FAO MODS: A suggestion !?!

Cork Skate

Lads, if you look at the way this is laid out .... might it being a suggestion to organise this a bit better.

Just making a suggestion .... and yes i dont know that there is alot of work involved it this.

Anyway .... what do people think !?!?

WizZard

How, exactly? What is 'better' there?

optiplexgx270

More difficult to read with all the adds! dont be giving them ideas for selling adspace!

RSS feed would be sweet or is it already enabled?

Cork Skate

WizZard wrote:

How, exactly? What is 'better' there?

I just think that things are organised a bit better there. Everything is categorised and related to certain sections. I just think it makes sense ..... i like the idea of being able to go onto a forum and search for what you want first (chances are it is already there) and if it is not then post what you need. I know it is not always the case (if something needs to be more specific) but it would help you compose your question better if you searched first in the knowledge that you might find it.

I personally dont like (i wont say hate cos it is too strong) having to mill through loads of threads that sometimes are just a rehash of what was there last week. Take this forum, the amount of varied topics is unreal to be honest (that is good too though, i know there are plus sides) and things often just get out posted and half a day and it is three pages back and no good answer yet, and bumpin' it back up only wrecks my head.

I just know that someone is going to say "just dont read them so if you dont need to" (deja vu ) and i say i try not to, where relevant and i agree with that but by the same token there is argument to say "why have sub-sections been made already ... why not have it all in together ??" .... answer ... it makes life easier and it is easier to get answers.

Its all about the answers people, people generally will visit the forums they prefer/are good at that subject/can contribute more in first. The percentage of 'hits' would go up as regards answers thus making the interweb message "pipeline to knowledge" board experience far more enjoyable and make us all more balanced happy individuals ... well thats my take on it all anyhoo !!

Cork Skate

optiplexgx270 wrote:

More difficult to read with all the adds! dont be giving them ideas for selling adspace!

I hear ya ... but think of it .... you scroll down the thread for 99% of the time anyway, it would want to be a really good ad to make me stop what i'm doing .... maybe thats just me though !!

RSS feed would be sweet or is it already enabled?

RSS ... Whazzat ??

koneko

Boards.ie isn't specifically only for web design and computer/tech topics.
A lot of boards split down the way that site is, works for a forum that is about specific topics, but Boards.ie covers a lot of things.

Cork Skate

koneko wrote:

Boards.ie isn't specifically only for web design and computer/tech topics.
A lot of boards split down the way that site is, works for a forum that is about specific topics, but Boards.ie covers a lot of things.

I know that ..... i am only on about the computer section to be honest (truth be told, i dont really post in any other forum)

And i am not saying that site should be copied, i am just saying that something like an applications section would be very good, which could nearly be broken down into maybe Drawing/Graphics so AutoCAD, Pro Eng, Studio Max, even Photoshop etc. would all be in one area and maybe MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, Distiller, MS Visio, MS Project could all be in another section.

Databases would be a good section on its own and all that goes with.

A vendors and hardware section would be very practical i'd image. If someone was looking server/printer/set of 6 monitors all synched together, they know where to tackle it first, i mean anyone looking for a drawing tablet would have very little chance of getting a response in this forum, but a much better chance in hardware.

The Mods could surely look at what keeps cropping up and sort out more sections, practically. I mean they'd judge it best.

It would just mean that you could approach things better. If you get the answer you need, you'd generally come back to the same place that you got an answer before cos it is practical and there is a good chance you'll get the answer.

Just my tupence anyway !!

KdjaCL

Subscribe to the forums you like and they appear ^ in the drop down list, a new star means theres a new post in your chosen forums.

Very handy should try that out Cork skate.

There was ot is RSS feeds but atm i think they either turned off or dont allow you to customize them.

kdjac

koneko

Some sections are split down, but Boards.ie posters are a difference audience to that forum's ones. If it was split down as specific as that site is, I wouldn't really read them, far too many forums to browse through.

Chalk

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/external.php?type=RSS2


rss for last ten posts,
not perfect but useful....

Hobbes

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/

Looks the same as that. Incidently suggestions to change the site should go into feedback forum so the right people read it.

stevenmu

It's a good idea in theory, but in practice, with the amount of posts this forum gets it wouldn't be worth it. There'd be only one or two posts in each section a month.

It's also nice having most things in a general category, sometimes I'd spot a thread I want to read that maybe would belong in a section which I wouldn't bother going to if it was seperate.

Khannie

So, when you say FAO Mods, you don't mean me? You mean the uber-mods, right?

I have no control over stuff like this.

I'm gonna suggest moving this to system->feedback. Any objections? (don't think it belongs here). It's also more likely to be viewed by someone who can actually do something about it.

Personally, I like things the way they are

seamus

Cork Skate wrote:

i like the idea of being able to go onto a forum and search for what you want first (chances are it is already there) and if it is not then post what you need. I know it is not always the case (if something needs to be more specific) but it would help you compose your question better if you searched first in the knowledge that you might find it.

The same facility exists here. People just don't use it [strike]as much[/strike]. It's also a little more difficult to search for general topics, then say for an error in PHP - where you can just paste in the error message.

I personally dont like (i wont say hate cos it is too strong) having to mill through loads of threads that sometimes are just a rehash of what was there last week. Take this forum, the amount of varied topics is unreal to be honest (that is good too though, i know there are plus sides) and things often just get out posted and half a day and it is three pages back and no good answer yet, and bumpin' it back up only wrecks my head.

The trick is trying find a balance between having a forum for specific topics while keeping it general enough. Most of the big forums on boards could now, like they have been in the past, be broken down into 6 or 7 sub-forums, dealing with individual topics. But the more forums you add, the more people get confused, and are more likely to get lost. There are already *a lot* of forums on boards. People are already getting confused and lazy, and instead of finding out what forum to put their topic on, they just throw it on the first one they find. Now, this will always exist, but increases along with the number of forums you have.
DevShed forums are already well-defined. They're catering for a niche group. They don't need to add forums unless a new language pops up. It's 100% obvious where a topic should go. I don't think boards can work like that - I don't think it *should* work like that. From time to time, a thread that should be in Politics, popping up in Humanities, or a thread that should be Spirituality, popping up in After Hours, adds to the fun. That is, many topics *don't* fit into one category.

WhiteWashMan

Cork Skate wrote:

And i am not saying that site should be copied, i am just saying that something like an applications section would be very good, which could nearly be broken down into maybe Drawing/Graphics so AutoCAD, Pro Eng, Studio Max, even Photoshop etc. would all be in one area and maybe MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, Distiller, MS Visio, MS Project could all be in another section.

i like it.
maybe you could be mod of all of these sub sections?

Khannie

WhiteWashMan wrote:

i like it.
maybe you could be mod of all of these sub sections?

ROFL.

azezil

*wanders in, has a look round then cocks his leg and pisses all over the plans*

Cork Skate

WhiteWashMan wrote:

i like it.
maybe you could be mod of all of these sub sections?

Man .... i'd have no worries with that !! .... (cept i'm a newbie)

If you think about it .... there aint much to manage with a section like that.
Most problems the occur in applcations are well documented already and only a matter of finding the solution and making it available.

If you managed the threads for 6-12 months ... it would be self managing after that (unless new versions come out and problems occur with backwards compatiblity, problems with OS etc.)

Also ... pin threads that make resources available to used and maintain them until no more questions.

And the thing about sub sections is you have people who use those apps everyday, you could braindump and find out what is good and bad in certain apps and give feedback to developers (that would be down the track obviously)

Basically .... it could be as good or bad as you want it to be.
For me, i'd be trying to develop a resource .... i wouldnt really be looking at chewing the fat about stuff, i'd keep that for the pub.

WhiteWashMan

Cork Skate wrote:

i wouldnt really be looking at chewing the fat about stuff, i'd keep that for the pub.

that sounds cool. id be up for meeting over a few pints and discussing the evolution of office applications.

if you like, i can help co-mod it and sort of show you the 'mod-ropes', as it were?

Beruthiel

LOL
come into my parlour.....

Gordon

So basically you are saying that each forum on boards should be categorised properly? yeah I like it. I think every forum should have a sub category: politics should be split up into each individual party and politik ethos, PI into problem related categories (girls, spots, sex, no sex, should I wash my hands sometimes, girls for example), deffo the windows should be sub categorised, Microsoft Visio is a highly in depth program that sees much head scrathing while fat chewing.

Gosh the list is endless but I think it's a worthy addition to the valuabilityness of boards' target market aint it. Maybe, Cork Skate, you should get a list of all forums on boards and write out a proposal for each forum as to what sub categories you would like to see in place. I think then will the admins let you upload your new subforums and convert them into reliable market leaders, or cash cows if you will.

Great stuff, I look forward to your second de-briefing. Hey, don't bother adding the community forums to the sub-forum list that you will do today though yeah? cos they are different jpg's.

zAbbo

The one thing id like to see is a search space on the vbulletin nav bar on the home page

koneko

Good suggestion, bazH.

Bad suggestion, Cork Skate. Splitting it down like that will just create a whole bunch of empty boards that no one's going to use. This isn't a computer board, it's a general discussion board. It won't work.

yossarin

WWM, I'm intrigued by these 'mod-ropes' and would like some examples of their possible use in Cork Skates new boards.

WhiteWashMan

usually invovled in deceased equine floging....

Cork Skate

Alright lads, settle down a bit there will ye :rolleyes:

I threw in my tupence to see what people thought, in the hope that it would improve things a bit. Some of you didn't like the idea, fair nuff, i'll obviously take it on the chin, but some of you got kinda cráp about it.

You could take it easy ffs, its not like i was forcing my opinion on you, or is it just suggestion in general you are not good with.

Cork Skate

koneko wrote:

Good suggestion, bazH.

Bad suggestion, Cork Skate. Splitting it down like that will just create a whole bunch of empty boards that no one's going to use. This isn't a computer board, it's a general discussion board. It won't work.

Hang on a sec .... when i said split it down, i meant add in one or two obvious sections, NOT split it down into every single section possible. Just because other chose to take the píss, that DOESNT mean that that is what i wanted.