Does the main forum need a DIY or Modifications subforum?

[lfh]

First of all (since I've been silent for quite some time): Hi everybody!

I don't have a suggestion (yet), but I'd like to bring up a few points that I think deserve some discussion in this context:

1. FAQ

Obviously lots of questions are asked over and over again and frankly I'm a bit surprised that there is no FAQ to address that. A Q&D (but effective) way of implementing a FAQ (sort of) is to collect links to threads that are likely to be particularly useful for newbies in a sticky thread per sub-forum. An examle of this is available here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43093

2. Technical Documentation Project

As implied by the subject definition ("Discussions pertaining to the development of a comprehensive web application that documents technical data related to Lansing products") a forum is not the ideal medium for reference type of information. Clearly, lots of goodies that surface within the various threads deserve to be collected (or not put in the forum in the first place) and structured for easier access.

IMHO a wiki is a strong candidate as a supplement to the forum. For a modest example check out my wiki about Acoustic Control Corp. amplifiers: http://acoustic.homeunix.net/ It's very easy to create a framework such that various lists are generated automatically, e.g. products with 15 in drivers or generation 3 products. Every product has a page of its own and new pages are easily created by means of a template. A very useful feature of the particular wiki used (TWiki) is that it has built in revision control, so it's easy to see who added what and when. I'd be glad to elaborate on this further, should the forumites be interested.

3. Examples of what goes where

IME (when restructuring the intraweb at the company I work for - by chance it's a wiki ), supplementing topic definitions with examples of what should go under a specific heading ("inclusive: ...") as well as what doesn't belong there ("exclusive: ...") help reducing erroneous posting a lot.

4. Number of forums and hierarchical levels

Too much structure (in terms of number of forums and sub-forums) should be avoided. I've seen examples of forums that went downhill after being chopped up into way too many specialized areas. 5-7 top level categories seem to be the optimum, and two levels should be enough. Anything more than that, and it gets hard to get an overview as well as cumbersome to navigate.

5. OT vs OT

According to the current definitions OT is basically everything non-JBL (et al). Perhaps it would be beneficial to split it into e.g. 'General Audio' (for discussions on RTAs, room correction, vintage tube amps, ...) and 'The Pub' or similar, where we can bash politicians, discuss Chevy trucks or whatever? In the pub its okay to rant after a couple of beers

Just my EUR 0.02

Fredrik

(Disclaimer: Maybe one or all of the above topics have been discussed to death already (I've been away ya know). If so, I apologise for my lenthy post.)

[Titanium Dome]

To move this discussion along, I think there are several issues that need to be addressed. Right now we're looking at structure, yet it is organization that needs a good kick in the rear. If we simply add more structure without getting the organization of the content right, then we're making it worse, not better.

So what are these organizational issues? Some have been mentioned many times before.

1) Getting alreadly scanned and available info into the system.
2) Taking that info and the already-input technical info into a master database.
3) Making the search function more useful.
4a) Reading every thread ever written and assigning keywords and subject tags to each one (that has any merit).
4b) At the same time removing OT jokes and comments from the searchable database parameters but not from the original archives.
5a) Forcing all new members to post only in a "new member's area" until they have ten/fifteen/twenty posts.
5b) For info requests, only allow other members to recommend search strings or thread links to new members in this "new member's area."
5c) For the "how much can I get?" one-or-two-post, profit-seeking new members, only allow PMs to them of anticipated value, sales tips, individual offers, etc.
5d) Of course established members can always do the "Welcome" and "Congratulations" kind of stuff with newbees, as well as the inane bullshit we're all so fond of.

AFTER these steps and perhaps others are taken, THEN I believe we could have a useful Technical Area AND a useful project/DIY area.


Of course, the one exception I can think of to 5a-d above is the sole post by deleted .

What I do know is that innumerable one- or two-post members who have never contriubted anything substantive to the forum clog the member list. The seach engine dribbles their worthless inquiries and sales pitches into its results. The time and energy wasted trying to re-educate them and answer their questions can certainly build up our post count, but it returns nothing to the forum.

And yes, I realize that 5a-5d also introduce a structural change as a direct result of reorganizing the data flow.

[Earl K]

- There are some good suggestions in there, TiDome .

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- My suggestion :
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(a) .Deleted content

(b) Deleted content

(c) Deleted content

(ii) Deleted content

(iii) Deleted content

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[morbo!]

maybe just use the money to pay for lithium for these people!

morbo has a hard enough tiime bieng morbo!

[morbo!]

why would you need two
do you want to argue with yourself?

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p.s make it possible to ask a simple question without joining the forum

[boputnam]

- Deleted content

Earl, you're venting big-time, and not on-topic here. Agreed

If those are your goals / requests, then this should a different "Forum Issues", or "Off Topic" thread. Possibly worthy, and could there be joined by other Forumites' opinions.

While you're there maybe we should consider a "suggestions to authors" thread, e.g. spelling, syntax, and definitely the use of punctuation. Far too much tolerance of that here, eh?

[Ian Mackenzie]

I think the majority will ignore that thankless post

[Ian Mackenzie]

I like the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

It works well for projects.

Ian

[morbo!]

oh i see now
thanks for the clarification ian!

they like to pat them selves on the back!
and post as a diffrent gender when their wearing a dress!
well cant prescribe for that! (yet anyway)

morbo!

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p.s morbo would aslo like to see a place for people`s favorite recipe`s
(elzars corner?_)
morbo maybe a bit gruff but he does like to cook for people!

[10 Watt Street]

Hey, you kids in the back of the station wagon. Am I going to have to stop this car?

[Miss Orchid]

Anyway the results of the poll are obvious.

Yes, four people do not know.

[lfh]

The new forum must have a definition that is unequivocal with minimal overlap on any other forum. I'm guessing that the Technical forum will have to be redefined as part of the process to acheive this, but so be it. The suggestions to date will need more work in my opinion to meet this objective.

OK, I'll give it a try:

Repair & Restoration (was Technical Help)
Discussions on repairing, restoring or upgrading Lansing products to factory specifications

Modification & DIY (new)
Discussions on modifications, "hybrids", "clones" and new designs using Lansing components


BTW, what about starting the (IMO related) discussion on the Technical Documentation Project in the new, but still empty, forum? (Dunno if it's proper for me to write the "Hello, world!" post...)

[edgewound]

1.9%...or 58 out of 2,996 of the membership has voted.....hmmm....not really a mandate to go to the trouble of tweaking the current format.

[morbo!]

thats a lot of lithium

[lfh]

1.9%...or 58 out of 2,996 of the membership has voted.....hmmm....not really a mandate to go to the trouble of tweaking the current format.

Well, a quick check reveals that 2,263 members have less than 10 posts each, and only 106 members have more than 100 posts...