Forum addition: What about subtopics?

[kroushl]

I think it would be a useful addition to this forum to add subtopics. Like one for octave, distortion, finishing the boxes etc.  Or maybe have more entries in the iSi. There is a lot of useful information here, but it's scattered in hundreds of topics.  We have new users join all the time and the same questions are brought up quite frequently.  It would be quite a task to try to catalog all of the previous posts.... I donno... maybe the system already in place is the best. Just a suggestion.

Later,
Brad

[smoguzbenjamin]

Well we could use a topic for beginners to post their questions. But then again isn't that what we have the 'beginner project' forum for?

[Mark Hammer]

No.  

The effects forum at Ampage got divided into 7 categories and that ended up being part of its undoing.  

The basic problem is that it is the rare thread that stays narrowly defined.  because this reminds people of that, because every pedal has some common issues, most threads will spread out from where they started, and very soon you find yourself trying to keep track of a concept or topic across multiple sub-forums, and referring people over to this thread here and that thread there.  In very short order, what you end up with is no different at all than having one basic forum and the burden of searching through archives.

The other advantages of the single forum are that new topics are very easily noted by everybody landing here, with no additional effort required by the moderators, and FAQ-type threads are drawn to the attention of one and all.

After being on these forums for something like 7 or 8  years now, my advice is to stick with a single forum and USE DESCRIPTIVE THREAD SUBJECTS.  The easier it is for the subject heading of a thread to tell you what's inside the thread, the more likely it is to be detectable by the naked eye and by the archive search engine.

Indeed, let me make a suggestion right now.  Why don't folks consider sticking a 1-2 word descriptor in boldface/uppercase at the start of the subject line, like I did here.  That way, you get some of the anticipated advantages of having subforums without losing any of the advantages of having everything in one central location.

I'm not sure how it is going to turn out, but I've taken a stab at hand-coding the subject header for this posting.

[Mark Hammer]

Hmmm, looks like the hand-coding didn't work.

Aron/Peter, is there any way to be able to insert boldface into the subject?  I'm a babe in the woods in such matters.[/b]

[B Tremblay]

USE DESCRIPTIVE THREAD SUBJECTS.  The easier it is for the subject heading of a thread to tell you what's inside the thread, the more likely it is to be detectable by the naked eye and by the archive search engine.

I agree wholeheartedly.  Subjects like "Help!" or "More problems" aren't the best way to attract people - especially those who may have the answers you seek.  I do realize that this can be difficult for our ESL friends, but a short description of the specific issue with the specific circuit (if there is one) will help tremedously.

[troubledtom]

i dig the way things are
    - tom

[smoguzbenjamin]

Yeah me too

[The Tone God]

This topic was brought up when the forum was moved to this format. It still comes up every once and awhile. With the forum change brought new features of which people were making suggestions for all kinds of changes. None of them were adopted. Just because we can do these things now doesn't mean we should. I haven't seen another forum were breaking up topics into sub-forums have hugely increased its effectiveness.

I agree that the forum is better off as it is now. Simple things work better. Seperating things will fragment the board beyond use just like Ampage. Searching and navigating for information would be a pain. The most I ever thought the board should be seperated into was general, schematic requesting/posting, archives, and OT. More then that would be too much.

I also completely agree with asking people to be more descriptive with their titles. Unless you visit the forum a couple of times a day you have to sort through pages of threads. Titles with bad naming are more likely to be skipped thereby making the thread less useful for both the vistor and the poster. Titles like "Help Needed!", "Check this out", and "Question" are almost useless. Post a name or description of what your working on in the title even in brackets if you need to. Then you can attract the right attention to your thread.

Andrew

[Xlrator]

I used to be a member of a board who catagorized and that was it's downfall. Especially when they had the "General/OT" catagory. Everyone posted there and it was flame after flame. No one helped anyone anymore. It would be MONTHS before a new post was added in the catagory I frequented.  :x


Keep this as it is!!!  :wink:  

[Peter Snowberg]

Hmmm, looks like the hand-coding didn't work.

Aron/Peter, is there any way to be able to insert boldface into the subject?  I'm a babe in the woods in such matters.

The subject line isn't parsed like the content is and I believe it may have HTML filtered out as well. That would be a nice modification to have and at some point I'll try to peek at the code.


I've seen several places fail when they switched systems and decided to fragment things more or less "because they could". As previously noted, once you have an OT forum, something gets funny and it's often flamesville central within a few weeks.

There will eventually be one more archive forum of stuff from the last pieces of the archives that have yet to be converted. This chunk requires a ton more work than the last two did.

I'm in favor of as few active forums as possible. I think Aron has done a good job in this respect by limiting it to three, but even with things divided up so lightly there is a little tiny bit of crossover between the regular forum and the beginner project forum. The balance between areas and maintaining maximum communication is delicate and it shifts based on volume.

I have noticed a lot more overall traffic here lately and this forum seems to handle it very well. Volume often "dulls" a site if it gets too high. Once viewing and posting thread selection is based more on popularity than on the title, it's all over for the content.

It's almost like finding that balance is more like an art than a science because so much psychology is involved.  

That's just my 2 cents,

[aron]

I'm a great believer of the search functions in a forum. I don't mind a mess generally and if you can find things easily in this virtual mess, then it's not so bad to me.

The interesting thing about beginner questions is that a lot of them have been handled through R.G.'s Guitar Effects FAQ a long time ago as well as my additions and this forum.

As I have said numerous times, if you see a thread that belongs in the FAQ forum, flag it with a post saying "FAQ Material" or email me a link and I will add it.

In addition, if you see something that should go into the DIY FAQ itself, let me know.

[yano]

I'd be in favor of more subdivisions. When I first started, the Beginner thread seemed like a waste of my time. I think it would help people find what they're looking for quicker, but it would be cool to have an option just to view all recent thread activity.

[aron]

but it would be cool to have an option just to view all recent thread activity.

That's exactly how the forum works. All recent threads come to the top.

[smoguzbenjamin]

What if we renamed 'beginner project' to 'beginner forum'. It would make it clearer I think

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Splitting hasn't worked (in my opinion) anywhere else, at least for a subject field like this, that doesn't split easily.
So far as "mystery" subject headings go, if I run out of time, they are the ones I don't read, I guess I wouldn't be the only one! (a plea to take changed subjects in threads to a new posting, as well).

[ErikMiller]

Titles like "Help Needed!", "Check this out", and "Question" are almost useless. Post a name or description of what your working on in the title even in brackets if you need to. Then you can attract the right attention to your thread.

I can confirm that I only check threads with mystery titles if I am completely bored.

Perhaps good title creation could be a standard recommendation. If nobody answered your question, perhaps the title didn't pull anyone in.