My sister is a big forum frequenter. She belongs to a zillion and makes icons and banners and signatures for each one. She also belongs to this one, but she says that she HATES it here because we don't have categories for our posts like "Politics," "Current Events," "Food," "Post your pics here!" and all that jazz.
Personally, my brain has trouble with forums that are all divied up and disected like that. I end up thinking "Well, this could be in politics, but what really constitutes a current event...1990 to present? 2004 to present?" And then I would never be able to find the thread, or worse, I would post in the wrong subsection and then feel badly about myself.
So I like Hatrack the way it is. But for infrequent posters, I imagine that it is rather annoying. Especially as the search function doesn't work that well.
What do you guys think? You're all big forum hoppers. Do you miss the subdivisions and categories that aren't here at Hatrack? Do we need them? Would we be able to survive in such a structured environment?
Yeesh. I think not!
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
I think the divisions have a lot more meaning if the forum is more for a specific topic or group of topics than Hatrack is. Look at our (new and improved) title even, its pretty general.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I would oppose it. The more subcategories there are in a forum, the less likely I am to check into very many. So I end up not reading very much when the forums are too rigidly structured. I like that we can talk about anything here and not have to worry about whether it's in the right place. Heck, I've seen people start discussions in the "wrong areas" here, and nobody ever says anything. I like how laid back this place is. The less like the other forum I frequent (or infrequent, as the case may now be, or would be, if "infrequent" were a verb) Hatrack is, the happier I am. Trying to make Hatrack more like "other forums" would just pollute it.
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
I agree with Verily. I have seen one and a half examples of subforums that worked. Generally, they are just annoying, and overkill. The fewer mouse clicks, the better.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
what verily said.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Very much depends on the forum. The WW2 forum I am part of it makes sense to have different topics seperated. It makes it that much easier to find the one that you want to discuss. After all, it would suck discussing the Dieppe Raid when every one else is discussing Midway.
This one doesn't need it. It is not geared to a specific goal. It is general.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Organized people are too lazy to look for things.
Oh, and I love the fact that on the "Forums" page they left the old title, with "American" included. Another possible newbie initiation thing! Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
I think Stan has a point. Dividing the discussion is relatively easy and makes sense for a topic like WWII, is harder amd less intuitive for a general forum like HR. Just dividing it into Card topics and everything else makes perfect sense to me.
BTW, what's the name of the WWII forum, Stan? Is it any good?
[ February 08, 2005, 03:31 AM: Message edited by: Morbo ]
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I kinda just joined not too long ago. With the recent underway periods I have not had a chance to do a whole lot, if anything.
It also has just been placed under new admin. the site is barely a year old.
[ February 08, 2005, 03:35 AM: Message edited by: Stan the man ]
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
I do not like forum dividers... I like Hatrack the way it is.
Maybe if we had a billion posts in one day, but we are smaller and more intimate. Besides, I like to think and talk in the Big Picture, drawing on ideas from all fields, not just specialties.
And besides... Hatrack like this is also a learning tool. How would we learn about the stuff we don't already know about or don't like if we didn't have all topics together?
[ February 08, 2005, 03:52 AM: Message edited by: Telperion the Silver ]
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Thanks for the link Stan. I'll check it out.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*laughs hysterically at Hatrack being "smaller and more intimate"*
Telp, we have in excess of TWO PAGES of active threads on most days. This place is WAY bigger than most of the other fora I frequent. Most of which do indeed have more subdivisions. And that works for them. Then again, almost no thread drift (and objections if you go "off topic") works for them too.
How on earth would we class the typical thread here? Which starts with, say, current politics, moves on to favorite recipes for spaghetti sauce, then becomes a pun thread . . .
I like Hatrack just the way it is. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Me, too; I think the reason this has become my favorite so fast is we have threads on everything, experts on everything, no one minds digressions, and no one person has all the conversational "power". I do go to many fora with lots of subdivisions, and you know, if they don't have "new topic" and "new post" indicators, I don't bother checking everything, so I'm a lot more active here, where I can see what's going on all at once. It was a little strange when I started, but it's quickly become wonderful. Besides, no matter what hour of the night I'm on, there's always stuff I haven't read before to look at, not to mention usually one or two fellow insomniacs or people on the other side of the world posting.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
What Verily said...
I have been to forums with dividers, and I find that I don't even click and read half of them. I like having everything in one place like here.
Farmgirl
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
I like Hatrack how it is because it helps me branch out my understanding of the world. If it were divided, I would not lurk on half the posts. I would only read about sci fi. As it is, I lurk at a lot of posts I would otherwise never see. I often find more humor and insight in the posts I would seldom read if the catagories were divided.
The only thing I miss is the ability to see how many people have viewed a thread, even if they don't post.
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
quote: As it is, I lurk at a lot of posts I would otherwise never see. I often find more humor and insight in the posts I would seldom read if the catagories were divided.
Yeah, you hit the nail right there. I agree. Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I've found that sub-forums are usually used as excuses for mods to delete flame wars or trolling threads. When questioned on the subject of deletion, it's usually easy to say it's not on topic for the forum, or some such nonsense. Fortunately, we don't really have too much of those type of problems.
Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
I think Hatrack has the right recipe as it stands now... why futz about with it? Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
No one's futzing, I promise. I said that I liked the way it is too. We're just all having fun agreeing with one another about this.
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
I think it could be better with the ability to label/categorize posts. Then when topic subjects are vague, I could know generally what it was about because of the category. It wouldn't have to be sectioned off, just listed as being on a certain topic, ie. politics, religion, tv, sports, etc.
Another feature that could go with it would be the ability to ignore certian subjects, so that I could, for example, not ever read the political threads if I knew they always annoyed me and were full of the same people making the same arguments.
I'm not saying I hate this forum the way it is, just that I think it would be a little easier to navigate if there were labels/categories that could be assigned to threads.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I like Hatrack's openness just fine. I am extremely glad we can't do titles/avatars/sigs. Those seem to bring out the worst in people and cause nothing but clutter. And for someone who almost never visits the "other side," having it all in one forum works great.
Categorizing posts would IMO severely limit what you felt like bringing up in any particular post. I would find it very restricting. Hatrack works so well because it is so organic. Discussions go where they will and sometimes a whole range of approaches and tangents make for very interesting threads. I'm glad that there aren't any artificial limits on what can be posted where.
As a member of several other boards, I would say that Hatrack is definitely the most inviting and refreshing (and intelligent and mature).
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I agree with most everyone in that too many sub-categories would complicate matters. It might limit extreme metaphors - discussions of the medicinal value of cabbage might actually be talking about the secret agenda of Paul Tagliabue. That wouldn't fit in a sub-category and needs to be viewed by everyone (obviously ).
We've recently changed the title of the forum. I don't think I personally could handle any more. Ever. Besides, who actually wants to complicate life? Sheesh.
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
The only thing that I've ever noticed that I would want to change, would be to see who the last person to post was on every thread. I can't count how many times I've been not looked at a thread for a while after a new post has been made because it was posted in the same minute as my last post.
I love not having subdivisions or labels though. Part of the fun of this site is opening threads with obsure titles just to see what they're about.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
I agree with everyone. And even if somebody thought sub-categories were a good idea, I doubt people would really abide by them. As we have it now, half of the discussions about OSC are not on the other side.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
I have actually never been to another forum. Although Hatrack too a bit to get used to, I like it the way it is.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:What Verily said...
I have been to forums with dividers, and I find that I don't even click and read half of them. I like having everything in one place like here.
Ditto. Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
I use that, but it only helps me with the newest thread. It's when I'm in and out of seven threads at once and trying to keep up with which ones have new posts since I was last in them that I get confused. I waste a lot of time rereading parts of threads to find my place, only to realize that I was the last person to post and thus had already read everything new.
Edit: Whoops! I was thinking of the Active Forums page. I've never clicked that page before!
[ February 08, 2005, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: MidnightBlue ]
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Hatrack was the first online forum I ever visited. None of the others have ever quite matched up for me. I like this place - I like the folks here - I like that the hosts continue to host and take good care of the site - I just like it!
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I said that I liked the way it is too. We're just all having fun agreeing with one another about this. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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