

 

[Lightwave]

One interesting point - I do some contract work for a company. We were hired out acting as a subcontractor on a job to do a particularly technical part of a job. The contractor thought our prices too high (they had no idea of how databases worked) and the CEO took the decision to bring the work inside and re-design the whole system. They paid software engineers a lot to develop a new system which was a subsequently a mess.

We have been re-hired to do the job after a year of absence and I believe the CEO has left.

This debacle really was in no one's interest...
If they had known more about database design in the first instance it would have prevented them from making decisions from a position of ignorance.

 

[Lightwave]

When considering the no application development from normal employees line that many IT departments like to suggest they should consider the alternative..

Applications developed in Excel....

These tend to be unusable by anyone except the author and while they don't throw errors that require IT department input they are frequently riddled with arithmetic errors formatting problems that end up producing real world errors in carrying out work.

Surely bad spreadsheets were the driver for database design in the first place ... IT departments should not restrict people from making applications.