Forum re-organisation required?

[remoulder]

Discussion:

Looking at the increasing number of off-topic posts, the increasing number of users and the expanding number of versions requiring support - 4 main versions which from next April will also presumably include 2 LTS versions, plus LMDE which itself is due for xfce and kde variants, and the lxde edition; it seems to me that the current layout of the forums is confusing and becoming a bit of a hindrance.

The team may already be discussing and planning for this, but a re-organisation and simplification seems overdue, and just wondering what other users opinions on this were? Things that spring to mind immediately are possibly a collapsing of the Main Edition section to just a section heading, which may make it more obvious there are other sections further down as well as different sections for different editions. Other changes may be the removal of the Development section as this seems largely superfluous as much has moved to the Community site.

Overall the layout is looking a little tired imo, and also needs much more emphasis on search with improved functionality. What do others think?

[The-Wizard]

OK random thoughts......

will this include updating to the latest version of php [this doesn’t feel like the latest version]

other languages could be made to just a link to the OL index page

Development could be moved to its own forum with a link

the biggest problems i see with splitting the forums into versions/sub versions is that most new members never post which they are using, this makes problem tracking a nightmare, and trying to respond [not that i can answer much] difficult, as different distro versions may/do have different problems


if you take a look at www.holidaytruths.co.uk/ the blue band at the top of the page has one click link to the additional forums.......


thought perhaps an opening/welcome page with just bigger boxed keys linking direct to the edition/subforum required, and with just Clems news/announcements [or personal welcome] and basic instructions

shoot me down in flames if you wish but it would look cleaner for the first time visitor, encourage them to go to the correct forum for their distro, then you could have Mods for each distro/variant [with knowledge of said distro] retaining board mods if necessary.


wizard

[viking777]

emphasis on search with improved functionality

Anything to improve the search functions on the forum would be much appreciated, they are dreadful, it is easier to search through google using the site address.
As to the way it looks I am really not bothered.

[GeneC]

and also needs much more emphasis on search with improved functionality. What do others think?

Yes. Never use the forum search
I use this = viewtopic.php?f=42&t=55780

Search Mint forum with Chrome
by joshN on Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:41 pm

Greetings, I've found a much better way to do what I described before. In Chrome, under preferences->basics, click the manage button (near search). then on the Search Engines window click add and enter the following values:

Name: Linux Mint
Keyword: lm
URL: http://www.google.com/search?q=site#scl ... y&hl=en&q=%s+site:linuxmint.com

Click add again and close the extra windows.
Now whenever you want to search the mint site just type lm + <tab> + your query into the address bar.

As for all the categories, sub-categories, sub-sub categories...
I dont know how the moderators can monitor them all. I know I dont directly.

I have a main bookmark to "Mint Forums" (View active topics). I just look through all the new topics, and open the threads that look interesting. I think lots of folks use this approach. Another bookmark for LMDE (Active topics). Thats it.

[remoulder]

splitting the forums into versions/sub versions .. most new members never post which they are using .. encourage them to go to the correct forum for their distro

These are the points I was trying to make, that the current structure only makes it harder for users to post in the correct forum. One is presented with all the sections for the main edition but many users may think they 'are' using the main edition and not know they should be posting in the LMDE or XFCE sections for example.

Anything to improve the search functions on the forum would be much appreciated, they are dreadful

Yes this definitely needs a radical overhaul.

As to the way it looks I am really not bothered

It's not about the aesthetics though, it's about how the layout and visual appearance could be confusing to users, especially new ones, and also about rationalising and management of posts.

just look through all the new topics, and open the threads that look interesting. I think lots of folks use this approach

Quite, this is why I think a different layout may be required to encourage more exploration and searching.

Something else that occurred is archiving of old threads to a different area where replies cannot be made. Some new users seem happy to reply to threads that may be years old or no longer relevant.

Not sure what the advantages of a newer php version would be?

[KBD47]

If you are not a newbie, and your question is non-technical, and it involves the Main Mint edition--where do you ask it? Maybe a Main Mint category like for LMDE that isn't just aimed at newbies, or for just newbie questions.
As for the rest of the site I think it generally works well. Maybe a bit better organization for where to ask some questions.
KBD47

[The-Wizard]

Not sure what the advantages of a newer php version would be?

my webmaster said.. better security and more stable