52 replies to this topic

[Raine]

EDIT: The poll has been taken down now that the issue is resolved.


This was brought up multiple times in the past so I'll make a poll now. How do you like GS's index? I'm referring to how many sections there are for people to post in. Some people like it a bit simpler and would prefer just two or three sections to post in instead of all the current ones. So instead of how it looks now, it will probably look like...

General Chat
Gaming
(Suggest a section here)
(Maybe another good section here if someone comes up with one)

You can vote and post your opinion (oh, and I canceled my own vote since I don't care either way). You can also make other suggestions as well for how you'd like GS to look. I'm also taking topic/image suggestions for a new banner.

[Jeeves]

Oh YEAH

I think we can get by just fine with those two. Normally, I'd think about having an anime area as well, but we don't really talk about that around here enough to fill up a whole forum section. We can certainly fit everything non game-related that we talk about here into General.


With this, the forum will look much more alive and be easier to navigate.

PS: You know how I like my light-colored forum skins.

[Raine]

Jeeves, on Jun 24 2009, 03:00 AM, said:

PS: You know how I like my light-colored forum skins.

Yes, well... I prefer dark. >_> Graphics look much better on dark.

Like this one?
http://s12.invisionf...m/Bubbled_Blue/

[The_Nightstalker]

It seems fine that way it is currently, tho you could still trim some of the sections off.

And wow, my eyes burn now.

[Jeeves]

I said light, not BRIGHT! I dunno, I've always been partial to light grey with orange accents on a forum. Our Wii skin from the other boards was good too.

Did you find out a way to have multiple skins?

[Raine]

Everyone is more than welcome to search for InvisionFree skins and suggest some. :U

And not sure how to have multiple skins yet.

[SkaCat]

So THIS is what I miss out on in the chat..

I'm okay with things the way they are, though it could be trimmed down a bit. I like darker skins, too, but this is maybe a little too dark? I don't know! I am getting used to the way things are, but I am not too used to it to cry if there are changes. You can do whatever you like, Heather! I'm here for the people.

[Raine]

Yes, the skin could be a bit lighter. Examples could help quite a bit. >_>

And which sections should we cut out if we were to fall somewhere in the middle?

[SkaCat]

Well, just by looking at what rarely gets used.. you could merge all the 'Creativity' forums, and merge all the 'Visual, Audio, Tech' forums and stick em under Social. I like the Gaming ones the way they are, though.

[The_Nightstalker]

I second that Ska.

[Raine]

I THUPPOSE.

And I'm quite done looking for skins. I'm not changing this one unless someone finds me some to choose from. *Bitch* :U

[JRRD]

Edit: Actually, just change it. At least get rid of sections that aren't used.

I like dark skins though. If we can only use one skin it will be dark. ^_^

[Jeeves]

I don't see any need for all the General Discussion clones. Just have General and be done with it. This is how Social reads to me:

Introductions: Talk about stuff regarding yourself!

General Chat: Talk about stuff!

Chocomogo Tiki Bar: Talk about life stuff!

Off Topic: Talk about lesser stuff!

They're so alike, it makes it annoying to find old threads, check if there's already been a thread posted, or even to just decide on where to put a new thread. On top of that, it just looks ugly. I don't see much point in an area with no post count, by the way. Does anyone here care about having the biggest post count? That just strikes me as some really antiquated forum management.

I don't think the gaming area really needs to be splintered apart, either. I mean look at that, 3 and 2 threads on the Playstation and Xbox sections respectively, why not just bring them together, and the others too? Scrolling over a couple of threads about other consoles isn't going to hinder my posting one bit. That of course includes General Gaming. Gaming is gaming. Makes it more convenient to discuss multiplatform titles as a bonus.

And as has been said, the rest of the forums are comparable to the Playstation and Xbox forums in deadness, and there's even one that hasn't been used at all. They can be brought into General, just like everything else that isn't gaming. Gaming is the only one subject we consistently focus on here.

By doing this, we eliminate dead sections and make the forum look that much more alive. The sections we do keep will be posted in more than before, and if it's just General and Gaming, one post is all it takes to light up half the forum! As small a thing as that is, it would really aid in presentation and very likely encourage more activity.

You can take my position as: "If you're going to trim it down at all, there's no excuse not to streamline the whole thing!"


PS: Skin's really small potatoes to me compared to this, I'm fine if you just stay with this one.

[Kara Aconoe]

I wouldn't mind things being condensed into a few smaller sections.

I do request a role play section or something if everyone wants to take that up~ Or I could just migrate it to my role playing forum if you'd want if it turns out to just be a single thread or something.

As for the skin... I don't really mind it that much. The forum skins I use are either all light or all dark. Though I could direct whoever is interested in looking for new skins to a few sites.

[Raine]

Just to argue a bit, this way helps me find threads much easier because they are in their own appropriate sections, not just one section that has a million other things on a million more pages that have nothing to do with it. Also, how many people would really go a couple pages back to find an existing thread when they could just find it on the first page in it's most suitable section?

And I personally don't care about making the forum "look" more active. The lesser used sections are there whenever people need them. Easy to find and organized.

The three section set up kind of reminds me of this shitty old teen forum called Teleboards. That place was the messiest forum I have ever seen.

[Jeeves]

The largest and most active forum I've ever seen does just fine with two sections. If they can, then our tiny place can without a doubt!

When I find new posts, I'm compelled to click the section to make sure I'm not missing any other new posts in there. When there's new posts in multiple sections, I do this for each section. That's an extra click per section. With two, I could browse the whole place by clicking one, clicking a thread, reading, hitting backspace, read another...and so on until I'm done with that section and do the same with the other. It just saves time and makes it easier for me to find new posts by making it feel like less of a chore.

When I'm looking for a particular post, I often go "ah...was it in General?" *flip through every page in General* "or maybe it was off topic" *flip through every page there* "hmm...tiki?" *flip through every page* "not there either...I must've missed it" *repeat search until...* "ah, there you were, in off topic!" I've been dealing with annoyances like this on every forum we've been to. Like I mentioned before, people may also face a similar dilemma when deciding on the placement for new threads. That's not limited to general stuff, either. What if I wanted to make or find a thread on game music? Would it be in the Gaming area, or the Audio area? With less sections, things are more user-friendly and relaxed.

And maybe it's just me, but I think it would be a fun feeling to be sitting in one of the forums and thinking "hey, I can post ANYTHING gaming-related in this section!" or "you know what, I can post ANYTHING that doesn't have to do with games right here!". I think that feeling might get people's imaginations going a bit and maybe spawn some new threads they otherwise wouldn't have thought of in the comparatively stifling environment of "oh well this is the Media section so if I wanted to make a new thread here it'd have to be Media-related". Obviously I'm playing that up a bit, it's just a small thing, but the small things can make all the difference.

Also,

Quote

how many people would really go a couple pages back to find an existing thread when they could just find it on the first page in it's most suitable section?

This only works on places with few posts, which is what we're like now, but...we won't always.

Of course, either way, that's what the search function is for, making both arguments pretty moot on this point.


Well. That was supposed to be a short post when I started it. Tl;dr: Still think it's a good idea.

[Raine]

So basically, you'd like a mini NeoGAF.

I'm fine either way. For the people who want something in between, would you be fine with that set up or not? D:

[SkaCat]

Dunno man, I don't find this messy, I like things having separate places.

RE Off Topic: I care about post count, to an extent, not because of a status thing, but because when I see everyone else way ahead of me, I feel like I'm not being active enough.

Here is my proposed forum list:

Guardian Sanctuary
---------------------
*Announcements
*Introductions
*Questions/Comments/Suggestions/Criticisms whatever

Social
-------------------
*General Chat
*Chocomogo
*Off Topic
*Media/Pop Culture/Anime (though I don't care if this gets lumped in with general chat)
*Creative Works (I think it's good to have a seperate section for people to showcase art or writing or photo or whatever)

Gaming
-------------
*General
*Nintendo
*Microsoft
*Sony




So overall, mostly the same. Slight trimmed down, but like I said, I really think it's good for things to have their place. If everything is lumped in, then I find it gets all messy and hard to find topic-related threads.

EG: I don't have a Playstation or Xbox, so I don't really want that gaming stuff in with the Nintendo, which is relevant to me. If someone posts a thread with a new game title I don't know about, then if it's in Sony, I know that I don't care.

Basically, I agree with Heather's earlier post. I feel that squeezing all these topics down would make them into a big mess. With variety like my proposed set up/current set up, things are organized and easy to find. Jeeves, I understand how you feel about new posts being a bit of a chore, but.. the 'view new posts' button lists all the posts you haven't read yet, so you just have to backpedal to one page. Maybe try that out if you haven't? I don't use it, but maybe it would work for you.

I will argue more if I must! The more I type, the more I am opposing your simplified forum proposal.

You're still my hero though <3

[Jeeves]

Precisely, Heather!

Actually, New Posts wasn't working for a while. Now it is, though. Also on Off Topic, I wasn't saying eliminate post count across the board (though I did do this on my own forum), I was saying that if you use General for Off Topic as well, you'll obviously have post count for those posts now, and my argument was that it didn't really matter if people added to their count with less substantial posts.

Which brings me to the point...you think chocomogo and off topic should be separate from general? Why?

[SkaCat]

Well..

In the past, I've used Chocomogo as a place to discuss what's going on with my life, if anyone is interested. I only post in there when I have something serious on my mind, really. I think most people view this section the same way.

I don't really want, what I view to be important personal issues, lumped in with threads about... weird dreams, sex myths, and board games.

As for Off Topic.. I didn't explain properly, but my problem with off topic posts counting is that I don't see anything in that section to really count as a 'post'. They're posts in the sense that they further the thread, but only in Off Topic do I find one or two word/short terse posts to be acceptable on a consistent basis. I don't feel that posts for forum games and stuff should contribute to a measure of how active one is on the rest of the forum.