Hi Stuart,
I vote for forums! And I like your list of topics, though I'm sure others will suggest others equally interesting. What about Pests and Diseases - or could that come under Ask the expert, perhaps?

Absolutely! Much easier to communicate and find each other, I think.

Forums would be terrific, Stuart! If there's some way I can help, I'd be happy to do so, on the days when my X&^*$#!! internet connection is behaving.

Can we vote twice? If so I vote twice for YES to forums! I love the idea of coming to blotanical and asking a question that everyone can see and hopefully everyone will have an answer for.

Yeah-
I would do it. Sounds like a good idea.

Stuart .. you are working so hard to please all of us. I worry about you lad !
Forums would be great .. sharing tips and information .. I would love to be able to ask questions about garden photography and yes plants !
But .. don't stretch yourself too thin .. this is a lot to do !
I vote yes .. if it is comfortably possible !
Joy

Forums would be a wonderful addition to Blotanical, but I do know they consume a lot of time setting up and overseeing. I think it would be nice to have regional forums as well, as advice from someone in Europe might not apply to me and vice versa. I'm a great fan of garden crafting and would love to see something along that line. I would certainly be available to help (currently I manage a Canadian gardening forum) moderate some areas if the forums go ahead. Forums would certainly be another way to attract gardeners who don't blog.

Good points Anna. Maybe we could make it that a member can only access the forums once they've reached a certain level (maybe the first level) of Blotanist ranking. We could even make it so that they require possibly 1, 2 or more Blotanists to vouch for them accessing the forums making it even harder to troll.

Any thoughts on this idea?

Hi Stuart,

You already know my thoughts on forums ... I think they'd be great.

If people have to sign up here, aren't they already vetted (i.e. they have a gardening blog)?

Only for as long as we continue to allow just garden bloggers to register. With the advent of permitting non-garden bloggers to join there will be no accountability so they will need to earn some reputation of sorts before we allow them to begin posting and commenting in the forums.

I vote for forums. Maybe just restrict them to blog authors only? Then the other visitors could view the blogs and comment there when they get added to the mix.

I vote yes for forums too! That is a great idea and so much easier for us to communicate and share information. Maybe there should be forums for certain zones so those questions can be discussed. A seed forum for questions on propagation and trading. There are many topics that would be great to have. Like others said if don't spread yourself to thin and what we have now is really great. I understand if forums are too difficult and you'd rather just have the reviews. There are other websites for gardening forums but it would be nice to get to know those here. It would probably bring in more people then the reviews. Forums are difficult to manage because of abuse and fights and other nasty things. What ever is decided I understand and would be happy with it. I'm not picky.

I had a question the other day and was wishing we had forums.

I think it would be great. (Like I don't already spend enough time here!)

Hi, Stuart, Funny you should ask. I was just out in the garden thinking, "All these folks, tremendous resources of information and there is no central station where we can ask each other questions!" So, YES!
THANK YOU! Kathryn

Well, it seems unanimous that Forums will move up the TO-ADD feature list. Reviews will be put back onto the backburner for the time being and I shall focus my attention on getting these up and running.

I too am keen to see how these will work with our very passionate and talented group of gardening experts.

As they evolve I will allow those who have reached the Patron Blotanist level and above to get the first peak inside their workings and allow them to offer suggestions and feedback before it all goes public.

If you have ideas for some boards/ topics that you would especially like to have available between now and then, please continue to add yours in a comment. I will be reading them.

Thanks heaps for your feedback and I'm honoured that you would give it.

Thanks for working on Forums feature! Like Priscilla said already, I would also be interested in information based on zones. Living in North-Europe I'd like to grow and learn more about North-American plants within the same zone. I can find plant profiles through internet, but what I miss is real experiences.

Forums would be awesome!