Suggestions for improving the forum/Forum Changes

Amtmann

serfboard wrote: »

There already is a thread about it here. Should that C&T thread not be moved here too?

Negotiations for another transfer are underway; we should have another 5 or 6 key threads moved here in due course. That one will probably slip through though. Duplication is unavoidable sometimes. I think at some point we just have to accept that there will always be an overlap between the two fora. The situation is being ameliorated however, and pretty soon people will get the message.

By the way, in case any of our newer posters missed this, you should read it.

Amtmann

So, how are we doing?
To me the forum seems to be buzzing now, with a great variety of quality threads on different topics. I'm not sure how much more traffic the forum is generating at present (I'll ask one of the techs when they're not so busy), but I regularly see 20 or more users browsing these pages of late. So thanks guys for making this place the great forum that it is. And of course, keep the feedback coming here whenever you wish to raise a matter for discussion.

Sponge Bob

Furet wrote: »

So, how are we doing?
To me the forum seems to be buzzing now, with a great variety of quality threads on different topics..

It is top heavy with roads that will not be built for years if ever.

The Telecoms Infrastructure thread gets very few contributions unless Dubhthach and I do it .

Electricity/Grid 0 ..outside Spirit of Ireland
Gas 0
Ports and Ferries 0
Sewers 0
Bicycles 0
Integrated GIS and all the above 0

apart from that it is comprehensive I suppose!

Amtmann

Well, we have a great broadband thread going - that's down to dubhthach, you and Bk mostly. I also started that thread on housing which, hopefully, will grow over time. There is an ESB thread which I bumped a while back, but it's slipped down the charts. As for gas etc. - start the threads!

Roads certainly dominate here, but I think it's unavoidable as, firstly, so many are being built, and, secondly, because many people find the construction phase quite fascinating. Naturally as more projects near completion we can expect a spike in road thread hits, followed by a massive drop in interest. Note how quickly the M9 thread gains views - up 7,000 in a little under two weeks. But once the motorway is complete, the thread will quickly lose hits. I think roads dominate here for another reason too: each scheme can have its own thread, whereas with something like housing or broadband, one general thread usually suffices. These singular threads are, however, usually of a very high standard - as your broadband thread clearly exemplifies.

If the Spirit of Ireland project kicks off I'd expect that to become a massive, photo-laden topic with several threads. Similarly I'd like to see metro and interconnector threads with photos dominate here when the time comes.

I suppose one thing we are missing is an (anti-road?) Green perspective. Something else I'd like to see is for more use to be made of the 'Rate Thread' function. I usually rate threads myself, but in order for the stars to show, several other people must also rate it.

nordydan

I have to say the split has been done every well, well done mods. I find myself now that nearly all threads of interest are in the Infrastructure forum, and only a few in C&T (as I don't commute to work).

I see there is a thread about estimated opening dates of schemes. If there was a sticky post of all the U/C schemes and the their guestimated opening dated in chronological order that would be very handy for the occasional browser. It also means that one wouldn't miss any revisions to projected opening dates by not seeing a post in a thread.

BluntGuy

As you may have noticed, all the road-related threads have now been moved to a new sub-forum:

Roads Forum:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1394

This was done for a number of reasons. Many posters shared the view that the abundance of road-related threads were dominating the Infrastructure forum. It was observed that good-quality threads on other forms of Infrastructure were shoved down quickly due to posts on road-related threads being made more quickly. This is no-one's "fault", many of the regular posters here are just more interested in roads.

With this split however, hopefully we will be able to expand discussion. Non-road Infrastructure topics will now be given room to breathe. This of course does not mean we're expecting a sudden surge in posting, as obviously it's up to individual users where they want to post and what they want to post on. If all people are interested in are the roads, then all of the old threads are still there ready to be continued (with tagging, indexing etc. all in place as before, just in different sub-forum.) We understand it may take a little getting used to, but with this new sub-forum, more indepth postings or threads about smaller schemes can be freely created without the necessity to have to merge or delete to keep from getting cluttered.

However, since there is essentially a blank canvas in a manner of speaking from which to craft a new, more expanded Infrastructure forum over time, if there's any suggestions they would be much appreciated.

Jayuu

BluntGuy wrote: »

...with this new sub-forum, more indepth postings or threads about smaller schemes can be freely created without the necessity to have to merge or delete to keep from getting cluttered.

Given the road building plans for the next few years all we're going to have to talk about will be the smaller schemes!

But it does make more sense to split the forum. As somebody who is more interested in the road network it will be easier to nagivate.

Amtmann

Folks, just after noticing that the DART Underground thread now has almost 900 posts. I'm of the view that threads of this length can be really hard for newcomers to get in to.

Just wondering if any of you think there's a better way of breaking up the DU discussion into more manageable bits. I'm not talking about splitting the current thread, more starting new threads to deal with different parts of DU. This is just an idea by the way. I need your suggestions/opinions first before I decide whether or not to do anything.

Thanks