Changing nature of the forum

[Steve Ashton]

Erudite is defined by Merriam-Webster as - Having or showing knowledge that is gained by studying.

In the past 90 days (or since 1 Jan) this forum has had 145 new members join us in our discussions. That is 1.6 new members for every day of this this year. We are currently at 20,749 total members.

I have been a member of this forum almost since its start although, like many, I lurked for quite a while before actually registering. In the time I was lurking I was reading and learning. Studying to become erudite if you will.

X Marks is the oldest kilt forum still in existence. Others have come and gone and X Marks survives.
X Marks is also the largest and most active on-line community dedicated to the kilt. I use the word 'community' for a very specific reason. Most of us have come to know each other and we have all built something here that exists no where else on the web. A community of those who love, wear, and in some cases study the kilt.

But the vast majority of those who come out of the woodwork and register do so for the same reason. They have just discovered the kilt and have chosen this unique place to learn.
We see on an almost daily basis posts in the "Newbie" section questions about how to wear the kilt. Questions about how to accessorize the kilt. Questions about the history around the kilt.

Everyone learns and it is one of the strengths of X Marks that we have, in addition to all the new members with questions, been able to attract those with the knowledge gained through study.
X Marks has perhaps the largest accumulation of kilt experts in the entire world. People like Peter who have spent a lifetime studying Tartan and the weaving of Tartan. We have world renowned experts who come from about every specialty around the kilt. We have professional historians, pipers and pipe band members, members of the military kilted units, kilt makers, and kilted Clergy.


Is it any wonder that we attract so many new people? People who may have worn a kilt for years and many who are just starting their journey of learning.

Over the past 14 years I have experienced first hand the cyclical nature of on-line forums. New members come, sometimes life changes and some members leave. (and yes, I will freely admit that some have been chased away and some have been asked to leave over rule violations.) There have been stretches where the forum seems dull and not active at all. At other times the discussions have been amazingly active.
In the early days the Utilikilt had just been introduced and quite a few of the discussions revolved around this new type of kilt. At other times the Tartan kilt as worn in Scotland by Scots has been the most common topic.

All of this just proves that X Marks is a living, breathing, evolving thing. The only constant is change and X Marks has changed and evolved quite a few times over its life.

When I first discovered X Marks I was a total newbie. I had just made my first kilt. And it was horrid. I had heard from the family oral history that I had some Scottish ancestry did not come from a world that had kilts in it. I joined because I had found a place where those here, could identify a kilt 2 times out of 3 without having to look in the back of the book.

And X Marks became my book. I learned to make a kilt from "The Art of Kiltmaking". I learned from Scots how the kilt is worn in Scotland. I learned from those who go to Burning Man how to wear a kilt in 100+ degree heat. And perhaps the most important lesson - That what I saw on other sites was not the only way to wear a kilt.

So yes, X Marks is currently experiencing a lot of new members. Members with the same basic questions many of us had when we first joined.
That means that those of us who have had the time to study should step up and now teach our new community members.

If a member wishes to discuss the fine points of kilts they just have to post. Holding back or decrying a temporary shift in the discussions does not help the new members. Those new members have come here because of what you have to teach.

You are their book - "Publish or Perish".