Frustrating - Advanced seems to mean "ex FF"

[WideEyed]

First, thanks for the great forum, Steve. And for all your work in the past, some of which I've come across elsewhere and have had the privilege of using.

Now to what I hope doesn't come across as a moan.

After several days browsing this forum and reading threads, I keep finding references that I don't understand. It's not because of lack of knowledge but more to do with lack of being in with several of you when you were actively participating at FF.

Case in point: brijon's Pitbull Trader For Advanced Traders only thread. I have huge respect for Brian and have watched some of his videos in the past, but to understand the references in this post you have to be not an advanced trader but rather a trader who has spent a lot of time in FF - in this case the T101 original thread and all the T101 spin-offs such as the T101 indicator development thread etc. How else would one know, for example, what a 101S indicator is? That's just one example.

To try and understand threads like these would require not just trading knowledge, but extensive trawling through War & Peace sized FF threads. And that reduces the usefulness of some of the threads here a bit (though not all threads, I hasten to add!) These threads come across as continuations of conversations started elsewhere and to the extent they do they serve to exclude those who weren't part of the original conversations. It is of course easier to simply continue a conversation than start afresh for the benefit of newcomers so I don't hold that against anyone.

Some of us aren't raw newbies, but aren't old FF hands either. For us, some of these threads are a bit frustrating, but maybe you old timers can take on board that not all new members signing up here are necessarily either raw newbies or long standing FF members. Much appreciated.

Once again, many thanks for all your work and for hosting these boards and sorry if this comes across as a complaint, it wasn't meant as one.

[mjws00]

Welcome.

Don't lose a minute of thought over not being able to figure out one of brijon's threads. Many bright minds have been unable to make sense of the unintelligible grammer and language. Most of the 30,000+ post behemoth's at FF have little value beyond the first few hundred posts. But if you were involved in the actual evolution and thought process there was something to be gained in the middle. Skip to the end (last 500 posts)and you will see little remains of the original system, that has long since failed.

Very rarely you will end up with a small group that has adapted something to suit them. Or it will remain because it is core and fundamental to the markets. Typically these are things like Price Action, SR, Trendlines, Supply and Demand.... Models that have existed for decades and still work in the hands of skilled practitioners. But they may involve discretion and many hours in front of a screen.

There is something to be said for just sucking it up and reading the beasts. History and process can be useful. But I'll admit to the utter tedium involved in finding those rare nuggets.

Anyway. If something is confusing or built on assumptions. Just ask. The crew here is pretty well moderated and most will tolerate an intelligent question even if simple. I don't think this is the ultimate destination for pure clueless laziness... but there are some pretty amazing minds willing to help.

Mike

[SteveHopwood]

Fact is, there are number of us who 'grew up' together, in Forex trading terms .

Fact is, this is now a reasonably well established forum.

This means there are a body of people who understand exactly what happens here. They do so because they have been around for a long time. Many did indeed follow me from FF. Many others have joined since I started this forum and have become invaluable contributors. An elite group have become mods and a super-elite group have become admins. I do not select these people randomly. Many of them did not know me at FF.

So, to explain everything that everyone knows here would require a War and Peace sized doc to explain nearly every post.

When understanding x means you have to understand y, it matters not a jot where or why x and y were posted. T understand x, you still have to understand y.

All forums have their 'in' stuff - humour, shared knowledge etc To become a part of the shared stuff you have to hang around the forums for long enough to understand it.

Sorry to sound less than 100% totally sympathetic, but I was once an FF newbie saying. "Eh? Whut? Why are you talking language I do not understand?" Look where I am now. Understanding stuff takes time because nobody is prepared to write War and Peace length docs to explain every nuance of every post in a thread just because a newcomer might not understand it - mostly because those of us who once tried it know from grim and bitter experience that said newcomer will not read it.

Hang on in there and imbibe the culture here gradually. You will not regret taking the time to do so.

[Jemook]

Welcome to the forum wide-eyed. Good responses from both Mike and Steve. Stick around, this place will feel like home in no time

At the end of the day it's up to the member who posts a new thread to include the relevant information when posting a continuation thread. That first post in a new thread is always the most important.

[WideEyed]

Thanks for your replies and the encouragement, Mike and Jim.

Being late to the party is no excuse for not joining in the fun, so I'll get stuck in.

All forums have their 'in' stuff - humour, shared knowledge etc To become a part of the shared stuff you have to hang around the forums for long enough to understand it.

True. I own several forums and am an old hand at managing online communities and catering for everyone from raw n00bs to ol' pros, so I understand this. It takes a while to get into the culture. But it's not forum culture I was referring to, nor is it "knowledge", those are easy enough to crack. It's the shared history that's difficult to break into.

It's great that you have threads exclusively for newcomers - like your abbreviation thread and the one on how to use an EA. However, if you're targeting that level of newcomer - someone who needs basic terminology explained - you have a gap. I'm not saying there's not huge value in these forums 'cause there is and I aim to take part, but am pointing out the view from the other side which as a forum owner I sometimes wish newbies would share with me.

At the end of the day it's up to the member who posts a new thread to include the relevant information when posting a continuation thread. That first post in a new thread is always the most important.

That would be a major help to both the raw n00bs and in-betweeners.