Sal, you sorta knew what posts in this thread were likely to be about.

I don’t mind explaining things to new folks, individually or collectively (that isn’t the same as endless debate with those who won’t change their opinion no matter what—with those we just have to live with—respectful but quiet—disagreement). While this is a private forum, it’s still a member forum and we do take the feedback seriously. We’ve made many changes as a result of that.

We could be a bonsai tree and dwarf ourselves by cutting away anyone who disagrees with anything, or we could be a big tent with no focus, little sense of community, and lots of domineering personal attacks. I have experience with both of those forum extremes. I think we prefer something in between, recognizing that any robust community is heterogeneous but still centered around a common interest. But both extremes pull hard.

Rick “the common interest is large-format photography” Denney