Modifying the Forums

[alm4rr]

Hello

Recently, it seems like everything gets posted in Off topic b/c people just say, "I'll get quicker responses in OT." But to me that's part of the problem - OT shouldn't be the only active board in the forums. The more people talk about Linux or video cards in OT, the more atrophic the other boards seem to become.

The boards could possibly undergo slight modifications as well. For example, "peripherals" is rather pointless when there is a General Hardware board that encompasses peripherals and everything else not covered by CPU's, Cooling, Video, or Networking which are discussion specific and help keep all the boards active and easily navigable.

The drop down menu and forum categories page could also be a bit more organized. Here is one proposed change in their order:

Current

General Hardware
Operating Systems
For Sale/Trade
Hot Deals
Off topic
Politics & News
Laptops (SF Factor)
Highly Technical
Cases and Cooling
CPU's
Distributed
Motherboards
Networking
Peripherals
Software
Tech Support
Video
Forum Issues
--------------------
Proposal

General Hardware
Laptops
Tech Support
Highly Technical
Motherboards
CPU's
Cases & Cooling
Video
Networking
Operating Systems
Other Software
Distributed Computing
For Sale/Trade
Hot Deals
Off Topic
Politics and News
Forum Issues
[Peripherals deleted for Gen Hardware]

The reasoning in my proposal is the logic of board order and their relationship to the AT community. We like hardware. We like to help people with tech problems. We also like to debate CPU overclocking parameters and finding the best deal on a new system. These boards are listed first because they are more related to the people who come to AT than just to shoot the shizzle. But more practically, they proceed in a logical order of what/where to post.

Certainly, I don't think the reordering of the boards is an earth shattering proposal, and may be viewed as nit-picking. However, I whole heartedly believe that OT should not contain or encourage members to post "ON Topic" discussions to the neglect of the other boards. Although there are certainly lots of OT Lounge Lizards, OT is good board for entertainment and discussing wacky topics with other members. However, I believe it should remain OFF topic.

Thx for your time
-ALM


Edited b/c of incorrect column formatting

 

[Aves]

While I agree that that forums could use some reorganizing, it's been discussed before and shot down.

 

[ProviaFan]

Additionally, Mods have been known to lock or move stuff that's too "On-Topic" for Off Topic.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: aves2k
...it's been discussed before and shot down.

Repeatedly.

 

[Jeff7]

I don't know if my method is officially sanctioned, but it works, and I don't think that it violates any forum rules:
I post a link to an "urgent" question in my sig. Then, if I want a response quick, I visit OT. I contribute meaningless thoughts to a meaningless thread there, while at the same time, giving my question some exposure. 🙂

 

[Confused]

I think General Hardware should be moved right down near the bottom of the list, and move things like Tech Support up closer to the top. There are too many "my computer's not working, help" threads in GH. GH should be for discussing hardware, not tech support questions.


But, re-organisation has been suggested and ignored over and over, why should it change this time? It's not as if it will take 3 weeks to change the layout/order of the forums 🙁 Just give me 10 mins with access rights to the layout of the forum and I'll change it to a better order.


Confused