Category reorganisation (this is a big one)

cdeb

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Chess isn't sport lads, it's a game.

Either way, Sports as a forum makes a lot more sense than Recreation and Hobbies. Particularly when you look at what else is in R&H. It mayn't be ideal, but it's the best place for it IMO.

@OSI - no, computer games aren't recognised as a sport. Chess is (recognised by the IOC).

Harry Palmr

Why not have a Sports and Games combined category?

cdeb

Meant to suggest that actually.

Dades

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Why not have a Sports and Games combined category?

Well there's no "Games" catagory anymore. That Cat is really Computer Games now. Apart from Chess, the only other type of games are in the general tabletop and board gaming forum, which I don't think justifies renaming the Sports cat and sits quite happily in Rec & Hobbies.

I think "Sports" is big enough, and if Chess belongs there, great.

Ken.

In my opinion if they test for drugs under WADA its a sport.

cdeb

ken wrote: »

In my opinion if they test for drugs under WADA its a sport.

Not entirely sure if I agree with that, but there is drug testing in chess. See here for example.

Ken.

cdeb wrote: »

Not entirely sure if I agree with that, but there is drug testing in chess. See here for example.

That's what I was getting at. I only found out yesterday through a 'fun fact' in the star newspaper. Up to that I always thought of chess as a game but drug testing players puts it in the sports category for me from now on.

cdeb

Yeah, it was brought in a few years ago so chess could get IoC recognition (which it's got now) and maybe get into the Olympics (which obviously hasn't happened as yet)

For the record, it doesn't bother me as a chess player if it's a sport or not - but I do think the Sports section here fits better than R&H.

Dav

OK, let's not get derailed about chess, for what it's worth, and since my opinion carries most of the weight around here (:p), Chess *is* a sport, so lets proceed on that basis and I'll move it into the Sports category.

I'm going through the rest of the feedback, so please keep it coming, it's been a big help so far. I think bar a few small niggles, we're generally on the right path, yea? I'll be back later on today with more detailed comments and to let you know what's likely to change.

The Hill Billy

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Chess isn't sport lads, it's a game.

Soccer is a game too. :pac:

Please don't move it to Rec & Hobbies!

Beasty

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Soccer is a game too. :pac:

Please don't move it to Rec & Hobbies!

I will support this - along with Rugby, GAA, American Football and Pro Wrestling:p

tricky D

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Really??

That's baffling, why is it under business when no other transport related forum is? The vast bulk of that forum is directly transport and/or enthusiast related with few, if any, actual hard business topics in it.
Why is it different to motors, C&T, Trains & Rail, buses, Aviation & Aircraft all of which sit under one heading?

Incidentally what's the difference between trains and planes that one is a main cat and one sits under C&T?

Tabnabs wrote: »

Maritime as a business sub forum seems bizarre, should be in Transport with the likes of Aviation.

Agree with the above. X post from discussion in Maritime.

tricky D wrote: »

It should logically follow the Aircraft and Aviation category. Both have a bit of Biz, a bit of Rec, but Motoring and Transport is the best and apt category.

muffler

Mint Sauce wrote: »

My bad, there is, although it is laid out diferently when you open up the NW forum. Still wonder why this is the case though.

That was done a few years back to accommodate me when I was stepping down from modding the Sligo forum. At that time once you were a mod of the NW forum you were also mod of Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo by default so you couldn't step down from any of the county forums without stepping down from them all.

Im not into the technicalities but in order to accommodate my request there was basically another North West forum set up and whatever way the guys in the office worked it I was able to remain as mod of the other forums at the time.

Dav or one of the developers might be able to explain it a bit better than that though

2bts

Of the multitude of card and board games, the IOC recognise only Bridge and Chess as sports
see olympic.org/chess and olympic.org/content/the-ioc/recognised-sport-federations/federation27/

Mint Sauce

muffler wrote: »

That was done a few years back to accommodate me when I was stepping down from modding the Sligo forum. At that time once you were a mod of the NW forum you were also mod of Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo by default so you couldn't step down from any of the county forums without stepping down from them all.

Im not into the technicalities but in order to accommodate my request there was basically another North West forum set up and whatever way the guys in the office worked it I was able to remain as mod of the other forums at the time.

Dav or one of the developers might be able to explain it a bit better than that though

I vaguely remember asking the question along time ago my self, either of you in PM, in the staff room (when i modded sligo), or on the forum its self, when i think the discussion was on how to improve the place. Cant for the life of me remember the answer though.

Into The Blue

For the craic, can zombie survival be moved to survivalisim and self sufficiency?

Doctor DooM

Myrddin wrote: »

Arts & Entertainment

The Sci-Fi and Fantasy sub-cat in Arts I'd question. At least for me personally, Doctor Who & Torchwood, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, Star Wars and Stargate franchises are all by far and away cemented in tv shows and films. If the goal is user friendliness and intuitiveness, then I'd be an advocate of moving the mentioned sub-cat/forums to the Entertainment category. As a user, I'd expect to find all those forums in the category that caters to tv and film, not the one that caters predominantly to creative arts etc.

There are many Doctor Who fans who will cut you for saying it's a TV show There's IDW comics, Big Finish audio books (the first people who managed to get Tom Baker back), and the seemingly endless novels.

I'm pretty much sure for Stars War and Trek the same is true too.

I personally don't really feel it's a point worth arguing over, everyone knows Doctor Who is a TV show and Star Wars is a movie, but the hardcore for all of those franchises might get their noses out of joint. Just something to be aware of!

Dav

Right folk, I'm gonna re-do the lists with your suggestions, should get a revised set posted later on.

Myrddin

Doctor DooM wrote: »

There are many Doctor Who fans who will cut you for saying it's a TV show There's IDW comics, Big Finish audio books (the first people who managed to get Tom Baker back), and the seemingly endless novels.

I'm pretty much sure for Stars War and Trek the same is true too.

I personally don't really feel it's a point worth arguing over, everyone knows Doctor Who is a TV show and Star Wars is a movie, but the hardcore for all of those franchises might get their noses out of joint. Just something to be aware of!

Of course, and as you say it's the same for Star Trek & Wars too. I'm coming at it from the point of popular opinion though, and intuitive usability, which perhaps could throw a few noses out of joint in the hardcore fan camps...but make much more sense for a lot more people potentially. As fans of all these franchises, some for a long long time, I feel that their roots are firmly planted in tv and film. Placing these forums alongside other Arts related forums just looks wrong, & feels wrong. My opinion only

The_Conductor

Myrddin wrote: »

Of course, and as you say it's the same for Star Trek & Wars too. I'm coming at it from the point of popular opinion though, and intuitive usability, which perhaps could throw a few noses out of joint in the hardcore fan camps...but make much more sense for a lot more people potentially. As fans of all these franchises, some for a long long time, I feel that their roots are firmly planted in tv and film. Placing these forums alongside other Arts related forums just looks wrong, & feels wrong. My opinion only

I was the librarian in the UCD Science Fiction and Fantasy Society for a few years. I know its been a while- but sci-fi books were and continue to be massive. Think of all the classics- Assimov, Heinlein, Philip K Dick, Douglas Adams, Ray Bradbury, etc etc. Or go a little further back- and you have the most influential science fiction writer of all time- H.G. Wells- but also remarkable authors like Jules Verne etc......

Science fiction does not sit happily under TV or Film for me- give me a good book any day of the week.........

Dades

The_Conductor wrote: »

Science fiction does not sit happily under TV or Film for me- give me a good book any day of the week.........

I read SF almost exclusively, but that spills over into all things SF - movies, TV, etc. I doubt I'm alone in that.

The boards SF forum is pretty quiet with the exception of the "What are you reading?" thread. I can't help but wonder if the forum would benefit from relocating to somewhere like Entertainment.

Though I do also see your point.

wnolan1992

An File wrote: »

Society & Culture

I would have expected Clearasil & Hormones and Oulwans & Oulfellas to be in "Social & Fun", but otherwise everything seems to make perfect sense. Impressive work!

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

Society and Culture

I think Clearasil and Hormones would do better under the Social and Fun category. It's more of a social forum than a cultural one.

Have to agree with AF and my esteemed co-mod. C&H doesn't really fit into Society and Culture at all if I'm honest. It's a social forum which focuses on a subset of society IMO. We can start a poll on the forum, but I think I can pre-empt the results tbh (unless I've totally misjudged the place for the past 4 years :pac:).

Other than that, good work guys. The reorganisation has needed doing for a while.

Myrddin

The_Conductor wrote: »

I was the librarian in the UCD Science Fiction and Fantasy Society for a few years. I know its been a while- but sci-fi books were and continue to be massive. Think of all the classics- Assimov, Heinlein, Philip K Dick, Douglas Adams, Ray Bradbury, etc etc. Or go a little further back- and you have the most influential science fiction writer of all time- H.G. Wells- but also remarkable authors like Jules Verne etc......

Science fiction does not sit happily under TV or Film for me- give me a good book any day of the week.........

Not disputing what you're saying, but Red Dwarf, Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek & Doctor Who were specifically what I'm referring to. The franchises outside of those I'm not familiar with, so wouldn't presume to argue where they should go. The ones I mention though, are definitely a better fit in tv/film, given the association people have with them - despite whatever accompanying novels exist for them (imho).

Mr. G

Sad Professor wrote: »

Technology and Internet:

Any chance the Mac forum could be moved out of Operating Systems and into Computers and Technology, or even Consumer Electronics? The forum has always been for the discussion of Mac hardware and software, not just the Mac operating system. This was never really an issue in the past, but since Apple Media Devices was renamed Apple Devices, it loses a lot of traffic to that forum. New users assume “devices” also means computers. The Apple Devices mods are good about moving threads over, but I get tired of reporting them all.

What would you do about topics on Windows-branded tablets?

Sad Professor

Mr. G wrote: »

What would you do about topics on Windows-branded tablets?

I’m not sure what you mean. There’s a forum for Windows mobile devices. My issue is just with the Mac forum, which is misplaced in the Operating Systems sub-category.

sdanseo

Motoring and Transport

I'm not sure that the Infrastructure forum belongs in here. While transport infrastructure is the most popular topic of discussion, there are many topics in here that are not remotely related to motoring or transport. I'd say this would be better placed under science along with things like Engineering. That or perhaps have a category for the environment incorporating these types of forums?

Regional

I've noticed that for example with Dublin County North, there is a needless sub-forum to click through if you don't have the forum bookmarked. It's sorted East -> Dublin County North -> Dublin County North. A nitpick no doubt, but any chance the extra hop could be eliminated? Think this happens in a few other region boards also. Edit: this was mentioned in the OP as pointed out below. Nevermind!

They're my only two cents here, everything else looks great and very much more organised. Sterling work as usual guys

CabanSail

Maybe the whole Politics Category should be a sub-section of either Recreation & Hobbies, Sports or Entertainment?





Hat, Coat .... Door.

Beasty

sdanseo wrote: »

Regional

I've noticed that for example with Dublin County North, there is a needless sub-forum to click through if you don't have the forum bookmarked. It's sorted East -> Dublin County North -> Dublin County North. A nitpick no doubt, but any chance the extra hop could be eliminated? Think this happens in a few other region boards also.

From the OP:

Dav wrote: »

We'rte no deleting anything except some superfluous sub-categories like you'll see in Region -> Dublin County South -Dublin County South for example.

looksee

Oulwans an Oulfellas - There really does not seem to be any great desire in O&O to get into aging issues. The vast majority of posts are chatty and light. A feedback thread was offered and did not get much response. There have been a couple of minor attempts to discuss implications of illness, but they have been treated in a very positive way rather than discussing the problems. Which is fine, that is obviously what people want to do.

I have given some thought to figuring this out, without a lot of result. I suspect it is a combination of:
- very few of the O&Os are over 70 and only a handful are over 60. The forum needs time for people to get old enough to be in the older age group, given computer literacy etc.

- Those who are on the site may have problems, but they don't want to be identified as such (there is an anon option, but I don't think it has been used at all) they would rather just keep it cheerful. I have seen an instance of someone elsewhere on the site saying rather disparagingly that they would not post in O&O as they were not 'old enough' - mentally, they meant. Though the overall effect in O&O is self-deprecating aging and not the slight grouchiness that the poster was exhibiting.

- There is a bit of a sense that real life is enough of a challenge, lets keep it chatty and social here. Which is fine.

What I am getting to in a long winded way is that, O&O appears to be more suited to 'Social and Fun' the way it is operating at the moment. I am a bit reluctant saying that as my original notion was that there was a social service to be offered, in the sense of pension advice, health issues etc, but there really doesn't seem to be the demand for it. I am a bit on the fence about it, and I suppose, tbh being a bit earnest, and kind of against my Hyacinth Bouquet tendencies, it should be in S&F.

dball

Vaping & E-Smoking
Possibly worth considering giving this its own sub category as many vapers will tell you were not giving up smoking were choosing to vape instead.

Smoking has its own subcategory and I think Vaping should have the same acknowledgement

I just dont know if a subcategory of giving up smoking is the correct placement
eg: Smoking, Beer, Wine and Spirits & Coffee tea etc