IT ENDS TODAY
It’s over now.
For way too long time, I was the only one deciding which content to post on FujiRumors and which topics to discuss. For way too long time, people dropped me great stories, ideas and pictures via email, patiently waiting for me to read it, reply and share it on FujiRumors. For way too long you’ve been asking for a different way to interact with FujiRumors and fellow X-shooters… and today we are going to change it!
IT BEGINS TODAY
Starting from today, you can share your eXperience, your passion, your images, your questions, your work and more at the new fuji-x-forum, the official FujiRumors Forum. It will be a place, where fellow X-shooters can have an open and kind discussion about everything regarding the X-system. Feel free to join us, give yourself a fresh new start and take FujiRumors to another level 😉 .
YOU SHARE AT THE FORUM & I FEATURE YOU ON FUJIRUMORS
Along with this blog, the fuji-x-forum will become my second home, and I’m sure I’ll meet many cool X-shooters over there, discover amazing X-work and be inspired by you. And whenever I stumble on a great story, a great picture, an interesting thread or idea, I will mention it also on FujiRumors and give it the biggest visibility possible.
So, fellow X-shooters and FR-readers can join this journey right now and be there from day 1. Let’s build up a nice, fresh, new X-space together. My name over there is Patrick FR… see you at the fuji-x-forum.
And btw, here it is, the very first image shared at the fuji-x-forum by X-shooter Harlem. And didiergm has an interesting question… do you know the answer? Then drop it here.
Thanks to the Admin of the long time German Fuji X Forum for this cooperation.
83 Responses
Nice…. 🙂
And now a short cut in the menu
This is great! Thank you.
Obviously the new forum is going to compete with the one that has one less dash in the name. How are you going to handle inevitable comparisons, [cross]linking etc?
I would have hoped a new forum for this site wouldn’t be that similar in name to the other excellent forum.
Yeah, it would’ve been rather easy to set up the forum on a subdomain, like forum.fujirumors.com.
That’s where it belongs really. The other is an excellent established forum. This kind of feels like an attempt to bleed off people from there.
It certainly does. But lets not forget about Hanlon’s razor 🙂
I’m not in the loop, so I can only guess, but it seems that FR is Patricks’s personal project, while this new forum is a collaboration of some sort, so FR domain name was not an option. And when you need a domain name for the Fuji X specific forum, you naturally go for one that has “Fuji”, “X” and “Forum”…
fujix: x100/x100s/x100t forum: 4906 topics 61699 replies
fuji-x: x100/x100s/x100t forum: 1 topics 0 replies.
So lets start a forum with the SAME name, more or less the same content/organization. Something that’s more or less a copy. It happens all the time here, in SE-Asia and of course China.
There’s this shop selling hard-to-get import stuff in downtown Saigon (pesto sauce, mozarella cheese, etc.). Soon after it opened many years ago, right next door someone opened another shop. They sell the same things. They even copied most of the design, have the same LED sign displaying their shop’s name, same suppliers. Shelf arrangement is a bit different. The two families have been feuding ever since.
Most people don’t know who was there first anymore. But at least, both shops are full. Something I doubt would be the case here.
This is an old world’s disease that somehow made its way into the new world: Who’s club is more exclusive? My club is exclusivier than yours, let’s have a duel!…
In reality, it’s all about the community. And this new forum gets one straight from FR.
Strange. I see this as splintering the community, not helping. Why not create something new, different? Or, maybe collaborate, approach the people at fujix, talk about ideas? Maybe I’m too idealistic, expect too much…
You are Hungarian, if I’m not mistaken? That might explain it. Soviet-influenced mindset is something that still exists (big time) in all former Combloc countries. Roots pretty much from the same sources as “One People, One Reich, One Führer”. While for the Western world in general “The more the merrier”, we (I was born and raised in one of the former USSR countries) are always trying to unify.
How many forums are out there on landscape photography? Wedding photography? Ugh… diets? I don’t think that Fuji X users will be somehow diluted by one more forum on the topic. Divided – maybe, especially with such a strange choice of domain name. But the more, the merrier.
I’m a Hungarian outcast if you must know. I left my country because I don’t share that mindset you describe. Why are you trying to offend me?
For me, variety is important. That is at the heart of my criticism. I get excited about new things, fresh ideas, collaboration. I would imagine some people would see this like I do – a duplication of efforts without bringing anything to the table. And a single dash difference in the name might be fine for some people and not for others. I think it’s a bad choice. Do you seriously think this is because I’m Hungarian?
Your fantasy about my Soviet cultural roots, a good measure of Nazism thrown in… what’s wrong with you? It’s so damn ironic, because the 5-6 projects I’m working on these days with the help of other artists is based on our shared hatred for sameness. Communism is only half of the story, the other half is the copy-culture.
Sorry if you feel offended, but I think you understood what I wanted to say.
To make a long story short – I think that new forum is going to fulfill the role of FR community hangout, but with searchable comments.
Yeah. Of course, different habits. I have less time now for forum stuff, that’s actually the most straightforward explanation 🙂 To me, the new forum is pretty much the same, for others, more frequent posters can be community. Small doesn’t matter. Good luck.
The rest of the stuff you wrote… I know where it comes from. And I know where I come from, background, influences. It’s very multicultural, just like the life I have now. There are around two dozen important people in my life, all unique, from a dozen different countries. They kinda represent how my life unfolded. Quite outside what you’d call the norm.
Anyway, I always enjoyed reading your comments, your wacky humour, hope the air is cleared between us. What I wrote… was a really loud “meh.” Not different enough from what I use fujix for, with a name that will be problematic or confusing for people with limited time.
Nincs harag 🙂 We’ll see what the new forum does for us as a community… in time.
You quote Adolf Hitler to describe the mindsets of people living in former combloc countries? Serious? You do realize that is deeply insulting? I praise Csaba for his diplomatic response.
You have powers of observation. Now, if you can describe the radical ideological difference between “One People, One Reich, One Führer” and “We Say Party, Meaning Lenin, We Say Lenin, Meaning Party”… I’ll be very impressed with your explanatory powers.
Whatever dude.
Thank you Sjoerd. We all have bad days, me, you, Trenton…
True.
The X-community is not splintering… it’s growing.
Actually the design is taken from the old, long time and most popular german fuji blog… The moderator there is also moderator here… So he actually just copied himself 😉
Sorry Patrick, I may have been a bit offensive. I understand now, size doesn’t matter… if you get a community going there, all the better!
So just the small things… Some people have limited time. When searching for information, unique names help differentiate. I think the single – difference can be confusing. There are better ideas, some here in the comments.
I don’t mean copy in a legal sense or stealing… just wish it was a bit more unique, with a more different focus than fujix. I got some (fairly broad) ideas…
The idea of a Forum is an old idea, since when I started FR. Now I had the opportunity to try it.
Think about that:
1) FR-readers demand a Forum.. almost since the day that FR-started.
2) I always thought that it made sense, but 2 jobs + a Forum would mean a permanent burn out for me.
3) Now I have the chance to cooperate with a well known and competent Admin, from the oldest and biggest German Fuji Forum (brand name: Fuji X Forum).
4) I think… finally the FR-community can get involved better and participate better, and I don’t have to do exclusively all the Admin work alone, which is simply not possible for me.
5) We take the German Brand Name “Fuji X Forum” and the design of the German Forum
6) Now the Admin has an English version of his blog, and I have a place where the FR-commuity can share their work, images, ideas…
All this came together, and it just made sense to start it, to try it. This place will create indipendent and original content… not like other places, that simply take my content, often don’t quote, and then discuss about it
I can’t see anything bad in making a new Forum which will create original content.
At least for me, it’s worst to copy and paste rumors (original content) from Fujirumors and avoid to quote, to link to FR, cancel watermarks, make fakes quotes like “Fuji Rumers” and a lot more… which happens continoulsy.
But this is just my opinion
One more dedicated Fuji X forum is perhaps a good thing. ‘Creatively loaning’ someone else’s established brand surely is not.
How will Patrick feel when someone starts fuji-rumors.com?
and content, organization, etc.
I proposed another name, my partner thought that this name is better. And I won’t for sure drop a good project just because of a name of a name.
it’s a copy from the German Fuji X Forum. The Admin there simply made an English Version of his long time and well established German Fuji X Forum. We decided to cooperate and simply make an English version of his German Forum.
He will have an English version of his blog, and the FR-community now has now a Forum where to discuss without the limits of a blog.
Hi, I tried to create an account (MikeR) and I’m getting the following error:
“Sorry, you don’t have permission for that!”
Logging out and back in doesn’t solve it.
should work now
it does, thx
Nice job and thanks for your engagement!!
http://www.fuji-x-forum.com/
http://www.fujix-forum.com/
That won’t be confusing I’m sure. So I wonder how fujix guys will feel about this? How would you feel if the situation would be reversed? Especially since it’s not just the name…
http://www.fujixseries.com
http://www.fujixspot.com
http://www.fuji-x100-forum.de
Etc, etc, etc. There’s only 12 notes (on a chromatic scale), it’s up to the musician to play them.
Not to mention the official places like:
fujifilm-x.com and fujifilmxmount.com 🙂
Well… The more, the jollier 🙂
This Forum was a long time request by FR-reader, and the best way for them to share their work, instead of dropping me an email in the hope I’ll read and feature them.
I never did that, because I have enough to do with 2 jobs.
But then the opportunity came to cooperate with others, and I thought that this could be the occasion to finally make it happen.
The Forum name was also chosen by my partners.
I can’t see a reason not to open a forum with them, now that there is someone to cooperate with. It will produce its own, original content, indipendent and free…. Why not?
Btw, Fujirumors is probably the most copied Fuji site out there. Many just repost my content a few hours later, they also often do not quote. Even on the latest X-T10 image leak, there were some canceling the warermark and not quoting FR… I work on the rumors, and they copy. Now maybe you can understand that’s not a nice thing.
But here we are talking of a new forum producing, indipendently, its own content. Not stealing a single line from anyone.
At the end nobody is forced to do anything. Who wants to join, is free to do it
I would have preferred something new, different, I always do. I don’t say you copied fujix, but you must have been aware of what they’re doing. Which is pretty much the same as you do…
Your partners could use some imagination…
This is not the first fuji forum, and it won’t be the last one. But I think also the FujiRumors community should have a space like a Forum.
That’s a good common ground Patrick. Sorry if I accused you of copying – what I meant was that I was hoping for something more special or unique, a bit more different form fujix for example…
as said elsewhere, the Admin is the same of the long time and well established German fuji X Forum. He just made an English version out of it, same Brand Name, same design of the German Forum… just in English.
So the German Forum now has a copy of his Forum in English, and the FR-community a place where to start discussion without the need to wait for me to write a post about the subject
I believe this would be the third, or possibly forth Fuji forum.
The advertising over there is a mess! I hope that Patrick’s place will stay relatively clean. So far i believe it’s just a bit of fun, but you’re right it is a difficult situation. It’s hard to so say if it was particularly necessary, or will be able to find its own identity, but i doubt there is any harm to it.
“The advertising over there is a mess! I hope that Patrick’s place will stay relatively clean”.
but you will not find there so many fanboys and Fuji PRs like here, so they will surely go to Official fujirumors forum too 😉
Maybe, maybe not. Originally The Fuji X forums if I recall was a split off by the a faction of Fuji users from Rangefinder Forums. A bunch of us, left RFF when Fuji X started.
Personally, I had noticed most rumor forums have a dedicated forum but, I have to agree with some of the other posters, that the Fuji X user base is not that large, at least as far as the fanboy or tech talkers go.
Part of the reason I don’t go to the Fuji X site anymore is that I really do not give a J Edgar Hoover’s discarded nad over spec speak. Just want to hear when the latest body or lens is coming out.
I’m not sure if a dedicated forum just for rumors is needed per say, other than to give a group of cool kids their very own boys room to smoke in. If there were as many Fuji shooters out there as there are Canikon, then yeah sure, why not, but now, it just seems over saturated.
makes sense. working on it
I’m sorry. but the moderator is the same of the Long Time and Most popular German Fuji-X-Forum. We cooperate, and it was natural to give it the same name of his German Forum, as you can see from the screenshot.
This is a good thing. A few quick comments:
– As has been said, the fact that the name is so similar to a popular Fuji X forum, but with a dash, is not a great idea. I understand your reasons Patrick, but it feels messy and confusing.
– Aside from this, there will be some duplication between the comments at the bottom of the FR posts, and the forum itself. Some people will like to hang out in the forum, others over here. This also makes things confusing for people, starting two different Fujirumors communities and creating duplication between the posts. (Less is more!)
But I have a solution for you that might not require too much mess:
Do it like Macrumors have done. Create ‘forums.fujirumors.com’ and point it http://www.fuji-x-forum.com. Make sure the links all work, using domain masking.
Create a ‘news discussion’ section on the forum which has exactly the same content as the post comments. Link Disqus to this forum (the hard part – API?). So people have two ways to contribute to that part of the forum. Have each site keep it in sync.
If you can’t make it work with Disqus and the forum software, well, the only other option is to install your own. But in the long term it will be a cleaner, more elegant solution that the whole FR community will benefit from.
There’s already duplications between comments here and on the Facebook page.
Good.
I think you should have picked a different name. It seems wrong using one that is *almost* the same as an already popular forum. In fact the name, as it appears in a browser tab, is exactly the same. You can explain it any way you want but the reasons all sound like rationalizations for doing something not quite right.
acutally the name was picked out by my partner back in April 2011 (when there wasn’t even am English Fuji Forum on the web), along with the German version of the domain. he launched the German Forum, and was waiting for the right opportunity to use the English domain… which came now. I think it’s fine to use a name he thought at for first to realize his project of an English verison of the German Forum. .
The more I’m thinking about it, the more it feels like the case of branding gone wrong.
1. “Fuji X Forum” already exists. It’s fine if you name your forum in generic terms, but here we’re dealing with very specific terms and a relatively small niche. Feels like “Pawasonic” brand. Bad karma.
2. Domain name that’s just one dash shy of the “competitor”… Very bad karma.
3. What’s your USF? I mean, can you verbally describe what separates your forum from the one with sans dash?… Don’t think so.
What do I propose?
1. Move it over to a subdomain, make it forum.fujirumors.com. You don’t have to host it on the same server, just correct the DNS record.
2. Give it unique and recognizable name. “FR” could be considered to be an established brand among the community, so I suggest the name like “FRum”. Brainstorm the hell out of it.
3. Make it very different from the get go. Very very different. Retina ready, seamless Flickr integration, polls, wishlists, auctions, etc.
…Just my 2 cents.
about point 3) the USF is the same of the long time Fuji X Forum in Germany. And since the admin is the same, why not use the same interface? It works, we can take the same platform of the original German Fuji X Forum. It’s just a natural choice.
About the name… it’s a free world. The domain is free. Also http://www.fuji-rumors.com is free (or it’s not?? Strange thing happen with that domain, take a look 😉 )
More important is: do I steal rumors? Do I take content, available only on FR, publish it on another forum/blog, and do not quote the FR as the source? Do I take leaked images and cut away the watermark?
All this happens, regulary. But apparently this is perfectly fine, since nobody ever complained about it. Now we just launched the English alter ego of the German Fuji X Forum, that’s not ok. It might not be the most natural name choice for fujiRumors, but it is for sure for the German Fuji X Forum
in any case, a cooperation Forum / Fujirumors was needed. Now we have it. And we have it with an experienced admin. You see all these threads that have been started today? Usually, many of these question/images/ideas landet in my Inbox. Now they are shared with the whole community…. much better
Answering to the edited out part of your reply… I totally get “giving them a taste of their own medicine” attitude. But when you act unethically for the first time towards the player that has been doing it for years, you might discover that he’s got much more experience in mud wrestling.
The fact is this. The domain http://www.fuji-x-forum.com is registered since April 2011. So it has been taken from the German Fuji X Forum admin before any other English X Forum even existed, (which is why others had to omit a “-” in their domain). The German Admin launched the German version, and was just waiting for the right opportunity and cooperation to release the English one. Now the time has come.
That’s not an explanation, that’s admitting to cybersquatting =)
Forum really needs a FAQ section.
Yes! I think the design is different enough, I would go for a different concept though. More integration with fujirumors, less duplication of topics, fresh ideas…
This kind of forum drama is what I expected, not a good way to start a new community. I criticized the new forum for the lack of vision.
Wow. What an original domain name. Besides Patricks’s claim of innocence, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Regardless of the right or wrong of the name selection, it’s a little surprising to see such a strong reaction from so many. So strong from people who seemingly have no financial interest in the “other” forum. It’s Patrick’s call. Will he be swayed by all the hubbub?
As a long time member of the FujiX-Forum, I think this is in bad taste. But I guess that’s competition, heh.
did you ever try the link to fuji-rumors.com?
it’s a free domain in a free world, and the natural choice of name, for the English version of the German Fuji X Forum
even fuji-rumors.com was free, but had been taken… you should try it ;). But that’s fine… it was a free domain in a free world.
As long as nobody copies FR-content without quoting, steals rumors or takes information available exclusively here on Fujirumors without credit (which happens, often, in many forums and blogs), everything is just fine
Sorry Patrick, not buying it. You could have easily just made it a subdomain here or whatever. forum.fujirumors.com or fujirumors.com/forum/ instead you decided to ape someone else’s site that in certain ways is a competitor… so yeah, bad taste. I appreciate the work you do here, but this lowers my opinion.
the domain name “fuji-x-forum.com” has been registered by the German Fuji X Forum Admin in April 2011 (when no English Fuji Forum even existed.) He launched it in German, and was just waiting for the right moment to use the domain for an English Forum, which came with this cooperation.
This is what I was talking about. If you partner had a bit more imagination, you could have come up with a better choice of a website name. Forums.fujirumos.com was suggested earlier for example, but there are other possibilities.
I didn’t even realize and entered my username and password of fujix-forum.com in to fuji-x-forum then came back here and saw it’s different site. 🙁
As most have said, this is in poor taste. Reminds me of those Chinese knock-off companies like “Cannon” and “Nikkon”. “Fujji”?
actually the domain of our forum was registered by my partner back in April 2011, when still no English Fuji Forum existed (just the German Fuji X Forum). My partner was waiting for the right moment to use it, which came now with the cooperation with FR. I think it’s ok for him to use a domain he registered before there was even someone thinking to make an English Forum. He used the .de version for the German Fuji X Forum, and now the .com version (registered in April 2011) for this Forum. Persoanlly I think that this is fine.
Hi Patrick, I have been following FR for long time and visit FR almost everyday. Regarding what others said about branding, having forum.fujirumors.com and integrate the forum with main site is cool. Using discourse platform (discourse.org) for your forum would be an ideal. It’s easy and you can have the same look and feel on your front-end.
Just my 2 cents
Discourse starts at $100/month. You are suggesting it to the owner of the site that hosts for (my guesstimate) $5/month. Srsly?
Are you guessing FR pays $5/month for its hosting?
It was a wild guess. But let’s check the facts… Whois gives us the following info: registar – Godaddy, hosting – Cloudflare. There’s a whole bunch of other websites on the same IP, so we’re definitely facing an inexpensive shared hosting. Lessee… Cloudflare’s most popular shared hosting plans are Free (of course) and Pro, which costs $20/mo or $5/mo “for each subsequent website”. Most of the websites on FR’s IP are other rumor sites, so “subsequent” seems to be the case.
I stand uncorrected, most likely it’s a $5/mo hosting plan. Probably even less with bulk order and Godaddy discounts.
Well, if it’s true, I guess my website which has less hits will stay on shared hosting for long time :). I am also using a free Cloudflare. But I think a forum won’t be running smoothly on shared hosting.
The forum uses https://www.hosteurope.de/WebHosting/ (which is also an inexpensive shared hosting), so that might be the problem. However, it’s 2015, and most shared plans can handle a few hundred simultaneous visits 🙂
Actually, the domain name “www.fuji-x-forum.com” has been registered by my partner back in April 2011, when he also launched the German .de version, the fist Fuji Forum worldwide. He was just waiting for the right moment to launch it, which has come now, with the cooperation with Fujirumors. in my opinion it’s ok to use a domain he registered in 2011 for a project he was thinking at since then.
btw, also the design is the one of the German Fuji X Forum, which came before any other Forum. Then other forums also used it, but it’s perfectly fine, because the design just makes sense.
Hi Yose
Personally I can’t see a problem to start a project my partner believed in before anyone else, since April 2011, when he purchased the domain (and started with the Forums). Finally a free and indipendet Forum for the FR-community, which will produce an original, unique content.
I guess the problem here is the idea of a competition, that some might not like. But I think that competition is a good thing, for me and for all the readers out there.
In fact, I’m not sure if I would have worked that hard on FujiRumors, if I hadn’t strong and excellent competitors… who, grew in number pretty quickly (some just stealing content, but that’s another thing).
At the end, we will all get more choice and for sure an improved service, which is a good evolution. I have enough passion to work harder and improve the experience here on FR. And I’m sure other Blogs and Forums will have it too.
Pretty cheap to (almost) try to emulate the existing Fuji X forum by name
Bad karma 😉
btw, the domain http://www.fuji-x-forum.com has been registered by my partner back in April 2011 (when still no English Fuji Forum existed). He launched the .de version, and was waiting for the opportunity to use the .com, which came with this cooperation with FR. I think it’s pretty fair that he can use a domain registered in times when nobody was even thinking to launch a Fuji Forum
Maybe the my partner just had good Karma when he bought the domain back in April 2011 (along with the German .de version, first Fuji X Forum on the web), in times when nobody was even thinking to make an English Fuji Forum. Now he found a project where to use it.
Maybe the my partner just had good Karma when he bought the domain back in April 2011 (along with the German .de version, first Fuji X Forum on the web
Patrick: I love this site and appreciate all the work you do, the research and community-building you have invested to support accurate and timely information that is truly helpful. I imagine a huge number of us have been able to make better-informed investments in our equipment because of your work.
I believe the naming issue has a simpler basis than many of the pejorative views that others here have suggested. It should be about this site’s existing, great brand identity. Your work has a widely-recognized and unique association as a respected rumor site – an identity you would do well to leverage. The downside is simply confusion among potential new and existing readers. I was greatly confused, thinking this was merger of both sites.
Build on what the web looks to you for. I understand your partner may feel justification in having prior-history with the domain name. An obscure history, however accurate, is a poor substitute for a site known for looking to the future.
Last suggestion: since this site is so much about turnover in the product, a forum category for used equipment could do very well. Frankly, it’s the only reason I visit some other well-known Fuji sites. I will always prefer buying and selling with other brand enthusiasts.
Whatever the outcome, I will be a loyal follower. Best wishes from all of us out here!