REQUEST! Lobby for a classic topics section in this forum?

[jfugate]

Okay, okay! The general discussion section is nice for raising quick questions and getting lots of vigorous discussion going on this-and-that.

But there are certain classic topics that it would really help to have moved off to their own sub-forum within the Model Railroader forums, called something like "Classic topics".

My FORUM CLINICS, for instance, cover many of the questions people keep raising every few days, but to go dig up the FORUM CLINIC yet again back on page 14 is really getting old.

And even when I do dig it up again, it's already back on page 3 within a few hours.

What do you think ... isn't it about time we lobby to get this changed?

[Anonymous]

Agreed. As Joe said, some topics cover questions asked every day, but are way back into the "Lost" sections. Also, it always seems like nobody bothers to do the "search" option.

Great idea, Joe.

[dgwinup]

YES!!!

Having one location where you can find classic topics is a change long overdue.

It is not enough to have an active topics list. If a new member comes on the forum, he will not have the scenery clinic in an active topics list and will not even know that it exists! A lot of hard work is ending up on page 14 where new members will never see it and old members will have a hard time finding it when they need it.

Okay, Administrators! Ball's in your court!

Darrell, soap-boxingly quiet...for now

[trainboyH16-44]

Please do, it seems like a good idea. Another thing you might put there is a thread on how to post pictures. You listening, Bergie? Thanks, if you are.
Matthew

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44

Please do, it seems like a good idea. Another thing you might put there is a thread on how to post pictures. You listening, Bergie? Thanks, if you are.
Matthew

There is one, it's just lost, along with Joe's clinics and Bob's clinics.[:(!]

[andrechapelon]

I'll add my $.02 and say yes.

Now we gotta keep this one on the top of the heap.

A model railroader's work is never done.

I need a job. This hobby's getting way too stressful. [(-D]

Andre

[Anonymous]

Either that or a bunch of sticky's...and that would get annoying.

[SpaceMouse]

Just to throw a fly in the advocate, who decides what's calssic and what's not. What's to stop me from posting a thread about my favorite beer commercial?

[Pruitt]

Guess I'll be the first real nay-sayer.

Most of the clinics should probably be in the Layout Construction forum and not here, anyway. While things do slide down the list there, it happens a lot slower than on this forum. So I suggest the forums on DCC, Scenery, etc. go where they really belong anyway.

Creating another forum for Bergie & Co. to monitor and manage won't help much - people will still come in here and post the same oft-asked questions they already do. Why? Because this one is first on the list, and this one has the most action.

So I say "no" to a new forum - let's just put the topics in the existing forums where they belong anyway.

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Brunton

Guess I'll be the first real nay-sayer.

Most of the clinics should probably be in the Layout Construction forum and not here, anyway. While things do slide down the list there, it happens a lot slower than on this forum. So I suggest the forums on DCC, Scenery, etc. go where they really belong anyway.

Creating another forum for Bergie & Co. to monitor and manage won't help much - people will still come in here and post the same oft-asked questions they already do. Why? Because this one is first on the list, and this one has the most action.

So I say "no" to a new forum - let's just put the topics in the existing forums where they belong anyway.

This is a good point but...

Spacemouse raises an issue regarding who decides, which is also a good point.

After being here for close to two years I've noticed people coming and going and old becoming new again. Like everything it goes in cycles. Would a classic forum resolve some of this I don't know. I think the big reason people come here is fopr the interaction.

Saying that there are some forums which are truly classics and if they can stay active for a three month period then maybe that should be the criteria, that and volume and validity.

Fergie

[jfugate]

Create a sub-forum that does not allow us mere mortals to create new topics. We can post replies, but we can't start anything new. That keeps out the "my favorite beer" topics.

Who decides? This community. Once someone feels a given topic has reached classic status, they can nominate it to be moved to the classics sub-forum by the moderator. If there is a general concensus among the clientele on here that the topic is a classic, then it gets moved.

That's how I see it working.

[Fergmiester]

Do I have motion on the Floor?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

Create a sub-forum that does not allow us mere mortals to create new topics. We can post replies, but we can't start anything new. That keeps out the "my favorite beer" topics.

Who decides? This community. Once someone feels a given topic has reached classic status, they can nominate it to be moved to the classics sub-forum by the moderator. If there is a general concensus among the clientele on here that the topic is a classic, then it get's moved.

That's how I see it working.

Once again, Joe raises an interesting point. IF it could work that way, it'd be perfect.

[Pruitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Do I have motion on the Floor?

Lest we forget, this is not a democracy.....all we can do is plead and beg!

[:)]

[jxtrrx]

I agree with Mark, Chip and Fergie. What's classic to me may not be to you. I can see thread after thread on whether (fill in the blank) deserves classic status. Leave it be.

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Brunton

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Do I have motion on the Floor?

Lest we forget, this is not a democracy.....all we can do is plead and beg!

[:)]

Not true. We could try bribery.

Andre

[Seamonster]

QUOTE: Create a sub-forum that does not allow us mere mortals to create new topics. We can post replies, but we can't start anything new. That keeps out the "my favorite beer" topics.

Who decides? This community. Once someone feels a given topic has reached classic status, they can nominate it to be moved to the classics sub-forum by the moderator. If there is a general concensus among the clientele on here that the topic is a classic, then it gets moved.

That's how I see it working.

That sounds like a workable idea. I'm all for it. It should have a catchy title that would encourage people with questions on those types of subjects to go there first.

QUOTE: Most of the clinics should probably be in the Layout Construction forum and not here, anyway. While things do slide down the list there, it happens a lot slower than on this forum. So I suggest the forums on DCC, Scenery, etc. go where they really belong anyway.

I agree. I often see topics here that really should be in the Construction forum and I've seen the same question posted in both forums. I suspect that the same people with answers haunt both forums, so that's wasting space. Nevertheless, all the generous people on these forums answer queries no matter where they're posted.

[dehusman]

If you want to discuss something "classic" discuss it. Nothing's stopping you. You don't need another forum.

Creating a new category for every subject so your topic du jour won't get "lost" is an administrative nightmare.

If you want to limit the traffic, how about a forum for useless and off topic subjects. or a forum for just polls. Either of those would cut the malarky by 25-30%.

Dave H.

[novicerr]

I will vote yes on it, and maybe suggest the topic on the 70th anniversory boxcar can now be dropped, allowing more space.

[jfugate]

The reality with the Layout Construction forum is there's nobody there about 3/4 of the time, so if you post some question there, you may not get an answer for days.

With the general discussion forum, even the most off-the-wall question usually gets some good responses within an hour or two.

Until you change that dynamic, you can ask people until you are blue in the face to go over to the Layout Construction forum, but it won't do any good.

At least with a classics forum, the posts in there would form what amounts to an FAQ, and I see lots of value in that for new folks who are full of questions. Right now, it's like a needle in a haystack and I am finding it's just too darn much work to keep digging it out again.

If I feel this way, I suspect others who might otherwise post really good stuff on here feel the same way. Why bother?

Who knows how many good topics that never get posted because of the constant chatter on the general discussion forum just making it too much work to keep up with such a thread?

[Javern]

I feel some of the other model railroad sites have too many sub forums, Im ok with adding one or too more here but lets not have a seperate forum for too many topics

[Anonymous]

Even a single sticky with links to the "classics" would be an improvement. There are a few (maybe 5, 10?) threads that really are classics, and often referred to. It wouldn't/shouldn't be that hard to figure out. I'm not talking about threads that are a discussion of a question, in general. but threads where someone has gone to the trouble to prepare a large amount of coherent information that is useful to many of us. Joe has done several, and there are a few others. I search out the DCC Clinic every week or two. I could bookmark it, but I do it from several computers, and really don't want to. I don't know exactly how to administer it, but a poll submitted by someone who thinks something is worthy (and I hate polls) might do the trick. Then put the link in the sticky. I don't think we want to stifle the normal discussions, but it would be nice to keep a record of the really good ones, for those here now, and those who come later. So there.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Javern

I feel some of the other model railroad sites have too many sub forums, Im ok with adding one or too more here but lets not have a seperate forum for too many topics

As long as the forum software has an active topics option and the forum is structured properly to make that function work like you expect, then the number of subforums isn't really a problem.

The problem with this forum is all the Kamlbach train-related publications are all one huge forum, so when you do active tiopics on here you get Trains, Classic Trains, Garden Railroads, Model Railroader ... *way* more stuff than you want.

If each publication was its own forum, then when in the MR forum, active topics would pull a list that looks just like the general discussion today. With that sort of structure, you could have as many subforums as you like, and you would have the best of both worlds.

The point is, there are ways. As it is now, it's bordering on out of control, IMO. The only people you will keep are the ones who like conducting polls or asking yet again, "So how many locos do you have?" The serious modelers will tend to go elsewhere ... and when was the last time we had some great answers from the Kalmbach staff on here? The din level is getting so high that it's just too hard to keep up.

[dehusman]

Part of the problem is definition. I finally figured out what you are talking about as "classics". You are refrerring to subject you think are important, not topics about "classic" railroading (i..e. 1930-1960 as in the "Classic Trains" maggazine).

So what happens when you get your 250th 'classic" thread and now EVERY new thread is buried behind 250 old, but by somebody's choice "important" threads?

Dave H.

[bjdukert]

QUOTE: Part of the problem is definition. I finally figured out what you are talking about as "classics". You are refrerring to subject you think are important, not topics about "classic" railroading (i..e. 1930-1960 as in the "Classic Trains" maggazine).

Joe I agree with Dave that the title could be misleading as I was thinking the same thing until I read your first post. I think you have a better title in that post by calling it FORUM CLINICS or something else. Just my [2c]

Duke

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

Part of the problem is definition. I finally figured out what you are talking about as "classics". You are refrerring to subject you think are important, not topics about "classic" railroading (i..e. 1930-1960 as in the "Classic Trains" maggazine).

So what happens when you get your 250th 'classic" thread and now EVERY new thread is buried behind 250 old, but by somebody's choice "important" threads?

Dave H.

Cross that bridge when we come to it. If every solution had to solve the next 50 problems that came about because of it, you can forget progress.

[selector]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Brunton

Guess I'll be the first real nay-sayer.

Most of the clinics should probably be in the Layout Construction forum and not here, anyway. While things do slide down the list there, it happens a lot slower than on this forum. So I suggest the forums on DCC, Scenery, etc. go where they really belong anyway.

Creating another forum for Bergie & Co. to monitor and manage won't help much - people will still come in here and post the same oft-asked questions they already do. Why? Because this one is first on the list, and this one has the most action.

So I say "no" to a new forum - let's just put the topics in the existing forums where they belong anyway.

[#ditto], as I have consistently said. Clean up the Gen Disc forum, (I agree that Joe's clinics, astoundingly successful though they be, would be even better in their rightful place: Layouts and Layout Building).

BUT...it 'might' prove useful, in the long run, to break down the forum into one other thread: Polls. (heh, heh...[}:)]

Oh, IMHO, stars should disappear. They're useless.

[Anonymous]

But not too many. How many, I haven't a clue.

[Anonymous]

MR has heard the plea before. It seems obvious to me they've chosen not to do it.

I very much enjoy in depth posts, like Joe's posts on scenery, operation, etc.

I also don't mind if they die out after a while - because frankly, a 15 page post is also pretty annoying. It's great when it's a couple pages, but by the time it's 15, you have to practically use the search function just to find what you're looking for within the post!

Let's not forget this is a forum - it's meant to be fluid. It's not a static thing. Things come and go.

How the heck would MR really decide what threads deserve the gold star, and which don't? Do you really want to see a poll for that? I sure don't.

Is Bergie going to have that added to his job description? (Web site administrator, "Import Thread Designator"...


To me, this forum is like a bunch of Post-it notes. Trying to use sticky's, "classic threads", etc. is like organizing little post-it notes all over your desk into stacks of post-it notes. That becomes a mess.

If what you really want is a notebook, use a notebook, not post-it notes.

Maybe a web equivalent to a notebook is if you really want something documented in a specific way, create a website for it, rather than trying to control a forum, which is more like a bunch of post-it notes.


Consider also that in selecting certain threads over others, many will percieve this as "favoring". I could see it now...

Here's a future thread topic:

"Howcome My great thread on scratchbuilding wasn't added to the classics list".

Response:

"Because your thread didn't cut the mustard...."

Initial Author's response:

"That's it, I'm now upset at Model Railroader..."

I seriously, seriously doubt Model Railroader will go for this. I think it would be a very poor PR move on thier part.

[jfugate]

I can see that this forum's probably not the best place for content that's less-than-transient.

The forum clinics were an experiment to see if meaty content on a forum like this would work.

I'm coming around to the conclusion that trying to do these forum clinics on here is like trying to do seminar on a busy street sidewalk. Too much din and traffic, and actually counterproductive. And we've asked for better forum alternatives to MR and nothing's come of it ... so I can see MR prefers the status quo.

So be it.

I'm moving to my own web site with the clinics, where I can control the content, presentation, etc. I'll be doing new and improved versions of theses clinics, with lots more photos here: http://mymemoirs.net/model-trains/forum/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=14

... starting with a new and improved version of the scenery clinic.