Too many forums.

[Hybone]

This is just my opinion and maybe others might share my point of view. There are just too many forums that sometimes it is very easy to miss a good thread because you don't get to visit most of them.

As a matter of fact, I couldn't even find which thread I replied to last night because I forgot which forum it is at. I suggest combining some of the forums of related topics into one forum, and leave just a few forums for easier navigation. What do you think? Maybe we can ask for memebers' opinion and have some kind of poll?

Thanks,

[Squeaky]

I think we should keep the forums as is, but be more aware of what we're posting in the thread based on its title. I am guilty on occason of wandering off topic, as we all are, and it makes it hard to find because the title of the thread has nothing to do with the conversation anymore.

Well, that's just my $.02

[Tourmeister]

There are several ways to track threads. First, when you come to the site and login (assuming you don't stay logged in), you can hit the "View all new posts since last visit" and this will show you anything new. Also, when viewing a thread, you can select to track it even if you have not post it by clicking the "Watch this topic for replies" at the bottom of the thread page. If you post to the thread, you can elect to have an email sent to you every time someone posts a reply, this is the same as the watching for replies. Lastly, you can choose the "Set a bookmark for this topic" and it will make a list of bookmarked topics custom for you. This way, even if there have been no new posts, you can still find the topic without having to do a search.

I have thought about reducing the number of forums. I am sure I could easily combine some of them. However, most of the ones I have are fairly specific. All the nonspecific stuff winds up in the General and Off-topic section anyway. What I do is occasionally reorder the forums so that the most frequently used ones are near the top of the list.

However, I am open to change. So if we get a lot of folks asking for fewer forums, I can certainly work on it. Thus far, you are the first to comment about it ;-) For that, I thank you! Most folks would not take the time to voice their opinion hehe.

Oh yeah, welcome to the site!

Adios,

[Valker]

I post to a lot of different sites and this is one of the easiest forums to navigate that I go to. I like it as is. That is just my 2 cents though. :shock:

[buck000]

The key to following forums is not work, and constantly hit the "view latest..." link every 10 minutes.... Works for me... :-)

[Anonymous]

The point for fewer forums is that it is a lot easier to view different threads of different topic. Many times I see a thread that I wouldn't have seen if I did not go to that specific forum.

This in my opinion increase traffic to your site as many interesting but otherwise lost topics could be easily seen by most anyone instead of someone who "HAS" to have the time to visit all the different forums to see all the new threads he/she could've seen with fewer forums. Not everyone has the time to go through all forums to see if there might be something that he/she can find useful. I know that on other sites, I would've missed many useful threads that I would've missed if not for the fact that they were combined under a few forums.... just my observations that's all. I think the memebers that spend a lot of time here would not find fewer forums useful, but members with less time, like me, can surely appreciate it. There were other forums that I stop visiting because it was taking too much time to navigate. Just my observation, but majority rules of course.... Thanks!

[Hybone]

The point for fewer forums is that it is a lot easier to view different threads of different topic. Many times I see a thread that I wouldn't have seen if I did not go to that specific forum.

This in my opinion increase traffic to your site as many interesting but otherwise lost topics could be easily seen by most anyone instead of someone who "HAS" to have the time to visit all the different forums to see all the new threads he/she could've seen with fewer forums. Not everyone has the time to go through all forums to see if there might be something that he/she can find useful. I know that on other sites, I would've missed many useful threads that I would've missed if not for the fact that they were combined under a few forums.... just my observations that's all. I think the memebers that spend a lot of time here would not find fewer forums useful, but members with less time, like me, can surely appreciate it. There were other forums that I stop visiting because it was taking too much time to navigate. Just my observation, but majority rules of course.... Thanks!

...ooops, forgot to log in. That's me 8-)

[Tourmeister]

:tab I am not sure I understand. :scratch You do realize that you don't have to visit each forum to view all the topics? When you hit the "view all posts since last visit", it pulls all the new stuff out of ALL of the forums and puts them in a single list for you to browse. In effect, it creates a single forum.

:tab Now this is no good for old topics which aren't active. To see those, yes, you would have to visit each forum. I guess a new person that is reading some of the older inactive threads might find it time consuming to go into each forum to read all the threads. Is this what you are referring too?

[Chirpy]

Scott,

That's what I do...keeps me from working so much :-D

Daryl

[Kidder]

:tab <snip>You do realize that you don't have to visit each forum to view all the topics? When you hit the "view all posts since last visit", it pulls all the new stuff out of ALL of the forums and puts them in a single list for you to browse. In effect, it creates a single forum. <snip>

This is how I always start my perusing of this site. It works. Period. You wont' miss any messages or threads. Good luck.

[Hybone]

:tab I am not sure I understand. :scratch You do realize that you don't have to visit each forum to view all the topics? When you hit the "view all posts since last visit", it pulls all the new stuff out of ALL of the forums and puts them in a single list for you to browse. In effect, it creates a single forum.

:tab Now this is no good for old topics which aren't active. To see those, yes, you would have to visit each forum. I guess a new person that is reading some of the older inactive threads might find it time consuming to go into each forum to read all the threads. Is this what you are referring too?

I do realize that, but that means threads tat were inactive that I might miss won't show up iwht clicking "View post since last visit." Anyhow, that was just a suggestion that's all. THis is still a nice forum regardless.

[Tourmeister]

Howdy Jimmy,

:tab Okay, now I got ya ;-) It is the issue of old inactive threads. I think going through those would take a lot of time even if they were all in one single forum. After all, you have the same number of threads even if they are spread among several forums or in one. If you really are serious about reading older threads, I would just pick a forum and work your way through it as far back as you like, them move on to another one later.

:tab I understand it is just a suggestion and I certainly appreciate it. Please don't feel like we are jumping on you ;-) Just as a note, I spent a lot of time (still do actually) browsing other forums. There are some that just have the "General" and "Off-Topic" and that's it! Then there are some that have what seems like hundreds of forums. I admit that I lean towards the fewer is better end of that spectrum. Right now I think we have a decent balance in that regard. If you look at the forums that are most active, there are only about five. I keep those up near the top of the list so that new messages are easier to see without having to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. I keep an eye on that in case they need to be reordered.

:tab I have thought about doing away with the Hardware forum and just letting everyone do that stuff in their posts in the Member's Gallery. I have been thinking along your lines even before you posted about this. So we may yet still lose a few forums.

:tab I am glad you enjoy the site, thanks for joining up. Hope to see you on the road.

Adios,