Too many sub-forums on PA?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Site News, Newbies, Help and Improvements
Forum Name: Help us improve the site
Forum Description: Help us improve the forums, and the site as a whole
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=81373
Printed Date: July 18 2025 at 19:31
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Too many sub-forums on PA?
Posted By: Verwuestung
Subject: Too many sub-forums on PA?
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:20
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Yesterday I posted a question on the Prog Music Lounge forum (the main one of PA). A few hours later that post was transferred to Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation ( forum_posts.asp?TID=81357" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=81357 ) The latter forum is hardly visited by any forum members when compared to the main forum And now there is very little chance my inquiry will be answered. That got me thinking, does PA really need so many sub forums? I mean sure we proggers like to categorize and sub-categorize EVERYTHING (look at how many genres we have) but the truth is that our forums do not have THAT many posts a day, which makes me think all of these sub forums are redundant! If the situation was different and the forums were more populated and active on an.. hourly basis, then I would see the point in compartmentalization, but this is not the case what are your thought? |
Replies:
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:34
| I think that with careful forethought, it's easy to find the right sub-forum in which to place one's thread. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:45
Exactly. I'm having a hard time understanding why this thread wasn't opened in the so very explicitly titled "Help Us Improve The Site" section. I guess it's not the forum's structure that is the problem here. |
Padraic wrote:Posted By: Verwuestung
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:47
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You completely missed my point One must ask himself, at which point is this sub-division made redundant? It creates a problem because if a post is made which alludes to a very specific topic and thus placed in a very specific sub-forum, which is rarely visited by most PA members, then the post will not be exposed to enough eyes. (To the admin who moved this thread to " forum_topics.asp?FID=2" rel="nofollow - Help us improve the site ", you will prove my point, as I surmise this thread will not gather a lot of views, it being in a forum I have personally never entered!) |
Posted By: Vompatti
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:56
| All the forums are listed http://www.progarchives.com/forum/default.asp" rel="nofollow - here . Furthermore, all the active topics since your last visit are listed http://www.progarchives.com/forum/active_topics.asp" rel="nofollow - here . You are free to visit any of them as often as you like. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 09:57
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You also don't seem to have noticed the "New Posts" button on the upper right corner. Most users use it. Check it out and you'll understand why the "lack of exposure" argument is a non-argument in fact. Regardless, if we all posted our threads in the Prog Music Lounge, it would only get crowded and many useful threads would therefore get lost in the mess. It is actually the rigurous separation in sections that provides threads with exposure. This is a simple and logical thing to understand. EDIT: ninja'd by Vomps.  |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:01
| I agree, the subforums are reduntant. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:01
Do check the New Posts button, as suggested twice already. And please stick to the rules; next time you open a thread in the wrong section, you will be awarded a sanction. |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:11
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i have never used the New Posts button i guess that is why im such a fail.
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Posted By: Verwuestung
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:30
Taking your "job" a little too seriously, don't you think? These forums are for entertainment's sake, not for being a faultless well operated machine for certain people to manifest their dictatorial behavioural characteristics |
Posted By: Verwuestung
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:36
I doubt that so many people do use that button as some here tend to guess |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:48
I'll let that pass. This time.  |
Posted By: Verwuestung
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 10:59
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 11:29
I never use the new posts button either, but it's ridiculous to say that people look at Appreciation significantly less than the general lounge. Appreciation also doesn't move as fast, so it will be at the top of the page longer... ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Easy Livin
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 12:32
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This is a very active forum. We split it into various sections to try to make it more user friendly. If everything was simply dumped into one section, interesting threads would quickly be overwhelmed by less interesting ones.
To suggest that people only read the prog music lounge is disingenuous. Many of the most active threads are in other sections. The number of replies in this thread already is evidence that threads in other sections can be just as active.
There is a tendency among some to think that their thread is somehow more important than other people's, and should therefore be exempt from the rules. We have had the present forum configuration for several years now, and it seems to work well. We are always open to suggestions for improvements, but please do appreciate that our members have successfully brought it to this point.
The "New posts" option mentioned previously is a great way of quickly seeing what threads have been active since your last visit.
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Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 12:40
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More forums!!! More forums!!! = More great topics to view!!!!
I vote for More forums!!!!
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 12:41
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One obvious explanation to the lack of response in some threads, such as the "A question for Hawkwind experts" thread, is that simply not one of the 74 people who has visited the thread in the past 17 hours has been expert enough to know the answer and thus post in the thread. This would be true no matter which sub-forum the thread was posted in. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 13:38
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^ That is very true....of a lot of threads. Seems as though they get targeted for a specific audience, I mean I don't feel at all comfortable in joing a thread about RIO/Krautrock/Avantprog........one day I will, hopefully.
But in general I don't see any issues with the overall sub forums. -------------
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 14:00
Well to be fair, there is a marker for this thread in General Discussions. ;-) ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: topographicbroadways
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 14:13
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The sub-forums have pretty clear instructions. If you open all of your threads in the wrong section I don't think the site structure is to blame. -------------  
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Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 14:13
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and don't forget that with the New Posts option, you can adjust it to see what new posts have been made since whatever time you feel like checking.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm 
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Posted By: The T
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 14:26
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I agree with somebody. ------------- 
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Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 14:29
I don't think you do. |
Posted By: Failcore
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 16:26
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I actually agree that some of the forums could be combined. I think it would be optimal if the forums were condensed to maybe 2/3 of the current number. It's just annoying and a big turn off to new comers that everything is so sub-categorized. Not to mention, it'd be easier to manage. But whatevs, it's not my site. ------------- 
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Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 17:31
| Should just get rid of everything but JFF |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 17:46
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 17:54
Which 11 forums would you eliminate? ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 17:54
 ------------- What? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 18:16
| ^ you know T is a master baiter |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 18:18
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Posted By: Failcore
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 19:43
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For starters, I'd combine the top 4. Then combine Prog Gigs, Prog News, and News from Prog Suppliers. Combine Unsigned Bands and Review our Music. Fuse General Music Discussions and Musicians exchange. And then Just For Fun and General Discussions. Finally Report Bugs and Report Errors. There, that gets it down by 9 at least. Not quite 11, but I think that would make the site look much more friendly, and would also make it look much more active, and active forums actually draw more active users. -------------
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Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 20:07
What this thread certainly proves is that you only need an interesting subject to get people to post in a thread this far away located, in the grim dungeons of PA ( ), from the Prog Music Lounge. 
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: September 22 2011 at 21:07
But top 10s are terrible I don't want to see them, and Appreciation provides a respite from trolling and arguing in Prog Lounge. I also don't want to read about people's random recordings in General music, and you are out of your damn mind if you think combining JFF and General is a good idea (Personally, if I were king I would kill JFF and only allow a few threads from it to survive in General, but then the chat threads would render the new posts function completely useless). Unsigned and review our music are redundant since in practice pretty much only the band posts in unsigned, and report bugs and report errors could also be merged. ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: September 23 2011 at 04:14
It's designed that way to avoid tiring you out Henry ------------- 
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Posted By: Bonnek
Date Posted: September 23 2011 at 04:29
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If you look at the number of Topics and Posts in each section then it looks very much like most of them deserve their own place on the forum. It's only the following which seem to create less heat, and which might be more attractive when merged together. For more serious people: forum_topics.asp?FID=58" rel="nofollow - Prog Blogs forum_topics.asp?FID=61" rel="nofollow - Books and Miscellaneous Reviews And those two small lounges below which could fit under forum_topics.asp?FID=19" rel="nofollow - Prog News, Press Releases forum_topics.asp?FID=80" rel="nofollow - Featured Artist of the month forum_topics.asp?FID=76" rel="nofollow - News from Official Prog Suppliers Just thinking aloud... forum_topics.asp?FID=82" rel="nofollow - |
Posted By: Big Ears
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 04:07
| In my view, some forums, like PE, do not have enough sub-forums so that it becomes ambiguous or inconsistent as to which threads remain or are removed. Here, there is a home for many things, but it is not always easy to decide where a thread should be placed. |
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 04:11
Yeah, I don't know how people even use PE, it's a complete mess. ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 04:39
You knew you posted in the wrong forum. As far as I am concerned anyone who knowingly posts in the incorrect forum should have their post/thread deleted and they should carry the designation "attention whore". "Look at my thread it's really important!". Seriously get over yourself. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 07:38
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Failcore
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 09:50
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Glad at least one person agrees
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Posted By: The T
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 11:12
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There's too many sub-forums in the world... -------------
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Posted By: Angelo
Date Posted: September 30 2011 at 11:56
One shred room is enough. ------------- http://www.iskcrocks.com" rel="nofollow - ISKC Rock Radio I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |