The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

I used to come here all the time to find some useful information, very easy. Now, so hard. They made so many different subdivison of topics and keep moving the threads around. Other than using the search function to find the threads I read before, I almost can't local them anymore. :mad:
Please get back to the old way.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

The restructure has reduced the number of sub-fora, and made a more logical split. The movement of threads will settle down over time; so it might just be something you have to get used to :-/

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

a) we don't say "stupid" any more. we call it "useless" now.

b) jaffa's right: it's less divisions now, not more. i have to say i find it logical and very straightforward to use. it took 2 or 3 days to get used to the long names ("OS2006 / Maemo 2 / Mistral - Scirocco - Gregale" really could have been "OS2006"), but now i like it better than before. just give it some time. you'll like it, too.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Its even easier if you don't use the categories at all :D

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Funny i did not even recognise the changes

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

racky, can you name specific examples of things that made more sense before than now?

The reorganization of the forum was discussed extensively. If you have any concrete suggestion to improve it please share it.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

I just use today's posts and search function. Forum structure has always been useless for me.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

If it's not one of the top 12 on the "Home" page, it is too old news for me to care about!

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Yes, but newcomers also exist and for them it's useful to have some structure.

Also for people starting a new thread.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

I see that this thread has been moved... Just to add to racky's confusion :D

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Yes, I did. I have to go to search and type "Stupid" to find out where is this thread moved. See what I am talking about. You see it one day, and next day it has been moved to somewhere else. I know I just need to get used to.
What it bothers me the most is Palm OS and Canola threads are now under Alternatives and Multimedia. So if I have to look for what other people talking about Canola, I have to go through all the pages under Multimedia, and that is pain in the a**. Is it possible to have some kind of sorting ability, like when people hit the [Canola] in front of the thread, it will sort out all the Canola related threads. Is it possible?

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

So advanced search is the best way anyway
Alleluia

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

This could easily be remedied by people posting in the correct section in the first place (which was never done before the change either...). There has been discussion (but I haven't seen any action... yet), about creating a sticky post that will go in each forum to explain "This is for posting x,y,z." Also, volunteer(s) are needed to write descriptions for each forum. And... you do realize that there's a search function for a reason?

The new layout isn't the problem. Moving threads isn't the problem. People are the problem.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

> People are the problem.

Outlaw them all!!!

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

You started this on-topic thread in the "Off Topic" forum. The thread was moved to the right location. What is wrong with that?

See also the sticky topic in General: Welcome to the Internet Tablet Talk forums

Before we were leaving temporary redirect notices but then people complained that those looked silly, so we stopped posting them (except in the newbies forum where the chances of people getting confused might be theoretically higher). Let us know if you prefer to keep such notices.

But you were complaining about having to deal with more forums instead of less. The way to have less forums is to merge existing ones. Having a specific forum for just one application doesn't scale, and in any case the traffic of Canola doesn't justify it. Even less the traffic of Palm OS.

This is what tags are for: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...php?tag=canola

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

couldn't this be done on the main page right under the title of each section? like here:
http://forums.gentoo.org/

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Yes, as discussed at Sticky Draft.

ITt is based on http://www.completegfx.com/forum/index.php , which has those descriptions for forums.

In fact I think ITt have them before the reorg, but my memory fails now.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

In some other forum software there's a link ('Moved:') in the original forum when a thread is being moved. Couldn't it be done in vBulletin as well? It would make it easier to find a moved thread, presumably.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Yes, it can be, and was, done on iTT. qgil discussed exactly that a few posts up:

So, having had people complain both ways, qgil and the other moderators are looking for further feedback on which way they should go.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

No, we are not looking for more feedback. :) "Moved:" notices with expiring in 1 month will be left always from now on.

Maybe someone will find that ugly (that was the complaint about such notices) but at least less people will find it stupid.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

I only ever use new posts. Or tabletSearch and its applet.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Not a bad idea.

At first I really didn't like the new order either. But it was just a matter of searching for the threads I was keeping tabs on. The search function is the key to forum life.

I just had an idea while I was typing this though, what if there was a way that each user could have a small side panel or something where they could bookmark threads? That way anyone could just bookmark something useful that they want to read later. I could see how it would be pretty useful to me. I would just bookmark a few "How to" write-ups and keep them for reference. Just a thought.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Not on a well-designed forum site. IMO.

I'm fairly active on City-Data, another web forum site using this same basic forum software, and the issues I see here (mainly a great deal of fragmentation and tons of thread moves) does not seem to occur there. And City-Data is MUCH higher volume.

FWIW, speaking as someone with no vested interest in this forum.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Lots of thread moves are due to the recent forum reorganization and the laissez-faire moderation of the forum in the past. This will settle with time.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

You can "subscribe" to any thread you want. Go to Thread Tools > Subscribe to thread (it's at the top of every thread, while viewing that thread). Then, you can go to your user CP and get a list of subscriptions. I thought that there was an option to get an e-mail if someone replies to one of your subscribed threads, but I'm not seeing that option... maybe it's always turned off?

[edit]Ah, it gives you the option when you subscribe to the thread. None, Instant, Daily, and Weekly are the options.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Yeah I knew you could subscribe to threads but I was thinking of something for a little quicker access. But back to forum organization:

I don't mean searching for threads that are active at the moment but rather to find answers to questions and to locate posts that have slowly moved down the ranks in the pages.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Any proposal to improve it?

That forum is divided in US states, some countries and library-like topics. That is, ontologies most US citizens knowing how to use a qwerty keyboard are familiar with.

Here we need to deal with a different problem. The topics are not so familiar to everybody: what is the difference between a device, an accessory, an operating system or an application?

Compared to the old setup, the new setup has 7 forums deprecated, and about 5 that have been merged. One more forum is being proposed as deprecated (Newbie).

Maybe we are indeed making it still too complicated. Where to simplify?

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Just my $0.00002, I think we need some time, as has been mentioned.

After a major change, you tend to have 2 types of posts.
Those who don't like it at all.
Those who were involved and disagree with the people above. ;^)

I'm not a huge fan yet, but I fully admit that it is just because of the change. I'm giving it time, waiting till we get past all the "moved" threads and it settles down, and we'll see how it works then.

If, in a few weeks, I'm still just searching "new posts", using search, or subscribing; then it probably isn't working for me.

But the "new car smell" (which I was never a fan of) hasn't worn off yet, so I reserve judgment for now. Personally, I didn't have any issues with the reasons for the change; meaning it didn't bother me before. But I can see where other's might have...

Give it some time. It'll probably work out pretty well, and then I won't think about it until the next "streamline". :-)

desiv

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Off with their heads! All of them... then start fresh. :)

***

Announce the change.
Make the change.
Move on.
People will get used to it.

The problem may be a lack of perceived leadership. Without it people in general get strange...


There really is only room for one decision maker for the overall forums. An administrator. Individual forums should have specific moderators. The developers forum has different expectations and posting protocols than the general forum for instance. Every forum has a particular tone. Matching an appropriate moderator to a forum helps set that tone. Moderators are not administrators but assist the administrator by pointing out trends, fielding questions, settling disturbances, suggesting changes.

The Admin is ultimately responsible for the content of the forums and his or her word is final. The Admin should not be as accessible as the moderators are.
The forums should start out simple (what we now have) and grow organically. Sub forums should be added as needed but this must be based on the real numbers of the proposed topics (views/replies) and not feelings of importance.

All of this should be managed "behind the curtain" and not open for public debate and once that becomes the norm, silly threads like this will be dealt with by the general membership or ignored. A separate moderators forum should be set up with controlled access for that purpose.

***

This would be my proposal. :)

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

Now... is that 0.002 DOLLARS or 0.002 CENTS? :p

I agree wholeheartedly. There's no perfect solution to anything, you simply go with the one that seems to make the most sense. And remember: change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

Re: The new setup of this forum is SO STUPID
 

People organize and compartmentalize differently. No way to make them all happy.

BUT-- effective use of the techniques discussed in this thread go about 95% of the way to perfection. "Moved" notices, metadata (tags), descriptive section names, a clean re-org, et al... everything is coming together.