To many sub forums!

[Kudzu]

Maybe it is just me? But I really don't like the changes with all these sub-forums that have been added. I really liked this forum but now I find I rarely come here because it is to hard to read.

I don't read a lot of the groups on here. So I can't/won't use new posts. Just to many new posts on subjects that don't interest me to have to look through to find the ones that do.

So I have to browse the forums that do. But look at the Woodworking, there are 15 (+/-)forums there. Granted I don't want to read each one but there are at least 5 I have to go through. I like to read about the hand tools, but the same thing. It's been micro manged to point that I have to go through several forums there too. Then there is the boat building and .....

If I want to read what really interests me there is 20+ forums I have to go through and that is driving me away. I really wish you would merge most of these back together and not subdivide this up so. There is a lot of different forums here and a lot of interests, but they don't have to be so divided into such small interest groups.

Maybe I am the in the minority but it has ruined what was one of my favorite forums. I find I rarely read it anymore and that is a real shame!

[Groggy]

It depends also on your browsing behaviour. Some people use iSpy to browse the forums, some use the New Posts search, others use a single forum link like yourself. Personally, I use iSpy then go to particular forums to browse.

The admins may wish to consider looking at consolidating some of the newer forums that have had little use since their creation.

[Waldo]

It's too big, but then maybe it needs to be, nothing on anyone but it's getting a bit away from it's original idea of woodworking, now we have soft furnishings :o

Don't bite me, hit me, shoot me just saying. :)

(hope this isn't construed to be a general post - if so delete it)

[Calm]

Greg is there any way that Kudzu can "not view" woodwork sub forums that he is not interested in. I think you can click on the top right of the Woodwork area and hide it but can you do that to sub forums inside the area.

If you get my drift.

[Wongo]

Jeff,

I don’t know why you won’t use new post. Normally you get around 100 new posts every 24 hours. Each post has its title and topic. You look at the topic first then look at the title. If you like it, right click to on the link to open it in a new window. When finished, find the next one and drag the link to the same new window and so on.

It doesn’t take much effort really.:2tsup:

Cheers and keep reading.

[Wongo]

Forgot one thing. I always go to my user CP first to see new posts of all the thread I am subscribed to.

[prozac]

The forum topics have probably increased in line with the large number of new members.

prozac

[HappyHammer]

It might be worthwhile looking at how many post each forum and sub forum get in a month to see if they justify there existence. It must add to the workload of the admins too?

......... now we have soft furnishings :o
We don't really do we...you were just joking right Waldo....

HH.

[kiwioutdoors]

Yeah I hate the new look too way to much crap and far too much of it not related to activities in the shed any way thats my 0.2c worth. :no: :oo: :(

[Groggy]

The extra forums had become necessary. For every person that wanted just one big forum there were others that wanted the forums to be more specific. I think that in general it worked (just my opinion). However there may be a few that can't be justified on their own.

To answer David, there is currently no way the forums can be filtered. The mods and admins had a look at that a while ago and while there are some add-ons that give some relief to the members they make the overall system more unstable.

It would be nice to have your cookies keep a list of forums to suppress but it simply isn't available (yet).

[Cliff Rogers]

I like it all sorted the way it is. :2tsup:
If I don't follow a particular subject, I don't have to wade through a heap of posts about stuff I'm not particularly interested in.

[BobL]

What would be nice would be if one could register for specific forums and completely eliminate other forums from the main webpage. The whole forum functions would only then operate on the elected forums ie new posts etc would only work on the the registered forums. No headings for other forums should even appear on the main page. This would enable the user to declutter their desktop and head straight to the range of things that would interest them.

One should also be able to create ones own forums eg STUFF by specifing you want sub-forums from a range of forums.
hand tools, home made rigs and jigs and banana bending forums in the one forum.

A condition should be made that forums that have less than say 10 threads per month are subsumed into a general forum for that group of forums.

Some clever web programming is needed for this.
my 2c worth
Cheers

[Tankstand]

I love it the way it is!

Just hit new posts, look at the right hand column, avoid the sections I'm not interested in, click on the ones I am! How hard is that?

[kekemo]

Yes..... great to be able to express one's point of view with out any malice or ill-intent.....

I actually agree.... that there are too many sub-forums...I joined for WOODWORK....ok there are lots of different sections or woodwork...but one commonality WOOD…..

.....I am quite happy to look for another forum or use Google or search engine to find out topics related to metalwork....caravanning...plumbing....electric's…. etc.....best example is Whispering Woman....(yep I'm never one to whisper)....but can't see any point not being included in the general section.....if we separate here…..does this mean we don’t want equality or we want to be superior…..my honest opinion,.,…more people read the general section…..so that’s where I post now….I don’t want to appear any different to anyone else……Just want to chat….,,discuss……,& admire other woodworkers talents…..

While I'm at it....I really believe an “instant chat section” would be great.....
I feel numbers are dwindling because of some threads are superfluous & at other times the tread gets hi-jacked…. never-the-less we all try….we can also, all be “trying”
So my wonderful friend’s ……. Hope you will all still read my posts…. I feel the less crowded & few sections ….the more response you will actually get back!

Cheer to everyone KEKEMO

[Kudzu]

Each to his own! :U As I said, I may be in the minority here.

I am a Moderator on another woodworking forum. Our forums is not this heavily trafficked and we have been debating about cutting down the number of forums. This forum was used as an example of how not to do a forum. Of course some of our members would like to see more than we have and would loved it here. I know there is no pleasing everyone and I don't expect change just because I said I don't like it.

As for the new posts, I am not here every 24 hours. So I am looking at 200-400 posts to search through. Some people probably don't mind, I hate it. So I won't do it. As I said I just find I come here less and less now and thats a shame.

Never heard of iSpy but I will look into that.

[Ad de Crom]

I'm with you Jeff, even walking through the new post takes me a lot of time, not so pleasend.

Ad

[munruben]

I don't see a problem with the way it is at the moment. I am happy to look through the topics for the ones that interest me and in doing that I find many topics along the way that take my fancy and have a look at them too. I agree that some of the forum topics could be reviewed as to their popularity, some of them are not being used that often and may need to be discontinued. Someone mentioned earlier that the forum membership was dwindling, is that true?. I have noticed that quite a few of the members who were regular forumites and posted here on a regular basis twelve months ago,no longer do so and I am talking long standing members with thousands of posts to their credit. I thought that the membership had actually increased over the last few months but I may be wrong. I am sure someone will put me straight on that.

[Cliff Rogers]

....I have noticed that quite a few of the members who were regular forumites and posted here on a regular basis twelve months ago,no longer do so and I am talking long standing members with thousands of posts to their credit. .....
Most of them are still around, you just have to know where to look for them. :wink:

[ubeaut]

Have I missed something here.... The last update to the forums was over 7 months ago.

Yes the forums have diversified greatly, but this has come about by multiple requests. Look here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=65961) to get an idea why. Less than a handful of new forums have been added in the last 6 mth. Whilst a number were removed and even more were consolidated into other forums.

Yes there are a lot of new threads to negotiate if you haven't been here for a while but open new threads on any half decent size popular forum and you'll have the same problem.

As for member numbers we are growing steadily and have more genuinely active members then ever in the history of the forums. Our most ever users online was 1,814, 12th Apr 2008 at 09:07 AM and we average around 17.5 million hits per month.

Yes a number of regular posters no longer post here but there are a few reasons why, mostly not due to the size or content of the forums. Many because they are no longer prepared to put up with rudeness and personal attacks by other members. A number have gone to other places where they can do the blokey without censorship. Although the discerning ones still frequent here as well and continue to make fantastic contributions.

Some have passed away, some have given up woodwork and moved on to who knows what, maybe art, macrame, knitting, etc and some have just moved on, as people are want to do. Yet others have had their forum rights shut down at work, whilst I personally know of several prolific posters who actually banned themselves because they had become addicted and the forums were ruining their working, and social life...... Seriously, sad but true.

Most are still around some have new names to escape from harassment, embarrassment or similar. Keep looking you'll be surprised who's here, that you may think has left.

Anyway..... HERE COMES THE GOOD BITS.


As has been discussed at length in previous threads you can minimise the forums by clicking on the http://image-mirror.cyanide.com.au/woodworkforums/images/buttons/collapse_tcat.gif in each forum header this will cut down on the number of screens you have to traverse to find the forum you're looking for.
If you don't like the colours there are other skins to choose from, located in the drop down menu, on the left side, of the bottom Navigation bar, on all pages. The default is wiki-blog default.AND HERE'S THE REALLY GOOD BIT

I can actually turn off all the forums you don't want to see or turn on only the forums you do want to see.
This can only be done on an individual basis and may take some time if there are a lot of requests.
If you wish to have this done you will need to supply a complete list of the forums you wish to see.
The list must be submitted in the order the forums appear on the screen (from top to bottom) otherwise it will not be done
You will only see the posts for the forums you choose, displayed in the New Post section and iSpy.
You will not see or have access to any forums other than the ones you choose so choose wisely.
Other forums can be switched on if requestedSee the sticky at the top of this forum titled: Turn on/off only the forums you want. (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=71335)





Cheers - Neil :U

[Calm]

Thanks once again Neil :2tsup::2tsup: for continuing to try and please most users and always improving the options available. You have THE BEST forum going and still continue to try and improve it.

I wont be using this option and blanking out some sections but i think it may suit some people who dont want to contribute to the whole forum and try and help others with there knowledge.

I personally have no interest in musical instruments but occasionally someone asks a question from that forum that i may have knowledge of. Also the metal work section (graeme collins) is such an encylopedia of welding knowledge i am glad to read his comments any time to further my own knowledge.

Thanks again:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[munruben]

I'm with David, I prefer it the way it is. I wouldn't want to miss anything.:)
I don't find it a problem. This is the best woodworking website you will find and I think the guys who want to just look at certain forums are going to miss a lot. Anyway thats up to the individual.
I really think the management go to great lengths to keep us all as happy as possible and actually listen to the members and for that a big thank you to all concerned. I dont know of any other forum where the management listen to their members and I mean listen to what we have to say. Thanks Neil for that.

[echnidna]

I wonder who is doing macrame and knitting

[Ramps]

Hi Guys

I agree with all the above but I find that I don't find the time needed just to peruse the new posts (483 at this moment in time!) on a daily basis.

I like to be able to post on the brewing forum etc etc but then go to a brewing forum.

When I come to the woodworking forum I do want to read thru the woodworking threads am am happy to stay across all the triton stuff etc (I still have some triton gear but am not really interested in the stuff) ... as it is woodworking.

wines, beer, knitting etc ... I go to the applicable forum. So what's the issue. I do miss stuff now because I don't have enough time to filter thru all the non-woodworking new posts to catch the woodworking ones.

My main reason for the fewer contributions over the the last 6 months or so.

Yes we have that best forums in the world here ... thanks Neil and moderators

[Toolin Around]

I think what would also help if it were possible is to be able to sort the new posts by forums. Then you could easily brush over the ones you don't like or want to see.

[malb]

I have been a regular visitor for a while, and like the range of 'on focus' wordworking sections, plus the spread of off focus topics that cater for other intersts that we may have.

I am prepared to admit that I regularly read/contribute to about 40% of the sections which interest me, and largely ignore the balance. But the beauty of the current setup is that if I am not interested in say Home Brewing, I simply bypass it.

My approach is to open all sections of interest daily, scan the listing for new topics, or updated topics, read those of inteest and contribute if I can add something useful without simply repeating what others have said. About once a fortnight, I also locate my username in the members list and call up my previous posts to check them as follow up in case I miss a request made some time after my post(s).

I find that overall this approach works well for me.

I too would like to thank the operators, admins and mods, sponsors, and the back room folk for the opportunities that the forum gives me.

[ss_11000]

neil...you truly are a top bloke you know. i think i would like to turn off a few forums.

cheers

[kekemo]

Well...Neil...that was just what I was lookin'for....
the little blue button.....Oh & the iSpy...
You little ripper.....

Oh....sorry about the gender-jump....I actually find checking Whispering section... little slow on posts .... now.....LOVE the concept....but not enough traffic....& everyone here should know by now....I'm not timid...would rather shout-out... rather get abused by everyone... than a select elite group.....LOL

....so I'll just keep posting in the "big boys & their toys area".....hey....it's not so different...I'm starting to understand the "shed syndrome".... But truely sharing the shed with my Ed....was wonderful....NOW....I don't want ANYONE to come into it....I have got really possesive....the memories are all golden...& I don't want that tarnished....only down fall....can't blame the mess on to anyone else....he he he.....NO sorry, ONLY... me me me.....
OK... will post how my alteration in caravan turned out in general section.

Cheers thanks for you help....
Much appreciated....
KEKEMO

[Koala-Man]

To Neil and all the Good Shepherds of the Forum - it's great like it is.

Keep up the great work.

Gaz.