Model Railroader Forums

[SilverSpike]

A few sub-categories might be useful, but in the long run, too much "drill-down" in the categories would make it hard to browse through the rest of the forum. Ultimately it all depends on how the MR Forum web site is reorganized, because there are many options available in creating dynamic web sites.

I design basic web sites, but I am currently taking training in developing dynamic web sites using web programming languages such as PHP, DHTML, XML, and JavaScript. These web developer languages enable sites to have more user interaction and browsing capabilities. One example is a “breadcrumb trail” and is used by some sites like Yahoo and Amazon, it allows users to click back and forth in the drill down list of categories, not just the last or previously view pages.

While this is not an example of actual code, it would look something like this and would be at or near the top of page:

Trains / Forum / Model Railroader / General Discussion

From this "breadcrumb trail" you could click any of the above links and get directly back to that web page.


Hopefully the MR site rebuild will include some neat tools like assistance with adding images to the site, creating your own pages, etc…


I want to thank Ed, for the link to the Train Simulator Site. Always nice to search new territory on the web!

Cheers,

Ryan

P.S. Here are some of the sites I am working on now:
www.rymocs.com
beta.rymocs.com
www.holyspirit-no.org
www.popepaulposter.com

[jfugate]

The "won't be able to find new posts" argument for not breaking up the forum is not a very good one. All you have to do is select the "Active topics" option at the top of the page and you get all the new posts in the entire forum across all the categories.

I think breaking the forum up into more topics is a good idea, as long as you don't get too fine-grained because as others mentioned, you will get lots of dual posting of the same message because people aren't sure where to put it.

As it stands, the current forum structure puts *everything* in the general discussion forum and nothing elsewhere which makes for a very lop-sided forum and makes one wonder why the other topics even exist since they get such a small amount of traffic. If the forum was subdivided into more topic-specific areas (say 6-8 subtopic areas), there should be a much more even distribution of posts.

And remember, any forum software worth it's salt will enable you to find all the new posts across all the topics with a single click, giving you a view that looks *just like* today's general discussion -- so we would have the best of both worlds, IMO. [swg]

My vote is to reorganize with 6-8 subtopics when MR rolls out the new forum software. From my talks with Bergie, I know MR is planning to upgrade to new software one of these days, and that would be a great time to reorganize a bit.

[Train 284]

I agree. There gets to be way to many posts in one forum. If there was a specific place for people to ask their questions (weather it be scenery, posting photos, etc.) it would be a little less crowded around here!

[jfugate]

By the way, the main reason this forum has such brisk traffic is the number of registered members and the number of folks online, *not* the fact it's mostly just one big topic.

I would argue the number of folks online posting things on here is yet another good reason to have more subtopics. As it is, it's very easy for the first two pages to quickly fill up with less-than-useful posts about the weather, polls, and new to the hobby/returned to the hobby posts.

Not that there's nothing especially wrong with those posts, mind you, but they all too quickly pu***he really meaty stuff off to page 4 and beyond way too quickly. This wouldn't happen if we had a general discussion section that was truly just general discussion.

But then again, it may be too late. If the forum was reorganized, who's to say we wouldn't all just keep posting in the general discussion topic and ignore the others ... [swg]

[David_Telesha]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

The "won't be able to find new posts" argument for not breaking up the forum is not a very good one. All you have to do is select the "Active topics" option at the top of the page and you get all the new posts in the entire forum across all the categories.

Actually it is a fine arguement...

I only frequent the MR General forum, Classic Trains, and Trains Magazine on a daily basis... I pass over and don't read most of the topics.

I occasionally look at Trains.com and the MR Prototype forum..

I have NO USE for looking at ALL new posts everyday from those AND Garden and Toy forums - so your "all you have to do" is meaningless.

I'd much rather spend the time browsing pages of topics in ONE forum than having to go in and out of a half-dozen plus forums.

The current set up is fine and should stay.

On top of that, people ask multiple questions in one post. I answered one that asked about changing numbers on a model and paint scheme era and number questions for the NHRR - if that got broken up into 3 questions in different forums it would be a pain. You could argue the number/paint question should've been in the prototype forum, but it was here and I think that isFINE...

Subdividing will just cause confusion about asking questions..

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by David_Telesha
I have NO USE for looking at ALL new posts everyday from those AND Garden and Toy forums - so your "all you have to do" is meaningless.

...

The current set up is fine and should stay.

The current webserver software (ASP 3.0 it appears) MR is using is 1998 vintage, and slow as can be. I suspect this forum software is of a similar vintage.

Reality is the current software needs to be upgraded since 8-year old software on the internet is "dark ages" vintage. Generally, in the internet world, 2-3 years is considered a generation, which makes this forum some 3 generations old. Think "Windows 98" and you get the right vintage.

The current "Active topics" showing all the forums across the entire trains.com site is clunky, true. In more current software, the "find all new posts" feature is more refined and could be made to replace the general discussion "find all" approach we all use now.

But as I mentioned in another post, reorganizing may not change our behaviour, which would make it all moot. We could have 25 subtopics but if everyone continues to post to the general discussion topic, it really won't change anything. [swg]

[dragenrider]

I would like to see a couple of more topic headings. One of those would be DCC & Wiring. Another would be Engines and Motors. This would allow an area for our most frequently discussed problems and questions. It would also reduce the clutter on the general discussion board. In addition, it would give new members a better sense of direction on posting or researching their own MR questions.

[Anonymous]

Ban on polls and stars!(The ban on stars we know is coming[:)])

[AntonioFP45]

Guys,

Forgot to mention. I'm also a member of the ScaleCar Forum. Also owned by Kalmbach. Looks identical to ours except that instead of blue borders, they're red. I even use my same name over there of AntonioFP45.

I joined because I'm in the process of improving my metalizing skills and am always looking for tips. A a good number of members there metalize as well.

The format that's used over there is very similar to the format some of you are requesting.

One thing that bugs me: Because of all of the categories, the traffic on them is relatively light! There are a lot of members but with all of the divisions it seems that members are sticking to the categories they prefer. The number of actual posts are high but spread out over a bunch of categories, it appears low.

I enjoy the comraderie here. I guess I've become spoiled.

Tell you all what: When I get home later, I'll post a new thread and provide you a link directly to that forum. You guys can examine the categories for yourselves, how many posts, etc. You can even join. To find me, look in the Paint & Body section. My posts center around Alclad.

Til then, Peace.

[jfugate]

The Scale auto forum is:
http://www.scaleautomag.com/sca/community/forum/

Antonio, thanks for mentioning the scaleauto forum and for sharing your experiences with it, since it helps to move out of the theoretical to the real world with an actual example.

In looking at the scale auto forum, I would say it is too fine-grained. I think 6-8 subtopics are ideal, otherwise you make posting into a mental strain, since it's not easy to even figure out *where* to post.

The scale auto forum has 29 topic areas if I count them right -- which represents a forum that's "gone to seed" with subtopics, IMO. Serious collapsing and simplification of the topic structure is in order if you ask me.

There is a sweet spot middle ground that's about 6-8 topics. Too few like we have here and you get the posting goolash common to this forum. Too many and trying to make a post takes considerable mental energy just to figure out *where* to post it, much less to actually write the post.

I think a subtopic list that would be ideal would be something like this:

Welcome
Design and construction
DCC and electrical
Scenery and structures
Locos and rolling stock
Operations and maintenance
Modeling the prototype
Other

I think this sort of coarse grained subdivision makes it pretty clear where you should post, and would make it easy for visitors to zero in on a topic of interest without having to wade through pages and pages of non-relevant posts to find what they want to read.

[selector]

I have grown accustomed to the forum, but perhaps I have matured in it to the extent that I find most of what interests me in this forum, layouts, and in a couple of others, much like David. In fact, lately this one gets the heavy majority of traffic, often traffic that should probably be posted in another. Layouts, for example, is much more quiet than when I joined 14 months ago.

Get more speed, drop the stars, and lets keep the flavour like it has been. Vanilla pleases the most people.

[IRONROOSTER]

I like the current set up. A faster search engine would be a plus. Since I always pick all the new posts option, more cateogries is not of great interest to me. I read and post in all of the ones we have now.
Enjoy
Paul

[chutton01]

I think we are overlooking the most important factor - what symbols should we get after 5 stars?
Gold Bars, Oak Leaf Clusters, Half Moons, Pink Hearts, what?

[ARTHILL]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it and I like my stars.

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ARTHILL

If it ain't broke, don't fix it and I like my stars.

[#ditto]

QUOTE: chutton0
I think we are overlooking the most important factor - what symbols should we get after 5 stars?
Gold Bars, Oak Leaf Clusters, Half Moons, Pink Hearts, what?

I vote for Oak Leaf Clusters

Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

I've thought about this a little bit more. First, I don't see MR making changes unless they announce something. Second, get rid of the stars. They have led to useless topics. "I've Reach 1000 posts!!" or "I now have 4 stars" or similar. Third, get rid of the coffee shop. Someone could have a model railroad question just to have it bumped to eternity by people posting to that thread. Number four is the moderators here I think are extremely relaxed and the integrity of this forum suffers for it. My wife was reading over my shoulder one day and laughed cuz she thought this was a froum of children with the useless topics. Which leads to my number one problem with this forum. Useless topics. Too many. If the mods were doing their job these would be squashed.

I know I know if you don't like it here then go somewhere else. I used to like this place. I used to learn a lot here. It's like that old fishing hole that seems to not have anymore fish. I liked it so I keep trying sometimes but this place is out of control with useless topics. THAT is the reason for the high traffic around here. Too bad tho this was a great place to fish.

Jeremy

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by IRONROOSTER

QUOTE: Originally posted by ARTHILL

If it ain't broke, don't fix it and I like my stars.

[#ditto]

QUOTE: chutton0
I think we are overlooking the most important factor - what symbols should we get after 5 stars?
Gold Bars, Oak Leaf Clusters, Half Moons, Pink Hearts, what?

I vote for Oak Leaf Clusters

Enjoy
Paul

I'm with you Paul!

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by juby4life

I've thought about this a little bit more. First, I don't see MR making changes unless they announce something. Second, get rid of the stars. They have led to useless topics. "I've Reach 1000 posts!!" or "I now have 4 stars" or similar. Third, get rid of the coffee shop. Someone could have a model railroad question just to have it bumped to eternity by people posting to that thread. Number four is the moderators here I think are extremely relaxed and the integrity of this forum suffers for it. My wife was reading over my shoulder one day and laughed cuz she thought this was a froum of children with the useless topics. Which leads to my number one problem with this forum. Useless topics. Too many. If the mods were doing their job these would be squashed.

I know I know if you don't like it here then go somewhere else. I used to like this place. I used to learn a lot here. It's like that old fishing hole that seems to not have anymore fish. I liked it so I keep trying sometimes but this place is out of control with useless topics. THAT is the reason for the high traffic around here. Too bad tho this was a great place to fish.

Jeremy

One thing that has become apparent with time is that this forum in its current format is the best one going.

I have visited other forums (and from comments here, so have others) and I find that they have far fewer postings, fewer topics, and frequently have have dozens of catgories you have to wade through to find anything.

I am forced to conclude that even the folks who want to change it like this forum best - otherwise why aren't they hanging out at the "better" one.

So while you may not like certain features of this forum the whole package works quite well. Making it like other forums runs the risk of making it dead like the other forums.

Personally, I find the energy level here very invigorating. Sure there are a lot of topics I don't like, but I just skip those - the good thing is: there are a lot of topics. I hope the changes Bergie makes are very minimal, barely noticable.

Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

after thinking about it some more, and from what I've read on another post, get rid of the boxcar, and do an archives section that keeps everything in it and has a search like google, so just one word will get you directed that way, From what I've read the stars will be gone, until then, after 5 stars you get the northern end of a southbound apaloosa

[Anonymous]

Just to promote this up next to its offshoot temporarily.

Suggested compulsory reading "How manyof us does it take to change a light bulb? http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19526

Very perceptive.

[CP5415]

QUOTE: chutton0
I think we are overlooking the most important factor - what symbols should we get after 5 stars?
Gold Bars, Oak Leaf Clusters, Half Moons, Pink Hearts, what?

Why not steam locomotives?
Work from a Grasshopper up to to a Big Boy?
Or
diesels
Work from a SW7 up to a SD90mac or AC6000?

Gordon