too many categories!

[electrathon]

I want to start by first saying that this forum is one of my favorite places on the internet. There is an incredible amount of talent here. There is just this one item that is driving me crazy.

Please do not make any more categories! The most frustrating thing about this forum is there is a category for everything. So many in fact, that depending on what you are posting it could go into any one of about 5 categories. I come here often. I should be able to open a few categories and look quickly through and scan through everything. But, there are 41 categories that all have to be opened to see if there is something new that catches my eye. This forum could easily cover all categories with about 5 topics. I just spent over 5 minutes trying to figure out why my post was removed. I was rather irked about it in fact. After looking and looking I found it was moved to a section that receives little attention. Moving it to this category effectively stopped people from viewing it. (admin, check the logs, the hits virtually stopped after it was moved). I came here tonight to post another pic. I didn't post it feeling it will be moved to a lethargic area.

An example of what I am talking about. Say I am posting about how to repair a carved saddle, the stitching seems to have reacted with the staining/sealing process that was used a long time ago. So my choices are to post it in: How Do I Do That? Leatherwork Conversation. Sewing Leather. Floral & Sheridan Carving. Dyes and Finishes. Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair. General Saddlery Discussion. All about Leather. The most appropriate area to get the most hits and likely an answer would be to post in the sewing section. This way the vast majority of sewing answers would happen. But it could be posted into any of many other categories too. If I am looking for an answer in the history of the forum I would have to read all of the above categories and likely others just to look for an answer. It is a slow and time consuming process.

To me, simple is almost always better than complicated. Having to look through 41 sections when surfing or trying to decide where to post out of the 41 (or just not posting if it is going to be moved into a seldom read category) is not simple.

If I am :deadhorse: then give me the and I will in silence.

Aaron

PS: After sitting here thinking about it, here is the pic I came here to post. I was going to put it in the "Show Off" section because I am proud of the outcome. My last post was moved from there to "Purses, Wallets, Belts and Miscellaneous Pocket Items".

[Don101]

Hi first of very nice work i like it, and the way i get over to not have to go through the whole forum is i check the todays active posts that way i keep up with whats new, Don

[abn]

Aaron,

There are lots of forums here... Maybe too many. As you say, it sometimes makes it hard to decide where to post. Also, each forum is so granular that they seem not to have much traffic. Even after a year, some forums still have less than 10 posts.

There are a couple of tools, however, that can make your life easier. First of which is the "View New Posts" link at the top of the page. This helps you find new content without having to drill down through all the forums. The second is the "Search" functionality, which helps you find information on a particular topic, regardless of which forum it was posted in.

I agree that some posts could go in several different forums. Hopefully, the above tools can help you sort things out.

Regards, -Alex

[Admin]

I moved some of the older posts out of "Show Off" to the categories they "fit" because the people were saying, "Where are all the bike seats I was told about? They aren't in the Motorcycle Area!" and so on. I hope people keep posting to the show off area so their posts get maximum attention, and as the threads there age, it's no big deal to move them.

As far as categories- hey, give me a break! I'm winging this. Send me an outline of how you think the board should be structured, and I'll take it up with the staff. I don't know "the best way" to structure the forum, we've only been online for a year! And the posts are so good, it's hard to know how to show them off to the best advantage. All suggestions welcome!

And thank you for TELLING me what made you upset rather than just disappearing or stewing about it. It's only when we identify a problem that we can fix it. I didn't mean to tick anyone off, just tried to get a little more organized for the new folks.

Thanks for your help!

Johanna

[wolvenstien]

electrathon

Do like I do.... and most everyone else who uses the forum, up top there is the "View New Posts". ,hit it when you want to view the posts.... as for making a new post... pick what you feel is the best catagory, and post it.... most everyone uses the view new posts up top so we will see your post..... might not make a comment on it.... but we will see it.

Be well

Mike

[electrathon]

I appologize for complaining last night. I was tired and every time to come on the board I feel the frustration building. If nothing else I guess I found out why the threads are disapearing.

I guess from the posts above that even the regulars can't muddle through it all and are just using the "recent posts" link to eliminate all catagories and group everything into one. I have done this sometimes but have found that for some reason I tend to miss some of the posts. That process definatly does not work when searching for an answer. As in my example above, I would have to read through many forums to try to figure out where something was posted. Should the saddle be posted in the saddle section or in the sewing section? What about the coloring section, the finish appears to be the culprit. Then again, it is an old saddle, so maybe I should look in the restoration section. When there are so many overlap areas it becomes necessary to read all sections since the info is valid in all of them. Personally, I would prefer to navigate one section rather than five. Even if I do look through five sections I likely will still not look into the catagory it is filed in.

This is not my board and I do not meen to imply that I have all the answers. I would like to see a few more people chime in. I have only been on a few other forums, and by far the best functioning ones are the ones that have the fewest numbers of catagories and let the pages move faster than having dead sections linger. If a section gets little to no posting it will get no readership. If no one reads it then it is a bad place to post, and so on.

Aaron

[bruce johnson]

Aaron,

I am on a few other forums and lists, and actually I find this one easier with several categories. On some of the others, the posts are in 4 or 5 general categories. The problem is over time that these get to be very lengthy. A 2 or 3 post discussion of clickers is in the middle of mostly sewing machines, things like that. On one the posts are archived off in groups of 50. When you have to go back to look something up, it is unwieldy. Likewise, most new members never go back to post to a thread they may have something to contribute to. Another concern is that some only show the most recent posts for the last month, something like that.

I think the format we have is easier. It is possible for someone new to go back and add to posts. I agree that the categories are not perfect and there is overlap in most anything we do. I think that your saddle question could go in several categories. My concern would be more to get it into one, rather than worry about where it fits exactly. The interested people will find it. My thoughts would be if it is a general question on handsewing, I would put it in the sewing section. If you are concerned about a specific way of restoring the saddle and stitching for either display or use, then probably the saddle restoration section.

The big thing I like about this forum deal is that there is no email involved unless I choose it (and I don't). Other forums get me up to 75 emails a day, often on things, though interesting, don't pertain to my work. Here I can go to what I want to see first, then look at the rest at my leisure. I guess I have never used the "recent posts" thing.

[dsenette]

When there are so many overlap areas it becomes necessary to read all sections since the info is valid in all of them.

the easiest way to solve this is to pick the portion of your question that is the most important bit of information...such as a faded sadle..true it's a saddle, true it's a dye issue...but isn't your main question how to restore it back to it's original glory? i'd think that would be a restoration question...if you can't get down to the basics like that...it's actually best to go in the other direction and put it in the place that's the most generally related...such as the saddle area

and if all else fails...we'll move it to the right place for you

a good method for finding out about new posts and things like that is to pick a section that REALLY interests you (i'm sure not every section in the place appeals to you)...and subscribe to that forum as a daily digest....the forum will automatically email you once a day with links to every new topic started in the forum since the last email you got..of course this will cause you to get more email...but you would only subscrive to the areas taht most interest you...so it should probably be like 4 or 5 emails a day

i personally think we've got just about the right amount of sections rellative to the amount of content we have...each section is named in a logical fashion so it's not a guessing game as to what's been posted inside of them...and they're ordered in a pretty clean method as well