The future of Travel

dory

I know this is not the most important issue in the world (but should of course be in the top 10 most important issues), but......any movement here?

Ponster

dory wrote: »

I know this is not the most important issue in the world (but should of course be in the top 10 most important issues), but......any movement here?

As a mod of the Travel forum you are involved in the decision as much as anyone else

I put forward a suggestion to some cmods. I'll create a thread in mods forum for all to see.




Something that can hopefully be done without too much fuss is to 'physically 'move the travel forums around so that "Travel & Holidays" becomes the main travel forum and that the others are sub-forums.

If you look at how Politics is structured, when you enter the forum you go directly into politics and see the sub-forums available, giving the poster all the information they need to choose the most appropriate forum.

We don't have this with travel and I think it would be a better system, much the way that the Volcanic Ash Travel Help & Advice forum is a sub-forum of Travel (remind me to get rid of that though )

dory

Ponster wrote: »

As a mod of the Travel forum you are involved in the decision as much as anyone else

I put forward a suggestion to some cmods. I'll create a thread in mods forum for all to see.




Something that can hopefully be done without too much fuss is to 'physically 'move the travel forums around so that "Travel & Holidays" becomes the main travel forum and that the others are sub-forums.

If you look at how Politics is structured, when you enter the forum you go directly into politics and see the sub-forums available, giving the poster all the information they need to choose the most appropriate forum.

We don't have this with travel and I think it would be a better system, much the way that the Volcanic Ash Travel Help & Advice forum is a sub-forum of Travel (remind me to get rid of that though )

Yea, sorry realised I'm a mod now after I wrote that.

I agree with your suggestion on the Travel as a main forum. Hopefully this will move along now.

Black Swan

What has happened?

Region>Abroad>United States & Canada> then?

Two links open:

• United States (a newly created forum?)
• US & Canada (linked to the existing North America forum?)

Why is there a new and separate "United States" forum that is redundant with the "US" in the "US & Canada Travel"? This is very confusing.

EDIT: See this thread by Hazys on the new United States forum to note his and other posters confusion. Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056073526

If there is room for two separate forums on our site, why not make one "United States" and the other "Canada?"

As I have been the only mod for the past year over the North America forum, I would be willing to mod both a separate "United States" and a separate "Canada" forum, as I have been doing the work for both already. Also, I would be willing to separate the active, existing threads from North America into these two country forums, if someone would rename them accordingly, and give me the approval to proceed (by PM please).

Ponster

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

What has happened?

I don't see any link to the moving about of the travel forums and the new United States forum. The thread concerns Rec->Travel and not Region->Abroad.

It's probably best to ask in the mods forum.

Black Swan

Ponster wrote: »

The thread concerns Rec->Travel and not Region->Abroad.

Why is there a new United States forum, when we have an existing North America forum. See:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=917

And the confusion by posters evident about this new United States forum here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056073526

Ponster wrote: »

It's probably best to ask in the mods forum.

Thank you for this suggestion. I was originally told to post suggestions and comments regarding this issue on this Future of Travel thread.

Ponster

I understand the confusion but as a mod then you should IMO go straight to the source, either the region cmods or just ask in the Admin drop box. I don't think you're going to get much info from this thread (though I may be wrong!).

> I was originally told to post suggestions and comments regarding this issue on this Future of Travel thread.

The Abroad section is for people who live abroad and is not a travel forum asking for travel help. At a guess I'd say that due to the www.boards.us forums being wrapped up and all traffic being rerouted to boards.ie This forum is to cater for Boards.ie members who already live in the USA.

P. Breathnach

I am pleased to see that re-organisation has started (I trust that it is not yet finished).

Might it be convenient to move the two stickies relating to the USA from the parent forum to the North America forum? I suspect that keeping them where they are increases the probability of threads being created in the wrong place.

dory

Are we any closer to coming to a consensus on which travel fora there should be?

Ponster

Hey dory. It's kinda being discussed here.

dory

Ponster wrote: »

Hey dory. It's kinda being discussed here.

Thanks for that. It seems to be mostly about the possible break up of the North American forum.

If reshuffling everything is awkward, how about we just rename the forums and go from there?

Travel - stay Travel
Australia New Zealand - stay the same also
Ind,Youth&Stu Travel - Some name that means independent, long haul kind of travel. Maybe just, 'Backpacking'?? I definitely think the Student should be taken out because I feel the J1 threads would be better in the American forum to get input from people who know about travelling there.
North America - To become America (if the split is going to go ahead)
Things to do in... - To become Canada
Travel Report and Reviews - Ireland and UK travel

This is a pretty easy task to carry out, the individual mods could shuffle some threads around to get things started.

This would be quick easy, and really improve the travel fora. Things to do in and Travel Reports are really being underused and are a bit pointless. I wouldn't ask what to do in somewhere in that forum as Travel or Independent Travel gets much more traffic.

Ideo

I think

1. you should lump canada, US and ALL the J1 threads in one forum
2. General travel
3. Oz/NZ
4. Independent travel
5. Europe
6. things to do in

those J1 threads in particular are beginning to take over the independent travel forum and im getting a little sick of them tbh...

dory wrote: »

Thanks for that. It seems to be mostly about the possible break up of the North American forum.

If reshuffling everything is awkward, how about we just rename the forums and go from there?

Travel - stay Travel
Australia New Zealand - stay the same also
Ind,Youth&Stu Travel - Some name that means independent, long haul kind of travel. Maybe just, 'Backpacking'?? I definitely think the Student should be taken out because I feel the J1 threads would be better in the American forum to get input from people who know about travelling there.
North America - To become America (if the split is going to go ahead)
Things to do in... - To become Canada
Travel Report and Reviews - Ireland and UK travel

This is a pretty easy task to carry out, the individual mods could shuffle some threads around to get things started.

This would be quick easy, and really improve the travel fora. Things to do in and Travel Reports are really being underused and are a bit pointless. I wouldn't ask what to do in somewhere in that forum as Travel or Independent Travel gets much more traffic.

P. Breathnach

We now have a main Travel forum and six sub-forums.

It looks to me as if about 65-70% of the traffic goes to the main forum. That suggests to me that the sub-forum setup is not functioning to distribute posts fairly well and make it easier for users to find things to interest them.

Splitting existing sub-forums looks to me like solving the wrong problem. The real challenge is to find sensible ways to redistribute content from the main forum, while not having too many sub-forums.

I suggest that Volcanic Ash, Things To Do, and Travel Reports should be considered "in play" and Independent & Youth might also be questionable as users do not seem to share a consensus on what its purpose is.

I still believe that a subforum structure based on destinations is the way to go.

Black Swan

Progress Report...

We now have two separate forums for America (which are currently under construction... Please don't mind the dust):

• Rec > Travel > North America (exclusively for vacation travel and short-term visits to Canada, USA, and Mexico)
• Region > Abroad > United States & Canada > United States (exclusively for long-term emigration from Ireland and discussions about living in the United States; takes the place of boards.us too)

Once all the reorganising, charters, clean-up, moving threads, etc., has been completed in a couple days hence, please come and visit.

It should be noted that both these forums had already existed in 2 different categories (Rec and Region), and are now being restructured between (1) vacation travel; and (2) living in the United States (from an Irish perspective).

dory

Ideo wrote: »

those J1 threads in particular are beginning to take over the independent travel forum and im getting a little sick of them tbh...

I completely agree, I would love to get rid of those threads. But with having Student in the title it's hard to kick them off my patch.

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I suggest that Volcanic Ash, Things To Do, and Travel Reports should be considered "in play" and Independent & Youth might also be questionable as users do not seem to share a consensus on what its purpose is.

I have to disagree with both of you on those forums. I think 'Things to do in' and 'Travel Reports' are useless. If people want to know about Colorado they want to look in one place, North America for example. With what you're suggesting they should check 3 forums to find existing posts and then be confused themselves about where to post.

Black Swan

Ideo wrote: »

those J1 threads in particular are beginning to take over the independent travel forum and im getting a little sick of them tbh...

dory wrote: »

I completely agree, I would love to get rid of those threads. But with having Student in the title it's hard to kick them off my patch.

A partial solution to your crowding:

• Move J1 Canada threads to North America
• Move J1 USA threads to United States

That should thin your patch a bit.

dory

Yea I did move a few J1 threads over there but then I thought someone might complain as it's a student thing and they posted in the student forum.

I might throw them your way anyway.... I think they'd get a better response there.

Black Swan

dory wrote: »

Yea I did move a few J1 threads over there but then I thought someone might complain as it's a student thing and they posted in the student forum.

I might throw them your way anyway.... I think they'd get a better response there.

We already have a pile of them in North America (for Canada) and United States, so send them on. Glad to help.

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

A partial solution to your crowding:

• Move J1 Canada threads to North America
• Move J1 USA threads to United States

That should thin your patch a bit.

P. Breathnach

dory wrote: »

... I have to disagree with both of you on those forums. I think 'Things to do in' and 'Travel Reports' are useless.

I think you misunderstand my use of "in play". What I mean is that their future should be under discussion, and that they might be eliminated (effectively freeing up slots for other forums such as the Europe one that I would like to see).

If people want to know about Colorado they want to look in one place, North America for example. With what you're suggesting they should check 3 forums to find existing posts and then be confused themselves about where to post.

We agree on that. I would like it to be fairly obvious where one should go for discussion on any particular destination.

Ponster

dory wrote: »

I might throw them your way anyway.... I think they'd get a better response there.

Don't forget that the sub-title of your forum is :

Independent, youth and student travel, interrailing, working visas and permits (e.g., J1), etc.

dory

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I think you misunderstand my use of "in play". What I mean is that their future should be under discussion, and that they might be eliminated (effectively freeing up slots for other forums such as the Europe one that I would like to see).



We agree on that. I would like it to be fairly obvious where one should go for discussion on any particular destination.

Whoops sorry. Having re-read your post I don't know how I picked it up wrong.

Ponster wrote: »

Don't forget that the sub-title of your forum is :

I realise that but as discussed before it doesn't really work as a mash up of lots of topics forum. I think it would be better to put J1 with all the other visa related queries in North America. That and independent travel in together is a bit nuts. But for now I'll keep the J1 threads until the forums are re-arranged.

v.e.r.b.a.l

I agree with what was previously said. Splitting into regions:

• USA / Canada
• South America
• Europe
• Australia / New Zealand
• Asia
• RTW

There are a few questions that keep coming up over and over. I'd also propose a round-the-world forum for all those generalised flights / packing / insurance etc. questions and advice.

Sorry if I'm just repeating what was already said, but that's my two cents!!

P. Breathnach

Is the process of re-organising the travel forums now complete?

Ponster

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Is the process of re-organising the travel forums now complete?

I think the admins are looking for a forum request for a new Canada forum to be made. In the event that it's accepted then we'll rename the existing "North America" forum.

I don't believe that we're going to have a "South America" forum

P. Breathnach

Ponster wrote: »

I think the admins are looking for a forum request for a new Canada forum to be made. In the event that it's accepted then we'll rename the existing "North America" forum.

I don't believe that we're going to have a "South America" forum

Thanks for that.

Is there no interest in a Europe forum?

I suggested earlier that subdividing the existing special-interest forums does not do a great deal to help people find their way around. If you look at post-counts, it looks as if about 75% of the threads are in what is essentially an unsorted pile.

bifl

silja wrote: »

I think a lot of the topics in the North America forum should really be moved to the Living Abroad forum, as they are not about travel, but living/ immigrating there. Alternatively, maybe the title should be changed to something like "travelling and moving to..."

I think if US and Canada stays together, then it should be called North America, but splitting the two may bea good idea as especially with visas, the rules are very different.

I'm finding the same, I don't find the existing menu structure bad rather the content within. I use this 'Recreation' -> Travel forum as holidaymaker. I suppose it a sad indictment of where we are as a country at the moment, but I'm finding that the Australia and North America forums are now primarily being used for emigration topics (visas, jobs etc.).

Either create a sub-forum for long-term stays/emigration to accommodate these discussions under a Travel section or alternatively move them to the existing Living Abroad forums as suggested above.

I am finding this Travel forum becoming less and less effective to use as a place to browse for simply just holiday plans.

dory

bifl wrote: »

I am finding this Travel forum becoming less and less effective to use as a place to browse for simply just holiday plans.

I completely agree. The redundant forums we have so often talked about need to be gotten rid of and renamed, 'Europe', 'South America' etc.

It seems everyone is for it, but still nothing is being done.

Black Swan

Ponster wrote: »

I think the admins are looking for a forum request for a new Canada forum to be made. In the event that it's accepted then we'll rename the existing "North America" forum.

It would make sense to have one forum for all things that pertain to Canada, and one forum for all things that pertain to United States (excluding: American Football and US Politics).

If North America was renamed Canada, I could easily transfer all the US threads from there to the United States forum. I mod both, and could do it quickly.

The very few Mexico threads could be moved to Travel. Problem solved.

Once again, if North America is renamed to Canada, I would like to remain as the Canada mod.

P. Breathnach

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

It would make sense to have one forum for all things that pertain to Canada, and one forum for all things that pertain to United States (excluding: American Football and US Politics).

If North America was renamed Canada, I could easily transfer all the US threads from there to the United States forum. I mod both, and could do it quickly.

The very few Mexico threads could be moved to Travel. Problem solved.

Once again, if North America is renamed to Canada, I would like to remain as the Canada mod.

Within the travel group of forums, North America represents a very small percentage of total posts (of the order of 4%, perhaps with some re-allocation between threads, 5-6%).

I presume that it is undesirable to increase the number of forums greatly. For that reason, I would prefer to see us use whatever scope there is to facilitate other major areas of interest, of which I consider Europe to be the most important in terms of post volume.

I am disappointed that the powers-that-be seem to have lost interest in this question.

dory

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I am disappointed that the powers-that-be seem to have lost interest in this question.

Well who are these power people and how do we poke them?

It has now been decided that J1 threads will be sent to the United States forum, and the North America forum if they're about Canada.

It would be great if we could get rid of 'Student' from the title of the forum. That way we can start more discussions on travel related items and less about getting a visa to work abroad. We've enough fora full of emigration.